Evening at Home 72
Pa._ Yes—or in other words, _Rectitude_. The strength and stability of
the pillar alone denote the security produced by this virtue. You see
here a woman disentangling and reeling off a very perplexed skein of
thread.
_Cec._ She must have a great deal of patience.
_Pa._ True. She is _Patience_ herself. The brooding hen, sitting beside
her, is another emblem of the same quality that aids the interpretation.
Who do you think this pleasing female is, that looks with such kindness
upon the drooping plant she is watering?
_Cec._ That must be _Charity_, I believe.
_Pa._ It is; or you may call her _Benignity_, which is nearly the same
thing. Here is a lady sitting demurely, with one finger on her lip,
while she holds a bridle in her other hand.
_Cec._ The finger on the lip, I suppose, denotes Silence. The bridle
must mean confinement. I should almost fancy her to be a schoolmistress.
_Pa._ Ha! ha! I hope, indeed, many schoolmistresses are endued with her
spirit, for she is _Prudence_ or _Discretion_. Well—we are now got to
the end of our pictures, and upon the whole you have interpreted them
very prettily.
_Cec._ But I have one question to ask you, papa. In these pictures and
others that I have seen of the same sort, almost all the _good_
qualities are represented in the form of _women_. What is the reason of
that?
_Pa._ It is certainly a compliment, my dear, either to your sex’s person
or mind. The inventor either chose the figure of a female to clothe each
agreeable quality in, because he thought that the most agreeable form,
and therefore best suited it; or he meant to imply that the female
character is really the most virtuous and amiable. I rather believe that
the first was his intention, but I shall not object to your taking it in
the light of the second.
_Cec._ But is it true—is it true?
_Pa._ Why, I can give you very good authority for the preference of the
female sex, in a moral view. One Ledyard, a great traveller, who had
walked through almost all the countries of Europe, and at last died in
an expedition to explore the internal parts of Africa, gave a most
decisive and pleasing testimony in favour of the superior character of
women, whether savage or civilized. I was so much pleased with it, that
I put great part of it into verse; and if it will not make you vain, I
will give you a copy of my lines.
_Cec._ O, pray, do!
_Pa._ Here they are. Read them.
LEDYARD’S PRAISE OF WOMEN.
Through many a land and clime a ranger
With toilsome steps, I’ve held my way,
A lonely, unprotected stranger,
To all the stranger’s ills a prey.
While steering thus my course precarious,
My fortune still had been to find
Men’s hearts and dispositions various,
But gentle Woman ever kind.
Alive to every tender feeling,
To deeds of mercy ever prone,
The wounds of pain and sorrow healing
With soft compassion’s sweetest tone.
No proud delay, no dark suspicion,
Stints the free bounty of their heart;
They turn not from the sad petition,
But cheerful aid at once impart.
Formed in benevolence of nature,
Obliging, modest, gay, and mild,
Woman’s the same endearing creature
In courtly town and savage wild.
When parched with thirst, with hunger wasted,
Her friendly hand refreshment gave,
How sweet the coarsest food has tasted!
What cordial in the simple wave!
Her courteous looks, her words caressing,
Shed comfort on the fainting soul:
Woman’s the stranger’s general blessing,
From sultry India to the Pole.
[Illustration:
EVENING XXVII.
]
GENEROUS REVENGE.
At the period when the republic of Genoa was divided between the
factions of the nobles and the people, Uberto, a man of low origin, but
of an elevated mind and superior talents, and enriched by commerce,
having raised himself to be the head of a popular party, maintained for
a considerable time a democratic form of government.
The nobles, at length, uniting all their efforts, succeeded in
subverting this state of things, and regained their former supremacy.
They used their victory with considerable rigour; and in particular
having imprisoned Uberto, proceeded against him as a traitor, and
thought they displayed sufficient lenity in passing a sentence upon him
of perpetual banishment, and the confiscation of all his property.
Adorno, who was then possessed of the first magistracy, a man haughty in
temper, and proud of ancient nobility, though otherwise not void of
generous sentiments, in pronouncing this sentence on Uberto, aggravated
its severity by the insolent terms in which he conveyed it. “You,” said
he,—“you, the son of a base mechanic, who have dared to trample upon the
nobles of Genoa—you, by their clemency, are only doomed to shrink again
into the nothingness whence you sprung.”
Uberto received his condemnation with respectful submission to the
court; yet stung by the manner in which it was expressed, he could not
forbear saying to Adorno, that “perhaps he might hereafter find cause to
repent the language he had used to a man capable of sentiments as
elevated as his own.” He then made his obeisance and retired; and after
taking leave of his friends, embarked in a vessel bound for Naples, and
quitted his native country without a tear.
He collected some debts due to him in the Neapolitan dominions, and with
the wreck of his fortune went to settle on one of the islands in the
Archipelago belonging to the state of Venice. Here his industry and
capacity in mercantile pursuits raised him, in a course of years, to
greater wealth than he had possessed in his most prosperous days at
Genoa; and his reputation for honour and generosity equalled his
fortune.
Among other places which he frequently visited as a merchant, was the
city of Tunis, at that time in friendship with the Venetians, though
hostile to most of the other Italian states, and especially to Genoa. As
Uberto was on a visit to one of the first men of that place at his
country-house, he saw a young Christian slave at work in irons, whose
appearance excited his attention. The youth seemed oppressed with
labour, to which his delicate frame had not been accustomed, and while
he leaned at intervals upon the instrument with which he was working, a
sigh burst from his full heart, and a tear stole down his cheek. Uberto
eyed him with tender compassion, and addressed him in Italian. The youth
eagerly caught the sounds of his native tongue, and replying to his
inquiries, informed him he was a Genoese. “And what is your name, young
man?” said Uberto. “You need not be afraid of confessing to _me_ your
birth and condition.”
“Alas!” he answered, “I fear my captors already suspect enough to demand
a large ransom. My father is indeed one of the first men in Genoa. His
name is Adorno, and I am his only son.”—“Adorno!” Uberto checked himself
from uttering more aloud, but to himself he cried, “Thank Heaven! then I
shall be nobly revenged.”
He took leave of the youth, and immediately went to inquire after the
corsair captain who claimed a right in young Adorno, and having found
him, demanded the price of his ransom. He learned that he was considered
as a captive of value, and that less than two thousand crowns would not
be accepted. Uberto paid the sum; and causing his servant to follow him
with a horse and a complete suit of handsome apparel, he returned to the
youth, who was working as before, and told him he was free. With his own
hands he took off his fetters, and helped him to change his dress, and
mount on horseback. The youth was tempted to think it all a dream, and
the flutter of emotion almost deprived him of the power of returning
thanks to his generous benefactor. He was soon, however, convinced of
the reality of his good fortune, by sharing the lodging and table of
Uberto.
After a stay of some days at Tunis to despatch the remainder of his
business, Uberto departed homeward accompanied by young Adorno, who by
his pleasing manners had highly ingratiated himself with him. Uberto
kept him some time at his house, treating him with all the respect and
affection he could have shown for the son of his dearest friend. At
length, having a safe opportunity of sending him to Genoa, he gave him a
faithful servant for a conductor, fitted him out with every convenience,
slipped a purse of gold into one hand, and a letter into the other, and
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