Eighteenth-Century Novels by Women

Sarah Scott

• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780813188492
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• Index: Literature

The History of Sir George Ellison (1766) is an important novel, both utopian and dystopian. Sir George, a man of benevolence, follows the pattern of the female utopia set forth in Scott's first novel, A Description of Millenium Hall (1762). In this sequel, Scott addresses issues of slavery, marriage, education, law and social justice, class pretensions, and the position of women in society, consistently emphasizing the importance, for both genders and all classes and ages, of devoting one's life to meaningful work. Although she adopted a gradualist approach to reform, Scott's uncompromising revelation of the corruption of English society in her day is clear-sighted, arresting, and hard-hitting.

THE HISTORY
OF
SIR GEORGE ELLISON

VOLUME I

PREFACE

The usual intention of a preface, I apprehend, is to make the Author’s apology; and yet I question whether he might not have a better chance of extenuating his fault (if he has committed one) by abridging his book than by adding to its length.

The doubt I am in as to this particular, will make me, though I comply with the custom, endeavour to do it in as few words as possible; and with all convenient brevity attempt my excuse for offering to the public the following sheets.

The lives of good or eminent persons have been thought an useful study, as they set before us examples which may incite us to virtue, and trace out to us a path wherein emulation may induce us to walk¹. But the men whose lives are published are generally above our reach, or out of the sphere of common persons. Great generals, or wise statesmen, are rather objects of wonder than imitation to the common rank of men; saints and martyrs we admire and applaud, but are apt to feel the piety of the former above our powers, and hope never to have occasion for the resolution of the latter: Our hearts are warmed by the contemplation of their virtues, but we seldom sufficiently consider, how the motives which led them to such sublime heights, may be applied to the actions of common life; and for want of this application, we lose the benefits we might reap from their examples.

This neglect has often led me to think that the life of a man more ordinarily good, whose station and opportunities of acting are on a level with a great part of mankind, might afford a more useful lesson than the lives of his superiors in rank or piety, as more within the reach of imitation ². This opinion induced me to collect all the actions that came to my knowledge of the person to whom I have given the name of Ellison, and to reduce them into the regular form of Biography, in order to lay before the public a life, which in some particulars every man, and in all particulars some men may imitate, his actions being confined within the common sphere of persons of fortune, in several articles within the extent of every gentleman’s power.

It may be said by some, that on the same principle I ought to have selected a character more faulty, one wherein the virtues are blended with such imperfections, as bring it nearer the common level, and render it of more easy imitation; whereas a character so free from vice, may discourage the attempt in those who feel a greater mixture of evil in their own dispositions. But I confess myself of a different way of thinking; the chief use I have seen made of mixed characters, has been to gather from them a sanction for the worst parts of our own. We are inclined to say, ‘If this good man had such a vice or failing, surely mine may be excused, it is not of a more hurtful kind; or, if it is, some of my virtues are of a more useful nature; therefore taking their superiority into the account, the balance will be rendered equal.’ Thus the faults of good people do more harm than the errors of the less virtuous, and when we would exhibit a character proper for imitation, we should rather endeavour to conceal the failings which may have stolen into a good heart, than industriously seek to discover them.

I have already intimated that the name of Ellison is a borrowed one; possibly, if I have any readers in Dorsetshire, some of them may say, they know no such person there; though I rather hope the county contains so many gentlemen who resemble Sir George, that several will be pointed as the originals from whence his character is drawn. But should this hope be disappointed, and the former supposition prove fact, let them consider, that I am at liberty to conceal the place of my friend’s real abode, as well as his real name, and may substitute a fictitious one in the place of either ³.

If any one should object, that Sir George Ellison is too good to have existed any where but in imagination, I must intreat my censurer will, before he determines this point, endeavour to equal the virtue of Sir George; a request I may the better make, as by indulging me in it, I may venture to assure him he will reap the chief benefit, and if he attempts it with vigour and sincerity, I am persuaded he will find Sir George’s conduct within the reach of human powers, when properly applied, and strenuously exerted; for such exertion will not fail of being rewarded by the necessary assistance.

BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

Sir George Ellison’s father was the younger son of an ancient and opulent family; but receiving only that small proportion of his father’s wealth, which, according to the custom of this country, usually falls to the share of a younger child, his posterity had little chance of inheriting any considerable fortune from him; though he had, by the profession in which he was placed,¹ been enabled to live genteelly. Had his diligence been greater on his first entering it, he might have raised to himself such an income as would have enabled him to make a better provision for his family; and when it was no longer time to repair this error, the sense of it gave him great concern; and to make the best reparation in his power, and what indeed was more than an adequate recompense for the neglect he lamented, he dedicated all the leisure his business allowed him to the care of his children’s education. Their learning he left to proper masters; the object of his attention was their hearts. He watched the first rise of every passion, and endeavoured to correct it before time had given it strength. The first dawnings of Virtue he perceived with joy, and encouraged with care; cultivating every good disposition, and inculcating the most amiable and solid principles. He instructed them fully in the Christian religion, and shewed them that it was the best foundation, as well as surest support, of moral Virtue.

Before his son George had completed his one and twentieth year, his family, by the death of his wife and two children, was reduced to two sons and one daughter. James his second son was then but twelve, and his daughter fourteen years old. This difference in their ages determined Mr. Ellison to trust in his son George’s hands two thirds of the sum of which he was possessed;² for this being no more than four thousand pounds, he considered, that when divided, the share of each would be so small as must prove insufficient to place them with tolerable advantage in trade; and the difficulty he had found in providing for his family, had disgusted him with professions; which are better suited to the single, than the married state. By so good a capital, he hoped to secure the success of his eldest son, whose disposition gave him reason to believe he should thereby do the best service to his other children. He knew the young man to be perfectly sober, humane, and generous, and at the same time an exceeding good economist; extremely diligent, and well inclined to that care of, and attention to, his affairs, so necessary for those who undertake merchandize. He had beside a tender affection for his brother and sister, and both loved and revered his father.

Mr. Ellison’s conduct may perhaps be censured in this particular. Such entire confidence in so young a man might be injudicious; dangerous it certainly was, and to his son appeared so hazardous, that he opposed, for the first time, his father’s inclination, and used every argument prudence could suggest to alter his purpose; but either paternal affection, or real knowledge of George’s turn of mind, made him persist in his determination; telling the young man, that, if his success answered his hopes, his protection would greatly repay his brother and sister for any danger they might incurr; but to shew that he was not careless of their interests, he took a bond from his son, which secured to them, in case of their father’s death, their share of the £4000 to be paid them in two years after his decease, if by that time of age, and obtained his promise, that during those two years, the money should bear six per cent interest; thus providing for their convenience as much as could be done without hurting their elder brother, whom possibly a more speedy payment might distress.

George Ellison was of a disposition to prosecute warmly and diligently every thing he undertook; therefore, as he entered into merchandize, he wished to pursue it in the most profitable manner, indifferent as to any inconveniences which might attend it. He knew that many, in consideration of their ease, were unwilling to purchase superior advantages in trade, by leaving their native country; a circumstance to which he had perfectly reconciled himself, by considering a man who has his fortune to make as a citizen of the world; and that the country where he has the best means of living, is most properly his own; subsistence being a more rational cause of attachment than birth. He therefore endeavoured to settle correspondences with some of their less adventurous merchants, by whose means he might negociate a quick trade from Jamaica, where he intended to fix; and the character he had established in the city, by his excellent behaviour during his apprenticeship with Mr. Lamont, an eminent merchant,³ rendered him successful in both these articles; and with warm hopes, though tender concern, he took leave of his father and this kingdom, well provided with correspondents here, and recommendations to the principal people in Jamaica.

As my intention in the following sheets is, not so much to give a minute detail of Mr. Ellison’s actions, as to record his virtues, and rather to represent him as an object of imitation than of wonder, I shall pass over a few succeeding years of his life very succinctly; nor do they afford any great variety of incidents, his whole attention being turned to the business he came upon; which he pursued so successfully, that in two years after his arrival he had increased his stock one third; and at the same time, had gained the esteem of all who were concerned with him. He now thought it time to remit half his capital to his father, telling him that he could not be easy till he had restored that sum; for as his sister was become a woman, or nearly so, some advantageous match might offer; and he should think himself very culpable, if by detaining her fortune, he should deprive her of a good establishment. The remainder he would punctually restore before it could be wanted for his brother.

Old Mr. Ellison was surprized and vexed at this action of his son’s, who had given him no previous notice, fearing he would forbid it. He represented the injudiciousness of lessening his capital, before there was any necessary call for it; since he might have made so great a profit upon it, as would much have increased his own fortune, before his sister would have any occasion for hers, as it would be soon enough for her to marry many years hence. And as for the remainder, he desired him to consider that, without assuming any advantages from his seniority, the third of the whole was his share; and in taking no more, his brother and sister would have reason to think he treated them very generously; he therefore insisted on his looking upon that sum as his own; for his great industry, and uncommon merits, could never be a reason for his losing a share of his patrimony.

Young Ellison returned only a vague answer to this letter; he had already taken his resolution, and was determined to adhere to it, but saw no occasion to contend with his father’s justice and affection, till the time of putting his design in execution. The more generally he became known, the more extensive his trade grew, as every one wished to be connected with him. His fortune daily increased beyond his hopes; and he felt the greater satisfaction in it, from finding that his uncommon success had not excited envy; which possibly might in part be owing to his conduct; for the frugality necessary to a young beginner so far restrained the natural generosity of his temper, that his merit was more conspicuous than his success; his industry, sobriety and temperance, shewed that he had a just title to more than uncommon increase of riches, but his moderation left them so far in doubt whether he had really acquired what he had a right to expect, as prevented their drawing any disagreeable comparisons between his profits, and those of others.

Five years after his first settling at Jamaica, he acquainted his father with his resolution of returning the whole capital he set out with; observing, that he could not think his lawful share was too great a consideration to pay his brother and sister for the hazard they ran in his being intrusted with the whole; a confidence deserving every grateful return to the best of fathers; which at the same time, that it gave him the pleasing and encouraging consciousness of possessing the esteem he most wished for, provided him with the means of making a fortune. That Mr. Ellison might not apprehend he was distressing himself, he informed him, that he had now raised a capital of £6000 to which he should always think his father had as good a title as himself.

CHAP. II.

If Mr. Ellison’s good conduct gained him the esteem of his own sex, we may easily suppose the other was not insensible of his merit; especially as it was accompanied by a very fine person, a face handsome from great symmetry of features, but still more from vivacity, sensibility, and sweetness of countenance; a manner and address polite and engaging, and a turn for conversation peculiarly agreeable. Mr. Ironside observes, that Mrs. Jane Lizard included black eyes and white teeth in her description of a man of merit;⁴ perhaps, there are not many women, who on the like occasion would include fewer personal attractions, than found place in Mrs. Jane’s. Mr. Ellison, therefore, was sure to please, since in this sort of merit, he excelled as much as in that of a more substantial nature. As the manners of Jamaica are not peculiarly reserved, many intimations were given to Mr. Ellison, of the favourable disposition of the ladies; but his attention was so totally engaged by his business, that the strongest hints were lost upon him. He was deficient in the sensations that render a person most quick-sighted in that particular, he was void of vanity (as much at least as a human creature can be) and perfectly indifferent to the whole sex; Cupid is such a bungler, that he seldom hits a mark that is in motion; against an active mind he usually misses his aim; and he had never been able to find Mr. Ellison’s sufficiently at leisure to be wounded; business is a shield through which Love’s arrows cannot easily penetrate. Amidst all the airs that coquetry could play off upon him, he was frequently computing the profits of his last embarked cargo of sugars and spices; and was in little danger of being captivated by the fairest form, except Commerce, as sometimes personified by the poets,⁵ had made her appearance before him; the gums of Arabia, the gems of India, and in short the various riches of different climes, with which they deck her, would have greatly heightened her charms in his eyes; while the egrets, pompons, and bracelets of fashionable nymphs appeared to him oftener burdensome than ornamental. The politeness of his behaviour, and the chearfulness of his temper, however, so well concealed the coldness of his heart, that to warm it seemed no impracticable attempt, and prudence as well as inclination might dispose many to endeavour to gain the affections of so worthy and so successful a young man. No woman had the mortification of thinking she had a rival, till a widow lady entered the lists.

This lady was seven years older than Mr. Ellison, having completed her three and thirtieth year. Though the bloom of youth was past, she was still handsome; had behaved very prudently in the different states of life in which she had appeared; was possessed of ten thousand pounds in money, and a plantation of no less value. This last article might have engaged the attention of men insensible to the charms of her person, or the merit of her conduct; but as Mr. Ellison’s close attachment to his business proceeded entirely from a desire of succeeding in a thing he had undertaken, and his ardent wishes of being able without imprudence to return into England before the best part of his life was spent, without any of that love of money which renders people eager after every means of gain, he formed no designs on her, or her fortune. The widow was not equally insensible; she saw in him every quality that could recommend him to a woman of prudence; for his youth was a trifling objection she overlooked; and it seldom happens that either sex in the choice of a companion for life are guilty of a less oversight; or if she saw it, she thought it not her business to point it out; that rather was his part. Mr. Ellison’s friends perceived the partiality which had passed unnoticed by him; and persuaded him not to let slip so good an opportunity of improving his fortune; since without those advantages, her character and person rendered it an eligible match. Though Mr. Ellison had not till now entertained any thoughts of matrimony, yet it was a state he had always intended to enter, when his affairs should render it convenient, and he should meet with a woman who could engage his affections. He therefore listened without reluctance to the advice of his friends. The lady was agreeable, her fortune desirable; and though his heart was void of those nice sensibilities, which he wished to feel for the woman with whom he entered into so intimate a connection, yet he flattered himself that her merit, joined with her personal charms, must soon excite a strong affection in a heart naturally warm and tender.⁶

There was little reason to suppose his father would object to an alliance so advantageous; but possibly he might have formed some views which this marriage might frustrate, and therefore be disagreeable to him: at least the young man was sensible he should feel double satisfaction if he had his father’s sanction, and therefore would not make any direct address to the lady, till he had received that necessary consent. His father took the first opportunity of removing this impediment, sending not only his consent but his approbation, accompanied with the warmest wishes for his happiness.

Mr. Ellison, whose inclination for the lady had increased with acquaintance, received his father’s letter with joy; and now making an express declaration of his attachment, in terms of esteem and rational affection, rather than in the inflated phrase of passion, the widow, without coquettish airs, or affected reluctance, accepted his proposal, and the marriage was soon completed.

By the alteration of his fortune Mr. Ellison found his sphere of action extended. But (as is frequently the case) this gave him great uneasiness. The thing which had chiefly hurt him during his abode in Jamaica, was the cruelty exercised on one part of mankind; as if the difference of complexion excluded them from the human race, or indeed as if their not being human could be an excuse for making them wretched. Slavery was so abhorrent to his nature, and in his opinion so unjustly inflicted, that he had hitherto avoided the keeping any negroes; chusing rather to give such advantages to his servants, as rendered it very easy to get the few he wanted from England. But the case was now altered; he had with his wife married a considerable plantation, cultivated by a numerous race of slaves, nor could his affairs go on without them. This much embittered his possession; and perhaps few have more severely lamented their being themselves enslaved by marriage, than he did his being thus become the enslaver of others. According to the present state of the island he was sensible he could not abolish this slavery, even on his own estate, and saw no means of rendering happy the poor wretches, whose labours were to yield him affluence. His uneasiness astonished Mrs. Ellison; she had a reasonable share of compassion for a white man or woman, but had from her infancy been so accustomed to see the most shocking cruelties exercised on the blacks, that she could not conceive how one of that complexion could excite any pity. But they had not been married above a week, before Mr. Ellison gave great offence to her and her steward, by putting a stop to a most severe punishment just beginning to be inflicted on a great number of them, who, intoxicated with the pleasure of a holy-day,⁷ had not returned home at the time commanded. The steward, enraged at finding his tyranny restrained, applied to Mrs. Ellison, telling her, ‘that all order was now abolished, and if Mr. Ellison proceeded in this manner, their slaves would become their masters, and they must cultivate their lands themselves.’ Mrs. Ellison loved her husband too well not to pity his failings, of which she thought this the chief; and attributed it to a total ignorance of his affairs, with which she hoped to make him better acquainted. Accordingly she calmly represented to him the impropriety of what he had done; anticipating all possible consequences. Mr. Ellison allowed that some of them might happen; that he was convinced persons so habituated to slavery, required a different treatment than was shewn to free servants; what difference would suffice, he had not yet been abl...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Chronology
• Note on the Text
• The History of Sir George Ellison
• Notes to the Novel
• Bibliography