Japhet In Search Of A Father Part 1, Frederick Marryat [top 10 inspirational books .TXT] 📗
- Author: Frederick Marryat
Book online «Japhet In Search Of A Father Part 1, Frederick Marryat [top 10 inspirational books .TXT] 📗». Author Frederick Marryat
In The _Metropolitan Magazine_, Where This Novel Originally Appeared
(Sep. 1834-Jan. 1836), Marryat Prepared His Readers For Its Reception In
The Following Words:--
"And Having Now Completed 'Jacob Faithful,' We Trust To The Satisfaction
Of Our Readers, We Will Make A Few Remarks. We Commenced Writing On Our
Own Profession, And Having Completed Four Tales, Novels, Or Whatever You
May Please To Call Them" (Viz., Frank Mildmay, The King'S Own, Newton
Forster, Peter Simple), "In 'Jacob Faithful' We Quitted The _Salt_ Water
For The _Fresh_. From The Wherry We Shall Now Step On Shore, And In Our
Next Number We Shall Introduce To Our Readers 'The Adventures Of
_Japhet_, In Search Of His Father.'"
The Promise Was Faithfully Kept, And Japhet, With All His Varied
Experience, Never Went To Sea. There Were Indeed Few Companies On Land
To Which He Did Not Penetrate. Reared In a Foundling Hospital, And
Apprenticed To A Smithfield Apothecary, His Good Looks, Impulsive
Self-Confidence, And Unbounded Talent For Lying, Carried Him With Eclat
Through The Professions Of Quack Doctor, Juggler, And Mountebank,
Gentleman About Town, Tramp, And Quaker: To Emerge Triumphantly At Last
As The Only Son Of A Wealthy Anglo-Indian General, Or "Bengal Tiger," As
His Friends Preferred To Call Him.
Japhet'S "Adventures," Of Course, Are Shared By A Faithful Friend And
Ally, Timothy Oldmixon, The Sancho To His Quixote, Originally An Orphan
Pauper Like Himself, Composed Of Two Qualities--Fun And Affection. He
Encounters Villains, Lawyers, Kind-Hearted Peers, "Rooks" And "Pigeons,"
Gipsies, Leaders Of Fashion, Fair Maidens--Enough And To Spare. In a
Word, Marryat Here Makes Use Of Well-Worn Material, And Uses It Well. He
Part 1 Prefatory Note Pg 2Has Constructed A Tale Of Private Adventure On The Old Familiar Lines,
In Which The Local Colour--Acquired From Other Books--Is Admirably Laid
On, And The Interest Sustained To The End. The Story Is Well Told,
Enlivened By Humour, And Very Respectably Constructed.
The Reader Will Find _Japhet_ Thoroughly Exciting, And Will Have No
Difficulty In believing That, While It Was Running In The Pages Of The
_Metropolitan_, "An American Vessel Meeting An English One In The Broad
Atlantic, Instead Of A Demand For Water Or Supplies, Ran Up The Question
To Her Mast-Head, 'Has Japhet Found His Father Yet?'"
_Japhet, In Search Of A Father_, Is Here Re-Printed, With A Few
Corrections, From The First Edition In 3 Vols. Saunders & Otley, 1836.
On Page 360 A Few Words, Enclosed In Square Brackets, Have Been
Inserted From The Magazine Version, As The Abbreviated Sentence, Always
Hitherto Reproduced From The First Edition, Is Unintelligible.
R.B.J.
Part 1 Chapter 1 Pg 3
Like Most Other Children, Who Should Be My Godfather Is Decided By
Mammon--So Precocious As To Make Some Noise In The World And Be
Hung A Few Days After I Was Born--Cut Down In Time And Produce A
Scene Of Bloodshed--My Early Propensities Fully Developed By The
Choice Of My Profession
Those Who May Be Pleased To Honour These Pages With A Perusal, Will Not
Be Detained With A Long Introductory History Of My Birth, Parentage, And
Education. The Very Title Implies That, At This Period Of My Memoirs, I
Was Ignorant Of The Two First; And It Will Be Necessary For The Due
Development Of My Narrative, That I Allow Them To Remain In The Same
State Of Bliss; For In The Perusal Of A Tale, As Well As In The
Pilgrimage Of Life, Ignorance Of The Future May Truly Be Considered As
The Greatest Source Of Happiness. The Little That Was Known Of Me At
This Time I Will However Narrate As Concisely, And As Correctly, As I Am
Able. It Was On The--I Really Forget The Date, And Must Rise From My
Chair, Look For A Key, Open A Closet, And Then Open An Iron Safe To Hunt
Over A Pile Of Papers--It Will Detain You Too Long--It Will Be
Sufficient To Say That It Was On _A_ Night--But Whether The Night Was
Dark Or Moonlit, Or Rainy Or Foggy, Or Cloudy Or Fine, Or Starlight, I
Really Cannot Tell; But It Is Of No Very Great Consequence. Well, It Was
On A Night About The Hour--There Again I'M Puzzled, It Might Have Been
Ten, Or Eleven, Or Twelve, Or Between Any Of These Hours; Nay It Might
Have Been Past Midnight, And Far Advancing To The Morning, For What I
Know To The Contrary. The Reader Must Excuse An Infant Of--There Again
I Am At A Nonplus; But We Will Assume Of Some Days Old--If, When Wrapped
Up In Flannel And In a Covered Basket, And, Moreover, Fast Asleep At The
Part 1 Chapter 1 Pg 4Time, He Does Not Exactly Observe The State Of The Weather, And The Time
By The Church Clock. I Never Before Was Aware Of The Great Importance Of
Dates In Telling A Story; But It Is Now Too Late To Recover These Facts,
Which Have Been Swept Away Into Oblivion By The Broad Wing Of Time. I
Must Therefore Just Tell The Little I Do Know, Trusting To The Reader'S
Good Nature, And To Blanks. It Is As Follows:--That, At The Hour--Of
The Night--The State Of The Weather Being Also--I, An Infant Of A
Certain Age--Was Suspended By Somebody Or Somebodies--At The Knocker
Of The Foundling Hospital. Having Made Me Fast, The Said Somebody Or
Somebodies Rang A Peal Upon The Bell Which Made The Old Porter Start Up
In So Great A Hurry, That, With The Back Of His Hand He Hit His Better
Half A Blow On The Nose, Occasioning A Great Suffusion Of Blood From
That Organ, And A Still Greater Pouring Forth Of Invectives From The
Organ Immediately Below It.
All This Having Been Effected By The Said Peal On The Bell, The Said
Somebody Or Somebodies Did Incontinently Take To Their Heels, And
Disappear Long Before The Old Porter Could Pull His Legs Through His
Nether Garments And Obey The Rude Summons. At Last The Old Man Swung
Open The Gate, And The Basket Swung Across His Nose; He Went In again
For A Knife And Cut Me Down, For It Was Cruel To Hang A Baby Of A Few
Days Old; Carried Me Into The Lodge, Lighted A Candle, And Opened The
Basket. Thus Did I Metaphorically First Come To Light.
When He Opened The Basket I Opened My Eyes, And Although I Did Not
Observe It, The Old Woman Was Standing At The Table In Very Light
Attire, Sponging Her Nose Over A Basin.
"Verily, A Pretty Babe With Black Eyes!" Exclaimed The Old Man In a
Tremulous Voice.
"Black Eyes Indeed," Muttered The Old Woman. "I Shall Have Two
To-Morrow."
"Beautiful Black Eyes Indeed!" Continued The Old Man.
"Terrible Black Eyes, For Sartain," Continued The Old Woman, As She
Sponged Away.
"Poor Thing, It Must Be Cold," Murmured The Old Porter.
"Warrant I Catch My Death A-Cold," Muttered The Wife.
"But, Dear Me, Here'S A Paper!" Exclaimed The Old Man.
"Vinegar And Brown Paper," Echoed The Old Woman.
"Addressed To The Governors Of The Hospital," Continued The Porter.
"Apply To The Dispenser Of The Hospital," Continued His Wife.
"And Sealed," Said He.
Part 1 Chapter 1 Pg 5
Get It Healed," Said She.
"The Linen Is Good; It Must Be The Child Of No Poor People. Who
Knows?"--Soliloquised The Old Man.
"My Poor Nose!" Exclaimed The Old Woman.
"I Must Take It To The Nurses, And The Letter I Will Give To-Morrow,"
Said The Old Porter, Winding Up His Portion Of This Double Soliloquy,
And Tottering Away With The Basket And Your Humble Servant Across The
Courtyard.
"There, It Will Do Now," Said The Old Wife, Wiping Her Face On A Towel,
And Regaining Her Bed, In Which She Was Soon Joined By Her Husband, And
They Finished Their Nap Without Any Further Interruption During That
Night.
The Next Morning I Was Reported And Examined, And The Letter Addressed
To The Governors Was Opened And Read. It Was Laconic, But Still, As Most
Things Laconic Are, Very Much To The Point.
"This Child Was Born In Wedlock--He Is To Be Named Japhet. When
Circumstances Permit, He Will Be Reclaimed."
But There Was A Postscript By Abraham Newlands, Esq., Promising To Pay
The Bearer, On Demand, The Sum Of Fifty Pounds. In Plainer Terms, There
Was A Bank Note To That Amount Inclosed In The Letter. As In General,
The Parties Who Suspend Children In baskets, Have Long Before Suspended
Cash Payments, Or, At All Events, Forget To Suspend Them With The
Baskets, My Arrival Created No Little Noise, To Which I Added My Share,
Until I Obtained A Share Of The Breast Of A Young Woman, Who, Like
Charity, Suckled Two Or Three Babies At One Time.
We Have Preparatory Schools All Over The Kingdom; For Young Gentlemen,
From Three To Five Years Of Age, Under Ladies, And From Four To Seven,
Under Either, Or Both Sexes, As It May Happen; But The Most Preparatory
Of All Preparatory Schools, Is Certainly The Foundling Hospital, Which
Takes In Its Pupils, If They Are Sent, From One To Three Days Old, Or
Even Hours, If The Parents Are In Such Extreme Anxiety About Their
Education. Here It Commences With Their Weaning, When They Are
Instructed In The Mystery Of Devouring Pap; Next, They Are Taught To
Walk--And As Soon As They Can Walk--To Sit Still; To Talk--And As Soon
As They Can Talk--To Hold Their Tongues; Thus Are They Instructed And
Passed On From One Part Of The Establishment To Another, Until They
Finally Are Passed Out Of Its Gates, To
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