_ Chapter IV - In which Amelia appears in no unamiable light.
Amelia, with the assistance of a little girl, who was their only
servant, had drest her dinner, and she had likewise drest herself as
neat as any lady who had a regular sett of servants could have done,
when Booth returned, and brought with him his friend James, whom he
had met with in the Park; and who, as Booth absolutely refused to dine
away from his wife, to whom he had promised to return, had invited
himself to dine with him. Amelia had none of that paultry pride which
possesses so many of her sex, and which disconcerts their tempers, and
gives them the air and looks of furies, if their husbands bring in an
unexpected guest, without giving them timely warning to provide a
sacrifice to their own vanity. Amelia received her husband's friend
with the utmost complaisance and good humour: she made indeed some
apology for the homeliness of her dinner; but it was politely turned
as a compliment to Mr. James's friendship, which could carry him where
he was sure of being so ill entertained; and gave not the least hint
how magnificently she would have provided _had she expected the favour
of so much good company._ A phrase which is generally meant to contain
not only an apology for the lady of the house, but a tacit satire on
her guests for their intrusion, and is at least a strong insinuation
that they are not welcome.
Amelia failed not to enquire very earnestly after her old friend Mrs.
James, formerly Miss Bath, and was very sorry to find that she was not
in town. The truth was, as James had married out of a violent liking
of, or appetite to, her person, possession had surfeited him, and he
was now grown so heartily tired of his wife, that she had very little
of his company; she was forced therefore to content herself with being
the mistress of a large house and equipage in the country ten months
in the year by herself. The other two he indulged her with the
diversions of the town; but then, though they lodged under the same
roof, she had little more of her husband's society than if they had
been one hundred miles apart. With all this, as she was a woman of
calm passions, she made herself contented; for she had never had any
violent affection for James: the match was of the prudent kind, and to
her advantage; for his fortune, by the death of an uncle, was become
very considerable; and she had gained everything by the bargain but a
husband, which her constitution suffered her to be very well satisfied
without.
When Amelia, after dinner, retired to her children, James began to
talk to his friend concerning his affairs. He advised Booth very
earnestly to think of getting again into the army, in which he himself
had met with such success, that he had obtained the command of a
regiment to which his brother-in-law was lieutenant-colonel. These
preferments they both owed to the favour of fortune only; for, though
there was no objection to either of their military characters, yet
neither of them had any extraordinary desert; and, if merit in the
service was a sufficient recommendation, Booth, who had been twice
wounded in the siege, seemed to have the fairest pretensions; but he
remained a poor half-pay lieutenant, and the others were, as we have
said, one of them a lieutenant-colonel, and the other had a regiment.
Such rises we often see in life, without being able to give any
satisfactory account of the means, and therefore ascribe them to the
good fortune of the person.
Both Colonel James and his brother-in-law were members of parliament;
for, as the uncle of the former had left him, together with his
estate, an almost certain interest in a borough, so he chose to confer
this favour on Colonel Bath; a circumstance which would have been
highly immaterial to mention here, but as it serves to set forth the
goodness of James, who endeavoured to make up in kindness to the
family what he wanted in fondness for his wife.
Colonel James then endeavoured all in his power to persuade Booth to
think again of a military life, and very kindly offered him his
interest towards obtaining him a company in the regiment under his
command. Booth must have been a madman, in his present circumstances,
to have hesitated one moment at accepting such an offer, and he well
knew Amelia, notwithstanding her aversion to the army, was much too
wise to make the least scruple of giving her consent. Nor was he, as
it appeared afterwards, mistaken in his opinion of his wife's
understanding; for she made not the least objection when it was
communicated to her, but contented herself with an express
stipulation, that wherever he was commanded to go (for the regiment
was now abroad) she would accompany him.
Booth, therefore, accepted his friend's proposal with a profusion of
acknowledgments; and it was agreed that Booth should draw up a
memorial of his pretensions, which Colonel James undertook to present
to some man of power, and to back it with all the force he had.
Nor did the friendship of the colonel stop here. "You will excuse me,
dear Booth," said he, "if, after what you have told me" (for he had
been very explicit in revealing his affairs to him), "I suspect you
must want money at this time. If that be the case, as I am certain it
must be, I have fifty pieces at your service." This generosity brought
the tears into Booth's eyes; and he at length confest that he had not
five guineas in the house; upon which James gave him a bank-bill for
twenty pounds, and said he would give him thirty more the next time he
saw him.
Thus did this generous colonel (for generous he really was to the
highest degree) restore peace and comfort to this little family; and
by this act of beneficence make two of the worthiest people two of the
happiest that evening.
Here, reader, give me leave to stop a minute, to lament that so few
are to be found of this benign disposition; that, while wantonness,
vanity, avarice, and ambition are every day rioting and triumphing in
the follies and weakness, the ruin and desolation of mankind, scarce
one man in a thousand is capable of tasting the happiness of others.
Nay, give me leave to wonder that pride, which is constantly
struggling, and often imposing on itself, to gain some little pre-
eminence, should so seldom hint to us the only certain as well as
laudable way of setting ourselves above another man, and that is, by
becoming his benefactor. _