by Daniel Defoe
and about Repentance, that it ought to be attended indeed with a deep Abhorrence
of the Crime that I had to charge my self with, but that to despair of God's
Mercy was no Part of Repentance, but putting my self into the Condition of the
Devil; indeed, that I must apply my self with a sincere humble Confession of my
Crime, to ask Pardon of God whom I had offended, and cast my self upon his
Mercy, resolving to be willing to make Restitution, if ever it should please God
to put it into my Power, even to the utmost of what I had in the World; and this
he told me was the Method which he had resolved upon himself, and in this he
told me he had found Comfort.
I had a great deal of Satisfaction in William's Discourse, and it quieted me
very much; but William was very anxious ever after about my talking in my Sleep,
and took care to lye with me always himself, and to keep me from Lodging in any
House, where so much as a Word of English was understood.
However, there was not the like Occasion afterward, for I was much more composed
in my Mind, and resolved for the future to live a quite differing Life from what
I had done: As to the Wealth I had, I look'd upon it as nothing; I resolved to
set it apart to any such Opportunity of doing Justice, that God should put into
my Hand, and the miraculous Opportunity I had afterwards of applying some Parts
of it to preserve a ruined Family, whom I had plunder'd, may be worth reading,
if I have Room for it in this Account.
With these Resolutions I began to be restored to some Degrees of Quiet in my
Mind, and having after almost three Months Stay at Bassora disposed of some
Goods; but having a great Quantity left, we hired Boats according to the
Dutchman's Direction, and went up to Bugdat, or Babylon, on the River Tygris, or
rather Euphrates; we had a very considerable Cargo of Goods with us, and
therefore made a great Figure there, and were receiv'd with Respect; we had in
Particular, two and Forty Bales of Indian Stuffs of sundry Sorts, Silk, Muslins,
and fine Chints; we had Fifteen Bales of very fine China Silks, and Seventy
Packs or Bales of Spices, particularly Cloves and Nutmegs, with other Goods; we
were bid Money here for our Cloves, but the Dutchman advised us not to part with
them, and told us, we should get a better Price at Aleppo, or in the Levant, so
we prepared for the Caravan.
We concealed our having any Gold, or Pearls, as much as we could, and therefore
sold Three or Four Bales of China Silks, and Indian Callicoes, to raise Money to
buy Camels, and to pay the Customs, which are taken at several Places, and for
our Provisions over the Desarts.
I travelled this Journey careless to the last Degree of my Goods or Wealth,
believing, that as I came by it all by Rapine and Violence, God would direct,
that it should be taken from me again in the same Manner; and indeed, I think I
might say, I was very willing it should be so; but as I had a merciful Protector
above me, so I had a most faithful Steward, Counsellor, Partner, or whatever I
might call him, who was my Guide, my Pilot, my Governor, my every thing, and
took care both of me, and of all we had; and tho' he had never been in any of
these Parts of the World, yet he took the Care of all upon him; and in about
Nine and Fifty Days we arriv'd from Bassora, at the Mouth of the River Tygris
and Euphrates, thro' the Desart, and thro' Aleppo to Alexandria, or as we call
it, Scanderoon, in the Levant.
Here William and I, and the other two, our faithful Comrades, debated what we
should do; and here William and I resolved to separate from the other Two, they
resolving to go with the Dutchman into Holland, and by the Means of some Dutch
Ship which lay then in the Road: William and I told them, we resolved to go and
settle in the Morea, which then belonged to the Venetians.
It is true, we acted wisely in it not to let them know whither we went, seeing
we had resolved to separate, but we took our old Doctor's Directions how to
write to him in Holland, and in England, that we might have Intelligence from
him on Occasion, and promised to give him an Account how to write to us, which
we afterwards did, as may in Time be made out.
We stay'd here some Time after they were gone, till at length not being
thoroughly resolved whither to go till then, a Venetian Ship touch'd at Cyprus,
and put in at Scanderoon to look for Freight Home: We took the Hint, and
bargaining for our Passage, and the Freight of our Goods, we embark'd for
Venice, where in two and Twenty Days we arrived safe with all our Treasure, and
with such a Cargo, take our Goods, and our Money, and our Jewels together, as I
believe was never brought into the City by Two single Men, since the State of
Venice had a Being.
We kept our selves here incognito for a great while, passing for Two Armenian
Merchants still, as we had done before; and by this Time we had gotten so much
of the Persian and Armenian Jargon, which they talk'd at Bassora, and Bagdat,
and every where that we came in the Country, as was sufficient to make us able
to talk to one another, so as not to be understood by any Body, though sometimes
hardly by our selves.
Here we converted all our Effects into Money, settled our Abode as for a
considerable Time, and William and I maintaining an inviolable Friendship and
Fidelity to one another, lived like two Brothers; we neither had or sought any
separate Interest; we convers'd seriously and gravely, and upon the Subject of
our Repentance continually; we never changed, that is to say, so as to leave off
our Armenian Garbs, and we were called at Venice the two Grecians.
I have been two or three times going to give a Detail of our Wealth, but it will
appear incredible, and we had the greatest Difficulty in the World how to
conceal it, being justly apprehensive left we might be assassinated in that
Country for our Treasure; at length William told me, he began to think now that
he must never see England any more, and that indeed he did not much concern
himself about it; but seeing we had gained so great a Wealth, and he had some
poor Relations in England, and, if I was willing, he would write to know if they
were living, and to know what Condition they were in; and if he found such of
them were alive, as he had some Thoughts about, he would, with my Consent, send
them something to better their Condition.
I consented most willingly, and accordingly William wrote to a Sister, and an
Uncle, and in about five Weeks Time receiv'd an Answer from them both, directed
to himself, under Cover of a hard Armenian Name that he had given himself, viz.
Seignior Constantine Alexion of Ispahan at Venice.
It was a very moving Letter he receiv'd from his Sister, who after the most
passionate Expressions of Joy to hear he was alive, seeing she had long ago had
an Account that he was murthered by the Pirates in the West Indies; she intreats
him to let her know what Circumstances he was in; tells him, she was not in any
Capacity to do any thing considerable for him, but that he should be welcome to
her with all her Heart; that she
was left a Widow with Four Children, but kept a
little Shop in the Minories, by which she made shift to maintain her Family; and
that she had sent him Five Pound, lest he should want Money in a strange
Country, to bring him Home.
I could see the Letter brought Tears out of his Eyes, as he read it, and indeed
when he shewed it me, and the little Bill for Five Pounds upon an English
Merchant in Venice, it brought Tears out of my Eyes too.
After we had been both affected sufficiently with the Tenderness and Kindness of
this Letter, he turns to me, says he, what shall I do for this poor Woman? I
mused a while, at last, says I, I will tell you what you shall do for her; she
has sent you Five Pounds, and she has Four Children, and her self, that's Five;
such a Sum from a poor Woman in her Circumstances, is as much as Five Thousand
Pounds is to us: You shall send her a Bill of Exchange for Five Thousand Pounds
English Money, and bid her conceal her Surprize at it, till she hears from you
again, but bid her leave off her Shop, and go and take a House some where in the
Country, not far off from London, and stay there in a moderate Figure, till she
hears from you again.
Now, says William, I perceive by it that you have some Thoughts of venturing
into England.
Indeed William, said I, you mistake me, but it presently occurred to me that you
should venture; for what have you done that you may not be seen there? Why
should I desire to keep you from your Relations purely to keep me Company?
William look'd very affectionately upon me; nay, says he, we have embarked
together so long, and come together so far, I am resolved I'll never part with
thee as long as I live, go where thou wilt, or stay where thou wilt; and as for
my Sister, said William, I cannot send her such a Sum of Money; for whose is all
this Money we have? 'tis most of it thine.
No, William, said I, there is not a Penny of it mine but what is yours too, and
I won't have any thing but an equal Share with you, and therefore you shall send
it to her, if not, I will send it.
Why, says William, it will make the poor Woman distracted, she will be so
surprized, she will go out of her Wits; well, said William, you may do it
prudently; send her a Bill back'd of a Hundred Pounds, and bid her expect more
in a Post or two; and that you will send her enough to live on without keeping
Shop, and then send her more.
Accordingly William sent her a very kind Letter, with a Bill upon a Merchant in
London for a Hundred and Sixty Pound, and bid her comfort her self with the
Hope, that he should be able in a little Time to send her more. About ten Days
after he sent her another Bill of Five Hundred and Forty Pound, and a Post or
two after another for Three Hundred Pound, making in all a Thousand Pound; and
told her he would send her sufficient to leave off her Shop, and directed her to
take a House, as above.
He waited then till he received an Answer to all the Three Letters, with an
Account, that she had received the Money, and which I did not expect, that she
had not let any other Acquaintance know that she had received a Shilling from
any Body, or so much as that he was alive, and would not till she heard again.
When he shewed me this Letter, well, William said I, this Woman is fit to be
trusted with Life or any thing, send her the rest of the Five Thousand Pound;
and I'll venture to England with you, to this Woman's House, whenever you will.
In a Word, we sent her Five Thousand Pound in good Bills, and she receiv'd them
punctually, and in a little Time sent her Brother Word, that she had pretended
to her Uncle that she was sickly, and could not carry on the Trade any longer,
and that she had taken a large House about Four Miles from London, under
Pretence of letting Lodgings for her Livelihood; and, in short, intimated as if
she understood that he intended to come over to be Incognito, assuring him he
should be as retired as he pleased.
This was opening the very Door for us, that we thought had been effectually shut
for this Life; and in a Word, we resolved to venture, but to keep our selves
entirely concealed, both as to Name, and every other Circumstance; and
accordingly William sent his Sister Word, how kindly he took her prudent Steps,
and that she had guessed right, that he desired to be retired, and that he
obliged her not to increase her Figure, but live private, till she might perhaps
see him.
He was going to send the Letter away; come, William, said I, you shan't send her
an empty Letter, tell her, you have a Friend coming with you, that must be as
retired as your self, and I'll send her Five Thousand Pound more.
So in short we made this poor Woman's Family rich, and yet when it came to the
Point, my Heart failed me, and I durst not venture, and for William, he would
not stir without me, and so we stayed about two Year after this, considering
what we should do.
You may think, perhaps, that I was very prodigal of my ill-gotten Goods, thus to
load a Stranger with my Bounty, and give a Gift like a Prince to one that had
been able to merit nothing of me, or indeed know me: But my Condition ought to
be considered in this Case; though I had Money to Profusion, yet I was perfectly
destitute of a Friend in the World to have the least Obligation or Assistance
from, or knew not either where to dispose or trust any Thing I had while I
lived, or whom to give it to, if I died.
When I had reflected upon the Manner of my Getting of it, I was sometimes for
giving of it all to charitable Uses, as a Debt due to Mankind, though I was a
Roman-Catholick, and not at all of the Opinion, that it would purchase me any
Repose to my Soul; but I thought, as it was got by a general Plunder, and which
I could make no Satisfaction for, it was due to the Community, and I ought to
distribute it for the general Good. But still I was at a Loss how, and where,
and by whom to settle this Charity, not daring to go Home to my own Country,
lest some of my Comrades stroled Home should see and detect me; and, for the
very Spoil of my Money, or the Purchase of his own Pardon, betray and expose me
to an untimely End.
Being thus destitute, I say, of a Friend, I pitch'd thus upon William's Sister;
the kind Step of her's to her Brother, who she thought to be in Distress,
signifying a generous Mind, and a charitable Disposition; and having resolved to
make her the Object of my first Bounty, I did not doubt but I should purchase
something of a Refuge for my self, and a kind of a Centre, to which I should
tend in my future Actions; for really a Man that has a Subsistance, and no
Residence, no Place that has a Magnetick Influence upon his Affections, is in
one of the most odd uneasy Conditions in the World; nor is it in the Power of
all his Money to make it up to him.
It was, as I told you, two Year and upwards, that we remained at Venice, and
thereabout, in the greatest Hesitation imaginable, irresolute and unfixed to the
last Degree. William's Sister importuned us daily to come to England, and
wo
ndered we should not dare to trust her, whom we had to such a Degree obliged
to be faithful; and in a Manner lamented her being suspected by us.
At last I began to incline; and I said to William, Come, Brother William, said
I, for ever since our Discourse at Balsara, I called him Brother, if you will
agree to two or three Things with me, I'll go Home to England with all my Heart.
Says William, let me know what they are.
Why first, says I, you shall not disclose your self to any of your Relations in
England, but your Sister, no not to one.
Secondly, we will not shave off our Mustachoes or Beards, (for we had all along
worn our Beards after the Grecian Manner) nor leave off our long Vests, that we
may pass for Grecians and Foreigners.
Thirdly, That we shall never speak English in publick before any body, your
Sister excepted.
Fourthly, That we will always live together, and pass for Brothers.
William said, he would agree to them all with all his Heart; but that the not
speaking English would be the hardest; but he would do his best for that too:
So, in a Word, we agreed to go from Venice to Naples, where we verted a large
Sum of Money in Bales of Silk, left a large Sum in a Merchant's Hands at Venice,
and another considerable Sum at Naples, and took Bills of Exchange for a great
deal too; and yet we came with such a Cargoe to London, as few American
Merchants had done for some Years; for we loaded in two Ships seventy three
Bales of thrown Silk, besides thirteen Bales of wrought Silks from the Dutchy of
Milan, shipt at Genoa; with all which I arrived safely, and some time after
married my faithful Protectress, William's Sister, with whom I am much more
happy than I deserve.
And now, having so plainly told you, that I am come to England, after I have so
boldly own'd what Life I have led abroad, 'tis Time to leave off, and say no
more for the present, lest some should be willing to inquire too nicely after
Your Old Friend,
Captain Bob.
FINIS.