Part 22 (1/2)
The last resource, and that upon which he least depended, was the advice and assistance of his old friend the eht correspondence; and to whose house he steered his course, in great perplexity and tribulation That gentle him with assurances of friendshi+p and protection, faithfully recapitulated all the instances of his indiscretion and misconduct, taxed him ant of sincerity in the West India affair, as well as ant of honesty in this last e, while his former as alive; and, finally, reht be immediately taken up, as he (the quack) had present occasion for a su it would be impracticable to derive any succour from this quarter, sneaked hohts; and the first object that presented itself to his eyes when he entered his apartment, was a letter fro to forty-five pounds, which the writer desired ht be paid without delay Before he had time to peruse the articles, he received a suaainst him in Hicks' Hall, by Sarah Muddy, ; and, while he was revolving measures to avert these stor him to understand, that he had orders from Doctor Buffalo, the quack, to sue him for the payment of several notes, unless he would take them up in three days from the date of this letter
Such a concurrence of sinister events made a deep impression upon the mind of our adventurer All his fortitude was insufficient to bear hiainst this torrent of misfortunes; his resources were all dried up, his invention failed, and his reflection began to take a new turn ”To what purpose,” said he to hirity and truth, and exhausted a fruitful i sche a splendid fortune, which was my aim, I have suffered such a series of ht myself to the brink of inevitable destruction? By a virtuous exertion of those talents I inherit fro before this time, have rendered ht have grown up like a young oak, which, being firradually raises up its lofty head, expands its leafy arlory of the plain I should have paid the debt of gratitude towith joy for the happy effects of their benevolence I should have been a bulwark to hbours in distress I should have run the race of honour, seenodour, and felt the ineffable pleasure of doing good
Whereas I aues, reduced to ravated by a conscience loaded with treachery and guilt I have abused the confidence and generosity of my patron; I have defrauded his family, under the mask of sincerity and attaches of virtue in distress; I have seduced unsuspecting innocence to ruin and despair; I have violated the most sacred trust reposed in me by my friend and benefactor; I have betrayed his love, torn his noble heart asunder, by means of the most perfidious slander and false insinuations; and, finally, brought to an untirave the fairest pattern of human beauty and perfection Shall the author of these crimes pass with impunity?
Shall he hope to prosper in the uilt? It were an iin to feel myself overtaken by the eternal justice of Heaven! I totter on the edge of wretchedness and ithout one friendly hand to save me from the terrible abyss!”
These reflections, which, perhaps, the misery of his fellow-creatures would never have inspired, had he hie of misfortune, were now produced from the sensation of his own calamities; and, for the first time, his cheeks were bedeith the drops of penitence and sorrow ”Contraries,” saith Plato, ”are productive of each other” Reforenerated from unsuccessful vice; and our adventurer was, at this juncture, very well disposed to turn over a new leaf in consequence of those salutary suggestions; though he was far fro cured beyond the possibility of a relapse On the contrary, all the faculties of his soul were so well adapted, and had been so long habituated to deceit, that, in order to extricate himself from the evils that environed him, he would not, in all probability, have scrupled to practise it upon his own father, had a convenient opportunity occurred
Be that as it may, he certainly, after a tedious and fruitless exercise of his invention, resolved to effect a clandestine retreat from that confederacy of enemies which he could not withstand, and once more join his fortune to that of Renaldo, whom he proposed to serve, for the future, with fidelity and affection, thereby endeavouring to atone for the treachery of his former conduct Thus determined, he packed up his necessaries in a portmanteau, attempted to amuse his creditors with pro to coe-coach, after having converted his superfluities into ready money These steps were not taken with such privacy as to elude the vigilance of his adversaries; for, although he had been cautious enough to transport hi, and never doubted that the vehicle, which set out at four o'clock on Monday , would convey him out of the reach of his creditors, before they could possibly obtain a writ for securing his person, they had actually taken such precautions as frustrated all his finesse; and the coach being stopped in the borough of Southwark, Doctor Fathom was seized by virtue of a warrant obtained on a criminal indict's Bench; yet, not before he had, by his pathetic remonstrances, excited the compassion, and even drawn tears froers
He no sooner recollected himself from the shock which must have been occasioned by this sinister incident, than he despatched a letter to his brother-in-law, the counsellor, requesting an immediate conference, in which he promised to make such a proposal as would save him all the expense of a lawsuit and trial, and, at the same time, effectually answer all the purposes of both He was accordingly favoured with a visit from the lawyer, to whom, after the most solemn protestations of his own innocence, he declared, that, finding hionists, he had resolved even to abandon his indubitable right, and retire into another country, in order to screen himself from persecution, and remove all cause of disquiet from the prosecutrix, when he was, unfortunately, prevented by the warrant which had been executed against hi, for the sake of his liberty, to sign a formal renunciation of his pretensions to Mrs Fathom and her fortune, provided the deeds could be executed, and the warrant withdrawn, before he should be detained by his other creditors; and, lastly, he conjured the barrister to spare hi evidence for the destruction of an unhappy man, whose misfortune was his only fault
The lawyer felt the force of his expostulations; and though he would by no amy, yet, under the pretext of humanity and commiseration, he undertook to persuade his sister to accept of a proper release, which, he observed, would not be binding, if executed during the confinement of Fathom; he therefore took his leave, in order to prepare the papers, withdraw the action, and take such otherhim the slip Next day, he returned with an order to release our hero, who, being fored, was conducted by the lawyer to a tavern in the neighbourhood, where the releases were exchanged, and everything concluded with a happily transacted, Fathoe, and was followed by a bailiff, who told hiain a prisoner, at the suit of Doctor Buffalo, and desired the coached
Fathoan temper, was now fain to reinforce it with the philosophy of Christian resignation, though he had not as yet arrived to such a pitch of self-denial as to forgive the counsellor, to whose double dealing he i received the compliments of the jailer on his recommitment, he took pen, ink, and paper, and co epistle to the e his weakness, and de up an unhappy man in a jail, where he could never have an opportunity of doing justice to his creditors; nor did he forget to declare his intention of retiring into another country, where hea subsistence, which he had so long toiled for to no purpose in England
This last declaration he made in consequence of the jealous disposition of the quack, who he knew had long looked upon hi rival However, he reaped no benefit froratify the pride of Buffalo, who produced the extravagant encomiums which Fathom had bestowed upon hi witness to his virtue
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
FATHOM BEING SAFELY HOUSED, THE READER IS ENTERTAINED WITH A RETROSPECT
But now it is high time to leave our adventurer to chew the cud of reflection and remorse in this solitary mansion, that we may trace Renaldo in the several steps he took to assert his right, and do justice to his faed a more melancholy train of ideas than that which accompanied hi the manifold reasons he had to expect a happy issue to his ai that chilled his nerves and saddened his heart, recurring, with quick succession, like the unwearied wave that beats upon the bleak, inhospitable Greenland shore This, the reader will easily suppose, was no other than the ree appeared to his fancy in different attitudes, according to the prevalence of the passions which raged in his bosoht of apostasy, and then his soul was nation and despair But these transitory blasts were not able to efface the impressions she had formerly made upon his heart; i contemplated with inconceivable rapture These pictures still re her fair as the el of mercy and compassion, warmed with every virtue of the heart, and adorned with every acco contrast came still in the rear of this recollection; so that his soul was by turns agitated by the terief
He recalled the ret which attends the memory of a dear deceased friend Then he bitterly cursed it, as the source of all hisblessed hiratitude; and then ardently wished he had still continued under the influence of her delusion In a word, the loneliness of his situation aggravated every horror of his reflection; for, as he found hiination was never solicited, or his attention diverted from these subjects of woe; and he travelled to Brussels in a reverie, fraught with such torments as must have entirely wrecked his reason, had not Providence interposed in his behalf He was, by his postillion, conducted to one of the best inns of the place, where he understood the cloth was already laid for supper; and as the ordinary is open to strangers in all these houses of entertainment, he introduced himself into the company, with a view to alleviate, in sorin, by the conversation of his fellow-guests Yet he was so ill prepared to obtain the relief which he courted, that he entered the apart either the nuh he hiarded His mien and deportment produced a prepossession in his favour; and the air of affliction, so ree, did not fail to attract their sy the rest, was an Irish officer in the Austrian service, who having eyed Renaldo attentively, ”Sir,” said he, rising, ”if my eyes and memory do not deceive me, you are the Count de Melvil, ho the last war” The youth, hearing his own na the other to be a gentleireat affection
This was, in divers respects, a fortunate rencontre for young Melvil; as the officer was not only perfectly well acquainted with the situation of the Count's family, but also resolved, in a few days, to set out for Vienna, whither he promised to accompany Renaldo, as soon as he understood his route lay the same way Before the day fixed for their departure arrived, this gentleman found means to insinuate himself so far into the confidence of the Count, as to learn the cause of that distress which he had observed in his features at their first entleman of uncommon vivacity, as well as sincerely attached to the family of Melvil, to which he had owed his proood sense in a down the arian He in particular endeavoured to wean his attention fro it upon his dos of his uishi+ng under the tyranny of his father-in-law
This was a note that effectually roused hi vengeance on the oppressor, who had ruined his fortune, and rossed his thoughts, as to leave no roo their journey to Austria, Major Farrel, (that was the name of his fellow-traveller,) infor his father's house, to which hier
”The conduct of yourCount Trebasi, was not at all agreeable either to the friends of the Count de Melvil, or to her own relations, who knew her second husband to be a man of a violent temper, and rapacious disposition, which the nature of his education and employment had served rather to infla the whole course of the late war They were, rined, when they found she took no step to prevent his seizing upon that inheritance which of right belonged to you, and which, by the laws of Hungary, is unalienable from the heir of blood Nevertheless, they are now fully convinced, that she hath more than sufficiently atoned for her indiscretion, by the barbarity of her husband, who hath not only secluded her from all communication with her friends and acquaintance, but even confined her to the west tower of your father's house, where she is said to be kept close prisoner, and subjected to all sorts of inconvenience and mortification This severity she is believed to have incurred in consequence of having expostulated to him upon his unjust behaviour to you and Mademoiselle, whom he hath actually shut up in some convent in Vienna, which your relations have not as yet been able to discover But the memory of your noble father is so dear to all those ere favoured with his friendshi+p, and the sufferings of the Countess and Madeainst her cruel jailor, that nothing is wanted but your presence to begin the prosecution, and give a sanction to the measures of your friends, which will in a little tihts and fortune For my own part, my dear Count, I consider myself as one wholly indebted to your house for the rank and expectation I now enjoy; and my finances, interest, and person, such as they are, I dedicate to your service”
Renaldo was not slow in enerous Hibernian, who to him his unco the letters of recommendation he had received by his means to some of the first noblemen at the Imperial court Meanwhile, he burned with impatience to chastise Count Trebasi for his perfidious conduct to theand the fatherless, and would have taken the road to Presburg, without touching at Vienna, in order to call him to a severe account, had not he been strenuously opposed by Major Farrel, who represented the i such a step before he had secured a proper protection froht be attended
”It is not,” said he, ”your own life and fortune only which depend upon your behaviour in this eency, but also the quiet and happiness of those who are most dear to your affection Not you alone, but likewise your mother and sister, would infallibly suffer by your temerity and precipitation First of all, deliver your credentials at court, and let us join our endeavours to raise an interest strong enough to counterbalance that of Trebasi If we succeed, there will be no necessity for having recourse to personal measures He will be compelled to yield up your inheritance which he unjustly detains, and to restore your sister to your arms; and if he afterwards refuses to do justice to the Countess, you will always have it in your power to evince yourself the son of the brave Count de Melvil”
These just and salutary representations had a due effect upon Renaldo, who no sooner arrived at the capital of Austria, than he waited upon a certain prince of distinction, to whose patronage he was commended; and from whom he met with a very cordial reception, not only on account of his credentials, but also for the sake of his father, ell known to his highness He heard his coreat patience and affability, assured him of his assistance and protection, and even undertook to introduce him to the empress-queen, ould not suffer the weakest of her subjects to be oppressed,nobleman, who, by his own services, and those of his family, was peculiarly entitled to her favour