Chapter i.
Containing little or nothing.
The reader will be pleased to remember, that, at the beginning of thesecond book of this history, we gave him a hint of our intention topass over several large periods of time, in which nothing happenedworthy of being recorded in a chronicle of this kind.
In so doing, we do not only consult our own dignity and ease, but thegood and advantage of the reader: for besides that by these means weprevent him from throwing away his time, in reading without eitherpleasure or emolument, we give him, at all such seasons, anopportunity of employing that wonderful sagacity, of which he ismaster, by filling up these vacant spaces of time with his ownconjectures; for which purpose we have taken care to qualify him inthe preceding pages.
For instance, what reader but knows that Mr Allworthy felt, at first,for the loss of his friend, those emotions of grief, which on suchoccasions enter into all men whose hearts are not composed of flint,or their heads of as solid materials? Again, what reader doth not knowthat philosophy and religion in time moderated, and at lastextinguished, this grief? The former of these teaching the folly andvanity of it, and the latter correcting it as unlawful, and at thesame time assuaging it, by raising future hopes and assurances, whichenable a strong and religious mind to take leave of a friend, on hisdeathbed, with little less indifference than if he was preparing for along journey; and, indeed, with little less hope of seeing him again.
Nor can the judicious reader be at a greater loss on account of MrsBridget Blifil, who, he may be assured, conducted herself through thewhole season in which grief is to make its appearance on the outsideof the body, with the strictest regard to all the rules of custom anddecency, suiting the alterations of her countenance to the severalalterations of her habit: for as this changed from weeds to black,from black to grey, from grey to white, so did her countenance changefrom dismal to sorrowful, from sorrowful to sad, and from sad toserious, till the day came in which she was allowed to return to herformer serenity.
We have mentioned these two, as examples only of the task which may beimposed on readers of the lowest class. Much higher and harderexercises of judgment and penetration may reasonably be expected fromthe upper graduates in criticism. Many notable discoveries will, Idoubt not, be made by such, of the transactions which happened in thefamily of our worthy man, during all the years which we have thoughtproper to pass over: for though nothing worthy of a place in thishistory occurred within that period, yet did several incidents happenof equal importance with those reported by the daily and weeklyhistorians of the age; in reading which great numbers of personsconsume a considerable part of their time, very little, I am afraid,to their emolument. Now, in the conjectures here proposed, some of themost excellent faculties of the mind may be employed to muchadvantage, since it is a more useful capacity to be able to foretelthe actions of men, in any circumstance, from their characters, thanto judge of their characters from their actions. The former, I own,requires the greater penetration; but may be accomplished by truesagacity with no less certainty than the latter.
As we are sensible that much the greatest part of our readers are veryeminently possessed of this quality, we have left them a space oftwelve years to exert it in; and shall now bring forth our heroe, atabout fourteen years of age, not questioning that many have been longimpatient to be introduced to his acquaintance.