The History Of The Life Of The Late Mr. Jonathan Wild The Great(Fiscle Part 3), Henry Fielding [most read books in the world of all time .txt] 📗
- Author: Henry Fielding
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Forced To Reason Ab Effectu; And If We Had Been Asked What Nature
Had Intended Such Men For, Before She Herself Had By The Event
Demonstrated Her Purpose, It Is Possible We Might Sometimes Have
Been Puzzled To Declare; For It Must Be Confessed That At First
Sight, And To A Mind Uninspired, A Man Of Vast Natural Capacity
And Much Acquired Knowledge May Seem By Nature Designed For Power
And Honour, Rather Than One Remarkable Only For The Want Of These,
And Indeed All Other Qualifications; Whereas Daily Experience
Convinces Us Of The Contrary, And Drives Us As It Were Into The
Opinion I Have Here Disclosed.
Now, Nature Having Originally Intended Our Great Man For That
Final Exaltation Which, As It Is The Most Proper And Becoming End
Of All Great Men, It Were Heartily To Be Wished They Might All
Arrive At, Would By No Means Be Diverted From Her Purpose. She
Therefore No Sooner Spied Him In The Water Than She Softly
Book 2 Chapter 12 Pg 82Whispered In His Ear To Attempt The Recovery Of His Boat, Which
Call He Immediately Obeyed, And, Being A Good Swimmer, And It
Being A Perfect Calm, With Great Facility Accomplished It.
Thus We Think This Passage In Our History, At First So Greatly
Surprising, Is Very Naturally Accounted For, And Our Relation
Rescued From The Prodigious, Which, Though It Often Occurs In
Biography, Is Not To Be Encouraged Nor Much Commended On Any
Occasion, Unless When Absolutely Necessary To Prevent The
History's Being At An End. Secondly, We Hope Our Hero Is Justified
From That Imputation Of Want Of Resolution Which Must Have Been
Fatal To The Greatness Of His Character.
Book 2 Chapter 13 Pg 83
The Conclusion Of The Boat Adventure, And The End Of The Second
Book.
Our Hero Passed The Remainder Of The Evening, The Night, And The
Next Day, In A Condition Not Much To Be Envied By Any Passion Of
The Human Mind, Unless By Ambition; Which, Provided It Can Only
Entertain Itself With The Most Distant Music Of Fame's Trumpet,
Can Disdain All The Pleasures Of The Sensualist, And Those More
Solemn, Though Quieter Comforts, Which A Good Conscience Suggests
To A Christian Philosopher.
He Spent His Time In Contemplation, That Is To Say, In
Blaspheming, Cursing, And Sometimes Singing And Whistling. At
Last, When Cold And Hunger Had Almost Subdued His Native
Fierceness, It Being A Good Deal Past Midnight And Extremely Dark,
He Thought He Beheld A Light At A Distance, Which The Cloudiness
Of The Sky Prevented His Mistaking For A Star: This Light,
However, Did Not Seem To Approach Him, At Least It Approached By
Such Imperceptible Degrees That It Gave Him Very Little Comfort,
And At Length Totally Forsook Him. He Then Renewed His
Contemplation As Before, In Which He Continued Till The Day Began
To Break, When, To His Inexpressible Delight, He Beheld A Sail At
A Very Little Distance, And Which Luckily Seemed To Be Making
Towards Him. He Was Likewise Soon Espied By Those In The Vessel,
Who Wanted No Signals To Inform Them Of His Distress, And, As It
Book 2 Chapter 13 Pg 84Was Almost A Calm, And Their Course Lay Within Five Hundred Yards
Of Him, They Hoisted Out Their Boat And Fetched Him Aboard.
The Captain Of This Ship Was A Frenchman; She Was Laden With Deal
From Norway, And Had Been Extremely Shattered In The Late Storm.
This Captain Was Of That Kind Of Men Who Are Actuated By General
Humanity, And Whose Compassion Can Be Raised By The Distress Of A
Fellow-Creature, Though Of A Nation Whose King Hath Quarrelled
With The Monarch Of Their Own. He Therefore, Commiserating The
Circumstances Of Wild, Who Had Dressed Up A Story Proper To Impose
Upon Such A Silly Fellow, Told Him That, As Himself Well Knew, He
Must Be A Prisoner On His Arrival In France, But That He Would
Endeavour To Procure His Redemption; For Which Our Hero Greatly
Thanked Him. But, As They Were Making Very Slow Sail (For They Had
Lost Their Main-Mast In The Storm), Wild Saw A Little Vessel At A
Distance, They Being Within A Few Leagues Of The English Shore,
Which, On Enquiry, He Was Informed Was Probably An English
Fishing-Boat. And, It Being Then Perfectly Calm, He Proposed That,
If They Would Accommodate Him With A Pair Of Scullers, He Could
Get Within Reach Of The Boat, At Least Near Enough To Make Signals
To Her; And He Preferred Any Risque To The Certain Fate Of Being A
Prisoner. As His Courage Was Somewhat Restored By The Provisions
(Especially Brandy) With Which The Frenchmen Had Supplied Him, He
Was So Earnest In His Entreaties, That The Captain, After Many
Persuasions, At Length Complied, And He Was Furnished With
Scullers, And With Some Bread, Pork, And A Bottle Of Brandy. Then,
Taking Leave Of His Preservers, He Again Betook Himself To His
Boat, And Rowed So Heartily That He Soon Came Within The Sight Of
The Fisherman, Who Immediately Made Towards Him And Took Him
Aboard.
No Sooner Was Wild Got Safe On Board The Fisherman Than He Begged
Him To Make The Utmost Speed Into Deal, For That The Vessel Which
Was Still In Sight Was A Distressed Frenchman, Bound For Havre De
Grace, And Might Easily Be Made A Prize If There Was Any Ship
Ready To Go In Pursuit Of Her. So Nobly And Greatly Did Our Hero
Neglect All Obligations Conferred On Him By The Enemies Of His
Country, That He Would Have Contributed All He Could To The Taking
His Benefactor, To Whom He Owed Both His Life And His Liberty.
The Fisherman Took His Advice, And Soon Arrived At Deal, Where The
Reader Will, I Doubt Not, Be As Much Concerned As Wild Was, That
There Was Not A Single Ship Prepared To Go On The Expedition.
Our Hero Now Saw Himself Once More Safe On Terra Firma, But
Unluckily At Some Distance From That City Where Men Of Ingenuity
Can Most Easily Supply Their Wants Without The Assistance Of
Money, Or Rather Can Most Easily Procure Money For The Supply Of
Their Wants. However, As His Talents Were Superior To Every
Difficulty, He Framed So Dextrous An Account Of His Being A
Merchant, Having Been Taken And Plundered By The Enemy, And Of His
Great Effects In London, That He Was Not Only Heartily Regaled By
The Fisherman At His House, But Made So Handsome A Booty By Way Of
Borrowing, A Method Of Taking Which We Have Before Mentioned To
Book 2 Chapter 13 Pg 85Have His Approbation, That He Was Enabled To Provide Himself With
A Place In The Stage-Coach; Which (As God Permitted It To Perform
The Journey) Brought Him At The Appointed Time To An Inn In The
Metropolis.
And Now, Reader, As Thou Canst Be In No Suspense Far The Fate Of
Our Great Man, Since We Have Returned Him Safe To The Principal
Scene Of His Glory, We Will A Little Look Back On The Fortunes Of
Mr. Heartfree, Whom We Left In No Very Pleasant Situation; But Of
This We Shall Treat In The Next Book.
Book 3 Chapter 1 Pg 86
The Low And Pitiful Behaviour Of Heartfree; And The Foolish
Conduct Of His Apprentice.
His Misfortunes Did Not Entirely Prevent Heartfree From Closing
His Eyes. On The Contrary, He Slept Several Hours The First Night
Of His Confinement. However, He Perhaps Paid Too Severely Dear
Both For His Repose And For A Sweet Dream Which Accompanied It,
And Represented His Little Family In One Of Those Tender Scenes
Which Had Frequently Passed In The Days Of His Happiness And
Prosperity, When The Provision They Were Making For The Future
Fortunes Of Their Children Used To Be One Of The Most Agreeable
Topics Of Discourse With Which He And His Wife Entertained
Themselves. The Pleasantness Of This Vision, Therefore, Served
Only, On His Awaking, To Set Forth His Present Misery With
Additional Horror, And To Heighten The Dreadful Ideas Which Now
Crowded On His Mind.
He Had Spent A Considerable Time After His First Rising From The
Bed On Which He Had, Without Undressing, Thrown Himself, And Now
Began To Wonder At Mrs. Heartfree's Long Absence; But As The Mind
Is Desirous (And Perhaps Wisely Too) To Comfort Itself With
Drawing The Most Flattering Conclusions From All Events, So He
Hoped The Longer Her Stay Was The More Certain Was His
Deliverance. At Length His Impatience Prevailed, And He Was Just
Going To Despatch A Messenger To His Own House When His Apprentice
Came To Pay Him A Visit, And On His Enquiry Informed Him That His
Wife Had Departed In Company With Mr. Wild Many Hours Before, And
Had Carried All His Most Valuable Effects With Her; Adding At The
Same Time That She Had Herself Positively Acquainted Him She Had
Her Husband's Express Orders For So Doing, And That She Was Gone
To Holland.
It
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