網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

In consequence of this mode of conduct, Dr. Holloway was become a great favourite in the parish, and was held up as a pattern of all that was proper in a parish priest: for the views of people at that time were not so clear on many subjects as they now are. Mrs. Holloway and her daughters were also considered as bright examples of Christian piety, on account of their occasional charities and scrupulous observance of the exterior forms of religion, although they were as completely in the world as it was possible for people to be.

This being the case, it was not thought singular, when the bishop of the diocess gave notice of his intention to hold a confirmation in the Doctor's parish, that the same gentleman, who but lately had been giving his sanction to public amusements of the most worldly kind, should now exhort the youth of his flock to a serious preparation for confirmation-pressing upon them, from the pulpit, the duty of repentance; and expatiating, at the same time, with apparent earnestness, on the importance of the baptismal vow which they were about to take upon themselves by the solemn rite of confirmation. Such as did not understand the spiritual nature of religion could not be supposed competent to form a just judgment of these inconsistencies in the character of their pastor. They therefore took all his exhortations in good part; while the parents and teachers pressed upon their children and pupils a more close observance of forms of worship, to which partial change in their conduct they gave the name of repentance: thus, heaping error upon error, and setting up selfrighteousness in the place of humility.

It was just at this crisis, when this work of self-deception was at its height, that Miss Harley and her aunt returned to their winter residence; where Louisa now found much subject of exultation, in the persuasion of her having already carried to what she imagined a considerable degree of perfection, that work of repentance and amendment of life, which her young companions were just about to commence. For this young lady, finding herself able to talk fluently upon the forms of religion, and in a capacity to observe, in some degree, the duties of self-denial and almsgiving, as well as regular seasons of prayer and reading, she believed herself not only fit for confirmation, but for heaven

itself; it never once occurring to her that more than this was necessary in order to fit the sinner for acceptance with God.

This apparent change in Louisa's character was soon observed by her neighbours, and presently obtained the approbation of Dr. and Mrs. Holloway-although they, after awhile, deducted a little from their praises of their young cousin, upon finding that, with the enthusiasm natural to her constitution, she had begun to carry her religious observances and works of charity to a degree which threatened to throw into the shade their own more discreet and cautious proceedings. For whereas Dr. and Mrs. Holloway made it their continual object to unite the world with their religion, Louisa, in the height of her zeal, cast the world from her in disdain, rejected all public amusements, and threw aside her showy ornaments, seeming resolved, by her laborious attentions to the poor, and her strict observance of every religious duty, to seize upon heaven by violence.

For some weeks before confirmation, and for many months afterward, she refused to enter into company, was seen duly at church on every occasion of public worship, and dressed with the utmost attention to economy, in order to have the more to devote to the schools she patronised, and to the poor widows whom she assisted.

It is proper here to remark, that many who have afterward been brought into a real and happy acquaintance with God, have, like the young lady in question, previously endeavoured to secure their salvation by their own exertions; though it must, at the same time, be carefully noted, that the true work of conversion never begins until the sinner is brought to cast away his own righteousness, and to seek that of the Saviour. But we shall have occasion hereafter to point out that God the Spirit is the Author of man's regeneration and sanctification, and that this work invariably commences by divesting the sinner of selfconfidence, and directing him wholly to Christ.

As yet however there were no marks of such a change having taken place in the views or feelings of Louisa Har ley. Her confidence in herself was never higher than after she had become more strictly observant of external duties. And although she knew the name of Christ, and was become better acquainted than formerly with the letter of the

Scripture, yet the Spirit had never revealed the Lord Jesus to her as a Saviour, without whose assistance she must utterly perish. Her religion, therefore, was as yet nothing more than a form without life, and her profession but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.-But to proceed with our story.

The confirination above spoken of took place at the time appointed; and from that period, for more than a year and a half, Louisa Harley maintained so fair a profession, that she was pointed out by many as the pattern of all that was excellent in the female character: while the modest simplicity of her dress, the smiling and sparkling beauty of her countenance, together with her uncommonly elegant and graceful person, tended not a little to carry on the illusion.

In the mean time things were so ordered, that Louisa was assailed by none of those powerful temptations, which usu ally serve to open the eyes of young professors to the deficiency of their own strength. Her lively and active spirit was much engaged in a round of charitable works: and it so happened, that, although much admired by all those of the other sex who had knowledge of her, yet no one in the town had hitherto appeared of sufficient consequence to her to have attracted her attention. And thus, though inwardly conscious that she was seldom seen without being admired, the vanity which this admiration excited had not been powerful enough to discompose or derange her usually calm and graceful deportment, or even on any occasion to excite her spirits above their ordinary pitch. In this manner she for awhile maintained her serene and even course, as little aware of the hidden evil lurking within, as the child who lays his hand on the cockatrice' den.

At this period, the little town in which Louisa dwelt was suddenly thrown into agitation by the arrival of a party of foot-soldiers; and this accession of the gay and the giddy became a signal for the revival of those public amusements, which had lately considerably languished. Louisa was now again solicited to join the fashionable parties of the place: but it required something more than the solicitations of her former companions, or the flattering reports which they gave her of their agreeable meetings, to tempt her to relinquish that on which she had so long

prided herself, and upon which she had even built her views of future happiness, namely, her renunciation of public amusements. She therefore held back, and was, in consequence, much more respected by the strangers then sojourning in the town, than those females who pressed forward to their notice.

Among the gentlemen who composed the officers of this corps were two of whom I shall have some occasion to speak in the course of my narrative. One of these was a Captain Vivian, a genteel and well-looking young man, and one who passed well in the world, being a person of family and of some fortune, though otherwise an ordinary charac'ter. The other, whom we shall describe more largely, was a lieutenant, by name Cecil Gray, the son of a lady of quality, who had married a respectable gentleman, and early become a widow. This young man had not a large fortune; but he possessed many qualities, in comparison with which the gifts of fortune, or even the exterior charms of person and manner, are as dust in the balance. Cecil Gray was decidedly pious, and had been so from a child; and, even in the unpromising situation of a military man, was enabled to preserve that rare and beautiful consistency of character, which they only possess who walk in the strength of him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning.

After having said thus much of this young man, it would be but a poor finishing to the picture to add, that his manners were not merely courteous, but highly polished, and his exterior strikingly handsome, did not these very circumstances afford an opportunity of showing the strength of that grace by which he was enabled to resist the allurements of vanity, and to retain his Christian simplicity in a situation of more than ordinary exposure to the flatteries of the world. This young man did not arrive at D― till his brother officers, by their residence of some weeks in that place, had made themselves acquainted with the physiognomies of all the persons worthy of regard in the town; and it happened, that the very day after his arrival, as he was passing through an obscure street in the suburbs, with Captain Vivian, he saw Louisa Harley for the first time, who was walking simply dressed, and with a basket in her hand, among the shabby houses of the poor.

Captain Vivian having stopped to speak with a private soldier, under an old gateway, Cecil Gray, who was thus left unoccupied, had an opportunity of marking the young lady, as she passed from one house to another; till having at length accomplished her business, and turning towards home, she approached the gateway which lay in her road. There was a remarkable ease and dignity, as I have before said, in Louisa Harley's manner, and a sweetness of countenance which could scarcely escape the eye of a dis cerning observer. As soon as she had passed by, and was not yet out of hearing, Cecil Gray inquired of his companion who she was; remarking that he had seldom seen so fine a face, or a deportment more modest and graceful.

It is not necessary to repeat Captain Vivian's reply; it being more to our purpose to describe the effect of Cecil Gray's remark upon the mind of Louisa; for she had distinctly heard all he said, though it was not intended that she should. The praise bestowed on her by this elegant stranger was not without its effect: and she returned home in such a state of elation, that when her aunt put into her hand a card of invitation to spend the next evening at Dr. Holloway's, she resolved to go, although a few lines at the end of the formal card, added by Miss Holloway, suggested the idea that a little dance was intended, as several of the military were expected.

Thus passed away all the good resolutions of Louisa Harley, and thus she cancelled, with little effort, all those shining merits on which she had built with so much confidence; and all with the hope of again beholding the stranger on whom she was sensible that her appearance had made so favourable an impression-manifestly proving that she had acted like the man who built his house on the sand, and whose work being without foundation, fell with the first blast of wind which assailed it.

I will not say that Louisa Harley had not some unpleasant feelings while taking out her long-neglected ornaments in order to decorate herself, as she supposed to the best advantage for the evening party. But it may easily be supposed, that her feelings partcok more of the nature of shame, and the fear of being charged with inconsistency, after her many and vehement professions of renouncing the world, than of true repentance; since true repent

« 上一頁繼續 »