LETTER LIV
MR. BELFORD, TO LORD M.THURSDAY MORNING, OCT. 5.
It may be some satisfaction to your Lordship, to have a brief account ofwhat has just now passed between Colonel Morden and me.
We had a good deal of discourse about the Harlowe family, and those partsof the lady's will which still remain unexecuted; after which the Coloneladdressed himself to me in a manner which gave me some surprise.
He flattered himself, he said, from my present happy turn, and from mygood constitution, that I should live a great many years. It wastherefore his request, that I would consent to be his executor; since itwas impossible for him to make a better choice, or pursue a betterexample, than his cousin had set.
His heart, he said was in it: there were some things in his cousin's willand his analogous: and he had named one person to me, with whom he wassure I would not refuse to be joined: and to whom he intended to applyfor his consent, when he had obtained mine.* [Intimating, as far as Icould gather, that it was Mr. Hickman, son of Sir Charles Hickman; towhom I know your Lordship is not a stranger: for he said, Every one whowas dear to his beloved cousin, must be so to him: and he knew that thegentleman who he had thoughts of, would have, besides my advice andassistance, the advice of one of the most sensible ladies in England.]
* What is between crotchets, thus [ ], Mr. Belford omitted in thetranscription of this Letter to Miss Howe.
He took my hand, seeing me under some surprise: you must not hesitate,much less deny me, Mr. Belford. Indeed you must not. Two things I willassure you of: that I have, as I hope, made every thing so clear that youcannot have any litigation: and that I have done so justly, and I hope itwill be thought so generously, by all my relations, that a mind likeyour's will rather have pleasure than pain in the execution of thistrust. And this is what I think every honest man, who hopes to find anhonest man for his executor, should do.
I told him, that I was greatly obliged to him for his good opinion of me:that it was so much every man's duty to be an honest man, that it couldnot be interpreted as vanity to say, that I had no doubt to be found so.But if I accepted of this trust, it must be on condition--
I could name no condition, he said, interrupting me, which he wouldrefuse to comply with.
This condition, I told him, was, that as there was as great a probabilityof his being my survivor, as I his, he would permit me to name him formine; and, in that case, a week should not pass before I made my will.
With all his heart, he said; and the readier, as he had no apprehensionsof suddenly dying; for what he had done and requested was really theeffect of the satisfaction he had taken in the part I had already actedas his cousin's executor; and in my ability, he was pleased to add: aswell as in pursuance of his cousin's advice in the preamble of her will;to wit; 'That this was a work which should be set about in full health,both of body and mind.'
I told him, that I was pleased to hear him say that he was not in anyapprehension of suddenly dying; as this gave me assurance that he hadlaid aside all thoughts of acting contrary to the dying request of hisbeloved cousin.
Does it argue, said he, smiling, that if I were to pursue a vengeance sojustifiable in my own opinion, I must be in apprehension of falling byMr. Lovelace's hand?--I will assure you, that I have no fears of thatsort--but I know this is an ungrateful subject to you. Mr. Lovelace isyour friend; and I will allow, that a good man may have a friendship fora bad one, so far as to wish him well, without countenancing him in hisevil.
I will assure you, added he, that I have not yet made any resolutionseither way. I have told you what force my cousin's repeated requestshave with me. Hitherto they have with-held me--But let us quit thissubject.
This, Sir [giving me a sealed-up parcel] is my will. It is witnessed.I made no doubt of prevailing upon you to do me the requested favour. Ihave a duplicate to leave with the other gentleman; and an attested copy,which I shall deposit at my banker's. At my return, which will be in sixor eight months at farthest, I will allow you to make an exchange ofyour's, if you will have it so. I have only now to take leave of myrelations in the country. And so God protect you, Mr. Belford! You willsoon hear of me again.
He then very solemnly embraced me, as I did him: and we parted.
I heartily congratulate your Lordship on the narrow escape each gentlemanhas had from the other: for I apprehend that they could not have metwithout fatal consequences.
Time, I hope, which subdues all things, will subdue their resentments. Iam, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most faithful and obedient servant,J. BELFORD.
Several other letters passed between Miss Howe and Mr. Belford, relating to the disposition of the papers and letters; to the poor's fund; and to other articles of the Lady's will: wherein the method of proceeding in each case was adjusted. After which the papers were returned to Mr. Belford, that he might order the two directed copies of them to be taken.
In one of these letters Mr. Belford requests Miss Howe to give the character of the friend she so dearly loved: 'A task, he imagines, that will be as agreeable to herself, as worthy of her pen.'
'I am more especially curious to know,' says he, 'what was that particular disposition of her time, which I find mentioned in a letter which I have just dipt into, where her sister is enviously reproaching her on that score.* This information may enable me,' says he, 'to account for what has often surprised me: how, at so tender an age, this admirable lady became mistress of such extraordinary and such various qualifications.'
* See Vol. I. Letter XLII.