"FEAR GOD, and take your own part. There's Bible in that, young
man: see how Moses feared God, and how he took his own part
against everybody who meddled with him. And see how David feared
God, and took his own part against all the bloody enemies which
surrounded him--so fear God, young man, and never give in! The
world can bully, and is fond, provided it sees a man in a kind of
difficulty, of getting about him, calling him coarse names, and
even going so far as to hustle him: but the world, like all
bullies, carries a white feather in its tail, and no sooner sees
the man taking off his coat, and offering to fight its best, than
it scatters here and there, and is always civil to him afterwards.
So when folks are disposed to ill-treat you, young man, say, 'Lord
have mercy upon me!' and then tip them to Long Melford, which, as
the saying goes, there is nothing comparable for shortness all the
world over; and these last words, young man, are the last you will
ever have from her who is nevertheless,
Your affectionate female servant,
ISOPEL BERNERS.
After reading the letter I sat for some time motionless, holding it
in my hand. The daydream in which I had been a little time before
indulging, of marrying Isopel Berners, of going with her to
America, and having by her a large progeny, who were to assist me
in felling trees, cultivating the soil, and who would take care of
me when I was old, was now thoroughly dispelled.
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