BRIGHTON I N AN UPROAR. their residence at a hotel of such magni ﬁcence, it w as a novel sight to...

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

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

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


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


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


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


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


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.


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


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


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 .

”


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,


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


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


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 .


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,


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


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


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


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


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.


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


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 .


= 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.

BRIGHTON I N AN UPROAR. their residence at a hotel of such magni ﬁcence, it w as a novel sight to...

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Transcript of BRIGHTON I N AN UPROAR. their residence at a hotel of such magni ﬁcence, it w as a novel sight to...