Chapter x.
The hospitality of Allworthy; with a short sketch of the characters oftwo brothers, a doctor and a captain, who were entertained by thatgentleman.
Neither Mr Allworthy's house, nor his heart, were shut against anypart of mankind, but they were both more particularly open to men ofmerit. To say the truth, this was the only house in the kingdom whereyou was sure to gain a dinner by deserving it.
Above all others, men of genius and learning shared the principalplace in his favour; and in these he had much discernment: for thoughhe had missed the advantage of a learned education, yet, being blestwith vast natural abilities, he had so well profited by a vigorousthough late application to letters, and by much conversation with menof eminence in this way, that he was himself a very competent judge inmost kinds of literature.
It is no wonder that in an age when this kind of merit is so little infashion, and so slenderly provided for, persons possessed of it shouldvery eagerly flock to a place where they were sure of being receivedwith great complaisance; indeed, where they might enjoy almost thesame advantages of a liberal fortune as if they were entitled to it intheir own right; for Mr Allworthy was not one of those generouspersons who are ready most bountifully to bestow meat, drink, andlodging on men of wit and learning, for which they expect no otherreturn but entertainment, instruction, flattery, and subserviency; ina word, that such persons should be enrolled in the number ofdomestics, without wearing their master's cloathes, or receivingwages.
On the contrary, every person in this house was perfect master of hisown time: and as he might at his pleasure satisfy all his appetiteswithin the restrictions only of law, virtue, and religion; so hemight, if his health required, or his inclination prompted him totemperance, or even to abstinence, absent himself from any meals, orretire from them, whenever he was so disposed, without even asollicitation to the contrary: for, indeed, such sollicitations fromsuperiors always savour very strongly of commands. But all here werefree from such impertinence, not only those whose company is in allother places esteemed a favour from their equality of fortune, buteven those whose indigent circumstances make such an eleemosynaryabode convenient to them, and who are therefore less welcome to agreat man's table because they stand in need of it.
Among others of this kind was Dr Blifil, a gentleman who had themisfortune of losing the advantage of great talents by the obstinacyof a father, who would breed him to a profession he disliked. Inobedience to this obstinacy the doctor had in his youth been obligedto study physic, or rather to say he studied it; for in reality booksof this kind were almost the only ones with which he was unacquainted;and unfortunately for him, the doctor was master of almost every otherscience but that by which he was to get his bread; the consequence ofwhich was, that the doctor at the age of forty had no bread to eat.
Such a person as this was certain to find a welcome at Mr Allworthy'stable, to whom misfortunes were ever a recommendation, when they werederived from the folly or villany of others, and not of theunfortunate person himself. Besides this negative merit, the doctorhad one positive recommendation;--this was a great appearance ofreligion. Whether his religion was real, or consisted only inappearance, I shall not presume to say, as I am not possessed of anytouchstone which can distinguish the true from the false.
If this part of his character pleased Mr Allworthy, it delighted MissBridget. She engaged him in many religious controversies; on whichoccasions she constantly expressed great satisfaction in the doctor'sknowledge, and not much less in the compliments which he frequentlybestowed on her own. To say the truth, she had read much Englishdivinity, and had puzzled more than one of the neighbouring curates.Indeed, her conversation was so pure, her looks so sage, and her wholedeportment so grave and solemn, that she seemed to deserve the name ofsaint equally with her namesake, or with any other female in the Romankalendar.
As sympathies of all kinds are apt to beget love, so experienceteaches us that none have a more direct tendency this way than thoseof a religious kind between persons of different sexes. The doctorfound himself so agreeable to Miss Bridget, that he now began tolament an unfortunate accident which had happened to him about tenyears before; namely, his marriage with another woman, who was notonly still alive, but, what was worse, known to be so by Mr Allworthy.This was a fatal bar to that happiness which he otherwise sawsufficient probability of obtaining with this young lady; for as tocriminal indulgences, he certainly never thought of them. This wasowing either to his religion, as is most probable, or to the purity ofhis passion, which was fixed on those things which matrimony only, andnot criminal correspondence, could put him in possession of, or couldgive him any title to.
He had not long ruminated on these matters, before it occurred to hismemory that he had a brother who was under no such unhappy incapacity.This brother he made no doubt would succeed; for he discerned, as hethought, an inclination to marriage in the lady; and the readerperhaps, when he hears the brother's qualifications, will not blamethe confidence which he entertained of his success.
This gentleman was about thirty-five years of age. He was of a middlesize, and what is called well-built. He had a scar on his forehead,which did not so much injure his beauty as it denoted his valour (forhe was a half-pay officer). He had good teeth, and something affable,when he pleased, in his smile; though naturally his countenance, aswell as his air and voice, had much of roughness in it: yet he couldat any time deposit this, and appear all gentleness and good-humour.He was not ungenteel, nor entirely devoid of wit, and in his youth hadabounded in sprightliness, which, though he had lately put on a moreserious character, he could, when he pleased, resume.
He had, as well as the doctor, an academic education; for his fatherhad, with the same paternal authority we have mentioned before,decreed him for holy orders; but as the old gentleman died before hewas ordained, he chose the church military, and preferred the king'scommission to the bishop's.
He had purchased the post of lieutenant of dragoons, and afterwardscame to be a captain; but having quarrelled with his colonel, was byhis interest obliged to sell; from which time he had entirelyrusticated himself, had betaken himself to studying the Scriptures,and was not a little suspected of an inclination to methodism.
It seemed, therefore, not unlikely that such a person should succeedwith a lady of so saint-like a disposition, and whose inclinationswere no otherwise engaged than to the marriage state in general; butwhy the doctor, who certainly had no great friendship for his brother,should for his sake think of making so ill a return to the hospitalityof Allworthy, is a matter not so easy to be accounted for.
Is it that some natures delight in evil, as others are thought todelight in virtue? Or is there a pleasure in being accessory to atheft when we cannot commit it ourselves? Or lastly (which experienceseems to make probable), have we a satisfaction in aggrandizing ourfamilies, even though we have not the least love or respect for them?
Whether any of these motives operated on the doctor, we will notdetermine; but so the fact was. He sent for his brother, and easilyfound means to introduce him at Allworthy's as a person who intendedonly a short visit to himself.
The captain had not been in the house a week before the doctor hadreason to felicitate himself on his discernment. The captain wasindeed as great a master of the art of love as Ovid was formerly. Hehad besides received proper hints from his brother, which he failednot to improve to the best advantage.
History of Tom Jones, a Foundling Page 12