Part 11

A severe illness, under which Mr. Crispin had been labouring, was a great additional source of anxiety to us, and had materially helped to protract the above affair; but shortly after its termination, we received a most kind and fatherly letter from him, announcing his perfect recovery; but intimating, that he considered his illness as a warning to “set his house in order”; and inclosing a deed of gift to Mr. P. of the whole Jamaica property. He said he had always intended to bequeath it to him, but that he preferred giving it then, while Edward was on the spot, that he might make whatever arrangements he liked previous to his return to England. And this he hoped might be soon, as he wished, before he died, to see us once more, and to restore to Mr. P. his Ulleswater estate, which had nearly paid off all his debts. He also sent a considerable sum of money to reimburse our expenses in the lawsuit, and thus effected a sudden change in our circumstances, from poverty to comparative affluence.

It was long since we had had money at command; and the first use Mr. P. made of it was to enable me at once to visit the dear friends from whom I had been so many years separated, without waiting for the final arrangement of his affairs. I need scarcely tell you that the moment the property was ours we gave Nanina her freedom. I had intended to have proposed her remaining with me, but I learned that there had been a long attachment between her and a deserving young man; and before we left Jamaica I had the pleasure of seeing the faithful girl happily settled.

Just then the Phaëton was ordered to Brazil with despatches, and to proceed from thence to England. Captain M. was nearly related to Mr. P., and immediately offered me a passage, which, though much longer, was much more agreeable than if made in any other way. I need not tell you, Bertha, how greatly I enjoyed the time we remained at Rio, and how happy I was to have you for my companion during the remainder of our voyage.

Thank heaven, I found my dear father and mother well and strong; my children, too, had just come home from school for the vacation, and my happiness would have been complete had my dear Edward been with me. My boys have fine open generous minds, and I trust that in their education I shall take warning by my own early faults.

From this little history of my past life you will perceive, my dear Bertha, how much reason I have to be grateful for the afflictions with which Providence thought fit to correct me; and though your education has fortunately been very different from mine, still, this account of my follies and their consequences will point out numerous dangers to avoid, and new motives for continual watchfulness: every page of it will shew you the necessity of a vigilant self-control, and will, I think, amply demonstrate the value of homely virtues and of homely knowledge. Do not, however, imagine that I seek to depreciate the value of scientific or literary pursuits, or that my love for them has diminished;--far from it:--I would only keep them in their right place; for I have at last learned that the _useful_ and the _intellectual_ embellish each other; and that the female character is more or less imperfect if deficient in either.--G. P.

_11th._--The dormouse seemed less inclined to sleep during the last return of frost, than before; and since the weather has become a little more mild and warm, it seems to have laid aside its sleepiness almost entirely. During one or two slight frosts, which lasted for only a day or two, it slept constantly; and I think I may say, from all our observations, that whenever the thermometer, which my uncle has attached to the cage, falls to 42°, the dormouse becomes inactive; and if it falls any lower, he remains insensible. When the warmth of the room rises to 47° he is affected by the slightest touch, and is sure to waken in the evening and to eat heartily of his store, which I keep supplied with nuts, biscuits, and a little milk and water. When he is too lazy to put his mouth down into the cup, he has a very amusing method of drinking; he dips his tail into the milk, and then draws it through his mouth. Last night he was so much alive that he very expertly repaired his nest, which had been a little deranged. On the whole, as my uncle says, it appears, that as soon as the necessity for sleeping is removed, by artificial warmth and plenty of food, the torpid propensity of this little creature vanishes.

My aunt remarked that there are many well-known facts of animals being compelled by circumstances to relinquish their strongest characteristics; for instance, the hyena lives on the roots of _fritillary_ in the unfrequented parts of Africa, but in the neighbourhood of inhabited places he feeds on carrion:--and the pied flycatcher, which lives on soft seeds in this country, is well contented in Norway with flesh dried in smoke.

The rain, which was incessant for two days and nights, stopped yesterday, and a nice soft wind with a warm sun has so dried the ground, that we have been out almost all the morning. I find that spring is beginning to advance. The buds of several trees are visibly enlarging, though it will be many weeks before they burst; the catkins of the hazel, which appeared during the winter like little short green spikes, are now lengthened, and so much more open, that each floret is to be seen separately, though none are yet expanded. When we were rambling through the hazel thicket, Mary shewed them to me; and also the little buds which contain the flowers that afterwards produce the nuts, scattered up and down on the branches. It is curious that these flowers are so carefully preserved in buds, while the catkins are exposed without protection during the whole winter.

The flower-buds of the peach trees are much swelled, the scales are almost separating, and in some there is even a streak of red appearing.

The tufts of leaf and flower buds on the pear trees begin to shew themselves more distinctly; and on the larch trees, the little brown lumps are now growing larger, and preparing to let the nests of imprisoned leaves burst forth.

It is very odd how many interesting things are passed over and not observed. There was a young lady here last week who lives in the country, and yet had scarcely noticed any of these small circumstances in Natural History, which distinguish the changes of the seasons, though she diligently walked out every day for two hours round the garden and shrubbery.

Notwithstanding my love for the rich and beautiful vegetation of Brazil, I do like the seasons here, and the sort of feeling of expectation that winter, dark and dreary as it is, gives of the welcome return of spring with all its beauties.

_12th., Sunday._--My uncle, in conversing this morning about the peculiar situation and circumstances of the Israelites, said that the beneficence which graciously condescended to detail all their smaller duties in the law, might be compared to the cloud which continued to be their daily guide in the wilderness, directing them when to halt, and when to advance; for the law was their sure guide to lead them blameless through the journey of life, could they but have been obedient to it, and restrained their unruly and stubborn dispositions.

“But, perhaps,” he continued, “there is not any where in the history of man a stronger proof of the corruption of his heart, and at the same time of the perfect free will bestowed on him, than in the simple facts recorded in the history of the journey of the Israelites across the desert; when at the very time they were under the immediate guidance of God, they so frequently murmured and even rebelled against his commands. Thus exercising their own will, notwithstanding the threats and prohibitions, as well as the promises, conveyed to them by Moses.

“The book of Numbers, you know, is so called because it contains an account of the two numberings of the people; the first of which took place in the second year after their departure from Egypt; and the second, in the plains of Moab, near the conclusion of their wanderings. It comprehends about thirty-eight years; but the principal historical events which it records happened at the beginning or the end of that period,--such as, the death of Aaron, and the very interesting narrative of Balak and Balaam’s insidious attempts. It also describes the consecration of the tabernacle, and recapitulates the forty-two journeys of the Israelites in the wilderness, under the miraculous guidance of the cloud.

“This book also contains several instances of the prompt severity with which God punished the rebellious murmurings and ungrateful seditions of the people. But amidst the exemplary terrors of those judgments, it sets forth on every occasion the continuance of his fatherly mercy and goodness, in providing for their wants, in protecting and defending them, in holding out the consoling offer of future restoration to his favour, and particularly in the beautiful and comprehensive blessing which he appointed to be pronounced by the priests, and to which, lest any body should despise it, because uttered by a mere mortal, he annexed this gracious and distinct promise, ‘and I will bless them.’

“The blessing[A] probably extended in its full meaning to after-ages, and seems to be capable of a more comprehensive interpretation than what appears in our translation. For it is very remarkable, that the name of Jehovah, which is three times repeated, has each time in the original Hebrew a different accent. Some commentators think that this refers to the three persons of the Trinity; and that it has a strictly parallel signification to the form of baptism which our Saviour established in ‘the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’

“The three parts of this benediction, they say, will be found to agree respectively with the attributes of Three Persons. The Father being the source of all blessings and preservation, temporal and eternal. Grace and illumination coming from the Son, through whom we have the light of all true knowledge. And Peace, that is, the peace of conscience and inward tranquillity of mind, being essentially the gift of the Spirit, whose name, St. John says, is the Comforter.”

_13th._--Every thing relating to the interior of Africa is so interesting now that such efforts are making to explore it, that I think you will be amused by a few lines from Mollien’s Travels about a kingdom called _Fonta-diallon_.

He says, that the villages are like camps; there are but few cattle, and those of diminutive size; horses are unknown, and the ass on which Mollien rode, spread terror through the country. There is not sufficient prey to invite the lion; and the surrounding mountains have never been crossed by the elephant: but hyenas and panthers are abundant; and monkeys people the woods.

The riches of the inhabitants consist in slaves, and they have some very singular establishments for them, which seem to shew a much greater degree of humanity than we find in any other part of Africa. I will copy Mollien’s own words.

“Les Rumbdés sont des établissemens qui font honneur à l’homme de l’humanité. Chaque village, ou plusieurs habitans d’un village, rassemblent leurs esclaves, en leur enjoignant de se bâtir des cases voisines les unes des autres; cette réunion s’appelle _Rumbdé_. On choisit un chef parmi les esclaves; ses enfans, s’ils en sont dignes, occupent sa place après sa mort. Ces esclaves, qui n’en portent que le nom, labourent le champ de leurs maîtres; et lorsqu’ils voyagent, les suivent pour porter leurs fardeaux. Jamais on ne les vend quand ils sont parvenus à un age un peu avancé, ou qu’ils sont nés dans le pays; agir autrement, ce serait causer la désertion de toute la Rumbdé; mais celui qui se conduit mal est livré au maître par ses camarades, pour qu’il le vende.”

_14th._--It is only a fortnight since I first observed snow-drops pressing up through the snow. Now at every step I find the early spring-flowers displaying themselves; and myriads of gay crocuses, yellow, white, and purple, are bursting every day through the grass of the little lawn under the library windows. My aunt is going to paint a group of them, which I am to have the pleasure of gathering for her. Hepaticas, of all colours, are unfolding their little flowers which have been so long coiled up, waiting for the gentle influence of spring. Periwinkle, and even polyanthus, are beginning to blossom; and the sweet-scented mezereon bushes are thickly covered with the flowers which I saw quite formed in their little buds five months ago.

The weather has been for some days as soft and mild as it was cold and harsh a week since; and this has rapidly brought out both birds and plants. Even my little dormouse has been more lively.

I have been reading a description of winter, which gives a more melancholy idea of it than I think it deserves.

“Winter, season of death, is the time of the sleep, or the torpor of nature; insects without life, reptiles without motion, and vegetables without verdure. The inhabitants of the air destroyed; those of the water inclosed in prisons of ice; and even the terrestrial animals, in some countries, confined in caverns and holes.”

I do not think that, in the depth of winter, all the little living creatures were so torpid as they are thus described; but the author nicely says, afterwards, “The return of the birds in spring is the first signal of the awakening of nature.” I agree with him in that, as I have for some days observed, that several birds have been singing in an under voice, as if trying their powers; even a thrush, early as it is, warbled a few low notes, for Mary and me, this morning. But there is a little brown bird, with a bluish, ashy-coloured neck, that for two or three weeks I have constantly heard, as it sits on a fir tree near my window, loudly repeating its sweet, though unvaried song. It is the winter fauvette, or hedge-sparrow; which, however, does not belong to the sparrow tribe. The fauvette is described as a lively, amiable bird, very active, and to be found every where; in gardens, in thickets, and hedgerows.

Numbers of insects, too, may be discovered. In our walks last month, we found many under the bark of trees, or concealed in the moss; and Mary told me that some of these are scarce in the summer months. We have often brought home, in our pocket handkerchiefs, great tufts of moss from the roots of trees; and by shaking it over white paper, we have easily collected the insects.

I forgot to mention the golden saxifrage, or stonecrop, with which the shrubbery is bordered, and which is just beginning to flower; and in some of the hedges the sloe is coming into bloom. But, mamma, even in the depth of winter, there was no where that appearance of death described by that melancholy writer; for the bramble retained its leaves, and gave a thin scattering of green to the hedges; while the berries of the wild rose, the euonymus, and the hawthorn, along with the pretty red dog-wood, gave every thing a cheerful look.

I have often thought of the walk I had with my uncle in November, and of the quantity of things which he taught me might be found to observe, even in the worst seasons.

_15th._--All this winter we have observed great numbers of the pretty little lady-bird, or _coccinella_, clustered together in a privet-hedge; they are generally collected at the joints of the branches, and at first I imagined they were red berries. Mary never observed so many before, and she therefore supposes that the _aphis_ must have been uncommonly abundant last autumn. She tells me that the lady-bird is of great service--for in its larva state, it feeds entirely on aphides; and when these mischievous grubs are very numerous, the multitudes of their pretty little destroyers always seem to increase in proportion. In 1807, they covered the cliffs at Brighton in such swarms, that the inhabitants were almost alarmed, not being aware that they came from the neighbouring hop-grounds, where their larvæ had been usefully employed in preying on the aphis, which had committed such ravages among the hop plants, and which is there called _the fly_.--Their utility is so well known in France, that they are almost held sacred there; and, indeed, they are so pretty as to be favourites every where.

Just in the same manner as the locust-eating thrush accompanies the locusts, so the coccinellæ seem to pursue the aphides: whether the latter cross the sea is not known; but the coccinellæ certainly do, as they have often alighted upon vessels at sea.

_17th._--I have just read a passage in Kalm’s Travels in North America, which seems, in some degree, to confirm that opinion of Dr. Walker’s, about the flowering time of foreign plants, which my uncle mentioned last week.

“The crab trees opened their flowers yesterday; whereas, the cultivated apple trees which were brought from Europe, had already lost theirs. The wild cherry trees did not flower till May 12th; but the European ones had opened theirs by the 24th of April. The walnuts of this country had neither leaves nor flowers, when the European kinds had both. Hence it appears that the trees brought over from Europe, of the same kind with the wild trees of North America, flower much sooner than the latter. I cannot say the cause of this forwardness, unless it be that they bring forth their blossoms as soon as they get the degree of warmth to which they have been used in their own country: it almost seems as if the native trees of this country are directed, by _experience_, not to trust to the first warmth of spring, while the flowers of the European trees are often killed by the late frosts.”

I read this passage to my uncle, and asked him if these plants did not seem almost to have instinct?

He smiled, and said, “I can give you another remarkable fact. The wild potatoe, from Valparaiso, flowers in the garden of the Horticultural Society in October, which you know is the spring of South America. All these curious circumstances are manifest proofs of the wisdom of Providence, who has impressed on plants and animals the habits proper to the situation in which he placed them.”

I afterwards asked my uncle if the American fruits were very late in ripening, as the blossoms are so long kept back by winter.

“No,” he said, “the summer is very warm, though the winter is long and severe; and, as animals become more sensible to heat, after being previously exposed to cold,--for the same reason that your hands glow on coming into the house after having been rubbed with snow--so vegetables seem to be excited to a greater degree of energy by the previous intense cold. Vines, in grape-houses which have been exposed to the open winter air, become forwarder and more vigorous than those which have been kept shut up in the house. In the northern latitudes, after the dissolution of the snow, the rapidity of vegetation would astonish you.

“Clarke mentions, in his travels in Scandinavia, that it is by no means uncommon for barley to be reaped in six weeks after it has been sown; for in summer the sun is so long above the horizon there, that there is scarcely any intermission of the warmth of the soil during the night.”

_19th, Sunday._--“While we are engaged in considering the history of Moses,” said my uncle this morning, “I think we should dwell a little on a very striking part of his character, in order to imitate it, though, indeed, we can never be tried like him, in having the guidance of such a wayward and stiff-necked people. Bertha, guess to what quality I allude.”

“Perhaps to his meekness, which the Bible mentions as being remarkable,” I replied.

“Yes; meekness and spirit united. No man could have given more proofs of his courage than Moses. He slew the Egyptian who was killing one of his Hebrew brethren; he beat the Midianite shepherds though alone and unsupported: he boldly remonstrated with Pharaoh in his own court, and feared not all the power of Egypt; but more than all, when God commanded him to approach, he ventured amidst all the terrors of Sinai: and yet that spirit, which made and knew his heart, says ‘He was very meek above all men upon earth.’ Mildness and fortitude may well lodge together in one breast; it is not the fierce and cruel who are the most valiant.

“In the sedition of Miriam and Aaron, we see a beautiful example of his meekness, and of that true magnanimity which arises from it; and those very qualities are given as the reason why God avenged their ingratitude to Moses. Their trial must have been the more painful to him, because the enmity which he endured was from his own nearest relations. Yet he interceded for them, and God remitted the punishment which they had justly incurred. There, my children, is a pattern for you of that forbearance and generosity, which our Saviour afterwards so strongly commanded his disciples to exercise.

“If Moses himself excited the anger of the Lord at Meribah-Kadesh, by the distrust which induced him to strike the rock twice, as if doubtful of God’s omnipotence--if even he could be guilty of such weakness, or could be provoked by the people to ‘speak unadvisedly with his lips,’ how much more then do all of us require a continual watchfulness of our hearts, lest we give way to the same kind of ignorant and presumptuous scepticism!

“The punishment of Moses, by prohibiting him from leading his people into the promised land, was peculiarly mortifying; and afforded an exemplary lesson to all Israel of the necessity of obedience, faith, and humility, to secure the favour of God. How severely Moses felt this infliction, and how meekly he bore it, appears from his humble, and it would seem repeated supplications to the Lord to reverse the sentence; but it was reserved for a greater than Moses to teach His disciples how to pray on such an occasion: ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’

“I think I have noticed to you, on a former Sunday, the perfect candour of Moses; in the present case it is again conspicuous. His offence, his punishment, and his entreaties are frequently alluded to in the Pentateuch, but are totally omitted by Josephus. In the original narrative they are mentioned as if necessary to explain the whole truth--they are expressed in sorrow and humiliation;--and the ingenuousness with which both the crime and the disgrace are recorded by himself, form a striking contrast with the suppression of those facts by that cautious historian in describing the character of the great legislator, to whom he looked up with so much reverence.”

_20th._--Several insects of different kinds appear now on the fruit trees, and are already beginning to do mischief to the little buds--some to those containing the leaf, and some to those of the blossom. When I heard this, I said, that if they could be picked off the blossoms, it would not signify much if some of the leaves were destroyed; but my uncle reminded me that the leaves are necessary to the nourishment of the fruit; for unless there are leaves to prepare the sap for that purpose, the fruit withers away.

It has been found, he says, by his friend Mr. Knight, that where a peach branch had only flower-buds on it, the grafting a leaf-bearing twig to its extremity, so as to produce leaves, was of great benefit to the young fruit. Mr. K. having also observed that a melon plant began to decline, which apparently had sufficient foliage for the nourishment of its fruit, he examined the plant more carefully, and discovered that a runner had grown out of the frame at one end, with an additional melon on it. He took this one off, and the rest of the fruit again flourished.