love's power's too great to be withstood
by feeble human flesh and blood.
'twas he that brought upon his knees
the hect'ring kil-cow hercules;
transform'd his leaguer-lion's skin
t' a petticoat, and made him spin;
seiz'd on his club, and made it dwindle
t' a feeble distaff and a spindle.
hudibras.
the dinner on board the orion, which was not served up till one o'clock, by the way, as captain hazard wished to be more than usually genteel, was excellent, and was preceded, and followed, by copious libations of punch; after which the wine was set on table, and the veterans, that is, the military, the nautical, and ecclesiastical, part of the company, proceeded to discuss it, "in manner and form." the governor, as was his custom on such occasions, told interminable stories of the siege of gibraltar, during which, his hopeful nephew elect enjoyed a very comfortable nap, and even father josef nodded occasionally.
the ladies had made their escape, as soon us dinner was finished; and morton, on the watch, like a cat to steal cream, was on the alert, as soon as he perceived their intentions, and accompanied them on deck. to his great satisfaction, none of the spanish officers made any attempt to leave the table; for, as the old don had just got fairly under weigh with one of his campaigning stories, they were afraid to treat him with so much disrespect, and, of course, hazard their hopes of being invited to attend him again upon a similar party. accordingly, morton had the pleasure of enjoying the society of the ladies, without interruption, and found many opportunities of saying a few words to isabella. in this, he was again much beholden to the skilful manoeuvring of his messmate, coffin, who was already higher in the good graces of the mother and daughters than morton, who, though a handsome man, had not so much of that dashing, off-hand, sort of gallantry as the other; and which goes an incredible way with most ladies.
morton had seen more of the polite world, and was better educated, and more refined in his manners, than coffin; but, besides being, at that time, wholly engrossed and engaged by a particular object, he had that peculiar kind of modesty, or diffidence, that does a man so much injury with the other sex; who, though they pretend to prize modesty so highly among themselves, abominate it as unnatural, absurd, and affected, in men; while the pert and obsequious fluttering of a fashionable water-fly, which is always received with a smile, is generally more prized, and rewarded more bountifully still. there is, however, some consolation in the thought, that repentance always overtakes, and punishes, the silly woman who has allowed herself to be so fatally "pleased with a rattle;" she perceives, after marriage, that she has given herself irrevocably to a thing "of shreds and patches."
there is a certain sort of little attentions, that ladies generally expect from our sex, and a skill and adroitness in showing which makes no inconsiderable part of a modern gentleman's education. i have known many young men, who could not write two consecutive sentences, without coming to an open rupture with orthography, grammar, or common sense, or all three, if it was to save their well-stocked necks from the halter, or their souls, (what of that commodity they have,) from satan's grip, but who stood very high, and, doubtless, deservedly so, in the estimation of the fair sex, simply from their skill and precision in going through a certain routine of little trifling acts of politeness.
as far as ladies are concerned, politeness appears to consist chiefly in a man's putting himself to more or less inconvenience, or exposing himself to danger, on their account. with regard to the last, i do not know but i could acquit myself to advantage, partly from the peculiar recklessness that is acquired at sea; and partly because facing danger, in the protection of the weaker sex, is both the duty of the stronger, and the stronger generally can do it with less embarrassment, than perform those innumerable, nameless, attentions, already alluded to. i cannot say, however, that when walking out with ladies, i have felt peculiarly desirous of the apparition of a mad bull, a ghost, or the devil, to give me an opportunity to show my courage; but i think it is certainly easier to most men to expose themselves to danger, in the service of a lady, than to perform acceptably, and without awkwardness, those little acts of politeness, that, in the present state of society, ladies are somewhat rigorous in exacting. i have passed the very cream and flower of my life at sea, that is, from nineteen to thirty-two, and now, "in these latter days," begin to feel myself very much like a fish out of water. how often have i "sailed into the northward" of a fair lady's displeasure, for neglecting to assist her into, or out of, a carriage! never dreaming, "poor ignorant sinner" that i am! that the ascent up the steps of a coach was attended with any more perils, than that of the stairs that lead to her bed-room; or that a girl, perhaps twenty years my junior, glowing in the full bloom of youth, health, and sprightliness, and with a step as light and elastic as virgil's camilla, required the assistance of such an old weather-beaten beau as myself. how often have i been pouted at by the ripest, rosiest, lips in the world, for omitting to wait upon their owner home, on a dark, stormy, evening, and half a mile out of my way, simply because i preferred the company i was with, to the half-mile heat! i do not know that i have ever felt very desirous of living my life over again; but i confess i should like to go back, say, to the age of three or four and twenty, merely to take a few lessons in the graces, and then "jump the life to come," as far as where i am now, namely, thirty or forty.
by mr. coffin's management, morton and isabella were much of the time together, and both instinctively avoided any allusion to painful subjects. he described to her the various implements used in the whale-fishery, gave her a short account of the voyage, and of the different parts of america, and of the islands in the pacific, that he had visited; and, in short, exerted himself to please and entertain her, and was successful.
when in the society of those we love, and from whom we are soon to separate, perhaps forever, how much we can manage to say in a little time! how earnestly do we strive to render delightful those moments, perhaps the last that we are ever to pass with those friends! dr. johnson says, the approach of death wonderfully concentrates one's ideas; so does the approach of the hour of parting.
isabella heard herself, for the first time, for many years, addressed in the language of respectful politeness, and unassuming common sense; the pictures of refined, polished, and enlightened, society, drawn in the few excellent english authors her mother had left her, seemed realized and presented to her eyes, in all the richness of life. she did not stop to analyse, or try to explain to herself the peculiarly delightful feelings that occupied her mind; though if she had been left alone for five minutes, her own good sense would have told her it was love: that pure, unalloyed, unreflecting, ardent, first love, that, like the whooping-cough and the measles, we never have but once; though some patients have it earlier in life, and more severely, than others.
ladies will never admit, and never have admitted, from the time the stone-masons and hod-carriers struck work upon the tower of babel, (for want of a circulating medium of speech, that would be taken at par by all hands, down to the present anno domini, 1834, and twenty-second of october,) that any of their sisterhood ever fell in love "at sight," as brokers call it, or that her eyes influenced her heart. with regard to the female, who, in early life, takes up the "trade and mystery" of a fashionable belle, ex officio a coquet and a flirt, this is in some measure true; for i have observed, that very beautiful women of that description, who have had at their feet wealth, and talent, and eloquence, and virtue, generally "close their concerns" by marrying sots, fools, gamblers, rakes, or brutes; they seem to choose their husbands as old maiden ladies do their lap-dogs; which are invariably the most cross, ugly, ill-tempered, filthy, noisy, little scoundrels, that the entire canine family can muster. but their practice is at variance with their profession. it is physically and morally impossible that women, whose chief strength consists in external appearance and show, should hold in light esteem external appearance and show in our sex; and, if they are not guided by their eyes in the choice of their lovers, i should like to know what the d--l they are guided by; for in a company of feather-pated girls, the chief object of ridicule is the personal defects of their male acquaintance.
time, that stands still with married men, and sometimes with old bachelors, flies with lovers; and the sun's "lower limb" was dipping in the haze, that skirted the western horizon, when the steward came on deck, and informed the ladies and gentlemen that coffee was ready, and, accordingly, they descended into the cabin. after this refreshment, preparations were made for going ashore. morton and coffin ran on deck, to get the whips ready; and the former, calling his own boat's crew aft, had his boat lowered down from the quarter-davits, and brought to the gangway, while the governor's bargemen were lighting fresh segars. with a few words of explanation to the second officer, morton sprang into his boat, and, in a few minutes, isabella and her two cousins were safely stowed in the stern-sheets. the bowman obeyed the command, "shove off;" the swift boat, impelled by five strong-limbed seamen, flew like a swallow across the bay, and reached the landing-place at least ten minutes before the cumbrous barge of his excellency bounced her broad nose against the side of the quay, and recoiled, like a battering-ram.
morton improved the time he was on the shore with the ladies, by paying more attention to the governor's daughters than he had done heretofore, and easily succeeded in entertaining them. they repeated their mother's invitation to the young seaman to visit their house, declaring they had never seen any foreign gentleman that spoke such pure spanish; that the americans were much more polite, and respectful, and hospitable, and obliging, than the english; and concluded, by wondering why, if the united states were so near mexico, it should take six months to go from st. blas there. to all which morton made the appropriate replies; and, when the rest of the party were assembled, assisted the ladies to their horses, renewing to isabella, as he adjusted her in the saddle, his promise to call at her uncle's house the next day. as this promise did not cause the young lady to "jump out her skin" or saddle, it is highly probable that she did not perceive any great harm in it; nor did it occur to her then, or when consulting her pillow at night, that she violated female propriety, by answering, simply, and somewhat emphatically, "i hope you will."
on their ride homeward, the party were loud in their praises of the entertainment of the day, their eulogies being directed to different parts of the entertainment according to the different tastes of the individuals performing the concert; for instance, the young ladies made honorable mention of the politeness and attention of the "dos pelotos hermosos," the two handsome mates; the old lady chanted the praises of the china ware, and table linen, and the knives and forks--all of them luxuries at that time in south america; the governor eulogized the punch, and father josef the dinner; the young officers were in raptures with the wine, in which they were joined by the civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries in grand chorus. perhaps there never was a party of visitors that left their entertainer's house, whether riding at anchor in port, or standing on hammered granite "underpinning" on shore, better pleased with what they had had, or in better humor or spirits.
