Self-control.

by Mary Brunton.

His warfare is within.--There unfatigued His fervent spirit labours.--There he fights, And there obtains fresh triumphs o'er himself, And never-withering wreaths, compared with which The laurels that a Caesar reaps are weeds

Cowper

TO MISS JOANNA BAILLIE

MADAM,

You would smile to hear the insect of a day pay the tribute of its praise to the lasting oak which aided its first feeble soaring--Smile then;--for a person whom nature, fortune, and inclination, alike, have marked for obscurity, one whose very name may never reach your ear, offers this tribute of respect to the author of PLAYS on the Pa.s.sIONS.

The pleasure of expressing heart-felt admiration is not, however, my only motive for inscribing this tale to you. Unknown to the world both as an individual and as an author, I own myself desirous of giving a pledge of spotless intention in my work, by adorning it with the name of one whose writings force every unvitiated heart to glow with a warmer love of virtue. On one solitary point I claim equality with you:--In purity of intention I yield not even to JOANNA BAILLIE.

May I venture to avow another feeling which has prompted this intrusion?

What point so small that vanity cannot build on it a resting-place! Will you believe that this trifle claims affinity with the Plays on the Pa.s.sions?--Your portraitures of the progress and of the consequences of pa.s.sion,--portraitures whose exquisite truth gives them the force of living examples,--are powerful warnings to watch the first risings of the insidious rebel. No guard but one is equal to the task. The regulation of the pa.s.sions is the province, it is the triumph of RELIGION. In the character of Laura Montreville the religious principle is exhibited as rejecting the bribes of ambition; bestowing fort.i.tude in want and sorrow; as restraining just displeasure; overcoming const.i.tutional timidity; conquering misplaced affection; and triumphing over the fear of death and of disgrace.

This little tale was begun at first merely for my own amus.e.m.e.nt. It is published that I may reconcile my conscience to the time which it has employed, by making it in some degree useful. Let not the term so implied provoke a smile! If my book is read, its uses to the author are obvious. Nor is a work of fiction necessarily unprofitable to the readers. When the vitiated appet.i.te refuses its proper food, the alternative may be administered in a sweetmeat. It may be imprudent to confess the presence of the medicine, lest the sickly palate, thus warned, turn from it in loathing. But I rely in this instance on the world of the philosopher, who avers that 'young ladies never read prefaces'; and I am not without hope, that with you, and with all who form exceptions to this rule, the avowal of a useful purpose may be an inducement to tolerate what otherwise might be thought unworthy of regard.

Perhaps in an age whose lax morality, declining the glorious toils of virtue, is poorly 'content to dwell in decencies for ever', emulation may be repressed by the eminence which the character of Laura claims over the ordinary standard of the times. A virtue which, though essentially Christian, is certainly not very popular in this Christian country, may be stigmatized as romantic; a chilling term of reproach, which has blighted many a fair blossom of goodness ere it ripened into fruit. Perhaps some of my fair countrywomen, finding it difficult to trace in the delineation of Self-Control any striking feature of their own minds, may p.r.o.nounce my picture unnatural. It might be enough to reply, that I do not ascribe any of the virtues of Laura to nature, and, least of all, the one whose office is to regulate and control nature.

But if my princ.i.p.al figure want the air, and vivacity of life, the blame lies in the painter, not in the subject. Laura is indebted to fancy for her drapery and att.i.tudes alone. I have had the happiness of witnessing, in real life, a self-command operating with as much force, permanence, and uniformity, as that which is depicted in the following volumes. To you, Madam, I should perhaps further apologize for having left in my model some traces of human imperfection; while, for the generality of my readers, I breathe a fervent wish, that these pages may a.s.sist in enabling their own hearts to furnish proof that the character of Laura, however unnatural, is yet not unattainable.

I have the honour to be, with great respect, Madam, Your obedient Servant, The AUTHOR

January 1811.

CONTENTS

Chapter I 1

Chapter II 10

Chapter III 18

Chapter IV 23

Chapter V 33

Chapter VI 39

Chapter VII 45

Chapter VIII 56

Chapter IX 62

Chapter X 73

Chapter XI 82

Chapter XII 90

Chapter XIII 102

Chapter XIV 116

Chapter XV 132

Chapter XVI 147

Chapter XVII 161

Chapter XVIII 185

Chapter XIX 201

Chapter XX 215

Chapter XXI 229

Chapter XXII 242

Chapter XXIII 260

Chapter XXIV 270

Chapter XXV 283

Chapter XXVI 298

Chapter XXVII 312

Chapter XXVIII 329

Chapter XXIX 346

Chapter x.x.x 367

Chapter x.x.xI 387