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Title: Clarissa DormerThe advantages of good instruction
Author: Anonymous
Release date: August 2, 2023 [eBook #71319]
Language: English
Original publication: United Kingdom: J. Harris, 1808
Credits: Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARISSA DORMER ***
[Illustration: Clariſsa Dormer.
_Pub. Oct 14-1808, by I. Harris, Corner St. Paul’s Church Yd._]
CLARISSA DORMER:
OR, THE
ADVANTAGES
OF
_GOOD INSTRUCTION_.
[Illustration: logo]
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. HARRIS, SUCCESSOR TO E. NEWBERY,
AT THE ORIGINAL JUVENILE LIBRARY, AT THE
CORNER OF ST. PAUL’S CHURCH-YARD.
[Illustration: decoration]
1808.
H. Bryer, Printer, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars.
CLARISSA DORMER:
[Illustration: decoration]
The parents of Clarissa Dormer were natives of one of our West India
settlements. They were not black enough to be esteemed descendants of
those unhappy beings whom perfidy or avarice brought into the hands
of Europeans, nor yet so fair as to pass for natives of our temperate
clime. Born amid the tears and groans of their fellow creatures, and
taught by example to tyrannize over the miserable Africans, they
were callous to their sufferings, and unmindful of the barbarities
inflicted upon them.
One only child (Clarissa) was the fruit of their marriage, and heiress
to their vast possessions.
Dearer to them than their lives or riches, they would not suffer her to
be contradicted in any thing, from the moment her little legs were able
to carry her; and from the instant she knew how to frame a wish or feel
a want, her will was a law. Every slave on the plantation must serve
her, in preference to any other business.
Can it be wondered at then, that, before she was five years of age, she
was a tyrant?
At a prodigious expence, a governess from England was engaged to attend
her.
The gentleman who was agent for Mr. Dormer in this business, saw many
before his choice was absolutely decided. He well knew the tempers and
habits of those with whom the lady would have to deal; and he wished to
act with justice on both sides.
At length, his choice fell on Miss Melville, a young lady born to
happier prospects, educated under the eyes of the most tender and
indulgent, as well as the most accomplished parents, whose pride she
had been, and who had spared no cost to bestow upon her a most liberal
education.
Versed in all the elegant accomplishments, as well as the more solid
and useful parts of female education, she was at once the woman of
fashion and the domestic character.
Fortune, however, seemed to use her unkindly, by depriving her first of
her parents, and then of a considerable part of her property, through
the means of an unjust executor.
These losses were too severe to be viewed with indifference; but they
were nevertheless endured with a degree of composure which proved that
reason, and not passion, governed her mind.
Mr. Franklin’s choice could not have fallen upon a worthier object;
but, anxious as he was to fulfil the commission with which he was
intrusted, he yet felt it his duty to lay before the person he engaged,
every particular relative to the family in which she was to reside.
“Mr. and Mrs. Dormer,” said he to Miss Melville, “have no other child
than Clarissa; and I am sorry to say that she has been spoiled by too
much indulgence. She must not be corrected; and even if she strikes
you, you must not complain. Her parents are both passionate, and, I
believe, proud of their wealth; yet they want not generosity; and I am
persuaded, if you can but gain the affections of the child, you may
live in comfort. Your good sense will lead you to adopt some means of
gaining authority over a child, who, though wayward, is not destitute
either of good nature or good sense. The salary is very handsome; and
if, after twelve months residence, you do not wish to continue, they
agree to pay your passage back to England.――You may take a few days to
consider the subject, and I shall make no farther inquiries till I
receive your answer.”
The result was, that Miss Melville accepted the situation, embarked,
and, after a fine passage, arrived safe at ――――.
On her landing, she was received by Mr. Dormer, who conducted her to
his plantation in the mountains.
Mrs. Dormer was a vulgar, untaught woman. She had filled her daughter’s
head with a set of ideas which served to put all order at defiance.
“Come, Clary,” said she, “come, my love, and see your governess: she
has come home with papa.”
Little Miss, who had no better English than the slaves with whom she
associated, and upon whom no pains had yet been bestowed to correct it,
pouted, flung, and said, “_Clary no go――Clary no like new govness――She
stay play with black Susy, kill flies, and catchee de lizards._”
Much persuasion was necessary to induce her to accompany her mother
into the drawing-room. At length she complied, hid herself behind the
door, and just took a peep now and then at Miss Melville.
“Will you not welcome me to your house, Miss Dormer,” said Miss
Melville, in the sweetest tone of voice imaginable.
Clara hung down her head.――At length she gained confidence, advanced
nearer and nearer, and soon became troublesome with her caresses.
“Poor thing!” said her mother, “I am vastly glad to see she likes you:
she will learn all the better, and be so happy!”
The next morning Miss Melville entered on her task.
Clara was very averse to being taught; but the gentle manner adopted
with her, made the first day’s task pass off tolerably easy; the second
and third were not to be complained of; but it soon became necessary
to make use of bribes, and various other schemes, to induce her to read.
Miss Melville, however, found the mother more irrational than her
daughter. She was constantly detaching her from her studies; sometimes
complaining that too much reading would hurt her eyesight; at others,
that she would study herself into a fever; yet she was constantly
worrying her with enquiries respecting her improvement, and dictating
the manner in which she should be taught. When she saw Clara appear
unhappy at being called to attend on Miss Melville, she would say,
“Dear Miss, don’t worry the poor child about her books; she has time
enough before her; let her come to her lessons when she pleases: she
will get on a great deal sooner for not being worried.”
It required much patience to bear all this, but not more than Miss
Melville possessed. She resolved to persevere in the use of every
allurement she could invent to induce Clara to receive her instructions.
The following circumstance favoured her wishes, and produced the desired
effect.
At the time Mr. Dormer commissioned Mr. Franklin to procure a governess
for his daughter, he impowered him also to purchase one of Stodart’s
best pianos, as necessary for her instruction.
Miss Melville being perfectly mistress of the instrument, it became
a great source of amusement to the whole family; Clara in particular
became fond of music to excess, and was constantly importuning her
governess to play to her.
In answer to her frequent requests, Miss Melville agreed to play her a
tune every time she read a lesson, and informed her, that, as soon as
she could read and spell, she would be capable of learning the notes,
and playing on the piano.
“Indeed!” exclaimed Clara.
“Yes, indeed,” said Miss Melville; “and I believe you will soon learn
to play.”
Clara paid great attention to her book, and soon learnt to read and
spell with propriety.
“I can read now,” said she to Miss Melville, “will you teach me to
play?”
“Willingly; and I hope you will have patience to surmount every
difficulty.”
“Is music so very difficult to learn?” said Clara.
“Yes,” answered Miss Melville, “if you mean to excel; and I hope
that will be your endeavour: many pretend to play, who only know how
to gingle the keys; but I hope, if you begin, you will be more than a
pretender.”
As this was a science in which Clara particularly delighted, she made
a very rapid progress, as indeed she did in every thing she undertook;
but unfortunately she had many bad habits, as well as real errors, from
which it was necessary she should be reformed. Among the most prominent
of these was the vice of lying.――The following anecdote will shew some
of its effects.
Among those things upon which Miss Melville set the highest value,
were the letters of her deceased parents, which she kept locked up
in a trunk, and would often retire to read them in private. She had
miniatures of her parents, which were kept in the same place.
One day Clara caught her with the picture of her mother in her hand,
weeping over it. Unwilling the child should see her in tears, she
hastily returned the miniature to its place, locked the box, and came
away.
Clara related what she had seen to her mother, who, with a curiosity
natural to little minds, was eager to discover the secret into which
her daughter was unable to penetrate.
Mrs. Dormer requested Miss Melville to visit a lady at the next
plantation; and Clara, the moment her back was turned, seized the
box, and conveyed it to her mother, who had not time to satisfy her
curiosity before Miss Melville returned for an ornament which she had
left in it through mistake.
The box was not to be found. Mrs. Dormer and her daughter declared that
they knew nothing of it; but a slave, who had accidentally seen it in
Clara’s arms, as she carried it to her mother, said, “_Missy Melville,
you no cry――me telle you where de box be._”
“Oh, where, where, good Dinah, tell me,” returned Miss Melville; “I
would rather lose every thing else in the world, than that box.”
“_Missy Clara_,” replied Dinah, “_carry it to Madam, in de
dressing-room._”
Miss Melville hurried to demand her box.
“Who told you it was here?” said Mrs. Dormer; “I have not seen it; and
I am sure Clara never touched it.”
“No, that I did not,” cried the young lady, encouraged to assert a
falsehood by the example of her mother――“Dinah has been telling you
some story about the box, I suppose.”
Dinah was called.
“Do you know any thing of Miss Melville’s box, Dinah?” said Mrs. Dormer.
“_Me see Missy Clara bring de box――――_”
“Hold your tongue this instant,” cried Mrs. Dormer, in a violent
passion; “call the overseer; let him see Dinah flogged for an hour, and
let it be done immediately.”
“For mercy’s sake, Madam, I intreat you, and beg as the greatest
favour, that you will not punish the poor creature,” said Miss
Melville; “she meant no ill――she did not mean to offend――pray spare
her, and let your anger fall upon me.”
“Upon you!” exclaimed Mrs. Dormer; “I cannot flog you; but I have her
in my power; and she shall be beat till I have pieces of flesh from her
back.”
Mrs. Dormer in this said no more than she saw executed. Poor Dinah was
tied by her two hands to the whipping-post; and the brutal overseer, as
unfeeling as his barbarous mistress, inflicted the punishment, till
the poor slave, unable to endure more, sunk beneath the lash, without
exhibiting any signs of life.
“You have killed her,” said Miss Melville, running to the assistance of
the unfortunate girl, “you have killed her; and for what? for telling
the truth?――Yes, shame on you, Clara! you know you took the box from
my chamber, and carried it to your mamma’s; and yet you could see this
unhappy girl beaten almost, if not quite to death, for declaring what
she had seen――Where is your feeling? Where is your humanity?”
“A fig’s end for feeling and humanity too,” replied Mrs. Dormer; “what
has feeling or humanity to do with slaves? We buy them for our use, we
feed and clothe them, and we have a right to treat them as we please?”
“You have certainly no right to treat them with cruelty or injustice,”
said Miss Melville.
“Cruelty and injustice!” exclaimed Mrs. Dormer; “I beg, Miss, you won’t
put such nonsense into the creatures’ heads, or they will mutiny, and
perhaps murder us.”
“They would do neither, I am persuaded, were they well treated,” said
Miss Melville.
“You are very impertinent, Miss,” said Mrs. Dormer; “but I wish to have
no more words at present.”
The following morning, when Clara attended her usual lesson, she could
not help noticing the coldness and indifference with which she was
treated by her governess. She felt it keenly; and after endeavouring
for some time to conceal her feelings, she burst into tears, and said,
“I know I was very wicked yesterday; I told lies, and saw Dinah beat
for telling the truth.――Oh, Miss Melville! do forgive! do pardon me!”
“Your pardon does not rest with me,” said Miss Melville; “you may
be assured that though Providence has suffered this poor creature
to become a slave, you have no right to treat her with cruelty or
injustice. A great and benevolent mind would use power only to promote
the happiness of those who are under its government. You know not how
much you may need the friendship of your slaves; and your conduct
should be such as would entitle you to their esteem. I am sorry to see
it otherwise. Your cruelty was manifested in the sufferings of Dinah;
and the unjust punishment inflicted on her, was not your only fault;
that was but secondary to your first; the untruth you told was the
primary cause of the poor girl’s sufferings. I have long endeavoured
to instil into your mind a high value for truth, and an aversion to
falsehood of every kind. I am grieved to see how very lightly you think
of my lessons, and how poor a compliment you pay my instructions. Be
assured, that lying is a most dangerous and detestable vice; and a liar
is more to be dreaded than any other character. Locks, bolts and bars
may secure us from the thief; but what can secure us from the tongue
of the liar? How many scandals are fabricated――how many families set
together by the ears――how many parents have their hearts turned against
their children, husbands weaned from their wives, brothers from their
sisters, and the most intimate, firm and steady friendships broken, by
the tongue of the liar. I beg you, then, my dear Clara, never more to
be guilty of a vice which is offensive both to God and man.”
Miss Melville’s lessons, often repeated, made a deep impression on the
mind of Clara. To the slaves she became gentle and kind; and during
the illness of Dinah, which was the consequence of her undeserved
punishment, none attended her with more kindness than Clara, who
endeavoured, by every means in her power, to make her amends for her
sufferings.
Clara soon gained the esteem of all the slaves, and was so universally
beloved, that there was not a person in the house, or on the plantation,
but what would almost have sacrificed their lives to serve her. Mrs.
Dormer was the only person who disapproved of the happy change in her
conduct; natural affection, however, was a sufficient security for her
kindness to her only daughter, and therefore Clara lived in friendship
with all around her.
About twelve months after the event which has been recounted, Mr.
Dormer died, leaving to his widow the plantation, with the reversion
to Clara, to whom he also left considerable property in the English
funds. Unchecked by the power or influence of a husband, the widow now
exercised her authority over the slaves with an iron hand. She not only
had them punished unjustly, but frequently ordered the punishments to
be inflicted with a severity too horrible to be described.――But
“The worm we tread on, thus it feels,
“Resents the pressure of our heels,
“And turns again.”
A conspiracy, secret, and dreadful in its consequences, broke out in
the plantation among the slaves, who rose in the dead of the night,
to revenge the sufferings they had endured. About a dozen of these
ill-used people entered the house of Mrs. Dormer, and murdered the
overseer and whipper-in, and then proceeded to search for their
mistress, who had retreated for safety, from her own apartment to Miss
Melville’s.
“Oh, save me, save me!――the slaves have mutinied――they have killed the
overseer and whipper-in, and are now searching for me――What shall I
do?――Where shall I conceal myself?” cried Mrs. Dormer.
[Illustration: Clariſsa Dormer.]
“Hush! hush, madam!” said Miss Melville; “I beseech you be quiet.”――She
had just time to squeeze herself between the bed and the wainscot,
before the slaves entered, brandishing weapons of different kinds, and
enquiring for Mrs. Dormer.
Dinah was compelled to attend them, and to give them all the information
they required.
“_Who be dat lady?_” said the ringleader to Dinah, pointing to Miss
Melville.
“_She be good lady_,” said Dinah; “_she pity poor blacky man and
woman――she never get poor slave beat, but cry, cry, weep, weep, to see
dem hurt._”
“_We no killy you, Missy――we only fight wid dem dat use poor black
ill――get him beat――order bad Jackson to flog, flog, flog, till poor
slave fall down, almost dead._”
Clara was seized by another of the slaves; but was set at liberty after
a similar account had been given of her conduct by Dinah and Susan; and
they were ordered out of the room, but with such marks of respect as
convinced them that they had nothing to fear on their own account; but
their distress respecting Mrs. Dormer was great indeed.
In a short time they heard several of the female slaves cry out,
“_Jasper, Jasper, we find her――come, take de vile wretch away._”
A shriek from Mrs. Dormer convinced Clara and Miss Melville what had
happened. They attempted to appease the fury of the slaves by arguments
and intreaties; but in vain: they were commanded to be silent; and
resistance would have been irrational.
Mrs. Dormer was dragged to the very post at which her cruel orders had
frequently been put in execution, and treated by her slaves with as
little mercy as she had treated them. Their lives had been spared for
future service; but they had no wish to see her survive.
As soon as it was light, Miss Melville and Clara ventured out in
search of Mrs. Dormer. Their imaginations had already anticipated the
affecting scene. Clara fainted when she saw the mangled body of her
parent, and was afterwards conducted by her amiable companion, to the
next plantation. A little reflection, however, convinced them that they
had nothing to fear from those DISCRIMINATING SLAVES who had deemed
them worthy their clemency, at a time they came to execute vengeance
on an individual under the same roof.
In a short time Miss Dormer undertook the management of her own
affairs; and Miss Melville was still retained, as her friend, adviser,
and companion. No slaves were treated so well as those of Miss Dormer;
indeed it is improper to call them slaves; for she made them all free;
and few plantations ever flourished like hers.
At a time when a dangerous insurrection broke out among the Maroons,
over the greatest part of the island, the free men of Clara refused
to join in the association; and, by forming a phalanx round their
mistress, preserved both her life and property, while those of many
others were lost.
The moral of this little history will speak for itself. Humanity is due
to all; difference of colour, or inequality of rank, can never warrant
the exercise of oppression or injustice; and the abolition of the slave
trade, lately effected by the persevering efforts of Mr. Wilberforce
and the attention of a discerning legislature, is at once the best
security for the peace and prosperity of our colonies, and an honour to
the British character.
_H. Bryer, Printer, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars._
* * * * *
Transcriber’s Notes:
――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
――Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.
――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
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