 in discharging their Duty to us; for
when a Man lays the Foundation of his own Ruin, others will, I am afraid, be too
apt to build upon it. You say, however, you have seen your Errors; and will
reform them. I firmly believe you, my dear Child; and therefore, from this
Moment, you shall never be reminded of them by me. Remember them only yourself
so far, as for the future to teach you the better to avoid them; but still
remember, for your Comfort, that there is this great Difference between those
Faults which Candour may construe into Imprudence, and those which can be
deduced from Villainy only. The former, perhaps, are even more apt to subject a
Man to Ruin; but if he reform, his Character will, at length, be totally
retrieved; the World, though not immediately, will, in Time, be reconciled to
him; and he may reflect, not without some Mixture of Pleasure, on the Dangers he
hath escaped: But Villainy, my Boy, when once discovered, is irretrievable; the
Stains which this leaves behind, no Time will wash away. The Censures of Mankind
will pursue the Wretch, their Scorn will abash him in Public, and if Shame
drives him into Retirement, he will go to it with all those Terrors with which a
weary Child, who is afraid of Hobgoblins, retreats from Company to go to Bed
alone. Here his murdered Conscience will haunt him. Repose, like a false Friend,
will fly from him. Where-ever he turns his Eyes, Horror presents itself; if he
looks backward, unavailable Repentance treads on his Heels; if forward,
incurable Despair stares him in the Face; till, like a condemned Prisoner,
confined in a Dungeon, he detests his present Condition, and yet dreads the
Consequence of that Hour which is to relieve him from it. Comfort yourself, I
say, my Child, that this is not your Case; and rejoice, with Thankfulness to him
who hath suffered you to see your Errors, before they have brought on you that
Destruction to which a Persistance in even those Errors must have led you. You
have deserted them, and the Prospect now before you is such, that Happiness
seems in your own Power.« - At these Word Jones fetched a deep Sigh; upon which,
when Allworthy remonstrated, he said, »Sir, I will conceal nothing from you: I
fear there is one Consequence of my Vices I shall never be able to retrieve. O
my dear Uncle, I have lost a
