Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded
When I had got my packet for you finished, I then set about writing, as
he had kindly directed me, to Mrs. Jervis; and had no difficulty till I
came to sign my name; and so I brought it down with me, when I was
called to supper, unsigned.
My good master (for I delight, and always shall, to call him by that
name) had been writing to Mr. Longman; and he said, pleasantly, See,
here, my dearest, what I have written to your Somebody. I read as
follows:
‘Mr. LONGMAN,
‘I have the pleasure to acquaint you, that last Thursday I was married
to my beloved Pamela. I have had reason to be disobliged with you, and
Mrs. Jervis and Jonathan, not for your kindness to, and regard for, my
dear spouse, that now is, but for the manner, in which you appealed to
my sister Davers; which has made a very wide breach between her and me.
But as it was one of her first requests, that I would overlook what had
passed, and reinstate you in all your former charges, I think myself
obliged, without the least hesitation, to comply with it. So, if you
please, you may enter again upon an office which you have always
executed with unquestionable integrity, and to the satisfaction of
‘Yours etc.’
‘Friday afternoon.’
‘I shall set out next Tuesday or Wednesday for Bedfordshire; and desire
to find Jonathan, as well as you, in your former offices; in which, I
dare say, you’ll have the more pleasure, as you have such an early
instance of the sentiments of my dear wife, from whose goodness you may
expect every agreeable thing. She writes herself to Mrs. Jervis.’
I thanked him most gratefully for his goodness; and afterwards took the
above copy of it; and shewed him my letter to Mrs. Jervis, as follows:
‘My DEAR MRS. JERVIS,
‘I have joyful tidings to communicate to you. For yesterday I was
happily married to the best of gentlemen, yours and my beloved master.
I have only now to tell you, that I am inexpressibly happy: that my
generous benefactor denies me nothing, and even anticipates my wishes.
You may be sure I could not forget my dear Mrs. Jervis; and I made it
my request, and had it granted, as soon as asked, that you might return
to the kind charge, which you executed with so much advantage to our
master’s interest, and so much pleasure to all under your direction.
All the power that is put into my hands, by the most generous of men,
shall be exerted to make every thing easy and agreeable to you: And as
I shall soon have the honour of attending my beloved to Bedfordshire,
it will be a very considerable addition to my delight, and to my
unspeakable obligations to the best of men, to see my dear Mrs. Jervis,
and to be received by her with that pleasure, which I promise myself
from her affection. For I am, my dear good friend, and always will be,
‘Yours, very affectionately, and gratefully, PAMELA ——.’
He read this letter, and said, ’Tis yours, my dear, and must be good:
But don’t you put your name to it? Sir, said I, your goodness has given
me a right to a very honourable one but as this is the first occasion
of the kind, except that to my dear father and mother, I think I ought
to shew it you unsigned, that I may not seem over-forward to take
advantage of the honour you have done me.
However sweetly humble and requisite, said he, this may appear to my
dear Pamela’s niceness, it befits me to tell you, that I am every
moment more and more pleased with the right you have to my name: and,
my dear life, added he, I have only to wish I may be half as worthy as
you are of the happy knot so lately knit. He then took a pen himself,
and wrote, after Pamela, his most worthy sirname; and I under-wrote
thus: ‘O rejoice with me, my dear Mrs. Jervis, that I am enabled, by
God’s graciousness, and my dear master’s goodness, thus to write
myself!’
These letters, and the packet to you, were sent away by Mr. Thomas
early this morning.
My dearest master is just gone to take a ride out, and intends to call
upon Lady Jones, Mr. Peters, and Sir Simon Darnford, to invite them to
chapel and dinner to-morrow; and says, he chooses to do it himself,
because the time is so short, they will, perhaps, deny a servant.
I forgot to mention, that Mr. Williams was here yesterday, to ask leave
to go to see his new living, and to provide for taking possession of
it; and seemed so pleased with my master’s kindness and fondness for
me, as well as his generous deportment to himself, that he left us in
such a disposition, as shewed he was quite happy. I am very glad of it;
for it would rejoice me to be an humble means of making all mankind so:
And oh! what returns ought I not to make to the divine goodness! and
how ought I to strive to diffuse the blessings I experience, to all in
my knowledge!—For else, what is it for such a worm as I to be exalted!
What is my single happiness, if I suffer it, niggard-like, to extend no
farther than to myself?—But then, indeed, do God Almighty’s creatures
act worthy of the blessings they receive, when they make, or endeavour
to make, the whole creation, so far as is in the circle of their power,
happy!
Great and good God! as thou hast enlarged my opportunities, enlarge
also my will, and make me delight in dispensing to others a portion of
that happiness, which I have myself so plentifully received at the hand
of thy gracious Providence! Then shall I not be useless in my
generation!—Then shall I not stand a single mark of thy goodness to a
poor worthless creature, that in herself is of so small account in the
scale of beings, a mere cipher on the wrong side of a figure; but shall
be placed on the right side; and, though nothing worth in myself, shall
give signification by my place, and multiply the blessings I owe to thy
goodness, which has distinguished me by so fair a lot!
This, as I conceive, is the indispensable duty of a high condition; and
how great must be the condemnation of poor creatures, at the great day
of account, when they shall be asked, What uses they have made of the
opportunities put into their hands? and are able only to say, We have
lived but to ourselves: We have circumscribed all the power thou hast
given us into one narrow, selfish, compass: We have heaped up treasures
for those who came after us, though we knew not whether they would not
make a still worse use of them than we ourselves did! And how can such
poor selfish pleaders expect any other sentence, than the dreadful,
Depart, ye cursed!
But sure, my dear father and mother, such persons can have no notion of
the exalted pleasures that flow from doing good, were there to be no
after-account at all!
There is something so satisfactory and pleasing to reflect on the being
able to administer comfort and relief to those who stand in need of it,
as infinitely, of itself, rewards the beneficent mind. And how often
have I experienced this in my good lady’s time, though but the
second-hand dispenser of her benefits to the poor and sickly, when she
made me her almoner!—How have I been affected with the blessings which
the miserable have heaped upon her for her goodness, and upon me for
being but the humble conveyer of her bounty to them!—And how delighted
have I been, when the moving report I have made of a particular
distress, has augmented my good lady’s first intentions in relief of
it!
This I recall with pleasure, because it is now, by the divine goodness,
become my part to do those good things she was wont to do: And oh! let
me watch myself, that my prosperous state do not make me forget to look
up, with due thankfulness, to the Providence which has entrusted me
with the power, that so I may not incur a terrible woe by the abuse or
neglect of it!
Forgive me these reflections, my dear parents; and let me have your
prayers, that I may not find my present happiness a snare to me; but
that I may consider, that more and more will be expected from me, in
proportion to the power given me; and that I may not so unworthily act,
as if I believed I ought to set up my rest in my mean self, and think
nothing further to be done, with the opportunities put into my hand, by
the divine favour, and the best of men!
Saturday, seven o’clock in the evening.
My master returned home to dinner, in compliment to me, though much
pressed to dine with Lady Jones, as he was, also, by Sir Simon, to dine
with him. But Mr. Peters could not conveniently provide a preacher for
his own church to-morrow morning, at so short a notice; Mr. Williams
being gone, as I said, to his new living; but believed he could for the
afternoon; and so he promised to give us his company to dinner, and to
read afternoon service: and this made my master invite all the rest, as
well as him, to dinner, and not to church; and he made them promise to
come; and told Mr. Peters, he would send his coach for him and his
family.
Miss Darnford told him pleasantly, She would not come, unless he would
promise to let her be at his wedding; by which I find Mr. Peters has
kept the secret, as my master desired.
He was pleased to give me an airing after dinner in the chariot, and
renewed his kind assurances to me, and, if possible, is kinder than
ever. This is sweetly comfortable to me, because it shews me he does
not repent of his condescensions to me; and it encourages me to look up
to him with more satisfaction of mind, and less doubtfulness.
I begged leave to send a guinea to a poor body in the town, that I
heard, by Mrs. Jewkes, lay very ill, and was very destitute. He said,
Send two, my dear, if you please. Said I, Sir, I will never do any
thing of this kind without letting you know what I do. He most
generously answered, I shall then, perhaps, have you do less good than
you would otherwise do, from a doubt of me; though, I hope, your
discretion, and my own temper, which is not avaricious, will make such
doubt causeless.
Now, my dear, continued he, I’ll tell you how we will order this point,
to avoid even the shadow of uneasiness on one side, or doubt on the
other.
As to your father and mother, in the first place, they shall be quite
out of the question; for I have already determined in my mind about
them; and it is thus: They shall go down, if they and you think well of
it, to my little Kentish estate; which I once mentioned to you in such
a manner, as made you reject it with a nobleness of mind, that gave me
pain then, but pleasure since. There is a pretty little farm, and
house, untenanted, upon that estate, and tolerably well stocked, and I
will further stock it for them; for such industrious folks won’t know
how to live without some employment; And it shall be theirs for both
their lives, without paying any rent; and I will allow them 50l. per
annum besides, that they may keep up the stock, and be kind to any
other of their relations, without being beholden to you or me for small
matters; and for greater, where needful, you shall always have it in
your power to accommodate them; for I shall never question your
prudence. And we will, so long as God spares our lives, go down, once a
year, to see them; and they shall come up, as often as they please, it
cannot be too often, to see us: for I mean not this, my dear, to send
them from us.—Before I proceed, does my Pamela like this?
O, sir, said I, the English tongue affords not words, or, at least, I
have them not, to express sufficiently my gratitude! Teach me, dear
sir, continued I, and pressed his dear hand to my lips, teach me some
other language, if there be any, that abounds with more grateful terms;
that I may not thus be choked with meanings, for which I can find no
utterance.
My charmer! says he, your language is all wonderful, as your
sentiments; and you most abound, when you seem most to want!—All that I
wish, is to find my proposals agreeable to you; and if my first are