The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2 Read online

  CHAPTER FIFTEENTH.

  Heaven first taught letters for some wretch's aid,-- Some banished lover or some captive maid. Pope.

  By dint of unwonted labour with the pen, Jeanie Deans contrived toindite, and give to the charge of the postman on the ensuing day, no lessthan three letters, an exertion altogether strange to her habits;insomuch so, that, if milk had been plenty, she would rather have madethrice as many Dunlop cheeses. The first of them was very brief. It wasaddressed to George Staunton, Esq., at the Rectory, Willingham, byGrantham; the address being part of the information she had extractedfrom the communicative peasant who rode before her to Stamford. It was inthese words:--

  "Sir,--To prevent farder mischieves, whereof there hath been enough,comes these: Sir, I have my sister's pardon from the Queen's Majesty,whereof I do not doubt you will be glad, having had to say naut ofmatters whereof you know the purport. So, Sir, I pray for your betterwelfare in bodie and soul, and that it will please the fisycian to visityou in His good time. Alwaies, sir, I pray you will never come again tosee my sister, whereof there has been too much. And so, wishing you noevil, but even your best good, that you may be turned from your iniquity(for why suld ye die?) I rest your humble servant to command, "_Ye ken wha._"

  The next letter was to her father. It is too long altogether forinsertion, so we only give a few extracts. It commenced--

  "Dearest and truly honoured father,--This comes with my duty to informyou, that it has pleased God to redeem that captivitie of my poor sister,in respect the Queen's blessed Majesty, for whom we are ever bound topray, hath redeemed her soul from the slayer, granting the ransom of her,whilk is ane pardon or reprieve. And I spoke with the Queen face to faceand yet live; for she is not muckle differing from other grand leddies,saying that she has a stately presence, and een like a blue huntin'hawk's, whilk gaed throu' and throu' me like a Highland durk--And allthis good was, alway under the Great Giver, to whom all are butinstruments, wrought forth for us by the Duk of Argile, wha is ane nativetrue-hearted Scotsman, and not pridefu', like other folk we ken of--andlikewise skeely enow in bestial, whereof he has promised to gie me twaDevonshire kye, of which he is enamoured, although I do still haud by thereal hawlit Airshire breed--and I have promised him a cheese; and I wadwuss ye, if Gowans, the brockit cow, has a quey, that she suld suck herfill of milk, as I am given to understand he has none of that breed, andis not scornfu' but will take a thing frae a puir body, that it maylighten their heart of the loading of debt that they awe him. Also hishonour the Duke will accept ane of our Dunlop cheeses, and it sall be myfaut if a better was ever yearned in Lowden."--[Here follow someobservations respecting the breed of cattle, and the produce of thedairy, which it is our intention to forward to the Board ofAgriculture.]--"Nevertheless, these are but matters of the after-harvest,in respect of the great good which Providence hath gifted us with--and,in especial, poor Effie's life. And oh, my dear father, since it hathpleased God to be merciful to her, let her not want your free pardon,whilk will make her meet to be ane vessel of grace, and also a comfort toyour ain graie hairs. Dear Father, will ye let the Laird ken that we havehad friends strangely raised up to us, and that the talent whilk he lentme will be thankfully repaid. I hae some of it to the fore; and the restof it is not knotted up in ane purse or napkin, but in ane wee bit paper,as is the fashion heir, whilk I am assured is gude for the siller. And,dear father, through Mr. Butler's means I hae gude friendship with theDuke, for their had been kindness between their forbears in the auldtroublesome time bye-past. And Mrs. Glass has been kind like my verymother. She has a braw house here, and lives bien and warm, wi' twaservant lasses, and a man and a callant in the shop. And she is to sendyou doun a pound of her hie-dried, and some other tobaka, and we maunthink of some propine for her, since her kindness hath been great. Andthe Duk is to send the pardun doun by an express messenger, in respectthat I canna travel sae fast; and I am to come doun wi' twa of hisHonour's servants--that is, John Archibald, a decent elderly gentleman,that says he has seen you lang syne, when ye were buying beasts in thewest frae the Laird of Aughtermuggitie--but maybe ye winna mind him--onyway, he's a civil man--and Mrs. Dolly Dutton, that is to be dairy-maid atInverara; and they bring me on as far as Glasgo, whilk will make it naepinch to win hame, whilk I desire of all things. May the Giver of allgood things keep ye in your outgauns and incomings, whereof devoutlyprayeth your loving dauter, "Jean Deans."

  The third letter was to Butler, and its tenor as follows:--

  "Master Butler.--Sir,--It will be pleasure to you to ken, that all I camefor is, thanks be to God, weel dune and to the gude end, and that yourforbear's letter was right welcome to the Duke of Argile, and that hewrote your name down with a kylevine pen in a leathern book, whereby itseems like he will do for you either wi' a scule or a kirk; he has enowof baith, as I am assured. And I have seen the queen, which gave me ahussy-case out of her own hand. She had not her crown and skeptre, butthey are laid by for her, like the bairns' best claise, to be worn whenshe needs them. And they are keepit in a tour, whilk is not like the tourof Libberton, nor yet Craigmillar, but mair like to the castell ofEdinburgh, if the buildings were taen and set down in the midst of theNor'-Loch. Also the Queen was very bounteous, giving me a paper worthfiftie pounds, as I am assured, to pay my expenses here and back agen.Sae, Master Butler, as we were aye neebours' bairns, forby onything elsethat may hae been spoken between us, I trust you winna skrimp yoursellfor what is needfu' for your health, since it signifies not muckle whilko' us has the siller, if the other wants it. And mind this is no meant tohaud ye to onything whilk ye wad rather forget, if ye suld get a chargeof a kirk or a scule, as above said. Only I hope it will be a scule, andnot a kirk, because of these difficulties anent aiths and patronages,whilk might gang ill down wi' my honest father. Only if ye could compassa harmonious call frae the parish of Skreegh-me-dead, as ye anes had hopeof, I trow it wad please him weel; since I hae heard him say, that theroot of the matter was mair deeply hafted in that wild muirland parishthan in the Canongate of Edinburgh. I wish I had whaten books ye wanted,Mr. Butler, for they hae haill houses of them here, and they are obligedto set sum out in the street, whilk are sald cheap, doubtless, to getthem out of the weather. It is a muckle place, and I hae seen sae muckleof it, that my poor head turns round. And ye ken langsyne, I am nae greatpen-woman, and it is near eleven o'clock o' the night. I am cumming downin good company, and safe--and I had troubles in gaun up whilk makes meblither of travelling wi' kend folk. My cousin, Mrs. Glass, has a brawhouse here, but a' thing is sae poisoned wi' snuff, that I am like to bescomfished whiles. But what signifies these things, in comparison of thegreat deliverance whilk has been vouchsafed to my father's house, inwhilk you, as our auld and dear well-wisher, will, I dout not, rejoiceand be exceedingly glad. And I am, dear Mr. Butler, your sincerewell-wisher in temporal and eternal things, "J. D."

  After these labours of an unwonted kind, Jeanie retired to her bed, yetscarce could sleep a few minutes together, so often was she awakened bythe heart-stirring consciousness of her sister's safety, and sopowerfully urged to deposit her burden of joy, where she had before laidher doubts and sorrows, in the warm and sincere exercises of devotion.

  All the next, and all the succeeding day, Mrs. Glass fidgeted about hershop in the agony of expectation, like a pea (to use a vulgar similewhich her profession renders appropriate) upon one of her own tobaccopipes. With the third morning came the expected coach, with four servantsclustered behind on the footboard, in dark brown and yellow liveries; theDuke in person, with laced coat, gold-headed cane, star and garter, all,as the story-book says, very grand.

  He inquired for his little countrywoman of Mrs. Glass, but withoutrequesting to see her, probably because he was unwilling to give anappearance of personal intercourse betwixt them, which sca
ndal might havemisinterpreted. "The Queen," he said to Mrs. Glass, "had taken the caseof her kinswoman into her gracious consideration, and being speciallymoved by the affectionate and resolute character of the elder sister, hadcondescended to use her powerful intercession with his Majesty, inconsequence of which a pardon had been despatched to Scotland to EffieDeans, on condition of her banishing herself forth of Scotland forfourteen years. The King's Advocate had insisted," he said, "upon thisqualification of the pardon, having pointed out to his Majesty'sministers, that, within the course of only seven years, twenty-oneinstances of child-murder had occurred in Scotland.

  "Weary on him!" said Mrs. Glass, "what for needed he to have telled thatof his ain country, and to the English folk abune a'? I used aye to thinkthe Advocate a douce decent man, but it is an ill bird*--begging yourGrace's pardon for speaking of such a coorse by-word.

  * [It's an ill bird that fouls its own pest.]

  And then what is the poor lassie to do in a foreign land?--Why, wae's me,it's just sending her to play the same pranks ower again, out of sight orguidance of her friends."

  "Pooh! pooh!" said the Duke, "that need not be anticipated. Why, she maycome up to London, or she may go over to America, and marry well for allthat is come and gone."

  "In troth, and so she may, as your Grace is pleased to intimate," repliedMrs. Glass; "and now I think upon it, there is my old correspondent inVirginia, Ephraim Buckskin, that has supplied the Thistle this fortyyears with tobacco, and it is not a little that serves our turn, and hehas been writing to me this ten years to send him out a wife. The carleis not above sixty, and hale and hearty, and well to pass in the world,and a line from my hand would settle the matter, and Effie Deans'smisfortune (forby that there is no special occasion to speak about it)would be thought little of there."

  "Is she a pretty girl?" said the Duke; "her sister does not get beyond agood comely sonsy lass."

  "Oh, far prettier is Effie than Jeanie," said Mrs. Glass; "though it islong since I saw her mysell, but I hear of the Deanses by all my Lowdenfriends when they come--your Grace kens we Scots are clannish bodies."

  "So much the better for us," said the Duke, "and the worse for those whomeddle with us, as your good old-fashioned sign says, Mrs. Glass. And nowI hope you will approve of the measures I have taken for restoring yourkinswoman to her friends." These he detailed at length, and Mrs. Glassgave her unqualified approbation, with a smile and a courtesy at everysentence. "And now, Mrs. Glass, you must tell Jeanie, I hope, she willnot forget my cheese when she gets down to Scotland. Archibald has myorders to arrange all her expenses."

  "Begging your Grace's humble pardon," said Mrs. Glass, "it is a pity totrouble yourself about them; the Deanses are wealthy people in their way,and the lass has money in her pocket."

  "That's all very true," said the Duke; "but you know, where MacCallummoretravels he pays all; it is our Highland privilege to take from all what_we_ want, and to give to all what _they_ want."

  "Your Grace is better at giving than taking," said Mrs. Glass.

  "To show you the contrary," said the Duke, "I will fill my box out ofthis canister without paying you a bawbee;" and again desiring to beremembered to Jeanie, with his good wishes for her safe journey, hedeparted, leaving Mrs. Glass uplifted in heart and in countenance, theproudest and happiest of tobacco and snuff dealers.

  Reflectively, his Grace's good humour and affability had a favourableeffect upon Jeanie's situation.--Her kinswoman, though civil and kind toher, had acquired too much of London breeding to be perfectly satisfiedwith her cousin's rustic and national dress, and was, besides, somethingscandalised at the cause of her journey to London. Mrs. Glass might,therefore, have been less sedulous in her attentions towards Jeanie, butfor the interest which the foremost of the Scottish nobles (for such, inall men's estimation, was the Duke of Argyle) seemed to take in her fate.Now, however, as a kinswoman whose virtues and domestic affections hadattracted the notice and approbation of royalty itself, Jeanie stood toher relative in a light very different and much more favourable, and wasnot only treated with kindness, but with actual observance and respect.

  It depended on herself alone to have made as many visits, and seen asmany sights, as lay within Mrs. Glass's power to compass. But, exceptingthat she dined abroad with one or two "far away kinsfolk," and that shepaid the same respect, on Mrs. Glass's strong urgency, to Mrs. DeputyDabby, wife of the Worshipful Mr. Deputy Dabby, of Farringdon Without,she did not avail herself of the opportunity. As Mrs. Dabby was thesecond lady of great rank whom Jeanie had seen in London, she usedsometimes afterwards to draw a parallel betwixt her and the Queen, inwhich she observed, "that Mrs. Dabby was dressed twice as grand, and wastwice as big, and spoke twice as loud, and twice as muckle, as the Queendid, but she hadna the same goss-hawk glance that makes the skin creep,and the knee bend; and though she had very kindly gifted her with a loafof sugar and twa punds of tea, yet she hadna a'thegither the sweet lookthat the Queen had when she put the needle-book into her hand."

  Jeanie might have enjoyed the sights and novelties of this great citymore, had it not been for the qualification added to her sister's pardon,which greatly grieved her affectionate disposition. On this subject,however, her mind was somewhat relieved by a letter which she received inreturn of post, in answer to that which she had written to her father.With his affectionate blessing, it brought his full approbation of thestep which she had taken, as one inspired by the immediate dictates ofHeaven, and which she had been thrust upon in order that she might becomethe means of safety to a perishing household.

  "If ever a deliverance was dear and precious, this," said the letter, "isa dear and precious deliverance--and if life saved can be made more sweetand savoury, it is when it cometh by the hands of those whom we hold inthe ties of affection. And do not let your heart be disquieted withinyou, that this victim, who is rescued from the horns of the altar,whereuntil she was fast bound by the chains of human law, is now to bedriven beyond the bounds of our land. Scotland is a blessed land to thosewho love the ordinances of Christianity, and it is a faer land to lookupon, and dear to them who have dwelt in it a' their days; and weel saidthat judicious Christian, worthy John Livingstone, a sailor inBorrowstouness, as the famous Patrick Walker reporteth his words, thathowbeit he thought Scotland was a Gehennah of wickedness when he was athome, yet when he was abroad, he accounted it ane paradise; for the evilsof Scotland he found everywhere, and the good of Scotland he foundnowhere. But we are to hold in remembrance that Scotland, though it beour native land, and the land of our fathers, is not like Goshen, inEgypt, on whilk the sun of the heavens and of the gospel shinethallenarly, and leaveth the rest of the world in utter darkness.Therefore, and also because this increase of profit at Saint Leonard'sCrags may be a cauld waff of wind blawing from the frozen land of earthlyself, where never plant of grace took root or grew, and because myconcerns make me take something ower muckle a grip of the gear of thewarld in mine arms, I receive this dispensation anent Effie as a call todepart out of Haran, as righteous Abraham of old, and leave my father'skindred and my mother's house, and the ashes and mould of them who havegone to sleep before me, and which wait to be mingled with these auldcrazed bones of mine own. And my heart is lightened to do this, when Icall to mind the decay of active and earnest religion in this land, andsurvey the height and the depth, the length and the breadth, of nationaldefections, and how the love of many is waxing lukewarm and cold; and Iam strengthened in this resolution to change my domicile likewise, as Ihear that store-farms are to be set at an easy mail in Northumberland,where there are many precious souls that are of our true though sufferingpersuasion. And sic part of the kye or stock as I judge it fit to keep,may be driven thither without incommodity--say about Wooler, or thatgate, keeping aye a shouther to the hills,--and the rest may be sauld togude profit and advantage, if we had grace weel to use and guide thesegifts of the warld. The Laird has been a true friend on our unhappyoccasions, and I have paid him back the siller for Effie's misfort
une,whereof Mr. Nichil Novit returned him no balance, as the Laird and I didexpect he wad hae done. But law licks up a', as the common folk say. Ihave had the siller to borrow out of sax purses. Mr. Saddletree advisedto give the Laird of Lounsbeck a charge on his hand for a thousand merks.But I hae nae broo' of charges, since that awfu' morning that a tout of ahorn, at the Cross of Edinburgh, blew half the faithfu' ministers ofScotland out of their pulpits. However, I sall raise an adjudication,whilk Mr. Saddletree says comes instead of the auld apprisings, and willnot lose weel-won gear with the like of him, if it may be helped. As forthe Queen, and the credit that she hath done to a poor man's daughter,and the mercy and the grace ye found with her, I can only pray for herweel-being here and hereafter, for the establishment of her house now andfor ever, upon the throne of these kingdoms. I doubt not but what youtold her Majesty, that I was the same David Deans of whom there was asport at the Revolution, when I noited thegither the heads of twa falseprophets, these ungracious Graces the prelates, as they stood on the HieStreet, after being expelled from the Convention-parliament.*

  * Note P. Expulsion of the Scotch Bishops.

  The Duke of Argyle is a noble and true-hearted nobleman, who pleads thecause of the poor, and those who have none to help them; verily hisreward shall not be lacking unto him.--I have, been writing of manythings, but not of that whilk lies nearest mine heart. I have seen themisguided thing, she will be at freedom the morn, on enacted caution thatshe shall leave Scotland in four weeks. Her mind is in an evilframe,--casting her eye backward on Egypt, I doubt, as if the bitterwaters of the wilderness were harder to endure than the brick furnaces,by the side of which there were savoury flesh-pots. I need not bid youmake haste down, for you are, excepting always my Great Master, my onlycomfort in these straits. I charge you to withdraw your feet from thedelusion of that Vanity-fair in whilk ye are a sojourner, and not to goto their worship, whilk is an ill-mumbled mass, as it was weel termed byJames the Sext, though he afterwards, with his unhappy son, strove tobring it ower back and belly into his native kingdom, wherethrough theirrace have been cut off as foam upon the water, and shall be as wanderersamong the nations-see the prophecies of Hosea, ninth and seventeenth,and the same, tenth and seventh. But us and our house, let us say withthe same prophet, 'Let us return to the Lord, for he hath torn, and hewill heal us--He hath smitten, and he will bind us up.'"

  He proceeded to say, that he approved of her proposed mode of returningby Glasgow, and entered into sundry minute particulars not necessary tobe quoted. A single line in the letter, but not the least frequently readby the party to whom it was addressed, intimated, that "Reuben Butler hadbeen as a son to him in his sorrows." As David Deans scarce evermentioned Butler before, without some gibe, more or less direct, eitherat his carnal gifts and learning, or at his grandfather's heresy, Jeaniedrew a good omen from no such qualifying clause being added to thissentence respecting him.

  A lover's hope resembles the bean in the nursery tale,--let it once takeroot, and it will grow so rapidly, that in the course of a few hours thegiant Imagination builds a castle on the top, and by and by comesDisappointment with the "curtal axe," and hews down both the plant andthe superstructure. Jeanie's fancy, though not the most powerful of herfaculties, was lively enough to transport her to a wild farm inNorthumberland, well stocked with milk-cows, yeald beasts, and sheep; ameeting-house, hard by, frequented by serious Presbyterians, who hadunited in a harmonious call to Reuben Butler to be their spiritualguide--Effie restored, not to gaiety, but to cheerfulness at least--theirfather, with his grey hairs smoothed down, and spectacles on hisnose--herself, with the maiden snood exchanged for a matron's curch--allarranged in a pew in the said meeting-house, listening to words ofdevotion, rendered sweeter and more powerful by the affectionate tieswhich combined them with the preacher. She cherished such visions fromday to day, until her residence in London began to become insupportableand tedious to her; and it was with no ordinary satisfaction that shereceived a summons from Argyle House, requiring her in two days to beprepared to join their northward party.