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UPROflRCOMPRI S I NG
A N E CDO T E S
SIR TIMOTHY FLI GHT, Mr . ABRAHAMS , SOLOMONSAL IAS MODI SH AND FAM I L Y , &c . &c. &c.
A NOVEL,
Manner! an fiarts,
Br H . M . MORIARTY .
Truths l i ke theseW i l l none offend, whom
’tis a pra ise to please.
I N TW O V OL UM E S .
VWJL h I .
SECOND EDITION .
Manon
r l m 'r l n 70 11 , u m sou ) BY TH E AUTH OR, 29 , ” L u sa
’
aa
" us er , STRAND ; A ND BY A L L TH E BO OK bE L L E n s.
w . au an on , t u mu l t , RUPERT- STREET, u u n unxm .
1 8 1 1 .
B R I GI FFO
I N AN
UPROAR.
CHAP. I .
Here as wi thdoubtful pensive steps I range,
Trace former scenes, and wonder at the change,Remembrance wakes w i thal l her busy train
,
Swel lsat my b reast, and turns the past to pain .
G OLDSMI TH.
A
h
1 I T w as a gloomy, col d even ing, in the
inm on th of January, when a lady descend
x d from a d i l igence at’
the L ion d’
Argent,v m Calai s . A s few persons who t ravel
4by s u ch a conveyance ventu re to take up5 VOL . I . B
2 BRI GHTON IN AN UPROAR .
the i r residen c e at a h ote l of s u ch magn i
fi cence, i t w as a nove l s igh t to th e inha
b itants : th e se r vants flocked to see whocou l d p oss ib ly com e to thei r hou se in ad i l igen ce ; at l as t th ey conj ectu red th at
m os t ass u red ly i t m u s t b e somef emme de
chambre, who w as d i rected t o o rder p re
parations for the fam i ly of m i Lord An
g l o is ; and th ey ran w i th th i s agreeab l ei ntel l igence to th e i r m aste r, w i th o u t stopp ing to take the l uggage from the d i l igence, or
'
once con si d e r ing that the personwho
’
had ex c ited th ei r c u r ios i ty was s t i l lstand ing in a l arge c ou r t -yard, and fromc o ld and fatig u e was near ly faint ing and
exh au sted .
B u t i t w o u l d be d iffi c u l t to desc ri bethe ser vants ’ aston ishment,when Mon s i e u rdu Crocq mad e h i s appearance, at see ing
him exp ress the m ost p rofo u nd respec tand th e greatest d el igh t w hen he saw th el ady ; ordering l ights to be immed iate lyp laced in th e most el egan t ap artm en ts,and d i rec ting each servant to b r ing s uch
nm snr on m AN v en om . 3
p ro v i s ion s as h e tho ught wou l d prove
most agreeab l e to h i s gu es t .“ Mais e st i l p oss ib l e qu e Madame is
come al one : where he the domesti c ? Parad ventu re some acc ident h as h appened
to d i Vo i tu re—et Mons i e u r, w here he be,for I d id hear dat Mademo ise l le were
m arr ied .
“ Y ou are right,‘M0 n 31eur du Crocq
'
I have b een m ar r ied s om e years, and I
have th ree ch ild ren ; b u t my s itu at i on i n
l ife i s v ery d ifferen t now from what itw as when w e l ast m et : I keep no ca rr iage, v ery few servants,
‘
and those a rel eft w i th my fam i ly . Colonel Mortim e rnow commands at Woo lw i ch , and as inEngl and we a re fearfu l th at the p eacewh i ch we now enj oy w i l l on ly p rove ofshort d u rat ion, Offi cers fi nd great diffic u l ty in '
procuring l eav e of absence fromthe count ry . I c am e to B ru ssel s to en
deavou r to rec o ve r som e of my property,b u t th e d isastrou sRevo l u ti on has destroyed the most val uabl e part, and I fea r the
3 2
4 . Bu s i n ess i n as UPROAR .
l i ttl e that rema in s I sh al l h ave greatt roub l e i n obtain ing,
’
consequently, myold f r iend, yo u w i l l see th e necessity
'
of
myrfrugal ity . I came to yo u r hou se beca us e I have known you f rom a ch i ld ;b u t as“ I can n o l onger afi’ord thos e l u x ur ie s wh i ch I fo rmer ly enj oyed , I b egthat I may b e shewn into a l es s sp l end i d
apartmen t . My stay h ere w i l l -be very
sh ort : to-morrow I shal l p ass w ith then un s, and the d ay fol lowmg I propose to
sai l for Engl and .
”
“ Madame canno t go to Engl and , as
on ly do French Packet Boat do go now ,
derefore i t wou l d not be'
r ight, as Mad ame have n o servant ;
' den I m us t go
seey ou s afe to Dover .”
That is impos s i bl e, Du C rocq ; never
theless I fee l greatly ob liged to you for
you r offer b ut, a s I before Ob se rved, Iam not m affl uence, consequently I can
not make you a rem u nerati on , th erefo re
I am c ompel led to dec l ine your k ind
proposal .”
BR I GHTON I N A N UPROAR. (5
Dat cannot be, for I w i l l go see yousafe . I do th ink dat Engl i s h gentl emando tak e mo re care of dere horse den of
dere w i fe, for i f you r h u sb and had sent aho rse h e w ou ld send a groom to take careof him, b ut h e l ets yo u c om e a l l al on e .
Thi s ob servation of the innkeeperb rough t s om e di sagreeabl e recol l ec ti onsto h’l rs . Mortim e r , whi ch occasioned a
few tears ; b ut, wh atever cau se sh e hadfor gr ief, sh e was not of a d i sp os i t i on to
encou rage unavai l ing f regret ; b ut pe rh apssh e neve r fel t m o re forc ibly the ch angein he r estab l ishm en t than at th i s moment.
However , sh e h ad too m uch good sense tom ake any rep ly to Mon s ieurdu Croc q,b u t tu rned th e conver s at ion, by inqu i r ingafte r m any fr iend s w hom sh e h ad not
heard from s inc e the commencem en t ofthe Revol u tion and her feel ings w erefre quently w o unded by the r ec i tal Of thesufi
'
erings wh i ch some had exper iencedby not emb rac ing th e cau se of l ib erty .
She was del ighted at hear ing that 163n 3
6 BR IGHTON I N AN . UPROAR.
Dam es Dom in ica ine s res i ded togethe r .Mon s ie u r du Crocq w ent to in fo rm thosel ad ies that one of the i r fo rmer pup i l s was
arri ved,'
and in a few m inu tes Mrs . Mortim er h ad th e hea r t- fel t sati sfaction of
being p res sed to the b osom of St . V i ctoi re . Those who have exp er ienced reverseof
“
fortune, and been separated from th efr iend s of the i r yo uth
, can al on e apprec i ate such a m eet ing : they ch atted o
form er t imes and p resen t p rospects, w i thout con s ide r ing that awfu l mon i to r tim e,and th e n un w as as ton i shed to find thatsh e had been s o agreeab ly engaged , byrefe r r ing to the p ast
,th at sh e had ent i re ly
fo rgotten the fu tu re ; for on l ook ing ather w atch sh e found th at v espers hadbeen over above an hou r
,and that the
u su a l p er iod for her reti r ing to rest wasalso p ast . She regretted th at sh e hadn ot a bed to offer th e trav el l er, b ut i t w as
dec ided that d u r ing Mrs . Mortimer ’sstay in Fran ce sh e shou ld be con stant lyw i ththe n un s .
BRIGHTON m AN UPRO AR . 7
Mrs . Mortime r rang for the pu rposeof be ing shew n into her s l eep ing room, as
she h ad very recent ly recove red from adangerou s i l lnes s . The fatigu e of he rj ou rney, w ith th e agitat ion that he rsp i r i ts h ad exper ienced in again s eeingher bel oved fr iend, and th e thought of
b eing in a pl ac e w h ich w as endeared toher by the recol l ect ion of former t imes,had qu ite exh austed her sp i r its
,and she
w as anx iou s to go ear ly to rest, that shem igh t gain s u ffici en t c om pos u re of m indto enab le her to m eet th e abb es s and the
res t of th e n un s the fol l ow ing m orn ingw i th cheerfu lness ; b u t sh e w as disap
po in ted in her cal c u l ation s, for Mons ieurdu Crocq an sw ered the be ll
“ Ma foi Madam e, I d id not l ike t oi nt rud e when di Soeu r St . Victoi re w as
here, bu t Mon s ieu r le B‘aron d e St . Au
bert h av e been h ere two or th reet im e s,to know i f he cou ld p ay h is resp ects toMadam e, and he des i res h is c omp l imen ts,and w i l l c a l l in de m orn ing
.Monsieur
B 4
8 am en -TON m AN UPR O AR .
le Baron b e mar r i ed , b ut h e n eve r h avebeen happy s in c e Madame l eft Cal a i s .Why did you l eav e u s 9 A l l d e n un s w e reso fondu p f yo u , and le Baron de S t . Aub ert w ou l d h ave m ade you a b etter h u sband den any Engl i sh m i lo rd h e be a
good h u sb and, a ldO' he on l y m ar ry to
pl ease h i s mother , becau se h e w as d i l as tof hi s fam i ly
,as a l l do res t b e gu i l io
fined .
Thes e are s ubj ects on wh ich I cannot
en te r : I h ave th e greate st resp ect for th eB ar on de St . A uber t and h i s mothe r ; i tw i l l g iv e me pl eas u r e to see him, and I
tr u st h e w i l l b e rewarded for h i s d u ty toh i s p aren t, by be ing happy as a h u sbandand a fathe r .Excu sez, Madam e , I J I O not mean to
offend , b u t you l ook so d ifferen t from whatyo u was when Mademo i sel l e G odefroi,
dat I cannot th ink yo u do l ik e Engl andso w e l l as F ran ce ; you used to b e d i l ifeof Cal ai s ; at a l l d i b al l s, d i spe ctac les , no
one s o l i vely and gay as Mademo isel l e,
BR IGHTO N I N AN em e sa . 9
andnow , excuséz, youdo not l ook happy .
“ You shou l d not j udge so hasti ly ; I amfat igued w ith trave l l ing, and s eeing O l d
fr i ends c reates a h eartfel t m el anchol y,w h ich i s a del igh tful sensat ion to a feel
i ng d i spos i ti on . When you knew me I
w as young, and had every th ing in v iewwh ich co u ld m ak e th i s l ife des i rab le . I
h ave now a fam i ly to th ink of ; myhus
hand I left in b ad health, and th ose sp i
ri ts whiclr would be a recommenda t ion atsixteen, wou l d b e deem ed l e vi ty in amar
r i ed wom an of s i x - and- tw en ty .
”
Mons ieu r du C rocq took h i s l eave, andthe fi l l e
d
de‘
chambre m ade he r appear-r
ance .The nex t mo rn ing Mrs .
’
Mortimer wasawaken ed by an al arm ing cl ap of th under ; th e w ind how l ed h orr ib ly, and the
r a in , wh ich fel l in tor rents, p enetratedinto he r room u sh e aros e, andw as p l easedto find th at it was only se v en o ’ clock, asshe p u rposed , as soon as she was d res sed,to surprise
'
the nun s by an early -visit
n 5
10 BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR .
but before.
she had fi n i shed he r to i l et,
sh e'
as . i n fo rm ed th at th e abbes s w as
c om e to fetch h er to b reak fast . Th is
was an attent ion from a lad of e igh ty
fo u r years of age ltha v. she did not ex
pect ; and w h i l e she w as exp ress ing herth anks i n a m es sage, St . Etienne
“
en
tered. I t w as th e fi rst v i s i t sh e had paids in ce she was d r i ven from her conven t .Sh e cam e, she s aid, out of respect t o he rl ate p up i l , and sh e requested th at Mrs .Mort im er wou l d attend her home imm ed iately,
‘ as the n un s w o u ld not go to
prayer w i tho ut he r .Mrs . Mort ime r w as a Protestan t, bu t
she respected eve ry pe rson who l ived . Up
to th e faith of the re l igion th ey p rofe ssedcon sequently sh e had no Obj ec t ion to
comp ly w ith the w i shes OfSt. Etienne, andshe was m uch grat ified in seeihg al l he rO l d fr iend s assemb led . It was in a cel l a r,for d ur ing the Re v ol u tion th ey w erecompel led to p erfo rm the i r r el igio u s du
ties in’
private ; but the chapel was so
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR . l l
neatly fi tted up that you so'
on forgot theapp roach to i t . When the serv ic e wasover sh e w as condu cted to the refecto ry .
I t i s t ru e that i t h ad w h ite -w ash ed w al l s,Oak tab les
,cha i r s and fo rms to c o rres
pond b u t the c rackl ing faggot b l azed onth e h umbl e h earth : res ignat ion and chee rfu lnes s sat on the countenances
‘
of the s i sterhood th e meal on the tab l e was p lain,b ut wholesom e andMrs .Mortimer hadthe del ight of seeing i n th i s hou se Of
'
pri
vat ion and abst inence, that l uxu ry, wh ichno r iches can pu rch as e—con tentment .As s oon as the rep ast w as fi n i sh ed theabbes s in v i ted Mrs . Mortime r into a
smal l r oom , w h ich she'
cal led her cel l ;for as soon as these lad ies we r e compell ed to l ea ve the i r convent they took a
ho u se l arge enough to c onta in them a l l,
as they determ ined to ded icate the i r l i vesto the benefi t of soc iety ; and d u ring theRevo l u t i on, d id these v al u abl e w omen,w hen th e Catho l i c faith and al l re l ig i
'ousceremon ies were p roh ib ited, run the r i sk
12 BR IGHTO N I N AN UPR O AR .
of being gu i ll otined , by cons tantly perform ing, and exhor ting other s to j o in inth e i r rel ig io u s d uti e s and th at the
r i s ing gener at ion m ight not imb ib e thepe rn i c iou s p rinc ip l es wh ich then
~
prev ai l ed , S t . Eti enne, at her adv anced age,kept a d ay -school, and by her chee rfu lm anners and ass iduou s app l icat i on, ta ughtth e yo ung peop l e to v enerate and wor
sh ip that S up reme Be ing whose goodnes sand bounty had enabl ed thei r anc i ent p recep
'
tress,i n the dreadfu l p r ison of A rras,
and before th at t r ibuna l at wh ich Robesp ie r re pres id ed, to stand firm in he r r el i
g i on s andmoral d u t ies, andto p ers evere i nacknow l edging her G od and her k ing .
St . Etienn e w as d ragged from her
hom e and p laced I n a p r i son : th e on ly
acc u sat ion again st her was, th at h e r fa
m i ly n ame was G rey, and as General
G rey at that per iod commanded the,B r i
t ish army in Flanders, they persi sted that
she w as re l ated to him, and that she had
forwarded in format ion whichhad p roved
destructive to theFrenchinterest . A t th is
BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 13
per iod St . Etienne l abou red unde r greatbod i ly i nfi rm ity
,b u t sh e cou l d obtain no
comm i s e rat ion to p r i son sh e mu stgo, p laced among common felon s ; and
the indecenc ies and eno rm i t i es w h ichw ere to le rated in th e p r i son we re s u ch asexc i ted the greatest h o rro r ; b u t Mrs .G rey h ad m ade her vow s from
nchoice
sh e h ad sw o rn at th e alta r to devote he rl ife to he r m ake r, and i t appeared to he rth at the per iod was now ar r i ved w hen herex erti on s m igh t p rob ab ly s ave some of
her“
dep raved compan ion s from p erd it i onshe the refore hai l ed that moment as themos t fortu nate of he r existence, w h ichh ad p laced he r in a s i tu at ion whe re she
co u ld , by preach ing repentance and for
giveness, p robab ly recal l n umero us sin
ners to a sense of the i r w ickedness, ,and
indu ce them to re tu rn to,th e path s of
v i r tu e .When fi rst she began to say mas s, she
on ly met w i th der is i on '
and ind ign ityfrom the pr i soner s the j ai lor rebuked
14 BRI GHTON'
I N AN UPROAR .
and th reatened her for dar ing to fly in theface o f th e l aw s Of l iberty ; bu t St . Eti -i
enne ppssessed a fi rmness o f m ind wh i chu ses s uperi o r to me re se l f-preservatiomi f they p ut he r to death sh e knew thatsh e h ad forfe i ted he r l ife in p reach ingth at Gospe l w h ich she h ad v owed to p ropagate ex istence, therefore, cou l d haveno charm s for he r
‘
i f sh e was d i vested
of th e pow er of serv ing her c reato r . Sheacco rd ingly persev er ed I n her l audab l e
unde rtaking, and her perseve rance w as
c rowned w i th s uc cess every day lessenedthe r id i cu l e sh e exper ienced, and afte r a
few w eeks he r c omp an i on s v ol unta r i lyattended her devoti on s b oth m orn ing and
even ing : in a sh o rt t im e that p r i son,
w h ich had been a scene of l i cent io u snes s
and r iot , became qu iet ; th e p r i soner s
w ere indu str io u sly emp loyed, and mos t
grateful to the i r ins tru ctress, for he r
endeavo u r s to save them from e ve rl asting
perd ition .
St . Et ienne assured Mrs. Mort imer
16 BRIGHTON I N AN UPR OAR .
she m ight not on ly h ave th e best adv ice,but that sh e m igh t h av e every car e andattent ion pa id to p rom ote her comfoi' t ,
b u t they had great d iffi c u l ty i n acetamp l ishing the i r w ishes, as u nknown to themsh e h ad pet i t ion ed to end he r days
'
in that
v ery p r i son, th e horro rs of wh i ch , at e’
a‘
te r ing, h ad even appal l ed her firm mind.
The fu rn i tu r e of S t . Etienne ’ s c e l l consi sted of an i ron bedstead w i th ou t h angings, a sm al l ches t
'
Of d rawers, above
w h ich was a c r uc ifi x one chair, andan
Old carpet wh ich h ad been p resente d toh er by Mrs . Mortimer fhen sh e was
“
a.
p ens i one r in the convent -of les'
DamesDOm I n I ca I nes at Calai s .
Th i s c arpet, my dea r, has been myconstan t c ompan ion, and, I may add, mygreatest l ux u ry when in pri son , I s lepton I t, for on ly straw
'
w ith one b l anket
w as al lowed m e . Every day I p rayed
for the donOr, th at sh e m igh t esc ape fromexper iencing s uch m i se r ies as I then en
du red ; or, i f i t plea sed the A lmigh ty0
BRI GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 17
to a ffl ic t he r, that h e m igh t give he rst rength to m eet he r
'
fate w i th res ignati on, being con v inced that w hatever i s, i sright, and that th e m erc i fu l D isposer ofal l h uman events on ly ch ast i s
’
es for w i sep u rposes, ever hold ing in m ind, that as webear our t r ia l s here, so sh al l we be re
w arded h e reafte r .St . Victo i re r el ated to me th e c onver
sat ion wh ich passed between he r and youl a s t eveni ng . I am gri eved to l earnthat you h av e h ad no reason to r ej o icet ha t you l eft th i s co unt ry ; i fyo u had foll o‘ifved my ad v i ce you w ou l d h ave re
m ained w i th u s, and have become one of
our holy orde r : you w ou ld then on lyh av e known w o r ld ly so r row s by n ame ;afte r th e d i sappo intmen t wh ich yo u hadexperi enced , i t w as not p robab l e th atyou w o u ld ever be h appy as a w ife .
Had I been perm i tted , my dearmothe r, to peep i nto the book of futur i ty, in al l l ike l ihood I sh ou l d have foll owed you r adv ice
,a s ass u redly, the
1 8 n a rc nron m AN U PROAR .
hardsh ips wh ich I have encoun teredin a ma r ri ed . l i fe n atu ra l ly i nd uceme frequent ly to regret that I eve r leftyo u r peacefu l abode, and th at I did not
'
take tho se v ow s w h ichw ou ld have sec u red me a res idence in a h o u s e fromwh i ch are exc l uded al l th e vex at i ons andv an i t ies of th is w orld . You have long .
known my sent iments on re l igion , and,
w i th s u ch imp ress ion s, had I embraced a
m onast i c l i fe, I shou ld h av e been unwor
thy of. you r fr iendsh ip , as in seek ing thereti rement of a c lo i ste r on ly t o e ludetho se a ffli c t i ons
, w h i ch are attached to
the fem a l e chara c ter , appears to my weakj udgmen t as tend ing to defeat th e end
for wh i ch we w ere c reated . I am now
cal led on to per fo rm th e sac red d u tie s of
a w ife anda m other , and h av ing been ed ucated by you , I feel as s u red; th at in thosecharacters you w i l l neve r be ash am ed toacknow l edge me as yo u r p up i l .
I shal l at a l l t im es , I am s u re, be
p ro ud to acknow ledge yo u bel i e ve
BRI e iI 'rON IN AN UPROAR . 19
me, the sat i s fact ion w h i ch I fee l at again
convers ing w i th you i s th e greates t p lea
s u re I h ave know n s ince compel led to
l eav e our dear convent .B u t I cal led you into my cel l at the
parti c u l ar request of al l th e comm un i ty ;w e al l ent reat th at w hen you and you rch i ld ren are d i sposed to ret i re from th eb u sy scenes of the wo rld , that you w i l lremember th at our hou se i s open
'
to re
cei va you you r ch i ld ren wec on s ide r as
our ch i ld ren ,for are you not our belov ed
d aughterMrs . Mortimer w as inte rrupted in he rrep ly to th i s generou s offer by th e eut ranc e of som e of th e si sterh ood to exp ress the great p leas u r e th ey fel t in an
nouncing that th e s torm had inc reased sov io lent ly that i t m u st be som e days befo re a p acket
‘
boat wou ld ven t u re t o sea,consequent ly that the i r old fr iend m ust bedetain ed longer w i th them than she expooted . Se v eral person s w e re al so w ai ting to see Mrs . Mo
‘rt ime r ; among them
20 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
wer e the o ld Barones s de St ube rt and
her son sh e in s i sted uponM rs.Mort ime rd in ing w i th her indeed, al l h er fr iendsw er e m ost p res s ing w i th inv itati on s tothe irho u ses ; but as
‘ sh e w i sh ed to pas sa l l the tim e sh e co u l d w i th S t . Victo i re,' s he requ ested th e abbes s to sett l e her eu‘
gagements. St . Etienne th erefo re dec ided tha t Mrs . Mortim er sho u l d b reakfas t ' end sup w i th th e nuns, dur ing thetime wh ic h she rema ined in France, and
the rest of the d ay she sh ou l d devote tothose esteemed fr iends who h ad been thecomp an ions of her yo u th .
I t may eas i ly be imagined th at t imegl ided sw i ftly in such
i
soc iety, in defianceof w eather : there w as not a w alk, or ap l ace, w h ic h was endeared to Mrs . Mor
t imer by past s cene s which'
i
she d id not
-'
v i s i t as s u red ly i t was a mel an choly p le a‘
su re, n everthel es s, to s u ch feel ings as‘
her ’ s i t was a del ightfu l sensat i on,al
t h ough , reflecting on th e p ast, o ccasioned some painfu l ideas .
16
On the fo u rth e ven ing after Mrs .Mort imer ’ s arr iv a l at Cala i s , as sh e w as re
t u rn ing to the Lion d’
A rgent, she.met
Mon s ieu r Du Crocq, who seemed desi rous of rel at ing
,
s om e ex trao rd inaryocc u r renc e
“She h ad scar cely gamedher
apartmen t befo re he en tered i t .Ma foi Madame, dis be d e l u ck iest
t ing in de worl d : Mon s i e u r lo Che
val ie r F l ight be j u st arr i ved. from Pari syh e hav e b rought on ly one v a l et w id.
him ;and he b e go ing to England . I
took di l iberty to s ay, dat one Engl i shl ady be go ing to Angleterre, and askedthe Cheva l i er to l e t Madam e be long toh i s s u ite ; dere fere, i f Madam e w i l l per
m it, to -mo rrow m orn ing I W i l l introd uc e
Monsreur lo Cheval ier Fl ight to Ma
dame .”
M rs.Mortimer fel t th e ful l fo rc e of
Mons i e u r du Crocq ’ s attent ion, and w as
glad to avai l h erse l f of ,this int roducti ona ccord ingly, at the p reper time, sh e wasint rod u ced to S ir T imothy Fl ight, _
and
BRIGHTON IN i n b en efits .
e very th ing w as th en s ett led that she
sh ou ld p rofi t by h i s p ol i teness , the ba
r onet engaging to see her s afe to herh ou se in Rocheste r .S i r T imothy Fl igh t was j u st of age ;
his fathe r d ied when hew as’
an infant,and he h ad on ly one s i ster and a b rothe r:
l i v ing ; th ey al l res ided w i th th eir niothe r, who for beauty ,
“
ac compl i shm en ts;and w orth , w as s u rpassed by none of her ’
sex .
To Si r Timothy F l igh t P rov iden cehad b een most bount ifu l , as h i s face, p erson ,
and m anne r s , w e res u ch as to preposses s everv one in li ls i faVO l l i‘.
'
B e'
w asqu i te a st ranger in Cala i s
,and he coni
p l a ined to Mrs . Mortim e r th at h e fo undl o unging i n an inn mos t insufl
'
erably d u l l .She offe red to introd uce him to her ’ol d
fr iend s th e p roposal w as ac cep ted wi thav id ity, and as h e was pre vented by th einc lem ency of the w eathe r from leav ing '
France, h e v i s ited th e n un s eve ry day
and if Mrs. Mort im er was struck by his
24 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
th em a fr i end who had the pow er andinc l inati on to rel i ev e th ei r m i seri es . H e
j udged, th at Pro v i dence , in h av ing amplyg i ven him th e m ean s to b e ch ar i tab le,had ent r u sted to him r i ch es , not m erelyto indu lgein th e luxu r i es and p l eas u re sof th i s wo r ld, b u t al so th at he m u st h e reafter be accountab le for the u se wh ich h ehad m ade of them . H e c on s i de red thathe h ad no r igh t to judge the act ion s Of anyi nd iv id u a l ; to rel i e ve th ose whoin h e
knew t o b e Obj ects of comp ass i on and
deser v ing of his attent ion, w as to him thegreatest fel ic ity : n e i the r d id h e w i thho ldh i s benev ol ence from th e undese rv ing, i f
in r eal d ist res s, as in h i s op in i on th ey w e re
th e greatest Obj ects of comm i serati on,and he tr usted th at they w o u ld be s en s i
b le of t hei r er r o r, and reform . A c i r
cumstance Of th i s n at u r e oc cu r red to him
as h e was go ing to Par is, abou t a year
p rev iou sly to”
h i s int rod u ct ion to Mrs .Mortime r .S i r T imothy waswalk ing in some fiel ds
BR I GHT O N I N AN UPROAR‘
. 25
a sho rt di stance from Dov e r, and was'
.
am u s ing h im self by adm i r ing the beau ties
of natu r e . I t was in the early p art of
aut um n, when th e country i s de cked i n
r i ch and beautifu l fol iage : He stopped to take a. sketch of the ca
‘
s tl e,wh i ch str u ck h i s fancy : no sound was
to b e h eard; sav e the shepherd’
sd og and?
b l eat ing sh eep . I t h ad b een some hou rs
s ince h e had ‘seen the h uman face d iv ine,’
when a l l at on ce h i s atten t ion w as ar rested by th e m os t heart -p i erc ing s igh s andsob s : on tu rning to w hence they proceeded
, he perce i ve d“
a p retty youngw oman, apparently in the deepest d istress .S i r Timothy cou l d never see an Obj ect;
in m i se ry w itho u t part ic ipat ing in~thei r
s orr ow s h e ap p roached, and gently inqu ired i f i t we re pos s ib l e to al l ev i ate her
'
gr ief. The gir l started at be ing addressed by s u ch a fine gen tl eman .
Oh, no—and p l ease you r h ono u r,Betsey can have no comfort- for Rober tV OL . I . c
26 BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR .
i s gone , and -fathe r be s o angry that Iw i sh I were dead .
S ir Timothy inqu ired into fu rthe r particu lars, and the res u l t p ro ved that h e rfath e r was at radesman , e nd th at she h ad
get ac qu ainted w i th a yo u ng mhn’
of disl
sipated hab its . - I t was n atu ra l for’
a
fath e r to Obj ec t to s u ch a characte r forthe hu sband of h i s ch i ld and to p reventthe i r un i on, he got a p ressgan g totake Rober t on board a tender . B etseyfol low ed
,and rem ained som e days near
him, and her father h ad j u s t b rought he rh om e w hen S i r T imothy heard herl am entations . The you ng w om an s ai dsh e w as s u re th at Robert w o u ldbe s teadyand good i n fu tu re i f her father cou ld bep re vai l ed on to l et her m ar ry him ,
and
on ly give th em a sma l l sum to rem o v eth em to a distance from al l Rober t ’ s badcompan i ons, and s et th em up in a l ittl eshop . She p l eaded s o p ow erfu l ly to S i rT imothy ’ s feel ings th at h e got Rober t
d ischarged : they we re marr ied, and he
BR I GHTON IN ‘ AN UPROAR. 27
sent them to one of h i s estates in the
north . Betsey i s an excel l en t da i ry-wo
man, and Rober t attends the cattl eh itherto he has h ad a good accoun t of
them ,and has every reason to bel ieve tha t
Rober t w i l l p ro v e deserv ing Of 'his fu rtherp atronage .S uch w as
' the character .of th e man
unde r whose p rotect ion MrsLMortimer
w as to retu rn to he r h u sband . As p articul ar bus ine ss demanded S i r Timothy ’sp resenc e i n E ngland, and as Mrs. Mort ime r was impatient
‘ to retu rn to he rch i ld ren, it .w as
' agreed that they shou ldsa i l by the fi rs t p acket . They m adesevera l appl icat ions to obtain an Engl i shves se l, - bu t Monsren r
-M . w as ia
exorab le . The i nn s we re al l c rowded,consequently they p rep ared th em se l ve sfor a d isagreeab l e passage, as Of co u r s ethey w ou l d have mo re compan i on s th anthe
'
p acket cou l d conven ientl y aecommodate.
At l ast Mrs . Mortimer was s ummonedc 2
286 BR IGHTON I N AN UBBOAR.
to p repa re for her d ep artu r e,as a vessel "
w o u ld sa i l i n a few h ou r s WVhen the
m oment ar r i ved that she w as to b id ad ieu,
p robab ly for eve r, to those fr i ends : from .
whom shehad ever. rece ived eventparensta l l
k indn ess and sfi'
ection,~i t v r equ i red
“
an:
her fort itude, and indeed more than she
possessed, tb d isgui se the rep ugn anc e shefe l t at again v i s it ing he r nati ve c ountry .
She was go ing to be separated ' from i perq
sons,whom she s in ce rely l oved; whose :
m anne r s and p u rs u i ts s u ited her d ispo sit ion , to ret u rn to a j oy le s s home, t o a
co un try in wh i ch sh e h ad on ly knownso rrow ; He r ch i ld ren w er e m os t dear to “
her, she doated on th em, b u t th ey w e re
not of an age e i the r to p arti c ip ate in he r
pl easu re s , or to symp ath i z e in he r.m isfor
tunes . He r s itu at ion was s u ch th at she
co u ld nev er lOOk at these Obj ects of her ‘
affec t ions w ithou t l amen t ing the past, and
dread ing what the i r fate m ight be in
futu re
W hen she v approached the pier, S i r
BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 29
Timothy w as ready to rece i ve her . A shehad a great q u ant i ty of l uggage, the
‘
boat
wh ich w as to take them to th e v essel wascompletely l oaded : th e sea l ooked mos taw fu l,
‘
and ‘the foam ing ~bi l low s b o undedand reco i l ed in the mo s t v io l en t agitat i on .
God send yo u safe to the packet,my d ear ch i ld excl a imed S t . Victo i re,c ro ss ing herse l f; “ b ut indeed you
‘had
bet te r retu rn, and. not v en tu re t i l l the see
i s m ore c alm . My forebod ing m ind v
prog
nosticates that s ome d i refu l m i sfortuneaw a i ts you .
’
A t th i s in stant Mrs . Mortimer wasl ifted ‘ in to the b oat, and the nun -s p rognosti cations th reaten ed e very m om ent t ob e ver i fied , as th ey w ere s carcely seated ,before two Of the ears w e r e w ashedaw ay by the fu ry of th e w aves ; th e r udd er nex t fol lowed and th at they reachedth e p acket in safety, i s among th osew onde r fu l inc idents in l ife . wh ich w eakm ortal s cannot fathom .
-Mrs . Mort imer ’ s d angers, however, d id not te rm ina te
c 3
30 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROARI
here; sh e had n ev er b een‘ u sed 'to en
counter w i th d iffi c u lt ies of any k indshe was extremely near - s ighted, and in
stopping from th e boat to the ves sel , she
d id not fix he r foot on the r igh t p l acethe c onsequence w as that sh e s l ipped .
Fortunately a sai lo r caugh t h er by the
gown; b u t sh e h ad been up to th e w a isti n the sea
, and sh e was bro ugh t on dec kiris
‘
ensib le to al l the'
cares of th i s w orl d .
A s soon as sh e recov ered she wen t tobed
,b u t he r s ituation w as t r u ly de
pl orable, as sh e l ay for ten hou rs in he r
w et c l oaths, w h ich c i rc um stance indu cedh er to rej o i ce when sh e l anded at Do vei',an even t wh ich she th ough t m ost improb ab l e when sh e l eft Cala i s .I t w as n igh t when they reached Eng
l and , and thos e who are ac cu stomed tot r avel l ing w i l l not be -surpfiféd to hear,th at i t w as l ate the
‘
next evening befo r e
they co u ld get thei r l uggage“
from theC ustom Hou se, and p u rs u e thei r jOi I rney .
S i r T imothy sent h i s v al et by a p ub l ic
32 BR IGHTON I N AN v enom .
S ir Timothy w as an early ri se r, and'
came to b reakfas t by n in e o ’c lock . Co
l one! Mor t imer was soon con v inced byhis conv ers at ion th at h e m er ited th e strongen com i ums wh i ch h is w i fe h ad bestowedon him,
and th ey sep arated w i th great
regret, as th e conc i l iato ry manners of th e
Baronet c reated an arden t desi re in theColonel to cem en t a fr iendsh ip w ith a
person eve ry way s o cal cu l ated to ex c i te
esteem . S i r T imothy appeared equ al lydes i rou s of i mp rov ing an acqu a in tance
wh i ch acc ident h ad commen ced, and he
promised to v i s i t Kent the ensuing surn
BR IGHTON)1N AN venom ; 38
CHAP . I I .
l vai ls i t aught that nature’s l iberal hand,W i th every blessing gratefu l man can know,
Cl oaths the richbosom of you smi l ing land,
The moun tain ’ssloping side, or pendant brow,
I f meagre famine pain t your pal l id cheek ,I f breaks the midn ight bel l your hours of rest,
I f, m idstheart-chi l l ing damps, and w in ter bleak ,Y ou shun the cheerful bowl , and moderate feast?
Temp‘ranee,
not abstinen ce, is every b l iss,I sman ’
struejoy,and thereforeheaven’scommand,
Thewretchwho rio ts,thanks his G od amiss,
W ho starves, rejects the boun ty of hishand .W .
’
W H I TEHEAD.
A s Mrs . Mort imer w i l l p rove'
a con
spi cuous person in these anecdotes, it
may b e agreeab l e to the reade r to b e ia
formed of her p arentage and ed u cat ion
Her father, Maj or G odefroi , of the
Innisk i l l ing Dragoon s , served under the
c 5
great Duke of Cumberl and i n Fl anders .H e was a gentlem an of s u ch str i c t honou rand gen tlem an ly manners, th at h e w as an
un i ve rsal fav'
au rite. When h e was fi r stqu artered at Br u sse l s, he had‘just enteredhis
’ ltwenty- secoiid‘
yea r h i s f ather" w as
recentl y
‘
de’
ad, and had bequeathed to
him a handsome
'
fortune; He had twosi ste rs,
“ both of whom w e re cons iderab lyol der than h im se lf, and‘had been m ar r i ed
som e year s, one to an admi ral 1 13the Brit i sh navy , the o ther to a do
’
ctoi' of d i
v in i ty The Maj or w as of an anc ient fam i ly, a s h e traced h i s an cestors h av ingl anded in Engl and w i th W i l li am the
Conquero r . Col one l Honeywood, who
se r ved ‘in th e samen
brigade, had beened u cated at th e sam e school w i th the
M aj or; they‘
w e re both extremely
‘
ac
c omp l ish ed, ins ep arab le fr iends, and the i rsoc iety w as cou rted by eve ry one.
Colone l Honeywood h ad been, ’ pi ev iously to th is pe r iod, s omet ime in B ru ssel s, and had fo rmed a fr iend sh ip w ith
BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR . 35
th e chancel lo r . Of the L ow Count ries'
.
The Baron d.
’
Arrambert was a sensib l em an,
i
o f ret i red h ab its . He had mar r ieda beaut i fu l woman , m uch younger
“
thanh imse l f, by whom he
’
had one son and
two daughter s . The Baron neve r enteredinto p ub l i c am u sem ent s or l arge part ies ,b ut he d i d not dep r i ve h i s w ife of thosep leas u res wh ich su ited her t im e Of li feand d i spos it ion . The s it u at ion he jheld
under go vernmen t took u p m u ch of h ist ime, and c onseq uen tly p re vented h i s bei ng mu ch at home . The baroness w as
of a -l i vely char acte r, had been ed u catedin France, and w as fond of company .
H er ho u se w as Open tw i c e in every w eek,w hen she gave peti t soupeés, w h i ch w ere
del ightfuL She p ossessed great w it, wasv i s i ted by person s‘ of th e h igh es t rank,and, in short, w as qu ite the fash ion . He rcondu ct as a w ife w as irreproachabl ey assh e b lended good sense
/
and rel igioni
w ith
h er ac comp l ishments ; and the Baron w as
certa in, that in tr ust ing his honour to her
36 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
keeping, he h ad p l aced i t unde r a guardianship wh i ch w o u ld neve r b etray thesacred trust . The Madem o isel l es d ’
Ar
ramber t h ad been sen t to a conven t as
soon as they came from n u rse, and the
son was w i tha p r iest .Madam e d’
Arrambert saw her ch i ld renfrequent ly, and sh e ant i c ip ated each iaterv iew w i th the fondes t expectat ion ;but in th e ro und Of plea
r
sure in wh ich she
w as engaged, acco rd ing to for e ign c u stom s, and w i th her ideas of p rop r iety, to
hav e h ad h er d augh ters w i th her w o u ldhave been
'
highly indecoro u s . The el destW as engaged at th e t im e she h ad com
pl eted he r fourteenth year to m ar ry herc ou s in th e Co unt d e Belgrade ; th e un ionw as to tak e p l ace ‘ in a few months, and
she was not to make her appearanc e in
publ ic t i l l th e ceremony was o ve r . Hu
bertiné d’
Arrambert had on ly once seen
her intended h usband ; h e h ad a l argefort une, and the al l i ance w as app roved
of by both fami l ies. J osephine, the
BR IGHTON I N AN . UPROAR . 37
youngest s i ste r, was dest in ed to take th ev ei l, as the Bar on d
'
Arrambert posse s seda l l th e p r ide of h is an ces tors, and con
sidered, th at by devot ing h is youngestch i l d to h er Maker, he sho u l d be enab ledto inc rease th e fortune of h i s
‘
son, who
wo ul d th ereby be bette r ab l e to s uppo rtthe dign ity
'
of h i s h o use . H i s w ife madeno obj ect ion to th ese ar rangemen ts ; sh esaw no reason why Jos eph ine shou l d notb e a nun, esp ec i al ly as i t was the c u stomi n a l l fam i l ies Of rank to devote some ofth e fem ale s to a m onasti c l ife, and s h e
had a s i ste r, who w as abbess of th e convent in wh ich he r ch i ld ren res ided .
S u ch was th e s i tu at ion Of th e chancel lor
’
s fam i ly, when Colonel Honeyw oodintrodu ced Maj o r G odefroi
’ to th e Barond
’
Arrambert. The fr i end s attended al lMadame d’
Arrambert’
s p art ie s , and sheinv ited them to j o in several of her relat i ons, who were to ac company her t oAntwerp , where she was go ing to see herdaughters, and to be present when a re
38 BR IGHT O N I N AN UPROAR .
l at ion'
Of her’swas p rofessed , who h ad
j u st then comp l eted her no v i c iate . Th isce remony w as to t ake p lace in a few days .Col one l Honeywood and Maj or G odefroi
’
w e'
re del igh’
ted‘
at h av ing s u ch a favou rab l e opportun i ty Of grat ify ing thei r c ur iosity, and accep ted the inv i tat ion . A sth e p arty w ere to stay s omet ime at Antw erp, a l a rge h o use w as taken for
"
the i r
a ccommodati o n, and H ubert ine d’
A r
ramb er t b e ing soon t o p ledge her fa ith atthe altar
,the Co un t dc B e lgrade was of
c o u rs e one of th e p arty, and as a greatind u lgenc e, th e s i sters w er e pe rm i tted torema in w i th thei r mothe r .H ubert ine d’
Arrambert w as uncom
m ouly tal l of her age, and ass u redly veryhandsome ; sh e w as extremely l i v ely, and
w as in s u ch rap t u res at be ing in thew orl d , that sh e appeared l ike a b i rdescap ed from i t s cage .Maj or G odefroi
'
w as soon sen s ib l e of
th e charm s and am i ab l e d ispos iti on of
H ubertine, and she was del igh ted . in
40 BR IGHTON I N AN UPR O A R .
\
shou l d b e h i s5wife, and he had no i dea
that any th ing co u ld‘ p revent an al l iahce,
w h i ch was ve ry des i rab l e, as“
the Barond
’
Arrambert’
s e states j o ined'
h i s, and
some l and, wh i ch th e Coun t de Belgradehad l ong been anx io u s to posses s, was tobe p art Of Hubertine
’
s porti on .
An awfu l b el l announced that themom '
ing was arr i ved w hen Mademo isel l e d e
Colbe r t was to r es ign the pomp a nd va
n ities of th i s w i cked w o rl d , and th e party
w ere s ummoned to th e con ven t of Not re
Dam e ; b u t th e mu l t i t u de wh i ch w ere
a s sembled in the h ope of Obtain ing p erm i ss i on to see th e beaut ifu l gi r l in ake her
v ow s w as sogreat as to render i t d iffi c u lt
to ga in adm i ttance .“A s soon as it was
known th at th e Barones s d’
Arrambert
and he r p ar ty w er e wai t ing, m eas u res
w ere taken to p roc u re them an en t rance .P l aces h ad been p rep ared for th em in a
gal l ery Opposite o
to the spo t where Soph ia
de Colber t was to take her stat ion . The
chapel wasfi l ledw ithnov i ces, who were.
BR I GHTON I N ANur a OAn . 4 1
dec o rat ing i t w i th ornaments andflow ers ;and at th e uppe r end w as an em inen cecovered w i th a r i ch carpet, where theobj ec t who had b rought s o m any specta
l
to rs w as to be seated . The ceremonyth at fol lowed was mos t ‘ impos ing : thefathe r and b rother of
,the devoted v ic
tim were both p resen t, and weep ingth ey w ere d re ssed in deep m ourn ing, and
th e Engl i sh fr iends fo un d -great d iffi c u l tyi n refrain ing from j o in ing them in tears .The i r attent ion was now roused by the
m ost s ol emn a i rs be ing performed on a
fine- toned organ, accompan i ed by someof th e m os t h arm on i o u s v oi ce s w h i chthey h ad eve r heard , and immed iatelyafterward s the p rocessi on c ommenced .
The l ady abbess fi rs t m ade he r appearance, fol lowed by al l the n un s ; afterthese cam e al l th e n ov ices and the ch i ld ren ed u cated in th e convent ; th en SOph i a d e Colbert, hold ing a l ighted taper
i n her h and . She w as cond u cted by two
sisters to th e a l ta r, wh ich was nearly in
BRI éHTON IN AN UPROAR .
th e cen t re of th e ch apel , w here sh e rec
m ained some t im e at h e r devoti on s, a fte rw h i ch the s uper io r of th e c onvent of
St . Dom in i q ue add ressed th e nov i c e w i thgreat fee l ing : the e x hortati on w as re
plete w i thunaffec ted e loquence, and SO
ph i a gave th e m ost steady attenti on . S he
then adv an ced betw een two of th e n u ns,and
-
made her p rofess ion in d i st inc t andc lear ; language, m eekly knee l ing be foreth e p r iest
,Prayers fol l ow ed .
The p rope r d res s of the o rd e r was l a i don a t ab l e . The l ady abbes s to ok off
th e wh i te v e i l fr om SOphia , and p l acedon - h er
i
'
head a b l ack one ; a be l t and
heads w ere fasten ed ro u nd he r w a i st, andth e p r ies t sp r inkl ed the de votee w i thholy w ate r . She then del i ve re d to hima box contain ing al l th e r i ch and v al uabl e
ornam en t s wh ich sh e had wo rn whi l e in
the w orld th e h oly m an s tamped on
them w i th th e greatest ind ignation, and
sh e tramp led th em under he r feet, as
be ing now unworthy ofher atten t ion . Se
BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR . 43
v eral grand cho ru ses su cceeded h'
y'
th e
p r ie sts and n un s and m ass w as performed in th e m ost s up erb m anner, and
w i th al l i t s p r iestly orn aments . The fath er and brothe r of the beau t ifu l v i ct imc ame i n the hOpe of p rev ai l i ng on Soph ia ,even at the al tar, to ch ange her resol utioh,i n th e fond hope that parenta l and b rothe rly affect ion w ou l d p redom inate ove r herrel igi ou s vow s, and ind u ce her to .r etu rnto h e r affl i c ted rel at i ve s . They p l acedthem sel ves in a consp i c uo u s p art Of thechapel ; b ut th e nov i c e w as so inten ton th e d ut ies sh e was th en p erfo rm ingthat the ce rem ony , was n ear ly fin ished be;fore they jm et
'
ber atten t ion . When theyd id att rac t he r n ot ice, sh e w i thd rew he reye s w i th great p re c ip i tat i on for a mo
m ent sh e appeared ag itated , b u t, as i f re:
col lec ting hersel f, w i th a haste and resol ution w h ich confounded her relatioqs,she arose from her kneel ing attitu de, and,
h av ing reti red a . few p aces back , threwhersel f at fu l l length on the carpet, w ith
44 BRI GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
her face to th e ground : h umb led th usto the earth, s he k i ssed i t, t o s ign i fy herl own ess of spi rit; and to prove
‘that she
had renounced a l l th e van it i e s and fol l iesof th i s W o r ld . The pass ing-be l l beganto to l l, and sh e w as cov e red w i th a
'
pa l l,
a s i f th e b reath of l ife had real ly de
parted from her.
- The countenances of the father and
b rothe r at th1s moment ’
were ~such as to
ex c ite the mos t powe rfu l comm i se rat ion~despa i r was pa inted in every featu re t osp eak was imposs ib le,
"
for the powe r of
a rt icu l ati on was- supp res sed . The who lec ongregati on became extrem ely affectedat th i s p artof th e ceremony,andf or s ome
minutes anawfu l s il ence preva i led .
The b ur i a l se r v ic e was ch aunted m the
most sol emn manner : th e organ; as s i s tedby the vocal p owers of th e p ri ests a nd
n un s, seem ed to exal t the sou l . At las tSOphia
i
ra ised h er eyes and fi x ed t hem on
her father and b rother , and at th is i n
stant it might be d i scovered that n ature
BRIGHTON 1 1s AN Upa o'
AR; 45
was not ext inc t in her b reast . H er frame
shook, her hear t w as agon ized , and she
w as unab l e to rep res s h e r s igh s This
w as too m u ch for th e m i s erab le p atent ;he s u
'
nk . sens ele ss i n to the arm s of his
son, and was in stan tly c onv eyed from the‘
scene w h ich had'
caused him s u ch heartp ier c ing sorrow .
This ev en t inter rupted the c eremony for'
som etim e : poo r Soph i a was - led' to a ?
chai r, and prayed'
m ost dev out ly : he r !
sou l had overcom e t r ial s whichodemanded'
th e ass istance of eve ry sur ro und ing oh
ject, rather than to .experience those feelings whic h on ly serv ed to affli ct her .The sac ram en t w as now adm in i 'ste red'
w i th a l l the sol emn i t i es of th e-Cathol ic“
Ch u rch . Thi s ended , St . Therese, ( theappel l at ion by w h ich , in fu tu re, SOpl l iadé Colber t w as to b e known ) arose,k
'
i s sed the pr ie st ’s garment,bow ed to the
c r uc ifix, then ' to the l ady' abbess, the
'
n uns,“
nov i ce s and pens ioners ; and,some
young ladies who resided in the convent .
46 BR IGHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
strew ed flow ers over them as they p roceeded to
'
the l ast c erem ony, that of
c rown ing, s upposed to be embl em ati calof that c row n o f .g lory whichs l s tto ~ be
the reward of the good in‘
the . world to r
come .The res t o f the day was passed in .
i h
nocent fes ti v i ty, to p rove that t ha young.
nun fel t no regret in, hav ing r enouncedth e wo rld . Indeed, her who l e depo r t
m ent w as s uch as to conv ince ' thespectal
to r s that in chang i ng her p l an i n l ife sh e
had on ly va r i ed he r h app ines s .
How happy - is the blamel ess v esta l ’s l ot,
The w or l d forgotten , by the world forgot ;Eternal sunshine of the Spotless mind,Eachpray
’r accepted
,and eachw ish resign
’d.
L abour and rest at equal periods keep ,‘f Obed ien t sl umbers, that can
‘
wake ari d weepDesi res com posed , affections ever even, [W 391Tears that del ight
,and sighs whichwaft to hea.
G race shines aroundher withserenest beams,And whispering angelsprompthergoldend reamsFor her th’ unfading rose of Eden blooms,And wings of Seraphs shed div1ne perfumes.
48'
BR I GHTON I N AN UPR O AR .
Honeywood h ad a great e steem, wh ich
w as how eve r mater ia l ly '
lessened when heheard the Coun t dec l ar e thathe though ti t very p roper to s ac r ifi c e ch i ld ren to the
l i fe of a c lo i ste r wh en ' the p arent s co u ldn ot give them amp le fortunes w i th o u t in
j u ring th e d1gn ity of the i r fam i ly by las sen ing th e son
’ s inher i tance .
Th i s indu ced Maj or G odefrm to ih
qu i re whether S oph i a de Colber t h adbeen the v ict im of fam i ly p r ide ." The
Co unt ass u red him that he r sec l u s ion pro
ceeded from cho i c e ; th at h er fath er h adan immen s e fortun e, and on ly two ch i l
d ren . Soph i a l ost he r m othe r'
whenshe w as an infant, had been edu cated atth e s ame conv ent w i th th e Barone ss d’
Ar
rambert, and h ad res i ded m uch w i th he rfr iend s inc e she m arr ied To th e greats u rp r i se of every . one, sh e dete rm ined tol eav e th e w o rl d every person was igno
rant of her intent ion t i l l a few weeks be
fo re she entered the conven t bf NotreDame she had always a pens ive t urn of
BR IGHTON 1 N AN ur n‘
OAn . 49
m ind, and w as fond of reti rement ; b u tthe general op in ion w as, th at she had a.
p art ia l i ty for a young man, who was
d rowne d abou t two yea rs b efo re . To
dissipatei
their m elancho ly reflect ions,th e gentl emen took a walk into th e co un
try, and p roposed to p ass by the ho use ofth e Baron de Colbert to inqui re afte r hisheal th . They were conce rned to hearth at h e had contin ued for som e t ime infi ts, and was s u pposed to be in a v erydangero u s state, h i s son h aving j ust sentfor additional med i cal as s i stance .
On thei r r et u rn to Antwerp, theyfou nd Madam e d ’
Arrambert alone sh eh ad l eft her d augh te rs i n the conven t, as
she p roposed ret u rn ing to B r u s se l s - th enext day . Her deportment w as moregrave than u s ual , and th e t races of recenttear s w ere v i s ib l e on her sti l l beau teousfac e .
The Majo r inqu i red how shehad leftS t . Therese . f ‘To a l l appearance, she
said, per fectly happy . Indeed, I am con-c
VOL . 1 . n
50 BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR .
v inced th at Soph ia h as chosen a l ife bes ts u ited to h e r characte r and d i spos i t ionb u t I con fes s I c oul d not help be ingm u ch affected at tak ing my l eav e of her :my poo r Joseph in e I fear i s not so w el l
c al c u l ated to find h app iness i n th e sec l us ion of a conven t as my fr i end .
The party c al l ed at the conven t thefol l ow ing m orn i ng, w hen they saw St .Therése and Mademo i sel l e d’
Arrambert.
H ubert ine was to be m arri e d i n th reem onths ; b u t tho ugh th e Co un t d e Be lgrade took '
his l eav e of her w ith greatp ol itenes s, yet any p ers on m igh t d i sco verth at th i s was to b e a m atch of conve
n ience, not,affecti on .
Soon afte rw ards Maj or G odefro i’
m ade
his fr i end acqu ain ted wi th what had
p as sed between him and Madem oi sel l e
d’
Arrambert ; and it“
w as dec ided th a tCo lonel Honeywood shou l d sp eak toxthe
l ady ’ s father on thes ubj ect . The Ma
j or asked f or no fortune, bu t requ estedth at Joseph ine m igh t h ave what had
BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR . 51
been i ntended for her s i ste r . The Ba
ron d’
Arrambert made no obj ect i on , and
consented to what, he was told , wou l d
m ake one ch i l d h appy by marry ing the
man of her cho ice, and the oth e r eq u al ly
so by giv ing h er th e opt ion of r ema in ingi n th e “ wo rld, or ending her days in No
tre Dame . How eve r, when Madam e
d’
A rrambert“
was c ons u l ted; sh e gave a
dec ided n egat i ve ; she had rathe r fol lowh er ch i ld t o the grave th an see herun i ted to a h eret i c . A s th i s obj ect ion
s
w as ins u rmountab l e, Maj o r G odefr‘
oi'
contr iv ed to se e H ub ert ine, a nd in fo rmh er of th e i l l - s u cc es s of h i s appl i cat ion .
She real ly d i s l i k ed her cou s in“
, th e Co un td e Be lgrade, and a l i ttl e pe rsu asi on induced he r to e lope w i thth e Maj o r . Several o f the B r i t i s h offi cer s ass i sted, mea
s u r es b eing taken to el ude-
th e v igil anc e of th e abbess, a nd H u bert ine wascon veyed out o f the Empe ror
’s domin ion s A r r i v ing at Ams te rd am ,
sh e wasmarr ied to Maj or G odefroi
’
, who imme1) 2
52 BRI GHTO N I N AN UPRO AR ;
diately conducted her to h is fam i ly inE ngland , where they w er e again mar
r ied p rev iously to his r etu rn ing to j o inthe a rmy in Flanders . Madam e d’Arramb ert c ou l d n ever b e p revai l ed on
.
to for:
gi v e or to see he r daughter ; ; l
' and Josep h in e soon becam e ' the
‘
w ife o f'
theCount d e Bel grade her fo r tune rece i ved
c on s ide rab le inc rease - by the Maj or ré
fusi ng to accept of ; any w ith H ubert ine .
M rs. Godefrm s s i tu at ion when h er
husband“
l eft England w as by no meansen v i ab le. Shewas l eft w i th her s i s terin
l aw, who had bo th a dec ided an t ip athy
to Fore igne rs and Catho l ics ; and, hav irigv ery contracted id ea s, it w as not l i ke lythat th e l i v e ly an im ated m anners of Hu
b ertine shou ld meet w ith th e i r approba
t i on ; I t w as al so some t ime before the
M aj o r’ s un c l e, the B i shop of E—3 cou ld
be p revai led on to admi t h e r into h i s presence H ubert ine. there fore contemp lated
w ithdelight the moment when her hus
BR I GH T ON IN AN UPROAR 53
hand shou l d retu rn an t i c ip ating -in thateven t th at al l her so rrow s w o ul d be at an
end. But d i sappo intment w as yet i n sto re
for her , for w hen h e ar r i ved , h e w as ex
tremely i l l , a w o und w h i ch he h ad re
ceived h aving so inj u red his const i tu t ion
that h e l ingered w i th a consumptive'
com
pl ain t for m any years, when he l efth i s w i dow w ith fou r chi ldrem Hubert ine
,th e yo ungest, was born in the same
w eek i n w h i ch h er fathe r exp i red, and
w as imm ed iate ly s en t to a re l at i on of he rm other ’ s , who was then res id ing in theDom in i c an Convent at Cal ai s, w here she
'
rema ined ti l l sh e w as fi ve years of age.
Mrs . G odefroi’
w as sti l l a beaut i fu lw om an , and po ssessed al l
‘
the fasc inat ing
m anne r s of th e French, was v ery fond ofcom pany and devoting her whol e t ime t op l easu re . He r two son s w en t into thearmy ; the eldest in to the th i rd regimentof G uards, and th e younger i nto th etwenty- fi fth r egim ent of foot . He r
daughter mar r ied an office r in th e Hor se1 1 3
54 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROARI
guards when only fi fteen year s of age .
Hubert ine was seve ral years younger
than her b rothers or s i ste r, and not havi ng been n u rs ed at hom e, h ad sel dombeen w i th - th em ; n ei ther d i d h er m othe r
fe el th e sam e afi'
ection for her a‘s for'
her
othe r ch i ld ren . I t w as l i kew i se repre
sented'
to Maj o r G odefroi’
s fam i ly thatHubertine
’
s edu cat ion was n egl e c ted ,and that shew as not tr eated
'
w ith th at
k indnes s and affecti on th at her tende ryears re qu i red . They therefo re m adeapp l icati on to the l o rd chancel lo r, whon om i nated p rop er gu ard i ans to superin
tend th e ed u c at i on of H ubert ine and
she was t aken from h e r m o the r, and
p l aced at Mrs . Phgh’
s schobl , at G reatB addow , in E s sex . I n th at l ady ’ s a lfec
tion and kindness‘
Hubertine fo u nd the
tender care of a m other . She rema ined'
at Baddow t i l l nea rly fou rteen years of'
age, w hen sh e separated from h er fr ien d
and in s tr u ct res s w i th g reat regret .
She then went to reside w i th one of
56 B R I GHTON IN AN UPR OA R .
quest : and although,
Huber tine nevers l ep t out of her gu a rd ian ’ s house, she
p assed the greater p art of h er t ime w ithher m other and s ister . He r b rothe r- inl aw, Captain H . res id ed in May - fa i r ; hep l ayed deep, v is ited person s of h igh rankand fash ion, and H ube rt in e of course hadsoon a num ero u s acqu aintanc e .Am ong those who w ere m os t int imate
W I th Capta in H . was Charl esFitzosborn,who w as th e secon d son of a m erch an t .H e p a id great attent i on to H ubert ine ;and in a few month s th e yo u ng peop le
b ecam e m u ch”
attach ed to each othe r .
Her s i ste r was th e on ly p erson who knew
of th i s p arti al i ty, and i t was ca refu l ly
conceal ed from th e gu ar d i an s of H ubert ine .
At l as t Fitzosborn w as dete rm inedto ask h i s father ’ s con sent to marry Miss
Gddefroi'
; b u t h e met w i th a refu s al .She rece i ved th is Inte l l igenc e in a l etter
from Fitzosborn ; and the s am e day she
had- a v i s it from M r . Mac Nam ara, a sp ~
l icitor ,Thi s gentl eman info rmed he r
BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 57
that old Fitzosborn h ad des i red him t oassu re her, the on ly obj ect ion h e had torece i v ing her a s h is son ’ s w i fe was, her
fortune being too smal l, as he had a l arge
fam i ly to p ro v ide for ; and he coul d notcon sen t t o the i r mar ry ing w i thou t oh
tain ing m ore m oney than sh e p ossessed
that the young Fitzosborn had been ac
c ust omed to al l th e l u x u r i es of l ife, w as
v e ry ex travagan t, and con sequen tly thatthe i r un i on could on ly term inate in r u into both parti es . Those who h av e real lyloved can on ly fo rm an i de a of wh at w ereth e feel ings of H uber tine ; she w as in
deed m i s erab l e : her attachment to Charl esFitzosborn w as m ost s incere ; she had
n eve r know n th e b les s ing of res id ingeithe r w ith fathe r, mothe r, brother, or
s iste r ; her’ s w as not a div ided atfection .
Fitzosborn w as th e fi rs t p erson who had
awakened in her bosom w arm e r sent im ent s th an those of esteem ; and sh e fel tth at in l o s ing hi s soc iety she was bereftof al l th at co u ld m ake th is l i fe des irab le .
n 5
58 BR IGHTON m AN UPR OAR .
When h e r gu ard ians w ere info rmed of
W hat h ad passed they w ere angry w i thher for encou raging th e attent i on s of anype r s on, w i th o ut thei r know l edge .
‘
Her
father ’s fami ly nevei“ fo rgave her , as
th ey con s idered i t an ind ign i ty to themth at she sh o u l d b e refu sed to be rece ivedi nto the fa
‘
r'
ni ly of a merch an t, as - they
pi q ued themse l ve s that n on e of the i r ancestors had ever been i n trade .
‘
O ne of
her c o u si n s h ad w r itten a chal lenge toFitzosborn, and h i s v al et mentiomng the
c i rcum stance to Hubertine , sh e p revai l edon th e m an to gi ve i t t o hi s m aste r ’ s s i ste r, and her interference prevented i t s
be ing sent .Hube rt ine was compel l ed to d i sgu ise
her fee l ings,as they on ly c reated ange rinstead of exc i ting comm iserat ion ; bu t
she was agreeab ly s u rp r ised by Fitzosborn, a few days afte r, appo inting a time
to m eet he r at he r s i s te r ’ s . They met,
and past m i se ry was ob l it erated by an
ticipation of futu re happines s . I t was
B R I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 59
agreed that th ey sho u ld w ai t t i l l some
fav ourab lek cbange took pl ace, and Mrs .
H consented that they sho u l d m eetoccas ionally at he r ho us e ; th i s they d id
for som etim e, bu t Hubertine being in a.
c on t inua l s tate of anx iety, he r h eal th v i
sibly decl ined . Her . re l at ions heard tha t
sh e saw Fitzosborn at he r s i ster ’ s, and
th ey p roh ib ited her, on. p ain of the i reve r last ing d i sp leas u re, eve r see ing himagain ; for i f h i s fathe r ' wou l d offer m i l
li on s th ey w ou ld never con sent to . h er
enter ing into his. fam i ly afte r hav ing‘been
on ce‘
rejected. She knew the imp rop r ietyof these s to l en in ter v i ew s, and at lengthdeterm ined to
"
obtain he r gu ard i an ’
s per
m l ssmn to l e ave England . She p l eadedher desire’ of imp rov ing he rself in the
fi ne arts, and they con sented , p rov idedthat sh e res ided in a conven t . An e lder lyl ady, who had a great regard for E u
bertin e, w en t w i th her, and the South ofFran c e w as fi xed on ‘for the i r res idence;ti l l M iss G odefro
'
i’
s healthshou l d be re
60 B R I GHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
e s tab l ish ed . They sai l ed for Bou rdeau x,b u t as they sough t for ret i remen t
,they
only remained a sh ort tim e in that c itythey then p roceeded to S t. Foy, a beanti fu l '
smal l town on th e Bank s of the
Dordogne. Here H ub ertine recove redher h ea lth ; but ne i ther h ers el f or com
pan i on cou l d gain adm i ttan ce a s boarder sin the convent of Les Dames d e l a
.
Foy,
as their order w ou ld not al l ow th em to
tak e P rotestants ; otherw i se, I n r ight of
her m oth er, H ubertin e c o u ld h ave de
mended an asyl um w i th them . They,however
t got l odg i ngs n ear th e convent,and th e gre ater p ar t of the i r t im e was
passed‘
w ith th e l ad i es of th at monastery .
H ubert in e read, w orked, and d rew w i ththem ; sh e al s o s tu d ied mu s i c : in sh or t,th i s w as th e happ iest perIOd Of Miss
G odefrOI 3 l ife . Every post b rought her
l etter s from Charl e s Fitzosbor'
n, wh i lst
her h o u rs w e re ded icated to imp ro vemen t,i n th e de l ightfu l . ant ic ipat ion that she
wasga in ing knowledge and accomp l ish
BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 6 1
ménts th at w ou ld ‘ rende r he r a morep leas i ng compan i on to th e obj ect of her
affections .W hen h er h eal th was suffi c iently esta
bl ishcd, sh e l eft St . Foy, as the Marqu i sde St . Va l er e h ad m ade he r an o tte r ofhis hand ; and al tho u
gh he had been re
fu sed, he w ou ld not forbear intr ud ingupon her. Thi s determ i ned h er to returnto th e Dom in i c an con ven t in Cal ais, at
wh ich plac e Fitzosborn came to seehe r,and h i s attent ion w as s u ch
,as
’
to conv inceher, that no al terat ion had taken p l ace inh i s sent iments s inc e she had l ast seenhim .
H ubertine continued to de vote al l h e rt ime to th e imp rovem en t of her m ind !
sh e l earn t I tali an, read Anc ien t and Modern H i sto ry ; i n sh ort, every momentw as emp loyed in the hop e of giving p leas u re to Fitzosborn . With th i s imp ress ion, i t i s imposs ib l e to desc r ibe he r fee lipgs, w hen sh e w as in formed that a p e rson had a parce l wh ich he co u l d on ly
62 B R IGHTON I N AN UPROAR
del iver into her hands: sh e went to thep arlo ur, w here sh e saw a n
!
Engl i sh
g room : dem and ing h i s b u s iness, he an
swered th at he w as se r van t to LordCom pton , bu t th e p arcel c ame from Mr .Char le s Fitzosborn . She opened
‘
i t'
w ith
the fond ex pectati on of hear ing of'
his
heal th and happ iness, w hen th e fi rst' ob
ject wh ich attrac ted her not i ce was her
own p i cture, w i th a few l ines in th e co
v er to req u es t that h i s might be returne d
to him, and al so h i s l etter s, as he h ad
en c lo sed he r ’ s .A ston i shm ent seemed topetr ify al l her
fac u l t ie s ; she becam e a perfec t s tatue,
and had ne ith e r p ower to ar tic u late or
move. The parce l fel l from he r hands,and she s u nk w i th o ut moti on into a ch ai r .The groom fel t for he r
‘
s i t u ati on, and
rang the conven t-bel l v i o l en t ly . He r O l dfr iend, Mrs . G rant, ~ w as cal l ed, - and
H ubertine was carri ed to her ~
apartment
in a stup or . No tears cou l d ' sh e shed
sh e seemed insensible to al l s urround ing
64'
BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
w ith such conne cti ons ; b ut these wereonly rep ort s , for H uber t ine n ever knewfrom wh at cau s e Char l es Fitzosborn hadth us doomed h e r to w rétbhedness .
H er characte r became qu i te changed ;sh e co u l d not settl e to any th ing : reading, d raw ing, and n eedl e wo rk, w ere al ln eglected . Mus 1 c had s u ch an effect onher sp i r i ts, th at i f by ch an ce sh e h eardthe s ound of an in st r umen t she w ept b itterly. I n th i s s i tu ation of m ind , herfr i ends, th e Abb es s and St . Victoi re,thought i t a favo u rab l e oppo rtun ity top revai l on her to emb race th e Cathol i cfa ith , and l eave a w o r l d in w h ich she
cou l d on ly m eet w i th perfidy and dece i t .Mo st gl ad ly w ou l d sh e h ave taken thevei l, b u t Mrs . G ran t i nfo rm ing hergu ard ian s of wh at w as l ikely to h appen ,they des i red , th at i f
‘
sbe co u ld not p rev ai l on H ubert ine to retu rn to England ,th at she wou l d make a to u r, as p robablych ange of scene m Ight resto re to her thatsereni ty wh ich she had lost.
BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR . 65
Mrs . G rant l oved H ubertine as a
daughte r, and h ad l ong w i shed to see
h er u n i ted to th e Baron de St . Aubert, ayoung man who h ad shew n a great partia l ity for her ; there fore sh e con t r iv edto m ake a party for th e int ended expe
d ition,in wh ich th e Baron de St . Aubert
and h i s m other sh o u l d form ap art . Theyv is ited al l P ic a rdy
,and then remained
s om etim e w i th Hubertine’
s relat ion s i nFlander s . He r unc l e at th i s t ime heldth e s ame offi c e th at h is b rothe r h ad fi l led,and the A rchd u chess at th i s p er iod al soheld her cou rt at B r u s sel s . The Barond
’
Arrambert p resented h i s n i ec e to he r ;and i f H ubertin e cou l d h ave forgottenCharles Fitzosborn , she m igh t h ave b een
h appy . She w as by no mean s a beauty,b ut he r pe rson and accomp l i shmen ts w eres u chas to att ract adm i rat i on ; added tow h ich , as h er un c l e h ad n o ch i ld ren,andw as ch ance l lo r of the L ow Countri e s,i t w as p res umed th at h er fortune wou l dnot be contempt ibl e . She had a l ready
66 BR I GHTON I N AN urnOAa .
eight tho u sand pou nds , wh i ch , thoughi t was
‘
not'
reckoned m uch in Engl and ,was though t a h and some for tune in afo re ign coun try
,and her conn ect ion s in
B r u ssel s p la c ed h er i n the fi r st rhuk of
soc iety .
The Baroness de St . A uber t w as e xtreme ly fond of Hubert ine. The Baron
W as,an on ly ch i ld , and she knew h i s hap
piness fdepended on h is m arry ing Miss
G odefro'
i . The old l ady p l eaded his
cause m ost p ow erfu l ly , and h er unc l eapproved of her espou si ng a fore igne r .She therefo re fel t th at sh e c ou ld m ake ‘
noreasonab l e obj ec t ion to un i t ing herse l f toth e Baron d e St . Aubert ; b u t th e idea ofent e r ing i nto any m at r im on i a l engage
m eri t was to he r d read fu l ; for al thoughhis n am e n eve r pas sed he r l ips , y et F itzosborn was n eve r from her tho ughts .She w as
, howeve r, s o import uned byhdadame d e St . Aube rt and her unc l e,th at sh e dete rm ined to s ac r ifi ce h e r own
feel ings, as she h ad now given up al l
BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR. 67
i de a of happ in ess . S he therefo re can
didly tol d the bhron eve ry th ing w h ichhad passed ; the s trong attachm en t w h ic hshe feared she sti l l fe l t for Fitzosborn,w hom she w ou ld endeav o u r to
i
ob'
l i te ratefrom he r recol lec tion,
'and i f he co ul d,
afte r su ch a rec ital, w i sh to h ave her,
sh e wo u l d c on sen t to becom e h i s w i fe onthat day tw el v e month s . SO far fromobj ec t ing, h e was del ighted at obtain ings u ch a p rom i se . A l l the p arty w ere r e
joiced t hat she h ad giv en he r con sen tfeasting, dan c ing, and al l so rts of amu se
ments, w e re resorted to d u r ing the i r resideuce i n the
'
L ow Countr i e s ; and, frombeing of a ret ire d h ab i t, H ubert ine hécame abso l u te ly d i s s ipated, freq uen tingal l p ub l i c am usement s, and n ever easy (
bu t when I n l a rge c ompan i es . I n fact,she frequen ted these gay as sembl ie s , beca u se she fel t i t now her d uty to fo rgetFitzosborn ; and i t w as on ly in scene s offeast ing and m i rth th at h e was for one
m omen t abs ent from he r m ind I t is
68 BR I GHTON I N AN urROAR.
difi cul t to desc r ibe h er feel ings i she
though t of him w i th no sent imen t of
anger ; h e w as dea r to h er reco l l ec tion,and wi th p l easu re . w o u l d she h ave re
s igned her ex i stence to p rom oteh i s welfare ; sh e w i sh ed to b e assu red th at hewas h appy, al th ough ma r r i ed to anothe r .On her r et u rn ing to Cala i s sh e fo undsome v ery kind letters from her father 'sfam i ly, exp re ss ing th e i r app robati on of
her h av ing ac cepted th e B aron de S t .
A ubert, and being no l onger in the d i sgracefu l
_
s itu ati on of keep ing up a co rresponden ce w i th a m an, w ho se fathe robj ec ted to he r becoming on e of h i s fam i ly ; tha t sh e w o u l d now he l d a rank
of l i fe supe r ior to Fitzosborn, andhOpingth at sh e wou ld not, on any acc oun t, e ve rsee or w ri te to him again . Hube rtine
now determ ined to rem ain in_
Engl and t i l l
she m arr ied , and i twas abo u t th i s p er iod
that h e r guard ian ,
“ th e l ate Mr . S tanton,d ied , and al so one of h i s daugh te rs, who
had accompan ied Miss G odefroi’
. Her
death was a mel ancho ly one : she,'
w ith‘H uber t ine and Mrs . G rant, l eft Cal a isabo u t five O ’c lock in th e even i ng, and
got to Dover in the n ight . The nextin orn ing Mrs . G ra II t
'
rose'
early, as shew i shed to d ine in London, b u t a sceneshe l i tt le expected fr u st rated he r intenti on . On cal l ing on Miss Stanton to r i se
,
she was al armed at not being ab le'
to oh
t ain any rep ly : she ente red he r room,
b u t st i l l no answer cou ld she Obtain toany quest ion ; the yo ung l ady on ly
'
gave
he r a v acant sta re, and th e m ot ion s sh em ade indi cated that sh e s uffered greatp ain . A phys i c ian w as . sent for, whop ronounced that h er ind i spos i tion p roceeded e i the r from hav i ng taken too
m uch Opium , or hav ing broken a vesse lin the head , by th e stra in ing p rod ucedby sea- s i ckness . Oth er ad v i ce was cal ledin, b u t al l the exert ion s mad e to s ave her
proved of no av ai l, and a few hou rs te rm inated her exi s tence . An exp res s had
been sent for Mrs. Stanton, as s oon as
70 BR IGHTON I N AN, UPROAR.
the doc tor h ad decl ared th at h i s pat ien t
w as in danger : she, w ith fou r '
of’ her
ch i l d ren, ar r i v ed the sam e d ay th at M i s sStanton exp i red . This in terv i ew betw eenMrs. Stan ton and Hubert ine proved to bemost so rrow ful ; th e fo rmer depl ored thel os s of a b elo ved d aughte r, and the l atte rl amen ted a fr i end w hom sh e had l o v ed as
a s i ste r, whose am i abl e d i spos i ti on, e l egan t accom pl i shm en ts andm anners, ren
deredher an in v al uab le c ompan i on . Whatadded
,i f poss ib le, to the m el an ch oly
catastroph e, was, that th e c au s e of Miss
Stan ton ’ s d i sso l u tion w as never r ightly
ascertained . .The m ed i ca l gentl emenw i shed to op en th e head, bu t s trong oh
jections w e re m ad e to th i s by an aun t,who had accompan ied
'
. the fam i ly toI )Over .
Three w eek s elapsed before Mrs . Stanton depar ted from Ken t . The,Baron de
‘
S t . Aubert, as soon_ .asvba was
'
informed
of the mel ancho ly ,even t
'
that had taken
pl ace, was anx ious to jdinV
Hubertine'
;
72 BR IGH TON IN AN UpRoka .
‘
con fessed th a t sho u ld h e even aga in re
t u rn to her, . no dep endance co u l d hep l aced ’ in a ch arac ter wh ich d i d not poss ess s tab i l i ty ; and to
'
a d is pos i ti on l ikeher ’ s , i f afte r mar r iage he neglected he r,She shou l d be a most w r et ched and miserab le c reatu re . Yet such was h er infatuation, th at sh e w ou l d m uch r ather
have been h i s w ife, in the mos t ind igent:c i rc um stances , than un i ted to any othe rp e rson in the greatest affluence . She
W I shed, yet d readed to m eet him ; and
the day p re v i ou s to h er l eav ing town, assh e w as com ing out of a m u s i c- shop inthe Strand, sh e saw him w i th h i s e lderb roth er . They d id not even bow ; and
for the fi rst t im e in her l i fe, H ubert ine
fel t angry w i th Charl es Fitzosborn . This
w as a dec ided in s u l t in her op in ion‘
and
i f the Baron de St . Aubert h ad m ade hisappearan c e at that moment, in her p re
sent state of m ind , she w o u ld most wi l
l ingly h ave become his b ride.
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR . 73
CHAP III .
Ah! why, my heart, thus nurse a flame,W
'
hichreason shou ld remove ?
W'
hy dwel ls rememb ran ce on a name
I dare no longer love ?
Y et,ah! the bands affection wove
W ere twin ’d wi th every thought ;W hi le hOpe to guard the b lossom strove
)
Her fostering sunshine b rought.PRATT.
HUBERT INE d id not depart for"
W i l tsh i re in the bes t s p i r its in the w orld , for
Charl e s Fitzosborn, not tak ing any
notic e of her, bad wo unded her p ride.
She w as rece i ved w i th great affect i on byM r . andMrs . Bante r, and e very day theyw ere engaged to forma l d inner p arti es,wh ich , w i th other v is it ing, took up the
V OL . I . E
74 B R I GHT ON I N AN UPR OAR;
greate r p ar t of th ei r t ime . They al so
attended Sal i sb u ry races, s o th at d u r ingth e firs t month of H ubertine being in thecountry they we re c on stan tly engaged .
The Baron de St . Aubert w as a regu lar
c orresponden t ; sh e a l l ow ed h e had greatm er i t, and was des erv ing of her undiv ided affection : h i s m othe r t reated her w ithth e greates t respect, and decl ared th at tosee her son un ited to Hubertin e was th ew ish nearest her h eart. She w as conv inc
ed'
that the’
fam i ly sh e w as ab o ut to en terw ou l d do every th ing wh ich dep ended onthem , to con t rib ute to h e r c om for t and
h app iness ; and she p referred res i d ing inFrance to remain ing i n Engl and . The
Baron de St.'
Aubert w as v e ry handsome,and had recei ved a l ib eral ed ucat ion .
B oth h er Engl i sh and Fore ign rel at i ves
app roved of th e match , and preparation s
w ere maki ng for i t s c omp letion . HadH ubertine nev er know n Fitzosborn, th e
Baron dc St . Aubert wou l d assu red ly have
been the obj ect of her cho ice ; h i s beh a~
BR IGHTON I N AN uPROAR. 75
v iour to he r was gene rou s and del icate,and sh e was s u re th at sh e sh ou l d
have no reason to repent of any engage
m ent wh ich sh e ente red into w i th himb ut
,st range as i t mu st appea r, h av ing seen
Char le s Fitzosborn, a l though he t reated
her w i th n egl ect, and not even w ith common c iv i l ity, i t h ad b rought past scene s
so forc ibly to her recol lec tion, that sh e
feared , in giv ing her hand to the Baron,ahe
'
shou l d not m ake him happy, wh i lstshe wo u ld her sel f be p erfectly m i serab le,as she was now conv inced that ne i the rabsence or neglect coul d ob l i te rate fromher memory th e reco l lec tion o f Fitzosborn .
She was in th is agitated state of m ind
when two l ette rs we re p resented t o he r‘
,
the one from Charl es Fitzosborn, theother from h is fathe r . They w e re p rec isely on the sam e s ubject ; that if she
w ould give Up al l c l aim s to Fitzosborn,and p rom i se never in futu re to rece i ve anyaddresses from him, that h i s father wou ld
E 2
76 BR I GHTON I N AN UPR OAR .
take him into partner sh ip . Hubertine’
s
Sp i r i t now indeed rose ; th i s w as a cr ue li ns u l t ; had sh e not been tw i ce rej ected,( the l as t t ime no reason ass igned for s u ch
treatm ent) and now t o w o und he r feelings by su ch a req ue s t, appeared to hera refinemen t on c r u el ty . She immediately
rep l ied to Mr . Fitzosborn , i nc los ing hisow n and son ’ s l ette r
,and exp re ssing he r
sel f in such l anguage as m u st conv incehim he had n oth ing to fea r from any at
tachment that h i s son had o r m igh t have
for her . To Char l es Fi tzosborn she gaveno an swe r; her p r id e, and th e si tuation she
s tood in w i th the Baron St . Auber t, fo rbade her p a int ing th e agony of h er. fee li ngs to him ; for, al though he had rendered her for ev er m i se rab le, she cou ld not
b ring hersel f to w r i te any th ing wh i chm ight giv e him pa in . He r rel at ions werea v erse to he r taking notice of e ither of
the l ette rs, b u t for her to treat th e fathero f Fitzosborn w i th disresp ec t w as im
possib le . Every thing was now a t an
BR I GHTON IN AN U PRO AR . 77
end between h er andFitzosborn : sh e h ad
pl edged her hono u r in th e m ost solemn
manner , that in futu re she w o u l d ne ithe r
c or respond w ith him or recei v e h i s v i s its ,and at th i s moment h e r ex i stence w as al oad wh i ch sh e wo u ld glad ly have re s ign
ed ; but th e tr i al s ofher heart we re not toend here .The fol low ing m orn ing sh e was des i redto attend a yo ung gentl eman , who had
j ust ar r i ved in a post - ch ai se and fo u r,apparent ly in great haste . He refusedgi v ing hi s name, s aid h is b u s ines s was
u rgent, and h e m u st see Mis s G odefro i'
imm ed iately . When sh e ente red the roomsh e w as s u rp r ised to see Charl es Fitzosb orn, and her aston i shmen t gained add itional fo rce at h i s inform ing her, th at nothav ing had any an sw er to a letter wh i chhe h ad add ressed to he r, he come to im
pl ore th at sh e w o u ld g iv e him s u ch are lease as w ou ld p rov e to h i s father thatshe had no c laim s on him . Thi s be en
treated to h ave immed iately, as some15 3
78 BRIGHTON I N AN UPBOAB.
’
fam ily arrangem ents w er e then tak ingp l ace . Miss G odefrdi
’ conv in ced himthat sh e had sat isfi ed h i s fathe r on th ishead , and he took h i s leave . Thi s wasthe l as t t ime sh e saw Fitzosborn . Thatsu ch a m eet ing was m os t d i st res s ing toh er m ay e as i ly b e bel ieved b u t sh e w as
compel l ed to smother her feel ings , as herrel at ion s had
‘
no compassw n for her, as
th ey thought th at sh e wan ted that p roperp r
’
i d e wh i ch every fem al e o ught to posses s on a s im i l a r o ccas i on . Fitzosborn
w as s carcely dep arted before Mr . and
Mrs . Banter gave her to understahd th atthey sho u l d no l onger reques t her re
sideneew i th them , th an wh il e sh e adheredt o her engagements
'
w ith th e Baron deS t . A ubert ; and that I n fu tu re Charl es
Fitzosborn cou l d not b e rece i ved intothe i r hou se . Th i s reb uk e ob l iged he r toexp l ain to them from what cause hi s ap
pearance or iginated .
H ubert ine at th i s p er iod was Indeed an
obj ec t of th e greatest compass ion ;
80 BRI GHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
day mo re hor r ib l e . Madame de Lambal lew as h i s nea r rel at ion ; he w as al s o p
‘
art i a l ti) her for her ch ar i tabl e d ispos i t ion ,her gracefu l m anner, and the n umerou sv i rt ue s wh ich sh e possessed . On ly th em al i c io u s and the en v iou s cou ld acc u seher of fai l ings, the shadow o f whi chnever p assed hei‘ m ind, but i t w as sufii c i c
eat to be the favo u r i te of a queen,- to be
preo em inent forgrabe, ta len ts, and beau ty,
to becomethe subj ec t of sec ret mal ign i tyor open d etracti on for i t i s a r u lealw ays to ab use those w hose m er i t i s better rew arded than the defamers . St .Aubert con s idered Madam e de Lambal leas a perfec t character ; h e knew th atp overty and sor row in her eve r fo und a
fr iend, th at he r benev ol en ce even s u rp assed he r beauty
,and when he l earned
that th i s exalted w om an, a patte rn forhersex, had been r u dely torn from the Hotel
de l a f or ce, where sh e had been confinedand treated w i th the greatest ind ign i tyand cruel ty, tow itness s cenes too horrib le
BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR. 81
for fancy to dwel l on, and after v iew ingth e m u rderers p u rsu ing thei r sangu inarydesolations
,and p u tt ing quest ion s to her
wh ich she‘could not s ati sfy them by an ,
swering ; th i s so en raged the w re tche sth at they str i pped, ins u l ted her, and p u tan end to her ex i stence in a
'
m anner too
d readfu l to rel ate . The Baron de S t .Auber t gave this accou nt, and m ent ionedthat h i s m other w as anx iou s for him to
l eav e France as sdon as p oss ib l e, and be
t r u sted th at Hubert in e w ou ld, i n the
p resent c r i s i s of affai rs , see the p rop r iety
of acced ing to h i s w i shes, by p erm ittinghim to c om e imm ed iately to Engl and
,
and rat i fying those engagements which
wo u l d sec u re h i s h app i nes s ; that h i sm othe r wo u l d fol low as soon as she
co u ld sett le he r affai rs, as h e cou ld not
th ink of retu rn i ng to France, t i l l some
change had taken pl ace i n the gove rnm en t of that d i stracted coun try .
H ubert in e l ost no t imé in assu r ing theBaron de St . Auber t th at sh e shou ld be
E 5
82 B R I GHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
gl ad to see him , and w ou ld w ith p l ea ~
su re comply‘
w i th his w i sh es . Mr . andhi rs. Banter rem oved to the i r res iden c ei n Bath ; and p reparat i ons were mad e forthe n upt ial s of Hubert ine . The B aronarr i ved, the d ay w as fixed, and Miss
G odefro i‘ th ought h er fa te w as
,
i nev i ta
b l e, w hen n ew s r eached them that Ma
dam e de S t. A uber t w as conv eyed to p r ison, and the estate s e ized on in th e n am e of
th e Rep ubl i c th at the Pr inc e of Condew as rais ing an a rmy, and that al l the nobi
l ity of d i st in ct ion j o ined him . The Baron de St . Aubert w as
'
grieved at th i s ia
tel l igence ; bu t h e w oul d not in vo l v eH ubert in e in th e m isfortunes of h i s house .
The m arr iage w as postp oned ; and he
hastened to j o in th e Pr in ce of Cond é .
The part ing from the Ba ron de St .Aubert w as among the m ost p ain fu l sensations w h i ch H ubertine had e ver experienced. She h ad brough t hersel f t ocon s ider him as her husband , p rotec to r,and fr i end . His am iabl e q u al ifi cations
B R I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 83
ens u red him the esteem of every pers on
his genero s i ty and goodnes s to her knew
n o bounds : he was go ing to face rather
a band itt i th an a foe h e had lost h i s fa
m i ly estates, . and, in being separated fromh e r
,h i s happ ines s . I t appeared ,
to hera s i f she w as le ft a lone in the w or ldsh e h ad no comm un i cat i on w i th he r nea rrel ati ons : th ose w ith whom she w as tores ide w ere on ly cou s ins, and she pe r
cei ved that he r stay w i th them wo u l d noonger be p leasant th an wh il e she c ou l dcont r ib ute to thei r am u sem ents , as th el ady had been a spo i l ed ch i ld, and was
al so spo i led by her h u sband . She w as
capr i c io u s and overbear ing, and dependedon those about her for entertainment, asshe h ad no resou rces in hersel f. Hube rt ine w as ex trem ely accomp l ished ; sh eh ad in th e conv ent learned a l l so rts of
fancy w ork, and th e nove l ty of thesetrifles, for som e t im e, a
‘
m used her femalerel at ion, and she re igned as p r ime favouri te b u t H uber tine was cons iderab ly
St BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
younger than sher cou s in , and, be ing sin
gle, the men paid her '
more attent ion .
The l iberal ed ucation sh e had recei ved,and t he easy m an ne r s sh e had ac qu i redin France
,mad e h er soc i ety
'
t o b ecou rted by both sex es ; and in a sho rtt ime Mrs . Ban te r grew j eal ou s of th e at
tent ion wh i ch was p aid to Miss G‘
ode
froi'
. He r behav rour'
becam e total ly
ch anged ; she found fau l t w i th everyth ing wh ich H ubertine d id ; and th el atte r perce ived that i t was i rripossi ble tog ive sa t i sfact ion . He r s i tu at ion becamei n s upportabl e, for sh e h ad no fr iend nea rto w hom sh e co u ld app ly for adv ic e .
W hat equal tormen t to the grief of mind ,A nd pin ing
’
anguishhid in gen tleheart,That in ly feeds i tself with thoughts unki nd
,
A nd nourishesher own consuming smar tW hat med icine can any leech’s artYiel d sucha sore
,that dothher grievancehide
,
And wi l l to none her malady impart ?SPBNSBR.
She oc cas ional ly h eard from the Baron
de St . Aubert ; but h e had no safe pro
BR IGHTON m AN v en om . 85
tection t o offe r her, for Franc e continued
a scene of blood and s l aughte r and he
cou ld n ot e ven m i tigate h i s s u ffer ings byh ear ing from her , as , sho u l d he r l ette rsbe intercepted , h i s l ife w ou l d be the for
fe it . Many of h i s r el at ion s h ad al readyd ied martyrs to thei r k ing and country,and sh e had eve ry reason to dread thatthe sam e w retched fate aw aited . him .
Hubertine’
s s i ste r w as in Ho l l and for
from the ext rav agance of both part ies,Captain H . had been obl iged to l eaveEngland , and he h ad th e good for tune tobe appo in ted to a l u crat ive pos t under gov ernment in th at country . H ubert ine determ ined to go to them, con c l ud ing thatthere she m ight have i t in he r power togain some intel l igence of th e Baron de
St . Aubert . Change of coun t ry w ou l do ccupy her m ind ; and she w as stronglyinduced to leav e he r p resen t abode
, and
get r i d of th e addresses of an old I ri shnob lem an, whom he r relati ons thoughtw ou ld p rove a de s irab le al l iance, by ag
86 BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR .
grandiz ing the fam i ly . H ubertine wasof a different Op in i on , for sh e had no w i sheve r to change her s it u ation b ut i f sh ed id , she fe l t herself bound in honour to theBaron de S t . Aubert : for al though prev iously to h i s leav ing her he h ad noblyand generou sly rel eased her from a l l en
gagements, she determ ined to mar ry no
othe r .i
As soon as she made he r inteiitionsknown of go ing to Ho l l and, her re lation sexp res sed th e greatest sor row at partingfrom her for though he r c ou s in h ad beensu ch a spo i l ed daughte r and w i fe, s o th at
she p reserved no command over a natu ra l
v i o l ent d i spos it ion , sh e possessed m anyam iab le Qual it ies they sep arated on
the mos t:fr iendly term s and HubertineW as ob l iged to p rom ise that she w ou l d
on ly m ake a sh ort res iden ce in Hol l and,and return to them .
I n th e soc iety of he r s i ste r and her accomp l i sh ed daughter s , Hubertine fe i t
i
a
serenity to wh ich she h ad long been a
88 BRIGHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
they appeared d i sh eartened,and l ooked
upon the i r baggage waggons as if theyw ere taking a s u rvey of thei r hearses.
The dr ums and fi fes, wh ich so wonderful ly exhi l i rate the sp i r its on som e oc
cas i ons, now sounded in th ei r cars a dead
m arch . The Stad tho lder w as ala rmedat th i s appearanc e in h i s troop s ; b utcom pl iment ing them on th ei r m arti a l ap
pearance, he ral l i ed th e i r sp i r it s, and
exp ress ing th e h igh sense he enterta in ed
of thei r renowned valou r, told them th at
he cons ide red them as th e defenders ofth ei r count ry . H i s sm i les and atten t ionhad the w i shed - for effect, and th ey tie
parted w i th more ch eerfu l nessthan co u l d
have been expected . B u t if e ven a fewthou sand s of th e inhab itants heaved a
sigh'
for l oyal ty, and p rayed for a Safe re
tu rn of th ose b rave troops, and that they
m ight be c rowned w ith lau rel s, greate rn umbers s c rup led not op en ly to exp res s
the ir w i shes th at th ey m igh t be van
quished.
BR I GHTON I N AN UpROi R. 89
The fu ry ofparty now re ign ed in‘
Hol
l and ; and even the love of gain gaveway to th i s infatu ati on . The r ichestm e rchants espou sed the cau se of Fren chl iberty, al though sens ib l e th at i f the p r inc iples of eq ual i ty we re un i ve rs al ly adopted, th ey m u st d iv id e th at W eal th wh ichthey h ad acc um u l ated by year s of industry w i th th e son s of freedom , for they, infact, co u l d not be gai ners , b u t great l osers .The s itu ation w h i ch Captain H . held
in Hol land m ade him v e ry obnox io u s toth e Dutch ; and H uber tine saw that ifv e ry great changes d id not soon takep l ace on the cont in ent, that her s iste r andherse l f m u s t b e compe l l ed to ret u rn toEngl and . Th i s she extreme ly regretted ,as she w as w i th rel at ion s and fr iend swhose p u rsu its w ere sim i l a r to her .ow~n .
She was pas si onate ly fond of music se -l
v eral em igrants w e re th en at - the B ri l l,
who ex ce l l ed in th at del ightfu l sci en ce,and they had fre quen t con certs and bal ls.
A p r ivate theat re was attached to the
90 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR.
house and as Mrs . H . w as h ighly ao
compl ished , and poss es sed fasc inatingm anner s, sh e v ery often indulged he rfr iends w i th th eatr i cal amu sements .The coun try appeared to be th e re sidence of peace and p l enty : th e w el lc u lt i v ated grounds, th e beautifu l wh itecottages, and comfortab le farm hou se s,w ere Obj ects h igh ly pl eas ing ; and the
water exc u rs ions w ere del ightful . Hu
bertine p referred the soc iety of the
French , as th e Dutch parties w er e tooformal to p rove agreeab l e to he r, and she
h ad an I nvmc ible d is l ike to tobacco . The
c erem ony at these Dutch ro u ts was ins uppor tab l e th e c u stom of s itt ing w iththe feet on a box contain ing a sto v e,w h ich i s Supp l i ed w i th b u rn ing tu rf or
l i ve’
ashes, w as intol erab le ; and the gen
tlemen’
s sp i tt ing boxes were ex tremelyd i sgu sting . Fortunately th ese v i s its w erenot of long d urat ion , as s uppe r w as n eve rintrodu ced : bu t when a supper was gi ven,i t always comp reh ended a card par ty,
BR IGHTON I N AN UBROARJ 91 .
w i th the enormou s ci cel era of tea,‘
eof
fee, punch , cakes , &c . al l of w h ich werehanded sep arately at least six or eigh tt imes to each person . These feasts genera l ly begin abou t fi ve i n th e afte rnoon ,and end abou t one in th e m orn ing, thew ho l e of wh ich t ime i s p assed in smoaking and gormand iz ing .
Captain H . in th e co u rse of a fewmonths in formed h i s fam i ly that i t w ou ldbe advi sab le to h ol d them sel ve s in rend i
n es s to s ai l for England at a m oment’
s
n otice, as the Dutch now open ly favou redth e French p arty, and th e Pr in ce of
O range w as n o l onge r in secur ity at theHague .Of the Baron de S t. Aube rt, H ube rt ine co ul d gain no intel l igence : he hadl eft the army Of th e Pr ince of Condé, \andno one knew to what pl ace he had gone .Afte r e ighteen m onth s res idence in Ho ll and , Hubertine once mo re saw her nat i ve l and . Thi s w as a s ubj ect of deepregret to he r ; every pl ace she passed
92” BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
b r ing i ng to h er recol l ect ion p ast s cenes,w h ich induced her to compare he r p resentunp rotected s tate w i th h er early p ros
peets in l ife . She h ad mate ri al ly inj u red
he r fo rtune ; she had al low ed her mo
ther fi fty,
p ound s annu al ly for manyyears : sh e h ad al so as s i s ted h e r rel at ions,and she was aware that he r p resen t inc ome w o u ld not m ain ta in her in Engl andin th e m anner she had been ac cu stomed
to appear . It w as imp robab l e she sho ul dever aga in hear o f
/th e Baron de St . Au
b ert, as the reports wh ich had r eachedher gave her eve ry rea son to s upposethat h e was dead . She h ad a lw ays beenaver se to mar ry ing ; and sh e now determ ine d to s ink the rem ainde r of her for tune inan ann u i ty on her l ife . Thi s sh e soonaccomp l i shed, and got two h undred andeighty pound s pe r ann um,
‘
l eav ing a fewh und red s in th e Bank, in case Of s i ckn ess or any othe r con tingency .
A s soon as M I‘. and Mrs . Bante r h eard
that she'
was in Essex, she received a
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR. 93
pressing inv itat ion to make the i r h ou seher home she accepted the fr iend lyoffer, as she hope d her absence had p rovedto them that sh e had fe l t thei r formerunk ind treatm ent. I n al l the t im e wh ich shehad been in Hol land sh e had neve r gainedany inte l l igenc e of the Baron de St . Aubert
,or h is m othe r . She now con s tan tly
m ade inq u i r ies abo u t Char l es Fi tzosborn,and i t gave her s inc ere s ati sfact ion to h earthat he w as perfectl y happy, and had afam i ly Of p rom i s ing ch i ld ren, and th ath i s father had g i ven him an ampl e sharei n the bu s ines s .H ubert ine w as now m i se rab l e ; she
passed ‘
her l i fe in a rou nd of d is s ipationi l l s u ited to her d i sp os i ti on ; she was na
tu ra l ly ext rem ely l i v ely, b ut th e disappo intments she h ad met w ith in an ea rlya ttachment, and th e di sagreeab l e s i t u at ion s in wh i ch al l her neares t rel at i ons w ere p l aced by thei r extravagan c e,had gi ven a pen si ve col o u r to he rm ind . Reti rement, mu s ic, books, and a
94 BRIGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
’
few chosen friends, could alone pr o veagreeab l e compan i on s to H ubert ine assembli es, bal l s, and ro u ts, had no l ongerany . charm s for her .She had a fr i end for whom she fialt a.
sis te r ly affect ion th is fr iend was th e w ifeof a gent l eman who was secretary to a
n ob l e l ord , who then c ommanded in theMed iter r anean she was a beaut ifu l W Oo
m an, pos sess ed agreeab lem ann ers, and res i ded ina v i l l age near Fareham in Hamp
sh ire . Hubertine had l ong p romi sed to
pass some m onth s w i th he r, and she nowdeterm ined to fu l fi l h er engagemen t . I n
the soc iety Of this l ady time flew r ap id ly,and several naval gentl emen res id ing nea r,th ey h ad frequently p arties on board sh ip .
A t a bal l On board th e P r inc e George,Hubert ine attrac ted the not i ce of a Colo
nel ofRoyal Mar ines h e got int rod u ced toher fr i ends, and soon mad e her an od
'
er ofh i s hand, wh ich she instantaneou sly rej ected, and thoughtnomore Of this hero : some
time after he w rote to her to r enew his
96 B R IGHTON I N AN v oAR.
l and . The Col one l appeared to her tob e a sen s ibl e man ; h i s m anne rs werethose of a p ol i sh ed gent l em an, and he
w as con s i derab ly o lder th an herself, w h ichw as an addi t ional recomm endat ion to
H ubert in e, and at th is m om en t, w henshe fel t pi qued at th e treatmen t of he rr el at ion, sh e r en ew ed her co r responden cew i th the Colon e l , and app ointed a d ay
w hen she w ou ld m eet him at he r fr iend ’ sbonse in Hamp sh i re . They met, and sheconsented to be h i s wife . He h ad on l yh i s pay -t o offer, b ut w i th h er ann u ity,both togeth er w ou l d be sufli eient to proc u re the neces sar i es of l ife . One par t ofthe agreem ent w as that sh e sh ou l d alwaysresid e i n the s ame v i l l age w i th he r fr iendb ut when th e deed was done, to de sc r ibeHubertine
’
s agony of m ind w ou ld be total ly imppssib le. When sh e
,
reflectedcoo l ly
,and compared Colonel Mortim er
e i ther w i th Charl es Fitzosborn Or th ee l egan t Baron de St . Aubert, he l ost considerab ly in her
'
estimation . Her fr iends
BR IGHTON I N AN U PROAR . 97
were al l as ton i shed thcv ad v i sed, theyent reated h e r to cance l an engagementw h i ch they feared co u ld on ly be p rod u c
t i ve of m i sery, as th ey h ad been to ld
th at th e Colonel possessed a v iolen t tem
pe r z—b nt th e d i e w as cast . H ubertinehad p l edged h er h'onou r, and
,in her
state Of m ind , sh e fel t indi fferen t to what
m igh t p rov e h e r futu re l ot.
H ubert ine now found th at to be con
stantly in the Colone l’s comp any h ad he
come d istres s ing to h er , and sh e dete r
m ined to go to som e fri ends sh e h ad . in
Essex , and rem ain w i th them t i l l theaw ful
i
day arr i ved when sh e w as to v ow
obed ien ce to he r futu re h u sb and . I n
th i s ab senc e sh e though t sh e shou ld gain
s uffi ci en t strength of m ind to meet‘herfate w i th re s ignat ion, for in her un i onw i th the Colonel sh e d i d not exp ectrom ant i c h app ines s ; sh e only w ished tofind i n him a p rotecto r
, an agreeablecom pan i on, and a s ince re fr i end .
The fam i l v‘
w ithwhoni Hubertine was
V OL . I . F
98 BR I GHT ON IN AN UPROAR'
.
go ing to s tay cons i sted Of - a w idow and
two daughte rs, the yo ungest of wh omw as marr ied to a “ Maj or in th e a rmy, butst i l l res ided w ith he r mothe r . By marriagethey wer e connected w i th Mis s G odefroi
’
s
fam i ly ; they pos sess ed a hosp i tab le di s
p os i t i on, and e very so c i a l v i r t u e, and
w eI e that d esc r ipt ion of person s whoco ul d emb lazon a court, or render a
c l ay - bu i l t h u t env iabl e !
They were fittedOr i n Oour ts to shine
W i th unaffected g race, or W al k thePl al“ :W
'
i th inn ocence and medi tation join ’d
I n soft assemblage 1”
These l ad i es w e re b les sed w i th a w armthof hear t w h i ch extended th e i r benevo s
l ence to every Ind i v i d u al in d i st re s s and
i n th i s h ou se of peace and qu iet H ube rt ine ’ s expectat ions w er e answ ered . She
r eflected on th e m i s fo rtune s of he r pastl ife ;
‘ sh e cons i dered her p resen t s i t u ati on,
and exam ined her own heart : the res u l t
IOO BR I GHT ON I N AN UPROAR .
a hou se in Titchfiel d, w h ich was ready ,
for thei r recept i on . Mrs . Mort ime r w as
rece1 ved by her fr i end s in Hampsh i re
w ith‘
great kindness, and sh e began to be
recon c i l ed to her new s i tu at ion but th isfeel ing w as on ly of short durat ion, as inthe cou rse of s ix weeks sh e pe rce i ved av i s i b l e al te rat ion in her h u sband . He
bec ame ab sent, thoughtfu l , and s o i r r itab le, th at i t w as impossib le to p lease him ;and he fre quen tly qu itted h om e for se vera l days together H ubert ine took no
n otice 0 ? th i s ; sh e n ever m ade any ih
qu iries w here h e h ad been, and alw ays
recei ved him w i th ch eerfu l ness, b ut onh is retu rn one even ing be acc u sed h e r of
w an t of fee l ing, 1n neve r hav ing asked th e
cause wh i ch had p rod u ced su ch a ch ange
i ii h i s beh av i ou r . He info rm ed he r, thath owever smal l th e degree o f affect i on sh e
m ight hav e for him , yet i n the p resenti n stance h e r ow n w el far 'e was m ate r i a l ly
concerned ; th at it w as most’
pa in fu l to
him to be obl iged to d isc l ose h i s r eal s itu
BRI GHTON I N AN UPR O 'AR . 101
ntion ; b ut as h e had reason to expectthat sh e w ou l d resen t h i s h av ing imposedon he r, be trusted th at sh e w ou ld bel i ev e him, w hen he as s u red her th atheh ad expected to rece ive s om e p r i ze-money
that was d u e to him from th e c aptu re of
Tou l on, wh ich w o u ld have enab led him
to d i sch arge a few debts , w hi ch h ad nowp l aced him in an awkward p red icam ent ;h e h ad also to info rm he r th at he had
two son s, the eldest fi fteen, the yo ungesttwe l ve years of
i
age ; th at they were then
at s chool at th e Whal ebon e Ac ademy,
and that h e h ad at th at m oment intel l igen ce that i f the i r school i b i l l w as not:
pai d they w o u ld be sen t hom e, and l ega lm eas u res taken t o reco ve r th e deb t duefor the i r boa rd and ed u cat ion .
Mrs . Mortime r was petr ified at t h isinform ati on ; i t te rm inated by h i s po inti ng out, th at th e on ly w ay to s av e h i sc red i t and comm ission w as for H ubert ine to consent to h av e h er annu ity sold,as h e confessed that h e had ra ised money
F 3
1 02 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
On h is pay, for wh i ch he h ad ins u redhisl ife
‘
and agreed to p ay the inte rest, and
p art o f th e p r inc ip al annual ly, wh ich reduced h i s p ay to si xty pounds a yea r .Mrs. Mort imer h ad no alte rnat i ve, and
her annu ity was p arted w i th . Her h u sb and d i sp osed Of th e m oney asbe though t
prOper, and'
soon after h e was orde red tosea . I n th e fi rst l ette r sh e rece iv ed fromhim he requested th at sh e wou l d haveh i s s on s home, as keep ing them at s c hoo lwas attended w ith an enormo u s expence ;and that sh e was perfec tly
~
q u al i fi ed to
instr u ct th em in Engl ish, French ;”d raw
i ng,a nd geography, and that as ‘ soon as
he retu rned h e w o u ld th ink of pl ac ingth em e ith er in th e a rmy or navy . Mrs .Mortimer d i d not fee l he rs el f e qual to
ed u cate two boys of s u ch an age, b u tsh e w as fearfu l bf offend ing th e Col onel,
“
therefore sh e appl ied to h er rel at ion s forthei r adv i ce
,being dete rm ine d to ab ide
by thei r op in i on . They obj ected to h e r
hav ing the ch i ld ren h ome, unl ess the
104 BRI GHTON I N AN UPRO AR .
and H ubertine was going to a strange
pl ace, knowmg no p erson n ear, and i n a
s i tu at ion wh i ch requ i redthe greatest careand k indness . The idea of go ing intobar rack s w asm os t repugnan t to h e r senseof del icacy and p ropr iety, and her hus
b and was ( if the sam e op in i on ; he made
every exertion t o obta in a hou se ; b u tC hatham was th en fu l l . Of n av al and
/
m i
l itary ofiicers, and i t w as some t imebefore
_
he cou ld p ro c u re a residence at am oderate ren t . Abo ut th i s t ime she al sohadthe afll iction of l os ing her younges t
b rother, t o w hom sh e w as S i ncerely at
tached'
hei
'
was a c apta i n in th e a rmy,w ith e very prospec t of r isi ng r ap i d ly, b u t
the yel low feve r term inated h i s ex istencein th e p r ime Of l ife. He h ad not been l ong
m a r r ied to th e s i ste r of a baronet, who
w as an adm i ral , serv i ng at th at per iod
i n the ‘vV est Indi es , and when h i s w ifel earnt the fatal new s of h i s death, i t af
fected he r in tel lects, and sh e n eve r re
c‘overed her reason .
A few week s after Col onel Mort imer
BR IGHTON I N"
AN UPROAR . 105
became settled in h is h ou se in TroyTown h i s fam i ly w as augmented by a
son, and H ubertine had scar cely l eft her
room,afte r h e r confinement, before the
Colone l w as ordered to Ipsw i ch, on the
rec r u i t i ng serv i c e . He had a l ong sea
cred i t, and i t w as conc l u ded th at hewou ld be continued in S uffo lk for two or
th ree years . P rev i o u sly to h i s departu rehe sen t both h i s n atu ra l son s to sea, andas out of the i r l im ited income i t w as im
poss ib l e to, s u ppor t two estab l ishments,i t was dete rm ined , th at as soon as ' Mrs.
Mor t imer c ou l d‘
bear the j o u rney, she
shoul d let th e i r h ouse fu rn i shed , and j o inthe Colonel . Un l u cki ly, th e w i fe of theGeneral who then commanded the R oyalMarines at Chath am was a; w oman of
very low extract i on ,and as Col onel Mort i
mer p osses sed great w it, and d i sl iked v u l
gar ity, he h ad in cu rred her d i sp l eas u r e,and, as i s alw ays the
/
case
,
in s uch connect ions, th e l ady had he r h u sband underexcel lent command, and was in fact com
r‘5
106 BR I GHT ON I N AN UPROAR .
m and ing offi ce r ; therefo re, at th e end of
a m onth , th e Col onel w as o rdered to jo inqu arters , and a few d ays after sen t w itha rec r u i ting party to S cot land .
i
This ex
pen ce greatly inc reased h i s p ec un ia ry di ffi cu l ties, and ob l iged him to di spose of
his fu rn i tu re a nd’ hou se in Troy Tow
-
n .
Mrs . Mortime r w as l eft to c ondu c t th i sb u s iness,b u t b efo re i t w as ac compl i shedshe had a l etter from the Co lonel ’ s ser vant,t o beg that she w o u l d immed iately j o inh i s m aste r, as h e h ad a retu rn of the gou ti n h i s stomach , and the fac u l ty th ough th e cou l d n ot l ong
”
s u rv i ve . I n couse~
quence of th i s inform ation, sh e exped i ted
the s ale ; b u t w as compel led to wa i t t i l l
th at w as fin i shed for hav ing a s upply of
m oney todefray the eXperice of her
j ou rney .
Al thoughMrs . Mortimer saw to eve rythi ng herse l f, and was to appearancecomposed, sh e very sev erely fel t herhaples s lot ”
and th e con sequ ence w as, thatthe chi ld, whom she then nursed, became
108 BRI GHTON'
I N AN UPROAR .
day, w ou l di
provoke h i s anger another .
Frequ ently when sh e h ad engaged hersel fto go to a ro u t, or an assemb ly , after she
w as d re ssed for the occas i on,hew ou l di ns i s t up on her not going, al leging thatthe expence of such par ti es d id not su i this fi nan ces . A few h ou rs afte r h e w ou l dfi nd fau l t w i th he r for not hav i ng gone,say ing that h e on ly m ean t for the futu r eshe should dec l ine s uch inv i tat ion s , and
w hen she d id refu se, hewo u ld m ake her
go ; as it was pro pe r,howeve r distres sedthe i r si tu at ion, that they sho u ld keep up
a n appearance eq ual to the i r r ank .
They o'
n ly rem ained one year in North.
B r itain, and as soon as they returned toRoch ester
, the Colonel was appoi nted toa guard sh ip at th e No re . Mrs . MortI
mer had now two ch i ld ren, and sh e w as
compel led\to‘
forego, ndt on ly the com
forts, but the n ecessari es of l i fe; t o keepup that respec t in the c orp s wh ich w as
abso lu te ly n ecessa ry for her h usband’ s re
spectabi l ity. She parted w i th great p art
BR I GHTON m AN UPR OAR . 109
of her wa rd robe, whi ch , when she m ar r i
ed, was of con si derab l e val ue ; and if ithad not been fo r the sake of her ch i ld ren,she w o u l d have s unk under the m i serab lec i r c um s tan ces in w h ich
’sh e now foundhersel f. The Col one l ’s h ealthw as s o bad
'
that h e w as freq i i ently at home d u ringth e t im e he bel onged to the gu ard - sh i p .
t en he was i l l Mrs . M o rt imer neve r l efthim
,and s omet imes for S I X w eeks to
gethe r, in th e m os t sev er e w eathe r, shehas sat i n h i s b ed - room w i thou t fi re , ash e conce ived i t affected h i s re sp i rat i on.
A c i v i l rep ly was sel d om gi ven to any
th ing she s aid , and in short sh e was a' per
feet s l ave to h i s c apr i ce ; e ven not hav ingth e indulgences of a comm on serv an t .When she cou ld no longe r concea l herm i sery , h e was l i ke a d istra cted person,a sked p ardon, p rom i sed m ore k indnes sin futu re , imp uted h i s beh av iou r toj eal ou sy, as he w as s u re she p referred theBaron de S t . Aubert, or Char lesFitzosborn to him : regrette d that she had
1 10 BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR .
been educated w i th s u ch h igh not ion s, asthey m ade he r u nfit to encoun ter th e di ffi cu l ties attend an t on a sold ier ’ s l i fe .One day a. dem and was m ade on him
for paym ent of a note of h and , w h i ch haden ti re ly es caped h i s recol l ec ti on . He
came to . H ubert ine in th e greates t agit at i on, decl a r ing that li f eve r he was a rrested he wou l d shoot h im se l f, and sh ewing h is p i stol s , s aid h e always kep t theml oaded for that p u rp ose . H e h inted th ath e knew H ubert ine had som e tr inkets
wh ich w ere val u abl e ; they had beengiven her by the Baron d e S t . Aubert ;except ing a r ing, s et w i th smal l b r i l l i ants,in w h ich w as Fitzosborn ’
s h ai r . I n re
sign ing th is, sh e fe l t as i f sh e w ere sep a
r at ing from al l that her hear t h el d mostdear . The Colone l then requ ested th at
she w o ul d take them ,
’
w ith som e of the
p l ate,to a p erson in London , to
i
whom he
wou ld g ive he r a l ette r, and that th ey
wo uld advance money on the a rti cles .
She acco rd ingly went to a’Mr. Parker, in
1 12 BR I GHTON I N AN U PROAR .
Flem i sh l anguages , he fixed a d ay forher d epartu re. Sh e d i d a l l in her p ow e rto av o i d th i s jou rney, for sh e h ad a fewm onth s be fo re rece i ved a l ette r from th eBaron de St . Aub ert, expressmg h i s astdn ishment at never h ear ing from her, as
he had w r i tten rep eatedly . H e h ad leftth e Pr in ce of Condé ’ s a rmy se ve ral yea r s;had retu rn ed to France in d isgu i se, and
rem ained~
con ceal ed t i l l th e p eace . H e had
r ecovered h i s p rope rty ; and h i s mothe r
was p rep ar ing e v ery th ing for Hubertine’
s
recept ion, as sh e , t r usted she shou ld now
see her son happy . M rs. hl ortimer en
c l osed th i s l ette r to he r old fri end , andreq uested Mrs . G rant te g i ve a c i r c um
stantia l accoun t of her s itu a ti on . I t m ay
n at u r al ly b e s up po sed th at a fter suc lr
inte l l igence sh e co ul d not w ish to go toFrance ; b ut she m ade i t an i n var iab le
ru l e n ever to oppose th e Colonel ’s w i shes ,for sh e had determ ined rel ig io u s ly to.
perform th ose d ut i es “wh ich sh e had
vowed at the al tar, that hereafter she
BRI GHT ON I N AN upnosa . 1 13
m ight never h ave to reflec t upon her selffor her past c ond uct . At the appo in tedt im e she attempted to go toFrance, b u tfrom great ind ispos i tion and anx iety of
m ind , when she a rri ved at the coach
Ofli ee at Ro chester,she was se i zed w i th
fa int ing fi t s ; a s u rgeon w as s ent for, andshe w as com eyed h ome w ithoil t any
symptom s of e ve r recover ing . An exp ress was sent for Colon e l Mort ime r, whoth en commanded at Woo lwi c h he was
much affli c ted to find he r in s u ch a s i tu at ion, and remained at hom e t i l l she wasp rono unced out of d anger .He imp lo red her, as so on as sh e was
ab le,to go to Br u sse l s , as h e w antedtwo
h undred and fi fty pounds immed iatelyth i s sh e painful ly p rem i sed ; and atthe end
of th ree weeks on ce more set off for theL ow Coun tr i es . The Co lone l gave he rs i x gu ineas to defr 'ay the expences of he rj ou rney ; bu t as cont rary w inds detainedher for fi ve d ays at Do ver, afte r p ay ingth e capta in of
,the packet, she had on ly
I H BR I GHTON I N AN UPR O AR .
fi ve sh i l l ings l eft . She l anded at Bologna,and fortunate ly a Mon s ie u r Aud ibert res ided there, to . whom sh e was knownshe exp lained her s itu ation to him, and he
ad v anced her money to p ro ceed to Flanders.
1 16 BR IGHTON I N AN U PR OAR.
Colone l Mort ime r was gl ad to see her,
becau se she w as necessary to regul ate h i sh ou se conce rn s , and h i s b ad heal th re
qu ired cons tant attendance ; b u t H ube rt ine was real ly shocked at s ee ing the
great al ter at ion wh ich h ad taken p lace inh i s appearance since' she p arted from him .
H e in fo rmed h e r th at h e had been v eryi l l
, a nd h e cou l d not help s u sp ecting thath e had exper ienced a p aralyt ic affecti on,wh i ch h ad a ffec ted one of h i s feet . He
expressed great d i sp leas u re at'
her hav ingbro ught o ver on ly fou r h undred pou nds,as h e expected and requ i red a m u chl a rge r s u pp ly ; and she had great diffi
c u l ty in conv inc ing him th at to p ro c u re”
that sum it had n ea r ly cos t h er do ub le,as th e l egacy l eft h er byh er u ncl e w o u l dnot becom e d u e for somet ime, and that
i t wo u ld not b e p ai d t i l l the , e x p ira tiono f the year . She was con s equently obl iged
to rai se the money whi ch sh e now presented f to him,
as the Baron d’
Arram
b'
ert ’ s affa irs were in a very derange d
state ; and as i t h ad not been ascertainedw hat w ou l d prove to be th e amoun t ofh i s p roperty , wh at her sh are m igh t
‘ bew as extremely u nce rtain .
This sum c am e veryi
oppo rtunely toth e col onel
,as i t extr i c ated him from th e
m ost p res s ing of h i s d iffi c u l ti es ; added
to w h i ch,Mrs . Mortim er had a cous i
derahle qu ant i ty of her aunt ’ s ward robes .The l aces w ere ve ry v al uab l e
,and she
c leared by the d isposal o i'
them near lyth ree —h undred pounds . H ubertine W as
v ery anx io u s that al l th e p roperty sh e
h ad becom e ent itl ed to by her unc l e ’sdeath shou ld be sett l ed on her chi ld renb u t sh e was d i sappointed in th i s, as she
had eve r been in any w i shes she hadfo rm ed .
The j ou rney ab road h ad not added toh er d om esti c fe l ic i ty ; she had met w i ths uch a
'
w a rm and affecti onate reception,and s u ch k indnes s from her fr iends on th eCont inen t, that the col d m eeting w hi ch
she rece i ved from he r h u sband , h is eu
1 18 BR I GHT ON I N AN UPR O AR .
‘
stere manners, and constant i l l - humour;cau sed her to l ament th at sh e had ever‘
u n i ted he r fate w i th h i s . H i s h eal thcont inu ed
,
extremely bad, whi ch inc reasedh i s natu ral p eev ish d i spos i t i on, and m adeit ~
requ ire al l th e fort itude wh i ch she
cou l d m u ste r t o pe rfo rm h er d ut ies wi thany degree of chee rfu lness.
She on ly retu rned from France in Fe
b ruary, and war was again expected in .
the m onth of Apri l . Col onel Mort ime rexp ressed h i s fears, th at i f, d u r ing the
p eace,he d id not sec u re h i s w i fe ’s
p roperty in Flande rs, h e sho u l d ne ve r
get p osses s ion of i t, and he aga in pro
posed th at sh e sh ou l d go to B ru s se ls .Th i s she m ade strong obj ect ion s to; as
her un cl e h ad not yet been dead m o re~ th an n ine month s , and her l egacy th ere
fore co u l d —not be pa id ; even i f i t was,
m ost p robab ly th e“ p roperty cou ld not be
d i sp osed[
of w ithou t cons iderab l e 10 58 .
She al so hoped , by i ts r ema in ing abroad,to secu re i t to her chi ldren b u t al l she
120 Ba ren crou . I N . AN barm an .
w h ich , to say th e t ru th , w ou l d h avebeen m os t agreeab le to her fee l ings , i f
she had not had ch i ldren who d emandedh er imm ed i ate care ‘and attent i on .
When she ' arr i ved in B r u sse l s,sh e
found e very th ing in the s am e state as sh el eft them at he r d ep art u r e from '
thence.
Much of he r uncl e ’ s p rope rty had'
n ot
yet been d i s c over ed : th ey h ad foundsom e m oney bu r ied in h i s gard en , and a
sma l l quan t ity of p l ate ; and they had
reason to s uppose th at the earth concealedm u ch m o r e . G reat obj ect ion s w er e ad~
duced r espect ing se l l i ng-
the es tates, as
m oney w as at that t i the ve ry s ca rce, and
the co untry s t i l l felt th e d isastro u s effect s
of th e w a r, under w h ich they h ad re
cently sm arted,and th e peop l e d readed
th at th ey shou ld/
soon be engaged in ano
ther ; few p ersons w er e therefore‘
anx io’
us
to pu rchas e land , as they p refer red keepi ng the i r m oney '
for fea r ‘
of, or rathe r to
be p repared for, the fu ture .
By e very pos t Mrs. Mort imer rece ived
summ on l N AN ur a osa . 12 1
l ette rs from th e Colonel, u rging he r todi spos e of he r legacy at al l events, as i tw as ab sol u te ly i nd ispens ab l e that he
sh oul d have m oney . She con s u lted her
relat ion s ab road , cand id ly exp la in ing to
th em he r s it u at ion ; and as th ey foundth at she c o u l d not retu rn to Engl andw i thou t money
, they had p roper deedsd rawn
,m ak ing over her sh are of the
Baron d ’
Arram bert’
s p roperty to a Mon
s ie u r de l a/Motte for fi ve hundred
po unds . The l atte r was a man of str ict:hono u r, and co u l d b e tr u sted ; and a
cl ause was inse rted in th e deed, by wh ich,if the p roper ty so ld for more than that;sum , Hubert inewas to h ave the ha l f of
su ch inc rease . The woods, wh i chwereval u ab le, and cou ld not then b e d isposedof, were not in c l uded in th i s agreem en t .Mrs . Mortimer sta id abo u t a fortn ight
i n Flanders , as she though t i t adv iseableto p ay some attent ion t o he r mother
’ s rel ations: they were p er sons of rank and
wea lth ; and she hoped, hereafter,that1 . e
122 B R I GHTON I N AN UPROAR :
they m ight be of serv i c e to h e r ch i l d ren,whom sh e was s ens ib le she had m ater i a l lyinj u red, in comp lying w i th th ei r father
’
s
w i sh es ; b u t i t w ou l d h ave been impossib l e for her to have l i ved w i th Co l onelMortimer , i f she
‘had not imp l i c itlyobeyed him .
H ubert ine and her fr iend had p'
ro
ceeded to B r u ss e l s by l and ; but as theseason of th e yea r w as now m os t invi t ing,they determ ined to retu rn in th e barges,by wh i ch m ean s _ th ey sh ou ld see m or e ofth e co un try . This c onv eyanc e was al so
m u ch less fatigu ing than th e p ub l i c car
riages/Which are ve ry d ifferen t from the
comfortab l e stage- coach es in England .
They met w ith a l a rge fam i l y- p arty inth e b arge from Ghen t, be ing n ot l essth an fi fty pe rsons, and conta in ing s ix ge
nerations. They had come from Hol l and
to attend th e f a i r at B ruges,“
and i t wasa charm ing sight
‘
to see so m any happy
faces r
the cou ntenances of th e o ld grand
father and grandmother bore testimony to
124 BR IGHTON 1 N AN UPROAR .
d’
hote, not l ess than onehundred per sonsof a l l nat ion s, trades, and
‘occupat ions,si tt ing down to d inne r . Three bands ofm u s i c p l ayed d u r ing - th e repast : sever alch i ld ren d anced figu re dances
,and s u ch
a n o i se w as neve r befo re heard,th e v a
r ion s l anguages s poken giv i ng an i dea ofth e confu s i on of tonguesat Babe l . The
l ad ie s w ere soon ti red, and they qui tted,w i th o u t regret, a scene, the novel ty c f
w h i ch at fi r st amused thei r attent ion, bu t
w h i ch ended in ~ such t um u l t and no i se ascom pletely d isgu sted them .
M rs. Mortim e r had dete rm ined to p assa w eek at C ala i s, and had anti c ip ated
w ith del ight the'
prospect of being once
m o rew i th her dear S t . Vic to i re ; but
al as a fatal i ty cont inued to fr u strate a l l
her w i shes for unforseen events p re
v ented their t a rr iv ing at C a l ai s t i l l the
n ex t even ing. Being fatigu ed w i th the i rj o u rn ey, they proposed reti r i ng ear ly to
r es t, and to defe r seeing the nun s t i l l the
n ext day ; but scarcely had they undressed
BRI GHTON'
I N AN UPR OAR . 125
themsel ves , before they w ere r ou sed byMon s i eu r da Croc q , to inform th em th ata cour ie r hadjust ar r i ved from Par i s, and .
i f th ey d id not sai l by the p acket, wh ich
w as then go ing, m ost probab ly th eyw o ul d b e detained somet im e in Fran ce,as orde rs w e re i s s u ed to forb id any com
m un ication w i th Engl and t i l l farthe ro rders .
H ubertine fel t th i s to b e a ve ry severed isappoi ntment, b u t i t was her d u ty tosac r ifice her own p leas u res to the w el fare
of he r h u sband and ch i ld ren ; and how
e ve r re l u ctant sh e fe l t a t l eav ing a p l aceend eared to h er by form e r h appy scenes,she instantly h el d herse lf in read ines s t o
dep ar t . The packet, in con seq uen ce of
i ts be ing the l ast to sa i l for England,w as s o c rowded as scarcely to adm it o f
stand ing room ; b u t a gentl eman seeingthat Mrs . Mortime r appeared m uch iad i sposed , h umane ly ins isted upon res igni ng h i s bed to her . A s John B u l l se ldom l ets any opportun i ty s l i p of tak ing
G 3
126 BR I GHTON 1N AN 'UPROAR.
ad vantage of th e t imes, th e capta in ofth e vesse l demanded th ree gu ineas - ofeach passenger, wh ich th ey fel t no
“
rel uc
tan ce in paying to e scape from beingp l aced in a French p r i son .
Luck i ly thei r passage p roved a sh or tone. Mrs . h‘l ortimer and he r fi iend p n ly\
b reakfasted at Do ve r, and s u rp r i s ed theColon el by an u nexpected ret u rn ,
a s fromhis
,
w ife ’ s l ette rs he h ad no expectation of
see ing her for some days .No k ind recep t ion greeted M rs.Morti
mer on h er ar ri va l : h e on ly appeareda nx iou s to hear how sh e h ad d i sposed of
her l ate unc l e ’ s pr op er ty, and wh at sum
she h ad brough t ove r for him . He wasex t remely d i sp l ea sed to find that she h ad
not e i ther d isposed of o r ra i sed m oney on
he r sha re in th e woods and th i s induced
h'
ér' s t i l l mo re to l amen t that sh e h ad notsettled the w hol e of th e l egacy w h i ch
th e Baron d’
Arrambert‘
had bequeathed
he r on her ch i ld ren, as i t was l eft ent i rel y
a t her own d isposal . I f the Revol u t ion
128 BR IGHTON I N AN ‘
UPROAR
he s ent for Dr . V to attend her and
w o u ld, at that ‘moment, h ave sa cr i fi ce d
every th ing for he r recovery . Befo reshe w as w el l
,her el dest d aughter w as
se i zed w ith the sca r let fe ve r and to desc r ib e th e dep l orab l e state to wh ich thech i ld w as red u ced i s s carc e ly p ossi b le .When she sh ewe d symptom s of re co ve ryshe had every appearanc e of bal ug an
id i ot ; she was p erfec tly d eaf, ne arly’
dumb, and h ad en t i rely l ost the u s e’
of
her r igh t s ide,a nd t o add to Mrs . Morti
m er’s afflict i on, Dr. V at'
this per i odinform ed he r th at she m u st prepare hersel f for a severe r tri al as Colonel Mar»
time r bad a l a rge fam i ly, h e cons ideredi t an i nd i sp ensab le duty in him to tel l her,th at if h i s wor l dly con cern s were not
settl ed, that no t ime sh o u l d be los t in arranging th em . He confessed th at th erew as very l ittle t prob i ty of eithe r herhu sband or her ch reco very, as theColonel ’ s compl aint was a d ropsy in the
’
BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 1 29
ches t,wh i ch always te rm inates in s udden
death .
The Colonel s u spec ted what h i s com
p l ain t w as, and w as s o afrai d of dy ingthat h e wo u l d neve r l et h is w i fe be one
m omen t out of h i s p resence . Tn her w eak
state she h ad not on ly her own i l lnes s to
con tend w i th , b ut was ob l iged to attend
on her h u sband and s ick i nfant , and
from thei r l im i ted income, compel ledgto
c ons i der ll OW ’ sh e cou l d l ay out eve ry
penny to the greates t advantage.A t
l ength , find ing sh e c ou ld not do jus'
tice
b oth to her ch i l d and the Col one l, she
p l aced he r d aughte r under thecareof anol d se r van t who had l ived m any yearsw i th h e r . Fo r ten n ights H uber tine had
n eve r been in bed , o r undressed, w hen afavou rab le change took p l ace in the C ol enc l
’
s d isorder,
a nd he w as p ronounced
out of d anger, w h i ch added greatly to
the shock she rece i ved, when in tak ing a
d i sh of tea out of he r h and he fel l backand exp i red .
130 BR IGHTON I N AN‘
UPROAR.
How many fal l as sudden,n ot as safe !
A s sudden,thoughfor years admoni sh’d home.
Of human i l ls the last ex treme beware,
Beware,L orenzo ! a slow
,sudden death.
How d readful thatdel iberate surpr1se !
Be W i se to-day,’ tismadness to defer ;
Next day , the fatal p receden t w i l l p lead !Thus on
,ti l l w isdom is push;d out of l ife
Procrastination is the thief ,of time ;
Year after year i t steals,ti l l al l are fled
,
And to the mercies of a momen t leavesThe vast concerns of an eternal scene !I f not so frequen t, wou l d not this be strangeThat ’ti s so frequen t, this is stranger sti l l .
YOUNG .
f ll l rs. Mort ime r l amented th e death of
th e Colone l , asth e fathe r of he r ch i ld r en ,
as h i s ad v i c e and inte rest wo u ld.
have
been of great u se to them . Wi th re
sp ec t to herse l f, sh e w as re leased from a
l ife o f m i se ry and when sh e[ reflected
on h er own cond u ct, she co u l d not ac c u se
herse lf, in any one in s tanc e, .of ha v inggi v en him offenc e . She had str i ctly pe r
formed the dut ie s of a w i fe, and th i s h e
had always done her the j ust ice to de
132 BR I GHTON 1N'
AN_ UPR OAR .
ply was, that as C olohel Mortime r haddied in his , del)t he co u ld not
i
comply
w i th her w i shes . Th i s w as an ad
ditiona l affli ct ion ; but th e h um ane and
good Colone l T . Of th e Roya l Mar inescam e to he r, w i th the G ene ral who com ~
m ended th e Chath am d iv i s ion , and de
si red that sh e w ou l d m ake h ersel f easy,‘
a s”
he w ou l d undertake to h av e a p rop erfuneral for h i s late fri end ; and as Dr . Vhad informed him th at the l l O
i
lJSG V.as inan Infe ct i o u s state, th at he shou ld take
the two boys w i th him , and in the e v en -F
i ng send a cha i r for Mrs . Mort ime r andher infant, as h i s rel at ion , Mrs . B arnes ,who res ided in the Vines, at Rocheste r,w ou ld w ith p l eas u re acc omm odate he r .
Mrs. Barnes w as an e lde rly l ady of l a rgefo rtune : her hou se w as
”
i n an a i ry s itu
ati on ,and th e benevol en t ow u fe as un i
v ersa l ly bel o ved and re spected for her
chari ty and gene ros i ty . H ubert ine te
m ained w ith th is l ady for th ree w eeks, a s
her house was ob l iged ‘
to undergo a
BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 133
compl ete pa int ing, wh ite -w ashing, and
c l ean ing,b efor e i t was safe for e i ther
h ers e l f o r ch i ldren to return Her
ol d fr iend M rs. G ran t c ame to he r, andthey looked i n to al l the Col one l ’ s pap ers.
She‘ fo u nd a w i l l exec uted at'
sea, l eav i nghe r so l e eirec utrix ;
\
and she al so metw i th som e m em o rand um s, i nd i cating thath e h ad , ou t of th e l ast rem i ttan ces fromB r u s sel s, can ce l led the greater p ar t ofth e m oney for w h ichh i s l ife w as ins u red,and that the pol i c i es of tho se insu rancesw ere in h i s agent ’ s h ands
, and' am o un te d
to u pw ard s of £300. Mrs.
’Morti ~
m er w rote to the gent leman , exp res s ingher su rp r ise that he co u ld refus e to ad
v ance th i rty po und s when he had secu r i tyi n h i s h ands to s u ch an amount , espe~
c ia l ly w hen he k new she w anted th e mo
ney t o b ury h i s late fr i end .
‘
I n an sw erto th i s , he informed
'
her that one of the
p ol i c ies w as l ost, therefore i t w as on;
ce rta in whether sh e Co u‘l d ' ever r
'
e
134 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
co v er th e money ; b u t as Mrs . Mort ime r
w as not s u ch a n ov i c e in mon ey con ce rn s
as t o be ~
satisfied w i th th is rep ly, she
con s ul ted a p rofes s i ona l gentl em an Ofem i
m ence on th e s ubj ect,who info rmed herthat as there was a proof that th e agent
had rece i ved th e p o l i c i es of“ ins u rance
,
they m ust bep rod u ced by him . Severall ette rs passed on th e occ as i on, and i t wasn ine months from the death of her h u s
hand befo re sh e rece ived th e money, asshe w as sometim es p u t Off by b eing info rmed that th e agen t h ad th e go u t, and
coul d not attend to b u sines s : then h e
was gone to R i chmond for ch ange of
a i r and at l as t sh e was obl iged to em
pl oy a gentl em an to settl e th e b us iness forher .Mrs. Mortime r ’ s l ittl e g i r l c ont in ued
in th e m ost deplo rabl e way, s o.
th at sherequ i red con stan t care and attdndance,w h ich inc reased he r expences i n s u ch am anner that she coul d ve ry i l l a fford .
”
136 BRI GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
c o u ld t u rn to he r ch i ld ren ’ s ad vantageth e tr ifling ac comp l i shment s sh e posses s
ed. Draw ing had a lw ays b een a favou
r i te occ upat ion w i th he r and sh e was ad
v ised to p ub l i sh a botan i c al w o rk bysubsc r ip ti on . She w as averset o th i s , asshe knew her ab i l it i es we r e not equ a l tosu ch a task ; b ut as i t w as expected of
her, she'
immediately set abou t i t , tr u st
i ng th at a genero u s p ub l ic w o u ld m akeal l owance s when they con s i de r ed th e mo
ti v e wh ich induced her to intru de s u ch a
publ i c ati on on them . Anothe r st rongi ndu cem en t t o p ubl i sh by s ub sc r ipt i onw as, the arden t des i rew h i ch sh e had to
l i qu i date h er l ate h u sband ’ s debts ; and
in th i s she s ucceeded, as from her exer
t ion’s sh e p a id them a l l w i th i n tw o yea rs ,amou nt ing to ’ th e sum Of fo u r h u nd redand e ighty p o und s .W i th in a yea r a fte r the Col one l ’s deathMrs . Mortim e r w as agreeab ly s u rp ri sedat rece i v ing the fo l l ow ing l etter from S irTimothy Fl ight .
nm enron m AN ven om . 137
Madam ,
You may recol lect my h av ing hadth e p leasu re of accompanying you fromDov e r to Ro cheste r . When l as t in
tow n , I heard, from yo u r co u s in d
’
Orv i l le,
of the m i sfort une wh i ch you h ad exper ienced. I t w as my w i sh to serve you , andI s uc ceeded in obtain ing two subscrip
t ions, one from Mrs . D. w ife of th e B ishop of D and one from th e B i shop of
B B ut when I sent the names to thebooksel le r, he refu sed to take them;un l es s the person s came themse l ve s,and gave the i r money . A l low me tosay , th i s s tr ikes me as a b ad p lan , and
if I m ay take a f u rthe r l ib’
erty,w ou ld i t not be adv iseable, i f the rai s
ing a sum be an obj ec t, to p ub l ish a
sm al l ch eap ep itome of you r w ork w i th
out p late s , wh ich w ou ld s ati sfy these
subsc r i ber s who w i shed to se r ve you,w i thou t h av i ng so handsome an equiva
lent for thei r s ubsc r ipt ion as you r present
138 BR IGHTON I N AN v enom .
wo rk, wh ich m igh t b e an inducement t op erson s unaequa inted w ith you to s ubscr ibe . I hope th at youwi l l not th inkmy adv i ce indel icate, nor my begging
you to add ress a few l ines to me, Sou thst reet, G ros venor - s quare, wh ere I sh al l be
on Tuesday, m en ti on ing th e c i r c umstances in wh ich yo u are p l aced, wh ich
may be .
th e means ofi my fu rthe r serv ing
vou .- t u you r ch i l d ren are of an age
t o he p l aced at s ch ool , i t wou l d give me
p leasu re to as s is t them , if you w i sh tosend a boy to Eton th rough me, i f it
sho u ld be in my p owe r .I remain
,Madam,
Yo u r ob ed ient h umb l e ser v an t,TIM OTHY FL IGHT .
l Val l ingtO'
n,October 25th, 1 805.
Th i s w as a m os t unex pected offer ;and Mrs Mortimer gave s uch a reply as
ind uced S i r Timothy to make a m inute
inqu i ry, by retu rn of post, into th e state
of her fi nances.
140 Ba renT'
ON I N AN v en om .
a‘ti on as m ight c onv ince him ’ th at he r-5
‘self
and ch i ld ren w e re obj ect s of com
pas s ion . H e had some con versat i on w i thCol one l B on th e s ubj ect, and Si rT imothy settled w i th th e Col one l them anner in w h ich he cou l d b es t ser veMrs. Ntortizher and her fam i ly . Everyp erson who has exper ience d revers e of
fortu ne; or who can feel the anxiety of aparent for t he w e lfar e of he r ch i ld ren,w i l l form s ome idea of Mrs . Mort im er ’s
del igh t at r ead ing the fo l l ow ing lette r .
York , Nov . 4th.
Madam,I tr us t you w i l l f org iv e the
l iberty I h ave taken i n i nqu i r ing intoth e state of you r c i rc um s tances . Mym ot i ve w as not i d l e c u r io s i ty, and i t m u s t
hea sou rce of grat ificat i on t o yo u , th atth e s l ight inqu iry I have made h as satisfied me th at not on ly yo u r m i sfo r tunesb u t ypur condu ct en ti t les yo u to any sl igh tassistan ce >it m ay be in my power t o o ffe r
you . With thi s impres s ion, it affo rds me
BRI GHTON TN AN UPROAR . 141
the h ighest p l eas u re to as s i st you, i n gi v
ing a fai r tr i a l of you r boy’s abi l it i es—I
w i l l u ndertake th e expence of h i s ed u c at ion to q u al i fy him for the ch u rch
, and
i f, as I doub t not, h e w i l l t u rn ou t w el l,havmg home fr iends in th e ch u rch , hemay b e enab l ed in a
- few yea rs to p rov i d ea cOm rtab le h om e for yo u , i f you
shou ld then fee l ti red ofyour p resent s i t uation , and d i spo sed to ret i re to the tranqu i l l i ty of a country l i fe . Y ou may re
member, m adam , w hen I had the p l easu r e
of a ccompany ing you from Dov e r, thatI m en t i on to you , fr om my hab its not being expen s iv e, that I had amp ly th em ean s in o ffer i ng,dered in i d le superfiu ities, any tr ifl ing -as .
w hat m igh t b e squan
si s tence t o any person s, whOse \ m isfor
tunes and me r i t ' gave them a c la im on my
feel ings , and yo u m igh t perce ive, thoughnot Of the
i
firi ished m anners ofmany you ngm en . Sc rup l e not th en , to be under at r ifling ob l igat ion to a pe rson w i th whom
you are so s l ightly acqu ai nted ; the Oh
142 BRTGHTON TN AN ven om .
l igation w i l l be on me, i f by you r good
ca re Of him, you r boy tu rn s out wh at Ifondly hOpe,
h e “
may, a val u ab lem emberof a chu rch wh ich I revere and l ove.
Though i t w ou l d be gratifying tom e
o ccas ional ly to see how your b oy goe s on,as th e menti on of my n ame m i gh t c reaterepo rts d is agreeab l e to you, if i t b e you rw i sh, you m ay m ent ion to me occas i onal ly, by lette r, an ac count of h i s p rogre ss,and I sh al l des i re my banker s rtO acceptany d rafts yo u d raw unde r anothe r name.
Y ou w i l l b e good enough never to ment ion my .
n ame to any pe rson l i v ing, as,th ough not of eq u al con s equenc e to meas to you r sel f, i t w ou l d h u rt me to hear
i d l e rep ort s c i rc u l ated"
you w i l l b e good
enough l ikew i s e to b u rn al l my l etters ;the W i l l p rec l ud e the pos s ib i l ity of mynam e eve r be ing known , wh ich the com
mon d i spos itionto rep resent c i rc umstances ,
Justifies me, i f on ly for you r sake,i n
my p recau t ion to conceal Y ou w i l l
be good enough to d raw ou -Dcvaynes,
1441 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
of h i s l arge fortune sh ou l d as s i s t an~
o fficer ’ s w idow, l eft w ithfou r infants ingreat ind igenc e, espe c ial ly as /his am i
ab le d isp os it ionand char i tabl e ch arac terw ere u n i ve rsal ly known . She cons u l tedher fr i ends, and determ ined to regu l atehe r rep ly by wh at they
‘
u m ight con s i de r tob e r igh t, and they co inc ided in the presen t instanc e w ith her ideas of p rop r ietyupon w h i ch, Mrs . Mort im e r expres sed
her th anks to Si r Tim othy forh i s b ene
v olent offe r, and info rmed him , that i fany secrecy
‘
was requ i red, sh e“
mu st beobl iged to decl ine i t, fOr reasons wh i cha re gi ven abov e . Thi s p rod uced the
fol low ing k ind an swer .
Nov . 22nd.
Madam,
As my on ly w i sh res p ect ing you rson
‘ i s that h e sh ou ld h ave in every res pect a p roper and l ibe ra l ed u cation, toq u al ify him for the re spectabl e p ro fess ion
for wh i ch you intend,him , yo u w i l l be
the best j udge of th e s it u at ion most pro
BR IG HTON . I N AN a OAR. 145
p er and agreeabl e to you rself. Had you
not know n a good school , I had thought
o f recomm end ing Mr . JOhns’ s ch oo l at
Kensington ; b ut the edu cati on there i s
n ot so imm ed iate ly to th e obj ec t of prepar ing boys for Eton , and therefore Mr.B i rch ’ s schoo l ( wh i ch I hOpe i s th e verybest sch o o l i n vo
i
ur n e ighbourhood )w i l l b e th e best, and you w i l l h ave the .
sati s fact ion pf hav ing him .near to yo u .
I t i s not my w i sh to p l ace yo u in a d i sagreeab le s i tu at i on by the
‘
concealment o f
my nam e ; wh ich I shal l on ly m ere ly beg ,
you not to mention'
unnecessari ly . Were
you to p ubl i sh an ep i tom e of you r betan ical w ork, on th e p l an I to ok the l ib erty
'
of s uggesting, i t m igh t, I sh ou ld hope;p recl ude the necess ity of you r n am ingm e, w h ich i t appears to me adv iseab le, i f
pos s ibl e to avo id .
I tru st that -yo u w i l l not obl ige me to~
repeat my reques t, that you w i l l d rawl i bera l ly for every requ i s i te expence : in
the ar ti c l e o f food, may I beg that he
V OL . I . H
146 BRIGHT ON TN AN UPR O AR .
‘
m ay b e al lowed ( if i t b e not th e d iet ofth e s ch ool ) a l iberal qu ant i ty of tea andporte r, or two or th ree gl as ses of w ineevery d ay ; i t c annot be expected that agrow ing ch i ld can app ly m u ch, un l e s she h as a p r op er qu an t i ty of p l a in wh ol esom e food such innoc en t refreshment asthat I h ave m ent i oned to h i s del icatesp i r its, and wh i ch is
‘
very d i fferen t fromp amper ing a ch i l d w i th t rash . I taketh e l iberty of s uggest ing these th ings, of
w h ich yo u w i l l be th e bes t j udge, as Iremembe r th e effects on my heal th and
sp i r i ts , by hav ing been st inted wh enyoung .
I rem ain , Madam,
You r obed ien t h umb le ser vant,T I M OTHY FL IGHT.
M rs. M o rtime r had m ent io'
ned the
s choo l of th e Rev . Mr . B i rch i n R ochester
,as it w as not an expen s iv e one, and
th e ch i ld wou ld h ave b een immedi ately
under her own inspect ion b u t when S i r
148 BR I GHTON I N AN UPR O AR .
ades i re th at -he may h ave a p roper qu ant i ty of pl ain wh olesom e food , particul arly of tea . I have known th e badeffects of not h av ing p roper food at s chool ,w he re the s l op s gi ven to grow ing boysare sca r ce
_
fi t for p igs . Person s h avefan c ies abou t tea ; in fact, i f made ofs u ffic ien t s t rength , and taken c o ld
,i t
i s as*
strengthen ing as bark , and m u c hl ighte r i t i s d r inking i t h ot, and W eak
,
and m aking i t too sweet, that a ffe cts th es tomach and n erves and I con s ider i t anab sol u te necess ary for a st u d io u s p erson .
Though not s o fatten ing as m i lk , wh ichi s somet imes g iven to boys , i t i s m u chm o re strength en ing, m o re w arm ing, and
yet m ore refresh ing . It i s impossib l ethat a boy who feeds on heavy food, fi t
for a l abou re r ’ s chi ld , can be expected toapp ly w i th ad v antage or pleasure to st udy .
Y ou w i l l h ave the goodnes s not to quote
m e as h av ing made th i s d i s sertat ion, bu t
i t must ce rta inly be yo u r w ish , t hat I n so
BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR . 149
trifli ng a c i rc umstance as d iet, y ou r son
shou ld hav e e very ad v antage .
The p l an I took the l iberty of recom
mend ing,rel at i ve to you r w o rk , w as t o
p ub l i sh a smal l ep itom e , th at the s ubscr iber s m igh t hav e thei r cho i ce : youh ave sh ew n yo u r l iberal ity in p ubl i sh ingi t on i ts p resent sca le, and the bookse l l e r
m igh t inform th e s ub sc r ibers that th eep i tome w as pub l i sh ed , by the recommen
dat ion of you r fr i ends, for those who d idnot w ish to hav e the
'
large w ork .
I remain,Madam,
Your obed ient h umb le serv ant,TIMOTHY F L IGH T .
P . S . Sho ul d you e ve r find you rse l fin any imm ed iate p ec un i ary embar rassm ent, you w i l l I hope d raw on my
banke rs .
On the receip t of th i s l etter Mrs .Mortim er con s u l ted sever al gentl emen,who al l adv ise d her to p lace her son a t
H 3
1 50 BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR .
the s choo l re commended by Si r Timothy, as being a far s uper i o r sem inaryto the one wh i ch she had ‘
in v i ew , and
that h e woul d ther e m ake s u ch conne ct ions , a s m igh t be o f great se rv ice to himth ro ugh l ife . I n con sequen ce of this
ar rangemen t,’
Colon e l B . w a i ted on th eRev . Mr . Johns, i n form ing him , th atat the des i re of S i r Timothy F l igh t,Maste r L otterel Mortim e r
“
w as to he
p l aced under h i s care, and - it was
w i sh ed that h i s ed u cat ion sho ul d qu a
l i fy him for th e ch u rch . Mrs . Mortimer w en t to Ken s ington w ith he r son ,and was m u ch p leased w ith th e heal thys i tu at ion of th e school ; she was del igh ted
w i th th e m anners of Mr . Johns, h i s
w i fe, and s iste r, and w as c onv incedth at her boy m u st be h ap py unde r thei nspection of person s of the i r am i ab l edeportm ent . On her retu rn to Ken t shei n formed S i r Timothy that her ch il d wasat s chool
,and he gav e an immed iate re
p ly to the info rm at ion .
1 59 BRI GHTON tN AN UPR OAR .
food , as b read and b utte r, pl ain m eat,
and p l a in fr u it - ta rts, as he l ikes ; i f i t b eyou r w ish , good bee r, for th e bee r h ew i l l b e al low ed i s p robab ly w retched.
These th ings appear t r ifling ; bu t hav i ngknow n the m isery ‘
o f being stin ted at
School ( wh ic h y'o u w i l l be good -enough
not to rep eat ), i t i s my w ish that h e shou ldnot on ly h ave p l en ty of w hole som e food,but by
-hav ing h i s tende r sp i r it s nou r i s hed ,
'
at l east, by so innocen t a refreshmentas tea, wh i ch I w i sh him to h ave of
pal e b l ack, at l east e igh t'
or ten sh i l l ings
[ a pound , to b e m ode rate ly sw eetenedw i thth e best doub l e -refined s ugar , w h ichi s cheaper
,as wel l as m ore w holesome
than the coarse ; and th at yo u w ou ldspeak to Mr . Johns, to see h imse lf that
i t be not changed for i n fer io r so rts, ( hem igh t break fas t w i th Mrs. Johns ) that
he m ay take pl e asure in h i s stud ie s .Chi ldren, bybei ng fed w o rse than our
c a l ves and ~
pigs> a re m ade tohate sch ool ,w h ich they sh ou ld l ike as thei r home .
BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR . 1 53
By a l i ttl e s l igh t encou ragement on you rpart
,remember, Madam, i t i s pos s ib le
for him , i n th i s gl or iou s co un t ry, to rai s eh im sel f to the s umm i t of h i s p rofess ionth e necessary foundat i on i s, that he bewel l gro unded by you in good re l igiou sp rinc ip les , not i n the au ster i ty of a Methodist, b u t the p l easan t gentl eman lyfai th of Chr i sti an i ty, whose yoke i s easy,and w hose w ays are p l easan tnes s and
peace .
Our Sav i ou r ’ s b l ess ing w as on the w idow ’ s m i te ; and w hat o ffer ing can we
su ppose m ore gratefu l to heaven thanyou r in s tru cting you r ch i l d in th ese da ysin '
good p r inc ip l es ; encou raging him tosto re h i s m ind to qual i fy h im se l f to se rveh is C reato r
,in rendering himsel f a
‘d i st ingu ished membe r of th e most d istin
gu ished and l iberal of p rofes s i on s— thech u rchA s in th e Arab ian N igh ts the p iece
of l ead p ro ved the best gift, you r son
may hereafter find that the p iece of l eadB 5
l 54 BR I GHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
i t h as been i n my pow er to offe r him , in
h is ed ucat ion, niay prove the best act ofk indne ss I cou ld shew him ; and yo uw ou ld fee l p l eas u re i f you cou ld do thesam e by you r daughters from the fru it ofyou r own exert ion s : I n that p o i n t
‘
of
v i ew you w i l l forgi ve m e for sayi ng, i tw o u ld be m istaken del i cacy, in my idea,n ot to p ub l i sh a p l a in sh i l l ing Or halfc rown ep itom e of you r wo rk : you h av eshewn you r l ibe ra l i ty, by p roposing top ubl i sh yo u r w ork on its p resen t s ca l e . Theb ookse l l e r need not sol i c i t, b u t only ment ion the fact ; i t wou l d sti l l be opt ion a l tothe s ub sc r ibers I c annot con c l u de w i th
out expl ain ing a tr ifling ci rc umstance,which
‘
perhapsm ade you, at the m omen t,con s ide r me in
‘
an unfavo u rab l e l ight . I
m enti oned on th e road from Dov er, ta lki ng of the eccen tr ic i ty and perfec t innocen ce of m ind of a d raw ing-m aster , who
taught my s i ste r, th at when d raw ing afigu re, sh e had made the outl ine incor
rect, he s aid, M i ss, you r th igh i s too
1 56 ‘BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
ampl e pro v isi on, and of th e bes t k i ndand the cou ntenan ces of th e chi ldren m us tconv ince eve ry p aren t that th ei r hea l thw as carefu l ly attended to ; conseq uent lysh e d id not perm i t he r son t o hav e any ofthose ind u lgen ces w h ich S ir Tim othy hadso l ibera l ly Offe red . Indeed, i t w ou ld bed iffi c u l t to speak in t oo h igh term s o f theschool ; and i t w as
i
n subj ec t of deep re
gret to Mrs . Mortim er, th at sh e cou ldn ot afford to p lace h e r other boy there .
I t m ay be conc l uded th at Mrs . Mor
t im er fe l t the most u nbou nded gra t i tudefor Si r T im othy F l ight : sh e l ooked up
to him as a s uper i or b eing ; and her chi l
dren, as soon as th ey cou ld l i sp, w er etaugh t to p ray for him as th e benefactorof the o rph an s .
The school ~ b il ls w e re regu lar ly pa id.
S i r T imothy had taken L utterel M o rti
m er home to h i s ho u se at th e Mi dsumm e r
v acati on, and th e ch i ld w as t reated w i th
th e greatest k indnes s and attent ion . H arr iet Mo
i
rtimer continued so b ad, that i t
BRI GHTON I N AN UPROAR . 1 57
was“doub tfu l w hethe r the ch i ld cou l d
s u rv i ve m any w eeks . S i r Tim othy hear dof th i s , and add ressed Mrs . Mort imer,as fol low s
York .
“I adam ,
Let me ent reat you to have thev ery bes t ad v i ce for yo u r dear d aughter,and l et me in s i s t on you r giv ing you r gi r lsthe very best ed u cat ion . I t w i l l
'
not r u i nm e
,depend on i t . Hea ven bless you r
dear ch i ld , and may y ou r boy p rov e aconsol ation to you , wh ich may you neve rneed . Bel i ev e me,
Your ’s, '
v e ry t ru ly ,T I M OTHY FLI GHT .
1 58 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
CHAP . V
A las ! how is i t w ithyou,That you do ben d your eye on vacan cy,And w i th the incorporeal air do ho l d d iscourse 2Forth at your eyes your spi ri ts w i l d ly peepAnd
,as the sleeping so l d iers in the a larm
,
Your bedded hai r, l ike l ife in excremen ts,
S tarts up andstands on end. 0,gen tle son
,
Upon the heat and flame of thy d istemperSpri nk le cool patien ce, whereon to look .
”
W H EN L utterel Mortimer ’ s second
school - bi l l w as p resented for p aym ent a tMessrs. Devaynes, : Nobl e, and Co . th eb anker s refused tohono u r i t . Mr . Joh n sinformed Mrs. Mortimer of th i s d i sagreeab l e c i rcum stan ce, up on wh ich sh e w roteto th e bankers for som e info rmati on on
th e s ubj ect, when she re ce i ved the fol
l ow ing letter from S i r Timothy Fl ight ’ssol ici tor .
I BR IGHTON IN AN UPR OAR .
‘
L inco ln ’s I nn .
Madam ,
Mr . Fl igh t, the b roth er of S i r T imothy Fl igh t, i s now in tow n , in So uths treet, G ro s ven o r- s q u are ; i f yo u w i l lh ave the goodnes s to exp la in to him yo u rexpectati on s, he w i l l answer you .
.
I r em ain, Madam ,
Your most obed ient h umb l e servan t,G EORGE EQUI TY J
Th i s l ette r d i d not c l ear up th e mysfery ; and as Colone l B . had tran sactedev e ry th ing respecting Mrs . Mortimer ’ s
son being ed ucated by Si r Tim othy , she
requested that he w ou l d see M r . Fl ight,and gain th e necessary inform at i on from
him , r el at ing to th e cor respondence whichshe had had w ith Mr . Equ i ty . Soona fter thi s, _
Colone l B .
’
wrote to he r .
4
1 9,Piccad i l l y .
Dea r Madam,
Mr . Fl igh t h as j us t cal l ed u pon
me, and has made a confident i al comma
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR . 161
n ic‘
ation respecting th e s itu ation of h isb rothe r , and
‘upon wh i ch h e requestsyou
w i l l p re serve an inv iol able sec recy . The
u n fortun ate c i rc um stan ce i s, that S i r T im othy has becom e s o m u ch deranged,
that the fam i ly hav e been unde r th e necessity of p l ac ing him unde r th e c are ofp rope r peop l e ; and h e u n l u cki ly n eve rm ade any m ent ion to them
[
respect ing h i sp l ac ing yo u r son at s chool , or Jl is fu tu rev iew s for h i s w e l fare . IVI r . Fl igh t hash owever des i re d me to s ay that he hascon s u l ted w i th h is uncl e th e B ishop o f
and that L utterel i s to be cont in ue d at school for the p resent, thoughthey cannot p ledge themse l ves as to p ro
v iding for him in futu re ; but‘
the hopei s, th at a few m onth s , p roper care ’
and
attent ion m ay resto re h is b ro ther , and
then every th ing he p rom i sed w i l l c erta in ly be done . H e requests to hear fromyo u the term s of the s chool , w h i ch I
cou ld not exactly reco l le ct, al so w hat
has been paid , and what m ay now be d u eto Mr . Johns .
162 BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR .
Trusting that e very th ing resp ectingL utterel w i l l go on agreeab ly to the utmost w i shes you cou ld have form ed
,
I am, dear Mari am,
Your ’s, v ery tru ly,J A M ES B
Th is ac count of Si r T im othy Fl ightw as a great affli ct i on to Mrs . Mortim e r .That so good a man shou ld be s o heav i lyaffli c ted was a p ub l i c c al am i ty, for hew as the w i dow ’ s fr i end , a father to the
o rphan, and h i s h and was ever ex tended
to the repentant s inne r .
0, what a noble mind was here o
’erthrown !
The courtier’s,soldiers
,scholar’s eye, tongue
,
swordTh’ expectan cy and rose of the fair state,The glass of fashion
,and the moul d of form,
Th’ observ ’d of al l observers! qui te, quite down 1"
Mrs . Mortimer sent th e cop ie s of a l lth e l etter s
_sh e h ad ev er recei ved from S ir
Timothy F l igh t to h i s brother ; and
when the n ex t school -b i l l became due,
164 BRI GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
for her board n ear L ondon, that she
m ight be under the care of an em inen tp rofess ional man, in th e h ope that bycon stant care and attent ion sh e wo u l drecov e r h er h ear ing .
Two of her own mal e rel ation s w ereextremely kind to her
,and fre quently as
si s ted he r . He r h u sband ’ s fam i ly she
knew v ery l ittl e o f ; she had only beeni n trod uced to h i s b rother, who w as a
n aval o lii cer Out '
of empl oym en t . H ehad marr ied a v ery am i ab l e woman, alady of qual i ty ; her b rother ed u catedand s uppo rted b oth his ch i ld ren , and
a l low ed al so an ann u i ty to h i s w ife . Herfam i ly, on th e fi rs t ofher m arr i age, wh ich
w as again st th e i r c onsen t, wo u l d h ave
got him som e l u c rat i ve appoin tment in
the W’
est l ndies, b u t he obj ected to thec l im ate . Thi s d isobl iged them ; and ash e w a s a gen tl eman of expen s i ve h ab i ts,and h i s l ady sel dom res ided w ith him,
they gave up a l l commun i c ation w i th
him,and when Colonel Mort imer d ied,
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR . 1 65
he was on the impres s serv i c e i n I rel and ;H ubertine inform ed him of the mel an
cho ly loss w h ich she had s u stained , tow h ic h h e gave an u n feel ing rep ly ; of
th i s she took no n oti ce, b ut, from t im e tot im e, inform ed him of h i s nephew s andn i ec es
,for she neve r forgot that he was
b rothe r to the father of he r ch i ld ren, and
o ugh t to be acqu ainted w i th whateve rconcerned h i s re lat ives ; bu t he n evergave h im se l f the tr oub l e to answ er -herletters
,o r took the leas t n ot ice of the
ch i ld ren . The n ex t lette r w h ich Mrs.
Mortim er rece i ved from Mr . F l ight gaveher som e hopes of S i r Timothy ’ s sp eedyreco very .
Sunn ing Hi l l,S taines.
Madam,
Ow ing to my ab sence from hom e,I d id not recei ve you r l ette r u nt i l th ism orn i ng : I ha ve en c losed a d raft on
M ess rs . Devaynes, for 53 37. 83 . 7d.
dated Augu s t the 25th, to a l l ow yo u tim eto in form m e i f th e l etter has reached
1 66 BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR .
yo u : I am happy to a cquaint you thatmy brother i s d ai ly grow ing better. I
have th e honou r to remain,Madam ,
You r obed ient h umb l e se rvant,W I LL I AM FLI GHT .
P. S . I wi l l trouble you to d irect for me at
Sunn ing Hi l l,S taines.
Not l ong,afte r th i s l etter from Mr .
F l igh t,she w as in formed that h e was
supposed to b e in a dec l ine , and w as gone
to Li sbon for th e re covery of h is heal th .
Mrs . Mortime r had not the p leas u re ofknow ing him , b ut repor t spoke loud lyin h i s p rai se ; he was the coun te rpart ofwhat S ir
'
Timothy w as when fi rs t introduced to he r ; he pos ses sed ev ery v i rtu e,and w hen th e n ew s a rr ived of h i s d eath ,not on ly h i s rel at ion s, but al l who knewhim , s ince rely l amen ted his l oss . LadyF l ight then w rote a pol i te note to 1V1 rs.
Mort imer, and t i l l S i r Tim othy reco ve red, paid L utterel Mortimer ’s s choo l -b i l l s .
1 68 BRI GH‘
TON JN AN .UPROAR.~
being in a ftown w h ere sh e cou l d h aveexce l lent med ical ass i stan ce, she regretted . that sh e w as so s i tu ated, as to be incapab l e of app lying to se veral s u rgeon sfor the i r op in i on , befo re h er ch i l d l os ther righ t arm . She w rote th i s W i sh toan offi cer of th e Royal Mar ines, who wasthen at Deal
, and from w hom sh e hadrece i ved the greatest k indness and attent ion . He spoke to th e su rgeon s of then av al h osp ital at th at p l ace, who m os th um anely offe red , i f
‘ Mrs . Mort im erw ou l d b r ing th e chi l d to them ,
and t e
m ain i n the n e ighbou rhood of the hosp ital , that th ey w ou l d con stan tly attend hergratis. This w as too el igib l e an o ffe r toberefu sed , but sh e coul d not accomp l i shthis expence w i th ou t sel l ing al l her furn it u re, wh i ch she d id imm ed i ately . As
soon as she heard from th e s u rgeon s ,that they did not app reh end her ch i l d ’ scomp la int w as a whi te sw e l l ing,and thatamp utati on w ou ld not b e necessary, sh el e ft th ree of her chi ldren, w i th a se rvan t,
BR IGHTON IN ' AN UPROAR . 169
under th e car e of her fr iend, th e mar ine
offi ce r at Deal , andtook a lodging in Hatton Garden, th at sh e m igh t be near a person who taugh t the art of making cam el ’s
ha i r, fitch,and sabl e penc i l s for whi c h
she paid him twen ty gu ineas . The u su al
t im e for l earn ing thi s t rade was twel ve
m onth s ; b ut as Mrs .Mortimer pa inted ino i l and w ater c ol ou rs, i t w as not so di ffi cu l t for her to learn as a person whocou ld not tel l a good penc i l from a badone ; and as she dev oted her whol e time
to i t, sh e retu rned to her fam i ly at the
end of s i x w eeks . Sh e got a cons iderabl eo rde r from a fash i onab l e hou se I I I the
m et ropol i s,and she u sed t o w o rk from
six in th e m orn i ng t i l l twel ve'
at n ight,a nd by send ing a m an to Margate, Dover,and the ne ighbou r ing town s
,to d ispo se of
the p roduce of her l abou r, sh e s upportedhe r ch i ld ren respectab ly . The m ari neoffi ce r, w hen 0 11 shore
,boarded w i th he r,
as a l s o d id Mr . Stanton and h i s ch i ld .
Mrs . Mortimer now fo und, as herY OL
‘
. I . I
170 BRI GHTON . I N AN UPROAR
fam i ly in creased in s i ze, th at i t was necessary she shou ld do som eth ing m ore forthe i r mai ntenance than tak ing boardersthe t rade w hi ch she : had adopted she
co u ld do in p r i vate, and he r d aughtershereafter d o the sam e ; as she w i shed ,al though she kn ew i t to Le a fal se p r ide,to keep up that rank i n s oc i ety in wh ichshe had l i ved from he r b i rth .
As th e w inte r cam e on,the ~ sea a i r
p roved too p ierc i ng for Har r i e t Mort imer, and h er m othe r though t that inLondon sh e cou ld ex er t hers el f m ore forthe advantage of h er fam i ly, and w ithgreater secrecy
,than in a count ry
town . He r fr iend th e m ar ine offi ce r again
stepped forw ard to ass i s t her ; he had two
n i e ces, who w i sh ed for s om e imp ro v e
m ent in th e s uperfi c ial p arts of edueation ;and the i r b rother, who w as i n the l aw ,
bad business in town ,when i t wa s dec ided
that Mrs . Mort im er sh o u l d take a h ouse
i n an ai ry s it uation .
‘
As soon, th erefore,
as she w as settled in a street near C aven
172 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR.
When she had been ab ou t s i x -monthsi n her new res i dence, she -had a letter fromthe Reverend Docto r John s, info rm ingher that Mess rs . Devaynes and Co . w ereno l onger Si r T imothy Fl ight’s banker s ,and she w as d i rected to app ly to Mr .Abraham Mod ish , in the Temple,
‘
who
wo u ld gi ve he r the necess a ry in formati onrespect ing th e change that had takenp l ace.Mrs . Mortim er ac cord ingly w en t,and was shewn th ro ugh a s u ite of apartm en ts, elegant ly fi tted up, apparen tlyqu ite new ,
and very un l ik e the so l i c i to r ’sroom s sh e h ad been accu stomed to see
,
as th e papers , books , &c . al l appeared asi fjust ar r ived from the shOp At l engthshe w as int rod u ced to a l ittl e J ew l ooki ng fe l low , as Mr . A lex ande r Modish .
Hew v as a l l pol iten ess , saying that hi sfather w ou ld be so rry that sh e cal led inh i s absence ; t hat they had now theh onou r of being S i r Timothy F l ight ’sagents a nd bankers ; that he w ou ld him
self c a l l on her in a few days, and bring
BR IGHTON I N AN UBROAR. 173
her theam ountof Master L utterel Mortimer ’s s chool -b i l l , wh i ch he accord inglyd id , at the sam e time rep resent ing thathe thought th e ch arges enormou s, as heh im se l f had been ed ucated i n a s choo li n th e v ici n i ty of the metropol i s for ha l fthe sum , w i th se vera l o th er obser vati on son the sam e top i c, wh ich offended Mrs .Mort im er, as sh e though t th e yo ungso l ic ito r was tak ing a great l iberty infinding fau l t w i th th e schoo l at wh i chhis
'
empl oyer thought p rope r to p l ace he rson . She happened to be bu s i ly emp loyed
when Mr . A l ex ande r Mod i sh en tered, infi tting up som e c ard - r acks and pincu sh ion s, &c . for exportat ion ; he offeredto p u r chase som e of th e a rti c l es ; th i s al s o
w as d i sagreeab le to Mrs.Mortimer, as sh en eve r so l d her w ork by retai l . He tookh i s l eav e w ith saying that S i r TimothyF l igh t w o u ld b e soon in town, w h ichdeterm ined Mrs . Mortimer to p ain t a
smal l v ase, for L utterel Mort imer to p resent to h i s p atron . She had before paint
I 3
174 BRIGHTON I N AN UPROA I I .
ed a set of sk reens for him , not by wayof mak ing any ret u rn for h is m un ificence,
b ut to p rove that she felt gratefu l for his
Mrs . Mortimer ’ s t imew as so fu l ly em
p l oyed that she had v e ry l i ttl e le is u re forv i s it ing ; b u t i t w as gratefu l to h er fee ling
‘
s t o rece i ve in v i tat ion s from personsof rank , who had known her p rev iou slyto he r mar r i age, as it conv inced her thatth ey considered the exert ion s wh i ch she
m ade for her chi ldren ’
s
'
wel fare was no
di sgrace to her e very one, however,w as not of th i s op in i on . On her fi rst go inginto barracks, she was introd u ced to a p articu lar fr iend of Col onel Mortimer ; hewas then j u st app ointed to th at di v i sIon,and had b rough t h i s w ife and daughter .With th i s fam i ly Mrs . Mortime r wasparti c u l ar ly in t imate : they we re in l i
m itted. c i rc um stances, and resided in a
lodging, wi th one man and one m a idservant ; and the l ady and her da ughter
w ere compel led to ass ist in the hpusehold
176 BR I GHTON I N AN v en ou s.
leave Roch este r , and to l earn a t rade tom aintain her infants, th ese s incere fr iendsw e re informed of her futu re p lans, and
th u s ended a l l comm un i cat i on ; for theyw er e now s u ch l i ttl e great p eople, that . tov i s i t a pers on who had reco u rse to l abou rtO
'
procure a l i ve l ihood w ou l d hav e beenhigh ly indecorou s in a man of hi
\
s, rank .
Mrs . Mortimer w as not aw are th at s u chfr iendsh ip as h ad ex isted betw een th emco u ld b e terminated by her m aking pen
c i l s ; therefore; as th ey d id not ca l l onher when fi r s t sh e cam e to town , she
c onc l u ded that —som e of th e fam i ly w erei l l,
’
and she w en t to see them, w hen sh e
w as rece i ved w ith great fo rm , b ut w i thout any s ign s of friendsh ip The l adym ent i oned th at h e r son had been m ar r i e dsom e month s . Thi s Mrs .Mort imer knew,
but had taken no not i c e of i t, as sh e s up
posed hi s h av ing’
m ar r ied the S i ste r of
som e m i l l iner at Cork ,
‘
w itho’
ut a s ixpence,was rath er a subj ect
'
of gr i ef th an rejoic
ng; b ut a s th e old l ady had m en
i roned tw i c e that h er son h ad m arr i ed a
BR IGHT ON IN AN U PROAR . 177
very p retty w oman,. who w as go ing
abroad w i thhim , sh e c onc l uded that th e
old fo lks w ere o ffended at her not hav ingsent a congratu l ato ry epi stl e on the occasi on ; con sequently, w hen sh e got home,sh e w rote what sh e concei ved w ou l dp l ease the Old gen tl ewoman . I n rep ly t oth i s l ette r Mrs . Mortim e r was informedth at s ince th ey cam e to res i de in Londonthey h ad so increased the i r ac qua intanceth at th ey co u l d not augmen t them thatthey h eard that she h ad some l ad ies comi ng to res ide w i th h er ; and they sin
cerely h oped that he r new emp loym en tm igh t
.
p ro ve s uccess fu l . Mrs . Mort imer fel t hu rt and d i sgusted at th i s l ette r, as sh e kn ew the i r great soc iety con ~
s is ted of a fewc l e rks and the i r w i vesb u t sh e determ ined neve r to en te r th ei rdoors again . Not l ong after , the gent l eman cal led on her ; b u t sh e h ad gi veno rders always ~ to be den i ed t o any part ofth at fam i ly .
‘
1 78 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
S i r Timothy Fl igh t cam e to town, and
L utterel M ort im e r took h im'
as a *
present
the Vase wh ich M rs. Mortimer h ad p ain ted . He w as p leased w ith th e pe rformance
,and w rote to her i n a few days
South-street, Friday morn i ng .
Dea r hdadam ,
Ex cu se haste ; I sh al l be happyto see yo u any d ay . I dine at ha l f pa s t
fi ve, i f yo u l ike to take my m utton
w i th me any day ; and bei
good en ough
to b r ing some of you r choi c e spec imensof d raw ing .
I rem ain you r ’s ,‘ &c . &c .
TIM OTHY F L IGHT ;
By the desi re of he r fr iend s, Mrs . Mort ime r fixe d a day for hersel f and son t odine w i th th e Baronet . On th e m o rn ing
of that day his s e rvant gave he r th is l et
te r .
Dear Madam ,
I th ink i t nece ssary to,
m ent ionthat I have a young l ady l i v ing wi th me
180 BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR .
mon c i v i l i ty, as y ou w o u l d to any personwhom igh t h ave s ai led in th e p acket .
I am, Madam,
Your s, &c . &c .
TI M OTHY FLIGHT .
S unday mo rning .
P . S . DO not com e i f yo u h ad rather not.
This w as‘ a d ist ress ing p iece of intel l i
gence for th e lette r w as d i ctated in s u chterms as ga ve do ubts to Mrs . Mort im err esp ecti ng the characte r of the
"
yourfg
person al l uded t o :'
b ut u pon a secondp eru sa l , sh e fe l t a sham ed of doubting, forone m om en t, the m oti ve wh ich ind ucedS i r Tim othy to take a young c reatu reunder h is p rotection . Had he not, unsol ic ited, engaged to p rov id e for her ch i ld 5“
The w o rld sh e knew W as censor io u s ; andi f persons sacr ifi ced the i r fee l ings to theOp in ion Of the m u l t it ude, the w idow and
th e help less o rphan w ou l d have fewfri end s ; for those whose hearts are toocon tracted to al l ow them to perform a
single genero us act ion, always scandal i ze
BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR . 1 81
those who are p ossessed Of s u ch a bless
i ng : s o s u re i t i s , that, mo re or l ess,e ve ry one j udges of others by the i r ownstandard . With the imp ress ion of seeinga school -gir l Mrs . Mortime r repai redto Si r T imothy Fl igh t ’ s She had on lyseen him tw i c e s ince the death Of he r
h u sband ; and w i th th e p art ial i ty of a fondmother , c onc l uded that th e mo re he sawOf her son th e s tronger inte res t h e w ou l dfeel i n his futu re w elfare She al so fel ti t he r d u ty, a s far as sh e w as ab le
, to
m eet h i s w i shes on a l l occas ion s ; and i tst r u ck her; that p robably the poo r gi r l,of whom he m ade s u ch pathet i c ment i on
,
rema ine d at his house becau se he knewno person w i thw hom he could p lace heror, that w i th h i s Own bene vo lent i deas,he w as fearfu l th at if t r u sted to st rangerssh e m igh t not be t reated w ith su ch tenderness as her unp rotected s itu ation dem anded. M rs. Mortimer there fore
,de
term ined to ex am ine the young lady ’
s
behav iour m inutely ; and i f she real ly
182 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
appeared what sh e a rdently w i shed to findher, sh ewou l d offer S i r Tim othy to rece iv eh e r
,and th at sh e sho u ld find in her a se
cond mothe r, as she w ou ld , i f necessary,inst ru ct her, and shew her th e sam e affecti on that sh e had for her own ch i ld renA t th e appo in ted t im e Mrs Mort imer
took her son to South‘ street The Baron et had not
'
returned from h i s mo rn ing ’ sd r i ve ; b ut sh e f o und hO-Oks, p aint ings,&c . w h i ch enab led he r to p ass h er timeagreeab ly ti l l h i s ret u rn . She saw him
d escend from h i s c u r r i cl e w i th a l adywho appeared to b e mo re that fi fteen ;and soon afte rward s he entered w i thMr .
A lex ande r Mod i sh , who w as d ressed inth e sty le of a Sunday Hyd e Park j ockey .
Si r Timothy, w i th h i s u s u al el egan ce -
of
manners, made an apol ogy for not beingaware that th e d i s tan ce of the p l ace tow h i ch h e had been w ou ld p reven t 11 18being at h om e in t ime to' rece ive Mrs .Mort imer and her son : h e hoped she
w ou l d also p ardon h i s l eav ing h er for a
184 BR I GHTON I N AN UPR OAR'
.
i t was shamefu l th at mo re h ad not been
made of the Baronet ’ s for tune du ringh i s l ong m inor i ty ; th at ten tho usandpounds had n ever been accoun ted for ;and that h i s forme r sol i c i to r, Mr . Equ ity,‘
sh ou l d h ave reco vered i t when the Baronet c am e of age . A l l th i s appearedv ery wonde rfu l to e s. Mortim er, as
w hen she fi rs t knew S i r Timothy, be ap
peared t o i dol i ze h i s fam i ly, and s h e knewthem to be person s of r ank and great respectab i l ity, and in cap ab l e of do ing am ean act ion .
I n the afternoon S ir Timothy toldMrs . Mort ime r th at he w as ex trem e lyso r ry to fi nd that sh e w o rked to s uppor ther ch i l d ren, as sh e h ad always h ad h i sp erm i s s i on to draw on .h i s b ankers when
under any p ecu n i ary emb arrassmen t; Shetol d him that sh e w as sens ib l e of h i s l i
beral ity, b ut she co u l d not th ink Of ava i l
ing hersel f of i t ; that wh at h e did = for
her b oy was mo re th an sh e coul d h av e
expected and shehad, invar iably, when
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR . 185
she d rew for her son ’ s s chool - b i l l ,sentDr .
Joh n s ’ accou nt w ith the d raft . He
'
then
sai d that she cou ld be of the greates t serv i c e to him ; that h i s m other cou ld notl i ve m any w eeks, and hav ing
‘
no near fem al e r el at ion to , take an interes t in h i sconcern s, he w as imposed on by h i s ser s
v ants and trades - peopl e,and wan te d some
one abou t him who had h i s interes t atheart ; th at , h e cou l d t rust he r to w r itefor him
, and, in short, to s uper intenda l l h i s a ffai rs ; that i f Mrs . Mortimerw o u ld do th is, she m u st rem o ve to Brighton, w here he had a cottage, wh ich hew ou ld let he r res id e in, and a l l ow her ah andsom e rem unerat ion for her tro ub lethat i t was h i s i nten t ion to ed ucate he rother boy ; b ut as he w as not de s ignedfor the ch u rch she m u st l ook out for acheape r s choo l than Dr . John s ’ ; bu t h ehoped to s ee her Often , and th at theyw ou l d then settl e someth ing for her adv antage . lVI r . A lexander Mod ish
'
exp ressed h i s w i shes that Mrs . Mortimer
186 BRIGHTON I N AN UPR OAR.
w ou l d comp ly w ith S i r T imothy ’s des i re,as he had seve ral h ouses at B r igh ton,w h i ch w anted fu rn i sh ing, and that h ereal ly requ i red a respectab l e femal e tosup er intend h i s concern s .A s to Mis s Shark , Mrs . Mort imer
was at a los s wh at to th ink of her she
was very p retty, and appeared to beabou t six . or s even and twenty she af
fected a. na ivete of m anne r, wh ich was
p leas ing ; her beh av i o u r was pe rfectlycorrect, b u t th ere wassometh ing I n h erap pearan ce, and the in anner in w h ichthe gen tl emen behaved to
‘
h er, that created som e s u sp ic i on in th e b reast of Mrs.
Mortime r .I t was natural for Mrs. Mort ime r tot u rn I n her m ind the Offe r wh ich S i rT imothy h ad made her ; sh e al so tal kedw i th Mr . Charl es Stanton and s om efr i end s on th e s ubj ect, and th ey agreedw i th her inth ink ing, th at independent Of
its be ing a very l uc rat ive si tu ation, th at
it was an ind ispensable duty in her, to
188 BR I GHTON I N AN UPR OAR .
hund red p ou nds a year ; th is she dc
c l ined, cons ider ing i t far too l a rge a
salary . I t was then dec ided th at she
shou ld have three h undred per annum ,
a nd a h ouse to res ide in free of ren t andtaxes ; but th i s was a verba l agreem en t,i n p resence of Miss Shark and Mr . A lexande r Mod ish ; Mrs. Mortim er h av ings u ch an op in ion of S i r T imothy, that toask for any
, w r i tten d oc umen t n e ve r entered i nto her m ind . I n consequen ce ofth i s arrangemen t, I‘vI rs. Mortim e r partedfrom her h o use i n Charl es - street, the
twoll/i iss L antons w er e to r etu rn to theirfr iends in S cot l and, and Mrs . Mortimerand her fam i ly rem o ve to Brighton . A l l
th i s,how eve r
, took som e w eeks t o ac
c omp l ish , du r ing whic h p er i od Si rTimothy sent for Mrs . Mor tim e r everyday . t0 Sou th - s treet
,general ly at hi s
b reakfast h ou r . She l am ented to see
that h e h ad an occ as ional eccent r i c i ty,wh ich m igh t bep rodu cti v e of b ad couse
quences, for ..he was so incapab le Of du
BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR . 189
pl icity in h i s own characte r, that he s u s
pected'
it not in others, and she saw ,w i th
concern, that Mr . A l ex ander Mod ishgov erned al l h i s act i on s, and either h e
,
or . h i s younger b rother , Mr . SymphonyMod ish , were con stan tly w i th the Baronet, t o appearan ce by acc iden t ; b ut:
M rs. Mortim e r began to su s pec t th atth at w as n ot the case . WhileS i r Timothy w as at b reakfast , general ly one of
these gentlem en d ropped in soon , afte r,person s w ou l d cal l w i th s n u ff-boxes, d i am ond - r ings, n eck - l aces, w atches, and
v ar io us art icles of j ew el l e ry ; the M r .
Modishes wou ld exto l th e beau ty of
th e arti c l es,
a nd te l l th e Barone t thata person of h i s rank shou l d hav e a eab i- i
net of c u rios it ies one m an broughti ar i ng— it w as an anti qu e, set round w i tha few b ri l l i ants : the foreigner t o whomi t b elonged assu red S i r Timothy thathe w as the fi rst person who had seen it ; .
i t w as the sel f s am e r i ng w h ich Bonaparte wore on his finger when he cOn
190 BR I GHT ON I N AN v en om .
quered Egypt . Mrs . Mortim er h av ing
some do ubts of th i s, asked the man how
i t c am e into h i s posses s ion he said thatthe Empero r Napoleon had gi ven i t toone of h i s v i ctor i o u s general s, who hadpresen ted i t to h i s favou r i te m i st ress, w i th
w hom h e h ad qu ar re l l ed ; that the l ady
h ad occ as ion for m oney, and had givenhim th e r ing to d isp ose of. Of cou rse, sogreat a euriosity
'
was p u rchased, to add
to the rest . From th e des c ri pt ion of someof th e w atch es and boxes,
l
which'
were
imp osed on S i r Timothy,Mrs . Mortimerw as i nform ed that th ey w er e th e te
main s of a m u seum , w h ich was formerlyexh ib ited in London by a Mr . Cox .
She thu s frequently saw thousandsz
ex
p ended in a morn ing, and‘
when _ sh e vento red to make any observation on the
great expence attend ing th i s c ab inet of
cu r i os i t ies,Mr . A lexander Mod i sh al
w ays repl ied, th at as the Baronet did'
not
d iss ipate h i s for tun e at a gam ing- tabl e,such
'
trifi ing expen ces could. not be fel t
192 BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR .
‘
tal ly unfi t for b u s ines s of any sort.S i r Timothy w as by no m ean s mad,for he pos sessed for hou rs togethe r,and even for days , a so und ‘state
'
of
m ind ; b ut i t w as necessary that he
shou ld hav e s ome p u r su i t, to keep hisattenti on fi xed,
“
and i t depended on th oseabou t him to d i rect those p u rs u its i ntoa p rope r channe l . At t im es he certain lyhad
' a fi igbtiness of imaginat ion, wh ichappeared to p roceed from an el evatedm ind, and in those m om en t‘s he w ouldp rom i s e to patron iz e peopl e ,
(
advancethem’
m oney to p ro cu re p aten ts for th ea ccompl i shm en t of impos s ib i l i ti es ; and
Mrs . Mortimer saw ,w i th hearto
pierc inggri ef, that the benevo l en t b enefacto r ofh er son, in th ese mom ents of i r r itat i on,becam e the d upe of a party of des ign ingv i l l a in s . Thi s party
‘
took ad vantage of
h i s c alam i ty, by m aking him exec utebonds a nd d rafts, Upon w h i ch, w hen h er eflected coo l ly,hewas l o ath to ab ide by,bu t w as compel led to do so , for fea r ofthei r expos ing him,
‘as h is d read of being
BRIQHTON IN AN UPROAR . 193
confined In a mad- hou se emb ittered hisl ife, and the artfu l pers on s w ith whomh e was connec ted took ad vantage of th i sfear, by wh ich means he was completelyi n the i r p ower . Mis s Sha rk acted the
part of an acc ompl ice ; as Mrs . Mort imer learn t th at the yo u ng lady, whohad been p resen ted to her as a board ingschool Mi ss
,had been a common p ros t i
t ute, and w as th rown in S i r T imothy ’sw ay, w i th an artful s to ry of d i st ress, as
th e party knew that h i s heart wo u l dinstantly feel inte rested for the pe rson s or ep resented . I t answ ered theirexpectat ion, and he took he r hom e : had she
p ossessed one atom of gene rosity in herc ompos i tion, sh e wo u l d hav e exerted theinfluenc e she h ad o v er him , to p reven th i s be ing ru ined by the w retches whop reyed on him ; in stead of wh ich, sh ej oined in dece iv ing him, and cont in uedto p u rsu e the same l ibert ine l ife, fromw hich he though t he h ad extricated
‘
her,
V OL . 1 . K.
1 94 BR IGHTON I N AN UPRO'
AR:
for he took~her from a scene of v ice and
profiigacy .
i
si r T-imothy, a few d ays after Mrs
Mo rt im er h ad settl ed w i th him to superi ntend h i s concern s , r equested that she
w ouldg o down to B r i ghton ,to take the
pl ans Of som e h ou ses for wh ich he W asin
‘
t reaty, and al s o to ascerta in wh at furn iture w ou l d be re qu i red to fu rn i sh fo u rhou ses fi t for th e recepti on of lodgers .He sai d his steward w o u l d be in town ,and Mr. Chissel w o u ld see th at she hadp rope r accommodat ion p rep ared for her
recepti on as i t w o u l d be unpleasa :t to
go to a strange p l ace alone . H e des i redthat she w oul d tak e the
x youngestMissLan ton w ith her, and that i f pos s i b l e he
w ou l d j o in h er th e re th e n ext w eek .
P rev iou s to her departu re Mrs . Mort i
mer w as introd u ced to Mr.Chi ssel ; and
as h e w i l l fre quently m ak e h i s appearanc e in these anecdotes , i t m ay be p lea
sant to th e reade r to h ave s ome knowl edge Of th i s great personage .
1 96 BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR.
guages, wh ich he h ad been unde r then ecess i ty of l earn ing, he retu rned to hisn ati ve l and i ncap ab l e of speaking one ;
as, al thou gh he con ve rsed in Engl i sh , itw as on ly that par t of th e l anguage cal ledth e v u lgar tongu e in whi c h be ex cel l ed,and cou l d b e cl ear ly u nder stood .
To the great benefi t'
of soci ety,
fi
whenH i s Roya l H ighn es s the Pr in ce bu i l t hisspaci o u s s tab l es
'
at B r ighton, workmen f
flocked from al l p ar ts of Engl and to Obta in emp loyment, and amongst themMr .Chissel , th e l ate fr i end of th e G erm anBa ron ; but as
'
h e cou ld not get sui
fli c ientbu sines s, be ing a man of a l ib era l m i nd,h e d i d job - w ork for
“
theinh ab itants at a
redu ced p r i ce . Mr . Chissel , how ever,had the good fortuneto be bo rn und e r al ucky planet, and in th i s s itu ati on CaptainFlash
, who had th e comm and of a troop
in th e regim en t of d ragoon s in whi ch Mr .Chissel had serv ed , recogn i zed him . H easked Chissel how h e w as engaged , and
b e ing informed th at h e h ad to s upport a
BR IGHTON IN AN UPR OAR . 197
w i fe and fam i lyby chan ce c u stom, i t
str uck the nobl e Captain, th at, i ri se rv ingth is m an
,he co u l d es sent ial ly bene fi t his
Own fam i ly. ‘H i s fath e r h ad an estate
tenanted by a ‘se t of t u rb u l en t p eop le :h e co u l d not m anage them h imself ; and
al thou gh the Captain c o ul d swear, §they
d id not m ind him ; bu t as Mr .”
Chissel
w as a man six fee t h igh ; c ou ld swear,e ven better than the Captain co u ld box,i f r equ i red ; and coul d frigh ten several
by h i s appearan ce, h e w as appo inted byC aptain Flash to be the steward of th is
e state, th at h e‘
m igh t b r ing th i s r io tou stenant ry into better o rde r . When the
Mr. Modishes becam e so l ic i to rs to S irT im othy Fl ight, and keep ing th e O ld
stew ard on the estates w ou ld have beenimpo l it i c,Mr . Chissel w as adv anced to theOffice ofstew ard to S i r T imothy, w i th a sal a ry of th ree hundred pound s per annum .
From‘
h i s long res idenc e w i thh i s fr iendthe Baron , and hav ing
' imbibed h ighno
t i ons, he threw .his tool s tov
the dogs,
198 BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR.
sported a gig dec orated,
w ith red mo roccoand yel l ow p ain t, and kep t a saddlehorse. A h ou se was tak en in a p l easantsi tu at ion at B righ ton for him to res idein, and theMaster andMi ss Chissels
’
sentto a board ing- s ch ool . Mr . and Mrs .Chissel now c ommen ced p eop l e of fa
shion, bu t the poo r l ady d i d not l ongenj oy her happy s itu at i on, for sh e was inv e ry bad heal th, occasioned by her h u sb and ’ s unk indness
'; and when Miss L an
ton and Mrs . Mortim er v i s i ted B r igh ton,the poo r c reatu re kep t he r bed .
Mr . Chi ssel was ve ry attenti ve to Mrs .Mortime r, and sh e though t th at he real ly
w as a rough d i amond, for h e sp o ke of
S ir Timothy Fl ight ’ s so l i c i tors as a des ign ing set of Jew s, and _
en'
treated Mrs .Mortime r t o warn th e Baronet of h i sdange r, for h e ‘
w as s u re he wou l d ber u ined . He sai d th at they had l atelytaken a hou se n ear Chel sea,wh i ch wasfi tted up in a s umptu ou s m anner ; that,in
‘
fact, i t was a l l at th e Baronet’
s ex
200 BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR
forward the p arti c u l ar s and term s of al l
th e houses I stated in the good s ituati on s ; a s the w est s ides pa rt i c u l ar ly of
G erm an - p l ace, of th e New S teyhe, ev enof the Crescen t, wh o l e of Dorset Ga rden s ,
'
the w est s i de of B road - st reet,Nos. I I and 12, and any other good h ou ses
on th e Steyn e . My ass i s ting any personto furn i sh two or
,
th ree hou ses for lett ingw ou l d be a l i ve l ihood to any one, s o thati f I wer e w i l l ing to take th e troubl e oftak ing al l B r igh ton, it wo u l d b e the '
l u ck ie s t th ing for th em ; whereas, I on lydesii'e yo u to get the term s and particua
l ars of al l th e b es t st reet s, not forgett ingthe l arge h ou ses at the end of G ermano
p l ace and B road s treet . S u ch part ienl ars as who th e ground and the ho u se sb el ong to, i f to he had on ly yearly, or
w h ether on l ease, renewab le on l i ve s at acerta in fine, and
,
any othe r p art ic u l arsI then can p ick and choose . B r ightoni s a s inking p lace i n i tsel f : I
'
am pos i
tively informed the Pr ince i s qu itt ing it,
BR I GHTON I N AN UPR OAR . 201
and un l e s s some s upe ri o r and extraor
dina ry gen i us ( modest yo u w i l l s ay) i a
terpose, the p l acew i l l fal l to noth ing, i f
on ly from the very great danger of the
c l iffs be ing washed into th e sea, w h ich ,w i th th e P r ince ’ s dep artu re, and the p l acebe ing ov er b u i l t, i s l ikely to p ress veryh ard . You w i l l now see th at i t w i l l be
alm ost the inte res t of B righton to let m e
have a l l th e h ou se s on th e Crescent andth e C l ifl
'
, at l east for noth ing : I w i l lnot on ly s ave the p l ace, b ut m ake i t thefi rst p l ac e any where . Do not repeatthi s, they w ou l d inc rease thei r p r i ce .G et the estimate o from Lucas, Midd lestreet, of the New G ro in I ment ione d tohim . I f yon
‘
are at a pinch for mon ey,Mr . Chissel , on sh ew ing him th i s, w i l ls upp ly you . I have des i red Mr . Chisselfi
to have yo u S upp l ied w i theve ry th ing, aslong as yo u stay, by my t rades -peop le.
‘
I f not d i sagreeab l e or unp leasant, praynotice Mis s L a good l ittl e gi r l ,who dances at my c i rc u s, and she is in
I x 5
202 BRIGHTON I N AN U PR O AR.
di stres s I fear . Pray c omfort h e r poorl ittle h eart, l ike a m other : th e k indnes sOf a fr iend - in need , to an u np rotectedg i r l ted, i s a
aheavenly b alm to bestow .
Y ou see I am not s u ch a starv ing m ana
ger as Mon s i e u r Yo u may
send to Mr . B . a p ainte r, he h as som esec ret ab ou t p ain t w i thou t
"
turp ent ine .I h ope
-
th e l ad, Tom C . has not m adeoff w i th the c l othes ; i f s o, he sho u l d betaken up to b e t ried for th e theft .
Bel ieve me, you r’ s tr u ly,
T I M OTHY FLI GHT .
P . S . P ray an swe r al l my quest ion s .
The greaten part of th i s l etter w as ia
comp rehens ib l e to e s . Mortimer, and
she de s i red Mr . Chissel to g i ve her ia
form ation ou th e difl’
erent s ubj ect s : sh e
feared th at i t mus t hav e been w r itten
w hen S i r T im othy’s m ind w as i n a state
of i r r itat i on ,as i t w as so un l ik e al l h i s
fo rme r co r respondence . ‘
She inqu i red
abou t Miss L and‘
found that she
204 BR I GHTON rNi
AN UP ROAR .
I l ike th e id ea Of p aint ingMason ’
s
green ; a pal e green , w i th gold mo u ldi ng, i s neat . P ray scold th at stu p idb east and h i s w i fe, Botts, for not w r i ti ng ; th ey l i ve on me, and do noth ing ; andte l l ‘B l ack
,i f he does not do
'
every th ingI hid him , I can soon b r ing dow n a L ondon coal -m erchan t, and p ay for undersel l ing
,if I cannot th ink Of bette r m ean s
to b low him to p ieces . I m u s t end at
p resent .You r 5 , in haste,
T IM OTHY F L IG'
H T .
I f Mrs. Mort imer,
w as aston i shed at
thefo rm er l ette r , th is gav e h e r st i l l mOre
sor row : what a difi'
erence in th e sent i
m ents of v i ol ence exp res sed , compared
w i th h i s fo rmer p l ac idnes s and kindn ess ;She cons u l ted w i th Mr . Chissel what she
h ad best do ; and u nderstand ing from
BR I GHTON IN AN UPR OAR . 1205
were taken in Germ an -pl ace, w ith the
p l an s of s e ve ral others , and at th e ex
piration Of ten days Mrs . Mortim er ret u rned to London . S i r T imothy was
p l eased w i th w hat sh e h ad done, and ap
peared to h ave great confidence i n h ersh e the refore took an o pportun i ty
,wh en
h e w as perfect ly coll ec ted , to exp res s he rsor r ow at
\
h i s h av i ng taken h i s affa i r s out;OfMr . Equ i ty ’ s hands , as sh e understoodh e w asa gent leman w hose ch arac ter stoodh igh I n the es t imat ion Of the p ub l i c : sh ehop ed he h ad done h ims e l f no inj u ry ‘bythe ch ange, bu t w as he s u re that th eperson s in wh om h e now confided werem en of characte r, and w ou ld not bet raythe t ru st r ep osed i n them . S i r Timothyc onfessed he h ad som e doubts respectingthei r p rob ity, b u t Observed , that they
sw ere men of ab i l it ies,
and, i f h ones t,m igh t be of great se r v ice to him ; if theywere oth erw i se, he was ent i rely in th e i rp ower, and they cou l d i nju re him v erym ate r i al ly . He much w i shed that she
206 “ BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR .
‘
w ou l d inqu i re into th e i r ch ar acter s, forhe was s u r e that sh e W ou ld not dece ivehim ; and confessed he was h imself s u r
p r i sed to hear th at he was I n the ir debteight thou s and pounds,as theyhadO
’
n lybeen fou rteen -m on th s h i s sol ic i to rs , w henthe sum Of s i xty thou sand pounds w as
pai d into th e i r hands .Mrs . Mort imer now regretted th at she
had gi ven up h er hO‘
use near Cavend i shsqu are, and th at the Miss L antons w eret o l eav e her in a few days, for she wasfearfu l that sh e h ad undertaken a s i tu at ion, th e b u s ines s Of w h ich she w ou l d
fi nd difli cul t to. d i s ch arge, w i th ou t c re
at ing her se lf m any enem ies ! She rel ated
her s it u at ion to Mr . Char les Stanton, Who
tol d he r he th ought it w as her‘
duty t o
save S ir 'Timothy, i f po s s ibl e, from r u in ;th at h i s so l i c i to rs w ere Jew s Of notorious
character, and th at i f theB aronet’
s af
fai r s w ere ’ not taken out Of the i r h ands,he wo u ld soon b e r u ined . Mrs . Morti
mer introducedMr. Char le s S tanton to
8 BRIGHTON I'
N ' AN UPROAR .
come down as soon as ever c the fate of
Lady Fl igh t was dec ided, as in her p resent state Of heal th she co u ld not l ongsu rv ive. Mrs . Mor t imer , on al l o c casi on s, endeavou red to prevai l jon him to
b e on,good term s w i th h is fam i ly ; but
h e said, that as they had confined him f
On ce in a m ad-hou se, he never 'cou ld for
g ive t hem f orso doing and he w as s u re
they w oul d again,
do th e s ame, i fi theygot him i n thei r p ow e r . He des i red Mrs.
Mortime r to keep a good l ook out afterMr . Chissel , as h e h ad
’
taken the l i’
bfi ty
Of r i d ing his h orses, and doing m anyth ings Of whichlhe d id not app rov e . M rs.
Mortim er con s ide red Mr . Chissel a v u l ~
gar man ; b u t sh e though t him hon est,and spokemuch in h i s favo u r .
‘
No t longbefor e h e h ad gi ven her, in the p resence
of th e two Mi‘
s s L antons, a fi fty po undnote, as
‘
a present' from . S i r T imotlfy, to
settle any l i ttle debts she m i gh t h ave i ntown, and to pay the expences of reruns»
ing her ch il d ren to Br ighton.
n I GII TON I N AN UPROAR. 209
CHAP . V I .
Reflect that l ife and death,affecting sounds
,
A re on l y v aried modes Of en dless Being .
Reflect that l ife, l ike every other blessing,Deri ves i ts v al ue from i ts use al one
No r forj tsel f, but for a'
n Obl‘
er end,
Th’ Etern a l ga ve it,and that end is v irtue.
W hen in con sisten t w i tha greater good;Reason commands to cast the lessaway ;Thus l ife
,w i th loss of weal th, is wel l preserv ’d.
And v irtue cheaply sar’d w i thloss of l ife.
J OHNSON .
ON Mrs . Mortimer ’ s ar r i v al at Brigh
ton ,sh e took up her residence in one Of
S i r T imothy F l ight ’ s hou ses , t i l l h i ssteward co uld p roc u re her one, as possess ion “
of the cottage, w h i ch the Baroneth ad des igned for her, co u ld not be Oh"tained, the p e rson w ith whom h e had
some concern in the c i rcu s r efu s ing to
210 BR I GHTON I N AN UPR OAR.
g ive i t up, and a l aw -su I t was thendepend ing, w h ich some r espectab l e p ers ons a s s u redMrs . Mortimer wo u l d p roveS i r T imothy not '
only to be a partner in thec on cern, b u t w ou l d invol ve
_
him I n greatexpence and d i sgrace . Mrs . Mortimer felti t he r d u ty t o w r i te th i s to M r .Alexander
Mod i sh ; she' a l so informed S i r Timothy
th at no b lame co u ld be impu ted to thegardene r, for not s upply ing h i s tab lem ore p rofu sely, as not
,
l e s s th an th i r typ erson s w ere fu rn i sh ed w i th v egetab l e sfrom h is gro und . TO th is he answeredas fo l low s
Madam,
I am s u rp r i sed at the impudenceof th e p eop l e who have
'
been r obb ing mygarden
‘
; no One Of course is to b e supp l ied w itho u t my perm i s s ion as
‘
far as
h e can m ak e u p th e account, l et him sendi n th e b i l l Of w h at they have had, and
,
m ake thern p ay for every th ing .
Chissel sho u ld g ive al l these people a
2 12 BR IGHTON IN '
AN UPRQAR.
Temple.I‘dadam,
My son nOt h aving been at'
the
Chambers th i s d ay, I h av e thehonou r toacknow l edge the re ce ip t of yo u r favourto 11 1 5 addres s . You r sent imen t s re sp ec ti ng th e persons al l uded to p erfectly co inc i de w ith my own on th e s ubj ect, and
sh al l have th e i r d ue we igh t I n my repre
sentation to S i r T imothy F l igh t . Haveth e goodne ss to tel l Mr . Chissel my son
w i l l be ready at th e t im e stated, who w i l l
b e ab le to app r is e you Of S i r T imothy ’sdeterm inat i on on th e s ubj ec t yo u h ave soj u stly descan ted on , and w i l l p rob ably beab l e to send the n ecessary d i rect i ons by
to-m or row ’ s p ost . I have th e h onou r to
subsc r ib e myself,Madam ,
You r most ob ed ient h umb l e Ser vant,ABRAH AMM ODI SH .
The next morn ing Mrs. Mort ime r h ad
a l etter On th e sam e s ubj ect f rom A lexan
der Mod ish .
BRIGHTON I N AN UPRO ‘AR . 213‘
Temple.
My dear Madam ,Q
You r lette r i s'
th i s m oment befo reme, and I am real ly obl iged to you for
th e inform ation . zealo u s as my fatherand myself have eve r been , not on ly forthe interes t of our c l i ent, b ut h i s repu tat i on , we see w i th p l eas u r e you r d is c reetconduct , and are conv inced that y o u
'
w i l lbe sed u lo u s i n attend ing to ei the r, as wesh ou l d be You r rem arks, re lat ive tothe appendages of the c i rc us, a re perfectly cor rec t , and S i r T imothy has p rom ised to g i v e these faithfu l s l ave s thei rm an um iss ion imm ed i ately . I n the meant ime yo u m ay s afely order that no one i sto ha v e the prod u ce of the garden , w i thout S i r Tim othy ’ s o rder . Shou l d any
thing e lse oc c u r that c ontravenes our
c l ien t’ s interes t, you w i l l be good eno ughto l et u s know .
You r ’ s s incere ly, in haste ,A LEX ANDER MODISH .
Mrs. Mort ime r soon got r id of al l th e
2 14 . BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR.
‘
t r ib e of acto r s and act resses wh ich in;
hab ited the Baronet ’ s ho u se, as' sh e sent
person s i n to c l ean and to p a int it . Uponexam in ing thecontent s of h i s hab i tat ion,she was
”
s u rp r i sed at th e var i ou s art ic l esi t
“
conta ined : as to wh ips, th e wholeco u n ty Of S u ssex co u l d hav e b een s up
p l i ed by him , w i thout his m iss ing them .
Earth en-ware was al so in great p rofu s i on .
Mrs. Mort imer, in th e p resenc e of a w itn es s, took an inv entory of every th ing,and sen t a copy to S irTimothy . She
was taken by Mr . Chissel to a l l th eB aronet ’ s tr ades -peopl e,
i
and they w eredes i red to s upp ly he r w i th every th ingshe p leased to h ave . Prev i ous to h e rl eav ing Town,S i r Timothy had p rom i s
ed her eldestboy a poney, and t i l l h e cam e
home for th e ho l idays h i s b ro the r w as
t o r i de ; b u t -up on send ing for i t, Shew as
in fo rm ed th at the ~
poney belonged to Mr .Chissel , and that h i s s ons wanted i t .Th is sh e took no n oti ce Of, as she though t
w hen . S i r T imothy came, he'
would sett le
21g BR IGHTON I N,AN UPRoAR.
than I e ve r saw him. I h ave seen Mr.
Modish th ree or fo u r t im es , and w as at
h i s house’
last n ight, and a m ore h an d
som e ho u se I n eve r saw in th e cour se of
my l ife. Ev ery th ing in a p r incely styl e ;th ey were al l ve ry p o l ite to me ; we sh al lstart to -m or row at s ix o ’ cl o ck for Lincolnsh i re . S i r Timothy and h i s s e rvant,Modish and me i n th e travel l ing coach
of S i r T imothy . I am v ery gl ad , I w i l lass u re yo u , h e i s go ing, as h e now i s co l
l ected, and knows w el l what h e i s abo u t.Mr . Mod ish h as had a new ca r r i age giv ento him by S i r T imothy, and they ar e al lcom ing I understand to B r igh ton th i sseason ; and from w h at I c an hear, are toh ave one of the hou ses in G erman P lac e
,
b u t wh ich I c anno t te l l - as yet ; sh ou ld
yOu w i sh to h av e the poney, .
tel l Lamb toget him from the farm as soon as yo u r
dea r boy comes -home, and i f you w an t tow r i te to me, d i rect I . Chissel , p ost- othee,Newark , Nottingh am sh i re . G i ve my lo ve
to my dear Sarah and youri
dear ch i ldren,
BR I GHTON -
I N AN UPROAR. 2 17
and pl ease to accept, Madam , my best
w i sh es for you r heal th and happ ines s !J OHN CH I S SEL .
J ames-street, W estminster, L ondon .
Mrs . Mortimer h ad women tohel p herto fu rn i sh S i r T imothy ’ s h ou ses . She c u t
out al l th e bed fu rn i tu re h ersel f, and was
alw ays u p by fi ve in th e morn ing, and
w orked . ti l l twe l ve at n ight . She fur ;
n ished fou r hou ses for les s than e l evenh und red p ounds , inc l ud ing l inen for twoOf them. She painted seven p ai r of cardracks, two gl ass vases, and a pai r of
l arge fi re- skreen s . She w as indefatiga
ble , in the hop e of p rov ing to S i r Tim othy th at hersel f and ch i ld ren m er i tedhis bounty . A t th i s t ime Mr . Chissel
b ecame a w idower,
and h e gave up
h ou sekeep ing . H e sent al l his fu rn i tureto be p u t i nto the hou ses wh ich Mrs .Mortimer was fu rn i sh ing for th e Baronet ; but
/
such rubb i sh was never seenwhat to do sh e d id not know. He sa id
V OL . I . L
218 BRI GHTON I N A N HPBOAB .
S i r T imothy had dec ided to take i t, and
th at h e h ad h ad ita ppra ised. Thi s gave hers om e s u s p i c i ons of th e stew ard ’ s h onesty,w h i ch w ere not l essen ed by find ing fromth e gardene r th at h e had o rder s to s upp ly the schoo l w i th vegetab les wher e h i s
d aughte r was p l aced . Th i s Mrs . Mor
t ime r fo rbade, when th e_ school -m l s
tres s cam e to say that she had taken MissChissel at a reduced p r i ce I n con sequ ence
b f th ei r_ being s upp l i ed w i th
,
vegetab l e sand m i lk by “Mr . Chissel .
~ Thi s op en edMrs . Mortime r ’ s eyes comp l etely ; and
sh e fea red th at n e ither th e stew ard n or
the sol i c i to r s w ere to b e dep ended on .
She w as gr i eved to hear eve ry one say
that S i r T imothy was mad, and th at h i s
fr i end s sho u l d c onfine him . Thi s sh eto ok great pa in s to cont r ad i ct ; becausesh e was conv in ced that i t '
w as not th ecase ; b u t sh e w i shed th at he h ad one of
h i s rel ati ons to res id e w i th him , for'
,she
feared th at ev ery advantage w as taken of
his eccentr ic i ty, and cont inua l ly regretv
220 B R IGHTON I i: AN UPBOAB .
‘
some pl ate from him th at you may want
m ost . She may app ly to Watson, Vigolane, “ the top of Sackv i l l e - street ; he
wou ld'
supply i t i f h e has i t by him, atrather a more reasonab le rate than the
other .I rema in you r ’s tr u ly,
TIMOTH Y FL IGHT .
’
‘The p l ate wh ich the Baronet ment ioned w as for h i s l odging hou ses b u tMrs.
M o rtimer d id not s end for any, fearfu lth at h i s h o u sekeepe r
”
m ight l ead hIm to
too great an expence. Mrs . Mort imer
pl aced h e r son at s chool in B r ighton,and d id not mean to charge S i r T imo~
thy w ith more than thi rty pound s per
annum for h i s sch ool ing, as at this pe
r iod government had most h umanely es
tabl ished a a fund. for th e rel ief of ma rine
orph ans, from thebenevolent representa
tion of an adm iral of h igh rank, who
never l et an occas ion p ass Of per forming
a brave or a char itab l e ac t ion and they
BR IGHTON I N AN UPRO AR . 221
had been grac iou sly p leased to gran t e achof her ch ild ren ten pounds per annumfrom th at bounty .
' A fr i end of Mrs .Forth , who had so long res ided w i thMrs . Mortim er, w as now in B r igh ton,and she w i sh ed to b oard and lodge w ithher , whi ch w as v ery agreeab l e to Mrs .
Mortime r . She was an elderly l ady of
l arge fortu ne and good connect ions, andsuch a c ompan i on w as ve ry des i rab l e ;b u t the h ouse wh ich M r . Chissel hadtaken for Mrs. Mortim e r was in a s ituation wh i ch tu rned out ve ry unp leasantfor th e lad ies, and they determined toremove w hen they cou ld m eet w ith ano
th er w h i ch w o u ld s u i t them .
Mr . Chissel now re tu rned from the
north , and alarm ed Mrs . Mortim‘
er w i thth e account he gave of the jo u rney . He
tol d her that S i r T im othy Fl igh t wou ldsoon be done up that Mr. A lex anderMod ish had the d i rec t ion of every th ing ;and that one of th e best of hi s estates was
made o ve r to him as secur ity fiat moneyL 3
222 BR IGHTON I N AN UPR O AR.
w h ich h e h ad advanc ed for S i r T imothyand that a s s oon as h e h ad rece i ved therents fr om Mr . Chissel , amount ing t ou pward s of s i x tho u s and p ound s , heb ought h im sel f a horse and rod e off wi ththe m oney . Mrs. Mortim e r th oughtth i s a favo u rab l e time to w r i t e to S i rT im othy, to inform him th e tru e ch aract er s of th e p er son s h e emp l oyed, and to tel lhim that if being in thei r debt p reventedhis tak ing h i s affai r s out of the i r hands,th at h e cou l d b e s uppl ied w i th auv sum
imm ed iately for that p u rpos e . She al som ent ioned thathis s teward had gi ven hergreat p ar t of the info rmat ion, and had
al so tol d h er th e qu ant ity of p l ate wh i ch
Mr . Mod i sh h ad in l ie u of charging
mo re th an fi ve p e r cent . interest when be
advan ce d m oney for th e Baronet ; and
S ir'
TImothy gave her th i s rep ly .
Dea r Madam,
You r al arms and sch emes are
qu ite unneces sary. and your information
B R IGHTON IN AN UPRO AR .
we re any ( as there are m any who are
v e ry glad to put money out at th e u s ual
i nte res t wh en i t i s s ec u re ) to Ofi'
er tol end me a l arge sum, I m igh t
[
perhaps
be glad tohavea l arge sum l ent me in
case (I f a des i rab le p u rch ase offer ing it
sel f ; b u t w er e any one to offe r thew eal thOf th e Ind ies, i f I gavemy s imp lew ord , it w ou l d be as s afe as the Bank,b ecau se I neve r w ou l d gi ve my w o rd b u t
w hereI wassure I could at al l even ts rep ayevery sh i l l ing . B e l i ev e me, dear Madam,
You r ’ s t r u ly,T I M OTHY FLI GH T .
P . S . I sh al l try to come down shortly,
Th i s ep istl e conv inced Mrs. Mort ime r
th at th e on ly m ethod to be adopted to
geL Sir Timothy out of th e hands of h i ssol i c ito r s w as to p revai l on Mr
‘
fCharles
S tanton to exp l ain to him the i r nefari ou s
practi ces ; and w hen he ’
once consented,immed iately to remo ve h i s b u s ines s from
them. She was anxious to see th e Baro
BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR . 225
net resto red to h i s fam i ly, and to thatr ank i n soc iety wh ich h e was s o em inent lycal cu l ated to ado rn . She w as shocked tosee him waste the p r im e of h i s l ife in thecompany Ofdesign ing sh arpers : she fel t forh i s s it uation ; she had them ost u nboundedgrat i tu de for h i s k indnes s to her and herch i ld ren , and most w i l l ingly wo u l d she
hav e d evoted every h ou r of her“
exi stenceto p romote h is w el fare . This sh e thoughtcou l d on ly be accomp l i shed by h i s be ingin qu iet, el igib l e soc iety ; as th e no ise,d r ink ing, and t um u l t of the v u lgar,w as i l l c al c u l ated to calm h is p ertu rbed
m ind . She had just fin i sh ed fu rn i sh ingsome hou ses in G e rm an - p lace when she
was addressed to th i s p u rpose .
Russel -square.
Madam ,
Ow ing to the dangerou s state wh ichLady Flight i s now in, S i r T imothy does
not intend v i s i ting B righton for s ome
time, and - has requ ested that we wi l l
L 5
226 BR IGHTON I N AN UPROAR.
m ake use of his ho u se in'
Dorset p l aceti l l he ar ri v es . S i r Timothy w i l l esteemhim se l f ob l iged i f you w i l l o rde r theb eds, &c . to be ready by Wednesdayn ight ; and i f
‘
yo u w i l l h av e the goodn es s to requ es t Mr . Chissel to p roc u restabl ing and p rov is ion for three ho r ses.M r. Fue l p resents h i s compi iments to
you and Mr . Chissel ; and
Be l ieve me Madam,
‘
You r 3 re spectfu l ly,
E FUEL .
AsMrs .Mo rtime r d id n ot know who
Mr . and Mrs . Fue l w e re, she asked IVI I' .Chissel , who in formed
/
her th at the gentleman was a Jack
“
of a l l t ra des,and h i s
presen t p rofess i on a coal m erch ant ; th ath e was a des ign ing m an, and h ad got a
great dea l of m oney from th e Baronet ;th at h e w as now com ing to B r igh tonw ith S i r Timothy ’ s ho rses and c u rri c l e
in h opes Of be ing’
set u p in bus ines s
th ere . They came, and took possession .
228 BR IGHTON IN AN‘
UPROAR.
oath s , which’
proved that Captain Flashknew th e v al u e of the person h e had rec
commended to be his“
father’
s stew ard .
M rs. Mortimer w as s o fr ightened that
she m ade no rep ly ; and al l th e inh abit
ant s in the s treet cam e out of the i r hou ses
to know who th e ter r ib l e c reatu re waswho
had even fr ightened them . A s soon ashe took h i s l e av e, M rs. I
'
s’i
'
ortimer set oti'
for Town, wher e, h av ing arr i ved , sh e toldS i r T imothy th e treatmen t wh ich she had
rece i ved , and regretted th at sh e cou l d heof no fuI ther use to him,
not chus ing tosubj ec t h er sel f to su ch aba se in fut u re .
He tol d he r i t shou ldn eve r happen 'aga in,
for h e wo ul d i n stan tl y d i sm iss M r . Ch is
sel, al though at that m om ent i t wo u ld be
a ttended w i th in conven ience, as h e was
j u s t then val u ing s ome t imber . Mrs .
M o rt imer i ns i sted that he'
should not be
tu rned aw ay , butth at in futu re' h e shou l d
n ever . speak to her ; and S i r T imothy
w rote tohim to th at effec t . He then de
sired that she wo u l d ret u rn to Brighton,
BRl GHTON IN AN UPROAR . 229
say ing that he w o u l d soon com e downh im se l f, and he re l ied upho her to s eethat he w as not imposed on, as sh e w o u l dbe a check u pon others . He a l so re
qu ested that she w ou l d pay part ic u l ar atten t ion to h i s garden , and w as aston i shed when
'
he hea rd that Captain Flash hadhis
I
vegetab l e s from i t . He requestedth at a. b i l l m ight be sen t to the Capt a i nw i th an acco u n t of w h at he had beenserved w i th Th i s M rs .Mortimer cou ldnot; th ink of do ing , nor d id she l ike tosend a mess age by th e gardener, foibid
d ing them to b e se rved in futu re therefore sh e w en t to Capta i n F l ash , and to l dhim
.
wha.
t S i r Tim othy had sa idh and
th at h e had bette r him sel f dec l ine hav ingthem,
oth erw i se i t w ou l d appear Odd toth e gardene r . The Capta in sa i d he hadalw ays pai d for them ; b ut On Mrs . Mor
t ime r ask ing to whom , as she h ad thecare of the garden, and th e m oney
.
had
n eve r been gi ven t o her, h e tol d her that
Chissel was to pay th ree sh i l l ings per
w eek for w hat h e h ad out of th e gardemSh e obser ved t hat s u ch a sum w as riotadequ ate
,
to the vegetabl es h e had beens u pp l ied w ith , as h e had a lw ays beense rved w i th the earl ie s t and best w h i chthe garden p rod u ced : but Mrs . Fl ash
,
who W as a gen tee l , am i ab l e'
wom an,sai d th at th ey had been dece i ved by Mr .
Chissel , who t o l d th em that they m igh t
have‘vegetables and m i l k from S i r Timo
thy Fl igh t ’ s .
Mr . Chissel ne ver afte r spoke or e ven
l ooked at M rs.
'
Mortimer ; but'
did a l l he
cou l d to p reven t h e r boyi
hav ing the po
ney ; and a s she d id not ch u se t o h ave
any t ransact i on w i th him , sh e asked S i r
Timothy to gi ve'
her an o rde r . S i r Ti
mothy al so to l d her that Mr . Mod ish hadfo und out th at sh e
-
h ad a,bad Op in i on of
him ,and that h e h ad taxed Mr. Chissel .
w ith hav i ng tol d h er som e ci rc um stance s,wh ich
L
cam'
e to h i s know l edge, upon wh ich
Chissel den ied the,whole, and i t was th at
which had induced him to abuse Mrs.
232 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
grown stronger, and can attend a l i ttle.
My mother i s so v ery i l l that I m u st stayhere o
'
per'
haps a few w eek s . Have th eB otts tr ied any th ing about sou p and
tr i pe ? He talked m uch abou t i t . Be
l i e ve me,Dear Madam, you r
’ s t r u ly,
T I M OTHY FLIGHT .
‘
PS . I th ink of send ing down my In diancattle s oon, of co u rs e to b e forwarded toth e farm .
Mrs .Mortime r po inted out to th e Bar onet how m u ch h e was imposed on by thetheat ri ca l p er son s w hom he patron i zed ;and that i t was a d isgrace to him t o ap
~
pear w i th s u ch compan i on s . She po inted
al l th i s out in the mos t del i c ate m anne r,forshe h ad h i s interest at h eart as m uch
as i f h e h ad been her son o r b rother Tothese r ep resentat ionsof her ’ s h e imme
diatel y rep l ied .
DearMadam ,
It i s by no, m eans unpl easant to
me to hear truth’
and good sense. As to
BR I GHTON IN AN UPROAR . 233
Botts, and those who ab u se my kindnes s,they sh al l smart for i t h andsomely . Ih ave w r i tten to Chissel to take op James,as i t m igh t b e an unp leasant b u s ines s toyo u .
’ I sh a l l get dow n on Wednesd ay or
Thu rsday, and shal l set al l th ese th ings
to r ights .I rema in you r ’s, &c . &c .
T I M OTHY FLIGHT.
The nex t post bro ugh t the m el ancholynews of Lady FJight
’
s decease .
Dear‘Madam,
My poor moth e r died yesterdayI therefore shal l be detained some d ays .I hOpe you w i l l get Capta in Flash tokeep Chissel I n good order, as you may
sh ew him my w r i t ing, i f necessary, s ayingthat I had rathe r l os e h al f my incometh an be d isgraced by any indecen t cond u ct of h is .
I remain you r ’s, &c . &c .
T IM OTHY FL IGHT .
334 BR I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
= The fol low ing'
vVeek Mrs . Mort imerhad th i s l ette r from th e Baronet .
Dear Madam,
I hop e to get out of Townt o-mor
row or Satu rday . I t i s p ain fu l'
to seeth ings go On as th ey do .
’
As I have b een
preven ted com i ng to B r ighton by su chm el ancho ly c i rc um stances, thos e who
h ad any th ing to do for me, sho u l d h ave
been p art i c u l ar ly guarded, and of cou r s e
to h av e Observed comm on decen cy . I f
you see Captam Flash , you can say th atI to ld yo u I l eft the p on ies for Chissel ,to take the greatest c are of ; my O l d
.
ho rse I never r emember to h ave gi ven
him l eave to r ide at al l , m u ch l es s ,t o
r ide him seventy m i l e s in one day fr omYo rksh i re . I hav e not t ime to w r i te
more at p re sent .
I rema in, Madam,
Yo u r ’ s t r u ly,TIMOTHY FL IGHT.
B R I GHTON I N AN UPROAR .
S i r Timothy d id not com e to B r ighton
becau se he was insane, and confined in:London, and th at h e h ad
‘
two docto r sfrom St . Luke ’ s to attend him . Mrs .Mort im e r t raced th i s rep ort to h ave ori
g inated w i th som e p er sons in Cap ta inFlash ’ s and Mr . Chissel ’s serv i c e .S i r Timothy, who was a great m echa
n I c, Invented a gun, wh ich w as the sub
ject al s o of Mr . Chissel’ s c onve rsat ion,
and th e l a ugh Of h i s compani ons . Whenthe Baronet c am e to B r ighton, h e received Mrs . Mortime r w i th the greatestk indness, and th e n ex t d ay tol d her ofth i s gun, w h i ch h e m ean t to s end for theuse of th e t roop s in Spain, and ' he h ad
ordered a qu anti ty for th at p u rp ose .
M rs. Mortimer of co u rse co u ld b e noj udge of gun s, b ut sh e kn ew the great
exp'
ence attend ing su ch an orde r as th e
Baronetihad des c r ibed, and was an x io u s
to s to p i t . H e h ad an op in ion of her,and sh e on l y wi sh ed to ex ert th e l i ttl e I n
fluence she migh t have w ith him,to for~
BR IGHTON I N AN UPR OAR . 237
w ard h i s w e l fa re . Sh e therefore represented to S i r T imothy, that by send ingth e gun s to Spain, they m ight fa i l int oth e hands of the French , and becom e dest r uct iv e to that co u nt ry fo r w hose benefit they had been in ven ted ; that sheh ad a part ic u l a r fr i end in the royal ma
r ine a rt i l le ry,who w ou l d soon retu rn
from Scotl and that i f the Baronet w ou ldp erm i t, she w ou ld = ask him to t ry h i s
gun , and sho ul d i t p rov e w o rthy of at
tent ion , thro ugh that gen tl eman i t m ightbe int rod uced into the B r i t i sh se rv ice .He was p leased w i th th i s idea
, and t i l lth e Offi cer had passed h
‘
is .opin ion, a st’op ,
w as p ut to the o rde r . Mrs . Mortime r,
howev e r , l amented to see, that a s s oona s she had set a s id e one expens i ve romant i c p roj ect, another s u cceeded ; for the
! nex t th ing on w h ich sh e w as cons u l tedw as th e inh uman i ty of the p resent m odeof ki l l ing an imal s . Si r Timothy , who hada heart o verflow ing w i th th e m i l k ofhuman k indness, w i shed to adopt som
’
e
238 I BRI GHTON I N AN v en ou s.
m anner toterm inate the ex i sten ce of th osean imal s, d es igned by p rov i dence for ou r
food , wh i ch wou ld p rov e in stan taneou s,a nd h i s s teward had recommended t o himto ‘
estab l ish b utch er s” sh op s in d ifferen tp arts of the town , and to adv anc e m oneyto s ome men of h i s re comm endation
, who
w er e to b e s et u p in busmess at th e Baro
net’s expence,'
and to shoot th e c attl e inth e ear, instead of dest roying them in th eu s u al m anne r . A fa rm w as al so taken
from a c onnecti on of Captain Fl ash ’ s ,w h i ch th e stew ard was to
‘
m anage, and
s upp ly th ese h um ane bu tchers w i th oxen,
sheep,
and p i gs . S i r T im othy asked
Mrs . Mortim er h er op in ion, w h i ch sh e
w as incapab l e of gi v ing, be ing total lyu nacqu ainted w i th thebu s iness ; b u t sh eapp l ied for info rmati on to a respectab l eb utche r in B r ighton , who soon con v incedh er of t he impract icab i l i ty of do ing any
good by s uch a p roceeding, as fromshoot ing a calf, or a sh eep
, in the car,the
' coagul ated b lood wou ld rende r
MO BR IGHTON IN AN UPROAR .
i n B r igh ton; and, w i th her large fami ly,h ad l i ttl e t ime to devote to am u semen t .He ent reated th at she wo u ld, for
’
he haddoub ts of thei r fr i endsh ip and integr ity,and
‘
q
he th ou ght that sh e w o u l d b e a
check on them ” I t w as th erefore dec idedthat when th e fam i ly wer e settl ed, Mrs !Mortime r sh ou ld cal l on them, bu t asthey w i l l he often int rod u ced in th eseanecdotes, and as they have al ready cu ta con sp i cu ou s figu re in th e w or ld ,
‘
it
w ou l d be h ighly indeco ro u s, and degrad ing to th e i r dign ity, .
to g i ve the i rh i story at the end of a ch ap te r .
END OF V OL . I .
B. CL ARKE, Printer, W ct treet, London.