The Event of Fireblood’s Adventure; and a Threat of Marriage, which Might have Been Concluded Either at Smithfield or St. James’s.
Fireblood returned from his enterprise unsuccessful. The gentleman happened to go home another way than he had intended; so that the whole design miscarried. Fireblood had indeed robbed the coach, and had wantonly discharged a pistol into it, which lightly wounded one of the passengers in the arm. The booty he met with was not very considerable, though much greater than that with which he acquainted Wild; for of eleven pounds in money, two silver watches, and a wedding-ring, he produced no more than two guineas and the ring, which he protested with numberless oaths was his whole booty. However, when an advertisement of the robbery was published, with a reward promised for the ring and the watches, Fireblood was obliged to confess the whole, and to acquaint our hero where he pawned1 the watches; which Wild, taking the full value of them for his pains, restored to the right owner.
He did not fail catchising his young friend on this occasion. He said he was sorry to see any of his gang guilty of a breach2 of honour; that without honour PRIGGERY was at an end; that if a prig had but honour he would overlook every vice3 in the world. “But, nevertheless,” said he, “I will forgive you this time, as you are a hopeful lad, and I hope never afterwards to find you delinquent5 in this great point.”
Wild had now brought his gang to great regularity6: he was obeyed and feared by them all. He had likewise established an office, where all men who were robbed, paying the value only (or a little more) of their goods, might have them again. This was of notable use to several persons who had lost pieces of plate they had received from their grand-mothers; to others who had a particular value for certain rings, watches, heads of canes7, snuff-boxes, &c., for which they would not have taken twenty times as much as they were worth, either because they had them a little while or a long time, or that somebody else had had them before, or from some other such excellent reason, which often stamps a greater value on a toy than the great Bubble-boy himself would have the impudence8 to set upon it.
By these means he seemed in so promising9 a way of procuring10 a fortune, and was regarded in so thriving a light by all the gentlemen of his acquaintance, as by the keeper and turnkeys of Newgate, by Mr. Snap, and others of his occupation, that Mr. Snap one day, taking Mr. Wild the elder aside, very seriously proposed what they had often lightly talked over, a strict union between their families, by marrying his daughter Tishy to our hero. This proposal was very readily accepted by the old gentleman, who promised to acquaint his son with it.
On the morrow on which this message was delivered, our hero, little dreaming of the happiness which, of its own accord, was advancing so near towards him, had called Fireblood to him; and, after informing that youth of the violence of his passion for the young lady, and assuring him what confidence he reposed11 in him and his honour, he despatched him to Miss Tishy with the following letter; which we here insert, not only as we take it to be extremely curious, but to be a much better pattern for that epistolary kind of writing which is generally called love-letters than any to be found in the academy of compliments, and which we challenge all the beaus of our time to excel either in matter or spelling.
“MOST DIVINE and ADWHORABLE CREETURE, — I doubt not but those IIs, briter than the son, which have kindled12 such a flam in my hart, have likewise the faculty13 of seeing it. It would be the hiest preassumption to imagin you eggnorant of my loav. No, madam, I sollemly purtest, that of all the butys in the unaversal glob, there is none kapable of hateracting my IIs like you. Corts and pallaces would be to me deserts without your kumpany, and with it a wilderness14 would have more charms than haven15 itself. For I hop4 you will beleve me when I sware every place in the univarse is a haven with you. I am konvinced you must be sinsibel of my violent passion for you, which, if I endevored to hid it, would be as impossible as for you, or the son, to hid your buty’s. I assure you I have not slept a wink16 since I had the hapness of seeing you last; therefore hop you will, out of Kumpassion, let me have the honour of seeing you this afternune; for I am, with the greatest adwhoration,
“Most deivine creeture, Iour most passionate17 amirer, Adwhorer, and slave, JONATHAN WYLD.”
If the spelling of this letter be not so strictly18 orthographical19, the reader will be pleased to remember that such a defect might be worthy20 of censure21 in a low and scholastic22 character, but can be no blemish23 in that sublime24 greatness of which we endeavour to raise a complete idea in this history. In which kind of composition spelling, or indeed any kind of human literature, hath never been thought a necessary ingredient; for if these sort of great personages can but complot and contrive25 their noble schemes, and hack26 and hew27 mankind sufficiently28, there will never be wanting fit and able persons who can spell to record their praises. Again, if it should be observed that the stile of this letter doth not exactly correspond with that of our hero’s speeches, which we have here recorded, we answer, it is sufficient if in these the historian adheres faithfully to the matter, though he embellishes29 the diction with some flourishes of his own eloquence30, without which the excellent speeches recorded in antient historians (particularly in Sallust) would have scarce been found in their writings. Nay31, even amongst the moderns, famous as they are for elocution, it may be doubted whether those inimitable harangues32 published in the monthly magazines came literally33 from the mouths of the HURGOS, &c., as they are there inserted, or whether we may not rather suppose one historian of great eloquence hath borrowed the matter only, and adorned34 it with those rhetorical showers for which many of the said HURGOS are not so extremely eminent35.
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1
pawned
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| v.典当，抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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4
hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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canes
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| n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖 | |
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impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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16
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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orthographical
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| adj.正字法的，拼字正确的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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22
scholastic
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| adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的 | |
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blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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hew
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| v.砍；伐；削 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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embellishes
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| v.美化( embellish的第三人称单数 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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31
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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32
harangues
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| n.高谈阔论的长篇演讲( harangue的名词复数 )v.高谈阔论( harangue的第三人称单数 ) | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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34
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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35
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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