LETTER VII
MISS CLARISSA HARLOWE, TO MISS HOWEMONDAY NIGHT, MAY 1.
I have just escaped from a very disagreeable company I was obliged, somuch against my will, to be in. As a very particular relation of thisevening's conversation would be painful to me, you must content yourselfwith what you shall be able to collect from the outlines, as I may callthem, of the characters of the persons; assisted by the little historiesMr. Lovelace gave me of each yesterday.
The names of the gentlemen are Belton, Mowbray, Tourville, and Belford.These four, with Mrs. Sinclair, Miss Partington, the great heiressmentioned in my last, Mr. Lovelace, and myself, made up the company.
I gave you before the favourable side of Miss Partington's character,such as it was given to me by Mrs. Sinclair, and her nieces. I will nowadd a few words from my own observation upon her behaviour in thiscompany.
In better company perhaps she would have appeared to less disadvantage:but, notwithstanding her innocent looks, which Mr. Lovelace also highlypraised, he is the last person whose judgment I would take upon realmodesty. For I observed, that, upon some talk from the gentlemen, notfree enough to be easily censured, yet too indecent in its implication tocome from well-bred persons, in the company of virtuous prople [sic],this young lady was very ready to apprehend; and yet, by smiles andsimperings, to encourage, rather than discourage, the culpable freedomsof persons, who, in what they went out of their way to say, must eitherbe guilty of absurdity, meaning nothing, or meaning something ofrudeness.*
* Mr. Belford, in Letter XIII. of Vol. V. reminds Mr. Lovelace of someparticular topics which passed in their conversation, extremely to theLady's honour.
But, indeed, I have seen no women, of whom I had a better opinion than Ican say of Mrs. Sinclair, who have allowed gentlemen, and themselves too,in greater liberties of this sort than I had thought consistent with thatpurity of manners which ought to be the distinguishing characteristic ofour sex: For what are words, but the body and dress of thought? And isnot the mind of a person strongly indicated by outward dress?
But to the gentlemen--as they must be called in right of their ancestors,it seems; for no other do they appear to have:--
Mr. BELTON has had university education, and was designed for the gown;but that not suiting with the gaiety of his temper, and an uncle dying,who devised to him a good estate, he quitted the college, came up totown, and commenced fine gentleman. He is said to be a man of sense.--Mr. Belton dresses gaily, but not quite foppishly; drinks hard; keeps allhours, and glories in doing so; games, and has been hurt by thatpernicious diversion: he is about thirty years of age: his face is afiery red, somewhat bloated and pimply; and his irregularities threaten abrief duration to the sensual dream he is in: for he has a shortconsumption cough, which seems to denote bad lungs; yet makes himself andhis friends merry by his stupid and inconsiderate jests upon verythreatening symptoms which ought to make him more serious.
Mr. MOWBRAY has been a great traveller; speaks as many languages as Mr.Lovelace himself, but not so fluently: is of a good family: seems to beabout thirty-three or thirty-four: tall and comely in his person: boldand daring in his look: is a large-boned, strong man: has a great scar inhis forehead, with a dent, as if his skull had been beaten in there, anda seamed scar in his right cheek: he likewise dresses very gaily: has hisservants always about him, whom he is continually calling upon, andsending on the most trifling messages--half a dozen instances of which wehad in the little time I was among them; while they seem to watch theturn of his fierce eye, to be ready to run, before they have half hismessage, and serve him with fear and trembling. Yet to his equals theman seems tolerable: he talks not amiss upon public entertainments anddiversions, especially upon those abroad: yet has a romancing air, andavers things strongly which seem quite improbable. Indeed he doubtsnothing but what he ought to believe; for he jests upon sacred things;and professes to hate the clergy of all religions. He has high notionsof honour, a world hardly ever out of his mouth; but seems to have nogreat regard to morals.
Mr. TOURVILLE occasionally told his age; just turned of thirty-one. Heis also of an ancient family; but, in his person and manners, more of whatI call the coxcomb than any of his companions. He dresses richly;would be thought elegant in the choice and fashion of what he wears; yet,after all, appears rather tawdry than fine.--One sees by the care hetakes of his outside, and the notice he bespeaks from every one by hisown notice of himself, that the inside takes up the least of hisattention. He dances finely, Mr. Lovelace says; is a master of music,and singing is one of his principal excellencies. They prevailed uponhim to sing, and he obliged them both in Italian and French; and, to dohim justice, his songs in both were decent. They were all highlydelighted with his performance; but his greatest admirers were, Mrs.Sinclair, Miss Partington, and himself. To me he appeared to have agreat deal of affectation.
Mr. Tourville's conversation and address are insufferably full of thosereally gross affronts upon the understanding of our sex, which themoderns call compliments, and are intended to pass for so many instancesof good breeding, though the most hyperbolical, unnatural stuff that canbe conceived, and which can only serve to show the insincerity of thecomplimenter, and the ridiculous light in which the complimented appearsin his eyes, if he supposes a woman capable of relishing the romanticabsurdities of his speeches.
He affects to introduce into his common talk Italian and French words;and often answers an English question in French, which language he greatlyprefers to the barbarously hissing English. But then he never fails totranslate into this his odious native tongue the words and the sentenceshe speaks in the other two--lest, perhaps, it should be questionedwhether he understands what he says.
He loves to tell stories: always calls them merry, facetious, good, orexcellent, before he begins, in order to bespeak the attention of thehearers, but never gives himself concern in the progress or conclusion ofthem, to make good what he promises in his preface. Indeed he seldombrings any of them to a conclusion; for if his company have patience tohear him out, he breaks in upon himself by so many parentheticalintrusions, as one may call them, and has so many incidents springing inupon him, that he frequently drops his own thread, and sometimes sitsdown satisfied half way; or, if at other times he would resume it, heapplies to his company to help him in again, with a Devil fetch him if heremembers what he was driving at--but enough, and too much of Mr.Tourville.
Mr. BELFORD is the fourth gentleman, and one of whom Mr. Lovelace seemsmore fond than any of the rest; for he is a man of tried bravery, itseems; and this pair of friends came acquainted upon occasion of aquarrel, (possibly about a woman,) which brought on a challenge, and ameeting at Kensington Gravel-pits; which ended without unhappyconsequences, by the mediation of three gentlemen strangers, just as eachhad made a pass at the other.
Mr. Belford, it seems, is about seven or eight and twenty. He is theyoungest of the five, except Mr. Lovelace, and they are perhaps thewickedest; for they seem to lead the other three as they please. Mr.Belford, as the others, dresses gaily; but has not those advantages ofperson, nor from his dress, which Mr. Lovelace is too proud of. He has,however, the appearance and air of a gentleman. He is well read inclassical authors, and in the best English poets and writers; and, by hismeans, the conversation took now and then a more agreeable turn. And I,who endeavoured to put the best face I could upon my situation, as Ipassed for Mrs. Lovelace with them, made shift to join in it, at suchtimes, and received abundance of compliments from all the company, on theobservations I made.*
* See Letter XIII. of Vol. V. above referred to.
Mr. Belford seems good-natured and obliging; and although verycomplaisant, not so fulsomely so as Mr. Tourville; and has a polite andeasy manner of expressing his sentiments on all occasions. He seems todelight in a logical way of argumentation, as also does Mr. Belton.These two attacked each other in this way; and both looked at us women,as if to observe whether we did not admire this learning, or when theyhad sa
id a smart thing, their wit. But Mr. Belford had visibly theadvantage of the other, having quicker parts, and by taking the worstside of the argument, seemed to think he had. Upon the whole of hisbehaviour and conversation, he put me in mind of that character ofMilton:--
--------His tongue Dropt manna, and could make the worse appear The better reason, to perplex and dash Maturest counsels; for his thoughts were low; To vice industrious: but to nobler deeds Tim'rous and slothful: yet he pleased the ear.
How little soever matters in general may be to our liking, we are apt,when hope is strong enough to permit it, to endeavour to make the best wecan of the lot we have drawn; and I could not but observe often, how muchMr. Lovelace excelled all his four friends in every thing they seemeddesirous to excel in. But as to wit and vivacity, he had no equal there.All the others gave up to him, when his lips began to open. The haughtyMowbray would call upon the prating Tourville for silence, when Lovelacewas going to speak. And when he had spoken, the words, Charming fellow!with a free word of admiration or envy, fell from every mouth.
He has indeed so many advantages in his person and manner, that whatwould be inexcusable in another, would, if one watched not over one'sself, and did not endeavour to distinguish what is the essence of rightand wrong, look becoming in him.
Mr. Belford, to my no small vexation and confusion, with the forwardnessof a favoured and intrusted friend, singled me out, on Mr. Lovelace'sbeing sent for down, to make me congratulatory compliments on my supposednuptials; which he did with a caution, not to insist too long on therigorous vow I had imposed upon a man so universally admired--
'See him among twenty men,' said he, 'all of distinction, and nobody isregarded but Mr. Lovelace.'
It must, indeed, be confessed, that there is, in his whole deportment, anatural dignity, which renders all insolent or imperative demeanour asunnecessary as inexcusable. Then that deceiving sweetness which appearsin his smiles, in his accent, in his whole aspect, and address, when hethinks it worth his while to oblige, or endeavour to attract, how doesthis show that he was born innocent, as I may say; that he was notnaturally the cruel, the boisterous, the impetuous creature, which thewicked company he may have fallen into have made him! For he has,besides, as open, and, I think, an honest countenance. Don't you thinkso, my dear? On all these specious appearances, have I founded my hopesof seeing him a reformed man.
But it is amazing to me, I own, that with so much of the gentleman, sucha general knowledge of books and men, such a skill in the learned as wellas modern languages, he can take so much delight as he does in thecompany of such persons as I have described, and in subjects of frothyimpertinence, unworthy of his talents, and his natural and acquiredadvantages. I can think but of one reason for it, and that must argue avery low mind,--his vanity; which makes him desirous of being consideredas the head of the people he consorts with.--A man to love praise, yet tobe content to draw it from such contaminated springs!
One compliment passed from Mr. Belford to Mr. Lovelace, which hastened myquitting the shocking company--'You are a happy man, Mr. Lovelace,' saidhe, upon some fine speeches made him by Mrs. Sinclair, and assented to byMiss Partington:--'You have so much courage, and so much wit, thatneither man nor woman can stand before you.'
Mr. Belford looked at me when he spoke: yes, my dear, he smilingly lookedat me; and he looked upon his complimented friend; and all theirassenting, and therefore affronting eyes, both men's and women's, wereturned upon your Clarissa; at least, my self-reproaching heart made methink so; for that would hardly permit my eye to look up.
Oh! my dear, were but a woman, who gives reason to the world to think herto be in love with a man, [And this must be believed to be my case; or towhat can my supposed voluntary going off with Mr. Lovelace be imputed?]to reflect one moment on the exaltation she gives him, and the disgraceshe brings upon herself,--the low pity, the silent contempt, the insolentsneers and whispers, to which she makes herself obnoxious from acensuring world of both sexes,--how would she despise herself! and howmuch more eligible would she think death itself than such a discovereddebasement!
What I have thus in general touched upon, will account to you why I couldnot more particularly relate what passed in this evening's conversation:which, as may be gathered from what I have written, abounded withapprobatory accusations, and supposed witty retorts.