LETTER X.
WILLIAM to his MOTHER.
Lady Grandison is better, and Edward almost recovered: and he is grown much wiser. I mentioned in my last letter, a young boy who had jumped into the water to save Edward: now this was the same boy whom we assisted, when Edward laughed at us. I thought of the fable of the Lion and the Mouse for certainly he would have been drowned if this courageous boy had not been there. But I must tell you part of a conversation which we had concerning this matter, when we sat in the sick chamber.
EDWARD.
You are very kind, Charles and William, to come to sit with me; this fine evening you could have had more pleasure below than with me.
CHARLES.
It would be mean to seek pleasure only for ourselves. If I was sick, you would, I am sure, come to visit me.
WILLIAM.
It is sufficient for us, to see you so well, it might have had a worse issue.
EDWARD.
That is very true. If I had continued a moment longer in the water, I had been gone; and without that boy who sells vinegar, I should not have been able to have made you hear.
CHARLES.
See then, in this instance, the brotherly love which, I said, we ought to cultivate: we should do good to every fellow-creature; love all as men, but choose our friends.
EDWARD.
I have lamented, indeed I have, that I did not help the poor boy who ventured his life to save mine.
CHARLES.
You are very right to acknowledge your fault; and after such an acknowledgement, only the ill-natured will remember it to your disadvantage. And for the service you may have an opportunity of recompensing the boy, and do not forget to do it, you are indebted to him for life. He has been the instrument, in the hands of providence, of your preservation; and, perhaps, God allowed him to save you, to impress on your mind a useful lesson, to root out your foolish pride. What would a young gentleman have done on such an occasion? He would, most probably, have called out for help; but this hardy boy, more accustomed to difficulties, and having less fear, plunged in without thinking of the danger he ran into. Let us, then, love all our fellow-creatures; those in the lowest condition may be as useful, nay, more so, than those who fill the highest station. One common nature equally ties us to both; are we not all children of the same father?
I had tears in my eyes, dear mother, when I heard Charles deliver these sentiments; his own shone; he is a good creature. I recollected I have often seen labouring men very compassionate. God takes care of the meanest insect, Dr. Bartlett says.
Farewell. I forgot to tell you that we are to go to-morrow to dine with a sister of Sir Charles’s, whose house is some miles distant from hence; and as we are to rise earlier than usual, I am going to bed, that I may not keep them a moment in the morning waiting for me. Edward cannot go with us, he is very sorry, and I pity him, he will be so dull alone; but I will lend him a book full of stories. Once more farewell.
WILLIAM.