Charles Tyrrell; or, The Bitter Blood. Volumes I and IIJames, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
General
Charles Tyrrell; or, The Bitter Blood. Volumes I and II
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction
Do not let any one suppose that this picture is caricatured; for, on
the contrary, it is true, and only drawn with a hand not strong enough
to paint it accurately. The sum which he allowed his son was by no
means sufficient to maintain him upon a level with young men of his
own station, and, ere he had been many months at college, the
thoughtlessness natural to youth, joined with a free and generous
disposition, had, of course, plunged him into some difficulties. As
soon as he found it was so, Charles Tyrrell, well knowing his fathers
character, determined to extricate himself without subjecting himself
to make a request to his father, which would be granted, he knew, with
taunts and reproaches, and held over his head as an obligation
incurred, to be frequently alluded to in the future. He therefore
applied himself to economize with the most rigid exactness; and at a
time when everything that was extravagant and thoughtless was done by
all those around him, he devoted himself to study and to thought,
making his application to such pursuits an excuse for absenting
himself from the society of those with whom he had begun to associate.
So far, perhaps, the effect was good; and, indeed, we might go
farther. The habit of commanding one's self, of resisting
inclinations, conquering habits, doing right in spite of our own
weakness, is the most ennobling, enlarging, elevating act of the human
mind. Under the influence of such a purpose and of such an effort,
Charles Tyrrell grew day by day more manly, more vigorous in mind,
more competent even to guide and rule others.
He was grave and sad, however, for the fetters of circumstances
pressed heavily upon him. He could not do good where he sought to do
good; he could not reward where reward had been deserved; he could not
encourage where encouragement was wanting. All this he felt, and he
felt bitterly, and he knew that all was inflicted upon him by his
father, at once unnecessarily and unwisely. Nor, it must be confessed,
was he without a consciousness of the motive which caused the
infliction; and, of course, that motive made his heart swell
indignantly at the tyranny sought to be exercised over him, and the
means which that tyranny employed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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