History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

by Henry Fielding

  Chapter x.

  In which Mr Jones and Mr Dowling drink a bottle together.

  Mr Dowling, pouring out a glass of wine, named the health of the goodSquire Allworthy; adding, "If you please, sir, we will likewiseremember his nephew and heir, the young squire: Come, sir, here's MrBlifil to you, a very pretty young gentleman; and who, I dare swear,will hereafter make a very considerable figure in his country. I havea borough for him myself in my eye."

  "Sir," answered Jones, "I am convinced you don't intend to affront me,so I shall not resent it; but I promise you, you have joined twopersons very improperly together; for one is the glory of the humanspecies, and the other is a rascal who dishonours the name of man."

  Dowling stared at this. He said, "He thought both the gentlemen had avery unexceptionable character. As for Squire Allworthy himself," sayshe, "I never had the happiness to see him; but all the world talks ofhis goodness. And, indeed, as to the young gentleman, I never saw himbut once, when I carried him the news of the loss of his mother; andthen I was so hurried, and drove, and tore with the multiplicity ofbusiness, that I had hardly time to converse with him; but he lookedso like a very honest gentleman, and behaved himself so prettily, thatI protest I never was more delighted with any gentleman since I wasborn."

  "I don't wonder," answered Jones, "that he should impose upon you inso short an acquaintance; for he hath the cunning of the devilhimself, and you may live with him many years, without discoveringhim. I was bred up with him from my infancy, and we were hardly everasunder; but it is very lately only that I have discovered half thevillany which is in him. I own I never greatly liked him. I thought hewanted that generosity of spirit, which is the sure foundation of allthat is great and noble in human nature. I saw a selfishness in himlong ago which I despised; but it is lately, very lately, that I havefound him capable of the basest and blackest designs; for, indeed, Ihave at last found out, that he hath taken an advantage of theopenness of my own temper, and hath concerted the deepest project, bya long train of wicked artifice, to work my ruin, which at last hehath effected."

  "Ay! ay!" cries Dowling; "I protest, then, it is a pity such a personshould inherit the great estate of your uncle Allworthy."

  "Alas, sir," cries Jones, "you do me an honour to which I have notitle. It is true, indeed, his goodness once allowed me the liberty ofcalling him by a much nearer name; but as this was only a voluntaryact of goodness, I can complain of no injustice when he thinks properto deprive me of this honour; since the loss cannot be more unmeritedthan the gift originally was. I assure you, sir, I am no relation ofMr Allworthy; and if the world, who are incapable of setting a truevalue on his virtue, should think, in his behaviour to me, he hathdealt hardly by a relation, they do an injustice to the best of men:for I--but I ask your pardon, I shall trouble you with no particularsrelating to myself; only as you seemed to think me a relation of MrAllworthy, I thought proper to set you right in a matter that mightdraw some censures upon him, which I promise you I would rather losemy life than give occasion to."

  "I protest, sir," cried Dowling, "you talk very much like a man ofhonour; but instead of giving me any trouble, I protest it would giveme great pleasure to know how you came to be thought a relation of MrAllworthy's, if you are not. Your horses won't be ready thishalf-hour, and as you have sufficient opportunity, I wish you wouldtell me how all that happened; for I protest it seems very surprizingthat you should pass for a relation of a gentleman, without being so."

  Jones, who in the compliance of his disposition (though not in hisprudence) a little resembled his lovely Sophia, was easily prevailedon to satisfy Mr Dowling's curiosity, by relating the history of hisbirth and education, which he did, like Othello.

  ------Even from his boyish years, To th' very moment he was bad to tell:

  the which to hear, Dowling, like Desdemona, did seriously incline;

  He swore 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange; 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wonderous pitiful.

  Mr Dowling was indeed very greatly affected with this relation; for hehad not divested himself of humanity by being an attorney. Indeed,nothing is more unjust than to carry our prejudices against aprofession into private life, and to borrow our idea of a man from ouropinion of his calling. Habit, it is true, lessens the horror of thoseactions which the profession makes necessary, and consequentlyhabitual; but in all other instances, Nature works in men of allprofessions alike; nay, perhaps, even more strongly with those whogive her, as it were, a holiday, when they are following theirordinary business. A butcher, I make no doubt, would feel compunctionat the slaughter of a fine horse; and though a surgeon can feel nopain in cutting off a limb, I have known him compassionate a man in afit of the gout. The common hangman, who hath stretched the necks ofhundreds, is known to have trembled at his first operation on a head:and the very professors of human blood-shedding, who, in their tradeof war, butcher thousands, not only of their fellow-professors, butoften of women and children, without remorse; even these, I say, intimes of peace, when drums and trumpets are laid aside, often layaside all their ferocity, and become very gentle members of civilsociety. In the same manner an attorney may feel all the miseries anddistresses of his fellow-creatures, provided he happens not to beconcerned against them.

  Jones, as the reader knows, was yet unacquainted with the very blackcolours in which he had been represented to Mr Allworthy; and as toother matters, he did not shew them in the most disadvantageous light;for though he was unwilling to cast any blame on his former friend andpatron; yet he was not very desirous of heaping too much upon himself.Dowling therefore observed, and not without reason, that very illoffices must have been done him by somebody: "For certainly," crieshe, "the squire would never have disinherited you only for a fewfaults, which any young gentleman might have committed. Indeed, Icannot properly say disinherited: for to be sure by law you cannotclaim as heir. That's certain; that nobody need go to counsel for. Yetwhen a gentleman had in a manner adopted you thus as his own son, youmight reasonably have expected some very considerable part, if not thewhole; nay, if you had expected the whole, I should not have blamedyou: for certainly all men are for getting as much as they can, andthey are not to be blamed on that account."

  "Indeed you wrong me," said Jones; "I should have been contented withvery little: I never had any view upon Mr Allworthy's fortune; nay, Ibelieve I may truly say, I never once considered what he could ormight give me. This I solemnly declare, if he had done a prejudice tohis nephew in my favour, I would have undone it again. I had ratherenjoy my own mind than the fortune of another man. What is the poorpride arising from a magnificent house, a numerous equipage, asplendid table, and from all the other advantages or appearances offortune, compared to the warm, solid content, the swellingsatisfaction, the thrilling transports, and the exulting triumphs,which a good mind enjoys, in the contemplation of a generous,virtuous, noble, benevolent action? I envy not Blifil in the prospectof his wealth; nor shall I envy him in the possession of it. I wouldnot think myself a rascal half an hour, to exchange situations. Ibelieve, indeed, Mr Blifil suspected me of the views you mention; andI suppose these suspicions, as they arose from the baseness of his ownheart, so they occasioned his baseness to me. But, I thank Heaven, Iknow, I feel--I feel my innocence, my friend; and I would not partwith that feeling for the world. For as long as I know I have neverdone, nor even designed, an injury to any being whatever,

  _Pone me pigris ubi nulla campis Arbor aestiva recreatur aura, Quod latus mundi nebulae, malusque Jupiter urget.

  Pone sub curru nimium propinqui Solis in terra dominibus negata; Dulce ridentem Lalagen amabo, Dulce loquentem._[*]

  [*] Place me where never summer breeze Unbinds the glebe, or warms the trees: Where ever-lowering clouds appear, And angry Jove deforms th' inclement year.

  Place me beneath the burning ray, Where rolls the rapid car of day; Love and the nymph shall charm my toils, The nymph who sweetly
speaks, and sweetly smiles. MR FRANCIS.

  He then filled a bumper of wine, and drunk it off to the health of hisdear Lalage; and, filling Dowling's glass likewise up to the brim,insisted on his pledging him. "Why, then, here's Miss Lalage's healthwith all my heart," cries Dowling. "I have heard her toasted often, Iprotest, though I never saw her; but they say she's extremelyhandsome."

  Though the Latin was not the only part of this speech which Dowlingdid not perfectly understand; yet there was somewhat in it that made avery strong impression upon him. And though he endeavoured by winking,nodding, sneering, and grinning, to hide the impression from Jones(for we are as often ashamed of thinking right as of thinking wrong),it is certain he secretly approved as much of his sentiments as heunderstood, and really felt a very strong impulse of compassion forhim. But we may possibly take some other opportunity of commentingupon this, especially if we should happen to meet Mr Dowling any morein the course of our history. At present we are obliged to take ourleave of that gentleman a little abruptly, in imitation of Mr Jones;who was no sooner informed, by Partridge, that his horses were ready,than he deposited his reckoning, wished his companion a good night,mounted, and set forward towards Coventry, though the night was dark,and it just then began to rain very hard.