diff options
Diffstat (limited to '12572-h/12572-h.htm')
| -rw-r--r-- | 12572-h/12572-h.htm | 11393 |
1 files changed, 11393 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/12572-h/12572-h.htm b/12572-h/12572-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..32a34e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/12572-h/12572-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11393 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" + content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> + <title>The World's Greatest Books, Volume X</title> + <style type="text/css"> + + body + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + + p + {text-align: justify;} + + blockquote + {text-align: justify;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 + {text-align: center;} + + hr + {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + + html>body hr + {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + + hr.full + {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full + {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + + pre + {font-size: 0.7em; color: #000; background-color: #FFF;} + + .poetry + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 0%; + text-align: left;} + + .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em;} + + .index + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + text-align: center;} + + .figure + {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; + text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + + .date + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + text-align: right;} + + span.rightnote + {position: absolute; left: 92%; right: 1%; + font-size: 0.7em; border-bottom: solid 1px;} + + span.leftnote + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 92%; + font-size: 0.7em; border-bottom: solid 1px;} + + span.linenum + {float:right; + text-align: right; font-size: 0.7em;} + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12572 ***</div> + +<h1>THE WORLD'S</h1> <h1>GREATEST</h1> <h1>BOOKS</h1> + +<h2>JOINT EDITORS</h2> + +<h2>ARTHUR MEE</h2> <h3>Editor and Founder of the Book of Knowledge</h3> + +<h2>J.A. HAMMERTON</h2> <h3>Editor of Harmsworth's Universal +Encyclopaedia</h3> + +<h2>VOL. X</h2> <h3>LIVES AND LETTERS</h3> + + +<hr /> + +<h1><a name="Table_of_Contents"></a>Table of Contents</h1> + +<blockquote> +<a href="#VICTOR_HUGO">HUGO, VICTOR</a><br /> + <a href="#Deeds_and_Words">Deeds and Words</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#MARTIN_HUME">HUME, MARTIN</a><br /> + <a href="#The_Courtships_of_Elizabeth">Courtships of +Elizabeth</a><br /> + <a href="#The_Love_Affairs_of_Mary_Queen_of_Scots">Love Affairs +of Mary Queen of Scots</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#WASHINGTON_IRVING">IRVING, WASHINGTON</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_Christopher_Columbus">Life of Christopher +Columbus</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_George_Washington">Life of George +Washington</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JOSEPHUS">JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS</a><br /> + <a href="#Autobiography">Autobiography</a><br /> +<br /> +LA ROCHEFOUCAULD: See ROCHEFOUCAULD<br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JOHN_GIBSON_LOCKHART">LOCKHART, JOHN GIBSON</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_Sir_Walter_Scott">Life of Sir Walter +Scott</a><br /> + <a href="#The_Life_of_Robert_Burns">Life of Robert Burns</a><br +/> +<br /> +<a href="#MARTIN_LUTHER">LUTHER, MARTIN</a><br /> + <a href="#Table_Talk">Table Talk</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#MIRABEAU">MIRABEAU, COMTE DE</a><br /> + <a href="#Memoirs1">Memoirs</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#THOMAS_MOORE">MOORE, THOMAS</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_Byron">Life of Byron</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JAMES_COTTER_MORISON">MORISON, J.A.C.</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_and_Times_of_St_Bernard">Life of St. +Bernard</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JOHN_MORLEY">MORLEY, JOHN</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_Richard_Cobden">Life of Cobden</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#SAMUEL_PEPYS">PEPYS, SAMUEL</a><br /> + <a href="#Diary">Diary</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#PLINY_THE_YOUNGER">PLINY THE YOUNGER</a><br /> + <a href="#Letters1">Letters</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#CARDINAL_RICHELIEU">RICHELIEU, CARDINAL</a><br /> + <a href="#Political_Testament">Political +Testament</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JEAN_JACQUES_ROUSSEAU">ROUSSEAU, JEAN JACQUES</a><br /> + <a href="#Confessions">Confessions</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#LA_ROCHEFOUCAULD">ROCHEFOUCAULD, FRANÇOIS DUC de LA</a><br +/> + <a href="#Memoirs2">Memoirs</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#MADAME_DE_SEVIGNE">SÉVIGNÉ, Mme. de</a><br /> + <a href="#Letters2">Letters</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#ROBERT_SOUTHEY">SOUTHEY, ROBERT</a><br /> + <a href="#The_Life_of_Nelson">Life of Nelson</a><br +/> +<br /> +<a href="#MADAME_DE_STAAL">STAAL, Mme. de</a><br /> + <a href="#Memoirs3">Memoirs</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#EARL_STANHOPE">STANHOPE, EARL</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_William_Pitt">Life of Pitt</a><br +/> +<br /> +<a href="#ARTHUR_PENRHYN_STANLEY">STANLEY, A.P.</a><br /> + <a href="#The_Life_of_Thomas_Arnold_DD">Life of +Thomas Arnold, D.D.</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#AGNES_STRICKLAND">STRICKLAND, AGNES</a><br /> + <a href="#Life_of_Queen_Elizabeth">Life of Queen +Elizabeth</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JONATHAN_SWIFT">SWIFT, JONATHAN</a><br /> + <a href="#Journal_to_Stella">Journal to +Stella</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#LYOF_N_TOLSTOY">TOLSTOY, COUNT LYOF N.</a><br /> + <a href="#Childhood_Boyhood_Youth">Childhood, +Boyhood, Youth</a><br /> + <a href="#My_Confession">My Confession</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#PASQUALE_VILLARI">VILLARI, PASQUALE</a><br /> + <a href="#The_Life_of_Girolamo_Savonarola">Life of +Girolamo Savanarola</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JOHN_WESLEY">WESLEY, JOHN</a><br /> + <a href="#Journal1">Journal</a><br /> +<br /> +<a href="#JOHN_WOOLMAN">WOOLMAN, JOHN</a><br /> + <a href="#Journal2">Journal</a><br /> +</blockquote> + +<p>A Complete Index of THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS will be found at the end +of Volume XX.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h2><a name="Acknowledgement"></a><i>Acknowledgement</i></h2> + +<blockquote><p> Acknowledgement and thanks for permitting the use of the +following selections in this volume, viz., "The Courtships of Queen +Elizabeth," and "The Love Affairs of Mary Queen of Scots," by Major Martin +Hume, are herewith tendered to Everleigh Nash, of London, England. +</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="VICTOR_HUGO"></a>VICTOR HUGO</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Deeds_and_Words"></a>Deeds and Words</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> "Deeds and Words" ("Actes et Paroles"), which is dated +June, 1875, is the record of Victor Hugo's public life, speeches and +letters, down to the year of his death, which occurred on May 32, 1885; but +it is most important as a defence of his political career from 1848 +onwards. It does not, however, tell us how changeable his opinions had +actually been. His inconstant attachments are thus summed up by Dr. +Brandes: "He warmly supports the candidacy of Louis Napoleon for the post +of President of the Republic ... lends him his support when he occupies +that post, and is even favourable to the idea of an empire, until the +feeling that he is despised as a politician estranges him from the +Prince-President, and resentment at the coup d'etat drives him into the +camp of the extreme Republicans. His life may be said to mirror the +political movements of France during the first half of the century." (See +FICTION.) </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Right and Law</i></h3> + + +<p>All human eloquence, among all peoples and in all times, may be summed +up as the quarrel of Right against Law.</p> + +<p>But this quarrel tends ever to decrease, and therein lies the whole of +progress. On the day when it has disappeared, civilisation will have +attained its highest point; that which ought to be will have become one +with that which is; there will be an end of catastrophes, and even, so to +speak, of events; and society will develop majestically according to +nature. There will be no more disputes nor factions; no longer will laws be +made, they will only be discovered. Education will have taken the place of +war, and by means of universal suffrage there will be chosen a parliament +of intellect.</p> + +<p>In that serene and glorious age there will be no more warriors, but +workers only; creators in the place of exterminators. The civilisation of +action will have passed away, and that of thought will have succeeded. The +masterpieces of art and of literature will be the great events.</p> + +<p>Frontiers will disappear; and France, which is destined to die as the +gods die, by transfiguration, will become Europe. For the Revolution of +France will be known as the evolution of the peoples. France has laboured +not for herself alone, but has aroused world-wide hopes, and is herself the +representative of all human good-will.</p> + +<p>Right and Law are the two great forces whose harmony gives birth to +order, but their antagonism is the source of all catastrophe. Right is the +divine truth, and Law is the earthly reality; liberty is Right and society +is Law. Wherefore there are two tribunes, one of the men of ideas, the +other of the men of facts; and between these two the consciences of most +still vacillate. Not yet is there harmony between the immutable and the +variable power; Right and Law are in ceaseless conflict.</p> + +<p>To Right belong the inviolability of human life, liberty, peace; and +nothing that is indissoluble, irrevocable, or irreparable. To Law belong +the scaffold, sword, and sceptre; war itself; and every kind of yoke, from +divorceless marriage in the family to the state of siege in the city. Right +is to come and go, buy, sell, exchange; Law has its frontiers and its +custom-houses. Right would have free and compulsory education, without +encroaching on young consciences; that is to say, lay instruction; Law +would have the teaching of ignorant friars. Right demands liberty of +belief, but Law establishes the state religions. Universal suffrage and +universal jury belong to Right, but restricted franchise and packed juries +are creatures of the Law.</p> + +<p>What a difference there is! And let it be understood that all social +agitation arises from the persistence of Right against the obstinacy of +Law. The keynote of the present writer's public life has been "<i>Pro jure +contra legem"</i>--for the Right which makes men, against the Law which men +have made. He believes that liberty is the highest expression of Right, and +that the republican formula, "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity," leaves +nothing to be added or to be taken away. For Liberty is Right, Equality is +Fact, and Fraternity is Duty. The whole of man is there. We are brothers in +our life, equal in birth and death, free in soul.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Days of Childhood</i></h3> + + +<p>At the beginning of this nineteenth century there was a child who lived +in a great house, surrounded by a large garden, in the most deserted part +of Paris. He lived with his mother, two brothers, and a venerable and +worthy priest, who was his only tutor, and taught him much Latin, a little +Greek, and no history at all. Here, at the time of the First Empire, the +three boys played and worked, watched the clouds and trees and listened to +the birds, under the sweet influence of their mother's smile.</p> + +<p>It was the child's misfortune, though no one's fault, that he was taught +by a priest. What can be more terrible than a system of untruth, sincerely +believed? For a priest teaches falsehoods, ignorant of the truth, and +thinks he does well; everything he does for the child is done against the +child, making crooked that which nature has made straight; his teaching +poisons the young mind with aged prejudices, drawing evening twilight, like +a curtain, over the dawn.</p> + +<p>That ancient, solitary house and garden, formerly a convent and then the +home of his childhood, is still in his old age a dear and religious memory, +though its site is now profaned by a modern street He sees it in a romantic +atmosphere, in which, amid sunbeams and roses, his spirit opened into +flower. What a stillness was in its vast rooms and cloisters. Only at long +intervals was the silence broken by the return of a plumed and sabred +general, his father, from the wars. That child, already thoughtful, was +myself.</p> + +<p>One night--it was some great festival of the empire, and all Paris was +illumined--my mother was walking in the garden with three of my father's +comrades, and I was following them, when we saw a tall figure in the gloom +of the trees. It was the proscribed Victor du Lahorie, my godfather. He was +even then conspiring against Bonaparte in the cause of liberty, and was +shortly after executed. I remember his saying, "If Rome had kept her kings, +she had not been Rome," and then, looking on me, "Child, put liberty first +of all!" That one word outweighed my whole education.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Before the Exile</i></h3> + + +<p>It was not until the writer saw, in 1848, the triumph of all the enemies +of progress that he knew in the depths of his heart that he belonged, not +to the conquerors, but to the vanquished. The Republic lay inanimate; but, +gazing on her form, he saw that she was liberty, and not even the sure +fore-knowledge of the ruin and exile that must follow could prevent his +espousal with the dead. On June 15 he made his protest from the tribune, +and from that day he fought relentless battle for liberty and the republic. +And on December 2, 1851, he received what he had expected--twenty years of +exile. That is the history of what has been called his apostasy.</p> + +<p>Throughout that strange period before his exile, the frightful phantom +of the past was all-powerful with men. Every kind of question was +debated--national independence, individual liberty, liberty of conscience, +of thought, of speech, and of the Press; questions of marriage, of +education, of the right to work, of the right to one's fatherland as +against exile, of the right to life as against penal law, of the separation +of Church and state, of the federation of Europe, of frontiers to be wiped +out, and of custom-houses to be done away--all these questions were +proposed, debated, and sometimes settled.</p> + +<p>In these debates the author of this memoir took his part and did his +duty, and was repaid with insults. He remembers interjecting, when they +were insisting on parental rights, that the children had rights, too. He +astounded the assembly by asserting that it was possible to do away with +misery. On July 17, 1851, he denounced the conspiracy of Louis Bonaparte, +unveiling the project of the president to become emperor. On another day he +pronounced from the tribune a phrase which had never yet been uttered--"The +United States of Europe." Contempt and calumny were poured upon him, but +what of that? They called George Washington a pickpocket.</p> + +<p>These men of the old majority, who were doing all the evil that they +could--did they mean to do evil? Not a bit of it. They deceived themselves, +thinking that they had the truth, and they lied in the service of the +truth. Their pity for society was pitiless for the people, whence arose so +many laws, so many actions, that were blindly ferocious. They were rather a +mob than a senate, and were led by the worst of their number. Let us be +indulgent, and let night hide the men of night.</p> + +<p>What do our labours and our troubles and our exiles matter if they have +been for the general good; if the human race be indeed passing from +December to its April; if the winter of tyrannies and of wars indeed be +finished; if superstitions and prejudices no longer fall on our heads like +snow; and if, after so many clouds of empire and of carnage have rolled +away, we at last descry upon the horizon the rosy dawn of universal +peace?</p> + +<p>O my brothers, let us be reconciled! Let us set out on the immense +highway of peace. Surely there has been enough of hatred. When will you +understand that we are all together on the same ship, and that the immense +menace of the sea is for all of us together? Our solidarity is terrible, +but brotherhood is sweet.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Republican Principles</i></h3> + + +<p>The sovereignty of the people, universal suffrage, and the liberty of +the Press are all the same thing under three different names. The three +together constitute the whole of our public right; the first is its +principle, the second its manner, and the third its expression. The three +principles are indissoluble from one another. The sovereignty of the people +is the life-giving soul of the nation, universal suffrage its government, +the Press its illumination; but they are all really one, and that unity is +the republic. It is curious to notice how these principles appear again in +the watchword of the republic; for the sovereignty of the people creates +liberty, universal suffrage creates equality, and the Press, which +enlightens the general mind, creates fraternity.</p> + +<p>Wherever these three great principles exist in their powers and +plenitude there is the republic, even though it be known as monarchy. +Wherever, on the other hand, they are betrayed, hindered, or oppressed, the +actual state is a monarchy or an oligarchy, even though it goes under the +name of a republic. In the latter case we see the monstrous phenomenon of a +government betrayed by its proper guardians, and it is this phenomenon that +makes the stoutest hearts begin to be doubtful of revolutions. For +revolutions are vast, ill-guided movements, which bring forth out of the +darkness at one and the same time the greatest of ideas and the smallest of +men; they are movements which we welcome as salutary when we look at their +principles, but which we can only call catastrophes when he consider the +character of their leaders.</p> + +<p>Let us never forget that our three first principles live with a common +life, and mutually defend one another. If the Liberty of the Press is in +danger, the suffrages of the people arise and protect it; and, again, if +the franchise is threatened, it is safeguarded by the freedom of the Press. +Any attempt against either of them is a treachery to the sovereignty of the +people.</p> + +<p>The movement of this great nineteenth century is the movement not of one +people only, but of all. France leads, and the nations follow. We are +passing from the old world to the new, and our governors attempt in vain to +arrest ideas by laws. There is in France and in Europe a party inspired by +fear, which is not to be accounted the party of order; and its incessant +question is: Who is to blame?</p> + +<p>In the crisis through which we are passing, though it is a salutary +crisis which will lead only to good, everyone exclaims at the dreadful +moral disorder and the imminent social danger. Who, then, is guilty of +these ravages? Whom shall we punish? Throughout Europe, the party of fear +answers "France." Throughout France, it answers "Paris." In Paris, it +blames the Press. But every thoughtful man must see that it is none of +these, but is the human spirit.</p> + +<p>It is the human spirit that has made the nations what they are. From the +beginning, through infinite debate and contradiction, it has sought, +unresting, to solve the problem eternally placed before the creature by his +Creator. It is the human spirit which takes from age to age the form of the +great revolts of history; it has been in turn, and sometimes altogether, +error, illusion, heresy, schism, protest, and the truth. The human spirit +is ever the great shepherd of the generations, proceeding always towards +the just, the beautiful, and the true, enlightening the multitude, +ennobling souls, directing the mind of man towards God.</p> + +<p>Let the party of fear throughout Europe consider the magnitude of the +task which they have undertaken. When they have destroyed the Press, they +have yet to destroy Paris. When Paris is fallen, there remains France. Let +France be annihilated, there still remains the human spirit--a thing +intangible as the light, inaccessible as the sun.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--In Exile</i></h3> + + +<p>Nothing is more terrible than exile. I do not say for him who suffers, +but for the tyrant who inflicts it. A solitary figure paces a distant +shore, or rises in the morning to his philosophic labours, or calls on God +among the rocks and trees; his hairs become grey, and then white, in the +slow passing of the years and in his longing for home; his lot is a +sorrowful one; but his innocence is terrible to the crowned miscreant who +sent him there. From 1852 to 1870 I was in exile.</p> + +<p>How pleasant are those islands of the Channel, and how like France! +Jersey, perhaps, more charming than Guernsey, prettier if less imposing; in +Jersey the forest has become a garden; the island is like a bouquet of +flowers, of the size of London, a smiling land, an idyll set in the midst +of the sea.</p> + +<p>The exile soon learns that, though the tyrant has placed him afar, he +does not release his hold. Many and ingenious are the snares laid for the +banished. A prince calls on you, but though he is of royal blood, he is +also a detective of police. A grave professor stays at your house, and you +surprise him searching your papers. Everything is permitted against you; +you are outside the law, outside of common justice, outside of respect. +They will say that they have your authority to publish your conversations, +and will attribute to you words that you have never spoken and actions that +you have never done. Never write to your friends--your letters are opened +on the way. Beware of all who are kindly to you in exile; they are ruining +you in Paris. You are isolated as a leper. A mysterious stranger whispers +in your ear that he can procure the assassination of Bonaparte; it is +Bonaparte offering to kill himself. Every day of your life is a new +outrage. Only one thing is open to the exile; it is to turn his thought to +other subjects.</p> + +<p>He is at least beside the sea; let its infinity bring him wisdom. The +eternal rioting of the surges against the rocks is as the agitation of +impostures against the truth. It is a vain convulsion; the foam gains +nothing by it, the granite loses nothing, and only sparkles the more +bravely in the sun.</p> + +<p>But exile has this great advantage--one is free to contemplate, to +think, to suffer. To be alone, and yet to feel that one is with all +humanity; to consolidate oneself as a citizen, and to purify oneself as a +philosopher; to be poor, and begin again to work for one's living, to +meditate on what is good and to contrive for what is better; to be angry in +the public cause, but to crush all personal enmity; to breathe the vast, +living winds of the solitudes; to compose a deeper indignation with a +profounder peace--these are the opportunities of exile. I accustomed myself +to say, "If, after a revolution, Bonaparte should knock at my door and ask +shelter, let never a hair of his head be injured."</p> + +<p>Yes, an exile becomes a well-wisher. He loves the roses, and the birds' +nests, and the flitting hither and thither of the butterflies. He mingles +with the sweet joys of the creatures, and learns a changeless faith in some +secret and infinite goodness. The green glades are his chosen dwelling and +his life is April; he reclines amazed at the mysteries of a tuft of grass; +he studies the ant-hills of tiny republicans; he learns to know the birds +by their songs; he watches the children playing barefoot in the edge of the +sea.</p> + +<p>Against this dangerous man governments are taking the most strenuous +precautions. Victoria offers to hand over the exiles to Napoleon, and +messages of compliment are passed from one throne to the other. But that +gift did not take place. The English royalist Press applauded, but the +people of London would have none of it. The great city muttered thunder. +Majesty clothed in probity--that is the character of the English nation. +That good and proud people showed their indignation, and Palmerston and +Bonaparte had to be content with the expulsion of the exiles.</p> + +<p>During the whole long night of my exile I never lost Paris from my view. +When Europe and even France were in darkness, Paris was never hidden. That +is because Paris is the frontier of the future, the visible frontier of the +unknown. All of to-morrow that can be seen to-day is in Paris. The eyes +that are searching for progress come to rest on Paris, for Paris is the +city of light.</p> + + +<h3><i>VI.--After the Exile</i></h3> + + +<p>This triology, "Before, During, and After the Exile," is no work of +mine, it is the doing of Napoleon III. He it is who has divided my life in +this way, observing, as one might say, the rules of art. Returning to my +country on September 5, 1870, I found the sky more gloomy and my duty more +clamant than ever.</p> + +<p>Though it is sad to leave the fatherland, to return to it is sometimes +sadder still; and there is no Frenchman who would not have preferred a +life-long banishment, to seeing France ground beneath the Prussian heel, +and the loss of Metz and Strasburg. This was an invasion of barbarians; but +there is another menace that is not less formidable. I mean the invasion of +our land by darkness, an invasion of the nineteenth century by the middle +ages. After the emperor, the pope; after Berlin, Rome; after the triumph of +the sword, the triumph of night. For the light of civilisation may be +extinguished in either of two ways, by a military or by a clerical +invasion. The former threatens our mother, France; the latter our child, +the future.</p> + +<p>A double inviolability is the most precious possession of a civilised +people--the inviolability of territory and the inviolability of conscience; +and as the soldier violates the first, so does the priest violate the +other. Yet the soldier does but obey his orders and the priest his dogmas, +so that there are only two who are ultimately culpable--Caesar, who slays, +and Peter, who lies. There is no religion which has not as its aim to seize +forcibly the human soul, and it is to attempts of this kind that France is +given up to-day.</p> + +<p>One may say, indeed, that in our age there are two schools, and that +these two schools sum up in themselves the two opposed currents which draw +civilisation, the one towards the future and the other towards the past. +One of these schools is called Paris and the other Rome. Each of them has +its book; the one has the "Declaration of the Rights of Man," the other has +the "Syllabus"; and the first of these books says "Yes" to progress, but +the second of them says "No." Yet progress is the footstep of God.</p> + +<p>Paris means Montaigne, Rabelais, Pascal, Corneille, Molière, +Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, Mirabeau, Danton. Rome, on the +other hand, means Innocent III., Pius V., Alexander VI., Urban VIII., +Arbuez, Cisneros, Lainez, Guillandus, Ignatius.</p> + +<p>To educate is nothing less than to govern; and clerical education means +a clerical government, with a despotism as its summit and ignorance as its +foundation.</p> + +<p>Rome already holds Belgium, and would now seize Paris. We are witnesses +of a struggle to the death. Against us is all that manifold power which +emerges from the past, the spirit of monarchy, of superstition, of the +barrack and of the convent; we have against us temerity, effrontery, +audacity, and fear. On our side there is nothing but the light. That is why +the victory will be with us. For to enlighten is to deliver. Every increase +in liberty involves increased responsibility. Nothing is graver than +freedom; liberty has burdens of her own, and lays on the conscience all the +chains which she unshackles from the limbs. We find rights transforming +themselves into duties. Let us therefore take heed to what we are doing; we +live in a difficult time and are answerable at once to the past and to the +future. The time has come, in this year 1876, to replace commotions by +concessions. That is how civilisation advances. For progress is nothing +other than revolution effected amicably.</p> + +<p>Therefore, legislators and citizens, let us redouble our good-will. Let +all wounds be healed, all animosities extinguished; by overcoming hatred we +shall overcome war; let no disturbance that may come be due to our fault. +Our task of entering into the unknown is difficult enough without angers +and bitterness. I am one of those who hope from that unknown future, but +only on condition that we make use from the first of every means of +pacification that is in our power. Let us act with the virile kindness of +the strong.</p> + +<p>Let us then calm the nations by peace, and the hearts of men by +brotherhood, and let us never forget that we are ourselves responsible for +this last half of the nineteenth century, and that we are placed between a +great past, the Revolution of France, and a great future, the Revolution of +Europe.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="MARTIN_HUME"></a>MARTIN HUME</h1> + + +<h2><a name="The_Courtships_of_Elizabeth"></a>The Courtships of +Elizabeth</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Major Martin Andrew Hume, born in London on December 8, +1847, and educated at Madrid, comes of an English family, the members of +which have resided in Spain for a hundred years. He began life in the +British Army, from which he retired with the rank of major. Major Hume was +appointed editor of the Spanish state papers published by the Record +Office; he is also lecturer in Spanish History and Literature at Cambridge, +and examiner and lecturer in Spanish at the Birmingham University. He has +written numerous works on the history of Spain; but perhaps he is best +known for his historical studies of the Tudor period, of which may be +mentioned "The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth," "The Love Affairs of Mary +Queen of Scots," and "The Wives of Henry VIII." In the first-named work, +published in 1896, Major Hume has presented an exceedingly interesting +human document, and classified a tangled mass of material. The epitome here +presented has been prepared for THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS by the author +himself. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Foreign Philandering</i></h3> + + +<p>The greatest diplomatic game ever played on the world's chessboard was +that consummate succession of intrigues which, for nearly half a century, +was carried on by Queen Elizabeth and her ministers with the object of +playing off one great Continental power against another for the benefit of +England and Protestantism, with which the interests of the queen were +inextricably involved. Those in the midst of the strife worked mostly for +immediate aims, and neither saw, nor cared, for the ultimate results; but +we, looking back, see that out of that tangle of duplicity there emerged a +new era of civilisation and a host of vigorous impulses which move us to +this hour.</p> + +<p>The victory of England in that struggle meant the dominance of modern +ideas of liberty and of the imperial destiny of our race, and it seems as +if the result could only have been attained in the peculiar combination of +circumstances and persons then existing. Elizabeth triumphed as much by her +weakness as by her strength. Honest Cecil kept his hand upon the helm so +long because the only alternative to him was the greedy crew of councillors +eager for foreign bribes. Without Leicester as a permanent matrimonial +possibility, the queen could never have held the balance between her +foreign suitors; and, but for the follies of Mary Stuart, the English +Catholics would not have been subjected so easily, whilst the religious +dissensions in France and the character of Philip II. aided Elizabeth's +diplomacy. Elizabeth was more than once betrothed in her childhood to aid +her father's policy, but when Henry died, in 1547, his younger daughter was +unbetrothed.</p> + +<p>During her residence with the Queen-Dowager, Catharine Parr, who soon +married Thomas, Lord Seymour, the fourteen-year-old girl was exposed to +peril from the designs of the ambitious Seymour. The indecorous romping, +perhaps innocent at first, that took place between her and her married host +provided grave scandal which touched even the honour of the girl, and her +keen wits alone saved her on this occasion from disgrace. Her crafty +reticence served her well, when the intrigues of Wyat, Courtenay, and the +French party threatened Mary's throne; but when Mary was married, the +Spanish party at once became interested in securing Elizabeth to their side +by her marriage. Mary's jealousy, and Elizabeth's own determination not to +be made a tool, frustrated Philip's attempt to marry the princess to his +cousin, the Duke of Savoy; and when the Protestant Swedes clandestinely +offered her the hand of Prince Eric, her discreet wariness again protected +her from the dangerous proposal.</p> + +<p>When Mary lay dying, Feria, the Spanish ambassador, hurried to Hatfield +to salute the rising sun, and hinted even thus early that Elizabeth might +marry her powerful Spanish brother-in-law. But she resented his patronage, +and though she coquetted, as usual, with the proposal of marriage, she took +care not to pledge herself or submit England to foreign dictation. To Spain +it was vital that England should be at her bidding. If the queen could not +marry Philip, surely she could only wed one of his Austrian cousins; or, if +not, then England must be conquered by the sword. All that Elizabeth wanted +was time, and tardy Philip played into her hands. One English noble after +the other was taken up and dropped, in the intervals of foreign +philandering. Lord Arundel, foolish, old, and vain, had high hopes; Sir +William Pickering's chances looked bright, and France and Spain sought to +patronise each English candidate in his turn, especially Lord Robert +Dudley, the queen's friend from childhood, though he was already married to +Amy Robsart.</p> + +<p>At length, after many days of dallying, great Philip decided to +sacrifice himself for Spain and marry his enigmatical sister-in-law. She +must, of course, renounce Protestantism and all the laws that made her +legally a queen; which was absurd, as Feria soon saw, and frankly told his +master. So then Philip half-heartedly patronised the suit of his Austrian +cousin, the Archduke Charles. If the latter would be an obedient Spanish +instrument he could have Philip's support; but German Lutherans and English +Protestants had also to be considered, and Elizabeth's court was divided +into those who feared any consort not wholly Protestant and those who were +eager for any marriage that shielded England from Spanish attack.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth thought she could avoid the latter danger without marriage at +all, so she dexterously played with all her suitors, English and foreign, +while strengthening her position and gaining popularity. Sometimes she +swore she would never marry, and the next day would grow sentimental over +the archduke, or flirted with Dudley--keeping them all in suspense and +afraid of offending her. The French, having no marriageable prince of their +own, supported Dudley, or any other English candidate whom they could use +against Spain; whilst Dudley himself pretended to favour the archduke, till +matters looked serious, and then found means of frustrating him, often to +Elizabeth's rage, for she wished to play her own deep game unhampered. She +knew she could always choke off the Austrian when she wished by making +fresh religious demands. The English nobles were furious at Dudley's +selfish manoeuvres to keep the queen unwed till he was free, and they +planned to marry the queen to Arran, the next heir of Scotland. This looked +promising for months, but Dudley and his sister, Lady Sidney, checked the +plan.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Nine Years' Comedy</i></h3> + + +<p>In September, 1559, Dudley and his sister warmly took up the archduke's +cause, and assured Quadra, the Spanish ambassador, that if the suitor would +flatter the queen by coming to England on chance, she would marry him. But +Elizabeth and Cecil, though they hinted much, would not clearly confirm +Dudley's promise, and Philip and the emperor dared not expose the archduke +to the risk of being repulsed. The English nobles, in good faith, urged the +archduke's suit, and said that Dudley was plotting to kill his wife and +marry the queen; but they and the Spanish ambassador were outwitted at +every point by Elizabeth's diplomacy, and through 1559 and 1560 all the +rivals were kept between hope and fear.</p> + +<p>Then, in September 1560, the long-predicted murder of Amy Robsart set +Dudley free, and made the nobles and Cecil more anxious than ever that the +archduke should be bold, take the risk, and come to England. The queen, to +weaken the new friendship between France and Spain, herself again pretended +eagerness for the Austrian's coming; but the trick was stale now, and +neither Philip nor the emperor believed her. To checkmate Dudley the +Protestants were actively urging the suit of Eric of Sweden, when, in +January 1561, the former made a bold bid for Spanish support. He was, he +said, quite innocent of his wife's death, and he promised Quadra that if +the King of Spain would urge his (Dudley's) suit upon the queen, England +should send envoys to the Council of Trent, receive a papal legate, and +become practically Catholic. He might promise, but such a thing was +impossible, and Cecil, when he learnt of the intrigue, promptly embroiled +matters and spoilt the plan.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth, too, saw whither she was drifting, and by pretended levity +turned it into a joke. At one time she invited the old Spanish bishop to +marry her to Dudley, and next day said she would never marry at all. But +she never ceased to flirt with Dudley, who, when his intrigue with Spain +fell through, cynically appealed to the French Protestants for support. +They were in no position to help him, and by January 1562, he was cringing +to Spain, and pretending to be Catholic. But English Catholics hated him, +and he was now no fit instrument for Philip.</p> + +<p>In her own court it was firmly believed that Elizabeth was secretly +married to Dudley--it was high time, said the gossips; but in truth the +international importance of her marriage was now (1562-63) partially +obscured by that of the widowed Mary Queen of Scots. Before the latter were +dangled Eric of Sweden, the Archduke Charles, the Earl of Arran, and +Darnley; but the match which Mary most wished for, and the most threatening +to Elizabeth, was that with the vicious young lunatic, Don Carlos, the heir +of Philip of Spain. The match with Darnley, too, as he was in the English +succession, was distasteful to Elizabeth; but in order to divert the +Spanish match--which, really, though she knew it not, was out of the +question--she pretended to favour Darnley's suit at first.</p> + +<p>In order still more to avert the Catholic alliance, Elizabeth sent +active help to the French Huguenots, and drew closer to the Protestants of +Germany and Holland, where distrust of their Spanish sovereign was already +brewing. In these circumstances, Elizabeth for the first time could defy +Spain, and Quadra, accused of conspiring against the queen, was expelled +the country. When the Darnley match for Mary Stuart looked too serious, +Elizabeth diverted it for a time by proposing that Dudley--now Earl of +Leicester--should marry Mary. It was, of course, but a trick, through which +the Scottish queen saw, with the object of preventing the Darnley marriage +and discrediting Mary in the eyes of foreign princes; but it served its +turn for a time.</p> + +<p>In July 1564, when the league of France and Spain again menaced her, +Elizabeth set her cap at the boy Don Carlos, and even swore to the Spanish +ambassador that she was really a Catholic.</p> + +<p>The further to alienate the Catholic powers from each other, she +simultaneously approached the emperor to revive the proposal of marriage +with the Archduke Charles, and to Catherine de Medici to drop a hint that +she--Elizabeth--might marry the young King of France, Charles IX., a youth +barely half her age--anything to prevent a combination against her and the +marriage of Don Carlos with Mary Stuart. Catherine de Medici had her own +reasons at the time for smiling upon Elizabeth's suggestion. She did not +wish to be bound too tightly to Spain and the Catholics, for fear of the +Huguenots; and in February 1565, she wrote to Elizabeth, saying that she +would be the happiest of mothers if she could see her dearly beloved sister +of England married to her son, Charles IX.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth was full of maidenly hesitation. She was too old for him; +perhaps he would not think her beautiful, and so on; but she took care to +say that there was no one else she could marry, as she would not wed a +subject. The Huguenots actively pushed the proposal, and Leicester +pretended to favour it, though Cecil was against it on many grounds. But it +was never seriously meant. It brought the Huguenots to Catherine's side on +the eve of her voyage to renew the Catholic league with Philip, and it +brought the Archduke Charles once more forward as a suitor for Elizabeth's +hand. When it had thus served its purpose, the idea of the mature English +queen marrying the boy Charles IX. was dropped.</p> + +<p>The Austrian's new advances were looked upon somewhat askance by Spain, +until his attitude towards religion was assured, and, to have a second +string, the Spanish ambassador, Guzman, affected to favour Leicester's +suit. Cecil and the conservative nobles were sincere now in their advocacy +of the archduke, and between the two parties Elizabeth steered coquettishly +and diplomatically, modestly urging the archduke's coming, and yet flirting +desperately with Leicester. The breach between the English nobles was +profound, as all but Leicester wished the question of the queen's marriage +and succession to be settled; and Leicester's chances were stronger than +ever when it became clear, late in 1565, that the archduke would not come +to England without a firm pledge. The French played off Leicester, too, +against the archduke; sometimes even again suggesting their own king when +Leicester's star waxed pale.</p> + +<p>Later, in 1566, the Lords and Commons urged the queen to marry, even +Leicester joining in the remonstrance. But Elizabeth wished to play the +game in her own way, and soundly scolded them. She did not mean to marry +the archduke, or perhaps anyone, but whilst she kept him dangling, she knew +she need not fear the Catholic combination. Soon all danger from that +quarter disappeared for a time. Philip was in death struggle with his +Protestant subjects in Holland; civil war was again raging in France, and +Mary Stuart was a disgraced prisoner in the hands of her enemies. In the +nine years that Elizabeth had carried on the marriage comedy she had kept +the balance whilst England was growing stronger. Now, in 1568, she could +afford to rest from her labours until danger from abroad again loomed.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Catholics and Heretics</i></h3> + + +<p>The peace of St. Germain in 1570 ended the long religious war in France, +and the Guises and Catholics there, free from the strife, planned the +rescue of the imprisoned Mary Stuart by force, and her marriage with the +Duke of Anjou, the heir and brother of Charles IX. This was a danger both +to Elizabeth and to the Huguenots, and was at once counteracted by their +bringing forward the suggestion that the Queen of England might marry +Anjou. He was, it is true, a fanatical Catholic, but the Huguenots thought +that with England as a bait, and the powerful mind of Elizabeth to guide +him, the youth might change his views. Leicester offered his help--for he +knew the match was unlikely--and soon Catherine de Medici's agents were +busy by Elizabeth's side. Elizabeth, as usual, was coy and maidenly. She +was too old, she said, the thought of marriage was shocking to her; but, +withal, the courtship went on actively. Anjou's charms and rumoured +gallantries were the staple gossip at her court, and Elizabeth never tired +of hearing praises of her young suitor.</p> + +<p>But soon the Guises and the Catholic League took fright, and urged Anjou +not to be drawn into a match with a heretic too old for him. Better, said +they, win England by force and marry Mary. To England the marriage, or a +similar one, seemed really necessary. The Catholics at home and abroad were +busily plotting against Elizabeth. Philip and Alba were ready to connive at +her murder; the Protestants in Holland and France were powerless, and this +match with Anjou seemed the only way to meet the danger. Anjou, under +Catholic influence, was scornful, whilst Catherine, anxious for the +greatness of her favourite son, was in despair at his "assottedness."</p> + +<p>Lord Buckhurst went, as ambassador to Paris, to forward the match in +March 1571; but it soon became evident that Elizabeth could never concede +the terms demanded by the French on religion. For many months the +Huguenots, and Walsingham, as Elizabeth's ambassador, tried to reconcile +the differences; and Catherine's agents in England laboured hard in the +same cause. Elizabeth herself was ambiguous, though loving, and sometimes +even Anjou was almost persuaded by his mother to accept the English crown +matrimonial at the price demanded. For Elizabeth it was necessary to keep +up the pretence at all costs, for the Spaniards were plotting her murder; +and to split the Catholic party whilst secretly aiding the rebel +Netherlanders seemed her only chance of safety. On one occasion, when Spain +and France drew together, Elizabeth professed to be willing to marry Anjou +on his own terms; but the prince grew ever more opposed to the match, and +in January 1572, Catherine suddenly suggested that, as Anjou was so bigoted +on religion, her youngest son, Alençon, might marry Elizabeth on any +conditions she liked.</p> + +<p>The lad was but seventeen--a swarthy, pock-marked youth--and Elizabeth +was inclined at first to resent the way in which Anjou had flouted her. She +was thirty-nine, and her vanity was wounded; but yet the friendship or +neutrality of France was vital to her. "How tall is he?" she asked Cecil. +"About as tall as I am," replied the elderly minister. "As tall as your +grandson, you mean!" snapped the queen. But Walsingham, Smith, and the +French envoys plied her busily with descriptions of Alençon's manly +charms, and a treaty between France and England was settled by which the +Huguenots for a time became paramount in France conjointly with the +marriage of the Huguenot Henry of Navarre with Margaret, the king's sister. +Feasts and cordiality were the rules on both sides of the Channel now, and +the Huguenot leaders urged the Alençon match with Elizabeth with all +their force. In reply to all these offers, Elizabeth replied that, though +the discrepancy of age was a great drawback, yet the pock-marks on the +suitor's face were a greater objection still; yet if he would let her see +him, without a pledge, she might like him. She would never, she said, marry +a man she had not seen.</p> + +<p>But already Charles IX. and his mother were chafing under the Huguenot +yoke and cooling towards England. They were determined not to be drawn by +their new treaty with England into war with Spain; so, under the pretence +of keeping up the negotiations for the Alençon match, they sent the +youth La Mole to England in the autumn of 1572, really for the purpose of +dissociating France from the Huguenot-English aid to the Protestant +Netherlanders. La Mole was a gallant young lover, with whom Elizabeth was +charmed, and when he played the vicarious wooer for Alençon, she +could not make enough of him. But whilst he was philandering with her at +Kenilworth, and she was losing patience at his political mission, there +fell like a thunderbolt the awful news of the massacre of St. Bartholomew +at Navarre's fatal wedding. At once the scene changed. La Mole and the +French envoy hurried away amidst curses upon all false Frenchmen. +Elizabeth, in a panic, smiled upon Spaniards again, and, for a time, the +project of a French consort for her slept.</p> + +<p>But not for long. Alençon had no part in the massacre, and was +known to favour Huguenots. He wrote a fervent love-letter to Elizabeth, and +proposed to escape to England; whilst his agent Maisonfleur joined with +Mauvissière, the official French ambassador, in wooing Elizabeth +anew for Alençon and for France. Gradually the parties drew together +again, for Catherine was already alarmed at the effect of St. Bartholomew. +All the Protestant world was arming, the English ports were full of +privateers to attack Catholic shipping, and aid in plenty was being sent +from England to the Huguenots of Rochelle and the rebel Dutchmen.</p> + +<p>France could therefore not afford to quarrel with England, but Anjou and +Charles IX. took care to hold Alençon tight, that he might not +escape and strengthen the Protestant cause in union with Elizabeth, whilst +they still kept up the appearance of marriage negotiations. Elizabeth was +ever on the alert to serve her cause, and in March 1573, said she would go +no further in the Alençon match unless the Protestants in Rochelle +were allowed fair terms and the siege raised. Anjou, already tired of the +war, consented, and soon afterwards Catherine asked whether Elizabeth would +now proceed with the Alençon plan. The lad had grown much, she said, +and his budding beard covered some of his facial imperfections. It was +settled that the prince should make a flying visit to Dover, but soon +Catherine began to make fresh conditions. It would be such a shame to them, +she said, if her son went and returned unmarried.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--The Lovelorn Alençon</i></h3> + + +<p>In the meanwhile, Alençon's love-letters to his mature flame grew +warmer; but much as Elizabeth liked such attentions, she dreaded to go too +far. Charles IX. was sinking fast, and the next heir was Anjou. With +Alençon for heir-presumptive of France, the position would be +changed; and once more the queen began to get doubtful about those +unfortunate pock-marks on her lover's face. Once Alençon planned +with Henry of Navarre to escape from his mother's custody and make a dash +for England on his own account, but Catherine held him firmly.</p> + +<p>Both the Huguenots and the French king wished for the marriage, but each +party frustrated the other because their objects were different. When the +French ambassador, therefore, asked Elizabeth when Alençon might +come to see her, she refused to name a time, because she knew secretly that +a great Huguenot movement in France was pending, and she wished +Alençon to be there as figurehead at the time--the very thing that +the official French Government wished to avoid. The projected movement was +betrayed and suppressed, and Alençon's life was for a time in +danger; but when Henry III. (Anjou) was seated on the throne, +Alençon kept openly a rival court to that of his brother, and the +Huguenots around the prince were at deadly feud with the minions of the +king.</p> + +<p>At last the crisis came. Alençon escaped from Paris in disguise, +pursued by his mother, and, joining the Huguenots in arms, defied the king +and the Guises. France was not big enough to hold both brothers in peace, +and Catherine told Alençon that as Elizabeth seemed so ready to help +him and his Huguenots, he ought to reopen the marriage negotiations. But +Alençon was useless to England as a counterbalance to Spain unless +France herself could be pledged as well, and Elizabeth considered it safest +for the time, since that could not be done, to feign a new cordiality with +Philip.</p> + +<p>The Catholic party in France was again paramount, and by bribery and +Catherine's diplomacy, Alençon and his friends were bought over. For +the next three years the young prince held aloof from affairs, but in 1578 +the hollow truce ended; he was suspected and placed under arrest, all his +friends being cast into the Bastille. In February, 1578, Alençon +broke his prison and fled, and all France was plunged into turmoil. +Elizabeth was profoundly moved. The keynote of English policy was the +exclusion of France from Flanders, and if Alençon was secretly +supported in his action by his brother, then Elizabeth must oppose to the +death any interference in Flanders.</p> + +<p>And so began the long and clever juggle by which she used +Alençon's ambition to wed her as a means to compass her ends without +marrying him. Huguenots flocked to Alençon's standard, whilst he +sent by every post love-lorn epistles to Elizabeth, praying her to aid him +to free Flanders from the bloodthirsty Spaniards. On July 7, 1578, +Alençon entered Flanders with his army, and Elizabeth, still full of +distrust of Frenchmen, feigned to Spaniards her deep disapproval, whilst +she took care that many English and Germans in her pay slipped into +Flanders at the same time, to prevent any French national domination. +Presently, persuaded that Alençon had no secret pact with his +brother, Elizabeth took Alençon and the Flemish revolt into her own +hands, and effusively welcomed Alençon's envoys who came to promote +his love suit.</p> + +<p>He chose for his emissary one Jehan Simier, an experienced gallant, who +soon wooed Elizabeth to such good purpose that she fell violently in love +with the messenger, as well as with his absent master. Protestant England +took fright at the pending marriage of the queen with a papist of half her +age. Simier, whom she called her "monkey," had bewitched her, said the +courtiers, and remonstrances from all sides came to the queen.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--The Battle of Wits</i></h3> + + +<p>Alençon's demands were high, but Elizabeth seems really for once +to have lost her head, and but for the strong opposition of her Council, +might have been drawn into the marriage. Simier, seeing the deadlock, +decided to bring Alençon over at all risks. Leicester, deadly +jealous, tried to assassinate Simier, who revenged himself by divulging to +the queen Leicester's secret marriage. Elizabeth was beside herself with +rage, and more in love than ever with Alençon and his envoy. At +length, in August 1579, the young French prince, in disguise, suddenly +appeared at Greenwich. The queen's vanity was flattered, and though the +visit was supposed to be secret, she hardly left her young lover, whilst +he, to judge by his letters, was as badly smitten as she. But though she +promised him marriage, he had to return with little else, and as soon as he +had gone she found many good reasons for delay and hesitation.</p> + +<p>In October 1580, a new Catholic combination forced Elizabeth's hands, +and she promised greater help to Alençon's project, whilst trying to +draw France also into open war with Spain. The combat of wits was keen and +cynical, each party trying to pledge the other and to keep free himself. A +great French embassy came to England in April 1581, to negotiate an +alliance and the queen's marriage with Alençon, who had now +re-entered Flanders and was immersed in the struggle against the Spaniards. +The discussions in England were becoming interminable, for the French +ambassadors asked hard terms, when Alençon, in June 1581, losing +patience, suddenly rushed over to England to plead his own cause +independently of his brother's envoys, whom he distrusted with good reason. +This suited Elizabeth, for it made Alençon more dependent upon her, +and again she sent her lover back full of great promises to help him.</p> + +<p>In August Alençon again entered Flanders, depending entirely upon +Elizabeth for support, and thenceforward he looked alone to his marriage +with her for his salvation. She was sparing, and the poor prince retired to +France in September. In desperation he came to England again to press for +money and marriage in November 1581; and for months the love-making was +fast and furious. Frantic prayers, sighs, and tears on his part were +answered by kisses and promises on hers, but she gave as little money as +would serve to get rid of him. On February 1, 1582, Alençon sailed +for Holland to Elizabeth's professed grief and real joy; and thenceforward +the prince, first in Flanders as sovereign, and afterwards in France a +fugitive, supplicated and threatened his betrothed for money, and ever more +money. But Elizabeth had now taken the Netherlands revolt into her own +hands, and thenceforward her French lover was useless to her there. So, +though she still kept up the pretence of her willingness to marry him on +impossible conditions, and drove the poor creature to love-lorn despair, +Alençon had served his matrimonial purpose before he died, in 1584, +and Elizabeth's courtships with a political object came to an end. She and +England were strong enough now to face her possible foes without fear.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h2><a name="The_Love_Affairs_of_Mary_Queen_of_Scots"></a>The Love Affairs +of Mary Queen of Scots</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Mary Queen of Scots was one of the most remarkable women +who ever presided over the destinies of a nation. She was born at +Linlithgow on December 8, 1542, a few days before the death of her father, +James V., thus becoming a queen before she was a week old. Her complex +personality and varied accomplishments have inspired many and various +historians, but it has remained for Major Martin Hume to demonstrate the +historical fatality of Mary's love affairs. In "The Love Affairs of Mary +Queen of Scots," published in 1903, Major Hume gives a convincing and +logical reason for Mary's political failure, inasmuch as it did not spring +from her goodness or badness as a woman, but from a certain weakness of +character. This epitome has been prepared by Major Hume himself. +</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Betrothed in her Cradle</i></h3> + + +<p>When in the great hall at Worms, on that ever-memorable April day in +1521, before the panic-stricken princes, Luther insolently flung at the +emperor his defiance of the mediaeval church, the crash, though all unheard +by the ears of men, shook to their base the crumbling foundations upon +which, for hundreds of years, the institutions of Europe had rested. The +sixteenth century thenceforward was a period of disintegration and +reconstruction, in which fresh lines of cleavage between old political +associates were opened, new affinities were formed, and the international +balance re-adjusted.</p> + +<p>In the long struggle of the house of Aragon, and its successor, Charles +V., with France for the domination of Italy, the only effectual guarantee +against England's actively aiding its traditional ally, the ruler of Spain +and Flanders, against its traditional enemy, France, was for the latter +country to keep a tight hold of its alliance with Scotland, by means of +which English force might be diverted at any time. The existence of the +Scottish "back door" to England, with the ever probable enemy behind it, +had long been a check upon English power, and a humiliation to English +kings in their efforts to hold the balance between the Continental rivals. +But with the spread of Lutheranism in Germany and Henry VIII.'s defiance of +the Papacy, the Catholic powers, drawn together in the face of common +danger, found a fresh bond of union in their orthodoxy which partially +superseded old rivalries.</p> + +<p>In these circumstances the English policy, which had aimed at the +control of Scottish foreign relations to the exclusion of French influence, +became not only desirable as it always had been, but vitally necessary to +preserve England's independence.</p> + +<p>Henry VIII.'s policy towards Scotland had been that of <i>divide et +impera</i>, and a series of royal minorities and the greed and poverty of +the semi-independent Scottish nobles had aided him. The rout of the Scots +at Solway Moss, and the pathetic passing of the gallant James V., leaving +his new-born daughter, Mary, as queen (December 1542), seemed at length to +place Scotland in England's power. The murder of Cardinal Beaton, the +bribery of the Douglases, and the marriage of Lennox with Henry's sister +were all subsequent moves in the same game. Mary was betrothed in her +cradle to the heir of England, and France, whose sheet anchor for centuries +had been the "auld alliance" with the Scots, appeared to be helpless +against a coalition of England and the emperor.</p> + +<p>Thenceforward, England's main object was to keep a tight grip upon +Scotland by religion or otherwise, while at first France, and subsequently +the Catholic league, strove ceaselessly, with the help of Mary Stuart, to +free Scotland from English influence. The marriage juggle of Elizabeth was +largely inspired by her Scottish aims, and if the fortuitous adjustment of +her qualities kept England Protestant, and France wavering for all those +critical years, if she secured the inactivity of Spain, the resistance of +Protestant Holland, and the freedom of navigation by her skilful +statecraft, her rival Mary Stuart was a hardly less powerful factor in the +final triumph of England by reason of certain defects in her character, the +consequences of which are dealt with in this book.</p> + +<p>Mary possessed a finer and nobler nature than Elizabeth; she was a woman +of higher courage and greater conviction, more generous, magnanimous, and +confiding, and, apart from her incomparably greater beauty and fascination, +she possessed mental endowments fully equal to those of the English queen. +But, whilst caution and love of mastery in Elizabeth always saved her from +her weakness at the critical moment, Mary Stuart possessed no such +safeguards, and was periodically swept along helplessly by the irresistible +rush of her amorous passion.</p> + +<p>French intrigue and money, aided by the queen-regent of Scotland, Mary +of Guise, succeeded, after Henry's death and Somerset's invasion of +Scotland, in gaining firm hold upon Scotland, and Mary, as the betrothed +wife of the dauphin Francis, was carried to France in 1548, at the age of +six, to be reared by her cunning kinsmen of Lorraine, and made, as it was +hoped, a future powerful instrument to aid Catholic French objects against +England, and the reformation in France and elsewhere. As she grew towards +womanhood in the bravest and most amorous court in Europe, the +queen-dauphiness became a paragon of beauty, charm, accomplishments, the +theme of poets, the despair of lovers innumerable worshipping her from +afar.</p> + +<p>The boy Francis de Valois, to whom she was affianced, was a poor, +bilious, degenerate weakling, stunted in figure, uncomely of face. He was +shy and timid, shunning active exercises, and though at the time of his +marriage (1558) he was too young to have been actively engaged in the vices +of the outwardly devout court, he appears to have been fully alive to the +desirability of his bride. Mary was precocious and ambitious; she was +surrounded by profligates, male and female, and, though she can hardly have +been in love with her young husband, she appears to have been fully +reconciled to the union.</p> + +<p>With unsurpassed magnificence the wedding of Mary and Francis took place +in Paris, but it signified to the world much more than the wedding of a boy +and girl. So far as men could see, it meant the triumph of the papal Guises +in France, and a death-blow to Protestant hopes of ranging Scotland on the +side of the reformation.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Intrigue, Plot, and Intrigue</i></h3> + + +<p>Francis died after sixteen months reign, and Mary Stuart and her Guisan +uncles, hated jealously by the queen-mother, Catharine de Medici, and by +the reforming Bourbons, fell, for a time, into the background. Mary can +hardly have loved her puny boy husband, but she nursed him night and day in +his long sickness and his death so affected her that "she would not receive +any consolation, but, brooding over her disasters with constant tears and +passionate, doleful lamentations, she universally inspired deep pity." She +had, indeed, lost much besides her royal husband; and in a poem written by +her afterwards, the waste of her youth in widowhood, the loss of her great +position as Queen of France, and her powerlessness any longer to enforce +her rule in Scotland by French power, are the main burden of her complaints +against Providence, not pity for the husband she had lost.</p> + +<p>The Guises were loath to surrender power without a struggle, and as soon +as Francis died they sought to sell their niece in marriage again. Their +first idea was for her to marry her child-brother-in-law, the new King +Charles IX., but Catharine de Medici at once stopped that plan, though the +boy himself was anxious for it and Mary was not averse. That failing, +Cardinal Lorraine turned to the heir of Spain, Don Carlos, as a husband for +her. This would have been a death-blow to Elizabeth, and Philip feigned to +listen to it; but all the strength and cunning of Huguenots and +Protestants, joined by those of Catharine and Elizabeth, were brought into +play against this threatening move, and Mary went to Scotland with a +sinking, sad, and angry heart in 1561, fearing her uncouth subjects, +foreign to her now, vexed with the Protestant party for standing in the way +of her ambitious marriage, and determined to oppose Elizabeth to the utmost +in her designs against the independence of Scotland.</p> + +<p>With these views, gay and winsome though she was, it was not long before +Mary was at issue with her dour Protestant subjects and their spokesman, +John Knox. It was hoped by her brother, James Stuart (Murray), and +Secretary Lethington that a <i>modus vivendi</i> might be found by +persuading Elizabeth to secure to Mary the English succession in case she +herself died childless, on the undertaking of Mary that her marriage and +policy should be dictated by England; but it was not Elizabeth's plan to +pledge the future of England, and her nimble evasiveness drove the Scottish +statesmen to despair.</p> + +<p>Brawls and bitterness grew in Mary's court around the Catholicism of the +queen, and English money and intrigue were freely lavished to set Scotland +by the ears. Half the nobles were disaffected, and Murray and Lethington, +having failed to secure Scottish interests by moderate counsels and the +conciliation of Elizabeth, were forced to take a strong course. Of foreign +suitors Mary had many, some promoted by the Protestants, some by the Pope +and the Guises, while the Catholics of England were secretly intriguing to +force Elizabeth's hand by arranging Mary's marriage with young Henry +Stuart, Lord Darnley, eldest son of Margaret, Countess of Lennox, niece of +Henry VIII., who lived at Elizabeth's court. Cecil's spies were everywhere, +and the plot was soon known and stopped by Elizabeth, violently angry with +her kinswoman for listening to such a scheme.</p> + +<p>But Murray and Lethington, in desperation, were aiming at higher game +even than this. They were Protestant, they had tried their best to win +Elizabeth's recognition; but they were Scotsmen first, and if their country +was to be independent it must have a great ally behind it. France was out +of the question while the Guises were in the shade and Catharine was +queen-mother. So the ministers of Mary turned their eyes to the Protestant +heir of the Catholic king. Elizabeth soon heard of this, too, and suddenly +pretended to be in favour of the Darnley match for Mary, while she +developed the most cordial friendship for Mary herself; for the Guises had +again become paramount in France, and Elizabeth could not afford to flout +all the Catholic interests at once.</p> + +<p>That danger soon passed, for the Huguenots flew to arms, and Guise was +murdered, Mary losing thus her principal prop abroad. And Lethington now +pushed vigorously what seemed to be Scotland's only chance of safety--the +marriage of Mary with the semi-idiot heir of Spain.</p> + +<p>The English Catholics were drawn into the plot. "Only let Mary marry the +heir of Spain, and we will salute her as our leader," said they. But +Elizabeth soon gained wind of it, as usual, and was ready with her +antidote--a most extraordinary one--the proposal that Mary should wed her +own lover, Lord Robert Dudley, with the assurance of the English succession +after Elizabeth's death without issue. It was a mere feint, of course, but +it divided Scotland, and unsettled Mary herself.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Philip, with his leaden methods, was pondering and seeking +fresh pledges and guarantees from the English Catholics. Before his +temporising answer came Elizabeth had frightened Mary's advisers into +doubt, while she was holding the English Catholics in check by dangling +Darnley and Dudley before Mary's eyes, and swearing deadly vengeance if she +married the Spaniard.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth's first aim was to embroil Mary's prospects by discrediting +her in the eyes of foreign powers. To this end was directed the offer +alternately of Dudley and Darnley as a husband, and Elizabeth's pretence of +shocked reprobation of Mary in connection with Chastelard's escapade. It +must be confessed that Mary's imprudence aided Elizabeth's object, and the +sour bigotry of Knox, which looked upon all gaiety as a sin, served the +same purpose. All this drove the unhappy queen more and more into the arms +of the Catholic party as her only means of defence.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Prudence Overcome by Passion</i></h3> + + +<p>The intrigue to wed Mary to the Spanish prince was met by Elizabeth +cordially taking up Lady Lennox, and her son, Darnley, who by many was now +regarded as the intended heir of England, and was held out to Mary as an +ideal husband for her. So long as she had hopes of the Spanish prince she +gave but evasive answers; but late in 1564 the cunning diplomacy of +Catharine and the falseness of Cardinal Lorraine had diverted that danger; +and Philip gave Mary to understand that the match with his son was +impossible, Mary's great hope had been founded upon this marriage. Unless +she could have a foreign Catholic husband strong enough to defy Elizabeth +she knew that she must make terms with Elizabeth's enemies, the English +Catholics, and thus bring pressure to bear upon her by internal +dissensions.</p> + +<p>It was a dangerous game to play, for it meant conspiracy; and so long as +the Lennoxes and their effeminate, lanky son were basking in Elizabeth's +favour, the English queen held her trump card. But Lady Lennox was +intriguing and ambitious, the head of English Catholic disaffection, and +could only be held to Elizabeth's side by delusive hopes of the English +succession for her son. Lennox himself, with some misgiving, was allowed to +go to Scotland to claim his forfeited estates, and there, to Elizabeth's +anger, was received with marked respect, which made the English queen hold +Darnley and his mother more firmly than ever, and again push forward Dudley +as a suitor for Mary's hand. Anxious to get Darnley to Scotland, not +necessarily to marry him, but as a useful instrument, Mary feigned +willingness to accept Dudley; and, in face of this, Elizabeth was induced +to allow young Darnley to go to Scotland for a short time, ostensibly on +business of the family estates.</p> + +<p>In February 1565, Darnley, aged nineteen, crossed the border, to the +dismay of the English agents in Scotland. It was soon after Mary had +received news that the Spanish match was at an end, and she was ready for a +new plan to circumvent Elizabeth. Darnley as a husband would bring to her +the support of English Catholics, and a new claim to the English crown. So +when her eyes first lit upon the fair stripling at Wemyss Castle, she +looked upon him with favour as "the properest tall man she ever saw." He +was on his best behaviour, and danced delightfully with the queen. Up to +this time Mary had played her game with self-command and policy, but now +for the first time her heart ran away with her, and she took a false +step.</p> + +<p>To have married Darnley as part of a transaction with Elizabeth, and +with the approval of her own Protestant subjects, would have been a +master-stroke. But she fell in love with the "long lad," and could not wait +for negotiation; so she at once sent off to pray King Philip to support her +with money and men against England and the Protestants if she married +Darnley and became the tool of Spain. Philip, nothing loth, consented, and +welcomed the coming union as a Catholic alliance and a powerful weapon +against Elizabeth. Mary thus made herself the head of a vast Catholic +conspiracy looking to Spain for support, and Elizabeth was furious both +with Mary and Darnley for having apparently beaten her at her own cunning +game.</p> + +<p>How Elizabeth sought a diversion, at first by new matrimonial schemes of +her own, has been told elsewhere, but her more effectual weapon was to +arouse the fears of Scottish Protestants, and breed dissension in Mary's +realm. "The young fool," Darnley, insolent and proud of his new greatness, +offended all the nobles, whilst Mary grew daily more infatuated with him. +They were married in July 1565, and the great conspiracy against Elizabeth +and Protestantism was complete. Already the Scottish Protestant lords were +in a panic, and after an abortive rising, they fled before Mary's bold +attack, taking refuge in England.</p> + +<p>The queen herself led her forces, armed and mounted, with her stripling +husband by her side; but she was followed close by the shaggy, stern, +martial figure of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, just returned from exile +to serve her; and upon him she looked with kindling eyes as a stouter man +than the fribble she had wed. Mary had now apparently triumphed by her +Darnley marriage, but the avalanche was gathering to crush her. She looked +mainly to Spain and the Pope for help, and had all Protestantism against +her, led by Elizabeth, whose hate and fury knew no bounds. It was a duel +now of life or death between two systems and two women, one with a heart +and the other without; and, as usual, the heartless won.</p> + +<p>English money and skill honeycombed Scottish loyalty. Darnley, vicious, +vain, and passionate, was an easy prey to intrigue. The tools of England +whispered in his ear that his wife was too intimate with the Italian +secretary Rizzio, who had conducted the correspondence with the Catholic +powers. Darnley, who had earned his wife's contempt already, was beside +himself with jealousy, and himself led the Protestant conspirators and +friends of England, who murdered Rizzio in the queen's presence at Holyrood +(March 1566). From that hour Darnley's doom was sealed.</p> + +<p>He had thought to be king indeed now, but Mary outwitted him; for she +recalled her exiled lords, welcomed her brother Murray, and threw herself +into the arms of Darnley's Protestant foes, the very men who had risen in +arms against the marriage. As she fled by night with Darnley after Rizzio's +murder, to betray him, she swore over Rizzio's new-made grave that a +"fatter one" than he should lie there ere long. Whether she knew of the +plot of his foes to murder her husband is not proved, but she almost +certainly did so, and welcomed the deed when it was done. She made no +pretence of love for him after Rizzio's death, and her husband repaid her +coldness by sulky loutishness and bursts of drunken violence. Mary's +conduct toward Bothwell, too, began to arouse scandal. By November 1566, +matters had reached a crisis, and Mary, at Kelso, said that unless she was +freed from Darnley she would put an end to herself. She spoke not to deaf +ears. Morton, and the rest of Rizzio's slayers and bitter enemies, were +pardoned, and the deadly bond was signed.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Dire Infatuation</i></h3> + + +<p>On February 9, 1567, as the doomed consort lay sick and sorry outside +Edinburgh at the lone house of Kirk o' Field, he was, done to death by +Bothwell and the foes of the Lennoxes; and Mary Stuart's first true love +affair was ended in tragedy. But already the second was in full blast. +Bothwell had recently married; he was disliked by the Scottish nobles, and +the queen's constant association with him had already brought discredit +upon her. There had been a good political excuse for her union with +Darnley, but Bothwell could bring no support to her cause; for his creed +was doubtful, and he had no friends. Nothing, indeed, but the infatuation +of an amorous woman for a brutally strong man could have so blinded her to +her own great aims as to make her take Bothwell, the prime mover of +Darnley's murder, for her husband.</p> + +<p>As soon as the crime was known, all fingers were pointed to Bothwell and +the queen as the murderers, and Protestants everywhere hastened to cast +obloquy upon Mary for it. But for the nobles' jealousy of Bothwell, and the +religious animus, probably Darnley's death would soon have been forgotten +or condoned; but as it was, Scotland blazed out in denunciation of it, and +though Bothwell was put upon a mock trial and acquitted, the hate against +him grew, especially when he arranged to divorce his wife in April 1567, +and, ostensibly by force, but clearly by Mary's connivance, abducted the +queen and bore her off to his castle of Dunbar.</p> + +<p>On her return to Edinburgh a few weeks later Mary publicly married +Bothwell--she swore afterwards against her will, but, in any case, to the +anger and disgust of her subjects. She found her new husband an arrogant +tyrant rather than her slave, and he watched her closely. The dire +infatuation of the lovelorn woman soon wore off, and again she sighed to be +free; but it was too late, for the Catholic powers stood aloof from her now +that she had married a divorced man, and all her nobles had abandoned her. +So Mary clung to Bothwell still, for he was strong, and all Scotland cried +shame upon her.</p> + +<p>In June, Mary and her husband, fearing attack or treachery, fled from +Edinburgh Castle, which at once opened its gates to Morton and the rebel +lords. A parley was sent to Mary offering submission if she would leave +Bothwell to his fate. She indignantly refused, for she feared the lords and +hated Morton. Bothwell was strong, she thought, and he was the father of +her unborn child; be might protect her. So by Bothwell's side she rode out +at the head of the border clansmen, and met the rebel army at Carberry +Hill, hard by Edinburgh.</p> + +<p>It was agreed that the dispute should be decided by the single combat +between Bothwell and Lindsay, but before the duel began Mary's bordermen +became disordered, and then she knew that all was lost. Kirkaldy of Grange +came from her opponents to parley with her and offer safety for her, but +not for Bothwell. Whilst they were speaking, Bothwell attempted to murder +Grange; and when Mary forbade such treachery, he lost his nerve and began +to whimper. In a moment the scales fell from Mary's eyes. This man was but +a lath painted like steel. His strength was but a lie, and he was unworthy +of her. She turned from him in contempt, and surrendered to the lords; +while Bothwell fled, and unhappy Mary saw him no more.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--Langside and After</i></h3> + + +<p>Cursed by crowds, who reviled her as a murderess and adulteress, Mary +was led, a captive, to her capital. By night, to save her from the fury of +the mob, she was smuggled out of Edinburgh and lodged, a prisoner, in the +island fortress of Lochleven. During her long incarceration there the story +of her wrongs and sufferings stirred the Catholics at home and abroad in +her favour, and her friends and foes were again sharply divided according +to their religious creeds. The rulers of Scotland, too, headed by her +brother Murray, were far from easy; for the Catholics were strong, and +foreign crowned heads looked black at those who kept a sovereign in +durance. So attempts were made to conciliate her by proposing marriage with +some harmless Scottish noble, conjoined with her abdication. But her heart +was high still, and she would bate no jot of her queenship; rather would +she exercise her glamour upon her gaolers and escape to power and +sovereignty again. Her fascination was irresistible, and Murray's +half-brother, young George Douglas, a mere lad, fell a victim to her +smiles. Once more Mary fell in love, and proposed to marry the youth who +had endeavoured to aid her escape.</p> + +<p>Murray was shocked, and had his brother expelled the castle; but in +April 1568 the faithful George planned her evasion of the guard and +joyfully welcomed her on the shore of the lake. To her standard flocked the +Catholic lords, and, safe at Hamilton, Mary, again a queen, swore vengeance +upon her foes. On her way with her army to Dumbarton she met Murray's force +at Langside, near Glasgow. She had been strong at Carberry Hill with +Bothwell at her side. Here she was weak, for no man of weight or character +was with her, and as her men wavered she turned rein and fled.</p> + +<p>For sixty miles on bad roads she struggled on, almost without sleep, and +living on beggar's fare. With no adviser or woman near her, in her panic +and despair she took the fatal resolve and crossed the Solway into +Elizabeth's realm, trusting to the magnanimity of the woman whom she had +tried to ruin and supplant. Again her heart had deceived her. Elizabeth had +no pity for a vanquished foe, and for the rest of her miserable life, well +nigh a score of years, Mary Stuart was a prisoner. But in all those years +she never ceased to plot and plan for the overthrow of Elizabeth and her +own elevation to the Catholic throne of all Britain.</p> + +<p>Amidst her many weapons, that of marriage and her personal fascination +were not forgotten. Twice, at least, she tried to make her love affairs +serve her political ambition. Poor, feckless Norfolk was drawn by his +vanity and ambition into her net. Love epistles, breathing eternal +devotion, passed between them, but murder was behind it all--the murder of +Elizabeth, and the subjection of England to Spain to work Mary's vengeance +on her foes, and Norfolk lost his head deservedly.</p> + +<p>Again she dreamed of marrying the Christian champion, Don Juan of +Austria, and conquering and ruling over a Catholic England. But this plot, +too, was discovered, and Don Juan, like all the rest of Mary's lovers, died +miserably. Mary thenceforward was the centre of Spain's great conspiracy +against England's queen, but she sought the end no more by love; for that +had failed her every time she tried. She and her cause were beaten because +her heart of fire was pitted against a heart of ice, and she lost all +because she loved too much.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="WASHINGTON_IRVING"></a>WASHINGTON IRVING</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_Christopher_Columbus"></a>Life of Christopher +Columbus</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Washington Irving, American historian and essayist, was +born on April 3, 1783, in New York, of a family which came originally from +Scotland. He knew Europe well, and was equally at home in London, Paris, +and Madrid; he held the offices, in 1829, of Secretary to the American +Embassy in London, and, in 1842, of American Minister in Spain. He was +deeply interested in Spanish history, and besides the "Life and Voyages of +Christopher Columbus," he wrote "The Voyages of the Companions of +Columbus," "The Conquest of Granada," "The Alhambra," and "Legends of the +Conquest of Spain." He was an industrious man of letters, having an +excellent style, wide knowledge, and pleasant humour. His chief work was +the "Life of George Washington," of which we give an epitome elsewhere. +Other writings include "A History of New York, by Diedrich Knickerbocker," +the celebrated "Sketch Book," "Bracebridge Hall," "Tales of a Traveller," +and a "Life of Goldsmith." Irving did not marry, and died on November 28, +1859, in his home at Sunnyside on the Hudson River, and is buried at +Tarrytown. The "Life of Columbus" was published in 1828 and is now +obtainable in a number of popular editions. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>The Years of Waiting</i></h3> + + +<p>Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa about 1435, of poor but reputable +parents. He soon evinced a passion for geographical knowledge, and an +irresistible inclination for the sea. We have but shadowy traces of his +life till he took up his abode in Lisbon about 1470. His contemporaries +describe him as tall and muscular; he was moderate and simple in diet and +apparel, eloquent, engaging, and affable. At Lisbon he married a lady of +rank, Doña Felipa. He supported his family by making maps and +charts.</p> + +<p>Portugal was prosecuting modern discovery with great enthusiasm, seeking +a route to India by the coast of Africa; Columbus's genius conceived the +bold idea of seeking India across the Atlantic. He set it down that the +earth was a terraqueous globe, which might be travelled round. The +circumference he divided into twenty-four hours. Of these he imagined that +fifteen hours had been known to the ancients; the Portguese had advanced +the western frontier one hour more by the discovery of the Azores and the +Cape de Verde Islands; still, about eight hours remained to be explored. +This space he imagined to be occupied in great measure by the eastern +regions of Asia. A navigator, therefore, pursuing a direct course from east +to west, must arrive at Asia or discover intervening land.</p> + +<p>The work of Marco Polo is the key to many of the ideas of Columbus. The +territories of the Great Khan were the object of his search in all his +voyages. Much of the success of his enterprise rested on two happy errors; +the imaginary extent of Asia to the east, and the supposed smallness of the +earth. Without these errors he would hardly have ventured into the +immeasurable waste of waters of the Atlantic.</p> + +<p>A deep religious sentiment mingled with his thoughts; he looked upon +himself as chosen from among men, and he read of his discovery as foretold +in Holy Writ. Navigation was still too imperfect for such an undertaking; +mariners rarely ventured far out of sight of land. But knowledge was +advancing, and the astrolabe, which has been modified into the modern +quadrant, was being applied to navigation. This was the one thing wanting +to free the mariner from his long bondage to the land.</p> + +<p>Columbus now laid his great project before the King of Portugal, but +without success. Greatly disappointed, he sailed to Spain, hoping to +receive the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella. It was many months before +he could even obtain a hearing; his means were exhausted, and he had to +contend against ridicule and scorn, but the royal audience was at length +obtained. Ferdinand assembled learned astronomers and cosmographers to hold +a conference with Columbus. They assailed him with citations from the +Bible. One objection advanced was, that should a ship ever succeed in +reaching India, she could never come back, for the rotundity of the globe +would present a mountain, up which it would be impossible to sail. Finally, +after five years, the junta condemned the scheme as vain and +impossible.</p> + +<p>Columbus was on the point of leaving Spain, when the real grandeur of +the subject broke at last on Isabella's mind, and she resolved to undertake +the enterprise. Articles of agreement were drawn up and signed by Ferdinand +and Isabella. Columbus and his heirs were to have the office of High +Admiral in all the seas, lands, and continents he might discover, and he +was to be viceroy over the said lands and continents. He was to have +one-tenth of all profits, and contribute an eighth of the expense of +expeditions. Columbus proposed that the profits from his discoveries should +be consecrated to a crusade.</p> + + +<h3><i>The First Voyage</i></h3> + +<h3>(August, 1492--March, 1493)</h3> + + +<p>Columbus set out joyfully for Palos, where the expedition was to be +fitted out. He had spent eighteen years in hopeless solicitation, amidst +poverty, neglect, and ridicule. When the nature of the expedition was +heard, the boldest seamen shrank from such a chimerical cruise, but at last +every difficulty was vanquished, and the vessels were ready for sea. Two of +them were light, half-decked caravels; the Santa Maria, on which Columbus +hoisted his flag, was completely decked. The whole number of persons was +one hundred and twenty.</p> + +<p>Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, steering for the Canary Islands. +From there they were wafted gently over a tranquil sea by the trade wind, +and for many days did not change a sail. The poor mariners gradually became +uneasy at the length of the voyage. The sight of small birds, too feeble to +fly far, cheered their hearts for a time, but again their impatience rose +to absolute mutiny. Then new hopes diverted them. There was an appearance +of land, and the ships altered their course and stood all night to the +south-west, but the morning light put an end to their hopes; the fancied +land proved to be an evening cloud.</p> + +<p>Again the seamen broke forth into loud clamours, and insisted on +abandoning the voyage. Fortunately, the following day a branch with berries +on it floated by; they picked up also a small board and a carved staff, and +all murmuring was now at an end. Not an eye was closed that night. Columbus +took his station on the top of the cabin. Suddenly, about ten o'clock, he +beheld a light. At two in the morning the land was clearly seen, and they +took in sail, waiting for the dawn. The great mystery of the ocean was +revealed.</p> + +<p>When the day dawned, Columbus landed, threw himself upon his knees, +kissed the earth, and returned thanks to God. Rising, he drew his sword, +displayed the royal standard, and took possession in the names of the +Castillian sovereigns, naming the island San Salvador. It is one of the +Bahama Islands, and still retains that name, though also called Cat +Island.</p> + +<p>The natives thought that the ships had descended from above on their +ample wings, and that these marvellous beings were inhabitants of the +skies. They appeared to be simple and artless people, and of gentle and +friendly dispositions. As Columbus supposed that the island was at the +extremity of India, he called them Indians. He understood them to say that +a king of great wealth resided in the south. This, he concluded, could be +no other than Cipango, or Japan. He now beheld a number of beautiful +islands, green, level, and fertile; and supposed them to be the archipelago +described by Marco Polo. He was enchanted by the lovely scenery, the +singing of the birds, and the brilliantly colored fish, though disappointed +in his hopes of finding gold or spice; but the natives continued to point +to the south as the region of wealth, and spoke of an Island called +Cuba.</p> + +<p>He set sail in search of it, and was struck with its magnitude, the +grandeur of its mountains, its fertile valleys, sweeping plains, stately +forests, and noble rivers. He explored the coast to the east end of Cuba, +supposing it the extreme point of Asia, and then descried the mountains of +Hayti to the south-east. In coasting along this island, which he named +Hispaniola, his ship was carried by a current on a sandbank and lost. The +admiral and crew took refuge in one of the caravels. The natives, +especially the cacique Guacanagari, offered him every assistance. The +Spanish mariners regarded with a wistful eye the easy and idle existence of +these Indians, who seemed to live in a golden world without toil, and they +entreated permission to remain.</p> + +<p>This suggested to Columbus the idea of forming the germ of a future +colony. The cacique was overjoyed, and the natives helped to build a fort, +thus assisting to place on their necks the yoke of slavery. The fortress +and harbour were named La Navidad.</p> + +<p>Columbus chose thirty-nine of those who volunteered to remain, charged +them to be circumspect and friendly with the natives, and set sail for +Spain. He encountered violent tempests, his small and crazy vessels were +little fitted for the wild storms of the Atlantic; the oldest mariners had +never known so tempestuous a winter, and their preservation seemed +miraculous. They were forced to run into Tagus for shelter. The King of +Portugal treated Columbus with the most honourable attentions. When the +weather had moderated he put to sea again, and arrived safely at Palos on +March 15, having taken not quite seven months and a half to accomplish this +most momentous of all maritime enterprises.</p> + +<p>Columbus landed and walked in procession to the church to return thanks +to God. Bells were rung, the shops shut, and all business suspended. The +sovereigns were dazzled by this easy acquisition of a new empire. They +addressed Columbus as admiral and viceroy, and urged him to repair +immediately to court to concert plans for a second expedition. His journey +to Barcelona was like the progress of a sovereign, and his entrance into +that city has been compared to a Roman triumph. On his approach the +sovereigns rose and ordered him to seat himself in their presence. When +Columbus had given an account of his voyage, the king and queen sank on +their knees, and a <i>Te Deum</i> was chanted by the choir of the royal +chapel. Such was the manner in which the brilliant court of Spain +celebrated this sublime event.</p> + +<p>The whole civilised world was filled with wonder and delight, but no one +had an idea of the real importance of the discovery. The opinion of +Columbus was universally adopted that Cuba was the end of Asia; the islands +were named the West Indies, and the vast region was called the New +World.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Second Voyage</i></h3> + +<h3>(September, 1493--June, 1496)</h3> + + +<p>Extraordinary excitement prevailed about the second expedition, and many +hidalgos of high rank pressed into it. They sailed from Cadiz in September +1493; all were full of animation, anticipating a triumphant return. When +they reached La Navidad they found the fortress burnt. At length, from some +natives they heard the story of the brawls of the colonists between +themselves, and their surprise and destruction by unfriendly Indians. +Columbus fixed upon a new site for his colony, which he named Isabella. Two +small expeditions were sent inland to explore, and returned with +enthusiastic accounts of the promise of the mountains, and Columbus sent to +Spain a glowing report of the prospects of the colony.</p> + +<p>Soon, however, maladies made their appearance, provisions began to fail, +and murmuring prevailed among the colonists. In truth, the fate of many of +the young cavaliers, who had come out deluded by romantic dreams, was +lamentable in the extreme. Columbus arranged for the government of the +island, and set sail to explore the southern coast of Cuba, supposing it to +be the extreme end of Asia. He had to contend with almost incredible +perils, and was obliged to return. Had he continued for two or three days +longer he would have passed round the extremity of Cuba; his illusion would +have been dispelled, and a different course given to his subsequent +discoveries.</p> + +<p>During his absence from Isabella the whole island had become a scene of +violence and discord. Margarite, the general left in charge of the +soldiers, and Friar Boyle, the apostolical vicar, formed a cabal of the +discontented, took possession of certain ships, and set sail for Spain, to +represent the disastrous state of the country, and to complain of the +tyranny of Columbus. The soldiers indulged in all kinds of excesses, and +the Indians were converted from gentle hosts into vindictive enemies.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, a commissioner was sent out to inquire into the distress of +the colony and the conduct of Columbus. He collected all complaints, and +returned to Spain, Columbus sailing at the same time. Never did a more +miserable crew return from a land of promise.</p> + +<p>The vessels anchored at Cadiz, and a feeble train of wretched men +crawled forth, emaciated by diseases. Contrary to his anticipation, +Columbus was received with distinguished favour. Thus encouraged, he +proposed a further enterprise, and asked for eight ships, which were +readily promised; but it was not until May 1498, that he again set +sail.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Third Voyage</i></h3> + +<h3>(May, 1498--October, 1500)</h3> + + +<p>From the Cape de Verde Islands, Columbus steered to the south-west, +until he arrived at the fifth degree of north latitude. The air was like a +furnace, the mariners lost all strength and spirit, and Columbus was +induced to alter his course to the northwest. After sailing some distance +they reached a genial region with a cooling breeze and serene and clear +sky. They descried three mountains above the horizon; as they drew nearer, +they proved to be united at the base, and Columbus, therefore, named this +island La Trinidad. He coasted round Trinidad, and landed on the mainland, +but mistook it for an island. He was astonished at the body of fresh water +flowing into the Gulf of Paria, and came to the conclusion that it must be +the outpouring of a great unknown continent stretching to the south, far +beyond the equator. His supplies were now almost exhausted, and he +determined to return to Hispaniola.</p> + +<p>He found the island in a lamentable situation. A conspiracy had been +formed against his viceroy, and the Indians, perceiving the dissensions +among the Spaniards, threw off their allegiance. After long negotiations +Columbus was forced to sign a humiliating capitulation with the rebels. +Meanwhile, every vessel that returned from the New World came freighted +with complaints against Columbus. The support of the colony was an +incessant drain upon the mother country. Was this compatible, it was asked, +with the pictures he had drawn of the wealth of the island?</p> + +<p>Isabella herself at last began to entertain doubts about Columbus, and +the sovereigns decided to send out Don Francisco del Bobadilla to +investigate his conduct. This officer appears to have been needy, +passionate, and ambitious. He acted as if he had been sent out to degrade +the admiral, not to inquire into his conduct. He threw Columbus into irons, +and seized his arms, gold, jewels, books, and most secret manuscripts. +Columbus conducted himself with characteristic magnanimity, and bore all +indignities in silence. Bobadilla collected testimony sufficient, as he +thought, to ensure the condemnation of Columbus, and sent him a prisoner to +Spain.</p> + +<p>The arrival of Columbus at Cadiz, in chains, produced almost as great a +sensation as his first triumphant return. A general burst of indignation +arose. The sovereigns sent orders that he should be instantly set at +liberty, and promised that Columbus should be reinstated in all his +dignities. But Ferdinand repented having invested such great powers in any +subject, and especially in a foreigner. Plausible reasons were given for +delaying his reappointment, and meanwhile Don Nicholas de Ovando was sent +out to supersede Bobadilla.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Fourth Voyage</i></h3> + +<h3>(May, 1502--November, 1504)</h3> + + +<p>Columbus's thoughts were suddenly turned to a new enterprise. Vasco da +Gama had recently reached India round the Cape of Good Hope, and immense +wealth was poured by this route into Portugal. Columbus was persuaded that +the currents of the Caribbean Sea must pass between Cuba and the land which +he had discovered to the south, and that this route to India would be more +easy and direct than that of Vasco da Gama. His plan was promptly adopted +by the sovereigns, and he sailed in May 1502, on his last and most +disastrous voyage. He steered to Hispaniola, but was not permitted to land, +and then coasted along Honduras and down the Mosquito Coast to Costa Rica. +Here he found gold among the natives, and heard rumours of Mexico. He +continued beyond Cape Nombre de Dios in search for the imaginary strait, +and then gave up all attempt to find it.</p> + +<p>Possibly he knew that another voyager, coasting from the eastward, had +reached this point. He turned westward to search for the gold-mines of +Veragua, and attempted unsuccessfully to found a settlement there. As his +vessels were no longer capable of standing the sea, he ran them aground on +Jamaica, fastened them together, and put the wreck in a state of defence. +He dispatched canoes to Hispaniola, asking Ovando to send a ship to relieve +him, but many months of suffering and difficulty elapsed before it +came.</p> + +<p>Columbus returned to Spain in November 1504. Care and sorrow were +destined to follow him; his finances were exhausted, and he was unable, +from his infirmities, to go to court. The death of Isabella was a fatal +blow to his fortunes. Many months were passed by him in painful and +humiliating solicitation for the restitution of his high offices. At length +he saw that further hope of redress from Ferdinand was vain. His illness +increased, and he expired, with great resignation, on May 20, 1506.</p> + +<p>Columbus was a man of great and inventive genius, and his ambition was +noble and lofty. Instead of ravaging the newly-found countries, he sought +to found regular and prosperous enterprises. He was naturally irritable and +impetuous, but, though continually outraged in his dignity, and foiled in +his plans by turbulent and worthless men, he restrained his valiant and +indignant spirit, and brought himself to forbear and reason, and even to +supplicate. His piety was genuine and fervent, and diffused a sober dignity +over his whole deportment.</p> + +<p>He died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery. What visions +of glory would have broken upon his mind could he have known that he had +indeed discovered a new continent! And how would his spirit have been +consoled, amidst the afflictions of age and the injustice of an ungrateful +king, could he have anticipated the empires which would arise in the world +he had discovered; and the nations, towns, and languages, which were to +revere and bless his name to the latest posterity!</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_George_Washington"></a>Life of George Washington</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> This great historical biography was Washington Irving's +principal work. It was founded chiefly upon George Washington's +correspondence, which is preserved in manuscript in the archives of the +United States Government. Irving worked at it intermittently for many +years; and it was published in successive sections during the last years of +his life, 1855 to 1859, while he was living in retirement with his nieces +at Sunnyside, on the Hudson River. </p></blockquote> + + +<p>The De Wessyngton family, of the county of Durham, in feudal times, +produced many men of mark in the field and in the cloister, and at a later +period the Washingtons were intrepid supporters of the unfortunate House of +Stuart. Compromised by this allegiance, two brothers, John and Andrew, +uncles of Sir Henry Washington, the gallant defender of Worcester, +emigrated to Virginia in 1657, and purchased lands in Westmoreland County, +by the River Potomac. John, who became military leader of the Virginians +against the Indians, was great-grandfather of the illustrious George +Washington.</p> + +<p>George, born February 22, 1732, in a homestead on Bridges Creek, was the +eldest son of Mary Ball, second wife of Augustine Washington. Two +half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, survived from the first marriage; +and Mary had three other sons and two daughters. George received his first +education in an "old field school-house," taught by the parish sexton; but +the chief influences of his boyhood were the morality of his home and the +military ardour of the colonists against the Spanish and the French. +Lawrence, his eldest brother, had a captaincy in the colonial regiment +which fought for England in the West Indies, in 1740, and the boy's whole +mind was turned to war.</p> + +<p>His father died when he was eleven years old, and George was sent to +live with his married brother Augustine. Here he attended school, was eager +in the acquirement of knowledge, and became expert in all athletic +exercises. He very nearly entered on a naval career, but at his mother's +earnest entreaty renounced the project, and returning to school, studied +land-surveying.</p> + +<p>Lawrence, his brother, having married into the Fairfax family, George +came under the notice of Lord Fairfax, owner of immense tracts of country, +who was so pleased with the lad's character and accomplishments that he +entrusted him with the task of surveying his possessions. At the age of +sixteen George Washington set out into the wilderness, and acquitted +himself so well that he was appointed public surveyor. He thus gained an +intimate knowledge, and of the ways of the Indians.</p> + +<p>The English and French governments were at this time making conflicting +claims to the Ohio valley, and their agents were treating with the various +Indian tribes. At length the French prepared to enforce their claim by +arms, and Washington received, in 1751, a commission as adjutant-general +over a military district of Virginia. In October, 1753, he was sent by +Governor Dinwiddie on a mission to the French commander, from which he +returned in the following January; and his conduct on this occasion, when +he had to traverse great distances of unknown forest at midwinter, and to +cope with the craft of white men and savages alike, marked him out as a +youth fitted for the most important civil and military trusts.</p> + + +<h3><i>Conflicts with the French</i></h3> + + +<p>Washington was for the first time under fire in April, 1754, when he had +been sent, as second in command of the colonial forces, to take charge of a +fort on the Ohio. He fell in with a French party of spies, whom his small +force, with Indian assistance, put to flight. His fort, named Fort +Necessity, was defended by three hundred men, but was attacked in July by a +greatly superior force of French and Indians, and Washington had to +capitulate, marching out with the honours of war.</p> + +<p>When it was determined, the same autumn, by the Governor and the British +Secretary of State, that the colonial troops should be reduced to +independent companies, so that there should no longer be colonial officers +above the rank of captain, Washington, in accordance with the dawning +republicism of America, resigned his commission, and settling at Mount +Vernon, prepared to devote himself to agriculture. But in 1755, General +Braddock was sent out to undertake energetic operations against the French, +and Washington accepted the General's offer of a position on his +staff.</p> + +<p>It was now that the eminent Benjamin Franklin did such great service to +the British arms by organizing transport, and listened with astonishment to +Braddock's anticipations of easy victory. The young aide-de-camp also +warned the English soldier in vain. On July 9 Braddock's force was utterly +routed by the French and Indians, and the general himself was slain. This +reverse did away with all belief, throughout the colonies, in the power of +British arms, and prepared the way for the independence that was to +follow.</p> + +<p>On August 14 George Washington was appointed to the supreme command of +the Virginian forces, with his headquarters at Winchester, and was occupied +in the defence of a wide frontier with an insufficient force, until the +expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1758, when he planted the British flag +on its smoking ruins, and put an end to the French domination of the +Ohio.</p> + +<p>His marriage to Mrs. Martha Custis, a young and wealthy widow, was +celebrated on January 6, 1759; he took his seat in the House of Burgesses +at Williamsburg, and established himself at Mount Vernon to develop his +estates. A large Virginia estate, in those days, was a little empire.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Dawn of Independence</i></h3> + + +<p>The definitive treaty of peace between France and England was signed at +Fontainebleau in 1763; but the tranquility of the colonies was again broken +by an Indian insurrection, known as Pontiac's war. Washington had no part +in its suppression, but he was soon to be called again to the defence of +his country.</p> + +<p>He was in his place in the House of Burgesses on May 29, 1765, when the +claims of Britain to tax the colony were first repudiated, and it was +declared that the General Assembly of Virginia had the exclusive right to +tax the inhabitants, and that whoever maintained the contrary should be +deemed an enemy to the colony. These resolutions were the signal for +general applause throughout the continent.</p> + +<p>The repeal, in 1766, of the objectionable Stamp Act only postponed the +crisis, which became acute when the port of Boston was closed by +Parliament, because of the resistance of that city to the importation of +East Indian tea. A General Congress of deputies from the several colonies +was convened for September 5, 1773, at Philadelphia, in which Washington +took part, and a Federal Union of the colonies was then established. The +English commander, General Gage, struck the first blow against popular +liberties, in the engagement at Lexington, April 18, 1775, and on June 15 +Washington was unanimously elected commander-in-chief of the American +forces.</p> + +<p>Two days later was fought, outside Boston, the heroic battle of Bunker's +Hill, and on the 21st Washington set out from Philadelphia to the seat of +war, where he laid a strict siege about Boston, with a view to forcing the +British to come out. An English ship having bombarded the American port of +Falmouth, an act was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts, +encouraging the fitting out of armed vessels to defend the coast of +America, and granting letters of marque and reprisal. In October a +conference of delegates was held, under Washington's presidency, of which +Benjamin Franklin was a member, with regard to a new organisation of the +army; and a new force of twenty-two thousand was formed, every soldier +being enlisted for one year only.</p> + +<p>Montreal had been captured by an American expedition, and Washington was +now looking forward to equal success in an expedition against Quebec. He +was further encouraged by the capture, by one of his cruisers, of a +brigantine laden with munitions of war, including a huge brass mortar. His +wife joined the camp before Boston, and the eventful year was closed with +festivities.</p> + +<p>But the gallant attempt on Quebec, in which Montgomery fell, was +frustrated, and the siege of Boston dragged on uneventfully, until the +Americans, in March, seized Dorchester Heights, and made the town no longer +tenable. On the 17th there were in Boston Harbor seventy-eight ships and +transports casting loose for sea, and twelve thousand soldiers, sailors and +refugees, hurrying to embark. The flag of thirteen stripes, the standard of +the Union, floated above the Boston forts, after ten tedious months of +siege.</p> + +<p>The eminent services of Washington throughout this arduous period, his +admirable management by which, in the course of a few months, an +undisciplined band of husbandmen became soldiers, and were able to expel a +brave army of veterans, commanded by the most experienced generals, won the +enthusiastic applause of the nation. A unanimous vote of thanks was passed +to him in Congress.</p> + + +<h3><i>Declaration of Independence</i></h3> + + +<p>Despatches from Canada continued to be disastrous, and the evacuation of +that country was determined on in June, 1776. The great aim of the British +was now to get possession of New York and the Hudson, and to make them the +basis of military operations. While danger was gathering round New York, +and its inhabitants were in mute suspense and fearful anticipations, the +General Congress at Philadelphia was discussing with closed doors the +greatest question ever debated in America. A resolution was passed +unanimously, on July 2, "that these United Colonies are, of right ought to +be, free and independent States."</p> + +<p>The fourth of July is the day of national rejoicing, for on that day the +"Declaration of Independence," that solemn and sublime document, was +adopted. Tradition gives a dramatic effect to its announcement. It was +known to be under discussion, but the closed doors of Congress excluded the +populace. They awaited, in throngs, an appointed signal. In the steeple of +the state-house was a bell, bearing the portentous text from Scripture, +"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants +thereof." A joyous peal from that bell gave notice that the bill had been +passed. It was the knell of British domination.</p> + +<p>Washington hailed the Declaration with joy. It was but a formal +recognition of a state of things which had long existed, but it put an end +to all those temporizing hopes of reconciliation which had clogged the +military action of the country. On July 9, he caused it to be read at the +head of each brigade of the army. "The general hopes," said he, "that this +important event will serve as a fresh incentive to every officer and +soldier, to act with fidelity and courage, as knowing that now the peace +and safety of his country depend, under God, solely on the success of our +arms; and that he is now in the service of a state possessed of sufficient +power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest honours of a free +country." and again: "The general hopes and trusts that every officer and +man will endeavour so to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, +defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country."</p> + + +<h3><i>The Winning of Independence</i></h3> + + +<p>But the exultation of the patriots of New York was soon overclouded. +British warships, under Admiral Lord Howe, were in the harbour on July 12, +and affairs now approached a crisis. Lord Howe came "as a mediator, not as +a destroyer," and had prepared a declaration inviting communities as well +as individuals to merit and receive pardon by a prompt return to their +duty; it was a matter of sore regret to him that his call to loyalty had +been forestalled by the Declaration of Independence.</p> + +<p>The British force in the neighbourhood of New York, under General Howe, +brother of the Admiral, was about thirty thousand men; the Americans were +only about twenty thousand, for the most part raw and undisciplined, and +the sectional jealousies prevalent among them were more and more a subject +of uneasiness to Washington. On August 27 the American force was defeated +with great loss in the battle of Long Island, and was withdrawn from the +island by a masterly night retreat; this led to the loss of New York and +the Hudson River to the British. Reverse followed reverse; Washington was +driven by the British arms from one point after another; many of the chief +American cities were taken; and on September 26, 1777, General Sir William +Howe marched into Philadelphia and thus occupied the capital of the +confederacy. But Washington still maintained his characteristic equanimity. +"I hope," he said, "that a little time will put our affairs in a more +flourishing condition."</p> + +<p>This anticipation was soon to be fulfilled. General Burgoyne had been +advancing from the north with a large force of British and Hessian troops, +but was compelled by General Gates, with a superior American force, to +capitulate on October 17,1777. By this capitulation the Americans gained a +fine train of artillery, seven thousand stand of arms, and a great quantity +of clothing, tents, and military stores of all kinds; and the surrender of +Burgoyne struck dismay into the British army on the Hudson River.</p> + +<p>But the struggle for independence was still to continue for four years +of incessant military operations, and it was not until the surrender of +Yorktown, on October 19, 1781, by Lord Cornwallis, that Britain gave up +hope of reducing her rebel colonies. When the redoubts of Yorktown were +taken, Washington exclaimed, "The work is done, and well done!"</p> + +<p>A general treaty of peace was signed in Paris on January 20, 1783; and +in March of that year Sir Guy Carleton informed Washington that he was +ordered to proclaim a cessation of hostilities by sea and land. On April +19, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, thus completing the eighth +year of the war, Washington issued a general order to the army in these +terms--"The generous task for which we first flew to arms being +accomplished, the liberties of our country being fully acknowledged and +firmly secured, and the characters of those who have persevered through +every extremity of hardship, suffering, and danger, being immortalised by +the illustrious appellation of 'the patriot army,' nothing now remains but +for the actors of this mighty scene to preserve a perfect, unvarying +consistency of character through the very last act, to close the drama with +applause, and to retire from the military theatre with the same approbation +of angels and men which has crowned all their former virtuous actions."</p> + +<p>Writing, on June 8, to the Governors of the several States, he +said--"The great object for which I had the honour to hold an appointment +in the service of my country being accomplished, I am now preparing to +return to that domestic retirement which, it is well known, I left with the +greatest reluctance; a retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh, +through a long and painful absence, and in which, remote from the noise and +trouble of the world, I meditate to pass the remainder of life in a state +of undisturbed repose."</p> + + +<h3><i>The Years of Peace</i></h3> + + +<p>Washington returned to Mount Vernon on Christmas Eve, 1783, and busied +himself with the care of his estates. He had never ceased to be the +agriculturist; through all his campaigns he had kept himself informed of +the course of rural affairs at Mount Vernon. By means of maps on which +every field was laid down and numbered, he was enabled to give directions +for their several cultivation, and to receive accounts of their several +crops. No hurry of affairs prevented a correspondence with his agent, and +he exacted weekly reports. He now read much on agriculture and gardening, +and corresponded with the celebrated Arthur Young, from whom he obtained +seeds of all kinds, improved ploughs, plans for laying out farmyards, and +advice on various parts of rural economy.</p> + +<p>His active day at Mount Vernon began some time before dawn. Much of his +correspondence was despatched before breakfast, which took place at +half-past seven. After breakfast he mounted his horse and rode off to +various parts of his estate; dined at half-past two; if there was no +company he would write until dark; and in the evening he read, or amused +himself with a game of whist.</p> + +<p>The adoption of the Federal Constitution opened another epoch in the +life of Washington. Before the official forms of an election could be +carried into operation, a unanimous sentiment throughout the Union +pronounced him the nation's choice to fill the presidential chair. The +election took place, and Washington was chosen President for a term of four +years from March 4, 1788. An entry in his diary, on March 16, says--"I bade +adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with +a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words +to express, set out for New York with the best disposition to render +service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of +answering its expectations."</p> + +<p>The weight and influence of his name and character were deemed all +essential to complete his work; to set the new government in motion, and +conduct it through its first perils and trials. He undertook the task, firm +in the resolve in all things to act as his conscience told him was "right +as it respected his God, his country, and himself." For he knew no divided +fidelity, no separate obligation; his most sacred duty to himself was his +highest duty to his country and his God.</p> + +<p>His death took place on December 14, 1799, at Mount Vernon.</p> + +<p>The character of Washington may want some of the poetical elements which +dazzle and delight the multitude, but it possessed fewer inequalities and a +rarer union of virtues than perhaps ever fell to the lot of one man. +Prudence, firmness, sagacity, moderation, an overruling judgement, an +immovable justice, courage that never faltered, patience that never +wearied, truth that disdained all artifice, magnanimity without alloy.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JOSEPHUS"></a>JOSEPHUS</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Autobiography"></a>Autobiography</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Flavius Josephus was born in Jerusalem in 37 A.D. His +father, Matthias, was a priest, and his mother belonged to the Asmonean +princely family. So distinguished was he as a student that, at the age of +twenty-six, he was chosen delegate to Nero. When the critical juncture +arose for his nation, through the rebellion excited by the cruelties of +Gessius Florus, the Roman procurator, Josephus was appointed governor of +Galilee The insurrection proved fatal, for Vespasian by his invasion +rendered resistance hopeless. Subsequently he lived in Rome, and the date +of his death is unknown. The works of this writer are monumental. He wrote +his vivid "Wars of the Jews" in both Hebrew and Greek. His "Antiquities of +the Jews" traces the whole history of the race down to the outbreak of the +great war. Scaliger, one of the acutest of mediaeval critics, declares that +in his writings on the affairs of the Jews, and even on those of foreign +nations, Josephus deserves more credit than all the Greek and Roman writers +put together. His fidelity and veracity are as universally admitted as his +direct and lucid style is generally admired. His account of his own life +and career is a masterpiece in this category of literature, for it is +written with blended modesty and naïveté. In many passages of +this "Autobiography" he does not hesitate to assume great credit for his +own courage, probity, and skill, but in each case the justification is +manifest, for he constantly refers to the tortuous and treacherous +machinations of his virulent enemies. The "Autobiography" is from beginning +to end a thrilling and wonderful romance of real life, for the hairbreadth +escapes of this extraordinary man are among the most singular recitals in +the whole world of adventure. The whole story is unique, as was the noble +individuality of the man himself. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Priest of the Blood-Royal</i></h3> + + +<p>The family from which I, Flavius Josephus, am derived is not an ignoble +one, but hath descended all along from the priests. I am not only sprung +from a sacerdotal family in general, but from the first of the twenty-four +courses of the Jewish priests, and I am of the chief family of that course +also. With us, to be of the sacerdotal dignity is an indication of the +splendour of a family. But, further, by my mother I am of the royal blood; +for the children of Asmonaeus, from whom that family was derived, had both +the office of the high-priesthood and the dignity of a king for a long time +together.</p> + +<p>My father Matthias, to whom I was born in the first year of the reign of +Gaius Caesar, was not only eminent in Jerusalem, our greatest city, on +account of his nobility, but had a higher commendation on account of his +righteousness. I was brought up with my brother Matthias. As a child I +gained a great reputation through my love for learning, and, when I was +about fourteen years of age, was frequently asked by the high-priests and +chief men of the city my opinion about the accurate understanding of points +of the law.</p> + +<p>In my twenty-sixth year I took a voyage to Rome. My object was to plead +before Caesar the cause of certain excellent priests whom Felix, then +procurator of Judaea, had put in bonds on a trivial pretext. I was desirous +to procure deliverance for them, not only because they were of my own +friends, but because I heard that they sustained their piety towards God +under their afflictions, and that they simply subsisted on figs and +nuts.</p> + +<p>Our voyage was an adventurous one, for the ship was wrecked in the +Adriatic Sea, and we that were in it, being about six hundred in number, +swam all night for our lives. I and about eighty others were saved by a +ship of Cyrene. When I had thus escaped, and was come to Puteoli, I became +acquainted with an actor named Alityrus, much beloved by Nero, but a Jew by +birth. Through his interest I became known to Poppaea, Caesar's wife, and +having, through her, procured the liberty of the priests, besides receiving +from her many presents, I returned to Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>Now I perceived that many innovations were begun, and that many were +cherishing hopes of a revolt from the Romans.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Prelude to the Great Crisis</i></h3> + + +<p>So I retired to the inner court of the Temple. Yet I went out of the +Temple again, after Menahem and the chief members of the band of robbers +were put to death, and abode among the high-priests and the chief of the +Pharisees. But no small fear seized upon us when we saw the people in arms, +while we were not able to restrain the seditious. We hoped that Gessius +Floras would speedily arrive with great forces. But on his arrival he was +defeated with great loss.</p> + +<p>The disgrace that fell upon him became the calamity of our whole nation, +for it elevated the hopes of conquering the Romans on the part of those who +desired war. But another cause of the revolt arose in Syria from the cruel +treatment of the Jews in many cities, where they showed not the least +disposition towards rebellion. About 13,000 were treacherously slain in +Scythopolis, and the Jews in Damascus underwent many miseries; but of these +events accounts are given in the books of the Jewish War.</p> + +<p>I was now sent, together with two other priests, Joazar and Judas, by +the principal men of Jerusalem, to Galilee, to persuade the ill men there +to lay down their arms, and to teach them that it were better for us all to +wait to see what the Romans would do. I came into Galilee, and found the +people of Sepphoris in no small agony about their country, by reason that +the Galileans had resolved to plunder it, because of their friendship with +the Romans, and because they had made a league with Cestius Gallus, the +president of Syria. But I quieted their fears. Yet I found the people of +Tiberias ready to take arms, for there were three factions in that +city.</p> + +<p>The first faction, with Julius Capellus for the head, was composed of +men of worth and gravity, and advised the city to continue in allegiance to +the Romans; the second faction, consisting of the most ignoble persons, was +determined for war. But as for Justus, the head of the third faction, +though he pretended to be doubtful about war, yet he was really desirous of +innovation, as supposing that he should gain power by the change of +affairs.</p> + +<p>By his harangues Justus inflamed the minds of many of the people, +persuading them to take arms, and then he went out and set fire to the +villages that belonged to Gadara and Hippos, on the border of Tiberias, and +of the region of Scythopolis.</p> + +<p>Gamala persevered in its allegiance to the Romans, under the persuasion +of Philip, the son of Jacimus, who was governor of the city under King +Agrippa. He reminded the people of the benefits the king had bestowed on +them, and pointed out how powerful the Romans were, and thus he restrained +the zeal of the citizens.</p> + +<p>Now, as soon as I was come into Galilee, and had ascertained the state +of affairs, I wrote to the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem asking for their +direction. They replied that I should remain there; and that, if my +fellow-delegates were willing, I should join with them in the care of +Galilee. But these my colleagues, having gotten great riches from those +tithes which as priests were their dues, and were given to them, determined +to return to their own country. Yet when I desired them to stay to settle +public affairs, they complied, and we removed from Sepphoris to Bethmanus, +a village four furlongs from Tiberias, whence I sent messengers to the +senate of that city, asking that the principal men should come to me.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Governor of Galilee</i></h3> + + +<p>When the chief men of Tiberias were come, I told them I was sent as a +legate from the people at Jerusalem, in order to persuade them to destroy +that house which Herod the tetrarch had built in Tiberias, and which, +contrary to our laws, contained the figures of living creatures. I desired +that they would give us leave to do so; but for a good while they were +unwilling, only being overcome by long persuasion. Then Jesus, son of +Sapphias, one of the leaders of sedition, anticipated us and set the palace +on fire, thinking that as some of the roofs were covered with gold, he +should gain much money thereby. These incendiaries also plundered much +furniture; then they slew all the Greeks who dwelt in Tiberias, and as many +others as were their enemies.</p> + +<p>When I understood this state of things, I was greatly provoked, and went +down to Tiberias and took care of all the royal furniture that could be +recovered from such as had plundered it. Next I committed it to ten of the +chief senators. From thence I and my fellow-delegates went to Gischala to +John, to learn his designs, and soon discovered that he was for +innovations, for he wished me to give him authority to carry off the corn +that belonged to Caesar, and to lay it in the villages of Upper Galilee. +Though I refused, he corrupted my colleagues with money, and so I, being +out-voted, held my tongue. By various other cunning contrivances which I +could not prevent, John gained vast sums of money. But when I had dismissed +my fellow-delegates I took care to have arms provided and the cities +fortified. My first care was to keep Galilee in peace, so I made friends of +seventy of the principal men, and took them on my journeys as companions, +and set them to judge causes.</p> + +<p>I was now about thirty years of age, in which time of life it is +difficult to escape from the calumnies of the envious. Yet did I preserve +every woman free from injury; I despised and refused presents; nor would I +take the tithes due to me as a priest. When I twice took Sepphoris by +force, and Tiberias four times, and Gadara once, and when I had subdued and +captured John, who had laid treacherous snares for me, I did not punish +with death either him or others. And on this account I suppose it was that +God, Who is never unacquainted with those that do as they ought to do, +delivered me still out of the hands of my enemies, and afterwards preserved +me when I fell into many perils.</p> + +<p>At this time, when my abode was at Cana, a village of Galilee, John came +to Tiberias and stirred a revolt against me, so that my life was in danger. +I escaped only by fleeing down the lake in a ship to Taricheae, whence I +proceeded to Sepphoris. John returned to Gischala, where he continued to +cultivate bitter hatred against me. Through the machinations of himself and +Simon, a chief man in Gadara, all Galilee was filled with rumours that +their country was about to be betrayed by me to the Romans.</p> + +<p>Hereby I again incurred extreme peril, but I took a bold course. Dressed +in a black garment, with my sword hung at my neck, I went to face, in the +hippodrome, a multitude of the citizens of Taricheae, and addressed them in +such terms that, though some wished to kill me, these were overcome by the +rest.</p> + +<p>Although the multitude returned to their homes, yet the robbers and +other authors of the tumult, afraid lest I might punish them, took six +hundred armed men and came to burn the house where I abode. Thinking it +ignoble to run away, I resolved to expose myself to danger; so I shut +myself up in an upper room, and asked that one of them should be sent up to +me, by whom I would send out to them money from the spoils I had taken.</p> + +<p>When they had sent in one of their boldest, I had him whipped severely, +and commanded one of his hands to be cut off and hung about his neck. In +this case he was put out, and those who had sent him, affrighted at the +supposition that I had more armed men about me than they had, immediately +fled.</p> + +<p>I dealt in like manner with Clitus, a young man of Tiberias, who was the +author of a fresh sedition in that city. Since I thought it not agreeable +to piety to put one of my own people to death, I called to Clitus himself, +and said to him, "Since thou deservest to lose both thy hands for thine +ingratitude to me, be thou thine own executioner, lest by refusal to do so +thou undergo a worse punishment."</p> + +<p>When he earnestly begged me to spare one of his hands, it was with +difficulty that I granted it. So, in order to prevent the loss of both his +hands, he willingly took his sword and cut off his own left hand; and this +put an end to the sedition.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--The Failure of His Foes</i></h3> + + +<p>The people of Gamala wrote to me, asking that I would send them an armed +force, and also workmen to raise up the walls of their city, and I acceded +to each of their requests. I also built walls about many villages and +cities in Upper and Lower Galilee, besides laying up in them much corn. But +the hatred of John of Gischala grew more violent by reason of my +prosperity. He sent his brother Simon to Jerusalem with a hundred armed men +to induce the Sanhedrin to deprive me of my commission; but this was not an +easy thing to do, for Ananus, one of the chief priests, demonstrated that +many of the people bore witness that I had acted like an excellent +general.</p> + +<p>Yet Ananus and some of his friends, corrupted by bribes, secretly agreed +to expel me out of Galilee, without making the rest of the citizens +acquainted with what they were doing. Accordingly they sent four men of +distinction down to Galilee to seek to supersede me in ruling the +province.</p> + +<p>These were to ask the people of Galilee what was their reason of their +love to me. If the people alleged that it was because I was born at +Jerusalem, that I was versed in the law, and that I was a priest, then they +were to reply that they also were natives of Jerusalem, that they +understood the law, and that two of them were priests. To Jonathan and his +companion were given 40,000 drachmae out of the public money, and a large +band of men was equipped with arms and money to accompany them.</p> + +<p>But wonderful was what I saw in a dream that very night. It seemed to me +that a certain person stood by me, and said, "O Josephus, put away all +fear, for what now afflicts thee will render thee most happy, and thou +shalt overcome all difficulties! Be not cast down, but remember that thou +art to fight the Romans."</p> + +<p>When I had seen this vision I arose, intending to go down to the plain +to meet a great multitude who, I knew, would be assembled, for my friends, +on my refusal had dispatched messengers all around to inform the people of +Galilee of my purpose to depart. And when the great assembly of men, with +their wives and children, saw me, they fell on their faces weeping, and +besought me not to leave them to be exposed to their enemies.</p> + +<p>When I heard this, and saw what sorrow affected the people, I was moved +with compassion, and promised that I would stay with them, thinking it +became me to undergo manifold hazards for the sake of so great a multitude. +So I ordered that five thousand of them should come to me armed, and that +the rest should depart to their own homes.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Vespasian landed at Tyre, and King Agrippa with +him. How he then came into Galilee, and how he fought his first battle with +me near Taricheae, and how, after the capture of Jotapata, I was taken +alive and bound, and how I was afterward loosed, with all that was done by +me in the Jewish war, and during the siege of Jerusalem, I have accurately +related in the books concerning the "Wars of the Jews."</p> + +<p>When the siege of Jotapata was over, and I was among the Romans, I was +kept with much care, by means of the great respect that Vespasian showed +me. After being freed from my bonds I went to Alexandria, where I married. +From thence I was sent, together with Titus, to the siege of Jerusalem, and +was frequently in danger of being put to death. For the Jews desired to get +me into their power to have me punished, and the Romans, whenever they were +beaten, thought it was through my treachery. But Titus Caesar was well +acquainted with the uncertain fortune of war, and returned no answer to the +soldiers' solicitation against me.</p> + +<p>When Titus was going away to Rome he made choice of me to sail along +with him, and paid me great respect And when we were come to Rome I had +great care taken of me by Vespasian, for he gave me an apartment in his own +house.</p> + +<p>When Vespasian was dead, Titus kept up the same kindness which his +father had shown me, and Domitian, who succeeded, still augmented his +respects to me; nay, Domitia, the wife of Caesar, continued to show me many +kindnesses.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JOHN_GIBSON_LOCKHART"></a>JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_Sir_Walter_Scott"></a>Life of Sir Walter Scott</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> John Gibson Lockhart was born in Scotland in 1794. He +received part of his education at Glasgow, part at Oxford, and in 1816 he +became an advocate at the Scotch bar. As one of the chief supporters of +Blackwood's Magazine, he began to exhibit that sharp, bitter wit which was +his most salient characteristic. In 1820 he married the eldest daughter of +Sir Walter Scott, and for this reason, perhaps no one has been better +qualified to write the biography of the great novelist. Lockhart's "Life of +Sir Walter Scott" is a biography in the best sense of the word--one which +has been ranked even with Boswell's "Johnson." It reveals to the reader the +inmost personality of the man himself, and no life from first to last could +better afford such complete revelation. Moreover, the "Life" was a labour +of love, Lockhart himself receiving not a fraction of its very considerable +proceeds, but resigning them absolutely to Scott's creditors. Published in +seven volumes in 1838, in every respect it is the greatest of all +Lockhart's books. Lockhart died in 1854. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>Early Years</i></h3> + + +<p>Sir Walter Scott was distantly connected with ancient families both on +his father's and his mother's side. His father, Walter Scott, a Writer to +the Signet in Edinburgh, was a handsome, hospitable, shrewd and religious +man, who married, in 1758, Anne, eldest daughter of Dr. John Rutherford, +professor of medicine in Edinburgh University. The Scotts had twelve +children, of whom only five survived early youth.</p> + +<p>The subject of this biography was born on August 15, 1771, in a house at +the head of the College Wynd. He was a healthy child, but when eighteen +months old was affected with a fever which left a permanent lameness in the +right leg. With a view to curing this weakness he was sent to live with his +paternal grandfather, at the farm house of Sandy-Knowe near Dryburgh Abbey, +in the extreme south of Berwickshire.</p> + +<p>Here, in the country air, he became a sturdy boy, and his mind was +stored with the old Broder tales and songs. In his fourth year he was taken +to London by sea, and thence to Bath, where he remained about a year for +the sake of the waters, became acquainted with the venerable John Home, +author of "Douglas," and was introduced by his uncle, Capt. Robert Scott, +to the delights of the theatre and "As You Like It."</p> + +<p>From his eighth year Scott lived at his father's house in George Square, +Edinburgh. His lameness and solitary habits had made him a good reader, and +he used to read aloud to his mother, Pope's translation of Homer and Allan +Ramsay's "Evergreen;" his mother had the happiest of tempers and a good +love of poetry. In the same year he was sent to the High School, Edinburgh, +under the celebrated Dr. Adam, who made him sensible of the beauties of the +Latin poets.</p> + +<p>After his school years, the lad, who had become delicate from rapid +growth, spent half a year with an aunt, Miss Janet Scott, at Kelso. He had +now awaked to the poetry of Shakespeare and of Spenser, and had acquired an +ample and indiscriminate appetite for reading of all kinds. To this time at +Kelso he also traced his earliest feeling for the beauties of natural +objects. The love of Nature, especially when combined with ancient ruins, +or remains of our forefathers' piety or splendour, became his insatiable +passion.</p> + +<p>He was then sent to classes in the Faculty of Arts in Edinburgh +University; and in 1785 was articled to his father and entered upon the +wilderness of law. Though he disliked the drudgery of the office, he loved +his father and was ambitious, and the allowance which he received afforded +the pleasures of the circulating library and the theatre. His reading had +now extended to the great writers in French, Spanish and Italian +literature. Distant excursions on foot or on horseback formed his favorite +amusement, undertaken for the pleasure of seeing romantic scenery and +places distinguished by historic events.</p> + +<p>In 1790, Scott determined, in accordance with his father's wishes, to +become an advocate, and assumed the gown on July 11, 1792. His personal +appearance at this time was engaging. He had a fresh, brilliant complexion, +his eyes were clear and radiant, and the noble expanse of his brow gave +dignity to his whole aspect. His smile was always delightful, and there was +a playful intermixture of tenderness and gravity well calculated to fix a +lady's eye. His figure, except for the blemish in one limb, was eminently +handsome, and much above the usual stature; and the whole outline was that +of extraordinary vigour, without a touch of clumsiness.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Poet's Education</i></h3> + + +<p>I do not know when his first attachment began; its object was Margaret, +daughter of Sir John and Lady Jane Stuart Belcher, of Invermay. But after +Scott had for several years nourished the dream of union with this lady, +his hopes terminated in her being married to the late Sir William Forbes, +of Pitsligo, a gentleman of the highest character, who lived to act the +part of a generous friend to his rival throughout the distresses of 1826 +and 1827.</p> + +<p>After being admitted an advocate, Scott undertook many excursions to +various parts of Scotland, gaining that intimate knowledge of the country, +and its people and traditions, which appears in his poems and novels. Thus, +he visited Northumberland, and made a close inspection of the battle-field +of Flodden, and on another journey studied the Saxon cathedral of Hexam. +During seven successive years he made raids, as he called them, into the +wild and inaccessible district of Liddesdale, picking up the ancient +"riding ballads" preserved among the descendants of the moss-troopers. To +these rambles he owed much of the materials of his "Minstrelsy of the +Border," and here he came to know Willie Elliot, the original of Dandie +Dinmont. Another expedition, into Galloway, carried him into the scenery of +Guy Mannering. Stirlingshire, Perthshire and Forfarshire became familiar +ground to him, and the scenery of Loch Katrine especially was associated +with many a merry expedition. His first appearance as counsel in a criminal +court was at the Jedburgh assizes, where he helped a veteran poacher and +sheep-stealer to escape through the meshes of the law.</p> + +<p>In June, 1795, Scott was appointed one of the curators of the Advocate's +Library and became an adept in the deciphering of old manuscript. His +highlands and border raids were constantly suggesting inquiries as to +ancient local history and legend, which could nowhere else have been +pursued with equal advantage.</p> + +<p>In the same year, a rhymed translation of Burger's "Lenore," from his +pen, was shown by him to Miss Cranstoun, afterwards Countess of Purgstall, +who was delighted and astonished at it. "Upon my word," she wrote in a +letter to a friend, "Walter Scott is going to turn out a poet--something of +a cross I think between Burns and Gray." This lady had the ballad elegantly +printed in April, 1796, and Scott thus made his first appearance as an +author. In October, this translation, together with that of the "Wild +Huntsman," also from Burger, was published anonymously in a thin quarto by +Manners and Miller, of Edinburgh. The little volume found warm favour: its +free, masculine and lively style revealing the hand of a poet.</p> + + +<h3><i>Marriage</i></h3> + + +<p>In July, 1797, Scott set out on a tour to the English lakes, accompanied +by his brother John and Adam Fergusson, visiting Tweeddale, Carlisle, +Penrith, Ullswater and Windermere, and at length fixing their headquarters +at Gilsland, a peaceful and sequestered little watering place.</p> + +<p>He was riding one day with Fergusson when they met, some miles away from +home, a young lady on horseback, whose appearance instantly struck both of +them so much, that they kept her in view until they had satisfied +themselves that she was staying in Gilsland. The same evening there was a +ball, at which Scott was introduced to Charlotte Margaret Carpenter.</p> + +<p>Without the features of a regular beauty, she was rich in personal +attractions; a fairy-like form; a clear olive complexion; large, deep eyes +of Italian brown; a profusion of silken tresses, raven-black; her address +mingling the reserve of a pretty young Englishwoman with a certain natural +archness and gaiety that suited well her French accent. A lovelier vision, +as all who remember her youth have assured me, could hardly be imagined, +and from that hour the fate of the poet was fixed.</p> + +<p>She was the daughter of Jean Charpentier, of Lyons, a devoted royalist, +who died in the beginning of the Revolution; Madame Charpentier had died +soon after bringing her children to London; and the Marquis of Downshire +had become their guardian. Miss Charpentier was now making a summer +excursion under the care of the lady who had superintended her +education.</p> + +<p>In an affectionate and dutiful letter Scott acquainted his mother with +his purpose of marriage, and Miss Carpenter remained at Carlisle until her +destiny was settled. The lady had a considerable private income, amounting +to about £500 a year; the difficulties presented by the prudence and +prejudices of family connections were soon overcome; and the marriage took +place in St. Mary's, Carlisle, on December 24, 1797. Scott took his bride +to a lodging in George Street, Edinburgh, the house which he had taken not +being quite ready, and the first fortnight convinced her husband's family +that she had the sterling qualities of a wife.</p> + +<p>Their house in South Castle Street, soon after exchanged for one in +North Castle Street, which he inhabited down to 1826, became the centre of +a highly agreeable circle; the evenings passed in a round of innocent +gaiety; and they and their friends were passionately fond of the theatre. +Perhaps nowhere else could have been formed a society on so small a scale +as that of Edinburgh at this time, including more of vigorous intellect, +varied information, elegant tastes, and real virtue, affection and mutual +confidence.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1798, Scott hired a cottage at Lasswade, on the Esk, +about six miles from Edinburgh, having a garden with a most beautiful view. +In this retreat they spent several happy summers, receiving the visits of +their chosen friends from the neighbouring city, and wandering amidst some +of the most romantic scenery of Scotland.</p> + + +<h3><i>Early Poems</i></h3> + + +<p>In February, 1799, a London Bookseller named Bell, brought out Scott's +version of Goethe's tragedy, "Goetz von Berlichingen of the Iron Hand," +having purchased the copyright for twenty-five guineas. This was the first +publication that bore Scott's name. In March of that year he took his wife +to London, and met with some literary and fashionable society; but his +chief object was to examine the antiquities of the Tower and Westminster, +and to make researches among the manuscripts of the British Museum. He +found his "Goetz" favourably spoken of by the critics, but it had not +attracted general attention.</p> + +<p>About this time Scott wrote a play entitled "House of Aspen" which, +having been read and commended by the celebrated actress, Mrs. Esten, was +put in rehearsal by Kemble for the stage. But the notion was abandoned; and +discovering the play thirty years after among his papers, Scott sent it to +the "Keepsake" of 1829.</p> + +<p>His return to Scotland was hastened by the news of his father's death, +and his mother and sister spent the following summer and autumn in his +cottage at Lasswade. This summer produced his first serious attempt in +verse, "Glenfinlas," which was followed by the noble ballads, "Eve of St. +John," "The Grey Brother" and "Fire-King"; and it was in the course of this +autumn that he first visited Bothwell Castle, the seat of Archibald, Lord +Douglas, whose wife, and her companion, Lady Louisa Stuart, were among his +dearest friends through life.</p> + +<p>During a visit to Kelso, before returning to Edinburgh for the winter, +Scott renewed an acquaintance with a classfellow of his boyhood, Mr. James +Ballantyne, who was now printer and editor of a weekly paper in his native +town. Scott showed him some of his poems, expressed his wonder that his old +friend did not try to get some bookseller's printing and suggested a +collection of old Border ballads. Ballantyne printed for him a few +specimens to show to the booksellers; and thus began an experiment which +changed the fortunes of both Scott and Ballantyne.</p> + +<p>Soon after the commencement of the Winter Session, the office of +Sheriff-depute of Selkirkshire became vacant, and the Duke of Buccleuch +used his influence with Mr. Henry Dundas, afterwards Viscount Melville, to +procure it for Scott. The appointment to the Sheriff ship was made on +December 16, 1799. It brought him an annual salary of £300; the +duties of the office were far from heavy; the small pastoral territory was +largely the property of the Duke of Buccleuch; and Scott turned with +redoubled zeal to his project of editing the ballads, many of which belong +to this district. In this design he found able assistants in Richard Heber +and John Leyden. During the years 1800 and 1801, the "Minstrelsy" formed +his chief occupation.</p> + +<p>The duties of the Sheriffship took him frequently to Ettrick Forest, and +on such occasions he took up his lodging at the little inn at Clovenford, a +favourite fishing station on the road from Edinburgh to Selkirk. Here he +was within a few miles of the values of Yarrow and Ettrick. On one of his +excursions here, penetrating beyond St Mary's Lake, he found hospitality at +the farmhouse of William Laidlaw, through whom he came to know James Hogg, +a brother poet hardly conscious of his powers.</p> + +<p>The first and second volumes of the "Minstrelsy" appeared in January, +1802, from the house of Cadell and Davies in the Strand, and formed Scott's +first introduction as an original writer to the English public. Their +reception greatly elated Ballantyne, the printer, who looked on his +connection with them as the most fortunate event in his life. The great +bookseller, Longman, repaired to Scotland soon after this, and purchased +the copyright of the "Minstrelsy," including the third volume; and not long +afterwards James Ballantyne set up as a printer in Edinburgh, assisted by a +liberal loan from Scott.</p> + + +<h3><i>Scott's Chief Poems</i></h3> + + +<p>The "Edinburgh Review" was begun in 1802, and Scott soon became a +contributor of critical articles for his friend Mr. Jeffrey, the elder. His +chief work was now on "Sir Tristram," a romance ascribed to Thomas of +Ercildoune; but "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" was making progress in 1803, +when Scott made the acquaintance of Wordsworth and his sister, under +circumstances described by Dorothy Wordsworth in her Journal. In the +following May, he took a lease of the house of Ashestiel, with an adjoining +farm, on the southern bank of the Tweed, a few miles from Selkirk; and in +the same month "Sir Tristram" was published by Constable of Edinburgh. +Captain Robert Scott, his uncle, died in June, leaving him the house of +Rosebank near Kelso, which Scott sold for £5000.</p> + +<p>"The Lay of the Last Minstrel" was published in the first week of 1805, +and its success at once decided that literature should form the main +business of Scott's life. Its design arose originally from the suggestion +of the lovely Countess of Dalkeith, who had heard a wild, rude legend of +Border <i>diablerie</i>, and sportively asked him to make it the subject of +a ballad. He cast about for a new variety of diction and rhyme, and having +happened to hear a recitation of Coleridge's unpublished "Christabel" +determined to adopt a similar cadence. The division into cantos was +suggested by one of his friends, after the example of Spenser's "Faery +Queen." The creation of the framework, the conception of the ancient +harper, came last of all. Thus did "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" grow out +of the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border." The publishers were Longman of +London, and Constable of Edinburgh, and the author's share of profits came +to £769.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that Scott took over a third share in Ballantyne's +business, a commercial tie which bound him for twenty years. Its influence +on his literary work and his fortunes was productive of much good and not a +little evil. Meanwhile, he entered with the zest of an active partner into +many publishing schemes, and exerted himself in the interests of many +authors less fortunate than himself.</p> + +<p>With the desire of placing his financial position on a more substantial +basis, Scott had solicited the office of Clerk of Session; and after some +difficulties, during which he visited London and was received by the +Princess of Wales, he was installed in that position on March 8, 1806, and +continued to discharge its duties with exemplary regularity for twenty-five +years.</p> + +<p>The progress of "Marmion" was further interrupted by Scott's appointment +as secretary to a Commission for the improvement of Scottish Jurisprudence, +but the poems appeared at last in February, 1808. It received only very +qualified praise from Jeffrey, but I think it may be considered on the +whole Scott's greatest poem, and its popularity was from the very first +extraordinary.</p> + +<p>In April of the same year William Miller of Albemarle Street published +Scott's great edition of Dryden, with a biography, in eighteen volumes; and +the editor's industry and critical judgement were the subject of a +laudatory article by Hallam in the "Edinburgh Review."</p> + +<p>Scott was now engaged in a vast multiplicity of business. He was +preparing an edition of Swift for Constable, establishing his own partner +as a publisher in Edinburgh under the title of "John Ballantyne and Co., +Booksellers," and was projecting a new periodical of sound constitutional +principles, to be known as the "Quarterly Review," published by Murray in +London and by Ballantyne in Edinburgh. In connection with the latter +enterprise Scott and Mrs. Scott went up to London for two months in the +Spring of 1809, and enjoyed the society of Coleridge, Canning, Croker, and +Ellis. The first "Quarterly" appeared while he was in London, and contained +three articles from his pen. At this time also he prevailed on Henry +Siddons, the nephew of Kemble, to undertake the lease and management of the +Edinburgh Theatre; and purchasing a share himself, became an acting +trustee, and for many years took a lively concern in the Edinburgh +company.</p> + +<p>Early in May, 1810, "The Lady of the Lake" came out, like her two elder +sisters, in all the majesty of quarto, at the price of two guineas, the +author receiving two thousand guineas for the copyright. The whole country +rang with the praises of the poet, and crowds set off to view the scenery +of Loch Katrine. The critics were in full harmony with one another and with +the popular voice.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Waverley Novels</i></h3> + + +<p>On returning, in 1810, from an excursion to the Islands of the western +Scottish coast, where he had been collecting impressions for "The Lord of +the Isles," Scott was searching one morning for fishing-flies in an old +desk at Ashestiel, when he came across a forgotten manuscript, written and +abandoned five years before. It contained the first two chapters of +"Waverley." He submitted it to Ballantyne, whose opinion was on the whole +against completion of the novel, and it was again laid aside.</p> + +<p>Although his publishing venture had begun to wear a bad aspect, Scott +was now in receipt of £1300 a year as Clerk of Session, and when the +lease of Ashestiel ran out in May, 1811, he felt justified in purchasing, +for £4000, a farm on the banks of the Tweed above Galafoot. This +farm, then known as "Garty Holes," became "Abbotsford," so called because +these lands had belonged of old to the great Abbey of Melrose; and in his +own mind Scott became henceforth the "Laird of Abbotsford."</p> + +<p>The last days at Ashestiel were marked by a friendly interchange of +letters with Lord Byron, whose "Childe Harold" had just come out, and with +correspondence with Johanna Baillie and with Crabbe. At Whitsuntide the +family, which included two boys and two girls, moved to their new +possession, and structural alterations on the farmhouse began.</p> + +<p>The poem "Rokeby" appeared in January, 1813. A month or two later the +crisis in the war affected credit aniversally, and many publishing firms, +including that of the Ballantynes, were brought to extremity. The +difficulty was relieved for a time by the sale of copyrights and much of +the stock to Constable, on the understanding that the publishing concern +should be wound up as soon as possible. But Scott was preparing fresh +embarrassments for himself by the purchase of another parcel of land; a yet +more acute crisis in the Ballantyne firm forced him to borrow from the Duke +of Buccleuch; and when planning out his work for the purpose of retrieving +his position he determined to complete the fragment of "Waverley."</p> + +<p>The offer of the post of poet-laureate was made to Scott at this time, +but holding already two lucrative offices in the gift of the Crown, he +declined the honour and suggested that it should be given to Southey, which +was accordingly done. The "Swift" in nineteen volumes, appeared in July, +1814, and had a moderate success.</p> + +<p>"Waverley," of which Scott was to receive half the profits, was +published by Constable in July, 1814, without the author's name, and its +great success with the public was assured from the first. None of Scott's +intimate friends ever had, or could have, the slightest doubt as to its +parentage, and when Mr. Jeffrey reviewed the book, doing justice to its +substantial merits, he was at no pains to conceal his conviction of the +authorship. With the single exception of the "Quarterly," the critics +hailed it as a work of original creative genius, one of the masterpieces of +prose fiction.</p> + +<p>From a voyage to the Hebrides with the Commissioners of the Northern +Lighthouses, Scott returned in vigour to his desk at Abbotsford, where he +worked at "The Lord of the Isles" and "Guy Mannering." The poem appeared in +January and the novel in February, 1815. "The Lord of the Isles" never +reached the same popularity as the earlier poems had enjoyed, but "Guy +Mannering" was pronounced by acclamation to be fully worthy of the honours +of "Waverley." In March, Scott went to London with his wife and daughter, +met Byron almost daily in Murray's house, and was presented to the Prince +Regent, who was enchanted with Scott, as Scott with him. A visit to Paris +in July of the same year is commemorated in "Paul's Letters to His +Kinsfolk." Scott's reputation had as yet made little way among the French, +but the Duke of Wellington, then in Paris, treated him with kindness and +confidence, and a few eminent Frenchmen vied with the enthusiastic Germans +in their attentions to him.</p> + +<p>"The Antiquary" came out early in 1816, and was its author's favourite +among all his novels. The "Tales of my Landlord," published by Murray and +Blackwood, appeared in December, and though anonymous was at once +recognized as Scott's. The four volumes included the "Black Dwarf" and "Old +Mortality." A month later followed a poem, "Harold the Dauntless." The +title of "Rob Roy" was suggested by Constable; and the novel was published +on the last day of 1817.</p> + +<p>During this year the existing house of Abbotsford had been building, and +Scott had added to his estate the lands of Toftfield, at a price of +£10,000. He was then thought to be consolidating a large fortune, for +the annual profits of his novels alone had, for several years, been not +less than the cost of Toftfield.</p> + +<p>Having been asked by the Ballantynes to contribute to the historical +department of the "Annual Register," I often had occasion now to visit +Scott in his house in Castle Street, where I usually found him working in +his "den," a small room behind the dining parlour, in company with his dog, +Maida. Besides his own huge elbow-chair, there were but two others in the +room, and one of these was reserved for his amanuensis, a portrait of +Claverhouse, over the chimneypiece, with a Highland target on either side +and broadswords and dirks disposed star-fashion round them. A venerable +cat, fat and sleek, watched the proceedings of his toaster <b>and</b> Maids +with dignified equanimity.</p> + + +<h3><i>Abbotsford</i></h3> + + +<p>The house of Abbotsford was not completed, and finally rid of carpenters +and upholsterers, until Christmas, 1824; but the first time I saw it was in +1818, and from that time onwards Scott's hospitality was extended freely +not only to the proprietors and tenants of the surrounding district, but to +a never-ending succession of visitors who came to Abbotsford as pilgrims. +In the seven or eight brilliant seasons when his prosperity was at its +height, he entertained under his roof as many persons of distinction in +rank, in politics, in art, in literature, and in science, as the most +princely nobleman of his age ever did in the like space of time. It is not +beyond the mark to add that of the eminent foreigners who visited our +Island within this period, a moiety crossed the Channel mainly in +consequence of the interest in which his writings had invested Scotland, +and that the hope of beholding the man under his own roof was the crowning +motive with half that moiety. His rural neighbours were assembled +principally at two annual festivals of sport; one was a solemn bout of +salmon fishing for the neighbouring gentry, presided over by the Sheriff; +and the other was the "Abbotsford Hunt," a coursing field on a large scale, +including, with many of the young gentry, all Scott's personal favourites +among the yeomen and farmers of the surrounding country.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all his prodigious hospitality, his double official +duties as Sheriff and Clerk of Session, the labours and anxieties in which +the ill-directed and tottering firm of Ballantyne involved him, the keen +interest which he took in every detail of the adornment of the house and +estate of Abbotsford, and finally, notwithstanding obstinate and agonizing +attacks of internal cramp which were undermining his constitution, Scott +continued to produce rapidly the wonderful series of the Waverley Novels. +"The Bride of Lammermoor," "Legend of Montrose" and "Ivanhoe" appeared in +1819, "The Monastery," "The Abbot" and "Kenilworth" in 1820, "The Pirate" +in 1821, "The Fortunes of Nigel" in 1822, "Peveril of the Peak," "Quentin +Durward" and "St. Ronan's Well" in 1823, and "Redgauntlet" in 1824. His +great literary reputation was acknowledged by a baronetcy conferred in +1820, and by the most flattering condescensions on the part of King George +IV on his visit to Edinburgh in 1822.</p> + + +<h3><i>The End of All</i></h3> + + +<p>Scott's Diary from November, 1825, shows dear forebodings of the +collapse of the houses of Constable and Ballantyne. In a time of universal +confidence and prosperity, the banks had supported them to an extent quite +unwarranted by their assets or their trade, and as soon as the banks began +to doubt and to enquire, their fall was a foregone conclusion. In December, +Scott borrowed £10,000 on the lands of Abbotsford, and advanced that +sum to the struggling houses; on January 16, 1826, their ruin, and Scott's +with them, were complete. Scott immediately placed his whole affairs in the +hands of three trustees, and by the 26th all his creditors had agreed to a +private trust to which he mortgaged all his future literary labours.</p> + +<p>On March 15, he left for the last time his house in Castle Street; on +April 3; "Woodstock" was sold for the creditors' behoof, realising +£8228; on May 15, Lady Scott died, after a short illness, at +Abbotsford. "I think," writes Scott in his Diary, "my heart will break. +Lonely, aged, deprived of all my family--all but poor Anne; an +impoverished, embarrassed man, deprived of the sharer of my thoughts and +counsels, who could always talk down my sense of the calamitous +apprehensions which break the heart that must bear them alone. Even her +foibles were of service to me, by giving me things to think of beyond my +weary self-reflections."</p> + +<p>An expedition to Paris, in October, to gather materials for his "Life of +Napoleon." was a seasonable relief. On his return through London, the King +undertook that his son, Charles Scott, then at Oxford, should be launched +in the diplomatic service. The elder son, heir to the baronetcy, was now +with his regiment in Ireland.</p> + +<p>The "Life of Buonaparte" was published in June, 1827, and secured high +praise from many, among whom was Goethe. It realised £18,000 for the +creditors, and had health been spared him, Scott must soon have freed +himself from all encumbrances. Before the close of 1829 he had published +also the "Chronicles of the Canongate," "Tales of a Grandfather," "The Fair +Maid of Perth" and "Anne of Geirstein," but he had been visited also by +several threatenings of apoplexy, and on February 15, 1830, was prostrated +by a serious attack. Recovering from this illness, Scott resigned his +office as Clerk of Session, and during the rest of the year produced a +great quantity of manuscript, including the "Letters on Demonology and +Witchcraft," and the series of "Tales of a Grandfather" dealing with French +history. April, 1831, brought with it a distinct stroke of paralysis, yet +both "Castle Dangerous" and "Count Robert of Paris" were finished in the +course of the year.</p> + +<p>Sailing in October, in the "Barham," Sir Walter Scott visited Malta and +Naples, and came to Rome in April, 1832. In May he set out for home by +Venice, Munich and the Rhine, but his companions could hardly prevail on +him to look at the interesting objects by the way, and another serious +attack fell upon him at Nimeguen. He reached London on June 13, and on July +7 was carried on board the steamer for Leith, and was at Abbotsford by the +11th. Here the remains of his strength gradually declined, and his mind was +hopelessly obscured.</p> + +<p>As I was dressing on the morning of September 17, a servant came to tell +me that his master had awoke in a state of composure and consciousness, and +wished to see me immediately. I found him entirely himself, though in the +last extreme of feebleness. "Lockhart," he said "I may have no more than a +minute to speak to you. My dear, be a good man--be virtuous--be +religious--be a good man. Nothing else will give you any comfort when you +come to lie here." He scarcely afterwards gave any sign of consciousness, +and breathed his last on September 21, in the presence of all his +children.</p> + +<p>His funeral was unostentatious but the attendance was very great. He was +laid in the Abbey of Dryburgh, by the side of his wife, in the sepulchre of +his ancestors.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h2><a name="The_Life_of_Robert_Burns"></a>The Life of Robert Burns</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> John Gibson Lockhart was born, a son of the manse, at +Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire, on July 14, 1794. Receiving his early education +in Glasgow, he went, at sixteen, with a scholarship to Balliol College, +Oxford. In 1816 he was called to the Scottish Bar; but literature occupied +him more than law, and as early as 1819 he wrote the once popular "Peter's +Letters to his Kinsfolk." Next year he married Scott's eldest daughter, +Sophia. Lockhart was a leading contributor to the early "Blackwood," where +his fine translations of Spanish ballads first appeared, and he edited the +"Quarterly Review" from 1825 to 1853. He died at Abbotsford on November 25, +1854, and was buried at Scott's feet in Dryburgh Abbey. Lockhart's forte +was biography, and his "Life of Scott" ranks beside Boswell's "Johnson." +The "Life of Burns" was published first in Constable's "Miscellany" in +1828, when the whole impression was exhausted in six weeks. It passed +through five editions before the author's death. Though many lives of Burns +have appeared since, with details unknown to Lockhart, his biography is in +many respects the best we possess, and is never likely to be superseded. +Even Mr. Henley is "glad to agree with Lockhart." It is this book that is +the subject of Carlyle's famous essay on Burns. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--The Poet in the Making</i></h3> + + +<p>Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759, in a clay cottage at Alloway, +two miles south of Ayr, and near the "auld brig o' Doon." His father, +William Burnes, or Burness--for so he spelt his name--was from +Kincardineshire. When Robert was born he had the lease of a seven-acre +croft, and had intended to establish himself as a nurseryman. He was a man +of notable character and individuality, immortalised by his son as "the +saint, the father, and the husband" of "The Cottar's Saturday Night." "I +have met with few," said Burns, "who understood men, their manners, and +their ways, equal to my father." Agnes Brown, the poet's mother, is +described as a very sagacious woman, with an inexhaustible store of ballads +and traditionary tales, upon which she nourished Robert's infant +imagination, while her husband attended to "the weightier matters of the +law."</p> + +<p>When Burns was between six and seven, his father removed to the farm of +Mount Oliphant, two miles from the Brig o' Doon. But the soil was poor, and +the factor--afterwards pictured in "The Twa Dogs"--so harsh and +unreasonable, that the tenant was glad to quit. In 1777 he removed about +ten miles to the larger and better farm of Lochlea, in the parish of +Tarbolton. Here, after a short interval of prosperity, some trouble arose +about the conditions of the lease. The dispute involved William Burnes in +ruin, and he died broken-hearted in February, 1784.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, at the age of six, Robert, with his brother Gilbert, was +learning to read, write, and sum under the direction of John Murdoch, an +itinerant teacher, who has left an interesting description of his +pupil.</p> + +<p>"Gilbert always appeared to me to possess a more lively imagination," +says Murdoch, "and to be more of the wit, than Robert. I attempted to teach +them a little church-music. Here they were left far behind by all the rest +of the school. Robert's ear, in particular, was remarkably dull, and his +voice untunable. It was long before I could get them to distinguish one +tune from another. Robert's countenance was generally grave and expressive +of a serious, contemplative, and thoughtful mind. Gilbert's face said, +'Mirth, with thee I mean to live;' and, certainly, if any person who knew +the two boys had been asked which of them was the more likely to court the +muses, he would never have guessed that Robert had a propensity of that +kind."</p> + +<p>When Murdoch left the district, the father himself continued to instruct +the boys; but when Robert was about thirteen he and Gilbert were sent, +"week about, during a summer quarter," to the parish school of Dalrymple. +The good man could not pay two fees, or his two boys could not be spared at +the same time from the farm!</p> + +<p>"We lived very poorly," says the poet. "I was a dexterous ploughman for +my age; and the next eldest to me was a brother [Gilbert], who could drive +the plough very well, and help me to thrash the corn. A novel-writer might +perhaps have viewed these scenes with some satisfaction, but so did not I." +Burns's person, inured to daily toil, and continually exposed to every +variety of weather, presented, before the usual time, every characteristic +of robust and vigorous manhood. He says himself that he never feared a +competitor in any species of rural exertion; and Gilbert, a man of uncommon +bodily strength, adds that neither he, nor any labourer he ever saw at +work, was equal to him, either in the cornfield or on the +thrashing-floor.</p> + +<p>Before his sixteenth year Burns had read a large amount of literature. +But a collection of songs, he says significantly, "was my <i>vade +mecum</i>. I pored over them, driving my cart, or walking to labour, song +by song, verse by verse; carefully noticing the true, tender, or sublime +from affectation or fustian." It was about this date that he "first +committed the sin of rhyme." The subject was a "bewitching creature," a +partner in the harvest field, and the song was that beginning "Once I loved +a bonnie lass."</p> + +<p>After this, though much occupied with labour and love, he found leisure +occasionally to clothe the various moods of his mind in verse. It was as +early as seventeen that he wrote the stanzas which open beautifully, "I +dream'd I lay where flowers were springing," and also the ballad, "My +father was a farmer upon the Carrick border," which, years afterwards, he +used to con over with delight, because of the faithfulness with which it +recalled to him the circumstances and feelings of his opening manhood. +These are the only two of his very early productions in which there is +nothing expressly about love. The rest were composed to celebrate the +charms of those rustic beauties who followed each other in the domain of +his fancy, or shared the capacious throne between them. The excursions of +the rural lover form the theme of almost all the songs which Burns is known +to have produced about this period; and such of these juvenile performances +as have been preserved are beautiful. They show how powerfully his boyish +fancy had been affected by the old rural minstrelsy of his own country, and +how easily his native taste caught the secret of its charm.</p> + +<p>In 1781, despairing of farming, he went to Irvine to learn flax-dressing +with a relative. He was diligent at first, but misfortune soon overtook +him. The shop where he was engaged caught fire, and he "was left, like a +true poet, not worth a sixpence." Gilbert Burns dates a serious change in +his character and conduct from this six months' residence in the seaport +town. "He contracted," he says, "some acquaintance of a freer manner of +thinking than he had been accustomed to, whose society prepared him for +overleaping the bounds of rigid virtue which had hitherto restrained +him."</p> + +<p>He had certainly not come unscathed out of the society of those persons +of "liberal opinions" with whom he consorted in Irvine; and he expressly +attributes to their lessons the scrape into which he fell soon after "he +put his hand to plough again." He was compelled, according to the then all +but universal custom of rural parishes in Scotland, to do penance in +church, before the congregation, in consequence of the birth of an +illegitimate child. But not the amours, or the tavern, or drudging manual +labour could keep him long from his true calling. "Rhyme," he says, "I had +given up [on going to Irvine], but meeting with Fergusson's 'Scottish +Poems,' I strung anew my wildly sounding lyre with emulating vigour." It +was probably this accidental meeting with Fergusson that in a great measure +finally determined the Scottish character of his poetry.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Loves of a Peasant Poet</i></h3> + + +<p>Just before their father's death, Robert and Gilbert took the cold and +ungrateful farm of Mossgiel, in the parish of Mauchline, to which the +family now removed. The four years of Burns's connection with this place +were the most important of his life. It was then that his genius developed +its highest energies; on the works produced in these years his fame was +first established, and must ever continue mainly to rest; it was then also +that his personal character came out in all its brightest lights, and in +all but its darkest shadows; and indeed from the commencement of this +period the history of the man may be traced, step by step, in his own +immortal writings.</p> + +<p>Burns now began to know that Nature had meant him for a poet; and +diligently, though as yet in secret, he laboured in what he felt to be his +destined vocation. He was never more productive than at this time, when he +wrote such skits on the kirk and its associates as "The Twa Herds" +(pastors), "Holy Willie's Prayer," "The Holy Fair," and "The Ordination." +"Hallowe'en," a descriptive poem, perhaps even more exquisitely wrought +than "The Holy Fair," also belongs to the Mossgiel period, as does an even +more notable effort.</p> + +<p>Burns had often remarked to his brother that there was something +peculiarly venerable in the phrase, "Let us worship God," used by a decent, +sober head of a family introducing family worship. To this sentiment we are +indebted for "The Cottar's Saturday Night," the hint of the plan and title +of which were taken from Fergusson's "Farmer's Ingle." It is, perhaps, of +all Burns's pieces, the one whose exclusion from the collection, were such +a thing possible nowadays, would be the most injurious, if not to the +genius, at least to the character of the man. In spite of many feeble lines +and some heavy stanzas, it appears to me that even his genius would suffer +more in estimation by being contemplated in the absence of this poem than +of any other single performance he has left us. Loftier flights he +certainly has made, but in these he remained but a short while on the wing, +and effort is too often perceptible; here the motion is easy, gentle, +placidly undulating.</p> + +<p>Burns's art had now reached its climax; but it is time to revert more +particularly to his personal history. In this his loves very nearly occupy +the chief place. That they were many, his songs prove; for in those days he +wrote no love-songs on imaginary heroines. "Mary Morison," "Behind yon +hills where Lugar flows," and "On Cessnock banks there lives a lass," +belong to this date; and there are three or four inspired by Mary +Campbell--"Highland Mary"--the object of by far the deepest passion Burns +ever knew, a passion which he has immortalised in the noblest of his +elegiacs, "To Mary in Heaven."</p> + +<p>Farming had, of course, to engage his attention as well as love-making, +but he was less successful in the one than in the other. The first year of +Mossgiel, from buying bad seed, the second from a late harvest, he lost +half his crops. In these circumstances, he thought of proceeding to the +West Indies. Presently he had further cause for contemplating an escape +from his native land. Among his "flames" was one Jean Armour, the daughter +of a mason in Mauchline, where she was the reigning toast. Jean found +herself "as ladies wish to be that love their lords." Burns's worldly +circumstances were in a most miserable state when he was informed of her +condition, and he was staggered. He saw nothing for it but to fly the +country at once.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, meeting Jean, he yielded to her tears, and gave her a written +acknowledgment of marriage, valid according to Scottish law. Her father's +wrath was not appeased thereby. Burns, confessing himself unequal to the +support of a family, proposed to go immediately to Jamaica in search of +better fortunes. He offered, if this were rejected, to abandon his farm, +already a hopeless concern, and earn at least bread for his wife and +children as a day labourer at home. But nothing would satisfy Armour, who, +in his indignation, made his daughter destroy the written evidence of her +"marriage."</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Burns at His Zenith</i></h3> + + +<p>Such was his poverty that he could not satisfy the parish officers; and +the only alternative that presented itself to him was America or a gaol. A +situation was obtained for him in Jamaica, but he had no money to pay his +passage. It occurred to him that the money might be raised by publishing +his poems; and a first edition, printed at Kilmarnock in 1786, brought him +nearly £20, out of which he paid for a steerage passage from the +Clyde. "My chest was on the road to Greenock," he tells; "I had composed +the last song I should ever measure in Caledonia, 'The gloomy night is +gathering fast,' when a letter from Dr. Blacklock to a friend of mine +overthrew all my schemes, by opening new prospects to my poetic +ambition."</p> + +<p>Blacklock, the blind divine upon whom Johnson "looked with reverence," +had read the newly published poems, and it was his praise of them that +directly prevented Burns from expatriating himself. "His opinion that I +would meet with encouragement in Edinburgh fired me so much that away I +posted for that city, without a single acquaintance, or a single letter of +introduction. The baneful star that had so long shed its blasting influence +in my zenith for once made a revolution to the nadir." In Edinburgh, which +Burns reached in November, 1786, he was introduced by Blacklock to all the +<i>literati</i>, and within a fortnight he was writing to a friend: "I am +in a fair way of becoming as eminent as Thomas à Kempis or John Bunyan; and +you may expect to see my birthday inscribed among the wonderful events in +the Poor Robin and Aberdeen Almanacks, along with the Black Monday and the +Battle of Bothwell Bridge."</p> + +<p>But he bore his honours in a manner worthy of himself. "The attentions +he received," says Dugald Stewart, "from all ranks and descriptions of +persons were such as would have turned any head but his own. I cannot say +that I could perceive any unfavourable effect which they left on his mind." +Scott, then a lad of fifteen, met him, and wrote a vivid description of his +appearance:</p> + +<p>"His person was strong and robust; his manners rustic, not clownish; a +sort of dignified plainness and simplicity, which received part of its +effect, perhaps, from one's knowledge of his extraordinary talents. His +features are represented in Mr. Nasmyth's picture, but to me it conveys the +idea that they are diminished as if seen in perspective. I think his +countenance was more massive than it looks in any of the portraits. I would +have taken the poet, had I not known what he was, for a very sagacious +country farmer of the old Scotch school--<i>i.e.</i>, none of your modern +agriculturists, who keep labourers for their drudgery, but the <i>douce +gudeman</i> who held his own plough. There was a strong expression of sense +and shrewdness in all his lineaments; the eye alone, I think, indicated the +poetical character and temperament. It was large, and of a dark cast, which +glowed (I say literally <i>glowed</i>) when he spoke with feeling or +interest. I never saw such another eye in a human head, though I have seen +the most distinguished men of my time. His conversation expressed perfect +self-confidence, without the slightest presumption. He was like a farmer +dressed in his best to dine with the laird. I do not speak in <i>malam +partem</i> when I say I never saw a man in company with his superiors in +station and information more perfectly free from either the reality or the +affectation of embarrassment. I was told that his address to females was +extremely deferential, and always with a turn either to the pathetic or +humorous, which engaged their attention particularly. I have heard the late +Duchess of Gordon remark this."</p> + +<p>It needs no effort of imagination to conceive what the sensations of an +isolated set of scholars, almost all either clergymen or professors, must +have been in the presence of this big-boned, brawny stranger, with his +great flashing eyes, who had forced his way among them from the plough-tail +at a single stride; and it will always be a reflection in their honour that +they suffered no pedantic prejudices to interfere with their reception of +the poet.</p> + +<p>Shortly after his arrival he arranged with Creech, the chief bookseller +in Edinburgh, to undertake a second edition of his poems. This was +published in March, 1787, the subscribers numbering over 1,500. Out of +money thus derived, he provided a tombstone for the neglected grave of +Robert Fergusson, his "elder brother in the muses," in the Canongate +churchyard. Then he decided to visit some of the classic scenes of Scottish +history and romance. He had as yet seen but a small part of his own +country, and this by no means among the most interesting, until, indeed, +his own poetry made it equal, on that score, to any other. Various tours +were, in fact, undertaken, the chief being, however, in the Border district +and in the Highlands. Usually he returned to Edinburgh, partly to be near +his jovial intimates, and partly because, after the excitement attending +his first appearance in the capital, he found himself incapable of settling +down contentedly in the humble circle at Mossgiel.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--The Clarinda Romance</i></h3> + + +<p>During the winter of 1787--1788, he had a little romance with Mrs. +McLehose, the beautiful widow to whom he addressed the song, "Clarinda, +mistress of my soul," and a series of letters which present more instances +of bad taste, bombastic language, and fulsome sentiment than could be +produced from all his writings besides. It was the same lady who inspired +the lines which furnished Byron with a motto, and Scott declared to be +"worth a thousand romances ":</p> + +<blockquote> +Had we never loved so kindly<br /> +Had we never loved sae blindly,<br /> +Never met--or never parted,<br /> +We had ne'er been broken-hearted.<br /> +</blockquote> + +<p>At this time the publication of Johnson's "Scots Musical Museum" was +going on in Edinburgh; and Burns, being enlisted as a contributor, +furnished many of his best songs to that work. From his youth upwards he +had been an enthusiastic lover of the old minstrelsy and music of his +country; but he now studied both subjects with better opportunities and +appliances than he could have commanded previously; and it is from this +time that we must date his ambition to transmit his own poetry to +posterity, in eternal association with those exquisite airs which had +hitherto, in far too many instances, been married to verses that did not +deserve to be immortal. Later, beginning in 1792, he wrote about sixty +songs for George Thomson's collection, many of which, like "Auld Lang Syne" +and "Scots Wha Hae," are in the front rank of popularity. The letters he +addressed to Thomson are full of interesting detail of various kinds. In +one he writes:</p> + +<p>"Until I am complete master of a tune in my own singing, such as it is, +I can never compose for it. My way is this. I consider the poetic sentiment +correspondent to my idea of the musical expression--then choose my +theme--compose one stanza. When that is composed, which is generally the +most difficult part of the business, I walk out, sit down now and then, +look out for objects in Nature round me that are in unison or harmony with +the cogitations of my fancy and workings of my bosom, humming every now and +then the air, with the verses I have framed. When I feel my muse beginning +to jade, I retire to the solitary fireside of my study, and there commit my +effusions to paper; swinging at intervals on the hind legs of my +elbow-chair, by way of calling forth my own critical strictures, as my pen +goes. Seriously this, at home, is almost invariably my way."</p> + +<p>But to return. During his second winter in Edinburgh, Burns met with a +hackney coach accident which kept him to the house for six weeks. While in +this state he learned from Mauchline that his intimacy with Jean Armour had +again exposed her to the reproaches of her family. The father sternly +turned her out of doors, and Burns had to arrange about a shelter for her +and his children in a friend's house. In the meantime, through the +influence of some sympathisers, he had been appointed an officer of excise. +"I have chosen this," he wrote, "after mature deliberation. It is immediate +bread, and, though poor in comparison of the last eighteen months of my +existence, 'tis luxury in comparison of all my preceding life." However, +when he settled finally with Creech about his poems, he found himself with +between £500 and £600; and he retained his excise commission as +a <i>dernier ressort</i>, to be used only if a reverse of fortune rendered +it necessary.</p> + +<p>He decided now to exchange Mossgiel for Ellisland farm, about six miles +from Dumfries. As soon as he was able to leave Edinburgh, he had hurried to +Mossgiel and gone through a justice-of-peace marriage with Jean Armour. +Burns, with all his faults, was an honest and a high-spirited man, and he +loved the mother of his children. Had he hesitated to make her his wife, he +must have sunk into the callousness of a ruffian, or that misery of +miseries, the remorse of a poet.</p> + +<p>Some months later he writes that his marriage "was not, perhaps, in +consequence of the attachment of romance, but I have no cause to repent it. +If I have not got polite tattle, modish manners, and fashionable dress, I +am not sickened and disgusted with the multiform curse of boarding-school +affectation; and I have got the handsomest figure, the sweetest temper, the +soundest constitution, and the kindest heart in the country." It was during +the honeymoon, as he calls it, that he wrote the beautiful "O a' the airts +the wind can blaw." He used to say that the happiest period of his life was +the first winter at Ellisland, with wife and children around him. It was +then that he wrote, among other songs, "John Anderson, my Jo," "Tarn Glen," +"My heart's in the Highlands," "Go fetch to me a pint of wine," and "Willie +brewed a peck o' maut."</p> + +<p>But the "golden days" of Ellisland were short. Burns's farming +speculations once more failed, and he had to take up his excise commission. +"I am now," says he, "a poor rascally gauger, condemned to gallop two +hundred miles every week to inspect dirty ponds and yeasty barrels." Both +in prose and verse he has recorded the feelings with which he first +followed his new vocation, and his jests on the subject are uniformly +bitter. It was a vocation which exposed him to temptations of the kind he +was least likely to resist. His extraordinary conversational powers led him +into peril wherever he went. If he entered an inn at midnight, after all +the inmates were in bed, the news of his arrival circulated from the cellar +to the garret; and ere ten minutes had elapsed, the landlord and all his +guests were assembled round the ingle; the largest punch-bowl was produced; +and "Be ours this night--who knows what comes to-morrow?" was the language +of every eye in the circle that welcomed him.</p> + +<p>At home, too, lion-gazers from all quarters beset him; they ate and +drank at his cost, and often went away to criticise him and his fare, as if +they had done Burns and his black bowl great honour in condescending to be +entertained for a single evening with such company. Among others who called +on him was Captain Grose, the antiquary, and it is to this acquaintance +that we owe "Tam o' Shanter," which Burns believed to be the best of all +his productions.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--Closing Years of the Poet's Life</i></h3> + + +<p>Towards the close of 1791 he gave up his farm, and procuring an excise +appointment to the Dumfries division, removed to the county town. His moral +course from this time was downwards. "In Dumfries," says Heron, speaking +from personal knowledge, "his dissipation became still more deeply +habitual. He was here exposed more than in the country to be solicited to +share the riot of the dissolute and idle." His intemperance was, as Heron +says, in fits; his aberrations were occasional, not systematic; they were +all to himself the sources of exquisite misery in the retrospect; they were +the aberrations of a man whose moral sense was never deadened, of one who +encountered more temptations from without and from within than the immense +majority of mankind, far from having to contend against, are even able to +imagine; of one, finally, who prayed for pardon, where alone effectual +pardon could be found.</p> + +<p>In how far the "thoughtless follies" of the poet did actually hasten his +end, it is needless to conjecture. They had their share, unquestionably, +along with other influences which it would be inhuman to characterise as +mere follies. In these closing years of his life he had to struggle +constantly with pecuniary difficulties, than which nothing could have been +more likely to pour bitterness intolerable into the cup of his existence. +His lively imagination exaggerated to itself every real evil; and this +among, and perhaps above, all the rest; at least, in many of his letters we +find him alluding to the probability of his being arrested for debts, which +we now know to have been of very trivial amount.</p> + +<p>In 1795 he was greatly upset by the death, in his absence, of his +youngest child. Writing in January, 1796, he says: "I had scarcely begun to +recover from that shock, when I became myself the victim of a most severe +rheumatic fever, and long the die spun doubtful, until, after many weeks of +a sick-bed, it seems to have turned up life, and I am beginning to crawl +across my room, and once indeed have been before my own door in the +street."</p> + +<p>But a few days after this Burns was so imprudent as to join a festive +circle at a tavern dinner, where he remained till about three in the +morning. The weather was severe, and he, being too much intoxicated, took +no precaution in thus exposing his debilitated frame to its influence. It +has been said that he fell asleep upon the snow on his way home. The result +was an acute return of his rheumatism, and his health gradually got worse. +He went to the Solway for sea-bathing, but came back to Dumfries "visibly +changed in his looks, being with difficulty able to stand upright and reach +his own door."</p> + +<p>It soon became known that he was dying, and the anxiety, not of the rich +and the learned only, but of the mechanics and peasants, exceeded all +belief. Wherever two or three people stood together their talk was solely +of Burns. His good humour was unruffled, and his wit never forsook him; but +he repressed with a smile the hopes of his friends, and told them he had +lived long enough. The fever increased, and his strength diminished, and he +died on July 21, 1796. His funeral, attended by ten or twelve thousand +people, was an impressive and mournful sight. The grave was at first +covered by a plain tombstone; but a costly mausoleum was subsequently +erected on the most elevated site which the churchyard presented. Thither +the remains of the poet were solemnly transferred on June 5, 1815.</p> + +<p>It requires a graver audacity of hypocrisy than falls to the share of +most men to declaim against Burns's sensibility to the tangible cares and +toils of his earthly condition; there are more who venture on broad +denunciations of his sympathy with the joys of sense and passion.</p> + +<p>That some men in every age will comfort themselves in the practice of +certain vices, by reference to particular passages both in the history and +in the poetry of Burns, there is all reason to fear; but surely the general +influence of both is calculated, and has been found, to produce far +different effects. The universal popularity which his writings have all +along enjoyed among one of the most virtuous of nations is of itself a +decisive circumstance.</p> + +<p>On one point there can be no controversy; the poetry of Burns has had +most powerful influence in reviving and strengthening the national feelings +of his countrymen. Amidst penury and labour his youth fed on the old +minstrelsy and traditional glories of his nation, and his genius divined +that what he felt so deeply must belong to a spirit that might lie +smothered around him, but could not be extinguished. Burns "knew his own +worth, and reverenced the lyre." But he ever announced himself, as a +peasant, the representative of his class, the painter of their manners, +inspired by the same influences which ruled their bosoms; and whosoever +sympathised with his verse had his soul opened for the moment to the whole +family of man.</p> + +<p>Short and painful as were his years, Burns has left behind him a volume +in which there is inspiration for every fancy and music for every mood; +which lives, and will live in strength and vigour, "to soothe," as a +generous lover of genius has said, "the sorrows of how many a lover, to +inflame the patriotism of how many a soldier, to fan the fires of how many +a genius, to disperse the gloom of solitude, appease the agonies of pain, +encourage virtue, and show vice its ugliness." In this volume, centuries +hence as now, wherever a Scotsman may wander he will find the dearest +consolation of his exile.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="MARTIN_LUTHER"></a>MARTIN LUTHER</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Table_Talk"></a>Table Talk</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Martin Luther, "the monk who shook the world," was born +Nov. 10, 1483, at Eisleben, in Germany. In 1507 he was ordained a priest, +and became popular almost immediately as a preacher. A visit to Rome +shocked him, and in revolt against the practice of raising money by the +sale of indulgences, he began his career as a reformer. In 1518 he was +summoned to Rome to answer for his opinions, which now included a total +denial of the right of the Pope to forgive sins. He proceeded to attack the +whole doctrinal system of the Roman Catholic Church. For this he was +denounced in a papal bull and his writings were condemned to be burned. In +1525 he married an escaped nun. That Luther was a true child of his age may +be seen in the selections made from his "Table Talk." His shrewdness, +humour, plain bold speech, and his change of belief from an infallible +Church to an infallible Bible there appear, as also do his narrowness of +knowledge, asperity of temper, and susceptibility to superstition. He must +be judged by the mind of his times, not by modern standards. We give some +of his strong opinions that have not borne the wear and tear of later ages; +but they are more than balanced by teaching what is beautiful, as well as +true. Luther died on February 18, 1546. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>God's Word and Book</i></h3> + + +<p>That the Bible is God's word and book I prove thus. Infinite potentates +have raged against it, and sought to destroy and uproot it--King Alexander +the Great, the princes of Egypt and Babylon, the monarchs of Persia, of +Greece, and of Rome, the Emperors Julius and Augustus--but they nothing +prevailed; they are all gone and vanished, while the book remains and will +remain. Who has thus helped it? Who has thus protected it against such +mighty forces? No one, surely, but God Himself, who is the Master of all +things.</p> + +<p>The Holy Scriptures are full of divine gifts and virtues. The books of +the heathen taught nothing of faith, hope, or charity; they present no idea +of these things; they contemplate only the present, and that which man, +with the use of his material reason, can grasp and comprehend. Look not +therein for aught of hope and trust in God. But see how the Psalms and the +Book of Job treat of faith, hope, resignation, and prayer; in a word, the +Holy Scripture is the highest and best of books, abounding in comfort under +all afflictions and trials. It teaches us to see, to feel, to grasp, and to +comprehend faith, hope, and charity far otherwise than mere human reason +can, and when evil oppresses us it teaches how these virtues throw light +upon the darkness.</p> + +<p>The multitude of books is a great evil. There is no measure or limit to +the fever for writing. The Bible is now buried under so many commentaries +that the text is nothing regarded. I could wish all my books were buried +nine ells deep in the ground by reason of the ill example they will give. I +would not have those who read my books, in these stormy times, devote one +moment to them that they would otherwise have consecrated to the Bible +itself.</p> + + +<h3><i>God's Dealing with Us</i></h3> + + +<p>How should God deal with us? Good days we cannot bear, evil we cannot +endure. Gives He riches unto us--then we are proud, so that no man can live +by us in peace; nay, we will be carried on heads and shoulders, and will be +adored as gods. Gives He poverty to us--then are we dismayed, impatient, +and murmur against Him.</p> + +<p>God only, and not wealth, maintains the world; riches merely make people +proud and lazy. Great wealth cannot still hunger, but rather occasions more +dearth, for where rich people are there things are always dear. Moreover, +money makes no man right merry, but much rather pensive and full of sorrow; +for riches, says Christ, are thorns that prick people. Yet is the world so +made that it sets therein all its joy and felicity, and we are such +unthankful slovens that we give God not so much as a <i>Deo Gratias</i>, +though we receive of Him overflowing benefits, merely out of His goodness +and mercy. No man can estimate the great charge God is at only in +maintaining birds and such creatures, comparatively nothing worth. I am +persuaded that it costs Him yearly more to maintain only the sparrows than +the revenue of the French king amounts to.</p> + + +<h3><i>Points from "Popedom"</i></h3> + + +<p>I much marvel that the pope extols his church at Rome as the chief, +whereas the church at Jerusalem is the mother; for there Christian doctrine +was first revealed. Next was the church at Antioch, whence the Christians +have their name. Thirdly, was the church at Alexandria; and still before +the Romish were the churches of the Galatians, of the Corinthians, +Ephesians, Philippians. Is it so great a matter that St. Peter was at Rome? +Which, however, has never yet been proved, nor ever will be, whereas our +blessed Saviour Christ Himself was at Jerusalem, where all the articles of +our Christian faith were made.</p> + +<p>Prayer in popedom is mere tongue-threshing; not prayer but a work of +obedience. Hence the confused sea of howling and babbling in cells and +monasteries, where they read and sing the psalms and collects without any +spiritual devotion. Though I had done no more but only freed people from +that torment, they might well give me thanks for it.</p> + +<p>Kings and princes coin money only out of metals, but the pope coins +money out of everything--indulgences, ceremonials, dispensations, pardons; +'tis all fish comes to his net. 'Tis only baptism escapes him, for children +come into the world without clothes to be stolen or teeth to be drawn.</p> + + +<h3><i>Patristic Literature</i></h3> + + +<p>I will not presume to criticise too closely the writings of the fathers, +seeing they are received of the church and have great applause, but whoso +reads Chrysostom will find he digresses from the chief points, and proceeds +on other matters, saying nothing, or very little, of that which pertains to +the business. St. Jerome wrote upon Matthew, upon the Epistles to the +Galatians, and Titus, but, alas, very coldly. Ambrose wrote six books upon +the first book of Moses, but they are very poor.</p> + +<p>We must read the fathers cautiously, and lay them in the gold balance, +for they often stumbled and went astray. Gregory expounds the five pounds +mentioned in the Gospel, which the husbandman gave to his servant to put to +use, to be the five senses, which the beasts also possess. The two pounds +he construes to be the reason and understanding. Faithful Christians should +heed only the embassy of our blessed Saviour Christ, and what He says.</p> + +<p>None of the fathers of the church made mention of original sin until +Augustine came, who made a difference between original and actual sin, +namely, that original sin is to covet, to lust, and to desire, which is the +root and cause of actual sin.</p> + + +<h3><i>Hints for Preachers</i></h3> + + +<p>The good preacher should know when to make an end. A preacher that will +speak everything that comes into his mind is like a maid that goes to +market, and, meeting another maid, makes a stand, and they hold together a +goose-market.</p> + +<p>I would not have preachers in their sermons use Hebrew, Greek, or +foreign languages, for in the church we ought to speak as we use to do at +home, the plain mother tongue, which everyone is acquainted with. It may be +allowed in courtiers, lawyers, advocates, etc., to use quaint, curious +words. St. Paul never used such high and stately words as Demosthenes and +Cicero used.</p> + +<p>Ambition is the rankest poison to the church when it possesses +preachers. It is a consuming fire.</p> + +<p>When I preach I sink myself deep down. I regard neither doctors nor +magistrates, of whom are here in this church above forty; but I have an eye +to the multitude of young people, children, and servants, of whom are more +than two thousand. I preach to those. Will not the rest hear me?</p> + + +<h3><i>Time's Forelock</i></h3> + + +<p>It is said Occasion has a forelock, but it is bald behind. Our Lord has +taught this by the course of nature. A farmer must sow his barley and oats +about Easter; if he defer it till Michaelmas it were too late. When apples +are ripe they must be plucked from the tree or they are spoiled. +Procrastination is as bad as over-hastiness. There is my servant Wolf, when +four or five birds fall upon the bird-net he will not draw it; but says, +"Oh, I will stay until more come." Then they all fly away, and he gets +none.</p> + +<p>Occasion is a great matter. Terence says well, "I came in time, which is +the chief thing of all." Julius Caesar understood Occasion; Pompey and +Hannibal did not. Boys at school understand it not, therefore they must +have fathers and masters, with the rod, to hold them thereto, that they +neglect not time and lose it. Many a young fellow has a school stipend for +six or seven years, during which he ought diligently to study, but he +thinks, "Oh, I have time enough yet." But I say, "No, fellow; what little +Jack learns not great John learns not." Occasion salutes thee, and reaches +out her forelock to thee, saying, "Here I am, take hold of me." Thou +thinkest she will come again. Then says she, "Well, seeing thou wilt not +take hold of my top, take hold of my tail," and therewith she flings +away.</p> + + +<h3><i>Modern Luxury</i></h3> + + +<p>Whereto serve or profit such superfluity, such show, such ostentation, +such extraordinary luxurious kind of life as is now come upon us? If Adam +were to return to earth, and see our mode of living, our food, drink, and +dress, how would he marvel. He would say: "Surely this is not the world I +was in?" For Adam drank water, ate fruit from the trees, and, if he had any +house at all, 'twas a hut supported by four wooden forks; he had no knife +or iron, and he wore simply a coat of skin. Now we spend immense sums in +eating and drinking, now we raise sumptuous palaces, and decorate them with +a luxury beyond all comparison. The ancient Israelites lived in great +moderation and quiet. Boaz says: "Dip thy bread in vinegar and refresh +thyself therewith."</p> + + +<h3><i>Ministers and Matrimony</i></h3> + + +<p>I advise in everything that ministers interfere not in matrimonial +questions. First, because we have enough to do in our own office; secondly, +because these affairs concern not the church, but are temporal things, +pertaining to temporal magistrates; thirdly, because such cases are in a +manner innumerable; they are very high, broad, and deep, and produce many +offences, which may tend to the shame and dishonour of the Gospel. +Moreover, we are therein ill dealt with--they draw us into the business, +and then, if the issue is evil, the blame is laid altogether upon us. +Therefore, we will leave them to the lawyers and magistrates.</p> + + +<h3><i>Miscellaneous Topics</i></h3> + + +<p>Philip Melancthon showing Luther a letter from Augsburg wherein he was +informed that a very learned divine, a papist of that city, was converted, +and had received the Gospel, Luther said, "I like best those that do not +fall off suddenly, but ponder the case with considerate discretion, compare +together the writing and arguments of both parties, and lay them on the +gold balance, and in God's fear search after the upright truth; and of such +fit people are made, able to stand in controversy. Such a man was St. Paul, +who at first was a strict Pharisee and man of works, who stiffly and +earnestly defended the law; but afterwards preached Christ in the best and +purest manner against the whole nation of the Jews."</p> + +<p>As all people feel they must die, each seeks immortality here on earth, +that he may be had in everlasting remembrance. Some great princes and kings +seek it by raising great columns of stone and high pyramids, great +churches, costly and glorious palaces and castles. Soldiers hunt after +praise and honour by obtaining famous victories. The learned seek an +everlasting name by writing books. With these and such like things people +think to be immortal. But as to the true everlasting and incorruptible +honour and eternity of God, no man thinks or looks after these things.</p> + +<p>When two goats meet on a narrow bridge over deep waters how do they +behave? Neither of them can turn back again, and neither can pass the other +because the bridge is too narrow. If they should thrust one another they +might both fall into the water and be drowned. Nature, then, has taught +them that if one lays himself down and permits the other to go over him +both remain without hurt. Even so, people should endure to be trod upon +rather than to fall into discord with one another.</p> + + +<h3><i>Strong Opinions Outworn by Time</i></h3> + + +<p>I should have no compassion on witches; I would burn all of them. We +read in the old law that the priests threw the first stone at such +malefactors. Our ordinary sins offend and anger God. What then must be His +wrath against witchcraft, which we may justly designate high treason +against divine majesty, a revolt against the infinite power of God. The +maladies I suffer are not natural but devils' spells.</p> + +<p>Luther, taking up a caterpillar, said: "'Tis an emblem of the devil in +its crawling, and bears his colours in its changing hue."</p> + +<p>The devil plagues and torments us in the place where we are most tender +and weak. In Paradise he fell not upon Adam, but upon Eve. It commonly +rains where it was wet enough before.</p> + +<p>The anabaptists pretend that children, not as yet having reason, ought +not to receive baptism. I answer: That reason in no way contributes to +faith. Nay, in that children are destitute of reason they are all the more +fit and proper recipients of baptism. For reason is the greatest enemy that +faith has; it never comes to the aid of spiritual things.</p> + +<p>I always loved music. A schoolmaster ought to have skill in music, or I +would not regard him; neither should we ordain young men as preachers +unless they have been well exercised in music.</p> + +<p>Erasmus of Rotterdam is the vilest miscreant that ever disgraced the +earth. He made several attempts to draw me into his snares, and I should +have been in danger but that God lent me special aid. Erasmus was poisoned +at Rome and at Venice with epicurean doctrines. His chief doctrine is that +we must carry ourselves according to the time, or, as the proverb goes, +hang the cloak according to the wind. I hold Erasmus to be Christ's most +bitter enemy.</p> + +<p>I never work better than when I am inspired by anger. When I am angry I +can write, pray, and preach well, for then my whole temperament is +quickened, my understanding sharpened, and all mundane vexations and +temptations depart.</p> + + +<h3><i>Characteristic Sayings</i></h3> + + +<p>When the abbot throws the dice, the whole convent will play.</p> + +<p>When men blaspheme we should pray and be silent, and not carry wood to +the fire.</p> + +<p>When Jesus Christ utters a word, He opens His mouth so wide that it +embraces all heaven and earth, even though that word be but in a +whisper.</p> + +<p>When I lay sucking at my mother's breast I had no notion how I should +afterwards eat, drink, and live. Even so we on the earth have no idea what +the life to come will be.</p> + +<p>The two sins, hatred and pride, deck and trim themselves out as the +devil clothed himself in the Godhead. Hatred will be godlike; pride will be +truth. These two are right deadly sins; hatred is killing, pride is +lying.</p> + +<p>A scorpion thinks that when his head lies hid under a leaf he cannot be +seen; even so the hypocrites and false saints think, when they have hoisted +up one or two good works, all their sins therewith are covered and hid.</p> + +<p>Luther, holding a rose in his hand, said, "'Tis a magnificent work of +God. Could a man make but one such rose as this he would be thought worthy +of all honour, but the manifold gifts of God lose their value in our eyes +from their very infinity."</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="MIRABEAU"></a>MIRABEAU</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Memoirs1"></a>Memoirs</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, was born +at Bignon, near Nemours, on March 9, 1749, and died at Paris on April 2, +1791. His father was a most eccentric and tyrannical representative of the +French aristocracy, and Honoré, a younger son, inherited something +of his violent temperament, but was endowed with real genius. Entering the +army, young Mirabeau soon displayed an erratic disposition by eloping with +the young wife of an aged nobleman. He fled to Holland, but was captured +and imprisoned. Being at length liberated, he turned to literature and +politics, and soon gained celebrity in both. His magnificent oratorical +powers brought him rapidly to the front in the period immediately anterior +to the outbreak of the Revolution. Mirabeau's "Memoirs, by Himself, his +Father, his Uncle, and his Adopted Son," published in eight volumes in +1834, contain no original writings by Mirabeau himself, except in the shape +of extracts from his speeches, letters, and pamphlets. The following +epitome has been prepared from the French text. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--"The Hurricane"</i></h3> + + +<p>The Marquis of Mirabeau, father of Honoré Gabriel, the subject of +these memoirs, was endowed with a mind of great power, rendered fruitful by +the best education. He had, however, become independent at too early an +age, and this had brought into play his natural inordinate vanity.</p> + +<p>Honoré Gabriel, since so famous under the name of the Count of +Mirabeau, was the fifth child of the marquis. Destined to be the most +turbulent and active of youths, as well as the most eloquent of men and the +greatest orator of his day, Gabriel was born with one foot twisted and his +tongue tied, in addition to which his size and strength were extraordinary, +and already two molars were formed in his jaw. At the age of three the boy +nearly lost his life from small-pox, and was thus disfigured greatly for +life; while the other children were, like the parents, gifted with +wonderful beauty.</p> + +<p>Young Gabriel was a most precocious child, and he received an excellent +education. At the age of seven he was confirmed by a cardinal, but his +childhood was difficult of control, and chastisement from his father and +tutor was continual. His inquisitiveness was irrepressible. He relates that +at the family supper after his confirmation, "they explained to me that God +could not make contradictions--for instance, a stick with only one end. I +asked whether a stick which had but one end was not a miracle. My +grandmother never forgave me."</p> + +<p>Placed under the kindly teaching of the Abbé Choquart in a +military school of high repute in Paris, Gabriel made marvellously rapid +progress, assiduously exercising his memory, which afterwards became a +prodigious repository of the most diversified knowledge.</p> + +<p>On July 10, 1767, Gabriel entered the army, joining the Marquis of +Lambert's regiment. The young volunteer, who was now eighteen, behaved +well, and speedily gave evidence of the military talents he afterwards +displayed. But a quarrel arose over a love affair, which led to harsh +punishment by his colonel. The incident was bitterly resented by his +father, who condemned him without hearing his side of the matter, and +actually procured his imprisonment in the fortress of the Isle of +Rhé.</p> + +<p>When the young soldier came out of prison he unwittingly offended an +officer at Rochelle, who had been dismissed the service. The result was a +duel, in which the aggressor was wounded. Gabriel was appointed to service +in Corsica, with the rank of second-lieutenant, and here he distinguished +himself by his zeal, his military talents, and his constant +application.</p> + +<p>Young Mirabeau was, in September, 1770, transferred to Limousin, in west +Central France. Such was his energy that he was called "the hurricane." Now +began a series of troubles caused by bitter quarrels between his parents, +who were openly at variance. Each sought to gain an adherent in their son, +who was condemned to witness the wickedness and folly of both in their +ungovernable passion. The effect on the character of the young count was +deplorable.</p> + +<p>Then ensued a singular episode. The marquis had determined that Gabriel +should marry before the age of twenty-three, and had fixed on Mary Emily de +Covet, only daughter of the Marquis de Marignane, eighteen years of age, +for his son's bride. She was plain, yet attractive, with a sweet smile, +fine eyes, and beautiful hair, and was gay, lively, sensible, mild, and +very amiable. Having been neglected by her father and ill-treated by her +mother, she showed no disinclination to marriage, and in 1772 young +Mirabeau obtained the hand of the wealthy heiress.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the young count married than every attempt was made to +ruin him. He received no property with his bride, and his avaricious father +refused to advance him any money for necessary expenses. His father-in-law +offered to lend him 60,000 livres, but his father's consent was +indispensable, and this was sternly refused. Mirabeau, harassed by +creditors, was dragged into lawsuits, and his embarrassments only set his +father entirely against him. The marquis actually procured a <i>lettre de +cachet</i>, obliging his son to leave the home he had set up, and to +confine himself to the little town of Manosque.</p> + +<p>Here domestic sorrow and the most painful circumstances assailed the +young exile. But these did not prevent him from pursuing serious studies +and composing his first work, the "Essay on Despotism." Misfortunes +accumulated. Chastising with a horsewhip a baron who grossly insulted him, +the count was again imprisoned, this time in the Château d'If, a +gloomy citadel on a barren rock near Marseilles.</p> + +<p>On May 25, 1770, Mirabeau was transferred to the Castle of Joux, near +Pontarlier, where, on June 11, 1775, festivities were held, as at other +places, to honour the coronation of Louis XVI. Here Mirabeau enjoyed a sort +of half freedom, being allowed to visit in Pontarlier, and the event ensued +which, it must sorrowfully be owned, tarnished his name. In a word, we see +Mirabeau "ruin himself," by a fatal intimacy with the young wife of the +aged Marquis of Monnier. The two fled to Dijon, where Mirabeau surrendered +himself at the castle.</p> + +<p>He was released after a short time and went on to Geneva, nearly +perishing in a storm on the lake. Returning to Pontarlier, he was joined by +Sophie Monnier, and the two left for Holland, and arrived at Amsterdam on +October 7, 1776. Mirabeau was naturally obliged to draw his principal means +of subsistence from his literary labours, and this, perhaps, had been his +motive for choosing Holland as his residence, for at that period the Dutch +booksellers entered largely into literary speculations.</p> + +<p>Mirabeau and Sophie Monnier were arrested at Amsterdam on May 14, 1777. +Both were brought to France. She was placed in a convent at Monilmontant, +and Mirabeau was deposited on June 7 in the donjon of Vincennes, and was +subjected to every sort of privation, remaining in confinement for +forty-two months. His release marked the end of his private life; his +public and political life was about to begin.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Into Political Life</i></h3> + + +<p>The "Essay on Despotism" had been the first sign of Mirabeau's political +vocation, and the most singular instance, perhaps, of a war audaciously +declared against despotism by a young man bearing its yoke. The keynote is +that though the <i>natural</i> man may not be inclined to despotism, the +<i>social</i> man assuredly is disposed to be a despot. This spirit, +maintains Mirabeau, exists even in republics.</p> + +<p>In 1784 Mirabeau visited England. One of his motives was to collect +materials for his "Considerations on the Order of Cincinnatus," a treatise +dealing with Washington and American independence. He was greatly delighted +with English scenery. "It is here," he says, "that nature is improved, not +forced. All tells me that here the people are something; that every man +enjoys the development and free exercise of his faculties, and that I am in +another order of things."</p> + +<p>But he proceeds: "I am not an enthusiast in favour of England, and I now +know sufficient of that country to tell you that if its constitution is the +best known, the application of this constitution is the worst possible; and +that if the Englishman is as a social man the most free in the world, the +English people are the least free of any."</p> + +<p>He resided in England from August to February, 1785. During that brief +period he began to write his "History of Geneva," and he showed his +versatility by composing for a young refugee clergyman a sermon on the +immortality of the soul. By the gift of this sermon he drew the exiled +preacher from poverty, for it was the means of obtaining for him a +lucrative appointment.</p> + +<p>Mirabeau sent forth from Paris several most able pamphlets on banking +and on share companies. These were written with energy and often with +violence. As they attacked many private interests they aroused against +their author much hatred, insult, and calumny. He was accused of venality, +though he was attacking and driving to despair powerful stock-jobbers, who +would have paid him magnificently for silence, could he have been +bought.</p> + +<p>In July, 1785, Mirabeau went to Berlin. It is a singular fact that in +his various journeys some accident always befel him. On the way to Berlin +an attempt was made to assassinate him by some unknown enemies, but he +safely reached the German capital. King Frederick the Great, now very aged, +no longer received foreigners, yet he replied to a letter from Mirabeau and +fixed a day for seeing him at Potsdam.</p> + +<p>Mirabeau informed the king that he had come to seek permission to study +the great military manoeuvres, and that he hoped to push on to Russia. +During this period he worked like a labourer all day at his writings. Part +of his time he spent at supper parties of the most tiresome etiquette. The +same laborious habits attended him everywhere, in prison and in freedom, in +his own country and in other lands. It was in Germany that he conceived the +idea of his treatise on "The Reform of the Jews," which is acknowledged to +be one of his best works.</p> + +<p>Frederick the Great died on August 17, 1786. Feeling that he could do +nothing useful, Mirabeau resolved at the close of 1786 to quit Berlin. He +was urged also by a special motive in which he took pride, and which he +thus described in a letter: "My heart has not grown old, and if my +enthusiasm is damped, it is not extinguished. I have fully experienced this +to-day. I consider one of the best days of my life that on which I received +an account of the convocation of the notables, which no doubt will not long +precede that of the National Assembly. In this I see a new order of things +which may regenerate the monarchy. I should deem myself a thousand times +honoured in being even the junior secretary of this assembly, of which I +had the happiness of giving the first idea."</p> + +<p>Mirabeau was prodigiously occupied at Berlin. He often did not retire to +rest till one in the morning, but regularly rose at five, even in the midst +of severe winter. Without anything on but a simple quilted dressing-gown, +without stockings or waistcoat, he worked away without even calling up his +servant to light a fire. Besides his correspondence in cypher, which +occupied him much, he worked assiduously at his "Prussian Monarchy," which +was published in 1788.</p> + +<p>On departing from Berlin the count wrote a most eloquent letter of +counsel to King Frederick William, appealing to him to cultivate peace, +reminding him that his illustrious predecessor had conquered the admiration +of mankind but never won their love, commending him not to extend the +direct action of the royal power to matters which did not require it, +advising him not to govern too much, and exhorting him to abolish military +slavery; that is to say, the obligation then imposed on every Prussian to +serve as a soldier from the age of eighteen to sixty or more, which forced +men to go to the battle-field like cattle to the slaughterhouse.</p> + +<p>In the same remarkable document Mirabeau raises his voice against the +harsh laws which arbitrarily deprived Prussians of freedom to leave the +country. The tyrannical prohibition of emigration excited his vehement +protest, and he proceeded also to denounce to the new king the right of +seizing the property of deceased foreigners, and demanded for burghers the +freedom of purchasing the estates of nobles. He urged Frederick William to +abolish the prerogatives claimed by nobles and the helotism of all who were +not noble, and suggested that judges should be appointed for life and +justice rendered free of expense.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--For King and People</i></h3> + + +<p>It was chiefly the meeting of the notables which had hastened Mirabeau's +return to Paris. He felt that his proper place was in the centre of the +great events announced and begun by this convocation. After the undignified +and inglorious prodigality of the previous reign, which had laid the +foundation of serious financial vicissitudes, the young King Louis XVI. had +brought with him to the throne the private virtues of a good and honest +man, but not the qualities of a sovereign.</p> + +<p>Though economic to excess himself, he nevertheless suffered to exist and +even to increase around him those dilapidations which at last ruined the +resources of the state. He had no confidence in himself, and Mirabeau +respectfully reproached him with his fatal timidity. Nothing was done +either to increase revenue or diminish expenditure.</p> + +<p>The possessors of privilege and representatives of personal interest, +the courtiers, the great lords, and the parliaments strenuously resisted +all reforms and then drove from office the best intentioned, the most +virtuous, and the ablest ministers whom the young king, in the sincerity of +his patriotism, had chosen on his accession, in deference to public +feeling. Among these ministers were Malesherbes, Turgot, Necker, and +Calonne.</p> + +<p>Mirabeau returned to Paris on January 27, 1787. He at once published +that famous "Address to the Notables," in which he denounced the whole +corrupt system of finance and in which he demanded local provincial +administrations. This and his "Denunciation of Stock-jobbing" made great +impression on the public mind.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the "Denunciation" displeased the government, and the +author was much persecuted. He learned that he was to be arrested and sent, +not to the Bastille, but to a remote provincial fortress, where he would +have been lost to public notice. So he escaped from Paris to Liège, +whence he again attacked the administration of Calonne and the policy of +Necker, declaring that loans should have been effected on methods less +onerous for the state.</p> + +<p>His exile from Paris was of brief duration, for friends intervened. But +Mirabeau returned only to renew and intensify his attacks. He remained, +however, only for a short time, for on May 24, 1787, he set out on a third +journey to Prussia, in order to complete his great work on the "Prussian +Monarchy." Returning to France, he reached Paris in September. Five months +had elapsed since the assembling of the notables. The eloquent Leominie de +Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse, had been the most brilliant figure in the +conclave. The first assembly broke up on July 27, 1787. Though gathered by +the privileged orders, patriotism had raised its voice within it, and the +archbishop, as prime minister, had failed to direct the new current +aright.</p> + +<p>Mirabeau disapproved of what had taken place in his absence, and +declined to be employed by the administration, but he offered to undertake +any foreign mission in the exercise of the king to which he might be +appointed. The application was unsuccessful. The crisis approached nearer +and nearer. Archbishop Brienne passed rapidly from violence to weakness. +Mirabeau refused to countenance his plans for contracting a new loan of 420 +millions. The king was resisted by an almost unanimous opposition, headed +by the Duke of Orleans, and the loan was refused at a memorable +sitting.</p> + +<p>Mirabeau exhorted the government to announce in precise and solemn terms +the convocation of the States-General in 1789, that bankruptcy might be +averted and the national honour saved. Said he: "The year in which the king +assembles the nation will be the finest in his life. Everybody knows that +he has been deceived, and could not help being so, and everybody will do +justice to his intentions. The assembled nation has a right to vote a tax. +In future the nation alone will raise up its political fortunes."</p> + +<p>Mirabeau saw that the nation ought to be trusted. He strenuously +contended for a policy in accordance with this conviction. But he +indefatigably continued his literary labours, sending forth pamphlet after +pamphlet, one against the prison system in vogue, another demanding the +liberty of the Press, in which he extolled the example of England. He +became increasingly impatient with the ineptitude of the government, for +the affairs of the state were lapsing into desperate disorder, and the +public discontent was being steadily aggravated.</p> + +<p>The aim of Mirabeau was at one and the same time to support the monarchy +and to subvert the influences by which the throne was environed. He was +solicitous of securing popular freedom, but regarded the monarchy as the +only form of rule suitable for France in that age, and was led to adopt +that peculiar statesmanship identifying the royal interest with the popular +cause. Though ready to give his life for the people, he did not hesitate to +risk his popularity by his fidelity to the throne.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--President of the National Assembly</i></h3> + + +<p>The immediate causes of the Revolution were now in full operation. +Mirabeau, attempting to practise his own doctrine of the freedom of the +Press, turned journalist and brought out a gazette. The famous National +Assembly opened on May 5, 1789. He then entered on a career of immense +political energy, beginning by issuing a stirring and eloquent "Address to +the French People." This was especially a reply to a reactionary protest on +the part of the clergy.</p> + +<p>Soon there were disturbances everywhere. The Bastille was stormed by the +furious Parisians and demolished. Just at this time Mirabeau lost his +father, and the event overwhelmed him with grief. He refused to stand for +election as mayor of Paris. But he brought about a constitutional +organisation of the municipality, and delivered a splendid series of +orations on various abuses, such as plural voting, iniquitous monopolies, +etc. Yet he proved his studious moderation by strenuously declaiming +against the famous "Declaration of the Rights of Man," pronouncing it +inopportune and perilous. His heroic harangues provoked disorder in his +audience dangerous to himself. But his courage was dauntless, for even when +the king and his chief minister abandoned the royal prerogative, Mirabeau +defended it.</p> + +<p>Throughout the terrible events of 1789 Mirabeau was consistent as a +loyalist and as a patriot. But disappointment awaited his generous +illusions, for the vacillation of the king rendered the outlook +hopeless.</p> + +<p>At the end of January, 1791, he was appointed president of the National +Assembly, which, during the stormy period of its existence during +twenty-one months, had already had forty-two presidents.</p> + +<p>He exercised his functions with consummate skill, but the end of his +wonderful life was at hand. He had been in weak health from the very first +sittings of the Assembly, his condition causing constant anxiety to his +intimate friends and his admirers. He was depressed by sad presentiments, +and was in constant apprehension of assassination, for it was well-known +that there were plots against his life. After a brilliant oration, the +great tribune went home exhausted, and, indeed, dying.</p> + +<p>One of his last experiences was a pathetic interview with Talleyrand, +with whom he had often crossed swords in debate. His weakness dated from +February, 1788, when he was attacked with violent internal pains, and was +bled to such an extent by a surgeon that he never recovered his wonderful +natural vitality. After much suffering, endured with the most heroic +fortitude, he passed away as if in sleep, with a sweet smile on his +features. France mourned the loss of the greatest orator that had ever +graced her tribune. His funeral was celebrated at St. Genevieve with +splendid ceremonial. The verdict of those best qualified to judge was that +Mirabeau was the most remarkable man of the eighteenth century, and that +his premature death, soon after the outbreak of the Revolution, led to the +overthrow of a monarchy which he alone could have saved.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="THOMAS_MOORE"></a>THOMAS MOORE</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_Byron"></a>Life of Byron</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, was born in Dublin on May 28, +1779, was educated at Trinity College, and studied for the Bar at the +Middle Temple. At twenty-one years of age he published a translation of +Anacreon, and his reputation was further established by his love-poems, +under the pseudonym of Thomas Little, in 1801. He received in 1803 an +official post in Bermuda, but entrusted his duties there to a substitute, +by whose defalcations he was later embarrassed. He was married at +thirty-one to a beautiful and amiable actress, Bessy Dyke, and lived very +happily for most of his life in Wiltshire, but with an interval of a few +years in Paris. In 1835 he received a literary pension of £300, to +which a Civil List pension of £100 was added in 1850. He died on +February 25, 1852. Undoubtedly, Moore's most important contribution to +prose literature was his "Letters and Journals of Lord Byron," published in +1830, six years after the poet's death; as payment he received +£4,200. Although the work was frankly and even severely criticised in +many quarters, it did a great deal to put Byron right with public opinion. +Certainly no literary contemporary was better fitted to write the biography +of his friend than Moore, who, moreover, had been marked for this work by a +free gift of Byron's own memoirs. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Ancestors and Early Days</i></h3> + + +<p>It has been said of Lord Byron that he was prouder of being a descendant +of those Byrons of Normandy, who accompanied William the Conqueror into +England, than of having been the author of "Childe Harold." The remark is +not altogether unfounded, for the pride of ancestry was a feature of his +character; and justly so, for his line was honourably known on the fields +of Cressy, Bosworth, and Marston Moor; and in the faithful royalist, Sir +John Biron, afterwards Lord Biron, throughout the Civil Wars.</p> + +<p>In 1784, the father of the poet, Captain John Byron, nephew of the fifth +Lord Byron, with the sole object of relieving his debts, married, as his +second wife, Miss Catherine Gordon, a wealthy lady of illustrious Scottish +ancestry. Her fortune was swallowed up, and she was reduced to £150 a +year, before she gave birth, on January 22, 1788, in Holles Street, London, +to her first and only child, George Gordon Byron. The boy was somewhat +deformed, one of his feet being twisted.</p> + +<p>In 1790, we find the unhappy parents living in separate lodgings in +Aberdeen; and this estrangement was followed by complete separation, the +worthless Captain Byron proceeding to France, where he died in the +following year. The mother, a woman of the most passionate extremes, sent +the boy to day school and grammar school. His schoolmates remember him as +lively, warm-hearted, and more ready to give a blow than to take one. To +summer excursions with his mother in the Highlands the poet traces his love +of scenery and especially of mountainous countries; and he refers many +years after, still with keen feeling, to a little girl, Mary Duff, for +whom, in his eighth year, he cherished a consuming attachment. So early +were his sensibilities dominant.</p> + +<p>On the death, in 1794, of the grandson of the old lord, little George +stood in immediate succession to the peerage; in May, 1798, the fifth Lord +Byron died at Newstead Abbey, and the boy's name was called in school with +the title "Dominus." The Earl of Carlisle was appointed his guardian in +chancery, and in the same summer, Lord Byron, in his eleventh year, took +possession, with his mother, of the seat of his ancestors. The next year +Mrs. Byron was placed on the Civil List for a pension of £300 a year. +Removing to London, she placed George at school with Dr. Glennie at +Dulwich, but thwarted the progress of his education with her fondness and +self-will, until Lord Carlisle gave up all hope of ruling her. It was at +this period that a boyish love for Margaret Parker, his cousin, who died +shortly after, led Byron into the practice of verse.</p> + +<p>From 1801 to 1805, from thirteen years of age to seventeen, George was +at Harrow, where he sat beside Peel, the future statesman. This period of +ardent friendship with his fellows includes also the romantic affection, in +1803, for Miss Chaworth, heiress of Annesley, near Newstead, who looked on +her admirer as the mere schoolboy that he was. Leaving Harrow with the +reputation of an idler who would never learn, Byron was entered at Trinity +College, Cambridge, in October, 1805. His vacations were spent with his +mother at Southwell, and her explosions of temper, in which she would throw +poker and tongs, alienated him increasingly. In vacation and in term alike +he read with extraordinary avidity and variety, wrote a great deal of +verse, and in November, 1806, printed a small volume of poems for private +circulation.</p> + +<p>He was a frank and vivid correspondent; his letters to Miss Pigot, of +Southwell, and others, are full of the liveliest descriptions of the +Cambridge days. At this time Byron was painfully shy of new faces, and +perpetually mortified on account of his poverty. He rose, and retired to +rest, very late. He was very fond of the exercises of swimming, riding, +shooting, fencing, and sparring; greatly devoted to his dogs, delighted in +music, and was known as remarkably superstitious. Of his charity and +kindheartedness there was no end. Always conscious of his deformity, and +terribly afraid of becoming corpulent, he was sedulously careful of his +person and dress.</p> + +<p>"Hours of Idleness," Byron's first published volume, came out while he +was at the university, and was received by the "Edinburgh Review" with a +contempt which stung him to the quick. With intervals of dissipation in +London and at Brighton, Byron threw himself, at Newstead, into the +preparation of a satirical revenge, training himself for it by a deep study +of the writings of Pope. After his coming of age, in 1809, he went up to +London with his satire, and on March 13 took his seat in the House of +Lords. A few days later "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers" was the talk +of the town. Wild festivities at Newstead followed its publication, and on +July 2 Byron sailed from Falmouth in the Lisbon packet.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Poet Finds Himself</i></h3> + + +<p>Lord Byron was absent from England for two years, and in the solitude of +his nights at sea and in his lone wanderings through Greece he had leisure +and seclusion to look within himself, and there catch the first glimpses of +his glorious mind. His deep passion for solitude grew to full power; the +varied excitement of his travels invigorated his character and stored his +imagination with impressions, and his inborn sadness rose from a querulous +bitterness to the grandeur of his later melancholy.</p> + +<p>His letters show him on Parnassus, where a flight of eagles seemed an +omen of his destiny; at Athens, where he lodged with the mother of the +"Maid of Athens"; standing among the ruins of Ephesus and the mounds of +Troy; swimming the Hellespont in honour of Leander; at Constantinople, +where the prospect of the Golden Horn seemed the fairest of all; at Patras, +in the woeful debility of fever; and again at Athens, making acquaintance +with Lady Hester Stanhope and "Abyssinian" Bruce. Through all these varied +scenes his mind was brooding on the verses of the "Childe Harold."</p> + +<p>On Byron's return to England, in July, 1811, that poem was placed in Mr. +Murray's hands, and thus was laid the foundation of a long connection +between author and publisher. Mrs. Byron died on August 1. With all her +faults she had loved her son deeply, and he could at least look back upon +dutiful and kindly behaviour to her. It was in November that I first had +the pleasure of meeting the poet at dinner, and what I chiefly remarked was +the nobleness of his air, his beauty, the gentleness of his voice and +manner, and his marked kindness. From our first meeting our acquaintance +quickly ripened into friendship.</p> + +<p>On February 27, 1812, a day or two before the appearance of "Childe +Harold," Byron made the first trial of his eloquence in the House of Lords, +and it was on this occasion that he made the acquaintance of Lord Holland. +The subject of debate was the Nottingham Frame-breaking Bill. Workmen were +rioting and wrecking because their labour had been displaced by the +introduction of machinery, and Byron's view was that "we must not allow +mankind to be sacrificed to improvements in mechanism"--"the maintenance of +the industrious poor is of greater consequence than the enrichment of +monopolists"--"I have seen the state of these miserable men, and it is a +disgrace to a civilised country." The speech was well received. The +impression produced two days later by Byron's "Childe Harold" was as +instantaneous as it has proved deep and lasting. Even the dashes of +scepticism, with which he darkened his strain, served only to heighten its +success. The Prince Regent had the poet presented to him, and the author of +"Marmion" offered his praise. In the following May appeared the wild and +beautiful fragment, "The Giaour." This new offspring of his genius was +hailed with wonder and delight, and on my rejoining him in town this +spring, I found an intense enthusiasm for Byron throughout the literary and +social world. But his mind was already turning to freedom and solitude, and +his third and last speech in the House of Lords was made in June.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Byron's Unfortunate Marriage</i></h3> + + +<p>Byron's restlessness is reflected throughout his "Journal," which he +began at this time. He had dreams of living in the Grecian Islands and of +adopting an Eastern manner of life; but in December, 1813, when "The Bride +of Abydos" was published, he was still feverishly dissipating himself in +England.</p> + +<p>A significant entry in the "Journal" says: "A wife would be the +salvation of me," and Lord Byron became a suitor for the hand of Miss +Milbanke, a relative of Lady Melbourne. His proposal was not at first +accepted, but a correspondence ensued between them, and in September, 1814, +after the appearance of "The Corsair" and "Lara," they became formally +affianced. I was much in his society at this time, and was filled with +foreboding anxieties, which the unfortunate events that followed only too +fully justified. At the end of December he set out for Seaham, the seat of +Sir Ralph Milbanke, the lady's father, and on January 2, 1815, was married. +On March 8, he wrote to me from Seaham: "Bell is in health, and unvaried +good-humour and behaviour."</p> + +<p>Lord Byron's pecuniary embarrassments now accumulated upon him, and just +a year after his marriage, and shortly after the birth of their daughter, I +received a letter which breathed a profound melancholy, due partly to his +difficulties, but more, I thought, to a return of the restless and roving +spirit. I replied: "Do tell me you are happier than that letter has led me +to fear, and I shall be satisfied." It was only a few weeks later that Lady +Byron adopted the resolution of parting from him. She had left London in +January on a visit to her father, and Byron was to follow her. They had +parted in the utmost kindness; she wrote him a letter, full of playfulness +and affection, on the road; but immediately on her arrival her father wrote +to acquaint Lord Byron that she would return to him no more. At the time +when he had to stand this unexpected shock, his financial troubles, which +had led to eight or nine executions in his house within the year, had +arrived at their utmost; and at a moment when, to use his own expression, +he was "standing alone on his hearth, with his household gods shivered +around him," he was also doomed to receive the startling intelligence that +the wife who had just parted with him in kindness, had parted with him for +ever.</p> + +<p>I must quote from a letter he wrote me in March: "The fault was not in +my choice, unless in choosing at all; for I do not believe--and I must say +it in the very dregs of all this bitter business--that there ever was a +better, or even a brighter, a kinder, or a more amiable and agreeable being +than Lady Byron. I never had any reproach to make her while with me. Where +there is blame, it belongs to myself, and if I cannot redeem, I must bear +it."</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Wanderings and Work</i></h3> + + +<p>On April 25, 1816, being now twenty-eight years of age, Byron took final +leave of England, and sailed with two servants for Ostend. His route, by +Flanders and the Rhine, may be traced in his matchless verses. He settled +in Geneva, where he met Shelley and Mrs. Shelley; they boated on the lake +and walked together, and Byron's susceptible mind was deeply influenced by +his mystical companion. We may discover traces of that vague sublimity in +the third canto of "Childe Harold," and traces also of Mr. Wordsworth's +mood which Byron absorbed from Shelley's favourite author.</p> + +<p>From November, 1816, his letters are dated from Venice. "This has always +been, next to the East, the greenest island of my imagination, and it has +not disappointed me." They are considerably taken up with love affairs of +an irregular kind, and contain also many vivid pictures of Venetian society +and manners. "Manfred" was completed in 1817, and was followed by the +fourth canto of "Childe Harold." Margarita Cogni was the reigning favourite +of Byron's unworthy harem at this time; and his poem of "Don Juan," now +begun, most faithfully and lamentably reflects every whim and passion that, +like the rack of autumn, swept across his mind.</p> + +<p>But April, 1819, brought a revulsion against all this libertine way of +living, and brought also the dawn of the only real love of his whole life. +Lord Byron had first met the Countess Guiccioli in the autumn of 1818, when +she made her appearance, three days after her marriage, at the house of the +Countess Albrizzi, in all the gaiety of bridal array, and the first delight +of exchanging a convent for the world. She has given her impressions of +their meeting: "His noble and exquisitely beautiful countenance, the tone +of his voice, his manners, the thousand enchantments that surrounded him, +rendered him so superior a being to any whom I had hitherto seen, that it +was impossible he should not have left the most profound impression upon +me."</p> + +<p>In June, Byron joined her at Ravenna, and for the next three years +remained devotedly attached to her. She struck me, during our first +interview, when I visited them at La Mira, as a lady not only of a style of +beauty singular in an Italian, as being fair-complexioned and delicate, but +also as being highly intelligent and amiable.</p> + +<p>A letter to me from Pisa, dated August 27, 1822, has a mournful +interest: "We have been burning the bodies of Shelley and Williams on the +seashore. You can have no idea what an extraordinary effect such a funeral +pile has, with mountains in the background and the sea before." Another, of +November 17, to Lady Byron, shows that if the author of it had not right on +his side, he had at least most of those good feelings which generally +accompany it. "I have to acknowledge the receipt of Ada's [their +daughter's] hair; this note will reach you about her birthday.... We both +made a bitter mistake; but now it is over, and better so.... I assure you +that I bear you now no resentment whatever.... Whether the offence has been +solely on my side, or reciprocal, or on yours chiefly, I have ceased to +reflect on any but two things--that you are the mother of my child, and +that we shall never meet again."</p> + +<p>Byron was thirty-five years old when from his exile at Genoa he turned +his eyes to Greece, where a spirit was now rising such as he had imaged +forth in dreams of song, but hardly could have dreamed that he should have +lived to see it realised. He longed to witness, and very probably to share +in, the present triumphs of liberty on those very fields where he had +gathered for immortality such memorials of the liberty of the past. Lord +Byron was in touch with the committee concerned with Grecian liberty in +May, 1823, and two months later sailed with his party on July 14.</p> + +<p>Arriving at Cephalonia he made a journey to Ithaca for a few days. His +confidence in the Greek cause was soon clouded; the people were grossly +degenerate, and he saw that the work of regeneration must be slow. To +convince the government and the chiefs of the paralysing effect of their +dissensions, to inculcate the spirit of union, to endeavour to humanise the +feelings of the belligerents on both sides, so as to take from the war the +character of barbarism--these, with the generous aid of his money, were the +objects of his interference.</p> + +<p>At length the time for action arrived, and, leaving Cephalonia, Byron +landed at Missolonghi on January 4, 1824. He was welcomed with all honour, +and at the end of the month received a formal commission from the +government as commander of the expedition against Lepanto, a fortified +town. This design was a failure, and Byron occupied himself with the +fortification of Missolonghi, and with the formation of a brigade for the +next campaign.</p> + +<p>But his health had lately been giving way; he was living in little +better than a swamp; and one day, after exposure to a heavy shower, he was +seized with acute pains. On April 11, the illness, now recognised as +rheumatic fever, increased, and on the 19th he was no more. The funeral +took place in the Church of St. Nicholas, Missolonghi, on April 22, and the +remains were carried to England on the brig Florida, and buried, close to +those of his mother, in the village church of Hucknall.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--A Bewildering Personality</i></h3> + + +<p>Can I clear away some of the mists that hang round my friend, and show +him as worthy of love as he was of admiration? The task is not an easy one. +In most minds some one influence governs, from which all secondary impulses +are found to radiate, but this pivot of character was wanting to Lord +Byron. Governed at different moments by totally different passions, and +impelled sometimes, as in his excess of parsimony in Italy, by springs of +action never before developed in his nature, he presents the strangest +contradictions and inconsistencies, a bewildering complication of +qualities.</p> + +<p>So various, indeed, were his moral and intellectual attributes, that he +may be pronounced to have been not one, but many. It was this multiform +aspect that led the world to compare him with a medley host of personages: +"within nine years," as he playfully records, "to Rousseau, Goethe, Young, +Aretino, Timon of Athens, Dante, Petrarch, Satan, Shakespeare, Buonaparte, +Tiberius, Æschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Harlequin, Henry VIII., +Mirabeau, Michael Angelo, Diogenes, Milton, Alfieri, and many others."</p> + +<p>But this very versatility, which renders it so difficult to fix the +fairy fabric of his character, is itself the clue to whatever was most +dazzling in his might, or startling in his levity, or most attractive or +most repellent in his life and genius. A variety of powers almost +boundless, and a pride no less vast in displaying them; an unusual +susceptibility and an uncontrolled impetuosity--such were the two great +sources of all that varied spectacle of his life--unchecked feeling and +dominant self-will.</p> + +<p>Great versatility of power will hardly be found without a tendency to +versatility of principle. Byron was fully aware, not only of this +characteristic quality of his nature, but also of its danger to singleness +of character; and this consciousness had the effect of keeping him in a +general line of consistency, throughout life, on certain great subjects, +and helped him to preserve unbroken the greater number of his personal +attachments. But, except in some few respects, he gave way to his versatile +humour without scruple or check; and it was impossible but that such a +range of will and power should be abused. Is it to be wondered at that in +the works of one thus gifted and carried away we should find, without any +design of corrupting on his side, evil too often invested with a grandeur +which belongs intrinsically but to good?</p> + +<p>Nay, it will be found that even the strength and impressiveness of +Byron's poetry is sometimes injured by a capricious and desultory quality +due to this very pliancy of mind. It may be questioned whether a +concentration of his powers would not have afforded a grander result. It +may be that, if Lord Byron had not been so actively versatile, he would +have been, not less wonderful, but more great.</p> + +<p>Again, this love of variety was one of the most pervading weaknesses, +not only to his poetry, but of his life. The pride of personating every +kind of character, evil as well as good, influenced his ambition and his +conduct; and to such a perverse length did he carry this fancy for +self-defamation that, if there was any tendency to mental derangement, it +was in this point that it manifested itself. I have known him more than +once, as we have sat together, to throw out dark hints of his past life +with an air of gloom and mystery designed to awaken interest; and I have +little doubt that, to produce effect at the moment, there is hardly any +crime so dark or so desperate of which, in the excitement of acting upon +the imaginations of others, he would not have hinted that he had been +guilty. It has sometimes occurred to me that the occult cause of his lady's +separation from him may have been nothing more, after all, than some +imposture of this kind, some dim confession of undefined horror.</p> + +<p>But the over-frankness with which he uttered every chance impression of +the moment was by itself enough to bring his character unfavourably before +the world. Which of us could bear to be judged by the unnumbered thoughts +that course like waves of the sea through our minds and pass away unuttered +and even unowned by ourselves? To such a test was Byron's character, +throughout his life, exposed.</p> + +<p>Yet, to this readiness in reflecting all hues, whether of the shadows or +lights of our variegated existence, Lord Byron owed his personal +fascination. His social intercourse was perfectly charming, because whoever +was with him occupied for the moment all his thoughts and feelings. Even +with the casual acquaintance of the hour his heart was on his lips, ready +to give away every secret of his life.</p> + +<p>To my assertion that "at no time of his life was Lord Byron a confirmed +unbeliever" it has been objected that his writings prove the direct +contrary. But this is to confuse the words "unbeliever" and "sceptic," the +former of which implies decision of opinion, and the latter only doubt. +Many passages in his "Journal" show doubt strongly inclined to belief. "Of +the immortality of the soul it appears to me there can be little doubt." "I +have often been inclined to materialism in philosophy, but could never bear +its introduction into Christianity, which appears to me essentially founded +upon the soul." Here are doubt and unrest, but not unbelief.</p> + +<p>And so I conclude my labours, undertaken at the wish of my friend, and +leave his character to the judgement of the world. Let it be remembered +that through life, with all his faults, he never lost a friend; that those +about him in his youth, whether as companions, teachers, or servants, +remained attached to him to the last; that the woman to whom he gave the +love of his maturer years idolises his name; and that, with a single +unhappy exception, those who were brought into relations of amity with him +have felt towards him a kind regard in life, and retain a fondness for his +memory.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JAMES_COTTER_MORISON"></a>JAMES COTTER MORISON</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_and_Times_of_St_Bernard"></a>Life and Times of St. +Bernard</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> James Augustus Cotter Morison, English essayist and +historian, was born in London on April 20, 1832, and was the son of the +inventor and proprietor of "Morison's Pills." His first years were spent in +Paris, where he laid the foundation of his intimate knowledge of the French +people. After graduating at Oxford, he wrote for the "Saturday Review" and +other papers, and in 1863 brought out his "Life and Times of Saint +Bernard." His other chief work is entitled "The Service of Man: an Essay +towards the Religion of the Future," published in 1886. He had projected an +historical study of France under Louis XIV., but never completed it. He +died on February 26, 1888. Morison was a Positivist, and had many friends +in that group, and his rich mind and genial temper endeared him to several +of the leading literary men of his time, such as George Meredith, Mark +Pattison and Matthew Arnold. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--The Early Days of a Useful Life</i></h3> + + +<p>Saint Bernard was born in 1091, and died in 1153. His life thus almost +coincides with the central portion of the Middle Ages. He saw the First and +Second Crusades, the rising liberties of the communes, and the beginnings +of scholasticism under Abelard. A large Church reformation and the noblest +period of monasticism occurred in his day, and received deep marks of his +genius.</p> + +<p>He was the son of Tesselin, a wealthy feudal baron of Burgundy, +remarkable for his courage, piety, justice and modesty. Alith, his mother, +was earnest, loving and devout, and full of humility and charity. His +earliest years were passed amid the European fervour of the First Crusade; +and as he grew from boyhood into youth--at which time his mother died--he +made choice of the monastic profession. His friends vainly tried to tempt +him aside into the pursuit of philosophy; but his commanding personal +ascendancy brought his brothers and friends to follow him instead into the +religious life. Having assembled a company of about thirty chosen spirits, +he retired into seclusion with them for six months, and then, in 1113, at +the age of twenty-two, led them within the gates of Citeaux.</p> + +<p>This community, founded fifteen years before, and now ruled by Stephen +Harding, an Englishman from Dorsetshire, was exceedingly austere, keeping +Saint Benedict's rule literally. Here Bernard's uncompromising +self-mortification, and his love of, and communion with, Nature, showed +themselves as the chief characteristics of his noble spirit. "Believe me," +he said to a pupil, "you will find something far greater in the woods than +you will in books; stones and trees will teach you that which you will +never learn from masters." The arrival of Bernard and his companions was a +turning-point in the history of Citeaux; and the monastery had to send out +two colonies, to La Ferté and Pontigny, and in 1115 a third, under +Bernard himself, to Clairvaux. Here, in a deep umbrageous valley, traversed +by a limpid stream, the thirteen pioneers built a house little better than +a barn. Their privations were great. Beech-nuts and roots were at first +their main support; but soon the sympathy of the surrounding country +brought sufficiency for their frugal needs. Bernard was consecrated Abbot +of Clairvaux by the Bishop of Chalons, the renowned William of Champeaux, +with whom he established a deep friendship.</p> + +<p>His labours, anxieties and austerities had well-nigh brought Bernard to +the grave, when the good bishop, finding him inflexible, went to Citeaux, +and, prostrating himself before Stephen Harding, begged and obtained leave +to direct and manage Bernard for one year only. The young abbot obeyed his +new director absolutely, and lived in a cottage apart from the monastery +"at leisure for himself and God, and exulting, as it were, in the delights +of Paradise."</p> + +<p>William of St. Thierry and other chroniclers, telling of Clairvaux at +this time, are fervid in their reverence and praise. "Methought I saw a new +heaven and a new earth" ... "the golden age seemed to have revisited the +world" ... "as you descended the hill you could see it was a temple of God; +the still, silent valley bespoke the unfeigned humility of Christ's poor. +In this valley full of men, where one and all were occupied with their +allotted tasks, a silence, deep as that of night, prevailed. The sounds of +labour, or the chants of the brethren in the choral service, were the only +exceptions. The order of this silence struck such a reverence even into +secular persons that they dreaded breaking it even by pertinent +remarks."</p> + +<p>Saint Benedict's rule had reference only to a single religious house; +but Abbot Stephen of Citeaux united in one compact whole all the +monasteries which sprang from the parent stock of Citeaux, and established +an organised system of mutual supervision and control. A general chapter +was held annually in September, and every Cistercian abbot whose monastery +was in France, Italy or Germany was bound to attend every year; those from +Spain, every two years; those from Ireland, Scotland, Sicily and Portugal, +every four years; those from Norway, every five years; and those from Syria +and Palestine, every seven years. The "Charter of Charity," promulgated by +this chapter for the guidance of the Cistercian Order, is a brief but +pregnant document, which quite explains its success.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--A Great Preacher and Essayist</i></h3> + + +<p>About 1119, Bernard, who had resumed the duties of abbot, began the +career of literary and ecclesiastical activity--the wide and impassioned +correspondence, the series of marvellous sermons--which have won for him +the title of the Last of the Fathers. His early essays are vigorous, but +lack judgement and skill; they are stiff and rhetorical, and far removed +from the tender poetry of his later writings. Three years later we find +Bernard credited with many miracles, narrated by William of St. Thierry, +who afterwards retired to become a monk at Signy, where he wrote his record +of the saint. It was then regarded as natural that a man of eminent piety +should work miracles; and we ought to accept these stories, in their native +crudity and simplicity, not as true, but as significant. Belonging to the +time, as much as feudal castles and mail armour do, they form part of a +picture of it.</p> + +<p>With the exception of a visit to La Grande Chartreuse, and of another to +Paris, where he preached the "true philosophy" of poverty and contempt of +the world to the schools distracted by scholastic puzzles, Bernard remained +a secluded monk of a new and humble Order. But already, in his thirty-fifth +year, the foundations had been laid of that authority which enabled him to +quell a widespread schism, to oppose a formidable heretic, and to give the +strongest impulse to the Second Crusade. His power was growing, chiefly by +his voluminous correspondence. He wrote to persons of all classes on all +subjects; his letters afford to the historian a wide repertory of +indubitable facts, and show what was the part played at that time by the +spiritual power--that of a divine morality and superior culture coming into +conflict with, and strong enough to withstand, a vigorous barbarism. These +epistles are full of commonsense and clear, practical advice, and often +give us a glimpse of the human, as distinct from the ascetic, element in +monastic life. They show how men could pass pleasant and thoughtful days +amid the barbarism of the time.</p> + +<p>The feudal fighting, plundering and slaying seemed to spectators of that +time, and doubtless to Bernard also, as fixed and unalterable, part of the +nature of things. Louis VI., King of France, had spent his life in a +succession of sieges, forays and devastations, as one feudal lord among +others often more powerful than he. But generally he was in the right, and +his enemies in the wrong; he generally fought for justice and mercy, and +they for power and for plunder. The feudal aristocracy was now at the +zenith of its power, and the peasant was oppressed by injustice, taxation +and forced labour. Only the Church, and she only on grand occasions, could +stand up for the poor; but now the royal power made common cause with +Church and poor, and was rewarded by a gain in extent and in influence. Yet +even Louis, whose whole life showed respect for the spiritual power, had +some disagreement with the Bishop of Paris and with the Archbishop of Sens, +so that the two ecclesiastics placed the kingdom under interdict, and fled +to Citeaux. Thence Bernard, with an astonishing tone of authority, called +upon his king to do justice; and Louis was on the point of restoring the +stolen property. Pope Honorius, however, sent letters to the king, raising +the interdict, and thereupon Bernard turned his fearless indignation upon +the supreme pontiff himself. "We speak with sadness; the honour of the +Church has been not a little blemished in the time of Honorius."</p> + +<p>The same intrepidity is shown in Bernard's controversy with the monks of +Cluny, an abbey of pre-eminent power and moral authority, so that Louis had +called it the "noblest member of his kingdom." Pontius, its abbot, having +fallen into ways of pride and extortion, had been induced from Rome to +resign his abbacy, and to promise a pilgrimage to the Holy Land; but soon +afterwards he fell upon the monastery with an armed force, and ruled there +like a robber chieftain. This scandalous outrage was soon reported at Rome, +and the sacrilegious usurper was excommunicated and banished. Bernard +seized the moment when laxity of observance of the rule had produced its +bitterest fruit to break out in remonstrances and warnings, as well to his +own Cistercians as to the Cluniacs, on the decline of the genuine monastic +spirit. The invective of what he calls his "Apology" spares neither the +softness, nor the ostentation, nor the avarice, of religious houses. It +condemns even their stately sanctuaries. "The walls of your church are +resplendent, but the poor are not there." It recalls the erring monasteries +to real mortification. In another early treatise, "The Degrees of Humility +and of Pride," the modes of pride are exhibited forcibly, and with not a +little humour. Curiosity, thoughtless mirth, mock humility, and other +symptoms of the protean vice are painted by a master.</p> + +<p>But Bernard's period of retirement was drawing to a close; he was +becoming indispensable to his contemporaries. In 1128 he was called to the +Council of Troyes, at which the Order of Knights Templars was founded, and +wrote a treatise in praise of the "new warfare," called the "Exhortation to +the Knights of the Temple." He was brought, again, to the council convened +by Louis VI. at Étampes to decide between the claims of the rival +Popes in the Papal schism. The council opened by unanimous consent that +Bernard's judgement should decide their views; and without hesitation he +pronounced Innocent II. the lawful Pope, and Peter Leonis, or Anacletus +II., a vain pretender. He bore the same testimony, in the presence of +Innocent, before Henry I. of England, at Chartres, and before Lotharius, +the German Emperor, at Liège. The Pope visited Clairvaux, where he +was moved to tears at the sight of the tattered flock of "Christ's poor," +then presided at the Council of Rheims, 1131, and continued his journey +into Italy, still accompanied by the Abbot of Clairvaux. Bernard, convinced +that the cause of Innocent was the cause of justice and religion, set no +bounds to his advocacy of it in letters to kings, bishops and cities. Such +was now the fame of his sanctity that on his approach to Milan the whole +population came out to meet him.</p> + +<p>He returned to Clairvaux in 1135, where he found the community all +living in Christian amity, and again retired to a cottage in the +neighbourhood for rest and reflection. "Bernard was in the heavens," says +Arnold of Bonnevaux; "but they compelled him to come down and listen to +their sublunary business." The buildings were too small for their +constantly growing numbers, and a convenient site had been found in an open +plain farther down the valley. Bishops, barons and merchants came to the +help of the good work; and the new abbey and church rose quickly.</p> + +<p>To Bernard's forty-fifth year belong the "Sermons on the Canticles." In +the auditorium, or talking-room of the monastery, the abbot, surrounded by +his white-cowled monks, delivered his spiritual discourses. A strange +company it was: the old, stooping monk and the young beginner, the lord and +the peasant, listening together to the man whose message they believed came +from another world.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--St. Bernard and the Second Crusade</i></h3> + + +<p>In the meanwhile, the affairs of the Papacy had not improved--Innocent +was still an exile from his see. Worst of all, the monastery of Monte +Casino, the head and type of Western monarchism, had declared for +Anacletus, the anti-Pope; and in 1137 Bernard set out for Italy, visited +Innocent at Viterbo, and proceeded to Rome. As he advanced, Anacletus was +rapidly deserted by his supporters, and shortly afterwards solved the +difficulty by his death. So ended the schism; and Bernard left Rome within +five days after finishing his work. With broken health and depressed +spirits he returned to Clairvaux. His brother Gerard, who had shared his +journey, died soon after they reached home; and Bernard's discourse on that +event is one of the most remarkable funeral sermons on record. The monk had +not ceased to be a loving and impassioned man.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of 1139, the heresies of Peter Abelard, brought to his +notice by William of St. Thierry, called the Abbot of Clairvaux again into +public controversy. He implored Pope and cardinals to stay the progress of +a second Arius. Abelard was at this time sixty-one years old, Bernard's +senior by twelve years, and was without a rival in the schools. The two men +were such that they could not but oppose one another; they looked at the +shield from opposite sides; reconciliation, however desirable, could be +only superficial. Bernard met Abelard, and "admonished him secretly." He +well knew to what epoch this subtle mind, with its "human and philosophic +reasons," was about to lead; his quick ear caught the distant thunder-roll +of free inquiry. The heresies of Peter de Bruis and the rebellion of Arnold +of Brescia had already marked the beginning of the great change. At last +Bernard unwillingly yielded to Abelard's challenge to a public dispute at +Sens; but his speech had hardly begun when Abelard rose in his place, +refused to hear more, and appealed to Rome. He never reached Rome, but +remained a penitent monk at Cluny, reconciled to his great antagonist.</p> + +<p>Bernard was fifty-five years of age, and old for his years, when the +Pope delegated to him the office of preaching the Second Crusade. Pale and +attenuated to a degree which seemed almost supernatural, his contemporaries +discovered something in the mere glance of his eyes which filled them with +wonder and awe. When his words of love, aspiration and sublime +self-sacrifice reached their ears, they were no longer masters of +themselves or of their feelings. A great meeting had been convened by Pope +and king at Vézelay, on Easter, 1146. Bernard, attended by the king, +spoke from a platform erected on a hill; there was a shout of "Crosses! +Crosses!" and the preacher scattered a sheaf of these badges among the +people. The spiritual mind of Europe had spoken through Bernard, and now +the military mind spoke through Louis VII. He called upon France to destroy +the enemies of God. Then Bernard preached the Crusade through France and +Germany, welcomed everywhere by almost unparalleled enthusiasm and attended +by miraculous signs.</p> + +<p>Bernard was shortly to die; but he had first to bear the trial of being +reviled as the author of the calamities which had overtaken the Crusade. +Why had he preached it and prophesied success if this was to be the event? +A murmur of wrath against him was heard from the broad population of +Europe. It was during this dark time that he began his largest literary +work, the five books "De Consideratione," addressed to his disciple, +Eugenius III., a powerful and elaborate plea against the excessive +centralization of all administration and decisions into the hands of the +Papal Court. Bernard called this period "the season of calamities." He +discovered that his secretary had been forging his name and used his +authority to recommend men and causes most unworthy of his patronage. His +health was such that he could take no solid food; sleep had left him; his +debility was extreme. Pope Eugenius died in July, 1153; and Bernard had no +wish to stay behind. "I am no longer of this world," he said; and on August +20 he passed away.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JOHN_MORLEY"></a>JOHN MORLEY</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_Richard_Cobden"></a>Life of Richard Cobden</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> In an age when many have gained the double distinction of +eminence in statesmanship and in letters, the name of Lord Morley stands +out as that of a man so illustrious in both provinces that it is hard to +decide in which he has earned the greater fame. We are here concerned with +him as a brilliant English man of letters. The "Life of Cobden" was +published in 1881, when John Morley was in the height of his literary +activity. Born at Blackburn on December 24, 1838, and educated at +Cheltenham and Oxford, he had entered journalism, had edited the "Pall Mall +Gazette" and the "Fortnightly Review," and had followed up his first +book--a monograph on Burke--by a remarkable study of Voltaire, and by his +work entitled "On Compromise." Political preoccupations drew him somewhat +away from literature after 1881; but in 1901 he published his book on +Cromwell, which was followed two years later by the monumental "Life of +Gladstone." </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--On the Road</i></h3> + + +<p>Heyshott is a hamlet in a sequestered corner of West Sussex, not many +miles from the Hampshire border. Here, in an old farmhouse, known as +Dunford, Richard Cobden was born on June 3, 1804. His ancestors were yeomen +of the soil, and, it is said, with every appearance of truth, that the name +can be traced in the annals of the district as far back as the fourteenth +century.</p> + +<p>Cobden's father, a man of soft and affectionate disposition, but wholly +without the energy of affairs, met with financial disaster in 1814, and +relatives charged themselves with the maintenance of his dozen children. +Richard was sent by his mother's brother-in-law, a merchant in London, to a +school in Yorkshire. Here he remained for five years, a grim and desolate +time, of which he could never afterwards endure to speak. In 1819 he was +received as a clerk in his uncle's warehouse in Old Change; and at the age +of twenty-one he was advanced from the drudgery of the warehouse to the +glories of the road. What made the life of a traveller specially welcome to +Cobden was the gratification that it offered to the master-passion of his +life, an insatiable desire to know the affairs of the world.</p> + +<p>In 1826, his employer failed, and for some months Cobden had to take +unwelcome holiday. In September he found a situation, and again set out on +the road with his samples of muslin and calico prints. Two years +afterwards, in 1828, he and two friends determined to begin business on +their own account. They arranged with a firm of Manchester calico-printers +to sell goods on commission; and so profitable was the enterprise that in +1831 the partners determined to print their own goods, and took an old +factory at Sabden in Lancashire.</p> + +<p>Cobden's imagination was struck by the busy life of the county with +which his name was destined to be so closely bound up. "Manchester," he +writes with enthusiasm, "is the place for all men of bargain and business." +His pen acquires a curiously exulting animation as he describes the bustle +of its streets, the quaintness of its dialect, the abundance of its +capital, and the sturdy veterans with a hundred thousand pounds in each +pocket, who might be seen in the evening smoking clay pipes and calling for +brandy-and-water in the bar-parlours of homely taverns. He prospered +rapidly in this congenial atmosphere; but it is at Sabden, not at +Manchester, that we see the first monument of his public spirit--a little +stone school-house, built as the result of an agitation led by him with as +much eager enthusiasm as he ever threw afterwards into great affairs of +state.</p> + +<p>Between 1833 and 1836 Cobden's character widened and ripened with +surprising quickness. We pass at a single step from the natural and +wholesome egotism of the young man who has his bread to win to the wide +interests and generous public spirit of the good citizen. His first motion +was towards his own intellectual improvement, and early in life he +perceived that for his purposes no preparation could be so effective as +that of travel. In 1833 and 1834 he visited the Continent; in 1835, the +United States; and in 1836 and 1837 he travelled to Egypt, the Levant, and +Turkey.</p> + +<p>In the interval between the two latter journeys he made what was +probably his first public speech, at a meeting to further the demand of a +corporation for Manchester. The speech is described as a signal failure. +"He was nervous," says the chronicler, "confused, and in fact practically +broke down, and the chairman had to apologise for him."</p> + +<p>He was much more successful in two pamphlets he published at this time, +"England, Ireland, and America," and "Russia," in which he opened the long +struggle he was to wage against the restriction of commerce, and the policy +of intervention in European feuds. It is no strained pretension to say that +already Richard Cobden, the Manchester manufacturer, was fully possessed of +the philosophic gift of feeling about society as a whole, and thinking +about the problems of society in an ordered connection.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Corn Laws</i></h3> + + +<p>In 1837, Cobden was invited to become candidate for the borough of +Stockport. Although he threw himself into the struggle with all his energy, +on the day of election he was found to be at the bottom of the poll. Four +years later he was returned for Stockport by a triumphant majority. But in +1841 he was no longer a rising young politician; he had become the leading +spirit of a national agitation.</p> + +<p>In October, 1838, a band of seven men met at an hotel in Manchester, and +formed a new Anti-Corn-Law Association. They were speedily joined by +others, including Cobden, who from this moment began to take a prominent +part in all counsel and action. The abolition of the duties on corn was the +single object of Cobden's political energy during the seven years that +followed, and their destruction was the one finished triumph with which his +name is associated.</p> + +<p>After the rejection in the following year by a large majority of Mr. +Villiers' motion that the House of Commons should consider the act +regulating the importation of corn, the association developed into a League +of Federated Anti-Corn-Law Associations in different towns and districts. +The repealers began the work of propagandism by sending out a band of +economic missionaries, who were not long in discovering how hardly an old +class interest dies. In many districts neither law nor equity gave them +protection. The members of the league were described in the London Press as +unprincipled schemers, as commercial and political swindlers, and as +revolutionary emissaries, whom all well-disposed persons ought to assist +the authorities in putting down.</p> + +<p>Before he entered Parliament, Cobden re-settled his business by entering +into partnership with his brother Frederick, and married (May, 1840) a +young Welsh lady, Miss Catherine Ann Williams. In Parliament Cobden was +instantly successful. His early speeches produced that singular and +profound effect which is perceived in English deliberative assemblies when +a speaker leaves party recriminations, abstract argument, and commonplaces +of sentiment, in order to inform his hearers of telling facts in the +condition of the nation.</p> + +<p>But Cobden's parliamentary work was at this time less important than his +work as an agitator. If in one sense the Corn Laws did not seem a promising +theme for a popular agitation, they were excellently fitted to bring out +Cobden's peculiar strength. It was not passion, but persuasiveness, to +which we must look for the secret of his oratorical success. Cobden made +his way to men's hearts by the union which they saw in him of simplicity, +earnestness, and conviction, with a singular facility of exposition. Then +men were attracted by his mental alacrity, by the instant readiness with +which he turned round to grapple with a new objection.</p> + +<p>His patience in acquiring and shaping matter for argument was surpassed +by his inexhaustible patience in dealing with the mental infirmities of +those whom it was his business to persuade. He was wholly free from the +unmeasured anger against human stupidity which is itself one of the most +provoking forms of that stupidity.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Cobden and Bright</i></h3> + + +<p>In the autumn of 1841, Cobden and Bright made that solemn compact which +was the beginning of an affectionate and noble friendship that lasted +without a cloud or a jar until Cobden's death.</p> + +<p>"On the day when Mr. Cobden called upon me," said Bright, "I was in the +depths of grief, I might almost say of despair; for the light and sunshine +of my house had been extinguished. All that was left on earth of my young +wife, except the memory of a sainted life and of a too brief happiness, was +lying still and cold in the chamber above us. Mr. Cobden called upon me as +a friend, and addressed me, as you might suppose, with words of condolence. +After a time he looked up, and said, 'There are thousands of houses in +England at this moment where wives, mothers, and children are dying of +hunger. Now,' he said, 'when the first paroxysm of your grief is past, I +would advise you to come with me, and we will never rest till the Corn Law +is repealed.' I accepted his invitation."</p> + +<p>Although the agitation for repeal was in Cobden's mind only a part of +the broad aims of peace and social and moral progress for which he strove, +he was too practical to put forth his thoughts on too many subjects at +once. He confined his enthusiasm to repeal until repeal was accomplished. +But his efforts left him no time to attend to his own business, which was +falling to pieces under the management of his brother Frederick. In the +autumn of 1845 he felt compelled to give up his work as an agitator on +account of his private affairs, but Bright and one or two friends procured +the money that sufficed to tide over the emergency.</p> + +<p>The cause was now on the eve of victory. The autumn of 1845 was the +wettest in the memory of man. For long the downpour never ceased by night +or by day; it was the rain that rained away the Corn Laws. The bad harvest +and the Irish potato famine brought the long hesitation of Sir Robert Peel +to an end. Soon after the opening of the session of 1846, he announced his +proposals.</p> + +<p>The repeal of the Corn Laws was to be total, but not immediate. For +three years there was to be a lowered duty on a sliding scale, and then the +ports were to be opened entirely. "Hurrah! Hurrah!" wrote Cobden to his +wife on June 26, "the Corn Bill is law, and now my work is done!"</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--In the Cause of Peace</i></h3> + + +<p>Cobden was now absent from England for fourteen months, travelling on +the Continent. His reception was everywhere that of a great discoverer in a +science which interests the bulk of mankind much more keenly than any +other, the science of wealth. People looked on him as a man who had found +out a momentous secret. He had interviews with the Pope, with three or four +kings, with ambassadors, and with all the prominent statesmen. He never +lost an opportunity of speaking a word in season. They were not all +converted, but they all listened to him; and they all taught him something, +whether they chose to learn anything from him in return or not.</p> + +<p>On his return he joined with Bright in an agitation for financial and +parliamentary reform. While he believed in an extension of the franchise as +a means of attaining the objects he had in view, he was essentially an +economical, a moral, and a social reformer. He was never an enthusiast for +mere reform in the machinery. He made it his special mission to advocate +financial reform, and left the advocacy for franchise extension very +largely to his colleague.</p> + +<p>Retrenchment was the keynote of the financial reform urged by Cobden; +and retrenchment involved the furtherance of international peace and the +reduction of British armaments by means of the abandonment of the policy of +intervention in European disputes and the policy of "clinging to colonies," +with the consequent expenditure upon colonial defence. From 1846 to 1851 +Lord Palmerston was at the Foreign Office, and was incessantly active in +the affairs of half the countries of Europe. To this policy of interference +Cobden offered resolute opposition. He was especially energetic in +protesting against the lending to Austria and Russia of money that was in +effect borrowed to repay the cost of the oppressive war against Hungary. It +is impossible not to admire the courage, the sound sense, and the elevation +with which Cobden thus strove to diffuse the doctrine of moral +responsibility in connection with the use of capital.</p> + +<p>In 1852, a Protectionist Ministry under Lord Derby came into power, and +the Anti-Corn Law League was revived. The danger, however, soon passed +away; the Derby Ministry made no attempt to interfere with freedom of +trade, and ere the year ended gave place to the Aberdeen Ministry. Cobden's +policy of peace and retrenchment, however, became more and more unpopular. +Cobden's urgent feeling about war was not in any degree sentimental. He +opposed war because war and the preparation for it consumed the resources +which were required for the improvement of the temporal condition of the +population. But in the inflamed condition of public opinion his arguments +were powerless.</p> + +<p>The invasion panic of 1853 was followed in 1854 by the Crimean War, and +in opposing that war Cobden and Bright found themselves absolutely +alone.</p> + +<p>"The British nation," said Lord Palmerston, "is unanimous in this +matter. I say unanimous, for I cannot reckon Cobden, Bright, and Co. for +anything." His estimate was perfectly correct; Cobden and Bright had the +whole world against them. The moral fortitude, like the political wisdom, +of these two strong men, stands out with a splendour that already recalls +the great historic types of statesmanship and patriotism.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--Cobden as Treaty-Maker</i></h3> + + +<p>In 1857, Cobden was compelled to retire for a time from politics. He +vigorously opposed the Chinese War, and succeeded in defeating Lord +Palmerston's Government in the House of Commons. Lord Palmerston, with his +usual acuteness and courage, at once dissolved parliament, and in the +General Election his victory was complete. The Manchester School was +routed. Cobden, who contested Huddersfield, was heavily beaten; and at +Manchester itself Bright was at the bottom of the poll. Cobden went to his +home at Dunford, in Sussex, and remained there nearly two years. Once more +he was afflicted with financial trouble. An unfortunate land speculation at +Manchester, and certain investments in American railroads, had again +brought him into difficulties, from which he was ultimately rescued by a +munificent gift of £40,000 from subscribers whose names he never +knew.</p> + +<p>The General Election of 1859 was held while Cobden was absent in the +United States, and on his return he found that he had been chosen member +for Rochdale. To his surprise, he also received from his old enemy, +Palmerston, an offer of the Presidency of the Board of Trade. Cobden, who +had consistently refrained from accepting any office, courteously +declined.</p> + +<p>But he was none the less able to render a great service to the new +Government. Mr. Bright, in a parliamentary speech, incidentally asked why, +instead of lavishing the national substance in armaments, they did not go +to the French Emperor and attempt to persuade him to allow his people to +trade freely with ours. The idea of a commercial treaty occurred to M. +Chevalier on reading the speech, and he wrote in this sense to Cobden, who +was strongly impressed by the notion. He opened his mind to Gladstone, who +was then Chancellor of the Exchequer; and, as the outcome, Cobden went to +Paris in the autumn of 1859 as unofficial negotiator of a treaty.</p> + +<p>The negotiation was long and tedious. Cobden had to convert the emperor +to his views, and to await the reconciliation of the various French +interests that were opposed to freedom of trade. It was not until November, +1860, that Cobden's labours were concluded. England cleared her tariff of +protection, and reduced the duties which were retained for revenue on the +two French staples of wine and brandy. France, on her part, replaced +prohibition by a series of moderate duties.</p> + +<p>Palmerston offered Cobden a choice between a baronetcy and a Privy +Councillorship as a reward for his services. He replied begging permission +most respectfully to deny himself the honour. "An indisposition to accept a +title," he wrote, "being in my case rather an affair of feeling than of +reason, I will not dwell further on the subject."</p> + + +<h3><i>VI.--The Last Days of Cobden</i></h3> + + +<p>When Cobden returned to England his public position had more than +recovered the authority and renown which had been seriously impaired by his +unpopular attitude on the Russian war. But he and Bright were soon involved +in an almost angrier conflict than before with the upper and middle +classes, on account of their championship of the North in the American +Civil War.</p> + +<p>The remaining years of his life were largely spent in systematic +onslaughts upon the policy of Lord Palmerston, and in opposition to +military expenditure. It was with the purpose of resisting a Canadian +fortification scheme that he made his last journey to London in March, +1865. On his arrival he was seized by a sharp attack of asthma; bronchitis +supervened, and it became evident that he would not recover. On the morning +of Sunday, April 2, Bright took his place by the side of the dying man. As +the bells were ringing for the morning service the mists of death began to +settle heavily on his brow, and his ardent, courageous, and brotherly +spirit soon passed tranquilly away.</p> + +<p>He was buried by the side of his son in the little churchyard at +Lavington, on the slope of the hill among the pine-woods. "Before we left +the house," Bright has told us, "standing by me, and leaning on the coffin, +was his sorrowing daughter, one whose attachment to her father seems to +have been a passion scarcely equalled among daughters. She said, 'My father +used to like me very much to read to him the Sermon on the Mount. His own +life was, to a large, extent, a sermon based upon that best, that greatest +of all sermons. His was a life of perpetual self-sacrifice.'"</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="SAMUEL_PEPYS"></a>SAMUEL PEPYS</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Diary"></a>Diary</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Samuel Pepys, author of the incomparable "Diary," was born +either in London or at Brampton, Huntingdonshire, on February 23, 1632-3, +son of John Pepys, a London tailor. By the influence of the Earl of +Sandwich, he was entered in the public service. Beginning as a clerk in the +Exchequer, he was soon transferred to the Naval Department, and rose to the +high office of secretary to the Admiralty. His services were interrupted +for a time, on the baseless suspicion that he was a Catholic, during the +panic about the supposed "Popish Plot," but he was returned to his charge, +and held it until the accession of William and Mary. Pepys was a man of +very wide interests. He was a member of parliament, and became president of +the Royal Society. He was an accomplished musician and a keen critic of +painting, architecture, and the drama. But it is as a connoisseur of human +nature that Pepys is known to-day. The "Diary" extended over the ten years, +January, 1659-60, to May, 1669; it closed when he was thirty-seven years +old, and he lived thirty-four years afterwards. The manuscript, written in +shorthand, fills six volumes, which repose at Magdalene College, Cambridge. +It was deciphered in 1825, when it was published as "Memoirs of Samuel +Pepys, comprising his Diary from 1659 to 1669, deciphered by the Rev. J. +Smith, and a Selection of his Private Correspondence, edited by Lord +Braybrooke." Pepys died on May 26, 1703. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--"God Bless King Charles"</i></h3> + + +<p><i>January</i> 1, 1659-60. Blessed be God, at the end of last year I was +in very good health, without any sense of my old pain, but upon taking of +cold. I lived in Axe Yard, having my wife and servant, Jane, and no other +in family than us three.</p> + +<p>The condition of the state was thus: the Rump, after being disturbed by +my Lord Lambert, was lately returned to sit again. The officers of the army +all forced to yield. Lawson still lies in the river, and Monk is with his +army in Scotland. The New Common Council of the City do speak very high; +and had sent to Monk their sword-bearer, to acquaint him with their desires +for a free and full parliament, which is at present the desires, and the +hopes, and the expectations of all. My own private condition very handsome, +and esteemed rich, but indeed very poor; besides my goods of my house, and +my office, which at present is somewhat certain.</p> + +<p><i>March 9, 1660.</i> To my lord at his lodging, and came to Westminster +with him in the coach; and I telling him that I was willing and ready to go +with him to sea, he agreed that I should. I hear that it is resolved +privately that a treaty be offered with the king.</p> + +<p><i>May 1.</i> To-day I hear they were very merry at Deal, setting up the +king's flag upon one of their maypoles, and drinking his health upon their +knees in the streets, and firing the guns, which the soldiers of the castle +threatened, but durst not oppose.</p> + +<p><i>May 2.</i> Welcome news of the parliament's votes yesterday, which +will be remembered for the happiest May-day that hath been many a year to +England. The king's letter was read in the house, wherein he submits +himself and all things to them. The house, upon reading the letter, ordered +£50,000 to be forthwith provided to send to his majesty for his +present supply. The City of London have put out a declaration, wherein they +do disclaim their owning any other government but that of a king, lords, +and commons.</p> + +<p><i>May 3.</i> This morning my lord showed me the king's declaration to +be communicated to the fleet. I went up to the quarter-deck with my lord +and the commanders, and there read the papers; which done, the seamen did +all of them cry out, "God bless King Charles!" with the greatest joy +imaginable. After dinner to the rest of the ships quite through the +fleet.</p> + +<p><i>May 11.</i> This morning we began to pull down all the state's arms +in the fleet, having first sent to Dover for painters to come and set up +the king's. After dinner we set sail from the Downs, but dropped anchor +again over against Dover Castle.</p> + +<p><i>May 12.</i> My lord gave order for weighing anchor, which we did, and +sailed all day.</p> + +<p><i>May 14.</i> In the morning the Hague was clearly to be seen by us. +The weather bad; we were sadly washed when we come near the shore, it being +very hard to land there.</p> + +<p><i>May 23.</i> Come infinity of people on board from the king to go +along with him. The king, with the two dukes and Queen of Bohemia, Princess +Royal, and Prince of Orange, come on board, where I, in their coming in, +kissed the king's, queen's, and princess's hands, having done the other +before. Infinite shooting of the runs, and that in a disorder on purpose, +which was better than if it had been otherwise. We weighed anchor, and with +a fresh gale and most happy weather we set sail for England.</p> + +<p><i>May 24.</i> Up, and made myself as fine as I could, with the +stockings on and wide canons that I bought at Hague. Extraordinary press of +noble company, and great mirth all day.</p> + +<p><i>May 25.</i> By the morning we were come close to the land, and +everybody made ready to get on shore. I spoke to the Duke of York about +business, who called me Pepys by name, and upon my desire did promise me +his future favour. The king went in my lord's barge with the two dukes, and +was received by General Monk with all love and respect at his entrance upon +the land of Dover. The shouting and joy expressed by all is past +imagination.</p> + +<p>1660-1661. At the end of the last and the beginning of this year, I do +live in one of the houses belonging to the Navy Office, as one of the +principal officers; my family being myself, my wife, Jane, Will Hewer, and +Wayneman, my girl's brother. Myself in constant good health, and in a most +handsome and thriving condition. Blessed be God for it. The king settled, +and loved of all.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Plague</i></h3> + + +<p><i>July 31, 1665.</i> I ended this month with the greatest joy that I +ever did any in my life, because I have spent the greatest part of it with +abundance of joy, and honour, and pleasant journeys, and brave +entertainments, and without cost of money. We end this month after the +greatest glut of content that ever I had, only under some difficulty +because of the plague, which grows mightily upon us, the last week being +about 1,700 or 1,800 of the plague. My Lord Sandwich at sea with a fleet of +about one hundred sail, to the northward, expecting De Ruyter, or the Dutch +East India fleet.</p> + +<p><i>August 8.</i> To my office a little, and then to the Duke of +Albemarle's about some business. The streets empty all the way now, even in +London, which is a sad sight. To Westminster Hall, where talking, hearing +very sad stories. So home through the City again, wishing I may have taken +no ill in going; but I will go, I think, no more thither. The news of De +Ruyter's coming home is certain, and told to the great disadvantage of our +fleet; but it cannot be helped.</p> + +<p><i>August 10.</i> To the office, where we sat all morning; in great +trouble to see the bill this week rise so high, to above 4,000 in all, and +of them above 3,000 of the plague. Home to draw over anew my will, which I +had bound myself by oath to dispatch by to-morrow night; the town growing +so unhealthy that a man cannot depend upon living two days.</p> + +<p><i>August 12.</i> The people die so that now it seems they are fain to +carry the dead to be buried by daylight, the nights not sufficing to do it +in. And my lord mayor commands people to be within at nine at night, that +the sick may have liberty to go abroad for air. There is one also dead out +of one of our ships at Deptford, which troubles us mightily. I am told, +too, that a wife of one of the grooms at court is dead at Salisbury, so +that the king and queen are speedily to be all gone to Milton. So God +preserve us!</p> + +<p><i>August 16.</i> To the Exchange, where I have not been in a great +while. But, Lord! how sad a sight it is to see the streets empty of people, +and very few upon the 'Change. Jealous of every door that one sees shut up +lest it should be the plague; and about two shops in three, if not more, +generally shut up.</p> + +<p><i>August 22.</i> I walked to Greenwich, in my way seeing a coffin with +a dead body therein, dead of the plague, which was carried out last night, +and the parish have not appointed anybody to bury it; but only set a watch +there all day and night, that nobody should go thither or come thence, this +disease making us more cruel to one another than we are to dogs.</p> + +<p><i>August 25.</i> This day I am told that Dr. Burnett, my physician, is +this morning dead of the plague, which is strange, his man dying so long +ago, and his house this month open again. Now himself dead. Poor, +unfortunate man!</p> + +<p><i>August 30.</i> I went forth and walked towards Moorfields to see (God +forgive my presumption!) whether I could see any dead corpse going to the +grave. But, Lord! how everybody looks, and discourse in the street is of +death and nothing else, and few people going up and down, that the town is +like a place distressed and forsaken.</p> + +<p><i>September 3 (Lord's Day).</i> Up; and put on my coloured silk suit +very fine, and my new periwig, bought a good while since, but durst not +wear, because the plague was in Westminster when I bought it; and it is a +wonder what will be the fashion after the plague is done as to periwigs, +for nobody will dare to buy any hair, for fear of the infection, that it +has been cut off the heads of people dead of the plague. My Lord Brouncker, +Sir J. Minnes, and I up to the vestry at the desire of the justices of the +peace, in order to the doing something for the keeping of the plague from +growing; but, Lord! to consider the madness of the people of the town, who +will, because they are forbid, come in crowds along with the dead corpses +to see them buried.</p> + +<p><i>September 6.</i> To London, to pack up more things; and there I saw +fires burning in the streets, as it is through the whole city, by the lord +mayor's order.</p> + +<p><i>September 14.</i> To the Duke of Albemarle, where I find a letter +from my Lord Sandwich, of the fleet's meeting with about eighteen more of +the Dutch fleet, and his taking of most of them; and the messenger says +they had taken three after the letter was sealed, which being twenty-one, +and those took the other day, is forty-five sail, some of which are good, +and others rich ships. Having taken a copy of my lord's letter, I away +toward the 'Change, the plague being all thereabouts. Here my news was +highly welcome, and I did wonder to see the 'Change so full--I believe two +hundred people. And, Lord! to see how I did endeavour to talk with as few +as I could, there being now no shutting up of houses infected, that to be +sure we do converse and meet with people that have the plague upon them. I +spent some thought on the occurrences of this day, giving matter for as +much content on one hand and melancholy on another, as any day in all my +life. For the first, the finding of my money and plate all safe at London; +the hearing of this good news after so great a despair of my lord's doing +anything this year; and the decrease of 500 and more, which is the first +decrease we have yet had in the sickness since it begun. Then, on the other +side, my finding that though the bill in general is abated, yet in the City +within the walls it is increased; my meeting dead corpses, carried close to +me at noonday in Fenchurch Street.</p> + +<p>One of my own watermen, that carried me daily, fell sick as soon as he +had landed me on Friday last, when I had been all night upon the water, and +is now dead of the plague. And, lastly, that both my servants, W. Hewer and +Tom Edwards, have lost their fathers of the plague this week, do put me +into great apprehension of melancholy, and with good reason.</p> + +<p><i>November 15.</i> The plague, blessed be God! is decreased 400, making +the whole this week but 1,300 and odd, for which the Lord be praised!</p> + +<p><i>December 25 (Christmas Day).</i> To church in the morning, and there +saw a wedding in the church, which I have not seen many a day, and the +young people so merry with one another, and strange to see what delight we +married people have to see these poor fools decoyed into our condition, +every man and woman gazing and smiling at them.</p> + +<p><i>December 31.</i> Thus ends this year, to my great joy, in this +manner. I have raised my estate from £1,300 in this year to +£4,400. I have got myself greater interest, I think, by my diligence, +and my employments increased by that of treasurer for Tangier and surveyor +of the victuals. It is true we have gone through great melancholy because +of the plague, and I put to great charges by it, by keeping my family long +at Woolwich, and myself and my clerks at Greenwich, and a maid at London; +but I hope the king will give us some satisfaction for that. But now the +plague is abated almost to nothing, and I intending to get to London as +fast as I can. To our great joy the town fills apace, and shops begin to be +open again.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--The Great Fire</i></h3> + + +<p><i>September 2, 1666.</i> Some of our maids sitting up late last night +to get things ready against our feast to-day, Jane called us up about three +in the morning to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I rose, +and slipped on my nightgown, and went to her window, and thought it to be +on the back side of Mark Lane at the farthest, and so went to bed again. +About seven rose again to dress myself, and there looked out at the window, +and saw the fire not so much as it was, and further off. By-and-by Jane +comes and tells me that above 300 houses have been burned down, and that it +is now burning down all Fish Street, by London Bridge. So I made myself +ready, and walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the high +places; and there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on +fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side of the bridge. +So down with my heart full of trouble to the lieutenant of the Tower, who +tells me that it begun this morning in the king's baker's house in Pudding +Lane.</p> + +<p>So I down to the waterside, and there got a boat, and through bridge, +and there saw a lamentable fire. Everybody endeavouring to remove their +goods, and flinging into the river, or bringing them into lighters that lay +off; poor people staying in their houses till the very fire touched them, +and then running into boats or clambering from one pair of stairs by the +waterside to another. And among other things, the poor pigeons, I perceive, +were loth to leave their houses, but hovered about the windows and +balconies till they burned their wings and fell down. Having staid, and in +an hour's time seen the fire rage every way, and nobody, to my sight, +endeavouring to quench it, I to White Hall, and there up to the king's +closet in the chapel, where people come about me, and I did give them an +account which dismayed them all, and word was carried in to the king.</p> + +<p>So I was called for, and did tell the king and Duke of York what I saw, +and that unless his majesty did command houses to be pulled down, nothing +could stop the fire. They seemed much troubled, and the king commanded me +to go to my lord mayor from him and command him to spare no houses, but to +pull down before the fire every way. Meeting with Captain Cocke, I in his +coach, which he lent me, to Paul's, and there walked along Watling Street, +as well as I could, every creature coming away loaded with goods to save, +and here and there sick people carried away in beds. At last met my lord +mayor in Canning Street, like a man spent. To the king's message, he cried, +like a fainting woman, "Lord! what can I do? I am spent; people will not +obey me. I have been pulling down houses; but the fire overtakes us faster +than we can do it." So I walked home, seeing people almost all distracted, +and no manner of means used to quench the fire. The houses, too, so very +thick thereabouts, and full of matter for burning, as pitch and tar in +Thames Street, and warehouses of oil and wines and brandy.</p> + +<p>Soon as I dined, I away, and walked through the City, the streets full +of people, and horses and carts loaden with goods. To Paul's Wharf, where I +took boat, and saw the fire was now got further, both below and above +bridge, and no likelihood of stopping it. Met with the king and Duke of +York in their barge. Their order was only to pull down houses apace; but +little was or could be done, the fire coming so fast. Having seen as much +as I could, I away to White Hall by appointment, and there walked to St. +James's Park, and there met my wife, and Creed and Wood and his wife, and +walked to my boat; and upon the water again, and to the fire, still +increasing, and the wind great. So near the fire as we could for smoke, and +all over the Thames you were almost burned with a shower of fire-drops.</p> + +<p>When you could endure no more upon the water, we to a little ale-house +on the Bankside, and there stayed till it was dark almost, and saw the fire +grow; and as it grew darker, appeared more and more, and in corners and +upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up +the hill of the City, in a most horrid, malicious, bloody flame, not like +the fine flame of an ordinary fire. We stayed till, it being darkish, we +saw the fire as only one entire arch of fire from this to the other side of +the bridge, and in a bow up the hill for an arch of above a mile long; it +made me weep to see it. The churches, houses, and all on fire and flaming +at once; and a horrid noise the flames made, and the cracking of houses at +their ruin. So home with a sad heart.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Of the Badness of the Government</i></h3> + + +<p><i>April 26, 1667.</i> To White Hall, and there saw the Duke of +Albemarle, who is not well, and do grow crazy. Then I took a turn with Mr. +Evelyn, with whom I walked two hours; talking of the badness of the +government, where nothing but wickedness, and wicked men and women command +the king; that it is not in his nature to gainsay anything that relates to +his pleasures; that much of it arises from the sickliness of our ministers +of state, who cannot be about him as the idle companions are, and therefore +he gives way to the young rogues; and then from the negligence of the +clergy, that a bishop shall never be seen about him, as the King of France +hath always; that the king would fain have some of the same gang to be lord +treasurer, which would be yet worse.</p> + +<p>And Mr. Evelyn tells me of several of the menial servants of the court +lacking bread, that have not received a farthing wages since the king's +coming in. He tells me that now the Countess Castlemaine do carry all +before her. He did tell me of the ridiculous humour of our king and knights +of the Garter the other day, who, whereas heretofore their robes were only +to be worn during their ceremonies, these, as proud of their coats, did +wear them all day till night, and then rode in the park with them on. Nay, +he tells me he did see my Lord Oxford and Duke of Monmouth in a hackney +coach with two footmen in the park, with their robes on, which is a most +scandalous thing, so as all gravity may be said to be lost among us.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--The End of the Diary</i></h3> + + +<p><i>November 30, 1668.</i> My wife after dinner went the first time +abroad in her coach, calling on Roger Pepys, and visiting Mrs. Creed and my +cousin Turner. Thus endeth this month with very good content, but most +expenseful to my purse on things of pleasure, having furnished my wife's +closet and the best chamber, and a coach and horses that ever I knew in the +world; and I am put into the greatest condition of outward state that ever +I was in, or hoped ever to be. But my eyes are come to that condition that +I am not able to work. God do His will in it!</p> + +<p><i>December 2.</i> Abroad with my wife, the first time that ever I rode +in my own coach, which do make my heart rejoice and praise God. So she and +I to the king's playhouse, and there saw "The Usurper," a pretty good play. +Then we to White Hall; where my wife stayed while I up to the duchess, to +speak with the Duke of York; and here saw all the ladies, and heard the +silly discourse of the king with his people about him.</p> + +<p><i>December 21.</i> To the Duke's playhouse, and saw "Macbeth." The king +and court there, and we sat just under them and my Lady Castlemaine. And my +wife, by my troth, appeared, I think, as pretty as any of them; I never +thought so much before, and so did Talbot and W. Hewer. The king and Duke +of York minded me, and smiled upon me; but it vexed me to see Moll Davis in +the box over the king and my Lady Castlemaine, look down upon the king, and +he up to her. And so did my Lady Castlemaine once; but when she saw Moll +Davis she looked like fire, which troubled me.</p> + +<p><i>May 31, 1669.</i> Up very betimes, and continued all the morning +examining my accounts, in order to the fitting myself to go abroad beyond +sea, which the ill-condition of my eyes and my neglect hath kept me +behindhand in. Had another meeting with the Duke of York at White Hall on +yesterday's work, and made a good advance; and so being called by my wife, +we to the park, Mary Batelier and a Dutch gentleman, a friend of hers, +being with us. Thence to "The World's End," a drinking house by the park; +and there merry, and so home late.</p> + +<p>And thus ends all that I doubt I shall ever be able to do with my own +eyes in the keeping of my journal, having done now so long as to undo my +eyes almost every time that I take a pen in my hand; and therefore resolve, +from this time forward to have it kept by my people in longhand, and must +be contented to set down no more than is fit for them and all the world to +know. And so I betake myself to that course, which is almost as much as to +see myself go into my grave; for which, and all the discomforts that will +accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me! S. P.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="PLINY_THE_YOUNGER"></a>PLINY THE YOUNGER</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Letters1"></a>Letters</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, or Pliny the Younger, was +born in 62 A.D. at Novum Comum, in the neighbourhood of Lake Como, in the +north of Italy. His family was honourable, wealthy, and able, and his +uncle, Pliny the Elder, was the encyclopaedic student and author of the +famous "Natural History." On his father's death, young Pliny, a boy of +nine, was adopted by the elder Pliny, educated in literary studies and as +an advocate, and was a notable pleader before his twentieth year. Through a +succession of offices he rose to the consulship in the year 100, and +afterwards continued to hold important appointments. He was twice married, +but left no children. The date of his death is unknown. The "Letters of +Pliny the Younger" are valuable as throwing light upon the life of the +Roman people; but they are also models of Latin style, and have all the +charm of their author's upright, urbane, and tolerant character. His +epistle to the Emperor Trajan with regard to the Christians is of peculiar +interest. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>To Cornelius Tacitus</i></h3> + + +<p>You will certainly laugh, and well may you laugh, when I tell you that +your old friend has turned sportsman, and has captured three magnificent +boars. "What," you say, "Pliny?" Yes, I myself, though without giving up my +much loved inactivity. While I sat at the nets, you might have found me +holding, not a spear, but my pen. I was resolved, if I returned with my +hands empty, at least to bring home my tablets full. This open-air way of +studying is not at all to be despised. The activity and the scene stimulate +the imagination; and there is something in the solemnity and solitude of +the woods, and in the expectant silence of the chase, that greatly promotes +meditation. I advise you whenever you hunt in future to take your tablets +with you as well as your basket and flask. You will find that Minerva, as +well as Diana, haunts these hills.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Minucius Fundanus</i></h3> + + +<p>When I consider how the days pass with us at Rome, I am surprised to +find that any single day taken by itself is spent reasonably enough, or at +least seems to be so, and yet when I add up many days together the +impression is quite otherwise. If you ask anyone what he has been doing +to-day, he will tell you perhaps that he has been attending the ceremony of +a youth's coming of age; he has assisted at a wedding, been present at the +hearing of a lawsuit, witnessed a will, or taken part in a consultation. +These occupations seem very necessary while one is engaged in them; and +yet, looking back at leisure upon the many hours we have thus employed, we +cannot but consider them mere frivolities. Looking back especially on town +life from a country retreat, one is inclined to regret how much of life has +been spent in these wretched trifles.</p> + +<p>This reflection is one which often occurs to me at my place at +Laurentum, when I am immersed in studies or invigorating my bodily health. +In that peaceful home I neither hear nor say anything which needs to be +repented of. There is no one there who speaks evil of anyone; and I have +not to complain of any man, except sometimes of myself when I am +dissatisfied with my work. There I live undisturbed by rumours, free from +the vicissitudes of hope and fear, conversing only with myself and my +books. What a true and genuine life it is; what a delightful and honest +repose--surely more to be desired than the highest employments. O sea and +solitary shore, secret haunt of the Muses, with how many noble thoughts +have you inspired me! Do you then, my friend, take the first opportunity of +leaving the noisy town with all its empty pursuits, and devote your days to +study or leisure. For, as Attilius well says, it is better to have nothing +to do than to be doing of nothing.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Septicius Clarus</i></h3> + + +<p>How did it happen, my friend, that you failed to keep your engagement to +dine with me? I shall expect you to repay me what I spent on the +festival--no small sum, I can assure you. I had prepared for each of us, +you must know, a lettuce, three snails, two eggs, and a barley cake served +with sweet wine and snow; the snow most certainly I shall charge to your +account, as it melted away. There were olives, beetroots, gourds, onions, +and a hundred other dainties. You would also have heard a comedian, or the +reading of a poem or a lute-player, or even if you had liked, all three, +such was my liberality. But luxurious delicacies and Spanish dancing girls +at some other house were more to your taste. I shall have my revenge of +you, depend upon it, but I won't say how. Indeed, it was not kind thus to +mortify your friend--I had almost said yourself; for how delightfully we +should have passed the evening in jests and laughter, and in deeper talk! +It is true you may dine at many houses more sumptuously than at mine but +nowhere will you find more unconstrained gaiety, simplicity and freedom. +Only make the experiment, and if you do not ever afterwards prefer my table +to any other, never favour me with your company again.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Avitus</i></h3> + + +<p>It would be a long story, and of no great importance, if I were to tell +you by what accident I dined lately with a man who, in his own opinion, +entertained us with great splendour and economy, but in my opinion with +meanness combined with extravagance. He and a few of his guests enjoyed +some very excellent dishes indeed, but the fare placed before the rest of +the company was of the most inferior kind. There were three kinds of wine +in small bottles, but it was not intended that the guests should take their +choice at all. The best was for himself and for us; another vintage was for +his friends of a lower order--for you must know he divides his friends into +classes--and the third kind was for his own and his guests freed-men. My +neighbor noticed this, and asked me if I approved of it. "Not at all," I +said.</p> + +<p>"What then," said he, "is your custom in entertaining?"</p> + +<p>"Mine," said I, "is to offer the same fare to everybody. I invite my +friends to dinner without separating them into classes. Everyone who comes +to my table is equal, and even my freed-men are then my guests just as much +as anyone else."</p> + +<p>He asked me if I did not find this very expensive. I assured him that it +was not so at all, and that the whole secret lay in drinking no better wine +myself that I gave to others. If a man is wise enough to moderate his own +luxury, he will not find it very expensive to entertain all his visitors on +equal terms. Restrain your own tastes if you would really economise. This +is a better way of saving expense than making these insulting distinctions +between guests.</p> + +<p>It would be a pity if a man of your excellent disposition should be +imposed upon by the immoderate ostentation which prevails at some tables +under the guise of frugality. I tell you of this as an example of what you +ought to shun. Nothing is to be more avoided than this preposterous +association of extravagance and meanness--defects which are unpleasant +enough when found separately, but are particularly detestable when +combined.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Baebius Macer</i></h3> + + +<p>I am glad to hear that you are so great an admirer of my Uncle Pliny's +works as to wish to have a complete collection of them. You will wonder how +a man so much occupied as he was could find time to write so many books, +some of them upon very difficult subjects. You will be still more surprised +when you hear that for a considerable time he practised at the bar, that he +died in his fifty-sixth year, and that from the time of his retirement from +the bar to his death he was employed in some of the highest offices of +state, and in the immediate service of the emperors. But he had a very +quick intelligence, an incredible power of application, and an unusual +faculty of doing without sleep. In summer he used to begin to work at +midnight; in winter, generally at one in the morning, or two at the latest, +and often at midnight. But he would often, without leaving his studies, +refresh himself by a short sleep. Before daybreak he used to wait upon the +Emperor Vespasian, who also was a night worker, and after that attended to +his official duties. Having taken a light meal at noon, after the custom of +our ancestors, he would in summer, if unoccupied, lie down in the sun, +while a book was read to him from which he made extracts and notes. Indeed +he never read without making extracts; he used to say that no book was so +bad as not to teach one at least something. After this reading he usually +took a cold bath, then a light refreshment, and went to sleep for a little +while. Then, as if beginning a new day, he resumed his studies until +dinner, when a book was again read to him, upon which he would make passing +comments. I remember once, when his reader had pronounced a word wrongly, +someone at the table made him repeat it again; upon which my uncle asked +his friend if he had not understood it. He admitted that the word was clear +enough. "Why did you stop him then?" asked my uncle; "we have lost more +than ten lines by this interruption of yours." Even so parsimonious was he +of every moment of time! In summer he always rose from dinner by daylight, +and in winter as soon as it was dark; this was an invariable law with +him.</p> + +<p>Such was his life amidst the noise and bustle of the city; but when he +was in the country his whole time, without exception, was given to study +except when he bathed. And by this exception I mean only the time when he +was actually in the bath, for all the time when he was being rubbed and +dried he was read to, or was himself dictating. Again, when travelling he +gave his whole time to study; a secretary constantly attended him with +books and tablets, and in winter wore very warm gloves so that the cold +weather might not interrupt my uncle's work; and, for the same reason, when +in Rome, he was always carried in a chair. I remember he once reproved me +for going for a walk, saying that I might have used the hours to greater +advantage; for he thought all time was lost which was not given to study. +It was by this extraordinary application that he found time to write so +many volumes, besides a hundred and sixty books of extracts which he left +me, written on both sides in an extremely small hand, so that their number +might be reckoned considerably greater.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Cornelius Tacitus</i></h3> + + +<p>I understand you wish to hear about the earthquake at Misenum. After my +uncle had left us on that day, I went on with my studies until it was time +to bathe; then I had supper and went to bed. But my sleep was broken and +disturbed. There had been many slight shocks, which were very frequent in +Campania, but on this night they were so violent that it seemed as though +everything must be overthrown. My mother ran into my room, and we went out +into a small court which separated our house from the sea. I do not know +whether to call it courage or rashness on my part, as I was only eighteen +years old; but I took up Livy and read and made extracts from him. When +morning came the light was faint and sickly; the buildings around us were +tottering to their fall, and there was great and unavoidable danger in +remaining where we were. We resolved to leave the town. The people followed +us in consternation, and pressed in great crowds about us on our way out. +Having gone a good distance from the house, we stood still in the midst of +a dreadful scene. The carriages for which we had sent, though standing upon +level ground, were being thrown from side to side, and could not be kept +still even when supported by large stones. The sea appeared to roll back +upon itself, driven from its shores by the convulsive movements of the +earth; a large portion of the sea-bottom was uncovered, and many marine +animals were left exposed. Landward, a black and dreadful cloud was rolling +down, broken by great flashes of forked lightning, and divided by long +trains of flame which resembled lightning but were much larger.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards the clouds seemed to descend and cover the whole surface +of the ocean, hiding the island of Capri altogether and blotting out the +promontory of Misenum. My mother implored me earnestly to make my escape, +saying that her age and frame made it impossible for her to get away, but +that she would willingly meet her death if she could know that she had not +been the cause of mine. But I absolutely refused to forsake her, and +seizing her hand I led her on. The ashes now began to fall upon us, though +as yet in no great quantity. I looked back and saw behind us a dense cloud +which came rolling after us like a torrent. I proposed that while we still +had life we should turn out of the high road, lest she should be trampled +to death in the dark by the crowd.</p> + +<p>We had scarcely sat down when darkness closed in upon us, not like the +darkness of a moonless night, or of a night obscured by clouds, but the +darkness of a closed room where all the lights have been put out. We heard +the shrieks of women, the cries of children, and the shouts of men; some +were calling for their children, others for their parents, others for their +husbands or wives, and recognising one another through the darkness by +their voices. Some were calling for death through very fear of death; +others raised their hands to the gods; but most imagined that the last +eternal night had come, and that the gods and the world were being +destroyed together. Among these were some who added imaginary terrors to +the real danger, and persuaded the terror-stricken multitude that Misenum +was in flames. At last a glimmer of light appeared which we imagined to be +a sign of approaching flames, as in truth it was; but the fire fell at a +considerable distance from us, and again we were immersed in darkness. A +heavy shower of ashes now rained upon us, so that we were obliged from time +to time to shake them off, or we should have been crushed and buried in the +heap. I might congratulate myself that during all this horror not a sigh or +expression of fear escaped me, if it had not been that I then believed +myself to be perishing with the world itself, and that all mankind were +involved in the same calamity--a miserable consolation indeed, but a +powerful one.</p> + +<p>At last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees like a cloud of +smoke; real day returned, and even the sun appeared, though very faintly as +he appears during an eclipse. Everything before our trembling eyes was +changed, being covered over with white ashes as with deep snow. We returned +to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could and passed an +anxious night between hope and fear. There was more fear than hope, +however; for the earthquake still continued and many crazy people were +running about predicting awful horrors.</p> + +<p>You must read my story without any view of writing about it in your +history, of which it is quite unworthy; indeed, my only excuse for writing +it in a letter is that you have asked for it.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Calpurnia, His Wife</i></h3> + + +<p>It is incredible how impatiently I wish for your return, such is the +tenderness of my love for you, and so unaccustomed are we to separation. I +lie awake great part of the nights thinking of you; and in the day my feet +carry me of their own accord to your room at the hours when I used to see +you, but not finding you there I go away as sorrowful and disappointed as +an excluded lover. The only time when I am free from this distress is when +I am in the forum busy with the lawsuits of my friends. You may judge how +wretched my life is when I find my repose only in labour and my consolation +in miseries and cares.</p> + + +<h3><i>To Germinius</i></h3> + + +<p>You must very well know the kind of people who, though themselves slaves +to every passion, are mightily indignant at the vices of others, and most +severe against those whom they most closely resemble. Surely leniency is +the most becoming of all virtues, even in persons who have least need of +anyone's indulgence. The highest of all characters, in my estimation, is +that of a man who is as ready to pardon human errors as though he were +every day himself guilty of them, and who yet abstains from faults as +though he never forgave them. Let us observe this rule, both in our public +and in our private relations--to be inexorable to ourselves, but to treat +the rest of the world with tenderness, including even those who forgive +only themselves. Let us always remember the saying of that most humane and +therefore very great Thrasea: "He who hates vices, hates mankind."</p> + +<p>Perhaps you will ask who it is that has moved me to these reflections? +There was a certain person lately--But I will tell you of that when we +meet. No; on second thoughts I will not tell you even then, lest by +condemning him and exposing his conduct I should be violating the principle +which I have just condemned. So, whoever he is, and whatever he may be, the +matter shall remain unspoken; since to expose him would be of no advantage +for the purpose of example; but to hide his fault will be of great +advantage to good nature.</p> + + +<h3><i>To the Emperor Trajan</i></h3> + + +<p>It is my rule, to refer to you all matters about which I have any doubt. +For who can be more capable of removing my scruples or of instructing my +ignorance?</p> + +<p>I have never been present at any trials of Christians, and am, +therefore, ignorant of the reasons for which punishment is inflicted, as +well as of the examinations which it is proper to make of their guilt. As +to whether any difference is usually made with respect to the ages of the +guilty, or whether no distinction is to be observed between the young and +the old; whether repentance entitles them to a pardon, or whether it is of +no advantage to a man who has once been a Christian that he has ceased to +be one; whether the very profession of Christianity unattended by any +criminal act, or only the crimes that are inherent in the profession are +punishable--in all these points I am very doubtful.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, the method which I have observed towards those who have +been brought before me as Christians is this. I have interrogated them as +to whether they were Christians; if they confessed I repeated the question +twice again, adding threats at the same time; and if they still persevered +I ordered them to execution. For I was persuaded that whatever the nature +of their opinions might be, their pertinacity and inflexible obstinacy +ought certainly to be punished. Others also were brought before me +possessed by the same madness, but as they were Roman citizens I ordered +them to be sent to Rome. As this crime spread while it was actually under +prosecution, many fresh cases were brought up. An anonymous paper was given +me containing a charge against many persons. Those who denied that they +were Christians, or that they had ever been so, repeated after me an +invocation to the gods, offered wine and incense before your statue, which +for this purpose I had ordered to be placed among the statues of the gods, +and even reviled the name of Christ; and so, as it is impossible to force +those who are really Christians to do any of these things, I thought it +proper to dismiss them. Others who had been accused confessed themselves at +first to be Christians, but immediately afterwards denied it; and others +owned that they had formerly been of that number, but had now forsaken +their error. All these worshipped your statue and the images of the gods, +at the same time reviling the name of Christ.</p> + +<p>They affirmed that the whole of their guilt, or their error, had been as +follows. They met on a stated day before sunrise and addressed a form of +invocation to Christ as to a God; they also bound themselves by an oath, +not for any wicked purpose but never to commit thefts, robberies, or +adulteries, never to break their word, nor to deny a trust when they should +be called upon to deliver it up. After this had been done they used to +separate, and then reassemble to partake in common of an innocent meal. +They had desisted, however, from this custom, after the publication of my +edict, by which, in accordance with your orders, I had forbidden +fraternities to exist. Having received this account I thought it all the +more necessary to make sure of the real truth by putting two slave-girls, +who were said to have taken part in their religious functions, to the +torture; but I could discover nothing more than an absurd and extravagant +superstition.</p> + +<p>I have, therefore, adjourned all further proceedings in the affair in +order to consult with you. It appears to be a matter highly deserving your +consideration, especially as very many persons are involved in the danger +of these prosecutions; for the inquiry has already extended and is likely +further to extend to persons of all ranks and ages, and of both sexes. This +contagious superstition is not confined to the cities only, but has spread +its infection among the villages and country districts as well; and it +seems impossible to cure this evil or to restrain its progress. It is true +that the temples which were once almost deserted have lately been +frequented, and that the religious rites which had been interrupted are +again revived; and there is a general demand for animals for sacrificial +victims, which for some time past have met with few purchasers. From all +this it is easy to imagine what numbers might be reclaimed from this error +if pardon were granted to those who may repent of it.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="CARDINAL_RICHELIEU"></a>CARDINAL RICHELIEU</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Political_Testament"></a>Political Testament</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Armand Jean du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, the great French +cardinal-statesman, was born in Paris on September 5, 1585, of a noble +family, and was at first educated for the profession of arms, but entered +the Church in order to become Bishop of Luçon in 1606. Having come +up to Paris to make his way in the world, he was appointed almoner to the +young queen Anne of Austria, and rose in 1616 to be Secretary of State for +War and for Foreign Affairs. He received the cardinal's hat in 1622, and +for a period of eighteen years, from 1624 to 1642, he was, in everything +but name, the Majesty of France. His mind was bold, unscrupulous, +remorseless, and inscrutable. Yet it was always noble--the minister who +sent so many to the scaffold could truly say that in his vast labours he +had but one pleasure, to know that so many honest folk slept in security +while he watched night after night. He was a friend to literature, was +founder of the Academy, and was himself a considerable author in history +and theology. His greatest work, "Testament Politique du Cardinal de +Richelieu," which was published in 1764, and in which is embodied his +counsel in statecraft, is a literary achievement of no small importance, +exhibiting as it does not only a political acumen of a very high order but +an acute faculty for literary expression. Richelieu died on December 4, +1642. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>Retrospect</i></h3> + + +<p>At the time when your majesty admitted me to your counsels and confided +to me the direction of public affairs I may say with truth that the +Huguenots divided the state with your majesty, the great families behaved +as though they had no sovereign, and the governor of provinces as if they +had been sovereigns themselves. Every man took his own audacity to be the +measure of his merit, so that the most presumptious were considered the +wisest, and proved often the most fortunate. Abroad the friendship of +France was despised. At home private interests were preferred to the +general advantage. The dignity of the throne had so far declined, through +the fault of my predecessors in office, that it was almost unrecognisable. +To have continued to entrust to their hands the helm of the state would +have led to irremediable disaster; yet, on the other hand, too swift and +too great a change would have been fraught with dangers of its own. In that +emergency the wisest considered that it was hardly possible to pass without +shipwreck through the reefs and shoals, and there were many who had +foretold my fall even before your majesty had raised me to power.</p> + +<p>Yet, knowing what kings may do when they make good use of their power, I +was able to promise your majesty that your prudence and firmness, with the +blessing of God, would give new health to this kingdom. I promised to +devote all my labours, and all the authority with which I might be clothed, +to procuring the ruin of the Huguenot party, to humbling the pride of the +great, to reducing all your subjects to their duty, and to elevating your +majesty's name among foreign nations to its rightful reputation.</p> + +<p>I asked, to that end, your majesty's entire confidence, and assured you +that my policy would be the direct contrary of that of my predecessors, +inasmuch as, instead of removing the queen, your mother, from your +majesty's counsels, I would leave nothing undone to promote the closest +union between you, to the great advantage and honour of the kingdom.</p> + +<p>The success which has followed the good intentions which it has pleased +God to give me for the administration of this state will justify, to the +ages to come, the constancy with which I have pursued this design--that the +union which exists between your majesties in nature, may be completed also +between you in grace. And if, after many years, this purpose by the malice +of your enemies, has been defeated, it is my consolation to remember how +often your majesty has been heard to say that when I was working most for +the honour of the queen, your mother, she was conspiring for my ruin.</p> + + +<h3><i>Of Education</i></h3> + + +<p>Letters are one of the greatest ornaments of states, and their +cultivation is necessary to the commonwealth. Yet it is certain that they +should not be taught indiscriminately to every one. A nation whose every +subject should be educated would be as monstrous as a body having eyes in +every part; pride and presumption would be general, and obedience almost +disappear.</p> + +<p>Unrestrained trade in knowledge must banish that trade in merchandise to +which states owe their wealth; ruin husbandry, the true mother and nurse of +peoples; and destroy our source of soldiery, which springs up in rustic +ignorance rather than from the forcing-ground of culture and the sciences. +It would fill France with half-taught fellows, minds formed only to +<i>chicane</i>, men who might ruin families and trouble public peace, but +could not be of any service to the state. There would be more people +capable of doubts than capable of resolving them; more intelligences fitted +to oppose than to defend the truth.</p> + +<p>Indeed, when I consider the great number who make a profession of +teaching, and the crowds of children who are taught, I seem to see an +infinite multitude of weaklings and diseased, who, having no other desire +than to drink pure water for their healing, are urged by an inordinate +thirst to drink all that is offered them, though it is mostly impure and +often poisoned, whereby their thirst and their malady are equally +aggravated.</p> + +<p>Two principal evils arise from the great number of colleges established +in every district: there are not sufficient worthy teachers to supply them; +and many children of little aptitude are compelled by their parents to +study. In the result, almost all the pupils leave with but a smattering of +learning, some because they have been badly taught, others because they +have been incapable of more. The remedy that I propose is this. Let the +colleges in all towns which are not of metropolitan rank be reduced to two +or three classes, sufficient to raise the young out of gross ignorance, +such as is harmful even to those who are destined for military service or +for trade. Then, before the children are determined to any special line of +life, two are three years will reveal their dispositions and their +capacities; and the more promising children, who will then be sent on to +the metropolitan colleges, will succeed far better; for they will have +minds suited for education and will be placed in the hands of the best +teachers.</p> + +<p>Finally, let care be taken that the colleges shall not all come under +the same hands. The universities, on the one hand, the Jesuits on the +other, tend towards a monopoly of education. Let their emulation increase +their virtues and efficiency; but let neither party be deprived of the +instruction of youth; let neither secure a monopoly.</p> + + +<h3><i>Of the Nobility</i></h3> + + +<p>The nobility, which is one of the principal nerves of the state, may +contribute much to its consolidation and power, but it has been for some +time past greatly depreciated by the large number of officials whom the +misfortunes of our age have raised up to its prejudice. It must be +supported against the enterprises of people of that kind, whose wealth and +pride overwhelmed the nobles, who are rich only in courage.</p> + +<p>But as the nobility must be defended from their oppressors, so also must +they be strictly prevented from oppressing those who are below them, whom +God has armed to labour but not to self-defence. Uncompromisingly justice +must ensure security, under shelter of your laws, to the least and feeblest +of your subjects.</p> + +<p>Those nobles who do not serve the state are a charge upon it; and, like +a paralysed limb, are a burden where they should be a defence and a +comfort. As men of gentle birth should be well treated so long as they +deserve it, so they should be checked severely when they are found wanting +to the obligations of their birth; and I have no hesitation in advising +that those who have so degenerated from the virtues of their fathers as to +avoid the service of the crown with their swords and with their lives, +deserve to be degraded from their hereditary honours and advantages, and +should be reduced to take part in bearing the burdens of the people.</p> + + +<h3><i>Of the Disorders of Justice</i></h3> + + +<p>It is much easier to recognise the defects of justice than to prescribe +the remedy. Certain it is that they have arrived at such a point that they +could hardly be graver; yet I know that it is your majesty's desire that +the administration of justice should be as pure as the imperfections and +corruptions of mankind will permit.</p> + +<p>In the opinion of the great majority of the people, the sovereign remedy +consists in suppressing venality, in doing away with the hereditary +principle in judicial offices, and in giving their positions gratuitously +to men of such well-known probity and capacity that not even envy itself +can contest their merit. But as it would be difficult to follow this +counsel at any time, and is quite impossible to follow it here and now, it +is useless to propose means calculated to secure that end.</p> + +<p>Although it is always dangerous to hold a view which others do not +share, I must boldly say that in my opinion, in the present state of +affairs and in any that one can foresee, it is better to suffer venality +and hereditary offices to continue than to change, from top to bottom, your +majesty's judicial establishment. The present abuses are great; but I +believe that a system under which the offices of justice should be +appointed by nomination by the king would lead to even greater abuses. The +distribution of these important charges would, in effect, depend on the +favour and intrigue of the courtiers who might at the time have most power +with the king, or on whose reports he must base his nominations.</p> + +<p>Certainly venality and heredity in this matter are evils, but they are +evils of long standing. We have only to look back to the reigns of St. +Louis, when offices were already paid for, and of the great Francis, who +erected the principle into a regular traffic, to see that so inveterate a +custom is not easily to be eradicated. Our aim should be to turn the minds +of men gently and continuously to better ways, and not to pass suddenly +from one extreme to the other. The architect whose skill is able to correct +the weakness of an ancient building, and to bring it into some degree of +symmetry without first pulling it down, deserves far greater praise than +the man who must throw it into ruins in order to construct something +entirely new. It is difficult to change the established order without +changing the hearts of those who possess it, and it is often prudent to +weaken one's remedies in order that they may have the greater effect.</p> + + +<h3><i>To the Officers of Finance</i></h3> + + +<p>These form a class of men who are prejudicial to the state, yet are +necessary to and we can only hope to reduce their power within tolerable +limits. At present, their excesses and irregularities are intolerable; and +it is impossible that they should further increase their wealth and their +power without ruining the state, and themselves with it.</p> + +<p>I do not advise the general confiscation of their gains, although the +excessive wealth which they amass in a short time, easily proved by the +difference between their possessions on entering office and what they own +at present, must often be the result of thefts and extortions. Confiscation +may be made, in its turn, the greatest of injustice and violence. Yet I do +not think that anyone could complain if the more flagrant offenders were +chastised. Otherwise, they will, as I have said, ruin the kingdom, which +bears on its face the marks of their frauds.</p> + +<p>The gold with which they have gorged themselves has opened to them +alliances with the most ancient families, whose blood and character are +thereby so far debased that their representatives resemble their ancestors +no more in the generosity of their motives than they do in the purity of +their features.</p> + +<p>I can advise nothing but a great reduction in the number of these +officials, a reform which might be easily accomplished; and the +appointment, in times to come, only of substantial men, of character and +position suitable to this responsibility. As for the plan of squeezing +these financiers like a sponge, or of making treaties and compositions with +them, it is a remedy worse than the disorder; it is as much as to teach +them that peculation is their business and their right.</p> + + +<h3><i>Of the People</i></h3> + + +<p>All statesmen agree that if the people were in too easy a condition it +would be impossible to restrain them within the limits of their duty. +Having less knowledge and cultivation than those in other ranks of the +state, they would not easily follow the rules prescribed by reason and by +law, unless bound thereto by a certain degree of necessity.</p> + +<p>Reason does not permit us to exempt them from all taxation, lest, having +lost the symbol of their subjection, they should forget their legitimate +condition, and, being free from tribute, should think themselves free from +obedience also.</p> + +<p>Mules accustomed to a load suffer more from a long rest than they do +from work; but, on the other hand, their work must be moderate and the load +proportionate to their strength. So it is with the taxation of the people, +which becomes unjust if it is not moderated at the point at which it is +useful to the public.</p> + +<p>There is a sense in which the tribute which kings draw from the people +returns to the people again, in the enjoyment of peace and in the security +of their life and possessions; for these cannot be safeguarded unless +contribution be made to the state. I know of several princes who have lost +their kingdoms and their subjects by letting their strength decay through +fear of taxing them; and subjects have before now fallen into servitude to +their enemies, through wishing too much liberty under their natural +sovereign. The proportion between the burden and the strength of those who +have to support it ought to be even religiously observed; a prince cannot +be considered good if he draws more than he ought from his subjects; yet +the best princes are not always those who never levy more than is +necessary.</p> + + +<h3><i>Reason and Government</i></h3> + + +<p>Man, having been made a rational creature, ought to do nothing except by +reason; for, otherwise he acts against nature, and so against the Author of +nature. Again, the greater a man is, and the higher his position, the more +strictly is he bound to follow reason. It follows that if he is sovereignly +rational, he is bound to make reason reign; that is to say, it is his duty +to make all those who are under his authority revere and obey reason +religiously. Love is the most potent motive for obedience; and it is +impossible that subjects should not love their prince if they know that +reason is the guide of all his actions.</p> + +<p>Since reason should be the guide of princes, passion, which is of all +things the most incompatible with reason, should be allowed no influence on +their actions. Passion can only blind them; make them take the shadow for +the substance; and win for them odium in the place of affection.</p> + +<p>Government requires a masculine virtue and an immovable firmness; for +softness exposes those in whom it is found to the machinations of their +enemies. Though there have been notable exceptions, their softness and +their passions have generally made women unfit for rule.</p> + + +<h3><i>Public Interests First</i></h3> + + +<p>The public advantage should be the single object of the king and his +counsellors, or should at least be preferred to every private interest. It +is impossible to estimate the good which a prince and his ministers may do +if they religiously follow this principle, or to estimate the disasters +which must fall upon the state whose public interests are ruled by private +considerations. True philosophy, the Christian law, and the art of +statesmanship, unite to teach this truth.</p> + +<p>The prosperity which Spain has enjoyed for several centuries has been +due to no other cause than that her council has consistently preferred the +interests of the state to all others, and most of the calamities which have +visited France have been due to the preference of private advantage.</p> + +<p>It is easy for princes to consent to the general regulations of their +state, because in making them they have only reason and justice before +their eyes, and men willingly embrace reason and justice when there are no +obstacles to turn them from the right path. But when occasions arise for +putting these regulations into practice, we do not find that princes always +show the same firmness, for then the interests of factions and of +minorities are pressed upon them; pity, sympathy, favour, and importunities +solicit them and oppose their just designs; and they have not always +strength enough to conquer themselves and to despise these partial +considerations, which ought to have no weight at all in the affairs of the +commonwealth.</p> + +<p>It is on these occasions that they must gather up all their strength +against their weakness, and remember that God has placed them there to +safeguard the public interest.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Power of Kingship</i></h3> + + +<p>Power is one of the most necessary conditions of the greatness of kings +and of the happiness of their government, and those who have to do with the +conduct of a state should omit nothing which may enhance the authority of +their master and the respect in which he is held by all the world.</p> + +<p>As goodness is the object of love, power is the cause of fear; and fear, +founded in esteem and reverence, makes dutiful conduct the interest of +every subject, and warns all foreigners not to offend a prince who can harm +them if he will.</p> + +<p>I have said that the power of which I speak must be founded on esteem, +and I will add that if it be otherwise founded it is dangerous in the +extreme. Princes are never in a more perilous position than when they are +the objects of hatred or aversion rather than of a reasonable fear.</p> + +<p>That kingly power which causes princes to be feared with esteem and +love, includes within it different elements of power; it is a tree with +several branches, which draw their nourishment from common Stock. Thus, the +prince must be powerful by his reputation. Secondly, by a reasonable number +of soldiers, continually maintained. Thirdly, by a notable reserve, in +gold, in his coffers, ready for the unforeseen occasions which arise when +least expected. And, lastly, by the possession of the hearts of his people. +If the finances be considerately adjusted on the principles which I have +advised the people will find entire relief, and the king will base his +power on the possession of the hearts of his subjects. They will know that +they are his care, and their own interests will lead them to love him.</p> + +<p>The kings of old thought so highly of this foundation of kingship that +some of them held it worthier to be King of the French than King of France. +Indeed, this nation was in old time illustrious for passionate attachment +to its princes; and under the earlier kings, until Philip the Fair, the +treasure of hearts was the sole public treasure that was maintained in this +kingdom.</p> + +<p>I know that we cannot judge of the present altogether by the past, and +that what was good in one century is not always possible in another. Yet, +though the treasure of hearts may not suffice to-day, it is quite certain +that without it the treasure of gold is almost worthless; without that +treasure of hearts we shall be bankrupt in the midst of abundance.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Whole Duty of Princes</i></h3> + + +<p>In conclusion, as kings are obliged to do many more things as sovereigns +than they do in their private capacity, they are liable to be guilty of far +more faults by omission than those of which a private person could be +guilty by commission. Considered as men, they are subject to the same +faults as all other men; but considered as charged with the welfare of the +public, they are subject also to many duties which they cannot omit without +sin.</p> + +<p>If princes neglect to do all that they can to rule the various orders of +their state; if they are careless in the choice of good advisers, or +despise their salutary counsels; if they fail to make their own example a +speaking voice; if they are idle in the establishment of the reign of God, +and of reason, and of justice; if they fail to protect the innocent, to +reward public services, and to chastise the guilty and disobedient; if they +are not solicitous to foresee and to provide for the troubles which may +arise, or to turn aside, by careful diplomacy, the storms which darken the +horizon; if favour rather than merit dictates their choice of ministers for +the high offices of the kingdom; if they do not immovably establish the +state in its rightful power; if they do not on all occasions prefer public +interests to private interests; then, however upright their life may +otherwise be, they will be found far more guilty than those who actively +transgress the commandments and the laws of God. And if kings or +magistrates make use of their power to commit any injustice or violence +which they cannot commit as private persons, they commit a king's or a +magistrate's sin, which has its source in their authority, and one for +which the King of Kings will doubtless demand a searching account on the +day of judgement.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JEAN_JACQUES_ROUSSEAU"></a>JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Confessions"></a>Confessions</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Rousseau's "Confessions" were written in England at +Wootton, in Staffordshire, where he had taken refuge after his +revolutionary ideas incurred the displeasure of the authorities in France. +They were first published in 1782. From this refuge he was pursued from +place to place by his delusions through miserable years, until he died, +near Paris, on July 2, 1778. In no circumstances or relation of his life +was Rousseau a pleasant spectacle. The "Confessions," unexpurgated, are +often revolting to any sane mind, and have been proved to be untrustworthy +even as a record of fact. But almost incredible baseness was coupled with +extraordinary gifts, and it is impossible to overestimate Rousseau's +influence upon the modern world, and upon its literature and its whole +point of view and way of thinking. (Rousseau, biography: see FICTION.) +</p></blockquote> + + +<p>I am undertaking a task for which there is no example, and one which +will find no imitator. It is to exhibit a man in the whole truth of nature; +and the man whom I shall reveal is myself. Myself alone; for I verily +believe I am like no other living man. In this book I have hidden nothing +evil and added nothing good; and I challenge any man to say, having +unveiled his heart with equal sincerity, "I am better than he."</p> + +<p>I was born at Geneva in 1712, son of Isaac Rousseau, watchmaker, and of +Susanne, his wife. My birth, the first of my misfortunes, cost my mother +her life, and I came into the world so weakly that I was not expected to +live. My father's sister lavished on me the tenderest care, and he, +disconsolate, loved me with extreme affection.</p> + +<p>Like all children, but even more than others, I felt before I thought; +and my consciousness was first awakened by reading stories with my father. +Sometimes we read together until the birds were singing in the morning +light. These tales gave me a most precocious insight into human passions, +and the confused emotions which swept through me brought with them the +queerest and most romantic views of life. But when I was seven we came to +the end of my mother's old stock of romances, and we fell back on Bossuet, +Molière, Plutarch, Ovid, and the like. Plutarch went far to cure me +of novels; indeed, his "Lives" were the means of forming that free and +republican spirit, intolerant of servitude, which has been my torment. To +my aunt, who knew endless songs, and used to chant them with a sweet, tiny +thread of a voice, I owe my passion for music.</p> + +<p>These, then, were my first affections. These formed that heart of mine, +so proud yet so tender; they fashioned that effeminate yet untamable +character, which has ever drifted between weakness and virtue. For I have +been in contradiction with myself, in such a way that abstinence and +fruition, pleasure and wisdom, have escaped me equally.</p> + +<p>My father having left Geneva, I remained under the care of my uncle +Bernard, and was placed, with his son of my own age, in the house of M. +Lambercier, protestant minister at Bossey, to learn all the trivialities +that are called education. Here I gained my keen love of country pleasures, +and tasted, with my cousin, the delights of simple friendship. But a cruel +punishment for a fault which I had not committed, put an end to my childish +simplicity, and soon I left Bossey without regret. There followed two or +three years of indolence at Geneva.</p> + +<p>After a brief and luckless trial of a notary's office I was apprenticed +to an engraver, a petty tyrant, whose injustice taught me to lie and to +steal. Restless, dissatisfied, and in perpetual terror of my master's +savagery, I here reached my sixteenth year. But one day, finding the city +gates closed on my return from a country excursion, I determined, rather +than face the inevitable thrashing, to seek my fortune in the unknown +world.</p> + + +<h3><i>Madame de Warens</i></h3> + + +<p>How fair were the illusions of freedom and of the future! I asked +little--only a manor where I should be the favourite of the lord of the +land, his daughter's lover, her brother's friend, and protector of the +neighbourhood. I roamed the countryside, sleeping at nights in hospitable +cottages, and on arriving at Confignon I called, out of curiosity, on M. de +Ponteverre, the parish priest. He gave me a dinner which convinced me, even +more than his arguments, of the advantages of the catholic faith; and I was +willing enough to set off, with his introduction, to Annecy. Here I was to +seek Mme. de Warens, a recent convert, who was in receipt of a pension from +the King of Sardinia. I was assured that her benevolence would support me +for the present. Three days later I was at Annecy.</p> + +<p>This introduction fixed my character and destiny. I was now in my +sixteenth year, doubtless of engaging though not striking appearance; I had +the timidity of a loving nature, always afraid of giving offence; and I was +quite without knowledge of the world or of manners. I arrived on Palm +Sunday, 1728. Mme. de Warens had left the house for church; I ran after +her, saw her, spoke to her--how well do I remember the place, so often in +later days wet with my tears and covered with kisses!</p> + +<p>I saw an enchanting form, a countenance full of graciousness, a dazzling +colour, blue eyes beaming kindness; you may imagine that my conversion was +from that moment decided. Smiling, she read the good priest's letter, and +sent me back to the house for breakfast.</p> + +<p>Louise Éléonore de Warens, daughter of a noble family of +Vevai, in the Vaud country, had early married M. de Warens, of Lausanne. +The marriage was childless and otherwise unfortunate; and the young wife, +exasperated by some domestic difficulty, had abandoned her husband and her +country, and crossing the lake, had thrown herself at the feet of the king. +He took her under his protection, gave her a moderate pension, and for fear +of scandal sent her to Annecy, where she renounced her errors at the +Convent of the Visitation.</p> + +<p>She had been six years at Annecy when I met her, and was now +twenty-eight years of age. Her beauty was still in its first radiance, and +her smile was angelic. She was short of stature, but it was impossible to +imagine more beautiful features or hands. Her education had been very +desultory; she had learned more from lovers than from teachers. She had a +strong taste for empirical medicine and for alchemy, and was always +compounding elixirs, tinctures and balms, some of which she regarded as +valuable secrets. So it was that charlatans, trading on her weakness, made +her consume, amid drugs and furnaces, a talent and a spirit which might +have distinguished her in the highest societies. Yet her loving and sweet +character, her compassion for the unhappy, her inexhaustible goodness and +her open and gay humour never changed; and even when old age was coming on, +in the midst of poverty and varied misfortunes, her inward serenity +preserved to the end the charming gaiety of her youth. All her mistakes +arose from a restless activity which demanded incessant occupation. She +thirsted, not for intrigues, but for enterprises.</p> + +<p>Well, the first sight of Mme. de Warens inspired me not only with the +liveliest attachment, but with an entire trust which was never +disappointed. Her presence filled my whole being with peace and +confidence.</p> + + +<h3><i>Three Years in Turin</i></h3> + + +<p>My situation was discussed with the Bishop, and it was decided that I +should go to Turin and remain for a time at an institution devoted to the +instruction of catechumens. Thither I went, regarding myself as the pupil, +the friend, and almost the lover, of Mme. de Warens. The great doors closed +upon me, and here I was instructed for several weeks in very indifferent +company. At length, having been received into the church, I found myself in +the street with twenty francs in my pocket, and the counsel that I should +be a good Christian.</p> + +<p>I took a lodging in Turin, and was presently introduced, by the kindness +of my hostess, to the service of a countess. But this lady died shortly +afterwards, and I left her house bearing with me lasting remorse for an +atrocious action: I had accused a fellow-servant of a theft which I had +myself committed, and thus may very well have caused the poor child's +ruin.</p> + +<p>Returning to my old lodging, I spent my days in wandering about town, +often offending the public by my depravities. But I had kept certain +acquaintances made during my situation with the countess, and one of these, +a M. Gaime, whom I sometimes visited, gave me most valuable instructions in +the principles of morals. He was a priest, and one of the most honest men I +have known. I had cherished false ideas of life; he gave me a true picture +of it, and showed me that happiness depends only on wisdom, and that wisdom +is to be found in every rank. He used to say that if everyone could read +the hearts of others, most would wish to descend in the social scale. This +M. Gaime is the original, in large part, of my vicar of Savoy.</p> + +<p>Then followed a new situation in the house of the Count de Gouvon, +where, nominally a footman, I was soon treated more as a pupil or even as a +favourite. His son, a priest, did his best to teach me Latin, and I have +since realised that it was the purpose of this noble family, who had +considerable political ambition, to train a talented dependent who might +serve them in offices of great responsibility. But my fatal inconstancy +frustrated this good fortune, my flagrant disobediences led to my +dismissal, and presently I was on the road to Geneva with a gay lad from +thence who had found me out in Turin.</p> + +<p>I happened to own a mechanical toy, a little fountain, and our mad +project was nothing less than to pay our way throughout the world by +showing its performances in every village. We started in the highest +spirits, but the fountain was never remunerative, and soon its works went +wrong. This threw no gloom over our merry, fantastic journey, and it was +only when Annecy was near that I became a little thoughtful, for my +benefactress supposed that my last place had established me for life.</p> + +<p>We entered the little town and parted, and I came trembling to her door. +The adorable woman showed little surprise, and no sorrow. I told her my +story, and was forgiven. Henceforth her home was mine.</p> + + +<h3><i>Seeking a Career</i></h3> + + +<p>The house was an old one, but spacious and comfortable, and the window +of my room looked out, over garden and stream, to the open country. The +ménage was by no means magnificent, but was abundant in a +patriarchal way; Madame de Warens had no idea of economy, and with her +hospitalities and speculations was ever running more deeply into debt. The +household, besides herself and me, consisted of housemaid, cook, and a +footman named Claude Anet.</p> + +<p>From the first day, the sweetest familiarity reigned our intercourse. +She called me "Little one," I called her my little mother, and these names +express the relation of our hearts. She sought always my good, never her +own pleasure; she was deeply attached to me, and lavished on me her +maternal caresses. I was now about nineteen years old, but was only +occupied about the house in writing for her, or in helping her in her +pharmaceutical experiments.</p> + +<p>But madame was thinking of my future, and sent me on some pretext to see +M. d'Aubonne, a relative of hers, to find out what might be made of me. His +report of me was, that I was a poor-spirited creature, narrow, ignorant, +and clownish, and that the career of village priest was the best that could +be hoped for. Once more, therefore, I was set to Latin at the seminary; but +after some months I was returned by the bishop and the rector as incapable +of learning, though a passably well-conducted youth. In the meantime I had +been taken with a strong taste for music, and it was arranged that I should +spend the winter at the house of M. le Maitre, director of music at the +cathedral; he was a young man of great talent and of high spirits, and +lived only twenty paces from my little mother. There I spent one of the +most pleasant times of my life. But it was cut short by a quarrel between +Le Maitre and the cathedral chapter, who had, as he thought, put a slight +upon him. His revenge was to desert his post on the eve of the elaborate +Easter services, and madame desired me to assist him in his flight. I was +to attend him to Lyons, and remain with him as long as he should need me. +Her purpose was, as I have since learned, to detach me from a plausible +adventurer, M. Venture, a man of great musical talent who had turned up at +Annecy, and had engaged my fancy. Our flight was successful. But on the +second day after our arrival at Lyons Le Maitre fell ill with a sudden +seizure in the street, and I, after telling the bystanders the name of his +inn, and begging them to carry him thither, slipped round the nearest +corner and disappeared. Le Maitre was deserted at his worst need by the +only friend on whom he had to count. I returned at once to Annecy, only to +find that madame had left for Paris.</p> + +<p>M. Venture, however, was still there, and had turned the heads of all +the ladies in the place, and for a time I shared his lodging. Then, after +travelling with Merceret, the housemaid, as far as her home at Fribourg-for +she had to return thither and could find no other attendant--I turned aside +to Lausanne, with the idea of seeing the lake. I arrived here without a +penny, and it occurred to me to play Venture's game on my own account. I +took a false name, called myself a Parisian, and having secured a lodging, +set up as a teacher of music, though I knew next to nothing of the art. +There was a professor of law in the town who was an amateur of music, and +held concert parties in his house; to this man I had the effrontry to +propose a symphony of my own. I worked a fortnight at this production, +wrote out the instrumental parts, and on the appointed evening stood up +before the orchestra and audience, tapped my desk, raised by baton, +and--never since music began has there been such an orgy of discords. The +musicians could hardly sit in their chairs for laughing, yet played even +louder and louder as the fun took hold of them; the audience sought to stop +their ears; and I, sweat pouring down my face, conducted this atrocity to +the end. But the end was a little minuet which Venture had taught me; I had +appended it to my symphony, calling it my own work. Its magic put the whole +room in good humour, and I was feliciated on my taste in melody. Next day +one of my orchestra came to see me, and in my despair and broken spirit I +told him my whole story. By nightfall it was known to all Lausanne. But at +Neufchâtel, through the next winter, I gradually learned music by +teaching it.</p> + +<p>My next occupation was that of interpreter to a Greek prelate and +archimandrite of Jerusalem, whom I met when dining in a little restaurant. +He was collecting money throughout Europe for the restoration of the Holy +Sepulchre; and accompanying him from city to city, I was of much service to +him, even addressing the Senate at Berne on behalf of his project. +Unfortunately for my employer, he addressed himself to the Marquis de +Bonac, who had been ambassador to the Porte, and knew all about the Holy +Sepulchre. I don't know what passed at their interview, but the +archimandrite disappeared and I was detained. In my desolation I told the +marquis the history of my life, and by him was sent to Paris, with plenty +of money in my pocket, to enter the service of a young friend of his in the +army. My first sight of the city was a disappointment which I have never +got over, and the proposed engagement fell through. Coming to the end of my +resources, I set out by way of Lyons, where I suffered the extremity of +poverty, to find Mme. de Warens, who was now, as I learned, at +Chambéri. I came to her house and found the intendant-general with +her. Without addressing me, she said, "Here, sir, he is; protect him as +long as he deserves it, and his future is assured." And to me, "My child, +you belong to the king." And thus I became a secretary in the ordnance +survey. After five years of follies and sufferings since I had left Geneva, +I began to earn an honest living.</p> + + +<h3><i>Our Little Circle</i></h3> + + +<p>It was in 1732, and I was nearly twenty-one years old, when I began the +life of the office. I lived with the little mother in a dismal house, which +she rented because it belonged to the financial secretary who controlled +her pension. The faithful Claude Anet was still with her, and shortly after +my return I learned accidentally that their relation was closer than I had +ever dreamed of. In a fit of temper his mistress had taunted him +outrageously. The poor fellow, in despair, had taken laudanum; and madame, +in her terror and distress, told me the whole story. We brought him round, +and things went on as before, but it was hard to me to know that anyone was +more intimate with her than myself.</p> + +<p>My passion for music increased this year until I could hardly take +interest in anything else, and at last the work at the office grew so +intolerable to me that I determined to resign my place. I extorted an +unwilling permission from madame, said good-bye to my chief, and threw +myself into the teaching of music.</p> + +<p>I soon had as many pupils as I needed, and the constant intercourse with +these ladies was very pleasant to me. But from the stories which I carried +home of our interviews the little mother apprehended dangers of which I was +not at that time conscious. The course which she took was a singular one. +She had rented a little garden outside the town, and here she invited me to +spend the day with her. Thither we went, and from the drift of her +conversation, which was full of good sense and kindliest warnings, I +gradually perceived the degree of her goodness towards me. The compact +involved conditions, and my answer was to be given on that day week.</p> + +<p>Thus was established among the three of us a society to which there is +perhaps no parallel. All our wishes, our cares, our interests were in +common. If one of us was missing from the dinner-table, or a fourth was +present, all seemed out of order. But our little circle was broken all too +soon. Claude Anet, on a botanical excursion, fell a victim to pleurisy, and +died, notwithstanding all her care. He had been a most watchful economist +of her pension and a restraint on her enterprises, and his loss was felt +not only in our diminished party, but also in the wasting of her resources. +For the next three years these went from bad to worse. Unfortunately, the +life to which I had taken, of drifting from one interest to another--now +literature, now chess, now a journey, now music--brought in nothing and +cost a good deal; and to complete our anxieties, I fell ill nearly to +death. Her care and utter devotion saved me, and from that time our very +existence was in common.</p> + + +<h3><i>Les Charmettes</i></h3> + + +<p>I was ordered to the country. We found near Chambéri a little +house, Les Charmettes, set in a garden among trees, as retired and solitary +a home as if it had been a hundred miles from the town. There we took up a +new life towards the autumn of 1736; there began the brief happiness of my +existence. We were all in all to one another; together we roamed the +country, worked in the garden, gathered fruit and flowers, lay under the +trees and listened to the birds. Golden hours, your memory is my only +treasure!</p> + +<p>Even a sudden illness, which affected my heart so that its pulse has +from that time incessantly throbbed like a drum in my ears, and has made me +a constant sufferer from insomnia, turned out to be a heavenly blessing. +Thinking myself a dead man, I only then began to live, and applied myself +very eagerly to learning. With my little mother as my teacher, I turned to +the study of religion. I sought books, and philosophy, the sciences, and +Latin followed in their turn. Nature, learning, leisure, and our ineffably +sweet companionship--I thought, poor fool, that these joys would be with me +to the end. It was otherwise decreed.</p> + +<p>My bodily condition has become pitiable, and it was determined that I +should go to Montpellier to consult a physician. I fell in, on the way +thither, with the Marquis de Torignan and his party, who were travelling in +the same direction. We struck up acquaintance, and I joined them, taking an +assumed name, and giving myself out for an Englishman. Becoming intimate +with a Madame de Larnage, who was among them, I continued to travel with +her day by day, after the others had reached their destination. She was a +woman of infinite charm. Mme. de Warens was forgotten utterly, and I +willingly agreed to settle down in her vicinity, after fulfilling the +purpose of my journey to Montpellier. However, after two pleasurable months +in that city, when I found myself at the stage where the road divided--one +road going to Mme. de Larnage, the other to Les Charmettes--I balanced love +against pleasure, and finding an equipoise, I decided by reason.</p> + +<p>The little mother knew by my letter at what hour I should arrive. I came +to the garden; no one came out to meet me. I entered; the servants seemed +surprised to see me. I ran upstairs and found her; her welcome was +restrained and cold. The truth burst upon me. My place was taken!</p> + +<p>Darkness flooded my soul, and from that moment onward my sensibilities +have been but half-alive. I took a situation as tutor in a private family, +but all my thoughts were of Charmettes and of our innocent life together, +now gone for ever. O dreadful illusion of human destiny!</p> + + +<h3><i>The Gathering Gloom</i></h3> + + +<p>I take up my pen again, after an interval of two years, to add a sequel +to my confessions. How different is the picture now! For thirty years fate +had favoured my inclinations, but for the second thirty, which I must try +to sketch, she has ground me in the mortar of the most appalling +afflictions.</p> + +<p>This second part must inevitably be inferior, in every respect, to the +first. For I wrote, before, with pleasure and at ease; but now my decaying +memory and enfeebled brain have made me almost incapable of work, and I +have nothing to tell of but treacheries, perfidies, and torturing memories. +The walls around me have ears; I am encompassed by spies and vigilant +enemies. Racked with anxiety and fear, I scribble page after page without +revising them. An immense conspiracy surrounds me....</p> + +<p>[These delusions of suspicion are perhaps the most characteristic +symptoms of insanity. They colour so deeply the entire texture of +Rousseau's prolix second part as to make it not only unreliable, but almost +unreadable. Only its human interest gives value to the first part; from the +second part human interest is totally absent. The unhappy creature, +besotted with intellectual pride, was already insane, inhuman; and this +morbid condition had been aggravated by years of brooding rancour before he +wrote this miserable indictment of men who had done their best to befriend +him.--ED.]</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="LA_ROCHEFOUCAULD"></a>LA ROCHEFOUCAULD</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Memoirs2"></a>Memoirs</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Francois, Duc de la Rochefoucauld, was born in Paris on +September 15, 1613. Sprung from one of the noblest families of France, +handsome, winning, and brave to recklessness, he intrigued and fought +against Richelieu and Mazarin, and was one of the leaders in the civil war +of La Fronde. But though marked by birth and talent for a high position in +the state, he failed in nearly everything he undertook, owing to his +extraordinary indolence of mind, and in the prime of his life he became a +rather embittered spectator of a world in which he was not able to make his +way. The "Memoirs," with their studied tone of historical coldness, present +a striking contrast to the brilliant vivacity of the "Maxims." This, in all +probability, is due to the fact that while the latter were frequently added +to and edited during their author's lifetime, no such fate befell the +"Memoirs," of which the first edition, published without La Rochefoucauld's +authority, appeared in 1662. Barely a third of them could be attributed to +their reputed author, the work being compiled mainly from various +commonplace books. In spite of La Rochefoucauld's protests, the pirated +"Memoirs" continued to be printed, and it was not until very many years +after his death, in 1817, that an authentic edition made its appearance. +The "Memoirs" are of great literary value, yielding in interest to no +memoirs of the time. La Rochefoucauld died in Paris on March 17, 1680. +</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>Court Intrigues</i></h3> + + +<p>King Louis XIII. was of feeble constitution, further impaired by +over-exertion in hunting. His temperament was severe and solitary; he +wished to be governed, but was sometimes impatient of government. His mind +took note only of details, and his knowledge of war was fit rather for a +subordinate officer than for a king. Cardinal Richelieu, who owed all his +elevation to the queen-mother, Marie de Médicis, was ruler of the +state. His vast and penetrating mind formed projects as bold as he was +personally timid. His policy was to establish the king's authority and his +own, by the ruin of the Huguenots and of the great houses of the kingdom, +and then to attack the house of Austria, a power most redoubtable to +France. He stuck at nothing, either to advance his satellites or to destroy +his enemies. The passion which he had long cherished for the queen had +changed to dislike, and she had an aversion for Richelieu. The king was +embittered against her by jealousy and by the sterility of their marriage. +The queen was an amiable woman, without falsity of any kind, and with many +virtues; her intimate friend was Madame de Chevreuse, who was of her own +age and of kindred sentiments.</p> + +<p>But Madame de Chevreuse almost always brought misfortune to those whom +she interested in her projects. She had much spirit, ambition, and beauty, +and made full use of her charms to forward these enterprises of hers. +Already Cardinal Richelieu had accused the queen and her of complicity in +Chalais's plot against the king's life--for Chalais had been her warm +admirer--and the king believed in their guilt to the end of his days. +Again, when the young and handsome Lord Holland came to France to arrange +the marriage of the King of England to the sister of the King of France, +and quickly won the affection of Madame de Chevreuse, the two lovers +thought fit to celebrate their attachment by inspiring a similar intrigue +between the French queen and the Duke of Buckingham, who had not so much as +met one another. This astonishing undertaking was successful. Buckingham +came over to wed madame in the name of his master, and his ardent love for +the queen, which she fully returned, deeply wounded both the king and +Richelieu. The cardinal sought his revenge through Lady Carlisle. That +haughty and jealous woman, to whom Buckingham had long been attached, +noticed one night at a ball in England that he was wearing diamonds which +she had not seen before, and contrived, unobserved, to detach them, in +order that she might send them to Richelieu. These diamonds had been the +gift of the King of France to his queen, and it was intended that the +cardinal, by showing them to the king, should prove the queen's weakness. +But the Duke of Buckingham discovered his loss the same night, and at once +suspected Lady Carlisle's design. He issued an immediate order that the +English ports should be closed, and that no one should be permitted, under +whatever pretext, to leave the country; and then, having had exactly +similar jewels prepared, he sent them to the Queen of France, with an +account of the whole matter.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that the cardinal formed the project of the +destruction of the Huguenot party, and of laying siege to La Rochelle. The +Duke of Buckingham came with a powerful fleet to aid La Rochelle, but in +vain; the fortress was taken, and the duke was assassinated in England. +This murder gave the cardinal an inhuman joy; he jested at the queen's +sorrows, and began to hope again.</p> + +<p>After the ruin of the Huguenots I returned from the army to court, being +now seventeen years old, and began to notice the state of affairs. The +queen-mother and the cardinal were at enmity, and though everyone saw that +something would come of it, no one could foretell what would happen. The +cardinal's situation was precarious, the king had learned of his love for +the queen, and was quite ready to disgrace him, and even asked the +queen-mother to nominate someone to replace him. She hesitated, and that +hesitation was her ruin and saved the cardinal.</p> + +<p>The reversal of the situation took place on the famous "day of dupes," +on which the queen-mother, presuming too much on her power, challenged the +cardinal, in the king's presence, with his ingratitude and treacheries. No +one doubted but that Richelieu's day was over, and the whole court crowded +to the queen-mother to share her imaginary triumph. But the king went the +same day to Versailles, and the cardinal followed him; the queen, fearing +that she would find Versailles dull and uncomfortable, remained behind; and +the wily statesman made such good use of his opportunity that the king's +consent was won to the downfall of his mother. She was soon arrested, and +her sorrows lasted as long as her life.</p> + +<p>Many were implicated in her ruin, and were exiled or thrown into the +Bastille, or brought to the scaffold; and so much bloodshed and so many +fortunes reversed brought odium on the name of Richelieu. The mild regency +of Marie de Médicis was remembered, and all the great families +lamented that liberty was a thing of the past.</p> + +<p>For my part, I thought that the queen's cause was the only one, which an +honourable man could follow. She was unhappy; the cardinal was rather her +tyrant than her lover; she had been good to me, and had trusted me; +Mademoiselle d'Hautefort, with whom I had great friendship, was her friend, +too--sufficient reasons, these, to dazzle a youth who had seen almost +nothing of the world, and to turn his steps in a direction quite contrary +to his interests. King and cardinal alike soon came to detest me, and my +life thenceforth was troubled by the visitations of their displeasure. In +recording the scenes in which I have had a part, I have no intention of +writing history, but only of touching on a few personal episodes.</p> + + +<h3><i>Richelieu's Death</i></h3> + + +<p>War was declared in 1635 against the King of Spain, and I accompanied +the French army of twenty thousand men which marched to the support of the +Prince of Orange in Flanders. During neither this nor the following winter +was I allowed at court. Madame de Chevreuse, who had been sent to Tours on +the occasion of Richelieu's triumph had heard a good account of me from the +queen, and invited me to see her; we soon struck up a very great +friendship, and I came to be a confidential intermediary between the queen +and her, and was often entrusted by one or other of them with most perilous +commissions.</p> + +<p>When I was at last readmitted to court in 1637, I found the queen in +great trouble. She had been accused of a crime against the state, a +treasonable understanding with the Spanish minister; some of her servants +were arrested; the chancellor examined her like a criminal; it was even +proposed to seclude her at Havre, annul her marriage, and repudiate her +altogether. In this extremity, abandoned by all the world, she proposed +that I should kidnap her and Mademoiselle d'Hautefort and carry them off to +Brussels. Difficult and dangerous as this project was, it gave me greater +joy than any I had known, for I was at an age when a man likes to engage in +dashing and heroic feats. Happily, however, the chancellor's investigations +proved her majesty not guilty.</p> + +<p>But an unfortunate series of accidents led to my imprisonment for a week +in the Bastille. A signal had been agreed upon between the queen and Madame +de Chevreuse during the recent trouble. If all went well, Madame de +Chevreuse was to receive a prayer-book bound in green, but a red binding +was to indicate disaster. I never knew which of the two ladies made the +mistake, but when the queen was acquitted Madame de Chevreuse received what +she took to be the signal of misfortune; concluded that both she and the +queen were undone, and disguising herself as a man, she fled to Spain. This +escapade, so surprising at the very moment when the Queen's troubles had +come to an end, inspired the king and the cardinal with the gravest +suspicions that they had not, after all, fathomed her majesty's treachery. +The cardinal summoned me to Paris, and hinted at unpleasant consequences if +I did not reveal all I knew. I knew nothing; and as my manner seemed more +reserved and dry than he was accustomed to, I was sent to the Bastille.</p> + +<p>The little time that I spent there showed me more vividly than anything +I had yet seen the picture of vengeance. I saw there men of great names and +of great merits, an infinite number of men and women of all ranks in life, +all unhappy in the affliction of long and cruel incarceration. The sight of +so many pitiable creatures did much to increase my natural hatred for +Cardinal Richelieu's administration. I was released in eight days, and +thought myself very fortunate to escape at a period when none others were +set at liberty.</p> + +<p>But my disgrace was well repaid. The queen showed herself gratefully +aware of all that I had suffered in her service; Mademoiselle d'Hautefort +gave full expression to her esteem and friendship; and Madame de Chevreuse +was not less gracious. I enjoyed not only the favour of those to whom I was +attached, but also a certain approval which the world is not slow to give +to the unfortunate whose conduct has not really been disgraceful. Under +these conditions an exile of two or three years from court was not +intolerable. I was young; the king and the cardinal were failing in health; +I had everything to hope for from a change. I was happy in my family, and +enjoyed all the pleasures of country life, and the neighbouring provinces +were full of other exiles.</p> + +<p>Cardinal Richelieu died on December 4, 1642. Although his enemies could +only rejoice at finding themselves free at last from so many persecutions, +the event has shown that the state could ill spare him. He had made so many +changes in public affairs that he alone was able to direct them safely. No +one before Richelieu had known all the power of the kingdom, or had been +able to gather it all up into the hands of the sovereign. The severity of +his adminstration had cost many lives; the nobility had been humbled, and +the common people had been loaded with taxes; but the grandeur of his +political designs, such as the taking of La Rochelle, the destruction of +the Huguenot party, and the weakening of the house of Austria, no less than +his intrepidity in carrying them out, have secured for his memory a +justly-merited fame.</p> + + +<h3><i>Under Mazarin's Rule</i></h3> + + +<p>I returned to Paris immediately after the death of Richelieu, thinking +that I might have occasion to serve the queen. In accordance with the late +cardinal's will, Cardinal Mazarin succeeded to his powers. The king's state +of health went from bad to worse, and the court was filled with intrigues +with regard to the regency which must so soon be appointed. His death took +place on May 14, 1643. The queen at once brought her little son, Louis +XIV., to Paris; two days later she was declared regent in parliament; and +the same evening, to the amazement of his enemies, she appointed Cardinal +Mazarin chief of the council.</p> + +<p>Mazarin's mind was great, industrious, insinuating, and artful, and his +character was so supple that he could become as many different men as he +had occasion to personate. But he was shortsighted even in his grandest +projects; and, unlike his predecessor, whose mind was bold but his +temperature timid, Mazarin was bolder in temper than in conception. A +pretended moderation veiled his ambition and his avarice; he said he wanted +nothing for himself.</p> + +<p>The court was now divided between the Duke of Beaufort and the cardinal, +and it was expected that the return of Madame de Chevreuse would incline +the queen to the former party. But the queen was in no hurry for that +lady's return, knowing well what turmoils she was apt to bring in her +train. Perhaps I urged her recall more boldly than was wise; at any rate, I +won my point, and her majesty sent me to form Madame de Chevreuse for her +appearance at court under the new conditions.</p> + +<p>I represented to her how indispensable Cardinal Mazarin was to the +state; that he was accused of no crime, and was guiltless of Richelieu's +oppressions; and that the most fatal course she could take would be to +attempt to govern the queen. Madame de Chevreuse promised to follow my +advice, and came up to court, but her old instincts of domination were too +much for her, and she soon declared herself openly against the minister who +enjoyed all the queen's confidence. She even attempted his overthrow, and +for that purpose united herself to the party known as the +"<i>Importans</i>," which was led by the Duke of Beaufort.</p> + +<p>After various manoeuvres on the part of the cardinal and of Madame de +Chevreuse to get the upper hand, Mazarin discovered a plot against his +life, in which the Duke of Beaufort was implicated, and had the duke +arrested and imprisoned. At the same time Madame de Chevreuse was sent away +to Tours, and as I was unwilling to promise that I would have no more to do +with her, I lost the favour of the queen, provoked the cardinal's +displeasure, and soon found that Madame de Chevreuse herself was forgetful +of all I had done for her.</p> + +<p>Kept in idleness, tantalised by promises of office which were never +fulfilled, and forbidden even to follow the wars, my wretched position led +me at last to seek some way of showing my resentment at the treatment I had +received from the queen and cardinal. The means were at hand. Like many +others, I had come under the spell of the beauty and charm of Madame de +Longueville, and thus come gradually into association with the party of the +Fronde. I followed the Duke of Enghien, her brother, to the attack on +Courtray, then to Mardick, where I was wounded; and this time of military +service united me more closely to his later interests.</p> + +<p>By the year 1647 everyone was weary of Mazarin's rule. His bad faith, +his weakness, and his trickiness were becoming known, provinces and towns +alike were groaning under taxation, and the citizens of Paris were reduced +to mere despair. Parliament tried respectful remonstrances in vain; the +cardinal thought himself safe in the servility of the nation. But the great +majority in France desired a change, and then smouldering discontent soon +burst into a flame.</p> + +<p>The Duke of Enghien, who had become, by the death of his father, Prince +of Condé, had gained in 1648 a great victory in Flanders, and a +solemn thanksgiving was held in Notre Dame to celebrate it. Mazarin chose +this moment for the arrest of Broussel and other members of parliament who +had voiced most urgently the public distress. The action roused Paris to a +fury which astonished him; the people sought him to tear him to pieces; +barricades were erected in the streets, and the king and queen were +besieged in the royal palace. Resistance to the parliament's demands were +at the moment impossible; the prisoners had to be released.</p> + +<p>I was at this time absent from Paris, having been sent down by the queen +to my government at Poitou, which I had purchased; the province was almost +in insurrection and I had to pacify it. I happened to be deeply wounded by +a new slight which Cardinal Mazarin had put upon me, when Madame de +Longueville sent for me to come to Paris, informing me that the whole plan +for a civil war had been drawn up, and asking for my counsel in the matter. +The news delighted me, and I arrived at the capital eager for my revenge on +the queen and the cardinal.</p> + +<p>Mazarin, on the other hand, had formed his plan. Realising that Paris +was unsafe, he determined to leave it, to place the king at Saint-Germain, +and to lay siege to the city, which would soon be reduced to famine and +dissensions. Their escape was made at midnight on the eve of Epiphany, +1649, all the court following in great disorder.</p> + +<p>The city was for a time in much perplexity, but the arrival of the Duke +of Beaufort, who had broken prison at Vincennes, put heart into the people, +who took him for their liberator. Other great personages threw in their lot +with the popular cause; a large war-chest was quickly raised and troops +were levied, and the parliament of Paris put itself into communication with +the other parliaments of the kingdom. All preparations were made for a +civil war, the real basis of which was a general hatred of Cardinal +Mazarin, which was common to both parties. In an early engagement outside +the city I was so gravely wounded as to see no more of this war, the events +of which are hardly worth narrating. On April 1, 1649, the Parliament +received an amnesty from the king. Neither party had vanquished the other; +the cardinal and the parliament were each as strong as before, but everyone +was glad to be rid, for the time, of the horrors of civil war.</p> + + +<h3><i>Wars of the Fronde</i></h3> + + +<p>The Prince of Condé, who had great influence in the council, +showed himself so contemptuous to Mazarin, and became so inconvenient to +the queen by his arrogance that she decided to arrest him, and to involve +Madame de Longueville, the duke, her husband, and the Prince of Conti in +the same disgrace. Accordingly, on January 18, 1650, the Prince of +Condé, the Duke of Longueville, and the Prince of Conti were seized +and imprisoned at Vincennes, and the order was given at the same time to +arrest Madame de Longueville and myself. But we succeeded in escaping +together to Dieppe, where we were forced to separate; Madame de Longueville +found refuge at Stenay, where she met with Turenne, and I returned to my +government of Poitou and formed an alliance there with the Duke of +Bouillon, Turenne's brother. Together the duke and I matured designs which +led to the civil war in the south.</p> + +<p>My father having died at Verteuil in March, 1650, I succeeded to the +title of Duke of La Rochefoucauld. I invited a large number of nobles and +gentlemen of that region to the funeral ceremonies; our plans were put +before them; though some of them held back, most were favourable; and I +soon found myself at the head of a force of two thousand horse and eight +hundred foot. The Duke of Bouillon and I were joined by the young Princess +of Condé, with her son the Duke of Enghien; we gathered more troops +at Turenne, and marched upon Bordeaux. After overcoming some opposition, +the princess entered that city in triumph on May 31, 1650, and we joined +her a few days later.</p> + +<p>The grievance of the princess and the presence of her son excited the +liveliest enthusiasm, and the party opposed to Mazarin had entire mastery +of the town. The revolt of Bordeaux carried with it almost all Guienne, and +Mazarin determined to crush it before it should extend to the neighbouring +provinces. A royal army of veterans was sent down, Bordeaux was closely +invested, an obstinate defence was made, but the town had to capitulate on +September 28, on the condition of an amnesty to the princess and her +adherents.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Turenne, with a Spanish force, had made a vain attempt to +rescue the captive princes, and Mazarin had removed them to Havre, where +the government was devoted to him. There was now such general dread and +hatred of the cardinal, that people were willing to unite with those whom +they had considered their mortal enemies in order to secure his ruin. In +the early days of 1651 I was summoned to Paris by the Princess Palatine, +who united a taste for gallantry with a remarkable talent for intrigue, and +remained for some time hidden in her house, where I was witness to many +consultations for the removal of Mazarin from power. I even made a last +attempt to persuade the cardinal himself to release the princes; in four +nocturnal interviews I tried to show him how all parties were uniting to +compass his ruin, but was unable to convince him without betraying secrets +which were not my own. Mazarin gave me no hope of their liberation.</p> + +<p>Then arose a general storm against the minister, and he made his escape +on the night of February 7. The queen would have followed him with her son, +but the Frondeurs and the partisans of the princes kept her prisoner in her +palace. Without any hope of assistance, and daunted day and night by an +infuriated populate, she sent for me and gave me an order to the governor +of Havre to release the princes immediately. I warned the leaders of the +Fronde that her sincerity was not above suspicion, and that all depended +upon her close imprisonment, and so set out along the northern road upon my +mission. But the cardinal had been beforehand with me, the princes were at +liberty, and on February 16 they entered Paris in triumph.</p> + +<p>Mazarin, who had fled to Cologne, whence he continued to direct the +queen's cabinet, returned to France at the head of a small army in January, +1652, and arrived at Poitiers without meeting any resistance. The party +opposed to him was rent by faction and strife, but the Prince of +Condé united it, and fought an indecisive engagement with the royal +troops on April 8. On the 11th the prince and I were well received in +Paris, but it was evident that the citizens were weary of all these +troubles, desired nothing so much as the king's return, and detested the +ambition of the leaders of faction. Indeed, the magistrates were +negotiating with Mazarin, and declared the city neutral. On July 2 the +Prince of Condé was marching his force from Saint-Cloud to Charenton +when he was attacked by Turenne; and in the sanguinary combat which +followed, and in which I was fighting beside the prince, I received a wound +in the head which prevented my taking any further part in these +disturbances.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, the Prince of Condé, his popularity wholly +gone, took service under the King of Spain; King Louis XIV., amid general +acclamations, returned to Paris on October 21; and Cardinal Mazarin, having +overcome all his enemies, entered the capital in a veritable triumph, in +February, 1653.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="MADAME_DE_SEVIGNE"></a>MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Letters2"></a>Letters</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, who became Madame de +Sévigné, was born at Paris on February 6, 1626. Her father +and mother died during her childhood and Marie was left to the care of her +uncle, priest of Coulanges; she received an admirable education and became +a great lover of history and of classical literature. At eighteen years of +age she married the Marquis Henri de Sévigné, who was killed +in a duel in 1651, and thenceforth Madame de Sévigné gave +herself up altogether to the care of her two children. Her wit, her +kindliness, and happiness, her charity and fidelity, and especially a +certain rare genius for friendship, won for her the warm devotion of many +great people of that brilliant age. Her daughter was married in 1669 to the +Comte de Grignan, a great official, lieutenant-general of Languedoc and +then of Provence, a man of honour, but accustomed to the most lavish +expenditure, which burdened his life with enormous debts. The famous +"Letters" of Madame de Sévigné numbering over 1,000 were +written over a period of twenty-five years, chiefly to this daughter, +Madame de Grignan. They are valued for their vivacious and graceful style, +the light which they throw upon the thoughts and movements of her time, but +especially for their revelation of a wonderfully sweet and gracious +personality. Madame de Sévigné died on April 18, 169696. +</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>Love for her Daughter</i></h3> + + +<p>My dear child: I have been here but three hours, and already take my pen +to talk to you. I left Paris with the Abbé, Hélène, +Hébert and Marphise, so that I might get away from the noise and +bustle of the town until Thursday evening. I want to have perfect +quietness, in which to reflect. I intend to fast for many good reasons, and +to walk much to make up for the long time I have spent in my room; and +above all, I want to discipline myself for the love of God.</p> + +<p>But, my dear daughter, what I shall do more than all this, will be to +think of you. I have not ceased to do so since I arrived here; and being +quite unable to restrain my feelings, I have betaken myself to the little +shady walk you so loved, to write to you, and am sitting on the mossy bank +where you so often used to lie. But, my dear, where in this place have I +not seen you? Do not thoughts of you haunt my heart everywhere I turn?--in +the house, in the church, in the field, in the garden--every spot speaks to +me of you. You are in my thoughts all the time, and my heart cries out for +you again and again. I search in vain for the dear, dear child I love so +passionately; but she is 600 miles away, and I cannot call her to my side. +My tears fall, and I cannot stop them. I know it is weak, but this +tenderness for you is right and natural and I cannot be strong.</p> + +<p>I wonder what your mood will be when you receive this letter; perhaps at +that moment you will not be touched with the emotions I now feel so +poignantly, and then you may not read it in the spirit in which it was +written. But against that I cannot guard, and the act of writing relieves +my feelings at the moment--that is at least what I ask of it. You would not +believe the condition into which this place has thrown me.</p> + +<p>Do not refer to my weakness, I beg of you; but you must love me, and +have respect for my tears, since they flow from a heart which is full of +you.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Brinvilliers Affair</i></h3> + + +<p>The Brinvilliers affair is still the only thing talked of in Paris. The +Marquise confessed to having poisoned her father, her brothers, and one of +her children. The Chevalier Duget had been one of those who had partaken of +a poisoned dish of pigeon-pie; and when the Brinvilliers was told three +years later that he was still alive, her only remark was "that man surely +has an excellent constitution." It seems she fell deeply in love with +Sainte Croix, an officer in the regiment of her husband, the Marquis, who +lived in their house. Believing that Sainte Croix would marry her if she +were free, she attempted to poison her husband. Sainte Croix, not +reciprocating her desire, administered an antidote, and thus saved the poor +Marquis's life.</p> + +<p>And now, all is over. The Brinvilliers is no more. Judgment was given +yesterday and this morning her sentence was read to her--she was to make a +public confession in front of Notre Dame, after which she was to be +executed, her body burnt and her ashes scattered to the winds. She was +threatened with torture, but said it was unnecessary and that she would +tell all. Accordingly she recounted the history of her whole life, which +was even more horrible than anyone had imagined, and I could not hear of it +without shuddering.</p> + +<p>At six in the morning she was led out, barefoot, and clad only in one +loose garment, with a halter round her neck. From Notre Dame she was +carried back in the same Tumbril, in which I saw her lying on straw, with +the Doctor on one side of her and the executioner on the other; the sight +of her struck me with horror. I am told that she mounted the scaffold with +a firm step, and died as she had lived, resolutely, and without fear or +emotion.</p> + +<p>She asked her confessor to place the executioner so that she need not +gaze on Degrais, who, you <i>will remember</i>, tracked her to England, and +ultimately arrested her at Liège. After she had mounted the ladder +to the scaffold she was exposed to the public for a quarter of an hour, +while the executioner arranged her for execution. This raised a murmur of +disapproval among the people, and it was a great cruelty. It seems that +some say she was a saint; and after her body had been burned, the people +crowded near to search for bones as relics, but little was to be found, as +her ashes were thrown into the fire. And, it may be supposed, that we now +inhale what remains of her. It is to be hoped that we shall not inhale her +murderous instincts also.</p> + +<p>She had two confessors, of whom one counselled her to tell everything, +the other nothing. She laughed, and said, "I may in conscience do what +pleases me best."</p> + +<p>I was pleased to hear what you think of this horrible woman; it is not +possible that she should be in Paradise; her vile soul must be separated +from others.</p> + + +<h3><i>Devotion</i></h3> + + +<p>You ask me if I am devout. Alas! No, which is a sorrow to me; but I am +in a way detached from what is called the world. Old age, and a little +sickness give one time to reflect. But, my dear child, what I do not give +to the world, I give to you; so that I hardly advance in the region of +detachment; and you know the true way towards a devout life lies in some +degree of effacement, first of all, of that which our heart holds +dearest.</p> + +<p>One of my great desires is to become devout. Every day I am tormented by +this idea. I do not belong to God, neither do I belong to the Devil; this +indecision is a perpetual torment to me, although between ourselves, I +believe this state to be a most natural one. One does not belong to the +Devil, because one fears God: also, one does not belong to God, because His +law is hard, and one does not like to renounce oneself. These are the +luke-warm, and their great number does not surprise me at all; I can enter +into their reasonings; but God hates them; therefore we must cease to serve +in this state--and there is the difficulty.</p> + +<p>I am overwhelmed by the death of M. du Mans; I had never thought of +death in connection with him. Yet he has died of a trifling fever, without +having had time to think either of heaven or of earth. Providence sometimes +shows its authority by sudden visitations, from which we should profit.</p> + +<p>What you say as to the anxieties which we so often and so naturally feel +about the future, and as to how our inclinations are insensibly changed by +necessity, is a subject worthy of a book like Pascal's; nothing is so +satisfying, nothing so useful as meditations of this kind. But how many +people of your age think this? I know of none; and I honour your sound +reasoning and courage. With me it is not so, especially when my heart +afflicts me; my words are indifferently good; I write as those who speak +well; but the depth of my feeling kills me. This I feel when I write to you +of the pain of separation. I have not myself found the proverb true, "To +cloak oneself according to the cold." I have no cloak against cold like +this. Yet I manage to find occupation, and the time passes somehow. But in +general it is true that our thoughts and inclinations turn into other +channels, and our sorrows cease to be such.</p> + + +<h3><i>Love of Life</i></h3> + + +<p>You ask me, dear child, if I am still in love with life. I must confess +that I find its sorrows grievous, but my distaste for death is even +stronger. It is sad to think I must finish my life with death, and if it +were possible I would retrace my steps. I find myself embarked on life +without my consent, and am in a perplexing situation. I shall have to take +leave of life, and the fact overwhelms me: for how, or by what gate, shall +I pass away? When will death come, and in what disposition will it find me? +Shall I suffer a thousand pains which will make me die in despair? Shall I +die in a transport of joy? Shall I die of an accident? How shall I stand +before God? What shall I have to offer Him? Shall I return to Him in fear +and necessity, and be conscious of no other feeling but terror? What can I +hope for? Am I worthy of Paradise? Or worthy only of Hell? What an +alternative! What perplexity! Nothing is so mad as to leave one's safety +thus in uncertainty; but nothing is more natural; and the foolish life I +lead is perfectly easy to understand. I plunge myself into these thoughts; +and I find death so terrible, that I hate life more because it leads to +death, than because it leads me through troublesome places. You will say I +wish to live for ever. Not at all; but if I had been asked, I would +willingly have died in my nurse's arms, for I should thus have avoided many +sorrows and would have secured heaven with certainty and ease.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Order of God</i></h3> + + +<p>Providence wills order; but if order is nothing other than the will of +God, almost all that occurs is done against His will: all the persecutions, +for instance, against St. Athanasius; all the prosperity of ill-doers and +tyrants--all this is against order and therefore against the will of God. +We must surely hold to what St. Augustine says, that God permits all these +things so that he may manifest His glory by means that are unknown to us. +St. Augustine knows no rule nor order but the will of God. If we did not +follow this doctrine, we should be forced to conclude that almost +everything is contrary to the will of Him who made it, and this seems to me +a dreadful conclusion.</p> + +<p>I should like to complain to Father Malebranche about the mice which eat +everything here; is that in order? Sugar, fruit, preserves, everything is +devoured by them. And was it order last year, that miserable caterpillars +destroyed the leaves of our forest-trees and gardens, and all the fruit in +the country-side? Father Payen, most peaceable of men, has his head broken; +is that order? Yes, Father, all that is doubtless good. God knows how to +dispose of it to His glory, though we know not how. We must take it as +true, for if we do not regard the will of God as equivalent to all law and +order, we fall into great difficulties.</p> + +<p>You are such a philosopher, my very dear child, that there is no way of +being happy with you. Your mind runs on beyond our hopes to picture to +itself the loss of all we hope for; and you see, in our meetings, the +inevitable separation that is to follow. Surely that is not the way to deal +with the good things Providence prepares for us; we should rather husband +and enjoy them. But after having made this little reproach, I must confess +in all honesty that I deserve it just as much as you. No one can be more +daunted than I am by the flight of time, nor feel more keenly beforehand +the griefs which ordinarily follow pleasures. Indeed, my daughter, life +mingles its good and ill: when one has what one desires, one is all the +nearer to losing it; when it is further from us, we dream of finding it. So +we must just take things as God sends them. For my part, I would cherish +the hope of seeing you without mixing in with other feelings; and look +forward to holding you in my arms next month. I wish to believe God will +allow us this perfect joy, although it would be the easiest thing in the +world to mix it with bitterness, if we so desired. All that remains, my +very dear one, is to breathe and to live.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Prince of Orange and England</i></h3> + + +<p>The Prince of Orange has declared himself protector of the religion of +England, and has asked to have charge of the education of the young Prince. +It is a bold step, and several of the English nobility have joined him. We +are all hoping that the Prince of Orange has made a mistake, and that King +James II. will give him a good beating. He has received the Milords, +confirmed the attachment of those most devoted to him, and has declared +entire liberty of conscience. But we understand that the King of England +has united all his people round him, by affording a greater degree of +religious liberty.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>What shall we say of this English nation? Its customs and manners go +from bad to worse. The King of England has escaped from London, apparently +by kind permission of the Prince of Orange; the Queen will arrive at St. +Germain in a day or two. It is quite certain that war will be declared +against us soon, if indeed we are not the first to declare it. We are +sending the Abbé Testu to St. Germain to help in establishing there +the King and Queen of England and the Prince of Wales. Our King of France +has behaved quite divinely to these Majesties of England; for to comfort +and sustain, as he has done, a betrayed and abandoned king, is to act in +the image of the Almighty.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>It is good news that the King of England has left this morning for +Ireland, where they are anxiously awaiting him. He will be better there +than here. He is travelling through Brittany like lightning, and at Brest +he will find Marshall d'Estrée with transport and frigates ready. He +carries large treasure, and the King has given him arms for ten thousand +men; as his Majesty of England was saying good-bye, he said, laughing, that +he had forgotten arms for himself, and our King gave him his own. Our +heroes of romance have done nothing more gallant. What will not this brave +and unfortunate King accomplish with these ever victorious weapons? He goes +forth with the helmet and cuirass of Renaud, Amadis, and our most +illustrious paladins, supported by unexampled generosity and +magnanimity.</p> + + +<h3><i>Old Age</i></h3> + + +<p>So you have been struck by Madame de la Fayette's words, inspired by so +much friendliness. I never let myself forget the fact that I am growing +old; but I must confess that I was simply astonished at what she said, +because I do not yet feel any infirmity to keep me in mind of my advancing +years. I think of them, however, and find that life offers us hard +conditions: here have I been led, in spite of myself, to the fatal period +at which one must die--old age. I see it; old age has stolen upon me; and +my only desire is to go no further. I do not want to travel along that road +of infirmities, pains, the loss of memory, the disfigurements to which I +look forward as an outrage; yet I hear a voice saying in my ear--"You must +pass down that road, whether you like it or not, or else you must die"; and +this second alternative is as repugnant to nature as the first. This is the +inevitable lot of whoever advances too far along the course of life. Yet, a +return to God's will, and submission to that universal law which has +condemned us all to death, is enough to seat reason again on her throne, +and to give us patience. Do you too have patience, my darling; don't let +your love, too tender, cause you tears which your reason must condemn.</p> + +<p>Your brother has come under the Empire of Ninon de Lenclos; I fear it +will bring evil; she ruined his father. We must recommend him to God. +Christian women, or at least who wish to be so, cannot see disorder like +his without sorrow.</p> + +<p>But what a dangerous person this Ninon is! She finds that your brother +has the simplicity of a dove, and is like his mother; it is Madame de +Grignan who has all the salt of the family, and is not so simple as to be +ruled. Someone, meaning to take your part, tried to correct her notion of +you, but Ninon contradicted him and said she knew you better. What a +corrupt creature! Because you are beautiful and spirited she must needs add +to you another quality without which, on her principles, you cannot be +perfect. I have been deeply troubled by the harm she is doing to my son. +But do not speak of the matter to him; Madame de la Fayette and I are doing +our best to extricate him from his perilous attachment.</p> + +<p>We have been reading for our amusement those little Provincial Letters. +Heavens, what charm they have! How eagerly my son reads them! I always +think of my daughter, and how worthy of her is the incomparable justice of +their reasoning; but your brother says that you complain that the writer is +always saying the same thing. Well, well; all the better! Is it possible +that there should be a more perfect style, or a finer, more delicate or +more natural raillery? Could anything be more worthy of comparison with +Plato's "Dialogues"? But after the first ten letters, what earnestness, +solidity, force and eloquence! What love for God and for truth, what +exquisite skill in maintaining it and making it understood, characterise +these eight last letters with their so different tone! I understand that +you have read them only hurriedly, enjoying the more amusing passages; but +that is not how one reads them at leisure.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="ROBERT_SOUTHEY"></a>ROBERT SOUTHEY</h1> + + +<h2><a name="The_Life_of_Nelson"></a>The Life of Nelson</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Robert Southey, man of letters and poet-laureate, was born +at Bristol on August 12, 1774, and received at various schools a desultory +education, which he completed by an idle year at Oxford. Here he became +acquainted with Coleridge; and Southey, who had practised verse from early +boyhood, and acquired a strong taste for the drama, being also an ardent +republican and romanticist, was easily enlisted by the elder poet in his +scheme for a model republic, or "Pantisocracy," in the wilds of America. +They married two sisters, the Misses Fricker, and a third sister married +Robert Lovel, also a poet. The experiment of pantisocracy was fortunately +never carried out, and Southey's career for the next eight years was +exceedingly fragmentary; but in 1803 there was a reunion of the three +sisters at Keswick, though one of the husbands, Lovel, was dead. Here +Southey entered steadily and industriously on the life of an author for +livelihood; it was by no means unremunerative. Southey's output of work, +both prose and verse, was very voluminous, and its quality could not but +suffer. He was appointed poet-laureate in 1813; and received a government +pension of £160 a year from 1807, which was increased by £300 a +year in 1835. He died on March 21, 1843. In a prefatory note to that +peerless model of short biographies, the "Life of Nelson," which appeared +in 1813, and is considered his most important work, Southey describes it as +"clear and concise enough to become a manual for the young sailor, which he +may carry about with him till he has treasured up the example in his memory +and in his heart." </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--A Captain at Twenty</i></h3> + + +<p>Horatio, son of Edmund and Catherine Nelson, was born on September 29, +1758, in the parsonage of Burnham Thorpe, a Norfolk village, where his +father was rector. His mother's maiden name was Suckling; her grandmother +was an elder sister of Sir Robert Walpole, and this child was named after +his godfather, the first Lord Walpole. Mrs. Nelson died in 1767, leaving +eight children, and her brother, Captain Maurice Suckling, R.N., visited +the widower, and promised to take care of one of the boys.</p> + +<p>Three years later, when Horatio was twelve years old, he read in the +newspaper that his uncle was appointed to the Raisonnable, and urged his +father to let him go to sea with his Uncle Maurice.</p> + +<p>The boy was never strong, but he had already given proofs of a resolute +heart and a noble mind. Captain Suckling took an interest in him, and sent +him on a first voyage in a merchant ship to the West Indies, and then, as +coxswain, with the Arctic expedition of 1773, when Horatio showed his +courage by attacking a Polar bear.</p> + +<p>A voyage to the East Indies followed, and gave him the rank of +midshipman. But the tropical climate reduced him almost to a skeleton; he +lost for a time the use of his limbs, and was sent home as his only chance +of life. He returned under great depression of spirits. In later years he +related how the despair was cleared away by a glow of patriotism, in which +his king and country came vividly before his mind. "Well, then," he +exclaimed, "I will be a hero, and, confiding in Providence, I will brave +every danger!"</p> + +<p>On April 8, 1777, he passed his examination for a lieutenancy, and was +appointed to the Lowestoft frigate, Captain Locker, then fitting out for +Jamaica. Privateers under American colours were harassing British trade in +the West Indies, and Nelson saw much active service. He was removed to the +Bristol flagship, then to the command of the Badger, then to the +Hinchinbrook, and before the age of twenty-one he had gained a rank which +brought all the honours of the service within his reach.</p> + +<p>An expedition was at this time projected to seize the region of Lake +Nicaragua, and thus to cut the communication of the Spaniards between their +northern and southern possessions; and in pursuit of this policy Nelson was +sent with a small force, early in 1780, to Honduras. Here, after deeds of +great gallantry, his command was almost annihilated by the deadly climate, +and he himself was so reduced by dysentery that he was compelled to return +to England.</p> + +<p>His next ship was the Albemarle, twenty-eight guns, in which he was +kept, to his great annoyance, in the North Sea for the whole winter of +1781-2, and was sent in the spring to Quebec. The Albemarle then served on +the West Indian station until tidings came that the preliminaries of peace +had been signed, and she returned to England, and was paid off in 1783.</p> + +<p>"I have closed the war," said Nelson, in one of his letters, "without a +fortune; but there is not a speck on my character. True honour, I hope, +predominated in my mind far above riches." He did not apply for a ship, +because he was not wealthy enough to live on board in the manner which was +then customary.</p> + +<p>But, after living for a time in lodgings in St. Omer's in France, he was +appointed to the Boreas, going to the Leeward Islands, and on his arrival +in the West Indies in 1784, found himself senior captain, and therefore +second in command on that station.</p> + +<p>The Americans were at this time trading with our islands, taking +advantage of the register of their ships, which had been issued while they +were British subjects. Nelson knew that, by the Navigation Act, no +foreigners, directly or indirectly, were permitted to carry on any trade +with these possessions; and also that the Americans had made themselves +foreigners with regard to England.</p> + +<p>Contrary to the orders both of the admiral and of the governor, he +insisted that our ships of war were not sent abroad to make a show of, and +seized four American vessels at Nevis; and when the matter was brought into +court at that place he pleaded his own cause, and the ships were +condemned.</p> + +<p>While the lawsuit was proceeding, Nelson formed an attachment to a young +widow, Mrs. Nisbet, niece of the President of Nevis, and was married to her +on March 11, 1787. She was then in her eighteenth year, and had one child, +a son, Josiah, who was three years old. They returned together to England +and took up their abode at the old parsonage, where Nelson amused himself +with farming and country sports, and continued a relentless campaign +against the speculators and fraudulent contractors attached to the naval +service in the West Indies. After many vain attempts to secure a ship, he +was at last appointed, on January 30, 1793, to the Agamemnon, sixty-four +guns.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--In the Mediterranean</i></h3> + + +<p>The Agamemnon was ordered to the Mediterranean under Lord Hood, and +Nelson was sent with despatches to Sir William Hamilton, our envoy to the +court of Naples. Sir William, after his first interview with him, told Lady +Hamilton that he was about to introduce a little man to her who could not +boast of being very handsome, but who would one day astonish the world. +Thus that acquaintance began which ended in the destruction of Nelson's +domestic happiness, though it threatened no such consequences then. Here +also began that acquaintance with the Neapolitan court which led to the +only blot on Nelson's public character.</p> + +<p>Having accomplished this mission, Nelson was sent to join Commodore +Linzee at Tunis, and shortly afterwards to co-operate with General Paoli +and the Anti-Gallican party in Corsica. At this time, 1794, Nelson was able +to say, "My seamen are now what British seamen ought to be, almost +invincible. They really mind shot no more than peas." And again, after +capturing Bastia, "I am all astonishment when I reflect on what we have +achieved! I was always of opinion, have ever acted up to it, and never had +any reason to repent it, that one Englishman was equal to three Frenchmen." +The Agamemnon was then dispatched to co-operate in the siege of Calvi with +General Sir Charles Stuart, at which Nelson lost the sight of one eye; and +later played a glorious part in the attack by Admiral Hotham's squadron on +the French fleet. This action saved Corsica for the time.</p> + +<p>Nelson was made colonel of marines in 1795, a mark of approbation which +he had long wished for; and the Agamemnon was ordered to Genoa, to +co-operate with the Austrian and Sardinian forces. The incapacity and +misconduct of the Austrian General de Vins, however, gave the enemy +possession of the Genoese coast. The Agamemnon, therefore, could no longer +be useful on this station, and Nelson sailed for Leghorn to refit, and then +joined the Mediterranean fleet under Sir John Jervis.</p> + +<p>England at that time depended too much on the rotten governments of the +Continent, and too little upon itself. Corsica was therefore abandoned by +Britain, and Nelson, after superintending the evacuation of Corsica, was +ordered to hoist his broad pennant on board the Minerva frigate. He then +sailed for Gibraltar, and proceeded westward in search of the admiral.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--St. Vincent and the Nile</i></h3> + + +<p>Off the mouth of the Straits of Gilbraltar he fell in with the Spanish +fleet; and on February 13, 1797, reaching the station off Cape St. Vincent, +he communicated this intelligence to Sir John Jervis, and was directed to +shift his broad pennant on board the Captain. On the following morning was +fought the battle of Cape St. Vincent. The British had only fifteen ships +of the line against twenty-seven Spanish ships, but Britain, largely +through Nelson's intrepidity, secured an overwhelming victory. The +commander-in-chief was rewarded with the title of Earl St. Vincent, and +Nelson was advanced to the rank of rear-admiral and received the Order of +the Bath.</p> + +<p>Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson was now removed to the Theseus, and was +employed in the blockade of Cadiz, where he went through the most perilous +action in which he was ever engaged. Making a night attack upon the Spanish +gunboats, his barge, carrying twelve men, was attacked by an armed launch +carrying twenty-six men; the admiral was only saved by the heroic devotion +of his coxswain; but eighteen of the enemy were killed, the rest wounded, +and their launch taken.</p> + +<p>Twelve days later Nelson sailed at the head of an expedition against +Teneriffe, and on the night of July 24, 1797, made a boat attack on the +port of Santa Cruz. On this occasion he was wounded in the right elbow, and +the arm had to be amputated. The small force, which had made its way into +the town, capitulated on honourable terms, and the Spanish governor +distinguished himself by the most humane and generous conduct to his +enemies. There is no doubt that Nelson's life was saved by the careful +attentions of his stepson, Nisbet, who was with him in the boat.</p> + +<p>Nisbet was immediately promoted, and honours awaited Nelson in England. +The freedom of the cities of Bristol and London were conferred on him, and +he received a pension of £1,000 a year. He had performed an +extraordinary series of services during the war; including four actions +with the fleets of the enemy, three actions with boats employed in cutting +out of harbour, and in taking three towns; he had commanded the batteries +at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi, he had assisted at the capture of +twenty-eight ships of war, and had taken and destroyed nearly fifty +merchant vessels; and had been engaged against the enemy upwards of a +hundred and twenty times, in which service he had lost his right eye and +right arm.</p> + +<p>Early in 1789, Sir Horatio Nelson hoisted his flag in the Vanguard, and +left England to rejoin Earl St. Vincent. He was dispatched to the +Mediterranean, to ascertain the object of Bonaparte's great expedition, +then fitting out at Toulon; and sailed from Gibraltar on May 9 with three +ships of the line, four frigates, and a sloop. The Vanguard was dismantled +in a storm, but was refitted in the Sardinian harbour of St. Pietro, and +was joined by a reinforcement of eleven ships from Earl St. Vincent.</p> + +<p>The first news of the enemy's armament was that it had surprised Malta, +but Nelson soon heard that they had left that island on June 16, and judged +that Egypt was their destination. He arrived off Alexandria on the 28th, +but did not find them; returned by a circuitous course to Sicily, then +sailed to the Morea, where he gained news of the French, and on August I +came in sight of Alexandria and the French fleet. "Before this time +to-morrow," he said to his officers, "I shall have gained a peerage or +Westminster Abbey."</p> + +<p>Bonaparte's ships of war, under Admiral Brueys, were moored in Aboukir +Bay in a strong line of battle; and the advantage of numbers, both in +ships, guns, and men, was in favour of the French. Yet only four French +ships out of seventeen escaped, and the victory was the most complete and +glorious in the annals of naval history.</p> + +<p>Nelson was now at the summit of his glory; and congratulations, rewards, +and honours were showered upon him by all the states, princes, and powers +to whom his victory had given respite. He was created Baron Nelson of the +Nile and of Burnham Thorpe, with a pension of £2,000 a year for his +own life, and those of his successors; a grant of £10,000 was voted +to him by the East India Company; and the King of Naples made him Duke of +Bronte.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Lady Hamilton</i></h3> + + +<p>As soon as his shattered frame had sufficiently recovered, Nelson was +called to services of greater importance than any one in which he had been +hitherto employed.</p> + +<p>The kindest attentions and warmest affection were awaiting him at +Naples; the king, the queen, and Lady Hamilton, who was the queen's +constant favourite, welcomed their hero and deliverer with the most +splendid festivities. General Mack, with whom Nelson was to co-operate, was +at the head of the Neapolitan troops; and while he marched with 32,000 men +into the Roman state, 5,000 Neapolitans were embarked on the British and +Portuguese squadron to take possession of Leghorn.</p> + +<p>Nelson's fears of the result were soon verified. "The Neapolitan +officers," he said, "did not lose much honour, for God knows they had not +much to lose--but they lost all they had." The French in the Roman State +routed the cowardly Neapolitans. There was a strong revolutionary party in +Naples itself; and it was agreed that the royal family must seek safety in +flight. Their secret escape, with much treasure, on board the Vanguard, was +conducted with the greatest address by Lady Hamilton, and Nelson conveyed +them through a wild storm to Palermo.</p> + +<p>He had by this time formed an infatuated attachment for Lady Hamilton, +which totally weaned his affections from his wife. He was dissatisfied with +himself and weary of the world. But, in accordance with his principle of +duty "to assist in driving the French to the devil and in restoring peace +and happiness to mankind," he at length expelled the French from Naples and +restored Ferdinand to his throne. Weak in health, dispirited, and smarting +under a censure from the Admiralty for a disobedience to orders, Nelson +resigned his command, and reached England in November 1800, having +travelled with Sir William and Lady Hamilton.</p> + +<p>The great admiral was welcomed to England with every mark of popular +honour; but he had forfeited domestic happiness for ever. Before he had +been three months at home, he separated from Lady Nelson, vowing that there +was nothing in her or in her conduct that he could have wished +otherwise.</p> + +<p>In January 1801 he was sent to the Baltic as second in command under Sir +Hyde Parker. Russia, Denmark, and Sweden had founded a confederacy for +making England resign her naval rights, and the British Cabinet decided +instantly to crush it. The fleet sailed on March 12; Nelson represented to +Sir Hyde Parker the necessity of attacking Copenhagen; and on April 2 the +British vessels opened fire on the Danish fleet and land batteries. The +Danes, in return, fought their guns manfully, and at one o'clock, after +three hours' endurance, Sir Hyde Parker gave the signal for discontinuing +action. Nelson ordered that signal to be acknowledged, but continued to fly +the signal for close action. "You know, Foley," he said, turning to the +captain of the ship, "I have only one eye; I have a right to be blind +sometimes!" Then, putting the glass to his blind eye, in the mood that +sports with bitterness, he exclaimed, "I really do not see the signal. Keep +mine for closer battle flying! That's the way I answer such signals. Nail +mine to that mast!" Admiral Graves disobeyed in like manner, and the other +ships of the line also continued the action. The victory was soon complete, +and Sir Hyde Parker heartily expressed his satisfaction and gratitude.</p> + +<p>For the battle of Copenhagen, Nelson was raised to the rank of viscount. +Had he lived long enough, he would have fought his way up to a dukedom.</p> + +<p>After holding a command in the English Channel, to watch the +preparations which were being made at Boulogne for an invasion of England, +Nelson retired on the conclusion of the Peace of Amiens to his estate at +Merton, in Surrey, meaning to pass his days there in the society of Sir +William and Lady Hamilton. Sir William died early in 1803, and, as the +government would do nothing for her, Nelson settled on Lady Hamilton a sum +equal to the pension of £1,200 a year which her husband had enjoyed. +A few weeks after this event the war was renewed, and the day after his +majesty's message to parliament, Nelson departed to take command of the +Mediterranean fleet.</p> + +<p>He took his station immediately off Toulon, and there, with incessant +vigilance, waited for the coming out of the enemy. From May 1803 to August +1805 he left the Victory only three times, each time upon the king's +service, and on no occasion for more than an hour.</p> + +<p>War having been declared between England and Spain, the Toulon fleet, +having the Spaniards to co-operate with them, put to sea on January 18, +1804. Nelson, who was off Sardinia when he heard the news the next day, +sought them in vain through the Mediterranean, until he heard that they had +been dispersed by a gale, and had returned to Toulon. On March 31 they +emerged again, and passed out of the Straits of Gibraltar, but the British +fleet was kept by adverse winds from reaching the Atlantic till April +5.</p> + +<p>The enemy had thirty-five days start on their run to the West Indies, +and Nelson, misled by false information, sought them among the islands, +until he learned at Antigua on June 9 that they had sailed again for +Europe. He made all speed across the Atlantic, and again sought the enemy +vainly, until he joined Admiral Cornwallis off Ushant on August 15. The +same evening he was ordered to proceed with the Victory and Superb to +Portsmouth.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--Trafalgar</i></h3> + + +<p>Here, at last, he heard news of the combined fleets; Sir Robert Calder +had fallen in with them near Finisterre and had fought an indecisive +engagement.</p> + +<p>On September 14, 1805, he passed through the crowds at Portsmouth, many +of whom were in tears, many kneeling and blessing him as he passed. He +arrived off Cadiz on September 29 with twenty-three ships, and on October 9 +he sent Collingwood his plan of attack--what he called "the Nelson-touch." +These tactics consisted in cutting through the line of the enemy in three +places.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 19th the enemy came out of the port of Cadiz, and +all that day and night, and the next day, the British pursued them. At +daybreak of the 21st, the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the +Victory, about twelve miles to leeward. Signal was made to bear down on the +enemy in two lines, and all sail was set, the Victory leading.</p> + +<p>Nelson now retired to his cabin and wrote in his diary a prayer +committing himself and the British cause to Heaven, and then wrote a +memorial setting forth Lady Hamilton's services to Britain, and leaving her +and her daughter Horatia as a legacy to his country.</p> + +<p>Villeneuve, commanding the enemy, was a skilful seaman, and his plan of +defence was as original as the plan of attack. He formed the fleet in a +double line, every alternate ship being a cable's length to windward of her +second ahead and astern. Nelson, certain of triumph, issued his last +signal: "England expects every man to do his duty," which was received +throughout the fleet with acclamations.</p> + +<p>The English lines, led by Nelson and by Collingwood, swept down upon the +hostile fleet, the Victory steering for the bow of the Santissima Trinidad. +At four minutes after twelve she opened fire, and almost immediately ran +against the Redoubtable. Four ships, two British and two French, formed as +compact a tier as if they had been moored together, their heads all lying +the same way.</p> + +<p>At a quarter past one, a ball fired from the mizzen-top of the +Redoubtable struck Nelson on the left shoulder, and he fell on his face. +"They have done for me at last, Hardy," he said; "my backbone is shot +through." He was carried below, laid on a pallet in the midshipmen's berth, +and insisted that the surgeon should leave him--"for you can do nothing for +me." He was in great pain, and expressed much anxiety for the event of the +action, until Captain Hardy was able to tell him that fifteen of the enemy +had been taken. Repeating that he left Lady Hamilton and Horatia as a +legacy to his country, and exclaiming, "Thank God, I have done my duty!" +Nelson expired.</p> + +<p>He cannot be said to have fallen prematurely whose work was done.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="MADAME_DE_STAAL"></a>MADAME DE STAAL</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Memoirs3"></a>Memoirs</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Marguerite Jeanne de Launay, Baronne de Staal, was born in +Paris on May 30, 1684. Her father was a painter of the name of Cordier who +was in England when his daughter was born; and the name by which she was +known, de Launay, was that of her mother's family. Her story is told by +herself, with admirable sincerity, in these Memoirs, which follow her life +until the year 1735, when, at the age of fifty-one, she married Baron de +Staal, a widower and an officer in the Guard. Her death took place in Paris +on June 16, 1750. Her Memoirs, first published in 1755, are among the most +interesting records of that period, and though their historical accuracy +has been doubted, her portraits of persons are vivid and convincing. Her +style has been highly commended by Sainte-Beuve and other French literary +critics. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>A Convent Child</i></h3> + + +<p>If I write the record of my life, it is not because it deserves +attention, but in order to amuse myself by my recollections. My story is +just the opposite of the ordinary romance, wherein a girl brought up as a +peasant becomes an illustrious princess; for I was treated in childhood as +a person of distinction, and had to find out later that I was a nobody and +owned nothing in the world. And so, not having been trained from the first +to ill fortune, my spirit has always rebelled against the servitude in +which I have had to live.</p> + +<p>My father, for some reason that I never knew, had to leave France and +live in England; and my mother, alone in Paris and without resources, took +me with her as an infant to find a refuge in the abbey of Saint-Sauveur +d'Evreux in Normandy, where Madame de La Rochefoucauld, the abbess, +received us free of charge.</p> + +<p>There was at that time a lengthy disagreement between King Louis XIV. +and the Pope with regard to the nomination of abbesses, in consequence of +which two ladies Mesdames de Grieu, having been disappointed of an expected +establishment, retired to Saint-Sauveur, where they formed a great +friendship with my mother, and became devoted to her two-year-old child. I +was naturally very popular in the convent, and having a bright disposition +I was educated with the utmost care.</p> + +<p>Chiefly with a view to giving me greater advantage, the elder Madame de +Grieu sought and at length obtained the Priory of Saint-Louis at Rouen, and +took me thither with the consent of my mother. Saint-Louis was like a +little kingdom, where I reigned as a sovereign; the abbess and her sister +had no thought but to satisfy my every fancy, and the whole convent was +forced to pay court to me. All that was done for me cost me so little that +it seemed a matter of course that I should be flattered and served, and at +an early age I had contracted all the defects which I have since had to +allow for in the great.</p> + +<p>This extreme indulgence would have turned my defects into vices, if +devotion had not ruled my passions from the first. Religion was the one +great object before my eyes; I had been well instructed in it; I read +continually the devotional books in the convent library, and passed much of +my time in prayer and meditation. Yet my early desire to become a nun +passed gradually away, until I thought of it no more.</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Silly, an amiable and cultivated young lady whose +actions were ruled by principles rather than by feelings, came to live at +Saint-Louis, and I was soon attached to her with all the ardour of a girl's +affection; her tastes became mine, and I used to read all day beside her. +She was then studying the philosophy of Descartes, and I became absorbed in +questions of that kind to the neglect of everything else, until, fearing +lest they might disturb my faith, I resolutely banished them from my +mind.</p> + +<p>I was about fourteen years old when the convent of Saint-Louis fell into +great poverty owing to a famine which was desolating France, and the +disaffection of the nuns was centred on me as a chief cause of unnecessary +expense. Their complaints came to the archbishop of Rouen, and abbess had +difficulty in keeping me with her. My helpless condition began to force +itself on my attention; and I realised that if the abbess were to die I was +alone and without support in the world.</p> + +<p>An unexpected event now drew me closer to Mademoiselle de Silly. Her +mother, having come to Rouen, took her home to Silly, and invited me to +accompany her. I accepted joyfully, and spent several months in the +solitary and melancholy old castle. The Marquis was extremely economical, +the Marquise very devout, and we saw few people. One visitor from the +neighborhood, however, attracted me strongly; and as he came often and +stayed long, my friend and I agreed that one of us had pleased him. When he +had declared his affection, and it was not for me, I learned what jealousy +is--a kind of horror like that of falling down through a fathomless +abyss.</p> + +<p>During the next visit to Silly in the following year the son of the +house arrived, and at first kept very much to himself and to his books. But +having heard his sister and myself complaining of these unsociable ways, he +frankly confessed his fault and amended it, and from that day we spent +every hour together. His mind and his manner was infinitely agreeable; and +in my successive visits to Silly we formed a delightful friendship which +was never interrupted by more ardent feelings.</p> + + +<h3><i>Thrown on the World</i></h3> + + +<p>At length my dear abbess fell so dangerously ill that I saw I was about +to lose her; and I became desolately aware that I owed her all, and that +her death would not only leave me absolutely helpless, but would also +deprive me of my best friend. I never knew anyone else so abundant in +goodness, with so much sweetness, attention for others and forgetfulness of +self, nor with such exact regard for every duty. Her death came soon, and +it was evident that neither her sister nor I could remain at the convent. +Several generous helpers came forward with offers of support, but in my +uncertain position I judged it better to refuse them all. I was resolved to +suffer any misery and servitude rather than sacrifice my independence, and +only accepted a small loan sufficient to take me to Paris.</p> + +<p>I was soon in the great city, looking out for a situation as children's +governess; fortunately, I had a taste for that occupation, and imagined +that taste for it meant talent. I had a sister, in the household of the +Duchess de La Ferté, and found her very amiable and helpful. With +her assistance I went to board at a cheap rate in the convent of the +Presentation, and she succeeded in inspiring her mistress with so elevated +an idea of my attainments that the Duchess soon afterwards sent for me. +After showing me off as a prodigy of learning to all her friends, the +Duchess de La Ferté, a voluble and enthusiastic woman, conceived a +violent affection for me, and projected innumerable schemes for my +advancement, which ended in my being received into her own household as her +secretary.</p> + +<p>I should have been delighted with this position if I had not remembered +how my sister, who had gone there as her favourite, had fallen to the +situation of chambermaid, and if I had not realised that my mistress's +affection would probably be as short-lived as it was intemperate. It proved +to be so indeed; it was succeeded by a hatred as violent as her attachment +had been; and after subjecting me to every indignity she finally disposed +of me by placing me in the household of the Duchess of Maine, at +Sceaux.</p> + +<p>Here I inhabited a tiny room, without windows or fireplace, and so low +that it was impossible to stand upright. I was given sewing to do, but my +first piece of work proved my incapacity, and my extremely short-sight made +me equally helpless in waiting on the Duchess. I was astonished at the +patience with which she bore my awkwardness, but my fellow-servants, with +whom I was most unpopular, were less merciful. The hard and thankless +existence, so different from anything which I had been accustomed, threw me +into a profound depression, until I began to cherish the idea of taking +leave of life.</p> + +<p>But gradually my situation altered for the better. Her Serene Highness +the Duchess began to take notice of me, and became accustomed to speak to +me and to take interest and pleasure in my replies. She had now succeeded +in raising her family to rank equal to her own, and by a famous edict her +children and their descendants had been brought within the succession to +the crown. Her delight in amusements and in pageants was now at its +highest, and it happened that the Abbé de Vaubrun, designing a +spectacular piece in honor of Night, confided to me the task of writing and +delivering an epilogue in that character. My stage-fright spoiled my +elocution, but from that day I was entrusted with the organisation of these +magnificent entertainments, and the last of them was entirely designed and +written by myself. By this means I came to take a quite different place in +the household.</p> + + +<h3><i>Political Intrigues</i></h3> + + +<p>King Louis XIV. had been failing for some time, though every one +pretended not to notice it; and the Duchess of Maine, ever anxious for the +greatness of her family, was very eager to know his testamentary +intentions. Enough was ascertained, by the help of Madame de Maintenon, to +show that the King's dispositions were in favour of the Duke of Orleans, +and the mistake was made of confiding to the Duke his future advantage. As +the illness progressed, a council of regency was formed with the Duke of +Orleans at its head, and when the King died the Duke was appointed Regent +by Parliament, and the Duke of Maine was entrusted with the education of +the young King.</p> + +<p>The Duchess of Maine, who had come up to Paris for this anxious time, +suffered a good deal from insomnia, and now called me in to read to her +every night. But there was more conversation than reading, and she poured +out to me in entire confidence all her secrets, projects, complaints and +regrets. This touching confidence made me very deeply attached to her; and +when she and her husband removed to the Tuilleries to superintend the +King's education, they took me with them.</p> + +<p>In defence of the interests of her family in the succession to the +Crown, which were threatened by the Duke of Orleans, Cardinal Polignac and +others undertook the preparation of a very learned memoir, based on a great +mass of historical and legal precedents; the Duchess threw herself into the +most laborious researches to assist them, and I was set to study ancient +volumes and to correspond with all kinds of authorities. The great work was +finished at last; it was a fine, well-written production; but it did not +repay the trouble it had cost. The question was decided against the family +of Maine, the edict conferring on them the succession to the Crown was +revoked, and the rank of princes of the blood was taken from them.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to describe the sorrow of my mistress at this sudden +overthrow of the fortunes of her family. She was wholly unable to acquiesce +in it, and her illtreatment in France suggested to her the idea of seeking +help from the King of Spain. The Baron de Walef, who was going to that +court, undertook to represent her case there, and the Duchess of Maine held +secret interviews with the Spanish ambassador in Paris. Several other +persons became implicated in these intrigues; the Duchess became more +deeply compromised than she had at first intended; and her interests became +interwoven with other chimerical projects, including the restoration of the +Pretender in England. These movements became known to the Duke of Orleans, +and my mistress's intrigues were soon brought to an end.</p> + +<p>On December 9, 1718, we were informed that the house of the Spanish +Ambassador was surrounded by troops, and a day or two later we learned that +our arrest, on the charge of inciting to revolution, might be expected at +any moment. On the 29th, we were awakened early in the morning to find the +house full of soldiers; the Duchess was carried off to imprisonment at +Dijon, and the Duke of Maine was immured in the citadel of Dourlans in +Picardy.</p> + + +<h3><i>In the Bastille</i></h3> + + +<p>I was taken in a carriage with three musketeers, to a little bridge +before a wall, and delivered to the governor of the Bastille, who sent me +to a large empty room, the walls of which were covered with charcoal +drawings executed by former prisoners. A little chair was brought me, a +bundle of wood was lighted on the hearth, one small candle was fixed to the +wall, and I heard half a dozen locks and bolts closing the door that shut +me off from mankind. The first hour, which I spent gazing at my crackling +fire, was the most desolate of all my imprisonment.</p> + +<p>Then the governor appeared, with my attendant Mademoiselle Rondel; I was +rejoiced to find that she was to relieve my solitude, and to hear from her +that she had managed to hide all my papers after my capture. Our room was +presently furnished with beds, table and chairs; on the following day we +were given books and a pack of cards; our meals were tolerable, and except +for our captivity we were comfortable enough.</p> + +<p>The two judges charged with the interrogation of the prisoners in our +affair, of whom there seemed to be a considerable number, came daily, and +held their interviews in a room immediately below ours; so that Rondel +could see through the window one of our acquaintances after another being +brought across the court to be examined. My time did not come for many +days, and I spent long hours racking my brain for the answers which I ought +to give. The fear of the questions by torture began to force itself on my +mind; and though I thought I could face pain or even death I was doubtful +whether I should be able to keep silence under that dreadful ordeal.</p> + +<p>After these weeks of suspense I was called before the judges, and was +asked whether the Duchess of Maine had not great confidence in me and +whether I had not been aware of her treasonable correspondence and +intrigues. The line I took was to represent my services to my mistress as +having been of a very humble nature; I insisted that I knew nothing of her +private affairs, and had seen and heard nothing that could at all +compromise her loyalty to the Government. This appeared to satisfy them for +the present, and after enquiring whether I was well treated in prison they +dismissed me.</p> + +<p>I did not suffer from ennui in the Bastille; I devised for myself many +little occupations; and soon a surreptitious correspondence with the +Chevalier de Menil, who had been imprisoned for participation in our +affair, gave interest to the days. We were even permitted occasional +interviews by favour of one of the subordinate officials, and before we +regained our liberty I had promised to be his wife.</p> + +<p>The Regent at last became anxious to bring to an end the whole episode +of the Duchess of Maine's intrigue; but he wished first to secure a full +admission of guilt from the principal actors in it. The Duchess was +promised her complete liberty if she would send him a frank confession in +writing, which should be seen by no one but himself. Finding herself in a +position to secure the freedom of all those whom she had imperilled, she +sent the Duke of Orleans the required paper, in which she disclosed +everything in detail and with entire sincerity.</p> + +<p>I was examined again without making any disclosure, but after receiving +the written command of the Duchess I wrote out a declaration of all that I +knew and was a few days later set at liberty, after two years of captivity. +I went down at once to Sceaux, where I was affectionately received by my +mistress.</p> + +<p>Returning to Paris two days later, to fetch my things from the Bastille, +I called at the Convent of the Presentation, and found in the parlour the +Chevalier de Menil. I was astonished at his manner, no less than by what he +said; it was evidently that his only desire was to break his engagement +with me. I realised that the man was without honour or kindness, and yet it +was difficult to detach my affections from him.</p> + +<p>It was about a year later that M. Dacier was introduced to me, after the +death of his wife, by the Duchess de La Ferté, and an ardent desire +for liberty from my condition of servitude led me to accept his proposal of +marriage, subject only to be the permission of my Duchess. This she was +reluctant to give, and the matter was still under discussion when we heard +of M. Dacier's sudden death.</p> + +<p>The rest of my life, though it has been a long one, contains little of +interest. I found myself without any object to live for, and a strange +deadness of feeling came over me, harder to bear than illness or death. I +had a distaste for existence and a horror of the world, and desired nothing +more than to hide myself away. A little pension had been secured for me; my +mistress had fallen dangerously ill; I wished to leave Sceaux in order to +run away from a new attachment which was gaining power over me; and the +thought of entering a Carmelite house became a settled project. But I was +refused even this last refuge; the prioress deciding that I had no vocation +for the religious life.</p> + +<p>I spent several years without coming to any harmony either with myself +or with fortune. Several offers of marriage were made to me, but I could +not bring myself to accept any of them, until a sudden fancy for the sweet +simplicities of country life led me to agree to a marriage with M. de +Staal.</p> + +<p>A few days after my marriage I heard of the death of the Duchess of +Maine. I never knew a more perfectly reasonable woman. She was all feeling; +even her thoughts were really sentiments; she was lively without moodiness, +impassioned without violence, always animated; sweet and sensible. There +was a vivid warmth about her, that made her a perfectly gracious +friend.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="EARL_STANHOPE"></a>EARL STANHOPE</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_William_Pitt"></a>Life of William Pitt</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> The biographer of Pitt was a grandson of the Lord Mahon, +afterwards Earl of Stanhope, who married, in 1774, the great statesman's +eldest sister. Philip Henry Stanhope was born at Walmer on January 30, +1805, and entered the House of Commons as Lord Mahon in 1831. He took a +prominent part in the foundation of the National Portrait Gallery, and the +Historical Manuscripts Commission, and the promotion of successful +archaeological investigations on the site of Troy. His literary labours +were considerable and important. Chief among them were the "History of +England from the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles," the "History +of Queen Anne's Reign," and the "Life of the Right Honourable William +Pitt." The last named, published in 1861-2, is one of the most +authoritative of political biographies, compiled with a gravity and care +characteristic of its author, and of abiding value as a standard book of +reference for one of the greatest personalities and one of the most +stirring periods of English history. Earl Stanhope died on December 24, +1875. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--The Boy Statesman</i></h3> + + +<p>William Pitt, the elder, afterwards Earl of Chatham, married in 1754 +Lady Hester Grenville. William Pitt, their second son, was born on May 28, +1759, at Hayes, near Bromley, in Kent.</p> + +<p>In his boyhood, from the earliest years, William Pitt evinced to all +around him many tokens of intellectual promise and ambition; but his +parents were frequently distressed by his delicate health. It was no doubt +on this account that he was not sent to any public or private school. Lord +Chatham was extremely careful of the education of his family; and, without +any disparagement to young William's tutor, it was certainly from his +father that he profited most.</p> + +<p>William was at fourteen so forward in his studies that he was sent to +Cambridge, commencing his residence at Pembroke Hall in October 1773. His +health at this period gave cause for great alarm. A serious illness at +Cambridge, however, proved a turning-point; for long afterwards he enjoyed +fairly good health. Early hours, daily exercise on horseback, and liberal +potations of port wine--his elixir of strength at this time, although it +helped in later years to undermine his constitution--made him far stronger +after his illness than before it.</p> + +<p>In 1778, after the death of his father, he was entered at Lincoln's Inn, +and was called to the Bar in 1780. But he had little opportunity of +practising as a barrister, for his parliamentary ambitions were soon +fulfilled. In the autumn of 1780 he was an unsuccessful candidate for +Cambridge University; but through the influence of Sir James Lowther he was +returned in the same year for Appleby, and took his seat in the Commons on +January 23, 1781.</p> + +<p>Lord North was still at the head of affairs, and the Opposition +consisted of two parties: the aristocratic Whigs, whose leader was the +Marquis of Rockingham, but whose true guiding spirit was Charles James Fox; +and a smaller band of the old adherents of Lord Chatham, under Lord +Shelburne. To this party Pitt, as a matter of course, attached himself. His +first speech was made on February 26, in support of Burke's bill for +economical reform. He completely fulfilled the high expectations that had +been formed of the son of so illustrious a father. Not only did he please, +it may be said that he astonished the House.</p> + +<p>Two speeches later in the session confirmed the distinction of the young +orator. In 1782, after a long series of Opposition attacks, Lord North +resigned; but in the new arrangements Pitt was not included. He had +determined that he would serve his sovereign as a cabinet minister, or not +at all. For a time he devoted his efforts, without success, to the reform +of the representation of the House of Commons. But in July 1782 Lord +Rockingham died; there was a cabinet split, due to a quarrel between Fox +and Shelburne; the latter became First Lord of the Treasury, and Pitt, at +the age of twenty-three, was offered and accepted the post of Chancellor of +the Exchequer.</p> + +<p>The newly-formed ministry was soon exposed to hot attacks by the +coalition of the parties of Fox and North, and Pitt, in attacking this +"baneful alliance," made one of the greatest speeches of his career. But +the ministry was defeated; Lord Shelburne resigned; and the king, advised +by Shelburne, invited Pitt to become Prime Minister. After anxious +consideration he refused.</p> + +<p>The Fox and North coalition now assumed office. This union of extremes +was unpopular in the country, although powerful in parliamentary strength. +Pitt tried once more to pass a measure of parliamentary reform; and during +the recess he paid a visit to France--the one foreign journey of his +life.</p> + +<p>When parliament resumed its sittings, in the autumn of 1783, Fox's India +Bill was passed by the Commons, but rejected by the Lords. The king, who +was vehemently opposed to the bill, demanded the resignation of Fox and +North, and on December 19 invited Pitt, now aged twenty-four, to become +Prime Minister. This time the invitation was not refused.</p> + +<p>Pitt had great difficulty in forming a cabinet, and was the only cabinet +minister in the Commons. His main support in that house was Henry Dundas, +treasurer of the navy--his life-long friend. On facing parliament at the +opening of 1784, Pitt's purpose was to delay a dissolution until the +coalition's unpopularity in the country had reached its height, and with +this end he patiently endured defeat after defeat. In March he deemed that +the right moment had come, and his judgement was rewarded at the General +Election by a triumphant majority.</p> + +<p>Pitt was Chancellor of the Exchequer as well as First Lord of the +Treasury, and during the years of peace that followed, his successes were +largely financial. He established a series of financial reforms that not +only increased the favour in which his ministry was held, but undoubtedly +enabled the country to bear the terrible strain that was afterwards to be +placed upon it. In his attempt to adjust commercial relations with Ireland +he was less successful; he was obliged, besides, to abandon his schemes of +parliamentary reform, and his exertions, in concert with his friend +Wilberforce, to destroy the slave traffic ended in disappointment--even +although in this he had the hearty support of his rival, Fox.</p> + +<p>Young as he was, and victorious as he had become, he was never tempted +to presume upon his genius, or relax in his application. He allowed himself +but little holiday. He spent a good deal of such time as he could spare at +Holwood, a property he had bought near Bromley; and occasional visits to +Brighton, and to his mother's residence at Burton Pynsent, in +Somersetshire, made up the greater part of his travels.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--The Regency Problem</i></h3> + + +<p>Not only had Pitt's administration rehabilitated English finances; it +had gained for England a strong measure of European support. In 1788 there +was concluded what was virtually a triple defensive alliance with Prussia +and Holland; and with France herself, should she be willing to remain at +peace, there was a treaty of commerce to engage her in more friendly +relations.</p> + +<p>But towards the end of the year Pitt was confronted with what seemed a +certainty of loss of office. King George III., after a long period of ill +health, was found to be definitely suffering from mental alienation. A +regency became necessary, and the person clearly marked out for the office +was the Prince of Wales. But the prince was the political associate of Fox, +and there was no doubt that his first step on accession to power would be +the dismissal of Pitt.</p> + +<p>Pitt saw the prospect before him, and did not attempt to shirk it. But +he did propose certain restrictions on the regency in order that the king, +should he recover his reason, might without difficulty resume his +power.</p> + +<p>When parliament assembled in December, Fox declared boldly that the +prince had as much right to assume sovereignty during the king's incapacity +as he would have in the event of the king's death. Pitt, exulting in his +rival's indiscreet departure from Whig principles, retorted that the +assertion of such a right, independent of the decision of the two houses, +was little less than treason to the constitution. Fox's attitude was +unpopular, and Pitt's resolutions, and the Regency Bill that followed, were +carried through the Commons.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of February, the third reading of the Regency Bill was +impending in the Lords. Pitt had proposed that the difficulty about +procuring the royal assent to the measure should be overcome by empowering +the chancellor by a joint vote of both houses to put the Great Seal to a +commission for giving the assent. But this expedient was unnecessary. By +February 22 the king was completely recovered. The Regency Bill fell to the +ground, and all the hopes which the Opposition had reared upon it.</p> + +<p>The day of thanksgiving for the king's recovery is regarded by Lord +Macaulay as the zenith in Pitt's political life. "To such a height of power +and glory," he says, "had this extraordinary man risen at twenty-nine years +of age. And now," he adds, perhaps less justly, "the tide was on the +turn."</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--The Struggle with France</i></h3> + + +<p>Pitt was able to declare, in the session that preceded the dissolution +of 1790, that "we are adding daily to our strength, wealth, and +prosperity," and, as a result of the elections, his parliamentary majority +was more than confirmed.</p> + +<p>But symptoms of the coming stress were already manifest. The minister +was anxiously watching the course of the revolution in France; and, while +far from sharing the enthusiasm of Fox for the new principles, he did not +endorse the fierce hostility of Burke.</p> + +<p>"I cannot regard with envious eyes," he said, "any approximation in +neighbouring states to those sentiments which are the characteristics of +every British subject."</p> + +<p>But the development of events soon made it clear that the new France had +become a danger to the peace of Europe. As long as possible Pitt avoided +war, which was ultimately forced upon him in 1793 by France's attack upon +Holland, to which we were bound by treaty obligations.</p> + +<p>From that time, until the peace in 1802, English naval enterprises were +generally successful, and English military enterprises generally failed. +Pitt has often been blamed for the faults of his country's generals; but it +is assuredly true that he did all that a civilian could do to secure +success in the field.</p> + +<p>The heavy cost of the war, increased as it was by the subsidies paid to +Austria, and afterwards to Russia, compelled an entire departure from +Pitt's old financial methods. Each year brought an increase of taxation and +an increase of debt; and at the beginning of 1797 the directors of the Bank +of England, in dire perplexity, told Pitt that the state, for all his +expedients, was threatened with insolvency. Pitt did not falter. An order +in council was issued, suspending cash payments at the bank. Thus was +established a gigantic system of paper credit, giving us power to cope with +no less gigantic foes. Cash payments were not resumed until 1819.</p> + +<p>Pitt had not only to cope with enemies without, but with sedition +within. Societies formed for propagating the principles of the revolution +advocated the subversion of the constitution under the pretence of +parliamentary reform; the populace, angered by the privations caused by the +clearness of food, listened readily to the agitators; riots were frequent, +but the most mischievous form taken by sedition was that of armed +conspiracy. Against these evils Pitt contended by royal proclamations, +prosecutions, and, above all, by the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. +In his firm suppression of disorder Pitt was loyally supported by large +majorities in both houses, and the country generally was on his side. But +his domestic policy, his foreign policy, and his finance were unsparingly +attacked by Fox and a small band of devoted followers--followers who did +not abate in their resolution when their leader, weary of the unequal +conflict, retired for a time from public life.</p> + +<p>In the busy and anxious year 1796, there was a report that Pitt was on +the point of marriage. During his short intervals of leisure at Holwood, he +often visited his neighbour, Lord Auckland, at Beckenham, and was much +attracted by Lord Auckland's eldest daughter, the Hon. Eleanor Eden. This +strong attachment did not proceed to a proposal and a marriage. Pitt wrote +to Lord Auckland avowing his affection, but explaining that in the +circumstances of pecuniary difficulty in which he was involved, he would +not presume to make the lady an offer. Lord Auckland acknowledged the +explanation as adequate, and thus honourably ended the only "love-passage" +in the life of Pitt.</p> + +<p>Considering that Pitt's income as minister was £6,000 a year, and +that he derived an additional £3,000 a year from the Lord Wardenship +of the Cinque Ports, his pecuniary troubles may seem hard to explain. He +had no family, and no expensive tastes. But he was so intent upon the +national exchequer that he neglected his private accounts, with the +consequence that he was plundered by his domestics. His expenses were not +checked, and his debts continued to grow.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Resignation</i></h3> + + +<p>In the year 1800 Pitt was able to achieve a momentous change in the +affairs of Ireland. The chronic discontent of that country, largely due to +the resentment of the Catholics at their exclusion from the rights of +citizenship, had been fanned by the importation of revolutionary ideas; and +there were hopes, once or twice on the point of realisation, of a French +invasion of the island. In 1798 a rebellion broke out, but was suppressed +with promptness, and, it must be added, in many instances with cruelty. But +to Pitt the suppression of the insurrection was only the first part of his +duty. He thought that to revert to the old system would be a most shallow +policy. A new, and comprehensive, and healing method must be tried--an Act +of Union, which should raise the minds of Irishmen from local to imperial +aims--which should blend the two legislatures, and, if possible, also the +two nations, in one.</p> + +<p>In 1800 the project was fulfilled--not without fierce resistance in the +Irish Parliament, and not without a certain distribution of favours to +those for whose support the government was anxious; although the +allegations made on this subject seem to be exaggerated. Having +accomplished the union, Pitt laid plans for a further reform which led, +early in the following year, to his retirement from office.</p> + +<p>He proposed the emancipation of the Catholics by the substitution of a +political for the religious test of fitness for citizenship. Although the +Anglican bishops and clergy and many laymen were strongly opposed to +Catholic emancipation, Pitt would probably have been able to carry his +scheme had it not been for royal antagonism. The king believed, erroneously +but passionately, that by consenting to such a measure he would violate his +coronation oath.</p> + +<p>His majesty expressed his opinions on the subject so publicly and so +vehemently that on January 31, 1801, Pitt felt compelled to ask leave to +resign unless he were allowed to pursue his course on the Catholic +question. The king required the abandonment of the scheme, and on February +3 Pitt resigned office. Thus abruptly ended his renowned administration of +more than seventeen years.</p> + +<p>The new Prime Minister was Mr. Addington, formerly Speaker of the +Commons. Several of Pitt's colleagues remained in the ministry, although +others withdrew from it; and Pitt himself gave general support to the +government--support which was offered with especial warmth, and possessed +especial value, during the hotly criticised peace negotiations with the +First Consul Bonaparte in 1801 and 1802. Although Pitt had been obliged +when in office to refuse several inadequate offers of peace, he had always +been prepared to end the war under honourable conditions. The distinction +of ending the war did not fall to his share; but his services were not +forgotten. On May 7, 1802, the House of Commons carried by overwhelming +numbers a motion, "That the Right Hon. William Pitt has rendered great and +important services to his country, and especially deserves the gratitude of +this house." And on May 28, 1802, Pitt's birthday, more than 800 persons +assembled at a memorable banquet in honour of "the pilot that weathered the +storm."</p> + +<p>Until the renewal of war in 1803 Pitt took little-part in public +affairs. Most of his time was spent at Walmer Castle, with occasional +visits to Bath for the sake of his health, which had been uncertain since +an attack of serious illness in 1797. He remained in constant communication +with his political friends, and sometimes during the earlier part of his +retirement aided the ministry with his advice. But with the progress of +time he found himself less and less able to support Addington and his +colleagues.</p> + +<p>In May 1803 the uneasy peace came to an end. The constant aggressions of +Bonaparte and his dominating tone made friendly relations impossible. There +was a widespread feeling in the country that now that the storm had +recommenced the old pilot should be called to the helm. Pitt returned to +the Commons after the declaration of war, and forcibly criticised some of +the financial and defensive measures of the ministry.</p> + +<p>In 1804 the ministry showed itself wholly unequal to the strain upon it; +and the situation was complicated by a temporary return of the king's +malady. Pitt not only renewed his opposition to Addington, but made it +plain that he was prepared to take part in a strong and comprehensive +administration, including even Fox, that should be formed to rescue the +crown and country from the dangers to which they were exposed under the +Addington ministry.</p> + +<p>A series of combined attacks was directed against the government during +the month of April. Although Addington was not defeated in the Commons, he +saw his majority steadily diminish; and on April 26 he resolved to resign. +On the 30th, the Lord Chancellor intimated to Pitt his majesty's desire to +receive the plan of a new administration.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--The Last Ministry</i></h3> + + +<p>The king's opposition made the inclusion of Fox in the new ministry +impossible. His hostility to Fox, however, was not simply on political +grounds; he believed him to be responsible for the excesses of the Prince +of Wales. Pitt was in consequence obliged to be content with a restricted +choice of ministers, and had to face a powerful opposition in parliament. +Addington was persuaded to join the ministry early in 1805.</p> + +<p>During the summer of 1804 Bonaparte and his host lay menacingly at +Boulogne, awaiting that command of the channel "for six hours," which the +great warrior recognised as essential to his plans. Meanwhile, Pitt +laboured to form another coalition, and, at the cost of heavy subsidies, +was successful. Russia, Austria, and Sweden joined in the league against +Napoleon; Prussia still hesitated.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1805 Napoleon was again at Boulogne, but his plan of +invasion was wrecked by the failure of the French fleet to reach the +Channel. When Napoleon learned that the fleet had gone south, and that the +attack upon England had been thwarted, he straightway marched his army to +mid-Europe. Pitt had staked everything on the new coalition, and the +surrender of the Austrians at Ulm was news of the utmost bitterness to him. +But a splendid corrective came soon afterwards in the crowning naval +victory of Trafalgar. Although the nation's feelings were divided between +joy at the triumph and grief at the death of the illustrious victor, Pitt's +popularity, which had been somewhat uncertain, was enormously enhanced by +the event. The Lord Mayor proposed his health as "the saviour of +Europe."</p> + +<p>Pitt's reply was nearly as follows: "I return you many thanks for the +honour you have done me, but Europe is not to be saved by any single man. +England has saved herself by her exertions, and will, I trust, save Europe +by her example." With only these two sentences the minister sat down. They +were the last words that Pitt ever spoke in public.</p> + +<p>He was suffering much at this time from gout, and his general health was +undermined by anxiety. In December he journeyed to Bath, and at Bath there +reached him the news of the destruction of his coalition at Austerlitz. The +battle was the cause of his death. He was struck down by a severe internal +malady and he was in a state of extreme debility when on January 11, 1806, +he returned home to the house he had taken on Putney Heath. It is said that +as he passed along to his bedroom, he observed a map of Europe hanging on +the wall, upon which he turned to his niece and mournfully said: "Roll up +that map. It will not be wanted these ten years."</p> + +<p>For a few days the doctors had hopes that he might recover, but on the +22nd it became evident that he could not live for twenty-four hours. Early +in the morning of the 23rd he died.</p> + +<p>"At about half-past two," wrote the Hon. James Hamilton Stanhope, who +was at his bedside, "Mr. Pitt ceased moaning, and did not make the +slightest sound for some time. Shortly afterwards, in a tone I never shall +forget, he exclaimed: 'Oh, my country! How I love my country!' From that +time he never spoke or moved, and at half-past four expired without a groan +or struggle. His strength being quite exhausted, his life departed like a +candle burning out."</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="ARTHUR_PENRHYN_STANLEY"></a>ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY</h1> + + +<h2><a name="The_Life_of_Thomas_Arnold_DD"></a>The Life of Thomas Arnold, +D.D.</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Arthur Penrhyn Stanley was born at Alderley Rectory, +Cheshire, on December 13, 1815. He was educated at Rugby under Arnold, and +at Oxford, where Tait, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, was his tutor. +Entering holy orders, he was appointed select preacher in 1845; became +Canon of Canterbury in 1851; and in 1863 succeeded Trench as Dean of +Westminster. He died on July 18, 1881, and by Queen Victoria's commands his +remains were laid beside those of his wife, Lady Augusta Bruce, in Henry +VII.'s Chapel, Westminster. Of all his works, perhaps his most important +contribution to English literature is the "Life of Arnold," which was +published two years after the death of the famous master of Rugby. To the +task of writing the book Stanley devoted all his energies, steering clear, +however, of any attempt to form an opinion of his own upon Arnold's life +and character, while achieving a result that not only assured his own +position at Oxford, but brought him well into the front rank of +contemporary writers. The religious animosity at Oxford was uncongenial to +Stanley, and it was only the prospect of Dr. Arnold occupying the Chair of +Modern History that reconciled him to his surroundings. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Youth and Early Manhood</i></h3> + + +<p>Thomas Arnold, seventh child and youngest son of William and Martha +Arnold, was born June 13, 1795, at East Cowes, Isle of Wight, where his +father was collector of customs. His early education was undertaken by a +sister; and in 1803 he was sent to Warminister School, in Wiltshire. In +1807 he went to Winchester, where, having entered as a commoner and +afterwards become a scholar of the college, he remained till 1811. In after +life he always cherished a strong Wykehamist feeling, and, during his +headmastership at Rugby, often recurred to his knowledge there first +acquired, of the peculiar constitution of a public school.</p> + +<p>He was then, as always, of a shy and retiring disposition; but his +manner as a child, and till his entrance at Oxford, was marked by a +stiffness and formality, the very reverse of the joyousness and simplicity +of his later years. He was unlike those of his own age, with pursuits +peculiar to himself; and the tone and style of his early letters are such +as might have been produced by living chiefly with his elders, and reading, +or hearing read, books suited to a more advanced age. Both as boy and young +man he was remarkable for a difficulty in early rising amounting almost to +a constitutional infirmity; and though in after life this was overcome by +habit, he often said that early rising was a daily effort to him.</p> + +<p>The beginning of some of his later interests may be traced in his +earlier amusements and occupations. He never lost the recollection of the +impression produced upon him by the excitement of naval and military +affairs, of which he naturally saw and heard much by living at Cowes in the +time of the Napoleonic war; and with his playmates he would sail rival toy +fleets or act the battles of the Homeric heroes with improvised spears and +shields. He was extremely fond of ballad poetry, and his earliest +compositions all ran in that direction. At Winchester he was noted for his +forwardness in history and geography; and there also he gave indications of +that mnemonic faculty which in later years showed itself in minute details, +extending to the exact state of the weather on particular days, or the +exact words or passages he had not seen for twenty years. The period of his +home and school education was too short to exercise much influence on his +after life, but he always looked back upon it with tenderness.</p> + +<p>In 1811 he was elected a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford; in +1814 he took a first class in classics; in 1815 he was made a Fellow of +Oriel; and he gained the Chancellor's prizes for the Latin and English +essays in 1815 and 1817. During his later time at Oxford he took private +pupils and read extensively in the libraries. Meanwhile, he had been led +gradually to fix on his future life course. In December, 1818, he was +ordained deacon and next year settled at Laleham, where, in August, 1820, +he married Mary Penrose, daughter of the rector of Fledborough, Notts.</p> + +<p>At Laleham he remained for nine years, coaching private pupils for the +universities. Here were born six of his nine children; the youngest three, +besides one who died in infancy, were born at Rugby. During this period an +essential change and growth of Arnold's character became manifest. The warm +feelings of his youth gave place to the fixed earnestness and devotion +which henceforth took possession of him. His former indolent habits, his +morbid restlessness and occasional weariness of duty, indulgence of vague +schemes without definite purpose, intellectual doubts as to accepted +religious beliefs--all seem to have vanished for ever.</p> + +<p>It was now that the religious aspect of his character came to be +emphasised. In common acts of life, public and private, the depths of his +religious convictions very visibly appeared. And while it is impossible to +understand his religious belief except through the knowledge of his life +and writings on ordinary subjects, it is impossible on the other hand, to +understand his life and writings without bearing in mind how vivid was his +realisation of those truths of religion on which he most habitually dwelt. +It was this which enabled him to undertake labours which, without such a +power, must have crushed or enfeebled the spiritual growth which in him +they seemed only to foster. His letters at this time show better than +anything else how he was, though unconsciously to himself, maturing for the +arduous duties he afterwards undertook. It was now, too, that he first +became acquainted with Niebuhr's "History of Rome," which revolutionised +his views of history, and, later, served as a model for his own "History of +Rome."</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Headmaster of Rugby</i></h3> + + +<p>Arnold was not without his visions of ambition and extensive influence +from the first, but he liked Laleham, and always looked back with fond +regret to his time there. "I have always thought," he wrote in 1823, "with +regard to ambition, that I should like to be <i>aut Caesar aut nullus;</i> +and as it is pretty well settled for me that I shall not be Caesar, I am +quite content to live in peace as <i>nullus</i>." But the fates had ordered +it otherwise. Friends had long been urging him to seek a larger sphere of +usefulness; and when, in August, 1827, the headmastership of Rugby became +vacant, he applied for the post.</p> + +<p>He had himself little hope of success. The testimonials he sent in were +few, but all spoke strongly of his qualifications. Among them was a letter +from Dr. Hawkins, the future Provost of Oriel, in which the prediction was +made that if Arnold were elected he would change the face of education +throughout the public schools of England. The impression produced upon the +trustees by this letter and by the other testimonials was such that Arnold +was immediately appointed. In June, 1828, he received priest's orders; in +April and November of the same year took his degrees of B.D. and D.D., and +in August entered on his new office.</p> + +<p>The post was in many respects suited to his natural tastes--to his love +of tuition, which had now grown so strongly upon him that he declared +sometimes that he could hardly live without such employment; to the vigour +and spirits which fitted him rather to deal with the young than the old; to +the desire of carrying out his favourite ideas of uniting things secular +with things spiritual, and of introducing the highest principles of action +into regions comparatively uncongenial to their reception. He had not, +however, accepted it without grave doubts about his fitness. In a private +letter he says:</p> + +<blockquote><p> I confess that I should very much object to undertake a +charge in which I was not invested with pretty full discretion. According +to my notions of what large schools are, founded on all I know and all I +have ever heard of them, expulsion should be practised much oftener than it +is. Now, I know that trustees, in general, are averse to this plan, because +it has a tendency to lessen the numbers of the school, and they regard +quantity more than quality. In fact, my opinions on this point might, +perhaps, generally be considered as disqualifying me for the situation of +master of a great school; yet I could not consent to tolerate much that I +know is tolerated generally, and, therefore, I should not like to enter on +an office which I could not discharge according to my own views of what is +right. </p></blockquote> + +<p>At Rugby, Arnold from the first maintained that in the actual working of +the school he must be completely independent, and that the remedy of the +trustees, if they were dissatisfied, was not interference, but dismissal. +It was on this condition that he took the post; and any attempt to control +either the administration of the school or his own private occupations he +felt bound to resist as a duty not only to himself but the master of every +foundation school in England. The remonstrances which he encountered, +particularly from his fixed determination always to get rid of unpromising +subjects, were vehement and numerous; but he repeatedly declared that on no +other conditions could he hold his appointment, or justify the existence of +the public school system in a Christian country.</p> + +<p>"My object," he wrote, just before taking up duty, "will be, if +possible, to form Christian men, for Christian boys I can scarcely hope to +make; I mean that, from the natural imperfect state of boyhood, they are +not susceptible of Christian principles in their full development upon +their practice, and I suspect that a low standard of morals in many +respects must be tolerated amongst them, as it was on a larger scale in +what I consider the boyhood of the human race."</p> + +<p>This is the keynote of his whole system. As he put it, what he looked +for in the school was, first, religious and moral principles; second, +gentlemanly conduct; and third, intellectual ability. Intellectual training +was never for a moment underrated, but he always thought first of his +charges as schoolboys who must grow up to be Christian men. His education, +in short, "was not based upon religion, but was itself <i>religious</i>." +For cleverness as such, Arnold had no regard. "Mere intellectual +acuteness," he used to say, "divested as it is, in too many cases, of all +that is comprehensive and great and good, is to me more revolting than the +most helpless imbecility, seeming to be almost like the spirit of +Mephistopheles." Often when this intellectual cleverness was seen in union +with moral depravity, he would be inclined to deny its existence +altogether.</p> + +<p>A mere plodding boy was, above all others, encouraged by him. At Laleham +he had once got out of patience, and spoken sharply to a pupil of this +kind, when the pupil looked up in his face and said, "Why do you speak +angrily, sir? Indeed, I am doing the best that I can." Years afterwards he +used to tell the story to his children, and said, "I never felt so much +ashamed in my life--that look and that speech I have never forgotten." And +though it would, of course, happen that clever boys, from a greater +sympathy with his understanding, would be brought into closer intercourse +with him, this did not affect his feeling of respect, and even of +reverence, for those who, without ability, were distinguished for high +principle and industry. "If there be one thing on earth which is truly +admirable, it is to see God's wisdom blessing an inferiority of natural +powers where they have been honestly, truly and zealously cultivated."</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--As Teacher and Preacher</i></h3> + + +<p>Arnold had always been painfully impressed by the evils of the public +school system, according to which a number of boys are left to form an +independent society of their own, in which the influence they exert over +each other is far greater than that exerted by the masters. He writes, in +1837:</p> + +<blockquote><p> Of all the painful things connected with my employment, +nothing is equal to the grief of seeing a boy come to school innocent and +promising, and tracing the corruption of his character from the influence +of the temptations around him, in the very place which ought to have +strengthened and improved it. But in most cases those who come with a +character of positive good are benefited; it is the neutral and indecisive +characters which are apt to be decided for evil by schools, as they would +be, in fact, by any other temptation. </p></blockquote> + +<p>This very feeling led him to catch with eagerness at every means by +which the trial might be shortened or alleviated. He believed that the +change from childhood to manhood might be hastened without prematurely +exhausting the faculties of body and mind; and it was on this principle +that he chiefly acted. He desired the boys to cultivate true manliness as +the only step to something higher. He treated them as gentlemen, and +appealed and trusted to their common sense and conscience.</p> + +<p>Lying to the masters he made a grave offence. He placed implicit +confidence in a boy's assertion, and then, if a falsehood were discovered, +punished it severely. In the higher forms any attempt at further proof of +an assertion was immediately checked. "If you say so, that is quite enough; +of course, I believe your word"; and there grew up in consequence a general +feeling that "it was a shame to tell Arnold a lie: he always believed you." +Few scenes can be recorded more characteristic of him than when, in +consequence of a disturbance, he had been obliged to send away several +boys, and when, in the midst of the general spirit of discontent which this +excited, he stood in his place before the assembled school and said, "It is +<i>not</i> necessary that this should be a school of three hundred, or one +hundred, or of fifty boys; but it is necessary that it should be a school +of Christian gentlemen."</p> + +<p>Arnold's method of teaching was founded on the principle of awakening +the intellect of every individual boy. Hence it was his practice to teach +by questioning. As a general rule, he never gave information, except as a +kind of reward for an answer, and often withheld it altogether, or checked +himself in the very act of uttering it, from a sense that those whom he was +addressing had not sufficient interest or sympathy to receive it. His +explanations were at short as possible--enough to dispose of the difficulty +and no more; and his questions were of a kind to call the attention of the +boys to the real point of every subject and to disclose to them the exact +boundaries of what they knew or did not know. With regard to the younger +boys, he said: "It is a great mistake to think that they should +<i>understand</i> all they learn; for God has ordered that in youth the +memory should act vigorously, independent of the understanding--whereas a +man cannot usually recollect a thing unless he understands it."</p> + +<p>At Rugby he made it an essential part of the headmaster's office to +preach a sermon every Sunday in the school chapel. "The veriest stranger," +he said, "who ever attends service in this chapel does well to feel +something more than common interest in the sight of the congregation here +assembled. But if the sight so interests a mere stranger, what should it be +to ourselves, both to you and to me?" More than either matter or manner of +his preaching was the impression of himself. Even the mere readers of his +sermons will derive from them the history of his whole mind, and of his +whole management of the school. But to his hearers it was more than this. +It was the man himself, there more than in any other place, concentrating +all his various faculties and feelings on one sole object, combating face +to face the evil which, directly or indirectly, he was elsewhere +perpetually struggling.</p> + +<p>His personal interest in the boys was always strong. "Do you see," he on +one occasion said to an assistant-master who had recently come, "those two +boys walking together? I never saw them together before; you should make an +especial point of observing the company they keep; nothing so tells the +changes in a boy's character."</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Influence of the Great Teacher</i></h3> + + +<p>But the impression which Arnold produced upon the boys was derived not +so much from any immediate intercourse or conversation with them as from +the general influence of his whole character, displayed consistently +whenever he appeared before them. This influence, with its consequent +effects, was gradually on the increase during the whole of his stay. From +the earliest period, indeed, the boys were conscious of something unlike +what they had been taught to imagine of a schoolmaster, and by many a +lasting regard was contracted for him. In the higher forms, at least, it +became the fashion, so to speak, to think and talk of him with pride and +affection. As regards the permanent effects of his whole system, it may be +said that not so much among his own pupils, or in the scene of his actual +labours, as in every public school throughout England is to be sought the +chief and enduring monument of Arnold's headmastership at Rugby.</p> + +<p>Of Arnold's general life at Rugby there is no need to say much; for +although the school did not occupy his whole energies, it is almost solely +by his school work that he is remembered. He took a not unimportant part in +the political and theological discussions of his time, and various literary +enterprises also engaged his attention. In theology he entertained very +broad views. One great principle he advocated with intense earnestness was +that a Christian people and a Christian Church should be synonymous. That +use of the word "Church" which limits it to the clergy, or which implies in +the clergy any particular sacredness, he entirely repudiated.</p> + +<p>He was convinced that the founders of our constitution in Church and +State did truly consider them to be identical; the Christian nation of +England to be the Church of England; the head of that nation to be, for +that very reason, the head of the Church. This view placed him in +antagonism to the High Church party; but, as a matter of fact, he neither +belonged, nor felt himself to belong, to any section of the English clergy. +Politically, he held himself to be a strong Whig; but that he was not, in +the common sense of the word, a member of any party is shown by the +readiness with which all parties alike, according to the fashion of the +time, claimed or renounced him as an associate.</p> + +<p>Arnold did not like the flat scenery of Warwickshire He described +himself as "in it like a plant sunk in the ground in a pot." His holidays +were always spent away from Rugby, either on the Continent, or, in later +years, at his Westmoreland home, Fox How, a small estate between Rydal and +Ambleside, which he purchased in 1832. He was just about to leave Rugby for +Fox How when his life was mournfully and suddenly ended by an attack of +angina pectoris, on June 12, 1842. Only the year before he had been +appointed by Lord Melbourne Regius Professor of Modern History at +Oxford.</p> + +<p>Arnold's principal works are six volumes of sermons, a three-volume +edition of Thucydides, the Oxford "Lectures on Modern History," and the +three-volume "History of Rome," which, by his unfortunate death, was broken +off at the Second Punic War. To the last-named he looked as the chief +monument of his historical fame.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="AGNES_STRICKLAND"></a>AGNES STRICKLAND</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Life_of_Queen_Elizabeth"></a>Life of Queen Elizabeth</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Agnes Strickland, born in London on August 19, 1796, with +her sister Elizabeth began in 1840 the publication of the immense series of +historical biographies of which the "Lives of the Queens of England" formed +the first and most important group. In that group the "Elizabeth" is +recognised as holding the highest rank. It is an essentially feminine study +of one of the most remarkable of women; not a history, for historical +events are treated as of infinitely less importance than picturesque +personal details and miscellaneous gossip, but presenting altogether an +admirable picture of the outward seeming of those spacious days, and a +discriminating and judicious portrait of the maiden queen herself. The +author's views, however, would not always be endorsed by a masculine +critic. Agnes Strickland died on July 13, 1874. The literature relating to +the life and times of Queen Elizabeth would form a library of contemporary +records. Many volumes of state papers have been published: Camden's "Annals +of Elizabeth" is the classical account of her. Creighton's "Queen +Elizabeth" and volumes VII. to XII. of Froude's "History of England" are +the leading modern works; and no one who wishes to know anything of the +great queen can afford to neglect Hume's "Courtships of Queen Elizabeth," +which will also be found in these pages (see Hume). </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--The Lady Elizabeth</i></h3> + + +<p>Queen Elizabeth first saw the light at Greenwich Palace, where, says +Heywood, "she was born on the eve of the Virgin's nativity, and died on the +eve of the Virgin's annunciation." The christening ceremony was gorgeous +and elaborate, but, with the downfall of her mother, Anne Boleyn, she +ceased to be treated as a princess. She seems to have owed much to the +judicious training of Lady Margaret Bryan, in whose charge she was. Later, +she was associated with Prince Edward, four years her junior; both +displayed an extraordinary precocity and capacity for learning.</p> + +<p>On Henry's death, she resided with his widow, Catharine Parr, who +married the Lord Admiral, Thomas Seymour. That ambitious nobleman, brother +of the Protector, certainly designed, when Catharine died, to marry +Elizabeth; an intention which was among the causes of his execution under +attainder. His relations with her had already been unduly familiar, but +there was no warrant for the scandalous stories that were repeated; and +although Elizabeth all her life was naturally disposed to an excessive +freedom of manners, she now became a pattern of decorum. But she was +probably more in love with Seymour, as a girl of fifteen, than with anyone +else in after life; though, on his death, she called him "a man of much wit +and very little judgement."</p> + +<p>Ascham is full of praises of her learning and her wide reading, both in +Greek and Latin, which is displayed somewhat pedantically in her letters; +her propriety and simplicity of apparel in these days is in curious +contrast to the extravagances of her wardrobe in later life.</p> + +<p>Mary treated her conspicuously as a sister; she refused, however, to +abjure her Protestantism. Her position became extremely difficult, as the +French, the Spaniards, and the Protestant party each sought to involve her +in plots for their own ends. These culminated in Wyat's rebellion. The +inevitable suspicions attaching to her caused her to be lodged in the +Tower; but, in spite of the machinations of the Spanish party and the +distrust of Mary, the evidence produced failed to warrant her +condemnation.</p> + +<p>Yet she was kept in rigorous confinement, her life continuing to be in +danger for a month after Wyat himself had been executed. She was then +removed to Richmond, but refused to purchase liberty at the price of +marriage to a foreign prince, Philibert of Savoy--a scheme intended as a +cover for Mary's determination to marry Philip, the Prince of Spain. +Finally, she was transferred to Woodstock, where she was held a close +prisoner.</p> + +<p>Policy now led her to profess acceptance of the Roman religion, but in +very ambiguous fashion. Probably it was through the intercession of +Philip--now her brother-in-law, whose policy at this time was to conciliate +the English people--that she was set at liberty and readmitted to court at +Christmas.</p> + +<p>At the end of the next year Elizabeth was at Hatfield, under the gentle +surveillance of Sir Thomas Pope. She continued to be involved in grave +dangers by perpetual plots, in which she was far too shrewd to let herself +be implicated; and she guarded herself by a continued profession of +Romanism to the hour of her accession on her sister's death.</p> + +<p>As the hour of Mary's death approached, there was no doubt of +Elizabeth's succession, though there was alarm as to possible +complications. On November 17, 1558, the Chancellor announced to Parliament +that Mary was dead, and Elizabeth queen. She held her first council at +Hatfield two days later, when William Cecil took his place as her chief +counsellor; on her entry into London, the position which was to be occupied +by Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, was already +conspicuous.</p> + +<p>The coronation, which took place in January, was a magnificent pageant, +in which Elizabeth openly courted the favour and affection of her subjects; +and it became at once apparent that the breach with Rome was reopened. The +supremacy of the crown was reasserted, the all but empty bench of bishops +was filled up with reformers; and, in answer to the Commons, Elizabeth very +clearly implied her intention of reigning a virgin queen. She had already +declined Philip of Spain's offer of his widowed hand; and now the fact that +Mary Stuart stood next in the succession--with a better title than +Elizabeth's own, if her legitimacy were challenged--became of immense +importance.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, an express declaration of her legitimate right to the +throne was procured from Parliament. For some time pageants and popular +displays were the order of the day. But, in spite of Elizabeth's own +declarations, all her council were convinced that the safety of the realm +demanded her marriage; and suitors began to abound. Arran appears--who now +stood very near the throne of Scotland. Pickering, Arundel, Dudley, all +seemed possible aspirants. The Austrian Archduke Charles, cousin of Philip +of Spain, and Eric of Norway, were candidates. She played with them all, +and the play was made more grim by the tragic death of Dudley's wife, Amy +Robsart.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Mary Stuart and Saint Bartholomew</i></h3> + + +<p>The proposals for Elizabeth's own hand were now diversified by her +interest in those for the hand of the Queen of Scots; for it was of immense +importance to the Queen of England that Mary should not wed a foreign +prince who might support her claim to the English throne. Mary professed +willingness to be guided by her "sister," but was insulted by Elizabeth's +offer of her own favourite, Dudley, who was made Earl of Leicester. +Melville, the courtly Scots ambassador, had much ado to answer Elizabeth's +questions about his mistress's beauty and accomplishments in a manner +agreeable to the English queen. Mary solved her own problem, only to create +a new one, by marrying her cousin, Lord Darnley. Elizabeth was bitterly +aggrieved when a son--afterwards James I.--was born to them. She herself +continued to agitate Cecil and the council by the favours she lavished on +Leicester. But the renewed entreaties of Parliament, that steps might be +taken to secure the succession, led to what threatened to be a serious +quarrel.</p> + +<p>Amongst these high matters, the records of her majesty's wardrobe, and +the interests of Cecil in capturing for her service a tailor employed by +Catherine de Medici, form an entertaining interlude. But tragedy was at +hand; the murder of Darnley, Mary's marriage to the murderer Bothwell, her +imprisonment at Loch Leven, Elizabeth's perturbation--for she was sincere +in her fear of encouraging subjects to control monarchs by force of +arms--was diversified by a last negotiation for her marriage with the +Archduke Charles, which broke down over his refusal to abjure his +religion.</p> + +<p>Then came a turn of the wheel; Mary escaped from Loch Leven, her +followers were dispersed at Langside, and she fled across the Solway to +throw herself on Elizabeth's protection and find herself Elizabeth's +prisoner.</p> + +<p>The Scottish queen was consigned to Bolton; an investigation was held at +York, when Mary's accusers were allowed to produce, and Mary's friends were +not allowed to test, their evidence of her complicity in Darnley's murder. +At that stage the investigations were stopped; but the Duke of Norfolk, the +head of the commission, was not deterred from pressing the design of +marrying Mary himself. Mary was placed in the charge of Shrewsbury and his +termagant spouse, Bess of Hardwick.</p> + +<p>From this time for fifteen years, Elizabeth was perpetually playing at +proposals for her own marriage with one or other of the French King's +brothers, to keep the French court from a <i>rapprochement</i> with Spain. +Suspicions of Norfolk's intentions led to his arrest, and this precipitated +the rising in favour of Mary under the Catholic northern earls of +Northumberland and Westmoreland; an insurrection promptly and cruelly +crushed. In the spring of 1570 the Pope issued a bull of deposition; and +the plots on behalf of Mary as Catholic claimant to the throne +thickened.</p> + +<p>In 1571 it appeared that Elizabeth was set on the marriage with Henry of +Anjou, nineteen years her junior, the brother who stood next in succession +to the throne of Charles IX. of France--a marriage not at all approved by +her council, and very little to Henry's own taste. It was at this time that +the conduct of negotiations in Paris was entrusted to Francis +Walsingham.</p> + +<p>The relations between the queen and the Commons were exemplified by her +attempt to exclude an obnoxious member, Strickland, met by the successful +assertion of their privileges on the part of the House.</p> + +<p>In this year the plot known as Ridolfi's was discovered, and it is to be +noted that Elizabeth herself ordered the rack to be used to extort +information. The result was condemnation of Norfolk to the block. The +recalcitrance of Henry of Anjou led to his definitely withdrawing from his +courtship, while the young Alençon became the new subject of +matrimonial negotiation.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth played with the new proposal, as usual, relying always on her +ability to back out of the negotiations, as in previous cases, by demanding +of her suitor a more uncompromising acceptance of Protestantism than could +be admitted. The whole affair, however, was apparently brought to a check +by the massacre of St. Bartholomew, with the perpetration of which it +seemed impossible for the most powerful of Protestant monarchs to associate +herself.</p> + +<p>Cecil--now Lord Burleigh--would have used the occasion for the +destruction of Mary Stuart; but the device for doing so irreproachably by +handing her over to her own rebels, was frustrated--though Elizabeth +concurred--by the refusal of the Scots lords to play the part which was +assigned to them. The Alençon affair was soon in full swing again, +the young prince writing love-letters to the lady whom he had not seen.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--The Hour of Mary's Doom</i></h3> + + +<p>Elizabeth's fondness for pageantry--partly out of a personal delight in +it, partly from a politic appreciation of its value in making her +popular--especially pageantry at some one else's expense, was illustrated +in the gorgeous doings at Kenilworth, depicted (with sundry anachronisms) +in Scott's novel.</p> + +<p>These gaieties were the embroidery on more serious matters, for the +Netherlands had for some time been engaged in their apparently desperate +struggle with the power of Spain, and now actually invited the Queen of +England to assume sovereignty over them--an offer which she was too acute +to accept.</p> + +<p>Yet we cannot pass over a highly characteristic incident. When the +queen's majesty had a bad toothache, the protestations of her whole council +failed to persuade her to face the extraction of the tooth, till the Bishop +of London invited the surgeon to operate first on him in her presence, with +satisfactory results. We must also record how the ugly little +Alençon, or Anjou as he was now called, arrived unexpectedly to woo +her in person, charmed her by his chivalrous audacity in doing so, and won +from her the appropriate name of "Little Frog."</p> + +<p>Whether she really wished to marry her "frog" is extremely doubtful. She +made all the more parade of her desire to do so, since the extreme +antipathy of the council and the nation to the project would secure her a +retreat to the last. The expectation of the marriage caused the +Netherlanders to offer Anjou the sovereignty which she had rejected; with +the idea of thus securing the united support of England and France. But +when matters reached the point of negotiation for an Anglo-French league, +with the marriage as one of the articles, Elizabeth, of course, could not +be brought to a definite answer, and after long delay Anjou found himself +obliged to return to the Netherlands, neither accepted nor rejected. His +subsequent death put an end to this, her last, matrimonial comedy.</p> + +<p>At last an English force was actually sent to help the Netherlanders, +under the command of Leicester. His conduct there led to his recall. +Another favourite stood high in the queen's good graces--Walter Raleigh. +Probably it was with a view to ousting this rival that Leicester brought +his stepson Essex into the queen's notice.</p> + +<p>But now the hour of Mary's doom was approaching. A plot was set on foot +for the assassination of Elizabeth, into which Anthony Babington, whose +name it bears, was drawn. Walsingham, possessed of complete information +from the beginning, through his spies, nursed the plot carefully; letters +from Mary were systematically intercepted and copied till the moment came +for striking; the conspirators were arrested, and suffered the extreme +penalty of the treason laws; and Elizabeth consented to have Mary herself +at last brought to trial. She was refused counsel; the commission condemned +her. Parliament demanded the execution of the death sentence. Elizabeth had +her own misgivings.</p> + +<p>She was afraid of the responsibility. Leicester suggested poison, but +Burleigh and Walsingham stood by the law. A special embassy of remonstrance +came from France; Mary wrote a dignified letter, not an appeal for her +life, which moved the queen to tears; protests from the King of Scotland +only aroused indignation; Elizabeth was frightened by rumours of fresh +plots and of a French invasion.</p> + +<p>At last she signed the death warrant, brought to her by Secretary +Davison; the Chancellor's seal was attached, and the council, fearing some +evasion on Elizabeth's part, issued the commission for Mary's execution +without further reference to the queen; she was kept in ignorance of the +fact till the tragedy was completed. She was furious with the council, but +powerless against their unanimity. She could venture to make a scapegoat of +Davison, and made a vain attempt to clear herself of responsibility in a +letter to James, which failed to soothe the burst of indignation with which +the news was received in Scotland. But the one thing she feared--a +coalition of France, Spain, and Scotland--was made impossible by the +antagonisms of the former and the weakness of the last.</p> + +<p>Another crisis was at hand. Philip of Spain, claiming the throne of +England as a descendant of John of Gaunt, was preparing the great Armada; +Pope Sixtus V. was proclaiming a crusade against the heretic queen. Drake +sailed into Cadiz harbour, and "singed the don's whiskers," but the vast +preparations went on. A lofty spirit animated the queen and the people. +London undertook to provide double the number of ships and men demanded +from her. The militia was gathered at Tilbury, under Leicester. Howard of +Effingham was Lord Admiral, with Drake as vice-admiral; in the enthusiasm +of the moment, Elizabeth bestowed knighthood on a valorous lady, Mary, the +wife of Sir Hugh Cholmondeley.</p> + +<p>A report that the Armada had been destroyed by a gale, which actually +drove it into Corunna for repairs, caused Elizabeth, with her usual +parsimony, to order four great vessels to be dismantled; Howard retained +them instead, at his own charges. On July 19, 1588, the Armada was sighted +off the Lizard, and for eighteen days the naval heroes were grappling with +that "invincible" fleet. Elizabeth herself visited the camp at Tilbury, +rode through the lines, wearing a corselet and a farthingale of amazing +dimensions, while a page bore her helmet, and addressed her soldiers in +stirring words.</p> + +<p>The victory was celebrated by medals bearing the device of a fleet in +full sail, with the words <i>Venit, vidit, fugit</i> ("it came, it saw, it +fled"), and of the dispersal by fireships with the words, <i>Dux femina +facti</i> ("a woman led the movement").</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Elizabeth's Closing Years</i></h3> + + +<p>The defeat of the Armada was followed by an expedition to Lisbon, to +wrest Portugal from Spain; owing to inadequate equipment it failed, after a +promising beginning, the Portuguese lending no help. Essex managed to +escape from court and join the expedition, messengers ordering him to +return being too late. For this he was forgiven; but when he secretly +married the widow of Sidney, and daughter of Walsingham, Elizabeth was +furiously angry.</p> + +<p>Not Essex, but Norris was sent to command a force dispatched to the aid +of Henry of Navarre, who was now fighting for the crown of France. Essex, +however, was subsequently sent, at Henry's own request. His absence was +utilised by Burleigh to secure the advancement of his own astute son, +Robert Cecil, who secured the royal favour by the ingenuity of his +flattery.</p> + +<p>When Essex finally returned from France, he was received with the utmost +favour; but in the interval he had been transformed into an intriguing +politician. Parliament, which had not been called for four years, met in +1593, and there was an immediate collision with the Crown. Elizabeth's tone +was much more despotic than of old. Petitions for the settlement of the +succession were met by the arbitrary imprisonment of Wentworth and other +members.</p> + +<p>Essex favoured the popular party, but had not the courage to head it; he +was moved not by patriotism, but by jealousy of the Cecil ascendancy. The +queen, when she had passed the age of sixty, was as determined as ever to +pose as a youthful beauty, and her courtiers had no reluctance in assuming +the tone of despairing lovers. No one played this part more persistently +than Raleigh, who, when relegated to the Tower for marrying, proclaimed his +misery, not at being separated from his bride, but at being shut out of the +radiant presence of the queen.</p> + +<p>Essex and Raleigh were associated in two expeditions, one directed with +complete success against Cadiz, the other being a complete failure. The +Burleigh faction succeeded in getting for Raleigh whatever credit there was +in both cases, though Essex was better entitled to it.</p> + +<p>But it was Ireland that wrought the ruin of Essex. A dispute in the +council on the subject caused the queen to box the favourite's ears, which +caused him to retire in resentment for many months. Soon after his return +to court, he brought upon himself his own appointment to the +lord-deputyship of Ireland. His conduct there displeased her; from her +scolding letters, he concluded that his enemies in the council were +undermining his position in his absence. He deserted his post, hurried to +London, and burst, travel-stained as he was, into Elizabeth's chamber. For +the moment she appeared disposed to forgive him, but was not long in +deciding that his insolence must be punished, and he was placed in +confinement.</p> + +<p>So he continued for about a year, in spite of appeals to the queen. The +adverse party in the council had the predominance. At last, however, he was +granted a degree of liberty, and Francis Bacon tried to conciliate +Elizabeth towards her former favourite. But the unfortunate man allowed his +resentment to carry him into dangerous courses. His house became a +rendezvous of the discontented. Finally, a futile attempt on his part to +raise the citizens of London in his favour consummated his ruin. He was +soon a prisoner; his condemnation was now a foregone conclusion; Elizabeth +signed the warrant with fingers which did not tremble; and, to the +universal astonishment, the favourite was executed.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth's meeting with her last parliament displays in a marked degree +the tact which never deserted her when she thought fit to employ it. Their +protest against the practice of monopolies, instead of rousing her ire, +brought from her a notably gracious promise to redress the grievances +complained of. This was in 1601. In the next year, when she became +sixty-nine, there was no relaxation in her gaieties; but under the surface, +Elizabeth was old and sad.</p> + +<p>Her popularity had never been the same since the death of Essex; and the +memory of the man she had cherished and finally sent to his doom, +well-deserved as that was, was a perpetual source of grief to her. In March +1603, she was stricken with her last fatal illness. Yet she would not go to +bed. At last she gave in; she knew herself dying long before she admitted +it.</p> + +<p>It was uncertain whether even in her last moments she would acknowledge +the right of any successor to her throne, but a gesture was interpreted as +favouring the King of Scots. Finally, she sank into a sleep from which she +never awoke. So passed away England's Elizabeth.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JONATHAN_SWIFT"></a>JONATHAN SWIFT</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Journal_to_Stella"></a>Journal to Stella</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> The "Journal to Stella," which extends over the years 1710 +to 1713, was first published in 1766 and has often been republished since. +The manuscripts are preserved in the British Museum. It was at Sir William +Temple's home, Moor Park in Surrey, that Swift came to know Esther Johnson, +or "Stella," who was fourteen years younger than himself. In 1699 Temple +died, and Stella, with her friend, Rebecca Dingley, came to Ireland at +Swift's request. Their relation has been made a great mystery. It will +perhaps always be doubtful whether he was nominally married to her +secretly; the evidence is on the whole against the existence of such a +bond. But to the further question--why did he not take her to live as his +wife--a sufficient reply may be found in his abnormal nature. In the +"Journal" the word "Presto" refers to Swift himself (see FICTION); "MD" to +Stella. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3>LONDON, Sept. 9, 1710.</h3> + + +<p>I got here last Thursday, after five days' travelling, weary the first, +almost dead the second, tolerable the third, and well enough the rest; and +am now glad of the fatigue, which has served for exercise; and I am at +present well enough. The Whigs were ravished to see me, and would lay hold +on me as a twig while they are drowning, and the great men making me their +clumsy apologies, etc. But my Lord Treasurer received me with a great deal +of coldness, which has enraged me so, I am almost vowing revenge. I have +not yet gone half my circle; but I find all my acquaintance just as I left +them. Everything is turning upside down; every Whig in great office will, +to a man, be infallibly put out; and we shall have such a winter as hath +not been seen in England.</p> + +<p>The Tatler expects every day to be turned out of his employment; and the +Duke of Ormond, they say, will be Lieutenant of Ireland. I hope you are now +peaceably in Presto's lodgings; but I resolve to turn you out by Christmas; +in which time I shall either have done my business, or find it not to be +done. Pray be at Trim by the time this letter comes to you; and ride little +Johnson, who must needs be now in good case. I have begun this letter +unusually, on the post-night, and have already written to the Archbishop; +and cannot lengthen this. Henceforth I will write something every day to +MD, and make it a sort of journal; and when it is full, I will send it, +whether MD writes or no; and so that will be pretty: and I shall always be +in conversation with MD, and MD with Presto; and so farewell.</p> + + +<h3>LONDON, NOV. 11, 1710.</h3> + + +<p>I dined to-day in the City, and then went to christen Will Frankland's +child; Lady Falconbridge was one of the godmothers; this is a daughter of +Oliver Cromwell, and extremely like him by the picture I have seen. My +business in the City was to thank Stratford for a kindness he has done me. +I found Bank stock fallen thirty-four to the hundred, and was mighty +desirous to buy it. I had three hundred pounds in Ireland, and I desired +Stratford to buy me three hundred pounds in Bank stock and that he keep the +papers, and that I would be bound to pay him for them; and, if it should +rise or fall, I should take my chance and pay him interest in the meantime. +I was told money was so hard to get here, and no one would do this for me. +However, Stratford, one of the most generous men alive, has done this for +me: so that three hundred pounds cost me three hundred pounds and thirty +shillings. This was done a week ago, and I can have five pounds for my +bargain already. I writ to your Mother to desire Lady Giffard would do the +same with what she owes me, but she tells your mother she has no money. I +would to God, all you had in the world was there. Whenever you lend money, +take this rule, to have two people bound, who have both visible fortunes; +for they will hardly die together; and, when one dies, you fall upon the +other, and make him add another security. So, ladies, enough of business +for one night. Paaaaast twelve o'clock; nite, nite deelest MD. I must only +add, that, after a long fit of rainy weather, it has been fair two or three +days, and is this day grown cold and frosty; so you must give poor little +Presto leave to have a fire in his chamber morning and evening too; and he +will do as much for you. Shall I send this to-morrow? Well I will, to +oblige MD. 'Tis late, so I bid you good-night.</p> + + +<h3>CHELSEA, June, 1711.</h3> + + +<p>I went at noon to see Mr. Secretary at his office, and there was Lord +Treasurer; so I killed two birds, etc., and we were glad to see one another +and so forth. And the Secretary and I dined at Sir William Wyndam's, who +married Lady Catherine Seymour, your acquaintance, I suppose. There were +ten of us at dinner. It seems, in my absence, they had erected a Club, and +made me one; and we made some laws to-day, which I am to digest and add to, +against next meeting. Our meetings are to be every Thursday. We are yet but +twelve; Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer were proposed; but I was against +them, and so was Mr. Secretary, though their sons are of it, and so they +are excluded; but we design to admit the Duke of Shrewsbury. The end of our +Club is to advance conversation and friendship, and to reward deserving +persons with our interest and recommendation. We take in none but men of +wit or men of interest; and if we go on as we begin, no other Club in this +town will be worth talking of. This letter will come three weeks after the +last, so there is a week lost; but that is owing to my being out of +town.</p> + +<p>Well, but I must answer this letter of our MD's. Saturday approaches, +and I han't written down this side. Oh, faith, Presto has been a sort of +lazy fellow: but Presto will remove to town this day se'night: the +Secretary has commanded me to do so: and I believe he and I shall go some +days to Windsor, where he will have leisure to mind some business we have +together. To-day our Society (it must not be called a Club) dined at Mr. +Secretary's: we were but eight. We made some laws, and then I went to take +my leave of Lady Ashburnham, who goes out of town to-morrow.</p> + +<p>Steele has had the assurance to write to me that I would engage my Lord +Treasurer to keep a friend of his in an employment. I believe I told you +how he and Addison served me for my good offices in Steele's behalf; and I +promised Lord Treasurer never to speak for either of them again.</p> + +<p>We have plays acted in our town; and Patrick was at one of them, oh, oh. +He was damnably mauled one day when he was drunk, by a brother-footman, who +dragged him along the floor on his face, which looked for a week after as +if he had the leprosy, and I was glad enough to see it. I have been ten +times sending him back to you; yet now he has new clothes and a laced hat, +which the hatter brought by his orders, and he offered to pay for the lace +out of his wages.</p> + +<p>I must rise now and shave, and walk to town, unless I go with the Dean +in his chariot at twelve: and I have not seen that Lord Peterborough yet. +The Duke of Shrewsbury is almost well again, but what care you? You do not +care for my friends. Farewell, my dearest lives and delights: I love you +better than ever, if possible, as hope saved, I do, and ever will. God +almighty bless you ever, and make us happy together! I pray for this twice +every day; and I hope God will hear my poor hearty prayers. Remember, if I +am used ill and ungratefully, as I have formerly been, 'tis what I am +prepared for, and I shall not wonder at it. Yet I am now envied, and +thought in high favour, and have every day numbers of considerable men +teasing me to solicit for them. And the Ministry all use me perfectly well; +and all that know them say they love me. Yet I can count upon nothing, nor +will, but upon MD's love and kindness. They think me useful; they pretended +they were afraid of none but me, and that they resolved to have me; they +have often confessed this: yet all this makes little impression on me--Pox +of these speculations! They give me the spleen; a disease I was not born +to. Let me alone, sirrahs, and be satisfied: I am, as long as MD and Presto +are well. Little wealth, and much health, and a life by stealth: that is +all we want; and so farewell, dearest MD; Stella, Dingley, Presto, all +together; now and for ever all together. Farewell again and again.</p> + + +<h3>LONDON, July, 1711.</h3> + + +<p>I have just sent my 26th, and have nothing to say, because I have other +letters to write (pshaw, I began too high) but to-morrow I will say more, +and fetch up this line to be straight This is enough at present for two +dear saucy naughty girls.</p> + +<p>Morning. It is a terrible rainy day. Patrick lay out all last night, and +is not yet returned: faith, poor Presto is a desolate creature; neither +servant, nor linen, nor anything.</p> + +<p>I was at Court and Church to-day: I am acquainted with about thirty in +the drawing-room, and I am so proud I make all the Lords come up to me; one +passes half an hour pleasant enough. We had a dunce to preach before the +queen to-day, which often happens. Windsor is a delicious situation, but +the town is scoundrel. The Duke of Hamilton would needs be witty, and hold +up my train as I walked upstairs. It is an ill circumstance that on Sundays +much company always meet at the great tables. The Secretary showed me his +bill of fare, to encourage me to dine with him. "Poh," said I, "show me a +bill of company, for I value not your dinner."</p> + +<p>In my conscience. I fear I shall have the gout. I sometimes feel pains +about my feet and toes: I never drank till within these two years, and I +did it to cure my head. I often sit evenings with some of these people, and +drink in my turn; but I am resolved to drink ten times less than before; +but they advise me to let what I drink be all wine, and not to put water in +it. Tooke and the printer stayed to-day to finish their affair. Then I went +to see Lord Treasurer, and chid him for not taking notice of me at Windsor. +He said he kept a place for me yesterday at dinner, and expected me there; +but I was glad I did not go, because the Duke of Buckingham was there, and +that would have made us acquainted; which I have no mind to.</p> + +<p>I have sent a noble haunch of venison this afternoon to Mrs. Vanhomrigh; +I wish you had it sirrahs. I dined gravely with my landlord, the Secretary. +The queen was abroad to-day to hunt; but finding it disposed to rain, she +kept in her coach, which she drives herself, and drives furiously, like +Jehu, and is a mighty hunter, like Nimrod. Dingley has heard of Nimrod, but +not Stella, for it is in the Bible. Mr. Secretary has given me a warrant +for a buck; I can't sent it to MD. It is a sad thing, faith, considering +how Presto loves MD, and how MD would love Presto's venison for Presto's +sake. God bless the two dear Wexford girls!</p> + +<p>There was a drawing-room to-day at Court; but so few company, that the +queen sent for us into her bedchamber, where we made our bows, and stood +about twenty of us round the room, while she looked at us round with her +fan in her mouth, and once a minute said about three words to some that +were nearest to her, and then she was told dinner was ready, and went +out.</p> + + +<h3>LONDON, Dec. 1, 1711.</h3> + + +<p>To-morrow is the fatal day for the Parliament meeting, and we are full +of hopes and fears. We reckon we have a majority of ten on our side in the +House of Lords; yet I observe Mrs. Masham a little uneasy. The Duke of +Marlborough has not seen the queen for some days past; Mrs. Masham is glad +of it, because she says he tells a hundred lies to his friends of what she +says to him: he is one day humble, and the next day on the high ropes.</p> + +<p>This being the day Parliament was to meet, and the great question to be +determined, I went with Dr. Freind to dine in the City, on purpose to be +out of the way, and we sent our printer to see what was our fate; but he +gave us a most melancholy account of things. The Earl of Nottingham began +and spoke against a peace, and desired that in their address they might put +in a clause to advise the queen not to make a peace without Spain; which +was debated, and carried by the Whigs by about six voices: and this has +happened entirely by my Lord Treasurer's neglect, who did not take timely +care to make up his strength, although every one of us gave him caution +enough. Nottingham has certainly been bribed. The question is yet only +carried in the Committee of the whole House, and we hope when it is +reported to the House to-morrow, we shall have a majority.</p> + +<p>This is a day that may produce great alterations and hazard the ruin of +England. The Whigs are all in triumph; they foretold how all this would be, +but we thought it boasting. Nay, they said the Parliament should be +dissolved before Christmas, and perhaps it may: this is all your d----d +Duchess of Somerset's doings. I warned them of this nine months ago, and a +hundred times since. I told Lord Treasurer I should have the advantage of +him; for he would lose his head, and I should only be hanged, and so carry +my body entire to the grave.</p> + +<p>I was this morning with Mr. Secretary: we are both of opinion that the +queen is false. He gave me reasons to believe the whole matter is settled +between the queen and the Whigs. Things are now in a crisis, and a day or +two will determine. I have desired him to engage Lord Treasurer to send, me +abroad as Queen's Secretary somewhere or other, where I will remain till +the new Ministers recall me; and then I will be sick for five or six +months, till the storm has spent itself. I hope he will grant me this; for +I should hardly trust myself to the mercy of my enemies while their anger +is fresh.</p> + +<p>Morning. They say the Occasional Bill is brought to-day into the House +of Lords; but I know not. I will now put an end to my letter, and give it +into the post-house with my own fair hands. This will be a memorable +letter, and I shall sigh to see it some years hence. Here are the first +steps towards the ruin of an excellent Ministry; for I look upon them as +certainly ruined; and God knows what may be the consequence.--I now bid my +dearest MD farewell; for company is coming, and I must be at Lord +Dartmouth's office by noon. Farewell, dearest MD; I wish you a merry +Christmas; I believe you will have this about that time. Love Presto, who +loves MD above all things a thousand times. Farewell again, dearest MD.</p> + + +<h3>LONDON, Dec. 20, 1711.</h3> + + +<p>I was with the Secretary this morning, and, for aught I can see, we +shall have a languishing death: I can know nothing, nor themselves neither. +I dined, you know, with our Society, and that odious Secretary would make +me President next week; so I must entertain them this day se'night at the +Thatched House Tavern: it will cost me five or six pounds; yet the +Secretary says he will give me wine.</p> + +<p>Saturday night. I have broken open my letter, and tore it into the +bargain, to let you know that we are all safe: the queen has made no less +than twelve Lords to have a majority; nine new ones, the other three peers' +sons; and has turned out the Duke of Somerset. She is awaked at last, and +so is Lord Treasurer: I want nothing now but to see the Duchess out. But we +shall do without her. We are all extremely happy. Give me joy, sirrahs. +This is written in a coffee-house.</p> + + +<h3>LONDON, Feb. 26, 1712.</h3> + + +<p>I was again busy with the Secretary. I dined with him, and we were to do +more business after dinner; but after dinner is after dinner--an old saying +and a true, "much drinking, little thinking." We had company with us, and +nothing could be done, so I am to go there again to-morrow.</p> + +<p>To-day in the morning I visited upwards: first I saw the Duke of Ormond +below stairs, and gave him joy of being declared General in Flanders; then +I went up one pair of stairs, and sat with the duchess; then I went up +another pair of stairs, and paid a visit to Lady Betty; and then desired +her woman to go up to the garret, that I might pass half an hour with her, +for she was young and handsome, but she would not.</p> + +<p>Tell Walls that I spoke to the Duke of Ormond about his friend's +affairs. I likewise mentioned his own affair to Mr. Southwell. But oo must +not know zees sings, zey are secrets; and we must keep them flom nauty +dallars. I was with Lord Treasurer to-day, and hat care oo for zat? Monday +is parson's holiday, and oo lost oo money at cards; ze devil's device. +Nite, nite, my two deelest logues.</p> + + +<h3>LONDON, April 6, 1713</h3> + + +<p>I was this morning at the rehearsal of Mr. Addison's play, called +"Cato," which is to be acted on Friday. There were not above half a score +of us to see it. We stood on the stage, and it was foolish enough to see +the actors prompted every moment, and the poet directing them; and the drab +that acts Cato's daughter, in the midst of a passionate part, calling out +"What's next?" I went back and dined with Mr. Addison.</p> + +<p>Nothing new to-day; so I'll seal up this to-night. Pray write soon.... +Farewell, deelest MD, MD, MD. Love Presto.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="LYOF_N_TOLSTOY"></a>LYOF N. TOLSTOY</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Childhood_Boyhood_Youth"></a>Childhood, Boyhood, Youth</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Childhood (1852), Boyhood (1854), and Youth +(1855-57)--Tolstoy's first literary efforts--may be regarded as +semi-autobiographical studies; if not in detail, at least in the wider +sense that all his books contain pictures more or less accurate of himself +and his own experiences. No plot runs through them; they simply analyse and +describe with extraordinary minuteness the feelings of a nervous and morbid +boy--a male Marie Bashkirtseff. They are tales rather of the developments +of the thoughts, than of the life of a child, with a pale background of men +and events. The distinct charm lies in the sincerity with which this +development is represented. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Childhood</i></h3> + + +<p>August 12, 18--, was the third day after my tenth birthday anniversary. +Wonderful presents had been given me. My tutor, Karl Ivanitch, roused me at +seven by striking at a fly directly over my head with a flapper made of +sugar paper fastened to a stick. He generally spoke in German, and in his +kindly voice exclaimed, "Auf, Kinder, auf; es ist Zeit. Die Mutter ist +schon im Saal." ("Get up, children, it is time. Your Mother is already in +the drawing-room.")</p> + +<p>Dyadka Nikolai, the valet of us children, a neat little man, brought in +the clothes for me and Volodya, who was imitating my sister's governess, +Marya Ivanova, in mocking, merry laughter. Somewhat sternly presently Karl +Ivanitch called from the schoolroom to know if we were nearly ready to +begin our lessons.</p> + +<p>In the schoolroom, on one shelf was our promiscuous assortment of books, +on another, the still more miscellaneous collection which our dear old +tutor was pleased to call his library. I remember that it included a German +treatise on cabbage gardens, a history of the Seven Years' War, and a work +on hydrostatic. Karl Ivanitch spent all his spare time in reading his +beloved books, but he never read anything beyond these and the Northern +Bee. After early lessons our tutor conducted us downstairs to greet +Mamma.</p> + +<p>She was sitting in the parlour, in front of the samovar, pouring out +tea. To the left of the divan was the old English grand piano, on which my +dark-complexioned sister, Liubotchka, eleven years old, was painfully +practising Clementi's exercises. Near her Marya Ivanova, with scowls on her +face, was loudly counting, and beating time with her foot. She frowned +still more disagreeably at Karl as he entered, but he appeared to ignore +this and kissed my mother's hand with a German salutation. After mutually +affectionate greetings Mamma told us to go to our father and to ask him to +come to her before he went to the threshing floor.</p> + +<p>We found Papa angrily discussing business affairs with Yakov Mikhailof, +the chief concern being apparently about money from Mamma's estate at +Khabarovka, her native village. A large sum was due to the council, and +Yakov pleaded that it would be difficult to raise it from the sale of hay +and the proceeds of the mill. "For example," said he, "the miller has been +twice to ask me for delay, swearing by Christ the Lord that he has no +money. What little cash he had he put into the dam."</p> + +<p>Yakov was a serf, and was a most devoted and assiduous man, excessively +economical in managing his master's affairs, and constantly worried himself +over the increase of his master's property at the expense of that of his +mistress.</p> + +<p>For some days we had been expecting something unusual, from preparations +which we saw going on for some journey, but an announcement from Papa at +length surprised us terribly. He greeted us one morning with the remark +that it was time to put an end to our idleness, and that as he was going +that evening to Moscow, we were to go with him and to live there with our +grandmother, Mamma remaining on the estate with the girls.</p> + +<p>My thoughts were mingled, for I was very grieved for the sake of Mamma, +yet I felt pleasure at the idea that we were grown up. For poor Karl +Ivanitch I was extremely sorry, as he would be discharged. On my way +upstairs I saw Papa's favourite greyhound, Milka, basking in the sunshine +on the terrace, and ran out, kissed her on the nose and caressed her, +saying, "Farewell, Milotchka. We shall never see each other again." Then, +altogether overcome with emotion, I burst into tears.</p> + +<p>My father was a chivalrous character of the last century, who regarded +with contempt the people of the present century. His two chief passions +were cards and women. He was tall and commanding, bald, with small eyes +ever twinkling vivaciously, and a lisping utterance. He knew how to +exercise a spell over people of every grade, and in the highest society he +was held in great esteem. He seemed born to shine in his brilliant +position, and was an expert in the management of all things that could +conduce to comfort and pleasure.</p> + +<p>A lover of music, he sang to his own piano accompaniment operatic songs, +but had no liking for Beethoven's sonatas and other scientific +compositions. His principles grew more fixed as years rolled on; he judged +actions as being good or bad accordingly as they procured him happiness and +pleasure, or otherwise; he talked persuasively; and he could represent the +same deed as either an innocent piece of playfulness or of abominable +villainy.</p> + +<p>Happy days of childhood that can never be recalled! What memories I yet +cherish of them. I see Mamma just as plainly as when she so long since was +talking to some one at the tea-table, while I, in my high chair, grew +drowsy. Presently she stroked my hair with her soft hand, saying, "Get up, +my darling, it is time to go to bed. Get up, my angel."</p> + +<p>I spring up and embrace her, and exclaim, "Dear, dear Mamma, how I love +you!" With her sad and fascinating smile she places me on her knees, is +silent awhile, and then speaks. "So you love me very much? Love me always +and never forget me. If you lose your Mamma, Nikolinka, you will not forget +her?"</p> + +<p>She kisses me still more lovingly, and I cry with tears of love and +rapture flooding my face, "Oh, do not say that, my darling, my precious +one." Will that freshness, that happy carelessness, that thirst for love +which made life's only requirements, ever return? Where are those pure +tears of tenderest emotion? The angel of consolation came and wiped them +away. Do the memories alone abide?</p> + +<p>About a month after we had removed to Moscow, Grandmamma received a +visit from Princess Kornakova, a woman of forty-five, with disagreeable +gray-green eyes, but sweetly curved lips, bright red hair, and insalubrious +face. In spite of these peculiarities her aspect was noble. I took a +dislike to her because I found from her talk that she was given to beating +her own children, and thought that other people's children, especially +boys, needed to be whipped.</p> + +<p>Another visitor was Prince Ivan Ivanitch, distinguished for his noble +character, handsome person, splendid bravery and extraordinary good +fortune. He belonged to a powerful family, and lived in accordance with +principles of the strictest religion and morality. Though somewhat reserved +and haughty, in demeanour, he was full of kindly feeling. Prince Ivan +Ivanitch was a highly cultured man of most versatile accomplishments. Our +Grandmamma was evidently delighted to see him, and his magnificent aspect +and her liking for him inspired me with unbounded admiration and +reverence.</p> + +<p>He asked why Mamma had not come to Moscow. "Ah," was the reply, "she +would have come if possible, but they have no income this year."</p> + +<p>"I do not understand," replied the Prince. "Her Khabarovka is a +wonderful estate, and it must always bring in a fine revenue."</p> + +<p>"I will tell you," said Grandmamma, sadly. "It seems to me that all the +pretexts are made simply to enable him to live a gay life here, while she, +angel of goodness that she is, suspects nothing. She believes him in +everything."</p> + +<p>This conversation should not have been overheard by me, but, having +overheard it, I crept out of the room.</p> + +<p>On the 16th of April, nearly six months later, serious news came from +Mamma. She wrote to Papa that she had contracted a chill, which had caused +a fever, that this was over, but had left her in such utter weakness that +she would never rise from her bed again, although those about her were not +aware of such a condition. She wished him to come to her at once and to +bring her two boys with him. She prayed that God's holy will might be +done.</p> + +<p>On April 25th we reached our Petrovskoe home. Papa had been very sad and +thoughtful during the journey. We at once learned from the steward that +Mamma had not left her room for six days. I shall never forget what I saw +when we entered Mamma's room. She was unconscious. Her eyes were open, but +she saw nothing. We were led away. Mamma soon passed away.</p> + +<p>She was dead, the funeral obsequies took place, and then our life went +on much as before. We rose, had our repasts, and retired to rest at the +same hours. Three days after the funeral the whole household removed to +Moscow. Grandmamma only learned what had happened when we arrived, and her +grief was terrible. She lay unconscious for a week, and the doctor feared +for her life, for she would not eat, speak, or take medicine. When she +recovered somewhat, her first thought was of us children. She cried softly, +spoke of Mamma, and tenderly caressed us.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Boyhood</i></h3> + + +<p>On our arrival in Moscow a change had taken place in my views of things. +My sentiment of reverence for Grandmamma had changed to one of sympathy. As +she covered my cheeks with kisses I realised that each kiss expressed the +thought "She is gone; I shall never see her more." Papa had very little to +do with us in Moscow, coming to us only at dinner time, and lost much in my +eyes, with his ostentatious dress, his stewards, his clerks, and his +hunting and business expeditions.</p> + +<p>Between us and the girls also an invisible barrier seemed to rise. We +were proud of our trousers and straps, and they of their petticoats, which +increased in length. Their showier Sunday dress made it manifest that we +were no longer in the country. But soon commenced a period of my life of +which it is difficult to trace a record. Rarely during memories of it do I +find moments of the genuine warmth of feeling which so frequently illumined +the earliest years of my life.</p> + +<p>Vivid is the recollection of Volodya's entrance at the university. He +was barely two years my senior in age. The day of his first examination +arrived, and he presented a handsome appearance in his blue uniform with +brass buttons and lacquered boots. The examination lasted ten days, and +Volodya, having passed brilliantly, returned on the last day no longer in +blue coat and grey cap, but in student uniform, with blue embroidered +collar, three-cornered hat, and a gilt dagger by his side. Joy and +excitement reigned in the whole household. For the first time since Mamma's +death, Grandmamma drank champagne, and weeps with joy as she looks at +Volodya, who henceforth rode in his own equipage, receives friends in his +own rooms, smokes tobacco, goes to balls.</p> + +<p>But soon another incident happened which is engraven on memory. The dear +old Grandmamma was growing daily weaker, and one morning the announcement +thrilled us that she was dead. Again, the house was full of mourning. In a +few months I should be preparing to enter the university. I was by degrees +emerging from my boyish moods, with the exception of one--a tendency to +metaphysical dreaminess, which was fated to do me much injury in after +years.</p> + +<p>At this period an intimacy commenced between me and a very remarkable +man, Prince Dmitri Nekhliudoff. He was a tall and commanding figure, with +an extraordinary intellect. Whenever he found me alone, we seated ourselves +in some secluded corner and found mutual delight in metaphysical +discussions. With ecstasy in those moments I soared higher and higher into +the realms of thought. This strange friendship grew. We agreed to confess +everything to each other, and thus we should really know each other and not +be ashamed; but, in order that we should not be in any fear of strangers, +we vowed never to say anything to anybody else about each other. And we +kept the vow. As may be imagined, the influence of my friend over me was +greater than mine over him. I adopted his fervent ideas, which included +lofty aspirations for the reformation of all mankind.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Youth</i></h3> + + +<p>I was nearly sixteen, and from that time I date the beginning of youth. +Under various professors I studied, though by no means willingly, to +prepare for the university. At length, on April 16, I went for the first +time to the great hall of the university. For the first time in my life I +wore a dress coat. The bright hall was filled with a brilliant crowd of +hundreds of young men in gymnasium costumes and dress coats, stately +professors moving freely about among the tables. On that day I was examined +in history and answered questions in Russian history in brilliant style, +for I knew the subject well. I received five marks. Similar success +rewarded my efforts at the examination in mathematics, for the professor +told me I had answered even better than was required, and on this occasion +I received five points.</p> + +<p>Everything went splendidly till I came to the Latin examination. The +Latin professor was spoken of in accents of terror, for he had the +reputation of taking a fierce delight in plucking candidates. My success so +far had made me feel proudly confident, and as I could translate Cicero and +Horace without the lexicon and was proficient in Zumpt's Grammar, I thought +I might equal the rest. But not so. The professor amicably passed one of my +young acquaintances, although the youth was palpably deficient in his +answers. I afterwards learned that he was the student's protector.</p> + +<p>When my turn came, immediately afterwards, the professor turned on me in +truly savage demeanour. "That is not it; that is not it at all," exclaimed +he. "This is not the way to prepare for higher education. You only want to +wear the uniform and to boast of being first."</p> + +<p>The demeanour of this professor so affected me that my confusion was +complete. I only received two marks, and the injustice so depressed me that +I lost all ambition and allowed the remaining examinations to proceed +without making any effort. I made up my mind that it was unwise to aim at +being first, and I resolved to adhere to this sentiment in the +university.</p> + +<p>My father married again. He was forty-eight when he took Avdotya +Epifanova as his second wife. She was a beautiful woman, whom Mamma used to +call Dunitchka. But I had suspected nothing until Papa actually announced +to us that he was going to marry her. The wedding was to take place in a +fortnight. I and Volodya returned to Moscow at the beginning of September, +and on the following day I went to the university for my first lecture.</p> + +<p>It was a magnificent, sunny day, and as I entered the auditorium I felt +lost in the throng of gay youths flitting about through the doors and among +the corridors. Belonging to no particular group I felt isolated, and then +even angry, and I remember in my heart that this first day was a dismal +occasion for me. I looked at the professor with an ironical feeling, for he +commenced his lecture with an introduction which, to my mind, was without +sense. I decided at this first lecture that there was no need to write down +everything that each professor said, and to this principle I adhered.</p> + +<p>Though during my course I made many pleasant acquaintances, and so felt +less isolated than at first, I indulged in little real comradeship. But +during the winter my attention was much engrossed with affairs of the +heart, for I was in love three times. Yet I was overwhelmed with shyness, +fearing that my love should be discovered by its object. With two of the +young ladies, indeed, I had already been in love previously. Of one of them +I was now enamoured for the third time. But I knew that Volodya also +regarded her with passionate ecstasy. I felt that it would certainly not be +agreeable to him to learn that two brothers were in love with the same +young woman.</p> + +<p>Therefore I said nothing to him of my love. But great satisfaction was +afforded to my mind by the fact that our love was so pure, and that each +would be ready, if needful, to make a sacrifice for the sake of the other. +But that self-abnegation did not, after all, extend to Volodya, for when he +heard that a certain diplomat was to marry the girl, he was disposed to +slap his face and to challenge him to a duel. It happened that I had only +spoken once to the young lady, and my love passed away in a week, as I made +no effort to perpetuate it.</p> + +<p>During that winter I was quite disenchanted with the social pleasures to +which I had looked forward when I entered the university, in imitation of +my brother Volodya. He danced a great deal, and Papa also went with his +young wife to balls. But at the first one which I attended I was so shy +that I declined the invitation of the Princess Kornakova to dance, +declaring that I did not dance, though I had come to her evening party with +the express intention of dancing a great deal. I remained silently in one +place the whole evening.</p> + +<p>Avdotya's passionate love for Papa was evident in every word, look, and +action. We were always hypocritically polite to her, called her +<i>chère maman</i>, and noted that at first she was fond of calling +herself stepmother, and that she plainly felt the unpleasantness of her +position. Her disposition was very amiable and she was in no way +exacting.</p> + +<p>My first examination at length arrived. It was on differential and +integral calculus. I was indifferent and abstracted, but a feeling of some +dread passed over me when the same young professor who had questioned me at +the entrance examination looked me in the face. I answered so badly that he +looked at me compassionately, and said quietly but firmly that as I should +not pass in the second class I had better not present myself for +examination. I went home and remained weeping in my room for three days +over my failure. I even looked out my pistols, in order that they might be +at hand if I should feel a wish to shoot myself. Finally, I saw my father +and begged him to permit me to enter the hussars, or to go to the +Caucasus.</p> + +<p>Though he was not pleased, yet, when he saw how deep was my grief he +sought to comfort me by saying that it was not so very bad, and that +arrangements might be made for a different course of study. After a few +days I became composed, but did not leave the house till we departed for +the country. I may some day relate the sequel in the happier half of my +youth.</p> + +<p>[Tolstoy has never published the continuation, but it is generally +considered that he represents himself in Constantine Levin, the hero of the +greatest of his stories, and that thus we gain an insight into his mature +thoughts.]</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h2><a name="My_Confession"></a>My Confession</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Count Lyof N. Tolstoy in writing this work expressed +himself in such independent terms that it could not be published in Russia, +but was issued in Geneva in 1888, by the firm of Elpidine, who had printed +in 1886 his "What is my Life," and in 1892 brought out his "Walk in the +Light." The books thus issued in the original Russian version outside of +the famous author's native land are all purely spiritual, and are written +in the most elevated tone. But Tolstoy's mode of interpreting the +Scriptures is not approved by the Holy Synod of the Eastern Orthodox +Church, or Russo-Greek Communion, and thus most of his treatises which come +within the strictly religious category are classed amongst the "Forbidden +Books" of modern Russian literature. In this "Confession" Tolstoy +emphatically strikes the keynote which is the <i>motif</i> of all his +didactic writings. It is an affirmation of the principle that the pure +spirit of religion, apart from external dogma, is the really precious +factor of life. He follows the same strain in his "What I Believe," and his +"Christianity of Christ." The following synopsis is translated and +summarised from the original Russian. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--Evil Early Years</i></h3> + + +<p>Though reared in the faith of the Orthodox Eastern, or Russo-Greek +Church, I had by the time when, at the age of eighteen, I left the +university ceased to believe what I had been taught. My faith could never +have been well grounded in conviction. I not only ceased to pray, but also +to attend the services and to fast. Without denying the existence of God, +yet I cherished no ideas either as to the nature of God or the teaching of +Christ.</p> + +<p>I found that my wish to become a good and virtuous man, whenever the +aspiration was in any way expressed, simply exposed me to ridicule; while I +instantly gained praise for any vicious behaviour. Even my excellent aunt +declared that she wished two things for me. One was that I should form a +liaison with some married lady; the other that I should become an adjutant +to the Tsar.</p> + +<p>I look back with horror on the years of my young manhood, for I was +guilty of slaying men in battle, of gambling, of riotous squandering of +substance gained by the toil of serfs, of deceit, and of profligacy. That +course of life lasted ten years. Then I took to writing, but the motive was +grovelling, for I aimed at gaining money and flattery.</p> + +<p>My aims were gratified, for, coming to St. Petersburg at the age of 26, +I secured the flattering reception I had coveted from the authors most in +repute. The war, about which I had written much from the field of conflict, +had just closed. I found that a theory prevailed amongst the +"Intelligentia" that the function of writers, thinkers, and poets was to +teach; they were to teach not because they knew or understood, but +unconsciously and intuitively. Acting on this philosophy, I, as a thinker +and poet, wrote and taught I knew not what, received large remuneration for +my efforts with the pen, and lived loosely, gaily, and extravagantly.</p> + +<p>Thus I was one of the hierarchs of the literary faith, and for a +considerable time was undisturbed by any doubts as to its soundness; but +when three years had been thus spent, serious suspicions entered my mind. I +noted that the devotees of this apparently infallible principle were at +variance amongst themselves, for they disputed, deceived, abused, and +swindled each other. And many were grossly selfish, and most immoral.</p> + +<p>Disgust supervened, both with myself and with mankind in general. My +error now was that though my eyes were opened to the vanity and delusion of +the position, yet I retained it, imagining that I, as thinker, poet, +teacher, could teach other men while not at all knowing what to teach. To +my other faults an inordinate pride had been added by my intercourse with +these <i>litterateurs</i>. That period viewed retrospectively seems to me +like one of a kind of madness. Hundreds of us wrote to teach the people, +while we all abused and confuted one another. We could teach nothing, yet +we sent millions of pages all over Russia, and we were unspeakably vexed +that we seemed to gain no attention whatever, for nobody appeared to listen +to us.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--Groping in Darkness</i></h3> + + +<p>I travelled in Europe at this period, before my marriage, still +cherishing in my mind the idea of general perfectibility, which was so +popular at that time with the "Intelligentia." Cultured circles clung to +the theory of what we call "progress," vague though are the notions +attaching to the term. I was horrified with the spectacle of an execution +in Paris, and my eyes were opened to the fallacy underlying the theory of +human wisdom. The doctrine of "progress" I now felt to be a mere +superstition, and I was further confirmed in my conviction by the sad death +of my brother after a painful illness of a whole year.</p> + +<p>My brother was kind, amiable, clever, and serious; but he passed away +without ever knowing why he had lived or what his death meant for him. All +theories were futile in the face of this tragedy. Returning to Russia I +settled in my rural home and began to organise schools for the peasants, +feeling real enthusiasm for the enterprise. For I still clung to a great +extent to the idea of progress by development. I thought that though highly +cultured men all thought and taught differently and agreed about nothing, +yet in the case of the children of the mujiks the difficulty could easily +be surmounted by permitting the children to learn what they liked.</p> + +<p>I also tried through my own newspaper to indoctrinate the people, but my +mind grew more and more embarrassed. At length I fell sick, rather mentally +than physically. I went off to the Steppes to breathe the pure air and to +take mare's milk and to live the simple life. I married soon after my +return to my estate. As time passed on I became happily absorbed in the +interests of wife and children, largely forgetting during a happy interval +of fifteen years the old anxiety for individual perfection. For this desire +was superseded by that of promoting the welfare of my family.</p> + +<p>All this time, however, I was writing busily, and was gaining much money +as well as winning great applause. And in everything I wrote I persistently +taught what was for me the sole truth--that our chief object in life should +be to secure our own happiness and that of our family. Then, five years +ago, supervened a mood of mental lethargy. I grew despondent; my perplexity +increased, and I was tormented by the constant recurrence of such questions +as--"Why?" and "What afterwards?" And by degrees the questions took a more +concrete form. "I now possess six thousand 'desyatins' of land in the +government of Samara, and three hundred horses--what then?" I could find no +answer. Then came the question, "What if I could excel Shakespeare, and +Molière, and Gogol, and become the most celebrated the world has +ever seen--what then?" Answer, there was none; yet I felt that I must find +one in order to go on living.</p> + +<p>Life had now lost its meaning, and was no longer real to me. I was a +healthy and happy man, and yet so empty did life seem to me that I was +afraid of being tempted to commit suicide, even though I had not the +slightest intention to perpetrate such a deed. But, fearing lest the +temptation might come upon me I hid a rope away out of my sight, and ceased +carrying a gun in my walks.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--The Spirit of Despair</i></h3> + + +<p>It was in my 50th year that the question "What is life" had reduced me +to utter despair. Various queries clustered round this central +interrogation. "Why should I live? Why should I do anything? Is there any +signification in life that can overcome inevitable death?" I found that in +human knowledge no real answer was forthcoming to such yearnings. None of +the theories of the philosophers gave any satisfaction. In my search for a +solution of life's problem I felt like a traveller lost in a forest, out of +which he can find no issue.</p> + +<p>I found that not only did Solomon declare that he hated life, for all is +vanity and vexation of spirit; but that Sakya Muni, the Indian sage, +equally decided that life was a great evil; while Socrates and Schopenhauer +agree that annihilation is the only thing to be wished for. But neither +these testimonies of great minds nor my own reasoning could induce me to +destroy myself. For a force within me, combined with an instinctive +consciousness of life, counteracted the feeling of despair and drew me out +of my misery of soul. I felt that I must study life not merely as it was +amongst those like myself, but as it was amongst the millions of the common +people. I reflected that knowledge based on reason, the knowledge of the +cultured, imparted no meaning to life, but that, on the other hand, amongst +the masses of the common people there was an unreasoning consciousness of +life which gave it a significance.</p> + +<p>This unreasoning knowledge was the very faith which I was rejecting. It +was faith in things I could not understand; in God, one yet three; in the +creation of devils and angels. Such things seemed utterly contrary to +reason. So I began to reflect that perhaps what I considered reasonable was +after all not so, and what appeared unreasonable might not really be +so.</p> + +<p>I discovered one great error that I had perpetrated. I had been +comparing life with life, that is, the finite with the finite, and the +infinite with the infinite. The process was vain. It was like comparing +force with force, matter with matter, nothing with nothing. It was like +saying in mathematics that A equals A, or O equals O. Thus the only answer +was "identity."</p> + +<p>Now I saw that scientific knowledge would give no reply to my questions. +I began to comprehend that though faith seemed to give unreasonable +answers, these answers certainly did one important thing. They did at least +bring in the relation of the finite to the infinite. I came to feel that in +addition to the reasoning knowledge which I once reckoned to be the sole +true knowledge, there was in every man also an unreasoning species of +knowledge which makes life possible. That unreasoning knowledge is +faith.</p> + +<p>What is this faith? It is not only belief in God and in things unseen, +but it is the apprehension of life's meaning. It is the force of life. I +began to understand that the deepest source of human wisdom was to be found +in the answers given by faith, that I had no reasonable right to reject +them, and that they alone solved the problem of life.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Mistakes Apprehended</i></h3> + + +<p>Nevertheless my heart was not lightened. I studied the writings of +Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. I also studied actual religious life by +turning to the orthodox, the monks, and the Evangelicals who preach +salvation through faith in a Redeemer. I asked what meaning was given for +them to life by what they believed. But I could not accept the faith of any +of these men, because I saw that it did not explain the meaning of life, +but only obscured it. So I felt a return of the terrible feeling of +despair.</p> + +<p>Being unable to believe in the sincerity of men who did not live +consistently with the doctrines they professed, and feeling that they were +self-deceived, and, like myself, were satisfied with the lusts of the +flesh, I began to draw near to the believers amongst the poor, simple, and +ignorant, the pilgrims, monks, and peasants. I found that though their +faith was mingled with much superstition, yet with them the whole life was +a confirmation of the meaning of life which their faith gave them.</p> + +<p>The more I contemplated the lives of these simple folk, the more deeply +was I convinced of the reality of their faith, which I perceived to be a +necessity for them, for it alone gave life a meaning and made it worth +living. This was in direct opposition to what I saw in my own circle, where +I marked the possibility of living without faith, for not one in a thousand +professed to be a believer, while amongst the poorer classes not one in +thousands was an unbeliever. The contradiction was extreme. In my class a +tranquil death, without terror or despair, is rare; in that lower class, an +uneasy death is a rare exception. I found that countless numbers in that +lower mass of humanity had so understood the meaning of life that they were +able both to live bearing contentedly the burdens of life, and to die +peacefully.</p> + +<p>The more I learned of these men of faith the more I liked them, and the +easier I felt it so to live. For two years I lived in their fashion. Then +the life of my own wealthy and cultured class became repellent to me, for +it had lost all meaning whatever. It seemed like empty child's play, while +the life of the working classes appeared to me in its true +significance.</p> + +<p>Now I began to apprehend where I had judged wrongly. My mistake was that +I had applied an answer to my question concerning life which only concerned +my own life, to life in general. My life had been but one long indulgence +of my passions. It was evil and meaningless. Therefore such an answer had +no application to life at large, but only to my individual life.</p> + +<p>I understood the truth which the Gospel subsequently taught me more +fully, that men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were +evil. I understood that for the comprehension of life, it was essential +that life should be something more than an evil and meaningless thing +revealed by reason. Life must be considered as a whole, not merely in its +parasitic excrescences. I felt that to be good was more important than to +believe. I loved good men. I hated myself. I accepted truth. I understood +that we were all more or less mad with the love of evil.</p> + +<p>I looked at the animals, saw the birds building nests, living only to +fly and to subsist. I saw how the goat, hare, and wolf live, but to feed +and to nurture their young, and are contented and happy. Their life is a +reasonable one. And man must gain his living like the animals do, only with +this great difference, that if he should attempt this alone, he will +perish. So he must labour for the good of all, not merely for himself.</p> + +<p>I had not helped others. My life for thirty years had been that of a +mere parasite. I had been contented to remain ignorant of the reason why I +lived at all.</p> + +<p>There is a supreme will in the universe. Some one makes the universal +life his secret care. To know what that supreme will is, we must obey it +implicitly. No reproaches against their masters come from the simple +workers who do just what is required of them, though we are in the habit of +regarding them as brutes. We, on the contrary, who think ourselves wise, +consume the goods of our master while we do nothing willingly that he +prescribes. We think that it would be stupid for us to do so.</p> + +<p>What does such conduct imply? Simply that our master is stupid, or that +we have no master.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--Feeling Versus Reason</i></h3> + + +<p>Thus I was led at last to the conclusion that knowledge based on reason +is fallacious, and that the knowledge of truth can be secured only by +living. I had come to feel that I must live a real, not a parasitical life, +and that the meaning of life could be perceived only by observation of the +combined lives of the great human community.</p> + +<p>The feelings of my mind during all these experiences and observations +were mingled with a heart-torment which I can only describe as a searching +after God. This search was a feeling rather than a course of reasoning. For +it came from my heart, and was actually opposed to my way of thinking. Kant +had shown the impossibility of proving the existence of God, yet I still +hoped to find Him, and I still addressed Him in prayer. Yet I did not find +Him whom I sought.</p> + +<p>At times I contended against the reasoning of Kant and Schopenhauer, and +argued that causation is not in the same category with thought and space +and time. I argued that if I existed, there was a cause of my being, and +that cause was the cause of all causes. Then I pondered the idea that the +cause of all things is what is called God, and with all my powers I strove +to attain a sense of the presence of this cause.</p> + +<p>Directly I became conscious of a power over me I felt a possibility of +living. Then I asked myself what was this cause, and what was my relation +to what I called God? Simply the old familiar answer occurred to me, that +God is the creator, the giver of all. Yet I was dissatisfied and fearful, +and the more I prayed, the more convinced I was that I was not heard. In my +despair I cried aloud for mercy, but no one had mercy on me, and I felt as +if life stagnated within me.</p> + +<p>Yet the conviction kept recurring that I must have appeared in this +world with some motive on the part of some one who had sent me into it. If +I had been sent here, who sent me? I had not been like a fledgling flung +out of a nest to perish. Some one had cared for me, had loved me. Who was +it? Again came the same answer, God. He knew and saw my fear, my despair, +and so I passed from the consideration of the existence of God, which was +proved, on to that of our relation towards him as our Redeemer through His +Son. But I felt this to be a thing apart from me and from the world, and +this God vanished like melting ice from my eyes. Again I was left in +despair. I felt there was nothing left but to put an end to my life; yet I +knew that I should never do this.</p> + +<p>Thus did moods of joy and despair come and go, till one day, when I was +listening to the sounds in a forest, and was still on that day in the early +springtide seeking after God in my thoughts, a flash of joy illumined my +soul. I realised that the conception of God was not God Himself. I felt +that I had only truly lived when I believed in God. God is life. Live to +seek God and life will not be without Him. The light that then shone never +left me. Thus I was saved from self-destruction. Gradually I felt the glow +and strength of life return to me. I renounced the life of my own class, +because it was unreal, and its luxurious superfluity rendered comprehension +of life impossible. The simple men around me, the working classes, were the +real Russian people. To them I turned. They made the meaning of life clear. +It may thus be expressed:--</p> + +<p>Each of us is so created by God that he may ruin or save his soul. To +save his soul, a man must live after God's word by humility, charity, and +endurance, while renouncing all the pleasures of life. This is for the +common people the meaning of the whole system of faith, traditionally +delivered to them from the past and administered to them by the pastors of +the Church.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="PASQUALE_VILLARI"></a>PASQUALE VILLARI</h1> + + +<h2><a name="The_Life_of_Girolamo_Savonarola"></a>The Life of Girolamo +Savonarola</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> Pasquale Villari was born October 3, 1827, at Naples. At +the age of twenty he produced his first literary effort, a Liberal +manifesto against Neapolitan Bourbonism, which necessitated his flight from +his native city. He retreated to Florence and there wrote his work on +"Savonarola," which at once achieved fame and was translated into French, +German, and English. His next great book was his "Macchiavelli." Villari +had been appointed Professor of History at Nice, but left that city for a +similar position at Florence. He entered political life in 1862, and has +sat as a Parliamentary Deputy several times. In 1884 he was made senator, +and in 1891 he was minister of public instruction in the Rudini Cabinet. +Villari's essays on Dante are much esteemed. His treatise on "The First Two +Centuries of Florentine History" is considered a standard work. All his +books have been translated into our language by his English wife, Linda +Villari, who is herself an accomplished authoress. </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--1452-1494</i></h3> + + +<p>The House of Savonarola derived its ancient origin from the city of +Padua. In the beginning of the fifteenth century the family removed to +Ferrara where, on September 21, 1452, the subject of this biography, +Girolamo Savonarola, first saw the light. He was the third of seven +children of his parents. The lad became the favourite of his grandfather, +Michele, who wished to see him become a great physician, and devoted most +assiduous care on the task of training his intellect. But unfortunately the +grandfather soon passed away, and Girolamo's studies were then directed by +his father, who began to instruct him in philosophy.</p> + +<p>The natural sciences were then only branches of philosophy, and the +latter, though employed as preliminary to the study of medicine, was purely +scholastic. The books which came into the hands of the young Savonarola +were the works of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Arabic commentaries on +Aristotle. He was specially fascinated with the works of St. Thomas, but +besides literature he studied music. He also composed verses.</p> + +<p>All particulars, however, of Savonarola's boyhood are unfortunately +lacking. But we can form a vivid idea of the surroundings which must have +influenced him. Ferrara was then the splendid capital of the House of Este, +with 100,000 inhabitants and a court which was one of the first in Italy, +and was continually visited by princes, emperors, and popes. The lad must +have witnessed gorgeous pageants, like the two which occurred on visits of +Pope Pius II., in 1459 and 1460. But during all this period Savonarola was +entirely absorbed in studying the Scriptures and St. Thomas Aquinas, +allowing himself no recreation save playing sad music on his lute, or +writing verses expressing, not without force and simplicity, the griefs of +his heart.</p> + +<p>The contrasts that the youth witnessed between the magnificence +ostentatiously displayed and the evidences of tyranny in palaces and +castles in whose dungeons were immured numerous victims, clanking their +chains, made indelible impressions on his mind. Conducted once by his +parents to the ducal palace at Ferrara, he firmly refused ever to enter its +doors again. With singular spiritual fervour in one so young, Savonarola +surrendered his whole heart and soul to religious sentiments and exercises. +To him worldly life, as he saw all Ferrara absorbed in its gaieties, became +utterly repellent, and a sermon to which he listened from an Augustinian +friar determined him to adopt the monastic life.</p> + +<p>April 24, 1475, when his parents were absent from home attending the +festival of St. George, he ran away to Bologna and presented himself at the +Monastery of St. Dominic, begging that he might be admitted for the most +menial service. He was instantly received, and at once began to prepare for +his novitiate. In this retreat he submitted himself to the severest +penances and discipline and displayed such excessive zeal and devotion as +to win the admiration of the monks, who at times believed him to be rapt in +a holy trance.</p> + + +<h3><i>II.--1475-1481</i></h3> + + +<p>Savonarola's sojourn at Bologna in the Dominican Monastery lasted for +seven years, during which his spirit was occupied not only with faith and +prayer, but with deep meditation on the miserable condition of the Church. +His soul was stirred to wrathful indignation. The shocking corruption of +the Papacy, dating from the death of Pius II. in 1464, was to reach its +climax under Alexander VI. The avarice of Paul II. was soon noted by all +the world, and so boundless was the profligacy of his successor, Sixtus +IV., that no deed was too scandalous for him to commit.</p> + +<p>The state of Italy as well as of the Church was miserable, and the soul +of the young monk was filled with horror-stricken grief, relieved only by +study and prayer. He had been much occupied in instructing the novices, but +now he was promoted to the function of preacher. In 1481 he was sent by his +superiors to preach in Ferrara. Nothing is known of the effect of the +sermons he delivered at that time and place. Savonarola had not yet +developed his gifts of oratory. He was driven from Ferrara by an outbreak +of war with the Venetians, and repaired to Florence, where, in the +Monastery of St. Mark the brightest as well as the saddest years of his +life were to be spent. The Monastery contained the first public library +established in Italy, which was kept in excellent order by the monks.</p> + +<p>Savonarola was half intoxicated with joy during his first days in +Florence. He was charmed by the soft lines of the Tuscan hills and the +beauty of the Tuscan speech. Lorenzo the Magnificent had been ruling +Florence for many years and was then at the climacteric of his fame. Under +his sway everything appeared to prosper. Enemies had been imprisoned or +banished, and factions had ceased to distract the city. Lorenzo's shameless +licentiousness was condoned by reason of his brilliancy, his patronage of +art and literature, and his lavish public entertainments.</p> + +<p>Greek scholars, driven westward by the fall of Constantinople, sought +refuge at the Florentine court. The fine arts flourished and a Platonic +Academy was established. It was even proposed that the Pope should canonise +Plato as a saint. In fact that period witnessed the inauguration of modern +culture.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--1481-1490</i></h3> + + +<p>After the first few days in Florence, Savonarola again began to +experience the feeling of isolation. For he speedily detected the unbelief +and frivolity under the surface of the intellectual culture of the people. +Even in St. Mark's Monastery there was no real religion. Savonarola was +soon invited to preach the Lenten sermons in St. Lorenzo. His discourses +produced no special effect, for the Florentines preferred preachers who +indulged in Pagan quotations and rhetorical elegancies rather than in +expatiating in the precepts of Christianity. But a stirring event was at +hand.</p> + +<p>Savonarola was sent by his superiors to Reggio to attend a Chapter of +the Dominicans. During the discussion he was suddenly impelled to rise to +his feet and to plunge into a powerful declamation against the corruptions +of the Church and the clergy which transfixed his hearers with +astonishment. This outburst was a revelation of his extraordinary powers. +It instantly secured his fame and from that moment many sought his +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Savonarola's mind from that moment became strangely excited and it is +not surprising that he should have seen many visions. He on one occasion +saw the heavens open. A panorama of the calamities of the Church passed +before him and he heard a voice charging him to proclaim them to the +people. In that year, 1484, Pope Sixtus died. The election of his +successor, Innocent VIII. destroyed the hopes of honest men. For the new +Pope no longer disguised his children under the appellation of nephews, but +openly acknowledged them as his sons, conferring on them the title of +princes.</p> + +<p>We may imagine the storms of emotion excited in the soul of Savonarola. +Fortunately, he was sent to preach Lenten sermons at San Gimignano, the +"City of the Grey Towers" in the Siennese hills. Here he found his true +vocation. His words flowed freely and were eloquent and effective. Next he +was sent to Brescia, where his predictions of coming terrors and his +exhortations to repentance produced a profound impression. During the sack +of that same city in 1512 by the fierce soldiers of Gaston de Foix, when +6,000 citizens were slain, the stricken people vividly remembered the +Apocalyptic denunciations and predictions of the preacher from Ferrara.</p> + +<p>Through the wonderful success of these Lenten sermons the name of +Savonarola became known throughout Italy, and he no longer felt uncertain +as to his proper mission. Yet, the more popular he became the greater was +his humility and the more ardent was his devotion to prayer. He seemed when +engaged in prayer frequently to lapse into a trance, and tradition even +alleges that at such times a bright halo was seen to encircle his head.</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--1491</i></h3> + + +<p>Returning to Florence, Savonarola by his Lenten sermons in 1491 drew +immense crowds to the Duomo. From that moment he became the paramount power +in the pulpit. His vivid imagery and his predictions of coming troubles +seemed to produce a magical effect on the minds of the people. But this +growing influence was a source of considerable vexation to Lorenzo de' +Medici and his friends. Savonarola vehemently denounced the greed of the +clergy and their neglect of spiritual life for the sake of mere external +ceremonialism, and he with equal insistence inveighed against the +corruption of public manners. As Lorenzo was already considered a tyrant by +many of the citizens, and as he was universally charged with having +corrupted the magistrates and appropriated the public and private funds, it +was generally inferred that Savonarola had had the audacity to make +allusion to him.</p> + +<p>This only enhanced the Friar's reputation and in July, 1491, he was +elected Prior of St. Mark's. The office made him both more prominent than +before and also more independent. He showed this to be the case by at once +refusing to go according to custom to do homage to the Magnificent, +declaring that he owed his election to God alone, and to God only would he +vow obedience. Lorenzo was deeply offended, yet he judged it discreet +rather to win the new Prior over by kindness than to wage war with him.</p> + +<p>The Seignior only deepened Savonarola's contempt by sending rich gifts +to the convent and by sending five of the chief citizens to him in order to +induce him to modify the strain of his preaching. The gifts were +immediately distributed among the poor, and Savonarola in a pulpit allusion +observed that a faithful dog does not cease barking in his master's defence +because a bone is flung him. To the five citizens, who hinted to the Prior +that he might be sent into exile, he replied that they should bid Lorenzo +do penance for his sins, for God was no respecter of persons and did not +spare the princes of the earth.</p> + +<p>Wonderful was the effect of Savonarola's preaching on the corrupt and +pagan society of Florence. His natural, spontaneous, heart-stirring +eloquence, with its exalted imagery and outbursts of righteous indignation, +was entirely unprecedented in that era of pedantry and simulation of the +classic and heathen oratory. The scholastic jargon indulged in by the +preachers of the time was utterly unintelligible to the common people. +Savonarola's voice was the only one that addressed the multitude in +familiar and fascinating tones and in an accent that evinced true affection +for the people. They knew that he alone fought for truth and was fervently +devoted to goodness. Thus he was the one truly eloquent preacher of the +time, who restored pulpit preaching to its pristine honour, and he well +deserves to be styled the first orator of modern times.</p> + + +<h3><i>V.--1492-1494</i></h3> + + +<p>A wasting disease from which Lorenzo suffered had by the beginning of +April, 1492, made such inroads as to end all hopes of his recovery. The +Magnificent turned his thoughts to religion and suddenly asked to confess +to Savonarola. Though astonished at the request, the Prior acceded to it +and found Lorenzo in great agitation, which he sought to calm by reminding +the sick man of the goodness and mercy of God.</p> + +<p>A painful scene ensued. Savonarola added that three things were needful. +First, a living faith in God's mercy. Secondly, Lorenzo must restore all +his ill-gotten wealth, or at least command his sons to do it in his name. +Lastly, he must restore liberty to the people of Florence. The sick man, +collecting all his remaining strength, angrily turned his back on his +Confessor, who at once left his presence. On April 8, 1492, the +Magnificent, in an agony of remorse, breathed his last. On July 25 of the +same year Pope Innocent VIII. expired.</p> + +<p>The next Pope, Alexander VI., was notorious for his avarice and his +profligacy. The announcement of his elevation to the papal chair was +received throughout Italy with dismay. The worst apprehensions were soon +fulfilled, for the Pope proved to be guilty of shocking extortion, the +object of which was to provide more lavishly for his dissolute +children.</p> + +<p>This deplorable state of things caused men to look wistfully to +Savonarola. The times he had foretold seemed to be at hand, and the +excitement was intensified by two visions which he declared had been +manifested to him as celestial revelations. He had seen a sword in the sky +and had heard voices proclaiming mercy to the righteous and retribution to +the wicked.</p> + +<p>In the other vision a black cross hung over the city of Rome, stretching +its arms over the whole earth. On it was written, "The Cross of God's +wrath." But from Jerusalem rose a golden cross, inscribed, "The Cross of +God's compassion." Discontent was growing in Florence. The insolence and +the rapacity of Pietro de' Medici increased. In the autumn of that year +Savonarola delivered a famous course of sermons on Noah's Ark, warning all +to take refuge from the coming flood in the mystical Ark of mercy. The +flood came indeed, for suddenly all Florence was startled as if by a +thunderclap by the news that a foreign army was pouring over the Alps for +the conquest of Italy. The terror was overwhelming. Italy was unprepared, +for the princes had no efficient armies for resistance.</p> + +<p>The invader was the new King of France, the young and adventurous +Charles VIII. His army was a model to all Europe in the art of war. It +possessed weapons of the latest invention and its main strength lay in its +splendid infantry. Florence was entered without a blow, and King Charles +demanded as a ransom a far larger sum than the Republic could pay. He +remained day after day in the city, showing no inclination to depart. Then +was manifested a proof of the wonderful influence of Savonarola's +personality.</p> + +<p>The Prior being earnestly entreated by the citizens to ask the French +king to depart, he readily undertook the mission and presented himself to +Charles, who, surrounded by his barons, received him cordially and listened +graciously to his proposal. Savonarola admonished him not to bring ruin on +the city and the anger of the Lord on himself.</p> + +<p>The Prior's overtures were completely successful, for on November 28, +the king departed with his army. And now all was changed in Florence. The +partisans of the Medici had vanished magically and Savonarola ruled the +city at the head of the popular party. He speedily proposed a new form of +government suggesting as the best model, a Grand Council like that of +Venice. The new Government was formed of a Grand Council and a Council of +Eighty answering to an Assembly of the People and a Senate. All the +proposals of the Prior were adopted, and laws were framed almost in his own +words.</p> + + +<h3><i>VI.--1495-1497</i></h3> + + +<p>Germs of civil discord were not lacking, and these soon developed so as +to divide Florence into factions, the two chief of these being the Whites, +who were favourable to popular liberty, and the Greys, who were adherents +of the Medici. The latter were dangerous and treacherous enemies of +Savonarola and of the Republic. For a time the Prior's preaching confounded +his foes, for it completely changed the aspect of the city. The women cast +off their jewels and dressed simply; young profligates were transformed +into sober, religious men, the churches were filled with people at prayer, +and the Bible was diligently read.</p> + +<p>Now came danger from without. The departure of the French had endangered +the security of Florence. The Pope and Venice desired the reinstatement of +the fallen tyrant Pietro de' Medici, and he prepared to attack the city. +But he was foiled by the energy to which the Prior roused the Florentines +for measures of defence. Meantime, Savonarola once more displayed his noble +independence by spurning the offer on the part of the Pope of a Cardinal's +hat. And terrible in their vehemence and audacity were his denunciations +against the vices of Rome, delivered in his Lenten sermons of 1496.</p> + +<p>In his usual strain, but with increasing power, Savonarola graphically +and vividly described the woes of Italy, as though he were gifted with +prophetic vision. One of his sermons was interdicted by the Pope, but the +preacher modified nothing and defied the Vatican. And now, while the +enthusiasm of his followers was developing into fanaticism, the hatred of +his enemies was approaching a climax, and the war was waxing furious.</p> + +<p>The fame of this marvellous preacher was now extending throughout the +world by means of his printed sermons. Even the Sultan of Turkey commanded +them to be translated into Turkish for his own study. Of course the +individual aim of Savonarola was simply to be the regenerator of religion. +The Florentines, however, adulated him as the real founder of the free +Republic. Hence they displayed immense ardour in defending him against the +Pope, seeing that thus they were upholding their own freedom, because the +Pope was aiming at reinstating the Medici in Florence.</p> + +<p>The Pope had hoped that the Prior would moderate his tone, but this was +only more aggressive than ever, and threatening messages arrived from the +Vatican. Attempts by his friends, some of them of high and influential +position, to defend him, only the more enraged Pope Alexander Borgia. He +summoned a consistory of fourteen Dominican theologians who were ordered to +investigate Savonarola's conduct and doctrine. The strange issue was he was +charged with having been the cause of all the misfortunes that had befallen +Pietro de' Medici.</p> + +<p>After Lent the Prior went to preach a course of sermons at Prato, and on +his return to Florence he delivered a sermon in the Hall of the Greater +Council in the presence of all the magistrates and leading citizens of the +city, in which he openly and courageously defied all the wrath of Alexander +Borgia. Then he once more set himself to the work of serving the Republic, +though, as the sequel shows, he was fated to meet with a base reward.</p> + +<p>Commerce and industry had been paralysed in Florence by the incessant +commotions of past years. The immense sums paid to the French king had +together with sums spent on war drained the public resources and lowered +the credit of the Republic. And now famine was threatened, for the people +in the rural districts were pinched with hunger. The starving peasantry +began to flock in great numbers into the city, so that the misery +increased. Terror was occasioned by a few cases of death from plague. +Florence was at war with Pisa, but without success, for many of her +mercenary soldiers were deserting and the forces besieging Pisa were +dwindling for lack of supplies.</p> + +<p>Fresh adversities were in store for the Florentines. Though the rumours +of a second invasion of Italy by King Charles proved unfounded, for he +renounced all idea of returning, new enemies arose. The Emperor Maximilian +was marching towards the frontier, and the Pope felt encouraged to enter +into open war with the Florentines. His forces and the troops from Sienna +actually attempted an incursion into the territories of the Republic, but +they suffered repeated repulses, and at length were put to flight. But this +conflict weakened still more the forces before Pisa, at which city +Maximilian arrived with 1,000 foot soldiers, receiving a cordial welcome +from the Pisans.</p> + +<p>The Florentines did not quail before the storm. Their courage never +failed. They collected fresh stores and sent abundant provisions to the +camp. But the hatred of the Pope grew more intense, especially against +Savonarola, who, however, had not returned to the pulpit, being actuated by +a wish not to accentuate the situation. For the general misery in Florence +daily increased and the plague was extending its ravages. The hospitals +were full. And the faction against Savonarola, named the Arrabbiati, seemed +positively to regard the distress with glee, for these fanatics went about +crying aloud, "At last we can all perceive how we have been deceived! This +is the happiness that the Friar predicted for Florence!" Moreover they +proclaimed that now was the time to overthrow the Government.</p> + +<p>But the Seigniory entreated Savonarola to come forth again from his +retirement. He entered the pulpit on October 28, but only to look on people +whose faces were marked by distress and terror. Yet his sermons +administered such comfort to the citizens who in the majority still adhered +to him, though the Arrabbiati mocked at his words. Temporary relief was at +hand, for suddenly, as if by a miracle, ships arrived from Marseilles +bringing long-expected reinforcements and supplies of corn. The people were +frantic with joy and solemn thanksgivings were offered in the churches.</p> + +<p>The Pope was now designing measures to entrap the Prior. A new +Vicar-General was appointed with power which would invest him with such +authority over Savonarola that the latter would lose his independence. But +he displayed no disposition to yield to Rome. On the contrary, he delivered +in the Duomo those eight magnificent, fearless, and immortal sermons which +intensified the bitter struggle with Rome, while for the time being they +made the great Reformer's name and authority again ascendant, and rendered +the popular party once more master of the situation, notwithstanding the +strategy of the Pope and the machinations of the factions.</p> + + +<h3><i>VII.--1497-1498</i></h3> + + +<p>During Lent, 1497, Savonarola continued his course of sermons on +Ezekiel, and in these discourses he said much that bore on the conflict +with Rome, now daily growing more virulent. He inveighed against the +temporal wealth of the Church and launched many accusations against Rome. +The impression produced was the deeper because of the general presentiment +in men's minds of the coming uprising of Christendom against the +abominations of Rome.</p> + +<p>Savonarola now daily expected to be excommunicated and he was determined +to defy the Pope. The plague increased in Florence and the Seigniory +prohibited preaching in the churches for a time, but Savonarola persisted +in preaching on Ascension Day. The factions were infuriated. They denied +the pulpit with filth and draped it with the skin of an ass, and threatened +the life of the Prior. His friends implored him not to preach at the risk +of his life. He refused to yield, but a fearful riot took place in the +church which was talked of through all Italy.</p> + +<p>The storm was now gathering. The fury of the factions increased, as also +did the wrath of the Pope. At length, on May 13, the excommunicatory brief +was despatched from Rome, directed against a "certain Fra Girolamo +Savonarola who had disseminated pernicious doctrines to the scandal and +grief of simple souls." The event threw all Florence into confusion. The +Arrabbiati were triumphant. But the city was filled with lamentation and +disorder. The rabble rejoiced. The churches were quickly deserted; the +taverns were filled; immorality returned as if magically; and again women +attired in dazzling finery paraded the streets. In less than a month, so +rapid was the transformation, Florence seemed to have relapsed into the +days of the Magnificent, and piety and patriotism were alike forgotten.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the Prior was calm and composed and took measures for his +defence. He wrote an Epistle against surreptitious excommunication, +addressed to all Christians beloved of God. He followed it by a second +letter, also breathing courage and defiance. A conflict ensued. The +Arrabbiati sent accusations against the Prior to Rome, while the Seigniory +sought to vindicate him, most of the members, newly elected, being his +friends. The plague grew so terrible that on some days there were a hundred +deaths. In the autumn it abated, and gradually disappeared. Savonarola's +energy in fighting the pestilence was unwearied throughout.</p> + +<p>The Prior soon commenced to preach again. On Christmas Day he put an end +to all suspense as to his policy by thrice performing high mass, afterwards +leading his monks in solemn procession through St. Mark's Square. He +continued to issue new tracts and to preach regularly. But on February 26 +the Pope announced that Savonarola's preaching should be tolerated no +longer. The Prior was conscious that the end was near. His last sermon was +delivered, after he had preached in Florence for eight years, on March 18, +1498. His adherents were terrified, and seemed to vanish.</p> + +<p>On April 8, Palm Sunday, the Arrabbiati attacked St. Mark's Convent. +Savonarola was seized and bound by a brutal rabble, and he and two of his +monks were lodged in prison. Cruel proceedings followed. For a whole month +he was brought day after day to examination and he was repeatedly subjected +to torture. The Pope's Commissioners were never able to extract from him +any confession of guilt. Savonarola was from first to last unflinchingly +consistent with himself.</p> + +<p>On May 22 sentence of death was passed on Savonarola, on Fra Silvestro, +and on Fra Domenico. They prepared to face death firmly and well. The +tragedy was enacted next morning. Three platforms had been erected on the +steps of the Ringhiera, on which sat the Bishop of Vasona, the Apostolic +Commissioners, and the Gonfaliero with the Council of Eight. On a gibbet in +the form of a cross hung three chains, and combustibles were piled beneath. +Sad and solemn was the silence of the vast throng assembled in the Piazza, +excepting where members of the factions were raging like wild beasts and +venting indecent blasphemies.</p> + +<p>The three friars were publicly stripped of their monkish robes and +degraded. Tranquilly they mounted the scaffold, the dregs of the populace +assailing them with vile words. But silence reigned at the moment of the +execution. As soon as life was extinct the flames were kindled beneath the +bodies of the three victims. The tragic and awful spectacle elicited bitter +grief amongst the people on the one side, while cries of wild exultation +were raised on the other.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JOHN_WESLEY"></a>JOHN WESLEY</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Journal1"></a>Journal</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> John Wesley, who was born June 17, 1703, at Epworth, and +who died in London March 2, 1791, was the son of a Lincolnshire rector. His +history covers practically the whole of the eighteenth century, of which he +was one of the most typical personalities, as he was certainly the most +strenuous figure. His career was absolutely without parallel, for John +Wesley, as an itinerating clergyman, and as the propagator of that mission +of Methodism which he founded, travelled on his preaching tours for forty +years, mostly on horseback. He paid more turnpike fees than any man that +ever bestrode a horse, and 8,000 miles constituted his annual record for +many a year, during each of which he preached on the average 5,000 times. +John Wesley received a classical education at Charterhouse and Christ +Church, Oxford, and all through his wonderful life of endurance and +adventure, of devotion and consecration, remained a scholar and a +gentleman. His "Journal" is valuable for its pictures of the England of his +day, as well as for his own simple and unpretending record of his +experiences. Wesley made religion his business and incorporated it into the +national life. Of him Mr. Augustine Birrell says:--"No man lived nearer the +centre than John Wesley. Neither Clive nor Pitt, neither Mansfield nor +Johnson. You cannot cut him out of our national life. No single figure +influenced so many minds, no single voice touched so many hearts. No other +man did such a life's work for England." </p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>The Holy Club</i></h3> + + +<p>In November 1729, at which time I came to reside at Oxford, Mr. Morgan, +my brother, myself, and one more, agreed to spend three or four evenings in +a week together. Our design was to read over the classics, which we had +before read in private, on common nights, and on Sunday some book in +divinity. In the summer following, Mr. M. told me he had called at the +gaol, to see a man who was condemned for killing his wife; and that, from +the talk he had with one of the debtors, he verily believed it would do +much good, if any one would be at the pains of now and then speaking with +them.</p> + +<p>This he so frequently repeated, that on August 24, 1730, my brother and +I walked with him to the castle. We were so well satisfied with our +conversation there, that we agreed to go thither once or twice a week; +which we had not done long, before he desired me to go with him to see a +poor sick woman in the town.</p> + +<p>I next proposed to Mr. Gerard, the Bishop of Oxford's chaplain, who took +care of any prisoners condemned to die, that I intended to preach in the +prison once a month, if the bishop approved. Our design was approved and +permission was granted. Soon after a gentleman of Merton College, who was +one of our little company, now consisting of five persons, acquainted us +that he had been much rallied the day before for being a member of the Holy +Club, and that it was become a common topic of mirth at his college, where +they had found out several of our customs, to which we were ourselves utter +strangers.</p> + +<p>I corresponded with my father, and from him received encouragement, so +that we still continued to meet as usual, and to do what service we could +to the prisoners, and to two or three poor families in the town.</p> + + +<h3><i>A Missioner to Georgia</i></h3> + + +<p>1735. Oct. 14. Mr. Benjamin Ingham, of Queen's College, Oxford; Mr. +Charles Delamotte, son of a London merchant, my brother Charles, and +myself, took boat for Gravesend, in order to embark for Georgia. Our end in +leaving our country was singly this, to save our souls; to live wholly to +the glory of God. In the afternoon we found the "Simmonds" off Gravesend, +and immediately went on board.</p> + +<p>Oct. 17. I began to learn German, in order to converse with the 26 +Germans on board. On Sunday I preached extempore and then administered the +Lord's supper to seven communicants.</p> + +<p>Oct. 20. Believing the denying ourselves might be helpful, we wholly +left off the use of flesh and wine, and confined ourselves to vegetable +food, chiefly rice and biscuit.</p> + +<p>1736. Feb. 5. After a passage in which storms were frequent, between two +and three in the afternoon, God brought us all safe into the Savannah +river. We cast anchor near Tybee Island, where the groves of pines along +the shore made an agreeable prospect, showing, as it were, the bloom of +spring in the depth of winter.</p> + +<p>Sunday, March 7. I entered upon my ministry at Savannah. I do here bear +witness against myself, that when I saw the number of people crowding into +the church, the deep attention with which they received the word, and the +seriousness that sat on all their faces, I could hardly believe that the +greater part of them would hereafter trample under foot that word, and say +all manner of evil falsely against him that spake it.</p> + +<p>March 30. Mr. Delamotte and I began to try, whether life might not be as +well sustained by one sort as by a variety of food. We chose to make the +experiment with bread, and were never more vigorous and healthy than while +we tasted nothing else.</p> + +<p>June 30. I hoped a door was opened for my main design, which was to +preach the gospel to the Indians, and I purposed to go immediately to the +Choctaws, the least polished, that is, the least corrupted of the tribes. +On my informing Lieutenant-Governor Oglethorpe of our wish, he objected, +alleging not only danger from the French, but also the inexpediency of +leaving Savannah without a minister. These objections I related to our +brethren, who were all of opinion, "We ought not to go yet."</p> + + +<h3><i>Warrant for Wesley's Arrest</i></h3> + + +<p>July 3. Preaching at Charlestown, immediately after communion I +mentioned to Mrs. Williamson (Mr. Causton's niece) some things I thought +reprovable in her behaviour. At this she appeared extremely angry.</p> + +<p>Aug. 7. I repelled Mrs. Williamson from the holy communion. And next day +Mr. Recorder, of Savannah, issued out a warrant for my arrest. Mr. Jones, +the constable, served the warrant, and carried me before Mr. Bailiff Parker +and Mr. Recorder. I was told that I must appear at the next court. Mr. +Causton came to my house and declared that the affront had been offered to +him; that he espoused the cause of his niece; that he was ill-used, and +that he would have satisfaction if it was to be had in this world.</p> + +<p>To many persons Mr. Causton declared that "Mr. Wesley had repelled Sophy +from holy communion purely out of revenge, because he had made proposals of +marriage to her which she had rejected, and married Mr. Williamson." But +when the case came on the grand jury, having heard the charge, declared +themselves thoroughly persuaded that it was an artifice of Mr. Causton's +designed "rather to blacken the character of Mr. Wesley, than to free the +colony from religious tyranny, as he had been pleased to term it."</p> + +<p>Oct. 7. I consulted my friends whether God did not call me to return to +England. I had found no possibility of instructing the Indians. They were +unanimous that I ought to go, but not yet. But subsequently they agreed +with me that the time was come.</p> + + +<h3><i>In London Again</i></h3> + + +<p>1738. Feb. 1. Landed at Deal. It is now two years and almost four months +since I left my native country. After reading prayers and explaining a +portion of Scripture to a large company at the inn, I left Deal, and came +in the evening to Feversham. I here read prayers and explained the second +lesson to a few of those who were called Christians, but were indeed more +savage in their behaviour than the wildest Indians I have yet met with.</p> + +<p>Feb. 26. Sunday. I preached at six in the morning at St. Lawrence's, +London; at ten, in St. Catherine Cree's; and in the afternoon at St. +John's, Wapping. I believe it pleased God to bless the first sermon most, +because it gave most offence.</p> + +<p>March 4. I found my brother at Oxford, and with him Peter Böhler; +by whom, in the great hand of God, I was, on Sunday, the 5th, clearly +convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are +saved. Immediately it struck into my mind, "Leave off preaching. How can +you preach to others who have not faith yourself?" I asked Böhler +whether he thought I should leave it off or not. He answered, "By no +means." I asked, "But what can I preach?" He said, "Preach faith till you +have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith."</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Monday, 6, I began preaching this new doctrine, though my +soul started back from the work. The first person to whom I offered +salvation through faith alone, was a prisoner under sentence of death.</p> + +<p>On Tuesday 25, I spoke clearly and fully at Blendon to Mr. Delamotte's +family of the nature and fruits of faith. Mr. Broughton and my brother were +there. Mr. Broughton's great objection was, he could never think that I had +not faith, who had done and suffered such things. My brother was very +angry, and told me I did not know what mischief I had done by talking thus. +And, indeed, it did please God to kindle a fire which I trust shall never +be extinguished.</p> + +<p>On May 1 our little society began, which afterwards met in Fetter Lane. +May 3. My brother had a long and particular conversation with Peter +Böhler. And it now pleased God to open his eyes; so that he also saw +clearly what was the nature of that one true living faith, thereby alone, +"through grace we are saved."</p> + +<p>Sunday 7. I preached at St. Lawrence's in the morning; and afterwards at +St. Catherine Cree's. I was enabled to speak strong words at both; and was +therefore the less surprised at being informed I was not to preach any more +in either of those churches. I was likewise after preaching the next Sunday +at St. Ann's, Aldersgate, and the following Sunday at St. John's, Wapping +and at St. Bennett's, Paul's Wharf, that at these churches I must preach no +more.</p> + +<p>1739. March 28. A letter from Mr. Whitefield, and another from Mr. +Seward, pressed me to come to Bristol. I reached Bristol March 31 and met +Mr. Whitefield there. I could scarcely at first reconcile myself to the +strange way of preaching in the fields, of which he set me the example, for +all my life I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it +had not been done in a church; but I now proclaimed in the highways the +glad tidings of salvation speaking in the open air to about three thousand +people.</p> + +<p>May 9. We took possession of a piece of ground in the Horse Fair, +Bristol, where it was designed to build a room large enough to contain both +the societies of Nicholas and Baldwin Street; and on May 12 the first stone +was laid with thanksgiving. The responsibility of payment I took entirely +on myself. Money I had not, it is true, nor any human prospect of procuring +it; but I knew "the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."</p> + + +<h3><i>Beau Nash Argues with Wesley</i></h3> + + +<p>June 5. There was great expectation at Bath of what a noted man was to +do to me there. Many appeared surprised and were sinking apace into +seriousness when their champion came up to me and asked by what authority I +did these things. I replied, "By the authority of Jesus Christ, conveyed to +me by the Archbishop of Canterbury, when he laid his hands on me." He said, +"This is contrary to the Act of Parliament; this is a conventicle. Besides, +your preaching frightens people out of their wits."</p> + +<p>"Give me leave, Sir, to ask, is not your name Nash?" "My name is Nash." +An old woman said to him, "You, Mr. Nash, take care of your body; we take +care of our souls; and for the food of our souls we come here." He replied +not a word, but walked away.</p> + + +<h3><i>"All the World My Parish"</i></h3> + + +<p>All this time I had many thoughts concerning my manner of ministering; +but after frequently laying it before the Lord, I could not but adhere to +what I had some time since written to a friend--"I look on all the world as +my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part I am of it, I judge it +meet to declare to all who are willing to hear, the glad tidings of +salvation."</p> + +<p>June 14. I went with Mr. Whitefield to Blackheath, where were, I +believe, 12,000 people. He a little surprised me by desiring me to preach +in his stead; and I was greatly moved with compassion for the rich that +were there, to whom I made a particular application. Some of them seemed to +attend, while others drove away their coaches from so uncouth a +preacher.</p> + +<p>Sunday 24. As I was riding to Rose Green, near Bristol, my horse +suddenly pitched on his head, and rolled over and over. I received no other +hurt than a little bruise on my side; which for the present I felt not, but +preached without pain to seven thousand people.</p> + +<p>Sept. 16. I preached at Moorfields to about ten thousand, and at +Kennington Common to near twenty thousand. At both places I described the +real difference between what is generally called Christianity and the real +old Christianity, which under the new name of Methodism is now everywhere +spoken against.</p> + + +<h3><i>The Colliers of Kingswood</i></h3> + + +<p>Nov. 27. Few persons have lived in the west of England who have not +heard of the colliers of Kingswood, famous for neither regarding God nor +man. The scene is changed. Kingswood does not now, as a year ago, resound +with cursing and blasphemy. Peace and love reign there since the preaching +of the Gospel in the spring. Great numbers of the people are gentle, mild, +and easy to be entreated.</p> + +<p>1745. July 3. At Gwennap, in Cornwall, I was seized for a soldier. As I +was reading my text a man rode up and cried "Seize the preacher for his +Majesty's service." As the people would not do it, he leaped off his horse, +and caught hold of my cassock, crying, "I take you to serve his Majesty." +He walked off with me and talked with me for some time, but then let me +go.</p> + + +<h3><i>In Ireland</i></h3> + + +<p>1748. April 9. I preached in Connaught, a few miles from Athlone. Many +heard, but, I doubt, felt nothing. The Shannon comes within a mile of the +house where I preached. I think there is not such another river in Europe. +It is here ten miles wide, though only thirty miles from its source. There +are many islands in it, once well inhabited, but now mostly desolate. In +almost every one is a ruined church; in one, the remains of no fewer than +seven.</p> + +<p>1750. May 21. At Bandon the mob burnt me in effigy. Yet, though Dr. B. +tried to stir up the people against me more and more, and a clergyman, said +to be in drink, opposed me, and some young gentlemen came on the scene with +pistols in their hands, I was enabled to preach. God gave me great peace in +Bandon, in spite of these efforts against me.</p> + +<p>May 31. I rode to Rathcormuck. There being a great burying in the +afternoon, to which people came from all parts, I preached after Mr. Lloyd +had read the service. I was exceedingly shocked at (what I had only heard +of before) the Irish howl which followed. It was not a song, as I supposed, +but a dismal, inarticulate yell, set up at the grave by four shrill-voiced +women, hired for the purpose. But I saw not one that shed a tear; for that, +it seems, was not in their bargain.</p> + + +<h3><i>Clothing French Prisoners</i></h3> + + +<p>1759. Oct. 1. At Bristol. I had ridden in about seven months not less +than 2,400 miles. On Monday, Oct. 15, I went to Knowle, a mile from +Bristol, to see the French prisoners. About 1,100 were there confined, with +only a little dirty straw to lie on, so that they died like rotten sheep. I +was much affected, and after I had preached the sum of £18 was +contributed immediately, which next day we made up to £24. With this +we bought linen and woollen cloth, and this was made up into clothing for +the prisoners. Presently after, the Corporation of Bristol sent a large +quantity of mattresses and blankets. And it was not long before +contributions were set on foot in London, and other parts of the country; +so that I believe that from this time they were pretty well provided with +the necessaries of life.</p> + + +<h3><i>Gwennap's Famous Amphitheatre</i></h3> + + +<p>1766. Sept. 14. I preached in the natural amphitheatre at Gwennap; far +the finest I know in the kingdom. It is a round, green hollow, gently +shelving down, about 50 feet deep; but I suppose it is 200 feet across one +way, and nearly 300 the other. I believe there were full 20,000 people; +and, the evening being calm, all could hear.</p> + +<p>1770. April 21. I rode slowly on this and the following days through +Staffordshire and Cheshire to Manchester. In this journey, as well as in +many others, I observed a mistake that almost universally prevails; and I +desire all travellers to take good notice of it, which may save them from +both trouble and danger. Near 30 years ago I was thinking, "How is it that +no horse ever stumbles while I am reading?" (History, poetry, and +philosophy I commonly read on horseback, having other employment at other +times.) No account can possibly be given but this: because then I throw the +reins on his neck. I then set myself to observe; and I aver, that in riding +above 100,000 miles I scarce ever remember my horse (except two, that would +fall head over heels anyway) to fall, or make a considerable stumble, while +I rode with a slack rein. To fancy, therefore, that a tight rein prevents +stumbling, is a capital blunder.</p> + +<p>1771. Jan. 23. For what cause I know not to this day, my wife set out +for Newcastle, purposing "never to return." <i>Non eam reliqui: non dimisi: +non revocabo.</i> (I did not desert her: I did not send her away: I will +not recall her.)</p> + + +<h3><i>The American War</i></h3> + + +<p>1775. In November I published the following letter in Lloyd's "Evening +Post":</p> + +<p>"Sir--I have been seriously asked from what motive I published my +<i>Calm Address to the American Colonies</i>? I seriously answer, Not to +get money; not to get preferment; not to please any man living; least of +all to inflame any; just the contrary. I contributed my mite towards +putting out the flame that rages. This I have more opportunity to see than +any man in England. I see with pain to what a height this already rises, in +every part of the nation. And I see many pouring oil into the flame, by +crying out, 'How unjustly, how cruelly, the King is using the poor +Americans; who are only contending for their liberty, and for their legal +privileges.'</p> + +<p>"Now there is no possible way to put out this flame, or hinder its +rising higher and higher, but to show that the Americans are not used +either cruelly or unjustly; that they are not injured at all, seeing they +are not contending for liberty (this they had, even in its full extent, +both civil and religious); neither for any legal privileges; for they enjoy +all that their charters grant. But what they contend for is, the illegal +privilege of being exempt from parliamentary taxation. A privilege this, +which no charter ever gave to any American colony yet; which no charter can +give, unless it be confirmed both by King, Lords, and Commons; which in +fact our Colonies never had; which they never claimed till the present +reign; and probably they would not have claimed now, had they not been +incited thereto by letters from England. One of these was read, according +to the desire of the writer, not only at the Continental Congress but +likewise in many congregations throughout the Combined Provinces. It +advised them to seize upon all the King's officers; and exhorted them, +'Stand valiantly, only for six months, and in that time there will be such +commotions in England that you may have your own terms.' This being the +real state of the question, without any colouring or exaggeration, what +impartial man can either blame the King, or commend the Americans? With +this view, to quench the fire, by laying the blame where it was due, the +'Calm Address' was written.</p> + +<p>Your humble servant,</p> + +<p>JOHN WESLEY."</p> + + +<h3><i>City Road Chapel Begun</i></h3> + + +<p>1777. April 21. The day appointed for laying the foundation of the new +chapel. The rain befriended us much, by keeping away thousands who proposed +to be there. But there were still such multitudes, that it was with great +difficulty I got through them, to lay the first stone. Upon this was a +plate of brass (covered with another stone) on which was engraved, "This +was laid by Mr. John Wesley, on April 21, 1777." Probably this will be seen +no more, by any human eye; but will remain there, till the earth and the +works thereof are burned up.</p> + +<p>1778. Dec. 17. Having been many times desired, for near forty years, to +publish a magazine, I at length complied, and now began to collect +materials for it. If it once begin, I incline to think it will not end but +with my life. Just at this time there was a combination among many of the +postchaise drivers on the Bath road, especially those that drove in the +night, to deliver their passengers into each other's hands. One driver +stopped at the spot they had appointed, when another waited to attack the +chaise. In consequence of this many were robbed; but I had a good Protector +still. I have travelled all roads, by day and by night, for these forty +years, and never was interrupted yet.</p> + +<p>June 28. I am this day 75 years old; and I do not find myself, blessed +be God, any weaker than I was at 25. This also hath God wrought.</p> + + +<h3><i>Attended by Felons</i></h3> + + +<p>1779. July 21. When I came to Coventry, I found notice had been given +for my preaching in the park; but the heavy rain prevented. I sent to the +Mayor, desiring the use of the town-hall. He refused; but the same day gave +the use of it to a dancing-master. I then went to the women's market. Many +soon gathered together and listened with all seriousness. I preached there +again the next morning, and again in the evening. Then I took coach for +London. I was nobly attended: behind the coach were ten convicted felons, +loudly blaspheming and rattling their chains; by my side sat a man with a +loaded blunderbuss, and another upon the coach.</p> + +<p>1780. May 20. In Scotland. I took one more walk through Holyrood House, +the mansion of ancient kings. But how melancholy an appearance does it make +now! The stately rooms are dirty as stables; the colours of the tapestry +are quite faded; several of the pictures are cut and defaced. The roof of +the royal chapel is fallen in; and the bones of James V., and the once +beautiful Lord Dankley, are scattered about like those of sheep or oxen. +Such is human greatness. Is not "a living dog better than a dead lion?"</p> + +<p>1782. May 14. Some years ago four factories were set up at Epworth. In +these a large number of young women and boys and girls were employed. The +whole conversation of these was profane and loose to the last degree. But +some of them stumbling in at the prayermeeting were suddenly cut to the +heart. These never rested till they had gained their companions. The whole +scene was changed. In three of the factories no more lewdness was found: +for God had put a new song in their mouth, and blasphemies were turned to +praise. Those three I visited to-day, and found religion had taken deep +root in them. No trifling word was heard among them, and they watch over +each other in love.</p> + + +<h3><i>Enters His 80th Year</i></h3> + + +<p>June 26. I preached at Thirsk; 27, at York. Friday, 28, I entered my +80th year; but, blessed be God, my strength is not "labour and sorrow." I +find no more pain or bodily infirmities than at 25. This I still impute, 1. +To the power of God, fitting me for what He calls me to. 2. To my still +travelling four or five thousand miles a year. 3. To my still sleeping, +night or day, whenever I want it. 4. To my rising at a set hour. And 5. To +my constant preaching, particularly in the morning.</p> + +<p>1783. Dec. 18. I spent two hours with that great man, Dr. Johnson, who +is sinking into the grave by a gentle decay.</p> + +<p>1784. June 28 (Epworth). To-day I entered on my 82nd year, and found +myself just as strong to labour, and as fit for any exercise of body and +mind, as I was 40 years ago. I am as strong at 81 as I was at 21; but +abundantly more healthy, being a stranger to the headache, toothache, and +other bodily disorders which attended me in my youth.</p> + +<p>1785. Jan. 25. I spent two or three hours in the House of Lords. I had +frequently heard that this was the most venerable assembly in England. But +how I was disappointed! What is a lord, but a sinner, born to die!</p> + +<p>1786. Jan. 24. I was desired to go and hear the King deliver his speech +in the House of Lords. But how agreeably I was surprised. He pronounced +every word with exact propriety. I doubt whether there be any other King in +Europe, that is so just and natural a speaker.</p> + + +<h3><i>His 86th Christmas</i></h3> + + +<p>1789. Dec 25. Being Christmas Day, we began the service in the new +chapel at four in the morning, as usual, where I preached again in the +evening after having officiated in West Street at the common hour. Sunday, +27, I preached in St. Luke's, our parish church, to a very numerous +congregation. So are the tables turned that I have now more invitations to +preach in churches than I can accept.</p> + +<hr /> + + +<h1><a name="JOHN_WOOLMAN"></a>JOHN WOOLMAN</h1> + + +<h2><a name="Journal2"></a>Journal</h2> + + +<blockquote><p> John Woolman, American Quaker evangelist, author of this +autobiography, was born in West Jersey in 1720 and followed the trade of a +tailor. But all his interests lay in the practice of piety, and in the +uncompromising application of religious Principles to the problems of +social life. He advocated incessantly two principal reforms--that members +of the Society of Friends should separate utterly from the possession of +slaves, and that they should return to their primitive simplicity and +moderation in the use of worldly things. Like many economists before and +after him, he saw in luxury, extravagance and ostentation, the true cause +of all poverty and oppression; and a tract of his entitled "A Word of +Remembrance and Caution to the Rich," first published in 1793, was +republished a hundred years later by the Fabian Society. His most important +treatise, published in 1754, entitled "Some Considerations on the Keeping +of Negroes," was one of the earliest indications of the growing +Abolitionist feeling in New England. His voyage across the Atlantic in May +and Tune, 1772, to visit the English Quakers, was followed by his death +from small-pox, in the city of York, on October 7 in the same year. The +"Journal," which is marked by great simplicity and sincerity, was published +shortly afterwards and has been issued in many subsequent editions. +</p></blockquote> + + +<h3><i>I.--The Curse of Slavery</i></h3> + + +<p>Having reached manhood, I wrought at my trade as a tailor; carefully +attended meetings for worship and discipline; and found an enlargement of +gospel love in my mind, and therein a concern to visit friends in the +settlements of Pennsylvania, Virginia and other parts. I expressed it to my +beloved friend, Isaac Andrews, who then told me that he had drawings to the +same places. I opened the case in our monthly meeting, and friends +expressing their unity therewith, we obtained certificates to travel as +companions.</p> + +<p>Two things were remarkable to me in this journey. First, in regard to my +entertainment; when I ate, drank and lodged free of cost with people who +lived in ease on the hard labour of their slaves, I felt uneasy, and this +uneasiness returned upon me, at times, through the whole visit. Secondly, +this trade of importing slaves from their native country being much +encouraged among them, and the white people and their children so generally +living without much labour, was frequently the subject of my serious +thoughts. And I saw in these southern provinces so many vices and +corruptions, increased by this trade and this way of life, that it appeared +to me as a dark gloominess hanging over the land; and though now many +willingly run into it, yet in future the consequence will be grievous to +posterity.</p> + +<p>About this time, believing it good for me to settle, and thinking +seriously about a companion, my heart was turned to the Lord and He was +pleased to give me a well-inclined damsel, Sarah Ellis, to whom I was +married the 18th day of the 8th month, in the year 1749.</p> + + +<h3><i>II--Among the Indians</i></h3> + + +<p>Having many years felt love in my heart towards the natives of this +land, who dwell far back in the wilderness, whose ancestors were the owners +of the land where we dwell, and being at Philadelphia in 1761, I fell in +company with some of those natives who live on the east branch of the river +Susquehannah, at an Indian town called Wehaloosing, 200 miles from +Philadelphia; and in conversation with them by an interpreter, as also by +observations on their character and conduct, I believed some of them were +acquainted with that divine power which subjects the rough and froward will +of the creature.</p> + +<p>At times I felt inward drawings toward a visit to that place, and laid +it before friends at our monthly and quarterly, and afterwards at our +general spring meeting; and having the unity of friends, I agreed to join +certain Indians, in 1763, on their return to their town. So I took leave of +my family and neighbours, and with my friend Benjamin Parvin, met the +Indians.</p> + +<p>About four miles from Fort Allen we met with an Indian trader, lately +come from Wyoming; and in conversation with him I perceived that many white +people do often sell rum to the Indians, which is a great evil: first, +their being thereby deprived of the use of their reason, and their spirits +being violently agitated, quarrels often arise which end in mischief; again +their skins and furs, gotten through much fatigue in hunting, with which +they intended to buy clothing, when they become intoxicated, they often +sell at a low rate for more rum, and afterwards are angry with those who, +for the sake of gain, took advantage of their weakness. To sell to people +that which we know does them harm, manifests a hardened and corrupt +heart.</p> + +<p>We crossed the western branch of the Delaware, having laboured hard over +the mountains called the Blue Ridge, and pitched our tent near the banks of +the river. Near our tent, on the sides of large trees peeled for that +purpose, were various representations of men going to, and returning from +the wars, and of some killed in battle, this being a path used by warriors. +As I walked about viewing those Indian histories, painted in red and in +black; and thinking on the innumerable afflictions which the proud, fierce +spirit produceth in the world; thinking on the toils and fatigues of +warriors, travelling over mountains and deserts; and of their restless, +unquiet state of mind, who live in this spirit, and of the hatred which +mutually grows up in the minds of the children of those nations engaged in +war; during these meditations, the desire to cherish the spirit of love and +peace among these people arose very fresh in me.</p> + +<p>As I rode, day after day, over the barren hills, my thoughts were on the +alterations of the circumstances of the natives since the coming of the +English. The lands near the sea are conveniently situated for fishing; the +lands near the rivers are in many places fertile and not mountainous. Those +natives have, in some places, for trifling considerations, sold their +inheritance so favourably situated; and in other places, have been driven +back by superior force. By the extending of English settlements, and partly +by English hunters, the wild beasts they chiefly depend upon for a +subsistence are not so plentiful as they were; and people too often open a +door for them to waste their furs, in purchasing a liquor which tends to +the ruin of them and their families.</p> + + +<h3><i>III.--Across the Atlantic</i></h3> + + +<p>Having been for some time under a religious concern to cross the seas, +in order to visit friends in England, after weighty consideration I thought +it expedient to inform friends, at our monthly meeting at Burlington, of +it; who, having unity with me therein, gave me a certificate; and I +afterwards communicated the same to our general meeting, and they likewise +signified their unity by a certificate, dated the 24th day of the third +month, 1772, directed to friends in Great Britain.</p> + +<p>I was informed that my beloved friend Samuel Emlen, intended to go to +London, and had taken a passage in the cabin of the ship called Mary and +Elizabeth; and I, feeling a draft in my mind towards the steerage of the +same ship, went and opened to Samuel the feeling I had concerning it. My +beloved friend wept when I spake to him; and he offering to go with me, we +went on board, first into the cabin, a commodious room, and then into the +steerage, where we sat down on a chest and the owner of the ship came and +sat down with us. I made no agreement as to a passage in the ship; but on +the next morning I went with Samuel to the house of the owner, to whom I +opened my exercise in relation to a scruple I felt with regard to a passage +in the cabin.</p> + +<p>I told the owner that on the outside of that part of the ship where the +cabin was, I observed sundry sorts of carved work and imagery; and that in +the cabin I observed some superfluity of workmanship of several sorts; and +that the monies received from the passengers are calculated to answer the +expense of these superfluities; and that I felt a scruple with regard to +paying my money to defray such expenses. After this, I agreed for a passage +in the steerage, and went on board with Samuel Emlen on the first day of +the fifth month.</p> + +<p>My lodging in the steerage afforded me opportunities of seeing, hearing +and feeling, with respect to the life and spirit of many poor sailors; and +an inward exercise of soul hath attended me, in regard to placing out +children and youth where they may be exampled and instructed in the fear of +the Lord. Now, concerning lads being trained up as seamen, I believe a +communication from one part of the world to some other parts of it, by sea, +is at times consistent with the will of our heavenly Father; and to educate +some youth in the practice of sailing, I believe may be right. But how +lamentable is the present corruption of the world! How impure are the +channels through which trade hath a conveyance! How great is that danger to +which poor lads are now exposed, when placed on shipboard to learn the art +of sailing!</p> + + +<h3><i>IV.--Prices, Wages, and Religion</i></h3> + + +<p>On landing at London I went straight to the yearly meeting of ministers +and elders, which, by adjournments, continued near a week. I then went to +quarterly meetings at Hertford, Sherrington, Northampton, Banbury and +Shipston, and visited other meetings at Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick, +Nottingham, Sheffield, Settle, and other places.</p> + +<p>On inquiry, I found the price of rye about five shillings, wheat about +eight shillings, per bushel; mutton threepence to fivepence per pound; +bacon from sevenpence to ninepence; cheese from fourpence to sixpence; +butter from eightpence to tenpence; house-rent, for a poor man, from +twenty-five shillings to forty shillings per year, to be paid weekly; wood +for fire very scarce and dear; coal in some places two shillings and +sixpence per hundredweight but near the pits not a quarter so much. O may +the wealthy consider the poor!</p> + +<p>The wages of labouring men, in several counties toward London, is +tenpence per day in common business; the employer finds small beer and the +labourer finds his own food; but in harvest and hay times wages are about +one shilling per day and the labourer hath all his diet. In the north of +England poor labouring men do rather better than nearer London. Industrious +women who spin in the factories get some fourpence, some fivepence, and so +on to tenpence per day, and find their own house-room and diet. Great +numbers of poor people live chiefly on bread and water, and there are many +poor children not even taught to read. May those, who have plenty, lay +these things to heart!</p> + +<p>Stage coaches frequently go upwards of an hundred miles in twenty-four +hours; and I have heard friends say, in several places, that it is common +for horses to be killed with hard driving. Post-boys pursue their business, +each one to his stage, all night through the winter. Some boys, who ride +long stages, suffer greatly on winter nights, and at several places I have +heard of their being frozen to death. So great is the hurry in the spirit +in this world, that in aiming to do business quickly, and to gain wealth, +the creation, at this day doth loudly groan!</p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12572 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + |