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] 📗

The Reader

Perhaps,  When He Hears The Evidence Against Him,  Will Be Less

Inclined To Censure: For This Witness Deposed,  "That He Had Been,

By Heartfree Himself,  Employed To Carry The Orders Of Embezzling

To Wild,  In Order To Be Delivered To His Wife: That He Had Been

Afterwards Present With Wild And Her At The Inn When They Took

Coach For Harwich,  Where She Shewed Him The Casket Of Jewels,  And

Desired Him To Tell Her Husband That She Had Fully Executed His

Command;" And This He Swore To Have Been Done After Heartfree Had

Notice Of The Commission,  And,  In Order To Bring It Within That

Time,  Fireblood,  As Well As Wild,  Swore That Mrs. Heartfree Lay

Several Days Concealed At Wild's House Before Her Departure For

Holland.

 

When Friendly Found The Justice Obdurate,  And That All He Could

Say Had No Effect,  Nor Was It Any Way Possible For Heartfree To

Escape Being Committed To Newgate,  He Resolved To Accompany Him

Thither; Where,  When They Arrived,  The Turnkey Would Have Confined

Heartfree (He Having No Money) Amongst The Common Felons; But

Friendly Would Not Permit It,  And Advanced Every Shilling He Had

In His Pocket,  To Procure A Room In The Press-Yard For His Friend,

Which Indeed,  Through The Humanity Of The Keeper,  He Did At A

Cheap Rate.

 

They Spent That Day Together,  And In The Evening The Prisoner

Dismissed His Friend,  Desiring Him,  After Many Thanks For His

Fidelity,  To Be Comforted On His Account. "I Know Not," Says He,

"How Far The Malice Of My Enemy May Prevail; But Whatever My

Sufferings Are,  I Am Convinced My Innocence Will Somewhere Be

Rewarded. If,  Therefore,  Any Fatal Accident Should Happen To Me

(For He Who Is In The Hands Of Perjury May Apprehend The Worst),

My Dear Friendly,  Be A Father To My Poor Children;" At Which Words

The Tears Gushed From His Eyes. The Other Begged Him Not To Admit

Any Such Apprehensions,  For That He Would Employ His Utmost

Book 3 Chapter 11 Pg 122

Diligence In His Service,  And Doubted Not But To Subvert Any

Villanous Design Laid For His Destruction,  And To Make His

Innocence Appear To The World As White As It Was In His Own

Opinion.

 

We Cannot Help Mentioning A Circumstance Here,  Though We Doubt It

Will Appear Very Unnatural And Incredible To Our Reader; Which Is,

That,  Notwithstanding The Former Character And Behaviour Of

Heartfree,  This Story Of His Embezzling Was So Far From Surprizing

His Neighbours,  That Many Of Them Declared They Expected No Better

From Him. Some Were Assured He Could Pay Forty Shillings In The

Pound If He Would. Others Had Overheard Hints Formerly Pass

Between Him And Mrs. Heartfree Which Had Given Them Suspicions.

And What Is Most Astonishing Of All Is,  That Many Of Those Who Had

Before Censured Him For An Extravagant Heedless Fool,  Now No Less

Confidently Abused Him For A Cunning,  Tricking,  Avaricious Knave.

 

 

 

Book 3 Chapter 12 Pg 123

Something Concerning Fireblood Which Will Surprize; And Somewhat

Touching One Of The Miss Snaps,  Which Will Greatly Concern The

Reader.

 

 

 

 

 

However,  Notwithstanding All These Censures Abroad,  And In

Despight Of All His Misfortunes At Home,  Heartfree In Newgate

Enjoyed A Quiet,  Undisturbed Repose; While Our Hero,  Nobly

Disdaining Rest,  Lay Sleepless All Night,  Partly From The

Apprehensions Of Mrs. Heartfree's Return Before He Had Executed

His Scheme,  And Partly From A Suspicion Lest Fireblood Should

Betray Him; Of Whose Infidelity He Had,  Nevertheless,  No Other

Cause To Maintain Any Fear,  But From His Knowing Him To Be An

Accomplished Rascal,  As The Vulgar Term It,  A Complete Great Man

In Our Language. And Indeed,  To Confess The Truth,  These Doubts

Were Not Without Some Foundation; For The Very Same Thought

Unluckily Entered The Head Of That Noble Youth,  Who Considered

Whether He Might Not Possibly Sell Himself For Some Advantage To

The Other Side,  As He Had Yet No Promise From Wild; But This Was,

By The Sagacity Of The Latter,  Prevented In The Morning With A

Profusion Of Promises,  Which Shewed Him To Be Of The Most Generous

Temper In The World,  With Which Fireblood Was Extremely Well

Book 3 Chapter 12 Pg 124

Satisfied,  And Made Use Of So Many Protestations Of His

Faithfulness That He Convinced Wild Of The Justice Of His

Suspicions.

 

At This Time An Accident Happened,  Which,  Though It Did Not

Immediately Affect Our Hero,  We Cannot Avoid Relating,  As It

Occasioned Great Confusion In His Family,  As Well As In The Family

Of Snap. It Is Indeed A Calamity Highly To Be Lamented,  When It

Stains Untainted Blood,  And Happens To An Honourable House--An

Injury Never To Be Repaired--A Blot Never To Be Wiped Out--A Sore

Never To Be Healed. To Detain My Reader No Longer,  Miss Theodosia

Snap Was Now Safely Delivered Of A Male Infant,  The Product Of An

Amour Which That Beautiful (O That I Could Say Virtuous!) Creature

Had With The Count.

 

Mr. Wild And His Lady Were At Breakfast When Mr. Snap,  With All

The Agonies Of Despair Both In His Voice And Countenance,  Brought

Them This Melancholy News. Our Hero,  Who Had (As We Have Said)

Wonderful Good-Nature When His Greatness Or Interest Was Not

Concerned,  Instead Of Reviling His Sister-In-Law,  Asked With A

Smile,  "Who Was The Father?" But The Chaste Laetitia,  We Repeat

The Chaste,  For Well Did She Now Deserve That Epithet,  Received It

In Another Manner. She Fell Into The Utmost Fury At The Relation,

Reviled Her Sister In The Bitterest Terms,  And Vowed She Would

Never See Nor Speak To Her More; Then Burst Into Tears And

Lamented Over Her Father That Such Dishonour Should Ever Happen To

Him And Herself. At Length She Fell Severely On Her Husband For

The Light Treatment Which He Gave This Fatal Accident. She Told

Him He Was Unworthy Of The Honour He Enjoyed Of Marrying Into A

Chaste Family. That She Looked On It As An Affront To Her Virtue.

That If He Had Married One Of The Naughty Hussies Of The Town He

Could Have Behaved To Her In No Other Manner. She Concluded With

Desiring Her Father To Make An Example Of The Slut,  And To Turn

Her Out Of Doors; For That She Would Not Otherwise Enter His

House,  Being Resolved Never To Set Her Foot Within The Same

Threshold With The Trollop,  Whom She Detested So Much The More

Because (Which Was Perhaps True) She Was Her Own Sister.

 

So Violent,  And Indeed So Outrageous,  Was This Chaste Lady's Love

Of Virtue,  That She Could Not Forgive A Single Slip (Indeed The

Only One Theodosia Had Ever Made) In Her Own Sister,  In A Sister

Who Loved Her,  And To Whom She Owed A Thousand Obligations.

 

Perhaps The Severity Of Mr. Snap,  Who Greatly Felt The Injury Done

To The Honour Of His Family,  Would Have Relented,  Had Not The

Parish-Officers Been Extremely Pressing On This Occasion,  And For

Want Of Security,  Conveyed The Unhappy Young Lady To A Place,  The

Name Of Which,  For The Honour Of The Snaps,  To Whom Our Hero Was

So Nearly Allied,  We Bury In Eternal Oblivion; Where She Suffered

So Much Correction For Her Crime,  That The Good-Natured Reader Of

The Male Kind May Be Inclined To Compassionate Her,  At Least To

Imagine She Was Sufficiently Punished For A Fault Which,  With

Submission To The Chaste Laetitia And All Other Strictly Virtuous

Ladies,  It Should Be Either Less Criminal In A Woman To Commit,  Or

Book 3 Chapter 12 Pg 125

More So In A Man To Solicit Her To It.

 

But To Return To Our Hero,  Who Was A Living And Strong Instance

That Human Greatness And Happiness Are Not Always Inseparable. He

Was Under A Continual Alarm Of Frights,  And Fears,  And Jealousies.

He Thought Every Man He Beheld Wore A Knife For His Throat,  And A

Pair Of Scissars For His Purse. As For His Own Gang Particularly,

He Was Thoroughly Convinced There Was Not A Single Man Amongst

Them Who Would Not,  For The Value Of Five Shillings,  Bring Him To

The Gallows. These Apprehensions So Constantly Broke His Rest,  And

Kept Him So Assiduously On His Guard To Frustrate And Circumvent

Any Designs Which Might Be Formed Against Him,  That His Condition,

To Any Other Than The Glorious Eye Of Ambition,  Might Seem Rather

Deplorable Than The Object Of Envy Or Desire.

Book 3 Chapter 13 Pg 126

In Which Our Hero Makes A Speech Well Worthy To Be Celebrated; And

The Behaviour Of One Of The Gang,  Perhaps More Unnatural Than Any

Other Part Of This History.

 

 

 

 

 

There Was In The Gang A Man Named Blueskin,  One Of Those Merchants

Who Trade In Dead Oxen,  Sheep,  &C.,  In Short,  What The Vulgar Call

A Butcher. This Gentleman Had Two Qualities Of A Great Man,  Viz.,

Undaunted Courage,  And An Absolute Contempt Of Those Ridiculous

Distinctions Of Meum And Tuum,  Which Would Cause Endless Disputes

Did Not The Law Happily Decide Them By Converting Both Into