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diff --git a/old/12761.txt b/old/12761.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4716bf5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12761.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10248 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXIX., by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXIX. + March, 1843, Vol. LIII. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 28, 2004 [EBook #12761] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE *** + + + + +Produced by Jon Ingram, Brendan O'Connor and PG Distributed +Proofreaders. Produced from page images provided by The Internet +Library of Early Journals. + + + + + + + + + + +BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE + +NO. CCCXXIX. MARCH, 1843. VOL. LIII. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + AMMALAT BEK. A TRUE TALE OF THE CAUCASUS FROM THE RUSSIAN OF MARLINSKI + POEMS AND BALLADS OF SCHILLER.--NO. VI. + CALEB STUKELY. PART XII. + IMAGINARY CONVERSATION. BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. SANDT AND KOTZEBUE + THE JEWELLER'S WIFE. A PASSAGE IN THE CAREER OF EL EMPECINADO + THE TALE OF A TUB: + AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER--HOW JACK RAN MAD A SECOND TIME + PAUL DE KOCKNEYISMS, BY A COCKNEY + THE WORLD OF LONDON. SECOND SERIES. PART III. + THE LOST LAMB. BY DELTA + COMTE + + * * * * * + + + + +AMMALAT BEK. + +A TRUE TALE OF THE CAUCASUS. + +TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN OF MARLINSKI. BY THOMAS B. SHAW, B.A. OF +CAMBRIDGE, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE IMPERIAL +LYCEUM OF TSARSKOE SELO. + + +THE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. + +The English mania for travelling, which supplies our continental +neighbours with such abundant matter for wonderment and witticism, is of +no very recent date. Now more than ever, perhaps, does this passion seem +to possess us: + + "----tenet insanabile multos + _Terrarum_ [Greek: kakoithes], et aegro in corde senescit:" + +when the press groans with "Tours," "Trips," "Hand-books," "Journeys," +"Visits." + +In spite of this, it is as notorious as unaccountable, that England +knows very little, or at least very little correctly, of the social +condition, manners, and literature of one of the most powerful among her +continental sisters. + +The friendly relations between Great Britain and Russia, established in +the reign of Edward V., have subsisted without interruption since that +epoch, so auspicious to both nations: the bond of amity, first knit by +Chancellor in 1554, has never since been relaxed: the two nations have +advanced, each at its own pace, and by its own paths, towards the +sublime goal of improvement and civilization--have stood shoulder to +shoulder in the battle for the weal and liberty of mankind. + +It is, nevertheless, as strange as true, that the land of Alfred and +Elizabeth is yet but imperfectly acquainted with the country of Peter +and of Catharine. The cause of this ignorance is assuredly not to be +found in any indifference or want of curiosity on the part of English +travellers. There is no lack of pilgrims annually leaving the bank of +Thames, + + "With cockle hat and staff, + With gourd and sandal shoon;" + +armed duly with note-book and "patent Mordan," directing their wandering +steps to the shores of Ingria, or the gilded cupolas of Moscow. But a +very short residence in the empire of the Tsar will suffice to convince +a foreigner how defective, and often how false, is the information given +by travellers respecting the social and national character of the +Russians. These abundant and singular misrepresentations are not, of +course, voluntary; and it may not be useless to point out their +principal sources. + +The chief of these is, without doubt, the difficulty and novelty of the +language, and the unfortunate facility of travelling over the beaten +track--from St Petersburg to Moscow, and from Moscow, perhaps, to Nijny +Novgorod, without any acquaintance with that language. The foreigner may +enjoy, during a visit of the usual duration, the hospitality for which +the higher classes are so justly celebrated; but his association with +the nobility will be found an absolute obstacle to the making even a +trifling progress in the Russian language; which, though now regaining a +degree of attention from the elevated classes,[1] too long denied to it +by those with whom their native tongue _was_ an unfashionable one--he +would have no occasion at all to speak, and not even very frequent +opportunities of hearing. + + [1] There is, strictly speaking, no middle class in Russia; the + "bourgeoisie," or merchants, it is true, may seem to form an + exception to this remark, but into their circles the traveller + would find it, from many reasons, difficult, and even + impossible, to enter. + +But even in those rare cases where the stranger united to a +determination to study the noble and interesting language of the +country, an intention of remaining here long enough to learn it, he was +often discouraged by the belief, that the literature was too poor to +repay his time and labour. Besides, the Russian language has so little +relation to the other European tongues--it stands so much alone, and +throws so little direct light upon any of them, that another obstacle +was thrown into his way. + +The acquisition of any one of that great family of languages, all +derived, more or less remotely, from the Latin, which extends over the +whole south and west of Europe, cannot fail to cast a strong light upon +the other cognate dialects; as the knowledge of any one of the Oriental +tongues facilitates, nay almost confers, a mastery over the thousand +others, which are less languages of distinct type than dialects of the +same speech, offshoots from the same stock. + +Add to this, the extraordinary errors and omissions which abound in +every disquisition hitherto published in French, English, and German +periodicals with regard to Russian literature, and deform those wretched +rags of translation which are all that has been hitherto done towards +the reproduction, in our own language, of the literature of Russia. +These versions were made by persons utterly unacquainted with the +country, the manners, and the people, or made after the Russian had been +distilled through the alembic of a previous French or German +translation. + +Poetry naturally forces its way into the notice of a foreign nation +sooner than prose; but it is, nevertheless, rather singular than +honourable to the literary enterprise of England, that the present is +the first attempt to introduce to the British public any work of Russian +Prose Fiction whatever, with any thing like a reasonable selection of +subject and character, at least _directly_ from the original language. + +The two volumes of Translations published by Bowring, under the title of +"Russian Anthology," and consisting chiefly of short lyric pieces, would +appear at first sight an exception to that indifference to the +productions of Russian genius of which we have accused the English +public; and the popularity of that collection would be an additional +encouragement to the hope, that our charge may be, if not ill-founded, +at least exaggerated. + +We are willing to believe, that the degree--if we are rightly informed, +no slight one--of interest with which these volumes were welcomed in +England, was sufficient to blind their readers to the extreme +incompetency with which the translations they contained were executed. + +It is always painful to find fault--more painful to criticise with +severity--the work of a person whose motive was the same as that which +actuates the present publication; but when the gross unfaithfulness[2] +exhibited in the versions in question tends to give a false and +disparaging idea of the value and the tone of Russian poetry, we may be +excused for our apparent uncourteousness in thus pointing out their +defects. + + [2] In making so grave a charge, proof will naturally be + required of us. Though we might fill many pages with instances + of the two great sins of the translator, commission and + omission, the _poco piu_ and _poco meno_, we will content + ourselves with taking, _ad aperturam libri_, an example. At + page 55 of the Second Part of Bowring's Russian Anthology, will + be found a short lyric piece of Dmitrieff, entitled "To Chloe." + It consists of five stanzas, each of four very short lines. Of + these five stanzas, three have a totally different meaning in + the English from their signification in the Russian, and of the + remaining two, one contains an idea which the reader will look + for in vain in the original. This carelessness is the less + excusable, as the verses in question present nothing in style, + subject, or diction, which could offer the smallest difficulty + to a translator. Judging this to be no unfair test, (the piece + in question was taken at random,) it will not be necessary to + dilate upon minor defects, painfully perceptible through + Bowring's versions; as, for instance, a frequent disregard of + the Russian metres--sins against _costume_, as, for example, + the making a hussar (a _Russian_ hussar) swear by his _beard_, + &c. &c. &c. + +It will not, we trust, be considered out of place to give our readers a +brief sketch of the history of the Russian literature; the origin, +growth, and fortunes of which are marked by much that is peculiar. In +doing this we shall content ourselves with noting, as briefly as +possible, the events which preceded and accompanied the birth of letters +in Russia, and the evolution of a literature not elaborated by the slow +and imperceptible action of time, but bursting, like the armed Pallas, +suddenly into light. + +In performing this task, we shall confine our attention solely to the +department of Prose Fiction, looking forward meanwhile with anxiety, +though not without hope, to a future opportunity of discussing more +fully the intellectual annals of Russia. + +In the year of redemption 863, two Greeks of Thessalonika, Cyril[3] and +Methodius, sent by Michael, Emperor of the East, conferred the precious +boon of alphabetic writing upon Kostislaff, Sviatopolk, and Kotsel, then +chiefs of the Moravians. + + [3] Cyril was the ecclesiastical or claustral name of this + important personage, his real name was Constantine. + +The characters they introduced were naturally those of the Greek +alphabet, to which they were obliged, in order to represent certain +sounds which do not occur in the Greek language,[4] to add a number of +other signs borrowed from the Hebrew, the Armenian, and the Coptic. So +closely, indeed, did this alphabet, called the Cyrillian, follow the +Greek characters, that the use of the aspirates was retained without any +necessity. + + [4] For instance, the _j_, (pronounced as the French _j_), _ts, + sh, shtsh, tch, ui, yae_. As the characters representing these + sounds are not to be found in the "case" of an English + compositor, we cannot enter into their Oriental origin. + +These characters (with the exception of a few which are omitted in the +Russian) varied surprisingly little in their form,[5] and perhaps +without any change whatever in their vocal value, compose the modern +alphabet of the Russian language; an examination of which would go far, +in our opinion, to settle the long agitated question respecting the +ancient pronunciation of the classic languages, particularly as Cyril +and his brother adapted the Greek alphabet to a language totally foreign +from, and unconnected with, any dialect of Greek. + + [5] Not to speak of the capitals, the [Greek: gamma, delta, + zeta, kappa, lambda, mu, omicron, pi, rho, sigma, phi, chi, + theta], have undergone hardly the most trifling change in form; + [Greek: psi, xi, omega], though they do not occur in the + Russian, are found in the Slavonic alphabet. The Russian + pronunciation of their letter B, which agrees with that of the + modern Greeks, is V, there being another character for the + _sound_ B. + +In this, as in all other languages, the translation of the Bible is the +first monument and model of literature. This version was made by Cyril +immediately after the composition of the alphabet. The language spoken +at Thessalonika was the Servian: but from the immense number of purely +Greek words which occur in the translation, as well as from the fact of +the version being a strictly literal one, it is probable that the +Scriptures were not translated into any specific spoken dialect at all; +but that a kind of _mezzo-termine_ was selected--or rather formed--for +the purpose. What we have advanced derives a still stronger degree of +probability from the circumstance, that the Slavonic Bible follows the +Greek _construction_. This Bible, with slight changes and corrections +produced by three or four revisions made at different periods, is that +still employed by the Russian Church; and the present spoken language of +the country differs so widely from it, that the Slavonian of the Bible +forms a separate branch of education to the priests and to the upper +classes--who are instructed in this _dead_ language, precisely as an +Italian must study Latin in order to read the Bible. + +Above the sterile and uninteresting desert of early Russian history, +towers, like the gigantic Sphynx of Ghizeh over the sand of the Thebaid, +one colossal figure--that of Vladimir Sviatoslavitch; the first to +surmount the bloody splendour of the Great Prince's bonnet[6] with the +mildly-radiant Cross of Christ. + + [6] The crown was not worn by the ancient Russian sovereigns, + or "Grand Princes," as they were called; the insignia of these + potentates was a close skull-cap, called in Russian shapka, + bonnet; many of which are preserved in the regalia of Moscow. + This bonnet is generally surrounded by the most precious furs, + and gorgeously decorated with gems. + +From the conversion to Christianity of Vladimir and his +subjects--passing over the wild and rapacious dominion of the Tartar +hordes, which lasted for about 250 years--we may consider two languages, +essentially distinct, to have been employed in Russia till the end of +the 17th century--the one the written or learned, the other the spoken +language. + +The former was the Slavonian into which the Holy Scriptures were +translated: and this remained the learned or official language for a +long period. In this--or in an imitation of this, effected with various +degrees of success--were compiled the different collections of Monkish +annals which form the treasury whence future historians were to select +their materials from among the valuable, but confused accumulations of +facts; in this the solemn acts of Government, treaties, codes, &c., were +composed; and the few writings which cannot be comprised under the above +classes[7] were naturally compiled in the language, emphatically that of +the Church and of learning. + + [7] For instance, sermons, descriptions, voyages and travels, + &c. Two of the last-mentioned species of works are very curious + from their antiquity. The Pilgrimage to Jerusalem of Daniel, + prior of a convent, at the commencement of the 12th century; + and the Memoirs of a Journey to India by Athanase Nikitin, + merchant of Tver, made about 1470. + +The sceptre of the wild Tartar Khans was not, as may be imagined, much +allied to the pen; the hordes of fierce and greedy savages which +overran, like the locusts of the Apocalypse, for two centuries and a +half the fertile plains of central and southern Russia, contented +themselves with exacting tribute from a nation which they despised +probably too much to feel any desire of interfering with its language; +and the dominion of the Tartars produced hardly any perceptible effect +upon the Russian tongue.[8] + + [8] The only traces left on the _language_ by the Tartar + domination are a few words, chiefly expressing articles of + dress. + +It is to the reign of Alexei Mikhailovitch, who united Little Russia to +Muscovy, that we must look for the germ of the modern literature of the +country: the language had begun to feel the influence of the Little +Russian, tinctured by the effects of Polish civilization, and the spirit +of classicism which so long distinguished the Sarmatian literature. + +The impulse given to this union, of so momentous an import to the future +fortunes of the empire, at the beginning of the year 1654, would +possibly have brought forth in course of time a literature in Russia +such as we now find it, had not the extraordinary reign, and still more +extraordinary character, of Peter the Great interposed certain +disturbing--if, indeed, they may not be called in some measure +impeding--forces. That giant hand which broke down the long impregnable +dike which had hitherto separated Russia from the rest of Europe, and +admitted the arts, the learning, and the civilization of the West to +rush in with so impetuous a flood, fertilizing as it came, but also +destroying and sweeping away something that was valuable, much that was +national--that hand was unavoidably too heavy and too strong to nurse +the infant seedling of literature; and the command and example of Peter +perhaps rather favoured the imitation of what was good in other +languages, than the production of originality in his own. + +This opinion, bold and perhaps rash as it may appear to Russians, seems +to derive some support, as well as illustration, from the immense number +of foreign words which make the Russian of Peter's time + + "A Babylonish dialect;" + +the mania for every thing foreign having overwhelmed the language with +an infinity of terms rudely torn, not skilfully adapted, from every +tongue; terms which might have been--have, indeed, since +been--translated into words of Russian form and origin. A review of the +literary progress made at this time will, we think, go far to establish +our proposition; it will exhibit a very large proportion of +translations, but very few original productions. + +From this period begins the more immediate object of the present note: +we shall briefly trace the rise and fortunes of the present, or +vernacular Russian literature; confining our attention, as we have +proposed, to the Prose Fiction, and contenting ourselves with noting, +cursorily, the principal authors in this kind, living and dead. + +At the time of Peter the Great, there may be said to have existed (it +will be convenient to keep in mind) three languages--the Slavonic, to +which we have already alluded; the Russian; and the dialect of Little +Russia. + +The fact, that the learned are not yet agreed upon the exact epoch from +which to date the origin of the modern Russian literature, will probably +raise a smile on the reader's lip; but the difficulty of establishing +this important starting-point will become apparent when he reflects upon +the circumstance, that the literature is--as we have stated--divisible +into two distinct and widely differing regions. It will be sufficiently +accurate to date the origin of the modern Russian literature at about a +century back from the present time; and to consider Lomonosoff as its +founder. Mikhail Vassilievitch Lomonosoff, born in 1711, is the author +who may with justice be regarded as the Chaucer or the Boccacio of the +North: a man of immense and varied accomplishments, distinguished in +almost every department of literature, and in many of the walks of +science. An orator and a poet, he adorned the language whose principles +he had fixed as a grammarian. + +He was the first to write in the spoken language of his country, and, in +conjunction with his two contemporaries, Soumarokoff and Kheraskoff, he +laid the foundations of the Russian literature. + +Of the other two names we have mentioned as entitled to share the +reverence due from every Russian to the fathers of his country's +letters, it will be sufficient to remark, that Soumarokoff was the first +to introduce tragedy and opera, and Kheraskoff, the author of two epic +poems which we omit to particularize, as not coming within our present +scope, wrote a work entitled "Cadmus and Harmonia," which may be +considered as the first romance. It is a narrative and metaphysical +work, which we should class as a "prose poem;" the style being +considerably elevated above the tone of the "Musa pedestris." + +The name of Emin comes next in historical, though not literary, +importance: though the greater part of his productions consists of +translations, particularly of those shorter pieces of prose fiction +called by the Italians "novelle," he was the author of a few original +pieces, now but little read; his style bears the marks, like that of +Kheraskoff, of heaviness, stiffness, and want of finish. + +The reputation of Karamzin is too widely spread throughout Europe to +render necessary more than a passing remark as to the additions made by +him to the literature of his country in the department of fiction: he +commenced a romance, of which he only lived to finish a few of the first +chapters. + +Narejniy was the first to paint the real life of Russia--or rather of +the South or Little Russia: in his works there is a good deal of +vivacity, but as they are deformed by defects both in style and taste, +his reputation has become almost extinct. We cannot quit this division +of our subject, which refers to romantic fiction anterior to the +appearance of the regular historical novel, without mentioning the names +of two, among a considerable number of authors, distinguished as having +produced short narratives or tales, embodying some historical +event--Polevoi and Bestonjeff--the latter of whom wrote, under the name +of Marlinski, a very large number of tales, which have acquired a high +and deserved reputation. + +It is with Zagoskin that we may regard the regular historical +novel--viewing that species of composition as exemplified in the works +of Scott--as having commenced. + +With reference to the present state of romance in Russia, the field is +so extensive as to render impossible, in this place, more than a cursory +allusion to the principal authors and their best-known works: in doing +which, we shall attend more exclusively to those productions of which +the subject or treatment is purely national. + +One of the most popular and prolific writers of fiction is Zagoskin, +whose historical romance "Youriy Miloslaffskiy," met with great and +permanent success. The epoch of this story is in 1612, a most +interesting crisis in the Russian history, when the valour of Minin +enabled his countrymen to shake off the hated yoke of Poland. His other +work, "Roslavleoff," is less interesting: the period is 1812. We may +also mention his "Iskonsitel"--"the Tempter"--a fantastic story, in +which an imaginary being is represented as mingling with and influencing +the affairs of real life. + +Of Boulgarin, we may mention, besides his "Ivan Vuijgin," a romance in +the manner of "Gil Blas," the scenery and characters of which are +entirely Russian, two historical novels of considerable importance. "The +False Dimitri," and "Mazeppa,"--the hero of the latter being _a real +person_, and not, as most readers are aware, a fictitious character +invented by Byron. + +Next comes the name of Lajetchnikoff, whose "Last Page" possesses a +reputation, we believe, tolerably extensive throughout Europe. The +action passes during the war between Charles XII. and Peter the Great, +and Catharine plays a chief part in it, as servant of the pastor Glueck, +becoming empress at the conclusion. The "House of Ice," by the same +writer, is perhaps more generally known than the preceding work. The +last-named romance depicts with great spirit the struggle between the +Russian and foreign parties in the reign of Anna Ivanovna. But perhaps +the most remarkable work of Lajetchnikoff is the romance entitled +"Bassourman," the scene of which is laid under Ivan III., surnamed the +Great.[9] Another Polevoi (Nikolai) produced a work of great +merit:--"The Oath at the Tomb of Our Lord," a very faithful picture of +the first half of the fifteenth century, and singular from the +circumstance that love plays no part in the drama. Besides this, we owe +to Polevoi a wild story entitled "Abbaddon." Veltman produced, under the +title of "Kostshei the Deathless," a historical study of the manners of +the twelfth century, possessing considerable merit. It would be unjust +to omit the name of a lady, the Countess Shishkin, who produced the +historical novel "Mikhail Vassilievitch Skopin-Shuisky," which obtained +great popularity. + + [9] The non-Russian reader must be cautioned not to confuse + Ivan III. (surnamed Velikiy, or the Great) with Ivan IV., the + Cruel, the latter of whom is to foreigners the most prominent + figure in the Russian history. Ivan III. mounted the throne in + 1462, and his terrible namesake in 1534; the reign of Vassiliy + Ivanovitch intervening between these two memorable epochs. + +The picturesque career of Lomonosoff gave materials for a romantic +biography of that poet, the work of Xenophont Polevoi, resembling, in +its mixture of truth and fiction, the "Wahrheit und Dichtung" of Goethe. + +Among the considerable number of romances already mentioned, those +exhibiting scenes of private life and domestic interest have not been +neglected. Kalashnikoff wrote "The Merchant Jaloboff's Daughter," and +the "Kamtchadalka," both describing the scenery and manners of Siberia; +the former painting various parts of that wild and interesting country, +the latter confined more particularly to the Peninsula of Kamtchatka. +Besides Gogol, whose easy and prolific pen has presented us with so many +humorous sketches of provincial life, we cannot pass over Begitcheff, +whose "Kholmsky Family" possesses much interest; but the delineations of +Gogol depend so much for their effect upon delicate shades of manner, +&c., that it is not probable they can ever be effectively reproduced in +another language. + +Mentioning Peroffsky, whose "Monastirka" gives a picture of Russian +interior life, we pass to Gretch, an author of some European reputation. +His "Trip to Germany" describes, with singular piquancy, the manners of +a very curious race--the Germans of St Petersburg; and "Tchernaia +Jenstchina," "the Black Woman," presents a picture of Russian society, +which was welcomed with great eagerness by the public. + +The object of these pages being to invite the attention of British +readers to a very rich field, in a literature hitherto most +unaccountably neglected by the English public, the present would not be +a fit occasion to enter with any minuteness into the history of Russian +letters, or to give, in fact, more than a passing allusion to its chief +features; the translator hopes that he will be excused for the +meagreness of the present notice. + +He will be abundantly repaid for his exertions, by the discovery of any +increasing desire on the part of his countrymen to become more +accurately acquainted with the character of a nation, worthy, he is +convinced, of a very high degree of respect and admiration. How could +that acquaintance be so delightfully, or so effectually made, as by the +interchange of literature? The great works of English genius are read, +studied, and admired, throughout the vast empire of Russia; the language +of England is rapidly and steadily extending, and justice, no less than +policy, demands, that many absurd misapprehensions respecting the social +and domestic character, no less than the history, of Russia, should be +dispelled by truth. + +The translator, in conclusion, trusts that it will not be superfluous to +specify one or two of the reasons which induced him to select the +present romance, as the first-fruit of his attempt to naturalize in +England the literature of Russia. + +It is considered as a very good specimen of the author's style; the +facts and characters are all strictly true;[10] besides this, the author +passed many years in the Caucasus, and made full use of the +opportunities he thus enjoyed of becoming familiar with the language, +manners, and scenery of a region on which the attention of the English +public has long been turned with peculiar interest. + + [10] The translator recently met in society a Russian officer, + who had served with distinction in the country which forms the + scene of "Ammalat Bek." This gentleman had intimately known + Marlinski, and bore witness to the perfect accuracy of his + delineations, as well of the external features of nature as of + the characters of his _dramatis personae_. The officer alluded + to had served some time in the very regiment commanded by the + unfortunate Verkhoffsky. Our fair readers may be interested to + learn, that Seltanetta still lives, and yet bears traces of her + former beauty. She married the Shamkhal, and now resides in + feudal magnificence at Tarki, where she exercises great sway, + which she employs in favour of the Russian interest, to which + she is devoted. + +The picturesqueness as well as the fidelity of his description will, it +is hoped, secure for the tale a favourable reception with a public +always "_novitatis avida_," and whose appetite, now somewhat palled with +the "Bismillahs" and "Mashallahs" of the ordinary oriental novels, may +find some piquancy in a new variety of Mahomedan life--that of the +Caucasian Tartars. + +The Russian language possessing many characters and some few sounds for +which there is no exact equivalent in English, we beg to say a word upon +the method adopted on the present occasion so to represent the Russian +orthography, as to avoid the shocking barbarisms of such combinations as +_zh_, &c. &c., and to secure, at the same time, an approach to the +correct pronunciation. Throughout these pages the vowels _a, e, i, o, +y_, are supposed to be pronounced as in French, the diphthong _ou_ as in +the word _you_, the _j_ always with the French sound. + +With respect to the combinations of consonants employed, _kh_ has the +gutteral sound of the _ch_ in the Scottish word _loch_, and _gh_ is like +a rather rough or coarse aspirate. + +The simple _g_ is invariably to be uttered hard, as in _gun_ or _gall_. + +To avoid the possibility of errors, the combination _tch_, though not a +very soft one to the eye, represents a Russian sound for which there is +no character in English. It is, of course, uttered as in the word +_watch_. + +As a great deal of the apparent discord of Russian words, as pronounced +by foreigners, arises from ignorance of the place of the accent, we have +added a sign over every polysyllable word, indicating the part on which +the stress is to be laid. + +The few preceding rules will, the translator hopes, enable his +countrymen to _attack_ the pronunciation of the Russian names without +the ancient dread inspired by terrific and complicated clusters of +consonants; and will perhaps prove to them that the language is both an +easy and a melodious one. + + _St Petersburg, November_ 10, 1842. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + "Be slow to offend--swift to revenge!" + _Inscription on a dagger of Daghestan._ + +It was Djouma.[11] Not far from Bouinaki, a considerable village of +Northern Daghestan, the young Tartars were assembled for their national +exercise called "djigitering;" that is, the horse-race accompanied by +various trials of boldness and strength. Bouinaki is situated upon two +ledges of the precipitous rocks of the mountain: on the left of the road +leading from Derbend to Tarki, rises, soaring above the town, the crest +of Caucasus, feathered with wood; on the right, the shore, sinking +imperceptibly, spreads itself out into meadows, on which the Caspian Sea +pours its eternal murmur, like the voice of human multitudes. + + [11] Djouma answers to our Sabbath. The days of the Mahomedan + week are as follows: Shambi, Saturday; Ikhshamba, Sunday; + Doushamba, Monday; Seshamba, Tuesday; Tchershamba, Wednesday; + Pkhanshamba, Thursday; Djouma, Friday. + +A vernal day was fading into evening, and all the inhabitants, attracted +rather by the coolness of the breeze than by any feeling of curiosity, +had quitted their saklas,[12] and assembled in crowds on both sides of +the road. The women, without veils, and with coloured kerchiefs rolled +like turbans round their heads, clad in the long chemise,[13] confined +by the short arkhaloukh, and wide toumans,[14] sat in rows, while +strings of children sported before them. The men, assembled in little +groups, stood, or rested on their knees;[15] others, in twos or threes, +walked slowly round, smoking tobacco in little wooden pipes: a cheerful +buzz arose, and ever and anon resounded the clattering of hoofs, and the +cry "katch, katch!" (make way!) from the horsemen preparing for the +race. + + [12] Sakla, a Circassian hut. + + [13] A species of garment, resembling a frock-coat with an + upright collar, reaching to the knees, fixed in front by hooks + and eyes, worn by both sexes. + + [14] The trowsers of the _women_: those worn by the men, though + alike in form, are called shalwars. It is an offence to tell a + man that he wears the touman; being equivalent to a charge of + effeminacy; and _vice versa_. + + [15] It is the ordinary manner of the Asiatics to sit in this + manner in public, or in the presence of a superior. + +Nature, in Daghestan, is most lovely in the month of May. Millions of +roses poured their blushes over the crags; their odour was streaming in +the air; the nightingale was not silent in the green twilight of the +wood, almond-trees, all silvered with their flowers, arose like the +cupolas of a pagoda, and resembled, with their lofty branches twined +with leaves, the minarets of some Mussulman mosque. Broad-breasted oaks, +like sturdy old warriors, rose here and there, while poplars and +chenart-trees, assembled in groups and surrounded by underwood, looked +like children ready to wander away to the mountains, to escape the +summer heats. Sportive flocks of sheep--their fleeces speckled with +rose-colour; buffaloes wallowing in the mud of the fountains, or for +hours together lazily butting each other with their horns; here and +there on the mountains noble steeds, which moved (their manes floating +on the breeze) with a haughty trot along the hills--such is the frame +that encloses the picture of every Mussulman village. On this Djouma, +the neighbourhood of Bouinaki was more than usually animated. The sun +poured his floods of gold on the dark walls of the flat-roofed saklas, +clothing them with fantastic shadows, and adding beauty to their forms. +In the distance, crawling along the mountain, the creaking arbas[16] +flitted among the grave-stones of a little burial-ground ... past them, +before them, flew a horseman, raising the dust along the road ... the +mountain crest and the boundless sea gave grandeur to this picture, and +all nature breathed a glow of life. + + [16] A kind of rude cart with two wheels. + +"He comes, he comes!" was murmured through the crowd; all was in motion. +The horsemen, who till now had been chattering with their acquaintance +on foot, or disorderedly riding about the meadow, now leaped upon their +steeds, and dashed forward to meet the cavalcade which was descending to +the plain: it was Ammalat Bek, the nephew of the Shamkhal[17] of Tarki, +with his suite. He was habited in a black Persian cloak, edged with +gold-lace, the hanging sleeves thrown back over his shoulders. A Turkish +shawl was wound round his arkhaloukh, which was made of flowered silk. +Red shalwars were lost in his yellow high-heeled riding-boots. His gun, +dagger, and pistol, glittered with gold and silver arabesque work. The +hilt of his sabre was enriched with gems. The Prince of Tarki was a +tall, well-made youth, of frank countenance; black curls streamed behind +his ears from under his cap--a slight mustache shaded his upper lip--his +eyes glittered with a proud courtesy. He rode a bright bay steed, which +fretted under his hand like a whirlwind. Contrary to custom, the horse's +caparison was not the round Persian housing, embroidered all over with +silk, but the light Circassian saddle, ornamented with silver on a black +ground; and the stirrups were of the black steel of Kharaman, inlaid +with gold. Twenty noukers[18] on spirited horses, and dressed in cloaks +glittering with lace, their caps cocked jauntily, and leaning affectedly +on one side, pranced and sidled after him. The people respectfully stood +up before their Bek, and bowed, pressing their right hand upon their +right knee. A murmur of whispered approbation followed the young chief +as he passed among the women. Arrived at the southern extremity of the +ground, Ammalat stopped. The chief people, the old men leaning upon +their sticks, and the elders of Bouinaki, stood round in a circle to +catch a kind word from the Bek; but Ammalat did not pay them any +particular attention, and with cold politeness replied in monosyllables +to the flatteries and obeisances of his inferiors. He waved his hand; +this was the signal to commence the race. + + [17] The first Shamkhals were the kinsmen and representatives + of the Khalifs of Damascus: the last Shamkhal died on his + return from Russia, and with him finished this useless rank. + His son, Suleiman Pacha, possessed his property as a private + individual. + + [18] The attendants of a Tartar noble, equivalent to the + "henchman" of the ancient Highlanders. The nouker waits behind + his lord at table, cuts up and presents the food. + +Twenty of the most fiery horsemen dashed forward, without the slightest +order or regularity, galloping onward and back again, placing themselves +in all kinds of attitudes, and alternately passing each other. At one +moment they jostled one another from the course, and at the same time +held in their horses, then again they let them go at full gallop over +the plain. After this, they each took slender sticks, called djigidis, +and darted them as they rode, either in the charge or the pursuit, and +again seizing them as they flew, or picking them up from the earth. +Several tumbled from their saddles under the strong blows; and then +resounded the loud laugh of the spectators, while loud applauses greeted +the conqueror; sometimes the horses stumbled, and the riders were thrown +over their heads, hurled off by a double force from the shortness of +their stirrups. Then commenced the shooting. Ammalat Bek had remained a +little apart, looking on with apparent pleasure. His noukers, one after +the other, had joined the crowd of djigiterers, so that, at last, only +two were left by his side. For some time he was immovable, and followed +with an indifferent gaze the imitation of an Asiatic combat; but by +degrees his interest grew stronger. At first he watched the cavaliers +with great attention, then he began to encourage them by his voice and +gestures, he rose higher in his stirrups, and at last the warrior-blood +boiled in his veins, when his favourite nouker could not hit a cap which +he had thrown down before him. He snatched his gun from his attendants, +and dashed forward like an arrow, winding among the sporters. "Make +way--make way!" was heard around, and all, dispersing like a rain-cloud +on either side, gave place to Ammalat Bek. + +At the distance of a verst[19] stood ten poles with caps hanging on +them. Ammalat rode straight up to them, waved his gun round his head, +and turned close round the pole; as he turned he stood up in his +stirrups, turned back--bang!--the cap tumbled to the ground; without +checking his speed he reloaded, the reins hanging on his horse's +neck--knocked off another, then a third--and so on the whole ten. A +murmur of applause arose on all sides; but Ammalat, without stopping, +threw his gun into the hands of one of his noukers, pulled out a pistol +from his belt, and with the ball struck the shoe from the hind foot of +his horse; the shoe flew off, and fell far behind him; he then again +took his gun from his nouker, and ordered him to gallop on before him. +Quicker than thought both darted forward. When half-way round the +course, the nouker drew from his pocket a rouble, and threw it up in the +air. Ammalat raised himself in the saddle, without waiting till it fell; +but at the very instant his horse stumbled with all his four legs +together, and striking the dust with his nostrils, rolled prostrate. All +uttered a cry of terror; but the dexterous horseman, standing up in the +stirrups, without losing his seat, or even leaning forward, as if he had +been aware that he was going to fall, fired rapidly, and hitting the +rouble with his ball, hurled it far among the people. The crowd shouted +with delight--"Igeed, igeed! (bravo!) Alla valla-ha!" But Ammalat Bek, +modestly retiring, dismounted from his steed, and throwing the reins to +his djilladar, (groom,) ordered him immediately to have the horse shod. +The race and the shooting was continued. + + [19] 3500 English feet--three quarters of a mile. + +At this moment there rode up to Ammalat his emdjek,[20] Saphir-Ali, the +son of one of the poor beks of Bouinaki, a young man of an agreeable +exterior, and simple, cheerful character. He had grown up with Ammalat, +and therefore treated him with great familiarity. He leaped from his +horse, and nodding his head, exclaimed--"Nouker Memet Rasoul has knocked +up the old cropped[21] stallion, in trying to leap him over a ditch +seven paces wide." "And did he leap it?" cried Ammalat impatiently. +"Bring him instantly to me!" He went to meet the horse--and without +putting his foot in the stirrup, leaped into the saddle, and galloped to +the bed of a mountain-torrent. As he galloped, he pressed the horse with +his knee, but the wearied animal, not trusting to his strength, bolted +aside on the very brink, and Ammalat was obliged to make another turn. +The second time, the steed, stimulated by the whip, reared up on his +hind-legs in order to leap the ditch, but he hesitated, grew restive, +and resisted with his fore-feet. Ammalat grew angry. In vain did +Saphir-Ali entreat him not to force the horse, which had lost in many a +combat and journey the elasticity of his limbs. Ammalat would not listen +to any thing; but urging him with a cry, and striking him with his drawn +sabre for the third time, he galloped him at the ravine; and when, for +the third time, the old horse stopped short in his stride, not daring to +leap, he struck him so violently on the head with the hilt of his sabre, +that he fell lifeless on the earth. + + [20] Foster-brother; from the word "emdjek"--suckling. Among + the tribes of the Caucasus, this relationship is held more + sacred than that of nature. Every man would willingly die for + his emdjek. + + [21] This is a celebrated race of Persian horses, called Teke. + +"This is the reward of faithful service!" said Saphir-Ali, +compassionately, as he gazed on the lifeless steed. + +"This is the reward of disobedience!" replied Ammalat, with flashing +eyes. + +Seeing the anger of the Bek, all were silent. The horsemen, however, +continued their djigitering. + +And suddenly was heard the thunder of Russian drums, and the bayonets of +Russian soldiers glittered as they wound over the hill. It was a company +of the Kourinsky regiment of infantry, sent from a detachment which had +been dispatched to Akoush, then in a state of revolt, under Sheikh Ali +Khan, the banished chief of Derbend. This company had been protecting a +convoy of supplies from Derbend, whither it was returning by the +mountain road. The commander of the company, Captain -----, and one +officer with him, rode in front. Before they had reached the +race-course, the retreat was beaten, and the company halted, throwing +aside their havresacks and piling their muskets, but without lighting a +fire. + +The arrival of a Russian detachment could have been no novelty to the +inhabitants of Daghestan in the year 1819; and even yet, it must be +confessed, it is an event that gives them no pleasure. Superstition made +them look on the Russians as eternal enemies--enemies, however, vigorous +and able; and they determined, therefore, not to injure them but in +secret, by concealing their hatred under a mask of amity. A buzz spread +among the people on the appearance of the Russians: the women returned +by winding paths to the village, not forgetting, however, to gaze +secretly at the strangers. The men, on the contrary, threw fierce +glances at them over their shoulders, and began to assemble in groups, +discussing how they might best get rid of them, and relieve themselves +from the podvod[22], and so on. A multitude of loungers and boys, +however, surrounded the Russians as they reposed upon the grass. Some of +the Kekkhouds (starosts[23]) and Tehaoushes (desiatniks[24]) appointed +by the Russian Government, hastily advancing to the Captain, pulled off +their caps, after the usual salutation, "Khot ghialdi!" (welcome!) and +"Yakshimousen, tazamousen, sen-ne-ma-mousen," (I greet you,) arrived at +the inevitable question at a meeting of Asiatics, "What news?"--"Na +khaber?" + + [22] The being obliged to transport provisions. + + [23] The chief of a village. + + [24] The subordinates of the atarost. + +"The only news with me is, that my horse has cast a shoe, and the poor +devil is dead lame," answered the Captain in pretty good Tartar: "and +here is, just _apropos_, a blacksmith!" he continued, turning to a +broad-shouldered Tartar, who was filing the fresh-shod hoof of Ammalat's +horse. "Kounak! (my friend,)--shoe my horse--the shoes are ready--'tis +but the clink of a hammer, and 'tis done in a moment!" + +The blacksmith turned sulkily towards the Captain a face tanned by his +forge and by the sun, looked from the corners of his eyes at his +questioner, stroked the thick mustache which overshadowed a beard long +unrazored, and which might for its bristles have done honour to any +boar; flattened his arakshin (bonnet) on his head, and coolly continued +putting away his tools in their bag. + +"Do you understand me, son of a wolf race?" said the Captain. + +"I understand you well," answered the blacksmith,--"you want your horse +shod." + +"And I should advise you to shoe him," replied the Captain, observing on +the part of the Tartar a desire to jest. + +"To-day is a holiday: I will not work." + +"I will pay you what you like for your work; but I tell you that, +whether you like it or not, you must do what I want." + +"The will of Allah is above ours; and he does not permit us to work on +Djouma. We sin enough for gain on common days, so on a holiday I do not +wish to buy coals with silver."[25] + + [25] Go to the devil. + +"But were you not at work just now, obstinate blockhead? Is not one +horse the same as another? Besides, mine is a real Mussulman--look at +the mark[26]--the blood of Karabakh." + + [26] The Asiatics mark their horses by burning them on their + haunch with a hot iron. This peculiar mark, the [Greek: stigma] + or [Greek: kotpa] of the Greeks is called "tavro." + +"All horses are alike; but not so those who ride them: Ammalat Bek is my +aga (lord.)" + +"That is, if you had taken it into your head to refuse him, he would +have had your ears cropped; but you will not work for me, in the hope +that I would not dare to do the same. Very well, my friend! I certainly +will not crop your ears, but be assured that I will warm that orthodox +back of yours with two hundred pretty stinging nogaikas (lashes with a +whip) if you won't leave off your nonsense--do you hear?" + +"I hear--and I answer as I did before: I will not shoe the horse--for I +am a good Mussulman." + +"And I will make you shoe him, because I am a good soldier. As you have +worked at the will of your Bek, you shall work for the need of a Russian +officer--without this I cannot proceed. Corporals, forward!" + +In the mean time a circle of gazers had been extending round the +obstinate blacksmith, like a ring made in the water by casting a stone +into it. Some in the crowd were disputing the best places, hardly +knowing what they were running to see; and at last more cries were +heard: "It is not fair--it cannot be: to-day is a holiday: to-day it is +a sin to work!" Some of the boldest, trusting to their numbers, pulled +their caps over their eyes, and felt at the hilts of their daggers, +pressing close up to the Captain, and crying "Don't shoe him, Alekper! +Do nothing for him: here's news, my masters! What new prophets for us +are these unwashed Russians?" The Captain was a brave man, and thoroughly +understood the Asiatics. "Away, ye rascals!" he cried in a rage, laying +his hand on the butt of his pistol. "Be silent, or the first that dares +to let an insult pass his teeth, shall have them closed with a leaden +seal!" + +This threat, enforced by the bayonets of some of the soldiers, succeeded +immediately: they who were timid took to their heels--the bolder held +their tongues. Even the orthodox blacksmith, seeing that the affair was +becoming serious, looked round on all sides, and muttered "Nedjelaim?" +(What can I do?) tucked up his sleeves, pulled out from his bag the +hammer and pincers, and began to shoe the Russian's horse, grumbling +between his teeth, "_Vala billa beetmi eddeem_, (I will not do it, by +God!)" It must be remarked that all this took place out of Ammalat's +presence. He had hardly looked at the Russians, when, in order to avoid +a disagreeable rencontre, he mounted the horse which had just been shod, +and galloped off to Bouinaki, where his house was situated. + +While this was taking place at one end of the exercising ground, a +horseman rode up to the front of the reposing soldiers. He was of +middling stature, but of athletic frame, and was clothed in a shirt of +linked mail, his head protected by a helmet, and in full warlike +equipment, and followed by five noukers. By their dusty dress, and the +foam which covered their horses, it might be seen that they had ridden +far and fast. The first horseman, fixing his eye on the soldiers, +advanced slowly along the piles of muskets, upsetting the two pyramids +of fire-arms. The noukers, following the steps of their master, far from +turning aside, coolly rode over the scattered weapons. The sentry, who +had challenged them while they were yet at some distance, and warned +them not to approach, seized the bit of the steed bestridden by the +mail-coated horseman, while the rest of the soldiers, enraged at such an +insult from a Mussulman, assailed the party with abuse. "Hold hard! Who +are you?" was the challenge and question of the sentinel. "Thou must be +a raw recruit if thou knowest not Sultan Akhmet Khan of Avar,"[27] +coolly answered the man in mail, shaking off the hand of the sentry from +his reins. "I think last year I left the Russians a keepsake at Bashli. +Translate that for him," he said to one of his noukers. The Avaretz +repeated his words in pretty intelligible Russian. + + [27] The brother of Hassan Khan Djemontai, who became Khan of + Avar by marrying the Khan's widow and heiress. + +"'Tis Akhmet Khan! Akhmet Khan!" shouted the soldiers. "Seize him! hold +him fast! down with him! pay him for the affair of Bashli[28]--the +villains cut our wounded to pieces." + + [28] The Russian detachment, consisting on this occasion of + 3000 men, was surrounded by 60,000. These were, Ouizmi + Karakaidakhsky, the Avaretzes, Akoushinetzes, the Boulinetzes + of the Koi-Sou, and others. The Russians fought their way out + by night, but with considerable loss. + +"Away, brute!" cried Sultan Akhmet Khan to the soldier who had again +seized the bridle of his horse--"I am a Russian general." + +"A Russian traitor!" roared a multitude of voices; "bring him to the +Captain: drag him to Derbend, to Colonel Verkhoffsky." + +"'Tis only to hell I would go with such guides!" said Akhmet, with a +contemptuous smile, and making his horse rear, he turned him to the +right and left; then, with a blow of the nogaik,[29] he made him leap +into the air, and disappeared. The noukers kept their eye on the +movements of their chief, and uttering their warcry, followed his steps, +and overthrowing several of the soldiers, cleared a way for themselves +into the road. After galloping off to a distance of scarce a hundred +paces, the Khan rode away at a slow walk, with an expression of the +greatest _sang-froid_, not deigning to look back, and coolly playing +with his bridle. The crowd of Tartars assembled round the blacksmith +attracted his attention. "What are you quarrelling about, friends?" +asked Akhmet Khan of the nearest, reining in his horse. + + [29] The whip of a Kazak. + +In sign of respect and reverence, they all applied their hands to their +foreheads when they saw the Khan. The timid or peaceably disposed among +them, dreading the consequences, either from the Russians or the Khan, +to which this rencontre might expose them, exhibited much discomfiture +at the question; but the idle, the ruffian, and the desperate--for all +beheld with hatred the Russian domination--crowded turbulently round him +with delight. They hurriedly told him what was the matter. + +"And you stand, like buffaloes, stupidly looking on, while they force +your brother to work like a brute under the yoke!" exclaimed the Khan, +gloomily, to the bystanders; "while they laugh in your face at your +customs, and trample your faith under their feet! and ye whine like old +women, instead of revenging yourselves like men! Cowards! cowards!" + +"What can we do?" cried a multitude of voices together; "the Russians +have cannon--they have bayonets!" + +"And ye, have ye not guns? have ye not daggers? It is not the Russians +that are brave, but ye that are cowards! Shame of Mussulmans! The sword +of Daghestan trembles before the Russian whip. Ye are afraid of the roll +of the cannon; but ye fear not the reproach of cowardice. The ferman of +a Russian pristav[30] is holier to you than a chapter of the Koran. +Siberia frightens you more than hell. Did your forefathers act, did your +forefathers think thus? They counted not their enemies, they calculated +not. Outnumbered or not, they met them, bravely fought them, and +gloriously died! And what fear ye? Have the Russians ribs of iron? Have +their cannon no breach? Is it not by the tail that you seize the +scorpion?" This address stirred the crowd. The Tartar vanity was touched +to the quick. "What do we care for them? Why do we let them lord it over +us here?" was heard around. "Let us liberate the blacksmith from his +work--let us liberate him!" they roared, as they narrowed their circle +round the Russian soldiers, amidst whom Alekper was shoeing the +captain's horse. The confusion increased. Satisfied with the tumult he +had created, Sultan Akhmet Khan, not wishing to mix himself up in an +insignificant brawl, rode out of the crowd, leaving two noukers to keep +alive the violent spirit among the Tartars, while, accompanied by the +remainder, he rode rapidly to the ootakh[31] of Ammalat. + + [30] A superintendent. + + [31] The house, in Tartar, is "ev;" "outakh," mansion; and + "sarai," edifice in general; "haram-khaneh," the women's + apartments. For palace they employ the word "igarat." The + Russians confound all these meanings in the word "sakla," + which, in the Circassian language, is house. + +"Mayest thou be victorious," said Sultan Akhmet Khan to Ammalat Bek, who +received him at the threshold. This ordinary salutation, in the +Circassian language, was pronounced with so marked an emphasis, that +Ammalat as he kissed him, asked, "Is that a jest or a prophecy, my fair +guest?" + +"That depends on thee," replied the Sultan. "It is upon the right heir +of the Shamkhalat[32] that it depends to draw the sword from the +scabbard." + + [32] The father of Ammalat was the eldest of the family, and + consequently the true heir to the Shamkhalat. But the Russians, + having conquered Daghestan, not trusting to the good intentions + of this chief, gave the power to the younger brother. + +"To sheath it no more, Khan? An unenviable destiny. Methinks it is +better to reign in Bouinaki, than for an empty title to be obliged to +hide in the mountains like a jackal." + +"To bound from the mountains like a lion, Ammalat; and to repose, after +your glorious toils, in the palace of your ancestors." + +"To repose? Is it not better not to be awakened at all? + +"Would you behold but in a dream what you ought to possess in reality? +The Russians are giving you the poppy, and will lull you with tales, +while another plucks the golden flowers of the garden."[33] + + [33] A _jeu-de-mots_ which the Asiatics admire much; + "kizil-gulliar" means simply roses, but the Khan alludes to + "kizil," ducats. + +"What can I do with my force?" + +"Force--that is in thy soul, Ammalat!... Despise dangers and they bend +before you.... Dost thou hear that?" added Sultan Akhmet Khan, as the +sound of firing reached them from the town. "It is the voice of +victory!" + +Saphir-Ali rushed into the chamber with an agitated face. + +"Bouinaki is in revolt," he hurriedly began; "a crowd of rioters has +overpowered the detachment, and they have begun to fire from the +rocks."[34] + + [34] The Tartars, like the North American Indians, always, if + possible, shelter themselves behind rocks and enclosures, &c., + when engaged in battle. + +"Rascals!" cried Ammalat, as he threw his gun over his shoulder. "How +dared they to rise without me! Run, Saphir-Ali, threaten them with my +name; kill the first who disobeys." + +"I have done all I could to restrain them," said Saphir-Ali, "but none +would listen to me, for the noukers of Sultan Akhmet Khan were urging +them on, saying that he had ordered them to slay the Russians." + +"Indeed! did my noukers say that?" asked the Khan. + +"They did not say so much, but they set the example," said Saphir-Ali. + +"In that case they have done well," replied Sultan Akhmet Khan: "this is +brave!" + +"What hast thou done, Khan!" cried Ammalat, angrily. + +"What you might have done long ago!" + +"How can I justify myself to the Russians?" + +"With lead and steel.... The firing is begun.... Fate works for you ... +the sword is drawn ... let us go seek the Russians!" + +"They are here!" cried the Captain, who, followed by two men, had broken +through the disorderly ranks of the Tartars, and dashed into the house +of their chief. Confounded by the unexpected outbreak in which he was +certain to be considered a party, Ammalat saluted his enraged +guest--"Come in peace!" he said to him in Tartar. + +"I care not whether I come in peace or no," answered the Captain, "but I +find no peaceful reception in Bouinaki. Thy Tartars, Ammalat, have dared +to fire upon a soldier of mine, of yours, a subject of our Tsar." + +"In very deed, 'twas absurd to fire on a Russian," said the Khan, +contemptuously stretching himself on the cushions of the divan, "when +they might have cut his throat." + +"Here is the cause of all the mischief, Ammalat!" said the Captain, +angrily, pointing to the Khan; "but for this insolent rebel not a +trigger would have been pulled in Bouinaki! But you have done well, +Ammalat Bek, to invite Russians as friends, and to receive their foe as +a guest, to shelter him as a comrade, to honour him as a friend! Ammalat +Bek, this man is named in the order of the commander-in-chief; give him +up." + +"Captain," answered Ammalat, "with us a guest is sacred. To give him up +would be a sin upon my soul, an ineffaceable shame upon my head; respect +my entreaty; respect our customs." + +"I will tell you, in your turn--respect the Russian laws. Remember your +duty. You have sworn allegiance to the Tsar, and your oath obliges you +not to spare your own brother if he is a criminal." + +"Rather would I give up my brother than my guest, Sir Captain! It is not +for you to judge my promises and obligations. My tribunal is Allah and +the padishah! In the field, let fortune take care of the Khan; but +within my threshold, beneath my roof, I am bound to be his protector, +and I will be!" + +"And you shall be answerable for this traitor!" + +The Khan had lain in haughty silence during this dispute, breathing the +smoke from his pipe: but at the word "traitor," his blood was fired, he +started up, and rushed indignantly to the Captain. + +"Traitor, say you?" he cried. "Say rather, that I refused to betray him +to whom I was bound by promise. The Russian padishah gave me rank, the +sardar[35] caressed me--and I was faithful so long as they demanded of +me nothing impossible or humiliating. But, all of a sudden, they wished +me to admit troops into Avar--to permit fortresses to be built there; +and what name should I have deserved, if I had sold the blood and sweat +of the Avaretzes, my brethren! If I had attempted this, think ye that I +could have done it? A thousand free daggers, a thousand unhired bullets, +would have flown to the heart of the betrayer. The very rocks would have +fallen on the son who could betray his father. I refused the friendship +of the Russians; but I was not their enemy--and what was the reward of +my just intentions, my honest counsels? I was deeply, personally +insulted by the letter of one of your generals, whom I had warned. That +insolence cost him dear at Bashli ... I shed a river of blood for some +few drops of insulting ink, and that river divides us for ever." + + [35] The commander-in-chief. + +"That blood cries for vengeance!" replied the enraged Captain. "Thou +shalt not escape it, robber!" + +"Nor thou from me!" shouted the infuriated Khan, plunging his dagger +into the body of the Captain, as he lifted his hand to seize him by the +collar. Severely wounded, the officer fell groaning on the carpet. + +"Thou hast undone me!" cried Ammalat, wringing his hands. "He is a +Russian, and my guest!" + +"There are insults which a roof cannot cover," sullenly replied the +Khan. "The die is cast: it is no time to hesitate. Shut your gate, call +your people, and let us attack the enemy." + +"An hour ago I had no enemy ... there are no means now for repulsing +them ... I have neither powder nor ball ... The people are dispersed." + +"They have fled!" cried Saphir-Ali in despair. "The Russians are +advancing at full march over the hill. They are close at hand!" + +"If so, go with me, Ammalat!" said the Khan. "I rode to Tchetchna +yesterday, to raise the revolt along the line ... What will be the end, +God knows; but there is bread in the mountains. Do you consent?" + +"Let us go!" ... replied Ammalat, resolvedly.... "When our only safety +is in flight, it is no time for disputes and reproaches." + +"Ho! horses, and six noukers with me!" + +"And am I to go with you?" said Saphir-Ali, with tears in his +eyes--"with you for weal or woe!" + +"No, my good Saphir-Ali, no. Remain you here to govern the household, +that our people and the strangers may not seize every thing. Give my +greeting to my wife, and take her to my father-in-law, the Shamkhal. +Forget me not, and farewell!" + +They had barely time to escape at full gallop by one gate, when the +Russians dashed in at the other. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The vernal noon was shining upon the peaks of Caucasus, and the loud +voices of the moollahs had called the inhabitants of Tchetchna to +prayer. By degrees they came forth from the mosques, and though +invisible to each other from the towers on which they stood, their +solitary voices, after awaking for a moment the echoes of the hills, +sank to stillness in the silent air. + +The moollah, Hadji Suleiman, a Turkish devotee, one of those +missionaries annually sent into the mountains by the Divan of Stamboul, +to spread and strengthen the faith, and to increase the detestation felt +by the inhabitants for the Russians, was reposing on the roof of the +mosque, having performed the usual call, ablution, and prayer. He had +not been long installed as moollah of Igali, a village of Tchetchna; and +plunged in a deep contemplation of his hoary beard, and the circling +smoke-wreaths that rose from his pipe, he gazed from time to time with a +curious interest on the mountains, and on the defiles which lay towards +the north, right before his eyes. On the left arose the precipitous +ridges dividing Tchetchna from Avar, and beyond them glittered the snows +of Caucasus; saklas scattered disorderly along the ridges half-way up +the mountain, and narrow paths led to these fortresses built by nature, +and employed by the hill-robbers to defend their liberty, or secure +their plunder. All was still in the village and the surrounding hills; +there was not a human being to be seen on the roads or streets; flocks +of sheep were reposing in the shade of the cliffs; the buffaloes were +crowded in the muddy swamps near the springs, with only their muzzles +protruded from the marsh. Nought save the hum of the insects--nought +save the monotonous chirp of the grasshoppers indicated life amid the +breathless silence of the mountains; and Hadji Suleiman, stretched under +the cupola, was intensely enjoying the stillness and repose of nature, +so congenial to the lazy immobility of the Turkish character. Indolently +he turned his eyes, whose fire was extinguished, and which no longer +reflected the light of the sun, and at length they fell upon two +horsemen, slowly climbing the opposite side of the declivity. + +"Nephtali!" cried our Moollah, turning towards a neighbouring sakla, at +the gate of which stood a saddled horse. And then a handsome +Tchetchenetz, with short cut beard, and shaggy cap covering half his +face, ran out into the street. "I see two horsemen," continued the +Moollah; "they are riding round the village!" + +"Most likely Jews or Armenians," answered Nephtali. "They do not choose +to hire a guide, and will break their necks in the winding road. The +wild-goats, and our boldest riders, would not plunge into these recesses +without precaution." + +"No, brother Nephtali; I have been twice to Mecca, and have seen plenty +of Jews and Armenians every where. But these riders look not like Hebrew +chafferers, unless, indeed, they exchange steel for gold in the mountain +road. They have no bales of merchandise. Look at them yourself from +above; your eyes are surer than mine; mine have had their day, and done +their work. There was a time when I could count the buttons on a Russian +soldier's coat a verst off, and my rifle never missed an infidel; but +now I could not distinguish a ram of my own afar." + +By this time Nephtali was at the side of the Moollah, and was examining +the travellers with an eagle glance. + +"The noonday is hot, and the road rugged," said Suleiman; "invite the +travellers to refresh themselves and their horses: perhaps they have +news: besides, the Koran commands us to show hospitality." + +"With us in the mountains, and before the Koran, never did a stranger +leave a village hungry or sad; never did he depart without tchourek,[36] +without blessing, without a guide; but these people are suspicious: why +do they avoid honest men, and pass our village by by-roads, and with +danger to their life?" + + [36] A kind of dried bread. + +"It seems that they are your countrymen," said Suleiman, shading his +eyes with his hand: "their dress is Tchetchna. Perhaps they are +returning from a plundering exhibition, to which your father went with a +hundred of his neighbours; or perhaps they are brothers, going to +revenge blood for blood." + +"No, Suleiman, that is not like us. Could a mountaineer's heart refrain +from coming to see his countrymen--to boast of his exploits against the +Russians, and to show his booty? These are neither avengers of blood nor +Abreks--their faces are not covered by the bashlik; besides, dress is +deceptive. Who can tell that those are not Russian deserters! The other +day a Kazak, who had murdered his master, fled from Goumbet-Aoul with +his horse and arms.... The devil is strong!" + +"He is strong in them in whom the faith is weak, Nephtali;--yet, if I +mistake not, the hinder horseman has hair flowing from under his cap." + +"May I be pounded to dust, but it is so! It is either a Russian, or, what +is worse, a Tartar Shageed.[37] Stop a moment, my friend; I will comb +your zilflars for you! In half-an-hour I will return, Suleiman, either +with them,--or one of us three shall feed the mountain berkoots +(eagles.)" + + [37] The mountaineers are bad Mussulmans, the Sooni sect is + predominant; but the Daghestanetzes are in general Shageeds, as + the Persians. The sects hate each other with all their heart. + +Nephtali rushed down the stairs, threw the gun on his shoulders, leapt +into his saddle and dashed down the hill, caring neither for furrow nor +stone. Only the dust arose, and the pebbles streamed down after the bold +horseman." + +"Alla akber!" gravely exclaimed Suleiman, and lit his pipe. + +Nephtali soon came up with the strangers. Their horses were covered with +foam, and the sweat-drops rained from them on the narrow path by which +they were climbing the mountain. The first was clothed in a shirt of +mail, the other in the Circassian dress: except that he wore a Persian +sabre instead of a shashka,[38] suspended by a laced girdle. His left +arm was covered with blood, bound up with a handkerchief, and supported +by the sword-knot. The faces of both were concealed. For some time he +rode behind them along the slippery path, which overhung a precipice; +but at the first open space he galloped by them, and turned his horse +round. "Salam aleikom!" said he, opposing their passage along the rugged +and half-built road among the rocks, as he made ready his arms. The +foremost horseman suddenly wrapped his bourka[39] round his face, so as +to leave visible only his knit brows: "Aleikom Salam!" answered he, +cocking his gun, and fixing himself in the saddle. + + [38] The Circassian sabre. + + [39] A rough cloak, used as a protection in bad weather. + +"God give you a good journey!" said Nephtali. repeating the usual +salutation, and preparing, at the first hostile movement, to shoot the +stranger. + +"God give you enough of sense not to interrupt the traveller," replied +his antagonist, impatiently: "What would you with us, Kounak?"[40] + + [40] Friend, comrade. + +"I offer you rest, and a brother's repast, barley and stalls for your +horses. My threshold flourishes by hospitality: the blessing of the +stranger increaseth the flock, and giveth sharpness to the sword of the +master. Fix not the seal of reproach on our whole village. Let them not +say, 'They have seen travellers in the heat of noon, and have not +refreshed them nor sheltered them.'" + +"We thank you for your kindness; but we are not wont to take forced +hospitality; and haste is even more necessary for us than rest." + +"You ride to your death without a guide." + +"Guide!" exclaimed the traveller; "I know every step of the Caucasus. I +have been where your serpents climb not, your tigers cannot mount, your +eagles cannot fly. Make way, comrade: thy threshold is not on God's +high-road, and I have no time to prate with thee." + +"I will not yield a step, till I know who and whence you are!" + +"Insolent scoundrel, out of my way, or thy mother shall beg thy bones +from the jackall and the wind! Thank your luck, Nephtali, that thy +father and I have eaten one another's salt; and often have ridden by his +side in the battle. Unworthy son! thou art rambling about the roads, and +ready to attack the peaceable travellers, while thy father's corse lies +rotting on the fields of Russia, and the wives of the Kazaks are selling +his arms in the bazar. Nephtali, thy father was slain yesterday beyond +the Terek. Dost thou know me now?" + +"Sultan Akhmet Khan!" cried the Tchetchenetz, struck by the piercing +look and by the terrible news. His voice was stifled, and he fell +forward on his horse's neck in inexpressible grief. + +"Yes, I am Sultan Akhmet Khan! but grave this in your memory, +Nephtali--that if you say to any one, 'I have seen the Khan of Avar,' my +vengeance will live from generation to generation." + +The strangers passed on, the Khan in silence, plunged, as it seemed, in +painful recollections; Ammalat (for it was he) in gloomy thought. The +dress of both bore witness to recent fighting; their mustaches were +singed by the priming, and splashes of blood had dried upon their faces; +but the proud look of the first seemed to defy to the combat fate and +chance; a gloomy smile, of hate mingled with scorn, contracted his lip. +On the other hand, on the features of Ammalat exhaustion was painted. He +could hardly turn his languid eyes; and from time to time a groan +escaped him, caused by the pain of his wounded arm. The uneasy pace of +the Tartar horse, unaccustomed to the mountain roads, renewed the +torment of his wound. He was the first to break the silence. + +"Why have you refused the offer of these good people? We might have +stopped an hour or two to repose, and at dewfall we could have +proceeded." + +"You think so, because you feel like a young man, dear Ammalat: you are +used to rule your Tartars like slaves, and you fancy that you can +conduct yourself with the same ease among the free mountaineers. The +hand of fate weighs heavily upon us;--we are defeated and flying. +Hundreds of brave mountaineers--your noukers and my own--have fallen in +fight with the Russians; and the Tchetchenetz has seen turned to flight +the face of Sultan Akhmet Khan, which they are wont to behold the star +of victory! To accept the beggar's repast, perhaps to hear reproaches +for the death of fathers and sons, carried away by me in this rash +expedition--'twould be to lose their confidence for ever. Time will +pass, tears will dry up; the thirst of vengeance will take place of +grief for the dead; and then again Sultan Akhmet will be seen the +prophet of plunder and of blood. Then again the battle-signal shall echo +through the mountains, and I shall once more lead flying bands of +avengers into the Russian limits. If I go now, in the moment of defeat, +the Tchetchenetz will judge that Allah giveth and taketh away victory. +They may offend me by rash words, and with me an offence is +ineffaceable; and the revenge of a personal offence would obstruct the +road that leads me to the Russians. Why, then, provoke a quarrel with a +brave people--and destroy the idol of glory on which they are wont to +gaze with rapture? Never does man appear so mean as in weakness, when +every one can measure his strength with him fearlessly: besides, you +need a skilful leech, and nowhere will you find a better than at my +house. To-morrow we shall be at home; have patience until then." + +With a gesture of gratitude Ammalat Bek placed his hand upon his heart +and forehead: he perfectly felt the truth of the Khan's words, but +exhaustion for many hours had been overwhelming him. Avoiding the +villages, they passed the night among the rocks, eating a handful of +millet boiled in honey, without the mountaineers seldom set out on a +journey. Crossing the Koi-Sou by the bridge near the Asheert, quitting +its northern branch, and leaving behind them Andeh, and the country of +the Boulinetzes of the Koi-Sou, and the naked chain of Salataou. A rude +path lay before them, winding among forests and cliffs terrible to body +and soul; and they began to climb the last chain which separated them on +the north from Khounzakh or Avar, the capital of the Khans. The forest, +and then the underwood, had gradually disappeared from the naked flint +of the mountain, on which cloud and tempest could hardly wander. To +reach the summit, our travellers were compelled to ride alternately to +the right and to the left, so precipitous was the ascent of the rocks. +The experienced steed of the Khan stepped cautiously and surely from +stone to stone, feeling his way with his hoofs, and when they slipped, +gliding on his haunches down the declivities: while the ardent fiery +horse of Ammalat, trained in the hills of Daghestan, fretted, curveted, +and slipped. Deprived of his customary grooming, he could not support a +two days' flight under the intense cold and burning sunshine of the +mountains, travelling among sharp rocks, and nourished only by the +scanty herbage of the crevices. He snorted heavily as he climbed higher +and higher; the sweat streamed from his poitrel; his large nostrils were +dry and parched, and foam boiled from his bit. "Allah bereket!" +exclaimed Ammalat, as he reached the crest from which there opened +before him a view of Avar: but at the very moment his exhausted horse +fell under him; the blood spouted from his open mouth, and his last +breath burst the saddle-girth. + +The Khan assisted the Bek to extricate himself from the stirrups; but +observed with alarm that his efforts had displaced the bandage on +Ammalat's wounded arm, and that the blood was soaking through it afresh. +The young man, it seemed, was insensible to pain; tears were rolling +down his face upon the dead horse. So one drop fills not, but overflows +the cup. "Thou wilt never more bear me like down upon the wind," he +said, "nor hear behind thee from the dust-cloud of the race, the shouts, +unpleasing to the rival, the acclamations of the people: in the blaze of +battle no more shalt thou carry me from the iron rain of the Russian +cannon. With thee I gained the fame of a warrior--why should I survive, +or it, or thee?" He bent his face upon his knee, and remained silent a +long time, while the Khan carefully bound up his wounded arm: at length +Ammalat raised his head: "Leave me!" he cried, resolutely: "leave, +Sultan Akhmet Khan, a wretch to his fate! The way is long, and I am +exhausted. By remaining with me, you will perish in vain. See! the eagle +soars around us; he knows that my heart will soon quiver beneath his +talons, and I thank God! Better find an airy grave in the maw of a bird +of prey, than leave my corse beneath a Christian foot. Farewell, linger +not." + +"For shame, Ammalat! you trip against a straw....! What the great harm? +You are wounded, and your horse is dead. Your wound will soon healed, +and we will find you a better horse! Allah sendeth not misfortunes +alone. In the flower of your age, and the full vigour of your faculties, +it is a sin to despair. Mount my horse, I will lead him by the bridle, +and by night we shall be at home. Time is precious!" + +"For me, time is no more, Sultan Ahkmet Khan ... I thank you heartily +for your brotherly care, but I cannot take advantage of it ... you +yourself cannot support a march on foot after such fatigue. I repeat ... +leave me to my fate. Here, on these inaccessible heights, I will die +free and contented ... And what is there to recall me to life! My +parents lie under the earth, my wife is blind, my uncle and +father-in-law the Shamkhal are cowering at Tarki before the Russians ... +the Giaour is revelling in my native land, in my inheritance; and I +myself an a wanderer from my home, a runaway from battle. I neither can, +nor ought to live." + +"You ought _not_ to talk such nonsense, dear Ammalat:--and nothing but +fever can excuse you. We are created that we may live longer than our +fathers. For wives, if one has not teazed you enough, we will find you +three more. If you love not the Shamkhal, yet love your own +inheritance--you ought to live, if but for that; since to a dead man +power is useless, and victory impossible. Revenge on the Russians is a +holy duty: live, if but for that. That we are beaten, is no novelty for +a warrior; to-day luck is theirs, to-morrow it falls to us. Allah gives +fortune; but a man creates his own glory, not by fortune, but by +firmness. Take courage, my friend Ammalat.... You are wounded and weak; +I am strong from habit, and not fatigued by flight. Mount! and we may +yet live to beat the Russians." + +The colour returned to Ammalat's face ... "Yes, I will live for +revenge!" he cried: "for revenge both secret and open. Believe me, +Sultan Akhmet Khan, it is only for this that I accept your generosity! +Henceforth I am yours; I swear by the graves of my fathers.... I am +yours! Guide my steps, direct the strokes of my arm; and if ever, +drowned in softness, I forget my oath, remind me of this moment, of this +mountain peak: Ammalat Bek will awake, and his dagger will be +lightning!" + +The Khan embraced him, as he lifted the excited youth into the saddle. +"Now I behold in you the pure blood of the Emirs!" said he: "the burning +blood of their children, which flows in our veins like the sulphur in +the entrails of the rocks, which, ever and anon inflaming, shakes and +topples down the crags." Steadying with one hand the wounded man in the +saddle, the Khan began cautiously to descend the rugged croft. +Occasionally the stones fell rattling from under their feet, or the +horse slid downward over the smooth granite, so that they were well +pleased to reach the mossy slopes. By degrees, creeping plants began to +appear, spreading their green sheets; and, waving from the crevices like +fans, they hung down in long ringlets like ribbons or flags. At length +they reached a thick wood of nut-trees; then came the oak, the wild +cherry, and, lower still, the tchinar,[41] and the tchindar. The +variety, the wealth of vegetation, and the majestic silence of the +umbrageous forest, produced a kind of involuntary adoration of the wild +strength of nature. Ever and anon, from the midnight darkness of the +boughs, there dawned, like the morning, glimpses of meadows, covered +with a fragrant carpet of flowers untrodden by the foot of man. The +pathway at one time lost itself in the depth of the thicket; at another, +crept forth upon the edge of the rock, below which gleamed and murmured +a rivulet, now foaming over the stones, then again slumbering on its +rocky bed, under the shade of the barberry and the eglantine. Pheasants, +sparkling with their rainbow tails, flitted from shrub to shrub; flights +of wild pigeons flew over the crags, sometimes in an horizontal troop, +sometimes like a column, rising to the sky; and sunset flooded all with +its airy purple, and light mists began to rise from the narrow gorges: +every thing breathed the freshness of evening. Our travellers were now +near the village of Aki, and separated only by a hill from Khounzakh. A +low crest alone divided them from that village, when the report of a gun +resounded from the mountain, and, like an ominous signal, was repeated +by the echoes of the cliffs. The travellers halted irresolute: the +echoes by degrees sank into stillness. "Our hunters!" cried Sultan +Akhmet Khan, wiping the sweat from his face: "they expect me not, and +think not to meet me here! Many tears of joy, and many of sorrow, do I +bear to Khounzakh!" Unfeigned sorrow was expressed in the face of Akhmet +Khan. Vividly does every soft and every savage sentiment play on the +features of the Asiatic. + + [41] Tchinar, the palmated-leaved plane. + +Another report soon interrupted his meditation; then another, and +another. Shot answered shot, and at length thickened into a warm fire. +"'Tis the Russians!" cried Ammalat, drawing his sabre. He pressed his +horse with the stirrup, as though he would have leaped over the ridge at +a single bound; but in a moment his strength failed him, and the blade +fell ringing on the ground, as his arm dropped heavily by his side. +"Khan!" said he, dismounting, "go to the succour of your people; your +face will be worth more to them than a hundred warriors." + +The Khan heard him not; he was listening intently for the flight of the +balls, as if he would distinguish those of the Russian from the Avarian. +"Have they, besides the agility of the goat, stolen the wings of the +eagle of Kazbec? Can they have reached our inaccessible fastnesses?" +said he, leaning to the saddle, with his foot already in the stirrup. +"Farewell, Ammalat!" he cried at length, listening to the firing, which +now grew hotter: "I go to perish on the ruins I have made, after +striking like a thunderbolt!" At this moment a bullet whistled by, and +fell at his feet. Bending down and picking it up, his face was lighted +with a smile. He quietly took his foot from the stirrup, and turning to +Ammalat, "Mount!" said he, "you shall presently find with your own eyes +an answer to this riddle. The Russian bullets are of lead; but this is +copper[42]--an Avaretz, my dear countryman. Besides, it comes from the +south, where the Russians cannot be." + + [42] Having no lead, the Avaretzes use balls of copper, as they + possess small mines of that metal. + +They ascended to the summit of the crest, and before their view opened +two villages, situated on the opposite sides of a deep ravine; from +behind them came the firing. The inhabitants sheltering themselves +behind rocks and hedges, were firing at each other. Between them the +women were incessantly running, sobbing and weeping when any combatant, +approaching the edge of the ravine, fell wounded. They carried stones, +and, regardless of the whistling of the balls, fearlessly piled them up, +so as to make a kind of defence. Cries of joy arose from one side or the +other, as a wounded adversary was carried from the field; a groan of +sorrow ascended in the air when one of their kinsmen or comrades was +hit. Ammalat gazed at the combat for some time with surprise, a combat in +which there was a great deal more noise than execution. At length he +turned an enquiring eye upon the Khan. + +"With us these are everyday affairs!" he answered, delightedly marking +each report. "Such skirmishes cherish among us a warlike spirit and +warlike habits. With you, private quarrels end in a few blows of the +dagger; among us they become the common business of whole villages, and +any trifle is enough to occasion them. Probably they are fighting about +some cow that has been stolen. With us it is no disgrace to steal in +another village--the shame is, to be found out. Admire the coolness of +our women; the balls are whizzing about like gnats, yet they pay no +attention to them! Worthy wives and mothers of brave men! To be sure, +there would be eternal disgrace to him who could wound a woman, yet no +man can answer for a ball. A sharp eye may aim it; but blind chance +carries it to the mark. But darkness is falling from heaven, and +dividing these enemies for a moment. Let us hasten to my kinsmen." + +Nothing but the experience of the Khan could have saved our travellers +from frequent falls in the precipitous descent to the river Ouzen. +Ammalat could see scarcely any thing before him; the double veil of +night and weakness enveloped his eyes; his head turned: he beheld, as it +were in a dream, when they again mounted an eminence, the gate and +watch-tower of the Khan's house. With an uncertain foot he dismounted in +a courtyard, surrounded by shouting noukers and attendants; and he had +hardly stepped over the grated threshold when his breath failed him--a +deadly paleness poured its snow over the wounded man's face; and the +young Bek, exhausted by loss of blood, fatigued by travel, hunger, and +anguish of soul, fell senseless on the embroidered carpets. + + * * * * * + + + + +POEMS AND BALLADS OF SCHILLER. + +No. VI. + + +THE LAY OF THE BELL. + + "Vivos voco--Mortuous plango--Fulgura frango." + + Fast, in its prison-walls of earth, + Awaits the mould of baked clay. + Up, comrades, up, and aid the birth-- + THE BELL that shall be born to-day! + And wearily now, + With the sweat of the brow, + Shall the work win its grace in the master's eye, + But the blessing that hallows must come from high. + + And well an earnest word beseems + The work the earnest hand prepares; + Its load more light the labour deems, + When sweet discourse the labour shares. + So let us ponder--nor in vain-- + What strength has wrought when labour wills; + For who would not the fool disdain + Who ne'er can feel what he fulfills? + And well it stamps our Human Race, + And hence the gift TO UNDERSTAND, + When in the musing heart we trace + Whate'er we fashion with the hand. + + From the fir the fagot take, + Keep it, heap it hard and dry, + That the gather'd flame may break + Through the furnace, wroth and high. + Smolt the copper within-- + Quick--the brass with the tin, + That the glutinous fluid that feeds the Bell + May flow in the right course glib and well. + + What now these mines so deeply shroud, + What Force with Fire is moulding thus, + Shall from yon steeple, oft and loud, + Speak, witnessing of us! + It shall, in later days unfailing, + Rouse many an ear to rapt emotion; + Its solemn voice with Sorrow wailing, + Or choral chiming to Devotion. + Whatever sound in man's deep breast + Fate wakens, through his winding track, + Shall strike that metal-crowned crest, + Which rings the moral answer back. + + * * * * * + + See the silvery bubbles spring! + Good! the mass is melting now! + Let the salts we duly bring + Purge the flood, and speed the flow. + From the dross and the scum, + Pure, the fusion must come; + For perfect and pure we the metal must keep, + That its voice may be perfect, and pure, and deep. + + That voice, with merry music rife, + The cherish'd child shall welcome in; + What time the rosy dreams of life, + In the first slumber's arms begin. + As yet in Time's dark womb unwarning, + Repose the days, or foul or fair; + And watchful o'er that golden morning, + The Mother-Love's untiring care! + + And swift the years like arrows fly-- + No more with girls content to play, + Bounds the proud Boy upon his way, + Storms through loud life's tumultuous pleasures, + With pilgrim staff the wide world measures; + And, wearied with the wish to roam, + Again seeks, stranger-like, the Father-Home. + And, lo, as some sweet vision breaks + Out from its native morning skies, + With rosy shame on downcast cheeks, + The Virgin stands before his eyes. + A nameless longing seizes him! + From all his wild companions flown; + Tears, strange till then, his eyes bedim; + He wanders all alone. + Blushing, he glides where'er she move; + Her greeting can transport him; + To every mead to deck his love, + The happy wild flowers court him! + Sweet Hope--and tender Longing--ye + The growth of Life's first Age of Gold; + When the heart, swelling, seems to see + The gates of heaven unfold! + O Love, the beautiful and brief! O prime, + Glory, and verdure, of life's summer time! + + * * * * * + + Browning o'er the pipes are simmering, + Dip this fairy rod within; + If like glass the surface glimmering, + Then the casting may begin. + Brisk, brisk to the rest-- + Quick!--the fusion to test; + And welcome, my merry men, welcome the sign, + If the ductile and brittle united combine. + + For still where the strong is betrothed to the weak, + And the stern in sweet marriage is blent with the meek, + Rings the concord harmonious, both tender and strong: + So be it with thee, if for ever united, + The heart to the heart flows in one, love-delighted; + Illusion is brief, but Repentance is long. + + Lovely, thither are they bringing, + With her virgin wreath, the Bride! + To the love-feast clearly ringing, + Tolls the church-bell far and wide! + With that sweetest holyday, + Must the May of Life depart; + With the cestus loosed--away + Flies ILLUSION from the heart! + Yet Love lingers lonely, + When Passion is mute, + And the blossoms may only + Give way to the fruit. + + The Husband must enter + The hostile life, + With struggle and strife, + To plant or to watch, + To snare or to snatch, + To pray and importune, + Must wager and venture + And hunt down his fortune! + Then flows in a current the gear and the gain, + And the garners are fill'd with the gold of the grain, + Now a yard to the court, now a wing to the centre! + Within sits Another, + The thrifty Housewife; + The mild one, the mother-- + Her home is her life. + In its circle she rules, + And the daughters she schools, + And she cautions the boys, + With a bustling command, + And a diligent hand + Employ'd she employs; + Gives order to store, + And the much makes the more; + Locks the chest and the wardrobe, with lavender smelling, + And the hum of the spindle goes quick through the dwelling; + And she hoards in the presses, well polish'd and full, + The snow of the linen, the shine of the wool; + Blends the sweet with the good, and from care and endeavour + Rests never! + Blithe the Master (where the while + From his roof he sees them smile) + Eyes the lands, and counts the gain; + There, the beams projecting far, + And the laden store-house are, + And the granaries bow'd beneath + The blessings of the golden grain; + There, in undulating motion, + Wave the corn-fields like an ocean. + Proud the boast the proud lips breathe:-- + "My house is built upon a rock, + And sees unmoved the stormy shock + Of waves that fret below!" + What chain so strong, what girth so great, + To bind the giant form of Fate?-- + Swift are the steps of Woe. + + * * * * * + + Now the casting may begin; + See the breach indented there: + Ere we run the fusion in, + Halt--and speed the pious prayer! + Pull the bung out-- + See around and about + What vapour, what vapour--God help us!--has risen?-- + Ha! the flame like a torrent leaps forth from its prison! + + What, friend, is like the might of fire + When man can watch and wield the ire? + Whate'er we shape or work, we owe + Still to that heaven-descended glow. + But dread the heaven-descended glow, + When from their chain its wild wings go, + When, where it listeth, wide and wild + Sweeps the free Nature's free-born Child! + When the Frantic One fleets, + While no force can withstand, + Through the populous streets + Whirling ghastly the brand; + For the Element hates + What Man's labour creates, + And the work of his hand! + Impartially out from the cloud, + Or the curse or the blessing may fall! + Benignantly out from the cloud + Come the dews, the revivers of all! + Avengingly our from the cloud + Come the levin, the bolt, and the ball! + Hark--a wail from the steeple!--aloud + The bell shrills its voice to the crowd! + Look--look--red as blood + All on high! + It is not the daylight that fills with its flood + The sky! + What a clamour awaking + Roars up through the street, + What a hell-vapour breaking + Rolls on through the street, + And higher and higher + Aloft moves the Column of Fire! + Through the vistas and rows + Like a whirlwind it goes, + And the air like the steam from a furnace glows. + Beams are crackling--posts are shrinking-- + Walls are sinking--windows clinking-- + Children crying-- + Mothers flying-- + And the beast (the black ruin yet smouldering under) + Yells the howl of its pain and its ghastly wonder! + Hurry and skurry--away--away, + And the face of the night is as clear as day! + As the links in a chain, + Again and again + Flies the bucket from hand to hand; + High in arches up rushing + The engines are gushing, + And the flood, as a beast on the prey that it hounds, + With a roar on the breast of the element bounds. + To the grain and the fruits, + Through the rafters and beams, + Through the barns and the garners it crackles and streams! + As if they would rend up the earth from its roots, + Rush the flames to the sky + Giant-high; + And at length, + Wearied out and despairing, man bows to their strength! + With an idle gaze sees their wrath consume, + And submits to his doom! + Desolate + The place, and dread + For storms the barren bed. + In the deserted gaps that casements were, + Looks forth despair; + And, where the roof hath been, + Peer the pale clouds within! + + One look + Upon the grave + Of all that Fortune gave + The loiterer took-- + Then grasps his staff. Whate'er the fire bereft, + One blessing, sweeter than all else, is left-- + _The faces that he loves_! He counts them o'er-- + And, see--not one dear look is missing from _that_ store! + + * * * * * + + Now clasp'd the bell within the clay-- + The mould the mingled metals fill-- + Oh, may it, sparkling into day, + Reward the labour and the skill! + Alas! should it fail, + For the mould may be frail-- + And still with our hope must be mingled the fear-- + And, even now, while we speak, the mishap may be near! + + To the dark womb of sacred earth + This labour of our hands is given, + As seeds that wait the second birth, + And turn to blessings watch'd by heaven! + Ah seeds, how dearer far than they + We bury in the dismal tomb, + Where Hope and Sorrow bend to pray + That suns beyond the realm of day + May warm them into bloom! + + From the steeple + Tolls the bell, + Deep and heavy, + The death-knell! + Measured and solemn, guiding up the road + A wearied wanderer to the last abode. + It is that worship'd wife-- + It is that faithful mother![43] + Whom the dark Prince of Shadows leads benighted, + From that dear arm where oft she hung delighted. + Far from those blithe companions, born + Of her, and blooming in their morn; + On whom, when couch'd, her heart above + So often look'd the Mother-Love! + + Ah! rent the sweet Home's union-band, + And never, never more to come-- + She dwells within the shadowy land, + Who was the Mother of that Home! + How oft they miss that tender guide, + The care--the watch--the face--the MOTHER-- + And where she sate the babes beside, + Sits with unloving looks--ANOTHER! + + * * * * * + + While the mass is cooling now, + Let the labour yield to leisure, + As the bird upon the bough, + Loose the travail to the pleasure. + When the soft stars awaken, + Each task be forsaken! + + And the vesper-bell lulling the earth into peace, + If the master still toil, chimes the workman's release! + + Gleesome and gay, + On the welcoming way, + Through the wood glides the wanderer home! + And the eye and ear are meeting, + Now, the slow sheep homeward bleating-- + Now, the wonted shelter near, + Lowing the lusty-fronted steer; + Creaking now the heavy wain, + Reels with the happy harvest grain. + Which with many-coloured leaves, + Glitters the garland on the sheaves; + And the mower and the maid + Bound to the dance beneath the shade! + Desert street, and quiet mart;-- + Silence is in the city's heart; + Round the taper burning cheerly, + Gather the groups HOME loves so dearly; + And the gate the town before + Heavily swings with sullen roar! + + Though darkness is spreading + O'er earth--the Upright + And the Honest, undreading, + Look safe on the night. + Which the evil man watching in awe, + For the Eye of the Night is the Law! + Bliss-dower'd: O daughter of the skies, + Hail, holy ORDER, whose employ + Blends like to like in light and joy-- + Builder of Cities, who of old + Call'd the wild man from waste and wold. + And in his hut thy presence stealing, + Roused each familiar household feeling; + And, best of all the happy ties, + The centre of the social band,-- + _The Instinct of the Fatherland!_ + + United thus--each helping each, + Brisk work the countless hands for ever; + For nought its power to strength can teach, + Like Emulation and Endeavour! + Thus link'd the master with the man, + Each in his rights can each revere, + And while they march in freedom's van, + Scorn the lewd rout that dogs the rear! + To freemen labour is renown! + Who works--gives blessings and commands; + Kings glory in the orb and crown-- + Be ours the glory of our hands. + + Long in these walls--long may we greet + Your footfalls, Peace and concord sweet! + Distant the day, Oh! distant far, + When the rude hordes of trampling War + Shall scare the silent vale; + And where, + Now the sweet heaven when day doth leave + The air; + Limns its soft rose-hues on the veil of Eve; + Shall the fierce war-brand tossing in the gale, + From town and hamlet shake the horrent glare! + + * * * * * + + Now, its destined task fulfill'd, + Asunder break the prison-mould; + Let the goodly Bell we build, + Eye and heart alike behold. + The hammer down heave, + Till the cover it cleave. + For the Bell to rise up to the freedom of day, + Destruction must seize on the shape of the clay. + + To break the mould, the master may, + If skilled the hand and ripe the hour; + But woe, when on its fiery way + The metal seeks itself to pour. + Frantic and blind, with thunder-knell, + Exploding from its shattered home, + And glaring forth, as from a hell, + Behold the red Destruction come! + When rages strength that has no reason, + _There_ breaks the mould before the season; + When numbers burst what bound before, + Woe to the State that thrives no more! + Yea, woe, when in the City's heart, + The latent spark to flame is blown; + And Millions from their silence start, + To claim, without a guide, their own! + Discordant howls the warning Bell, + Proclaiming discord wide and far, + And, born but things of peace to tell, + Becomes the ghastliest voice of war: + "Freedom! Equality!"--to blood, + Rush the roused people at the sound! + Through street, hall, palace, roars the flood, + And banded murder closes round! + The hyaena-shapes, that women were! + Jest with the horrors they survey; + They hound--they rend--they mangle there-- + As panthers with their prey! + Nought rests to hallow--burst the ties + Of life's sublime and reverent awe; + Before the Vice the Virtue flies, + And Universal Crime is Law! + Man fears the lion's kingly tread; + Man fears the tiger's fangs of terror; + And still the dreadliest of the dread, + Is Man himself in error! + No torch, though lit from Heaven, illumes + The Blind!--Why place it in his hand? + It lights not him--it but consumes + The City and the Land! + + * * * * * + + Rejoice and laud the prospering skies! + The kernel bursts its husk--behold + From the dull clay the metal rise, + Clear shining, as a star of gold! + Neck and lip, but as one beam, + It laughs like a sun-beam. + And even the scutcheon, clear graven, shall tell + That the art of a master has fashion'd the Bell! + + Come in--come in + My merry men--we'll form a ring + The new-born labour christening; + And "CONCORD" we will name her!-- + To union may her heart-felt call + In brother-love attune us all! + May she the destined glory win + For which the master sought to frame her-- + Aloft--(all earth's existence under,) + In blue-pavilion'd heaven afar + To dwell--the Neighbour of the Thunder, + The Borderer of the Star! + Be hers above a voice to raise + Like those bright hosts in yonder sphere, + Who, while they move, their Maker praise, + And lead around the wreathed year! + To solemn and eternal things + We dedicate her lips sublime!-- + To fan--as hourly on she swings + The silent plumes of Time!-- + No pulse--no heart--no feeling hers! + She lends the warning voice to Fate; + And still companions, while she stirs, + The changes of the Human State! + So may she teach us, as her tone + But now so mighty, melts away-- + That earth no life which earth has known + From the Last Silence can delay! + + Slowly now the cords upheave her! + From her earth-grave soars the Bell; + Mid the airs of Heaven we leave her + In the Music-Realm to dwell! + Up--upwards--yet raise-- + She has risen--she sways. + Fair Bell to our city bode joy and increase, + And oh, may thy first sound be hallow'd to--PEACE![44] + + [43] The translation adheres to the original, in forsaking the + rhyme in these lines and some others. + + [44] Written in the time of French war. + + * * * * * + + +VOTIVE TABLETS. + + What the God taught me--what, through life, my friend + And aid hath been, + With pious hand, and grateful, I suspend + The temple walls within. + + * * * * * + + +THE GOOD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. + + Foster the Good, and thou shalt tend the Flower + Already sown on earth;-- + Foster the Beautiful, and every hour + Thou call'st new flowers to birth! + + * * * * * + + +TO ----. + + Give me that which thou know'st--I'll receive and attend;-- + But thou giv'st me _thyself_--pri'thee spare me, my friend. + + * * * * * + + +GENIUS. + + That which hath been can INTELLECT declare, + What Nature built--it imitates or gilds-- + And REASON builds o'er Nature--but in air-- + _Genius_ alone in Nature--Nature builds. + + * * * * * + + +CORRECTNESS--(Free translation.) + + The calm correctness where no fault we see + Attests Art's loftiest--or its least degree; + Alike the smoothness of the surface shows + The Pool's dull stagnor--the great Sea's repose! + + * * * * * + + +THE IMITATOR. + + Good out of good--_that_ art is known to all-- + But Genius from the bad the good can call-- + Thou, mimic, not from leading strings escaped, + Work'st but the matter that's already shaped! + The already shaped a nobler hand awaits-- + All matter asks a spirit that creates. + + * * * * * + + +THE MASTER. + + The herd of Scribes by what they tell us + Show all in which their wits excel us; + But the true Master we behold + In what his art leaves--just untold! + + * * * * * + + +TO THE MYSTIC. + + That is the real mystery which around + All life, is found;-- + Which still before all eyes for aye has been, + Nor eye hath seen! + + * * * * * + + +ASTRONOMICAL WORKS. + + All measureless, all infinite in awe, + Heaven to great souls is given-- + And yet the sprite of littleness can draw + Down to its inch--the Heaven! + + * * * * * + + +THE DIVISION OF RANKS. + + Yes, there's a patent of nobility + Above the meanness of our common state; + With what they _do_ the vulgar natures buy + Its titles--and with what they _are_, the great! + + * * * * * + + +THEOPHANY. + + When draw the Prosperous near me, I forget + The gods of heaven; but where + Sorrow and suffering in my sight are set, + The gods, I feel, are there! + + * * * * * + + +THE CHIEF END OF MAN. + + What the chief end of Man?--Behold yon tree, + And let it teach thee, Friend! + _Will_ what that will-less yearns for;--and for thee + Is compass'd Man's chief end! + + * * * * * + + +ULYSSES. + + To gain his home all oceans he explored-- + Here Scylla frown'd--and there Charybdis roar'd; + Horror on sea--and horror on the land-- + In hell's dark boat he sought the spectre land, + Till borne--a slumberer--to his native spot + He woke--and sorrowing, knew his country not! + + * * * * * + + +JOVE TO HERCULES. + + 'Twas not my nectar made thy strength divine, + But 'twas thy strength which made my nectar thine! + + * * * * * + + +THE SOWER. + + See, full of hope, thou trustest to the earth + The golden seed, and waitest till the spring + Summons the buried to a happier birth; + But in Time's furrow duly scattering, + Think'st thou, how deeds by wisdom sown may be, + Silently ripen'd for Eternity? + + * * * * * + + +THE MERCHANT. + + Where sails the ship?--It leads the Tyrian forth + For the rich amber of the liberal North. + Be kind ye seas--winds lend your gentlest wing, + May in each creek, sweet wells restoring spring!-- + To you, ye gods, belong the Merchant!--o'er + The waves, his sails the wide world's goods explore; + And, all the while, wherever waft the gales, + The wide world's good sails with him as he sails! + + * * * * * + + +COLUMBUS. + + Steer on, bold Sailor--Wit may mock thy soul that sees the land, + And hopeless at the helm may drop the weak and weary hand, + YET EVER--EVER TO THE WEST, for there the coast must lie, + And dim it dawns and glimmering dawns before thy reason's eye; + Yea, trust the guiding God--and go along the floating grave, + Though hid till now--yet now, behold the New World o'er the wave! + With Genius Nature ever stands in solemn union still, + And ever what the One foretels the Other shall fulfil. + + * * * * * + + +THE ANTIQUE TO THE NORTHERN WANDERER. + + And o'er the river hast thou past, and o'er the mighty sea, + And o'er the Alps, the dizzy bridge hath borne thy steps to me; + To look all near upon the bloom my deathless beauty knows, + And, face to face, to front the pomp whose fame through ages goes-- + Gaze on, and touch my relics now! At last thou standest here, + But art thou nearer now to me--or I to thee more near? + + * * * * * + + +THE ANTIQUE AT PARIS. + + What the Grecian arts created, + May the victor Gaul, elated, + Bear with banners to his strand.[45] + In museums many a row, + May the conquering showman show + To his startled Fatherland! + + Mute to him, they crowd the halls, + Ever on their pedestals + Lifeless stand they!--He alone + Who alone, the Muses seeing, + Clasps--can warm them into being; + The Muses to the Vandal--stone! + + [45] To the shore of the Seine. + + * * * * * + + +THE POETRY OF LIFE. + + "Who would himself with shadows entertain, + Or gild his life with lights that shine in vain, + Or nurse false hopes that do but cheat the true? + Though with my dream my heaven should be resign'd-- + Though the free-pinion'd soul that now can dwell + In the large empire of the Possible, + This work-day life with iron chains may bind, + Yet thus the mastery o'er ourselves we find, + And solemn duty to our acts decreed, + Meets us thus tutor'd in the hour of need, + With a more sober and submissive mind! + How front Necessity--yet bid thy youth + Shun the mild rule of life's calm sovereign, Truth." + + So speak'st thou, friend, how stronger far than I; + As from Experience--that sure port serene-- + Thou look'st; and straight, a coldness wraps the sky, + The summer glory withers from the scene, + Scared by the solemn spell; behold them fly, + The godlike images that seem'd so fair! + Silent the playful Muse--the rosy Hours + Halt in their dance; and the May-breathing flowers + Pall from the sister-Graces' waving hair. + Sweet-mouth'd Apollo breaks his golden lyre, + Hermes, the wand with many a marvel rife;-- + The veil, rose-woven by the young Desire + With dreams, drops from the hueless cheeks of Life. + The world seems what it _is_--A Grave! and Love + Casts down the bondage wound his eyes above, + And _sees_!--He sees but images of clay + Where he dream'd gods; and sighs--and glides away. + The youngness of the Beautiful grows old, + And on thy lips the bride's sweet kiss seems cold; + And in the crowd of joys--upon thy throne + Thou sitt'st in state, and harden'st into stone. + + * * * * * + + + + +CALEB STUKELY. + +PART XII. + +THE PARSONAGE. + + +It was not without misgiving that I knocked modestly at the door of Mr +Jehu Tomkins. For himself, there was no solidity in his moral +composition, nothing to grapple or rely upon. He was a small weak man of +no character at all, and but for his powerful wife and active partner, +would have become the smallest of unknown quantities in the respectable +parish that contained him. Upon his own weak shoulders he could not have +sustained the burden of an establishment, and must inevitably have +dwindled into the lightest of light porters, or the most aged of +errand-boys. Nothing could have saved him from the operation of a law, +as powerful and certain as that of gravitation, in virtue of which the +soft and empty-headed of this world walk to the wall, and resign, +without a murmur, their places to their betters. As for the deaconess, I +have said already that the fact of her being a lady, and the possessor +of a heart, constituted the only ground of hope that I could have in +reference to her. This I felt to be insecure enough when I held the +knocker in my hand, and remembered all at once the many little tales +that I had heard, every one of which went far to prove that ladies may +be ladies without the generous weakness of their sex,--and carry hearts +about with them as easily as they carry bags. + +My first application was unsuccessful. The deacon was not at home. "Mr +Tomkins and his lady had gone _to hear_ the Reverend Doctor +Whitefroth,"--a northern and eccentric light, now blazing for a time in +the metropolis. It is a curious fact, and worthy to be recorded, that Mr +Tomkins, and Mr Buster, and every non-conformist whom I had hitherto +encountered, never professed to visit the house of prayer with any other +object than that of _hearing_. It was never by any accident to worship +or to pray. What, in truth was the vast but lowly looking building, into +which hundreds crowded with the dapper deacon at their head, sabbath +after sabbath--what but a temple sacred to vanity and excitement, +eloquence and perspiration! Which one individual, taken at random from +the concourse, was not ready to declare that his business there that day +was "to hear the dear good man," and nothing else? If you could lay +bare--as, thank Heaven, you cannot--your fellow-creature's heart, +whither would you behold stealing away the adoration that, in such a +place, in such a time, is due to one alone--whither, if not to Mr +Clayton? But let this pass. + +I paid a second visit to my friend, and gained admittance. It was about +half-past eight o'clock in the evening, and the shop had been closed +some twenty minutes before. I was ushered into a well-furnished room +behind the shop, where sat the firm--Mrs Jehu and the junior partner. +The latter looked into his lady's face, perceived a smile upon it, and +then--but not till then, he offered me his hand, and welcomed me with +much apparent warmth. This ceremony over, Mr Tomkins grew fidgety and +uneasy, and betrayed a great anxiety to get up a conversation which he +had not heart enough to set a going. Mrs Tomkins, a woman of the world, +evinced no anxiety at all, sat smiling, and in peace. I perceived +immediately that I must state at once the object of my visit, and I +proceeded to the task. + +"Mrs Tomkins," I commenced. + +"Sir?" said that lady, and then a postman's knock brought us to a stop, +and Jehu skipped across the room to listen at the door. + +"That's him, my dear Jemima," exclaimed the linen-draper, "I know his +knock," and then he skipped as quickly to his chair again. + +The door of the apartment was opened by a servant girl, who entered the +room alone and approached her mistress with a card. Mrs Tomkins looked +at it through her eye-glass, said "she was most happy," and the servant +then retired. The card was placed upon the table near me, and, as I +believe, for my inspection. I took it up, and read the following words, +"_Mr Stanislaus Levisohn_." They were engraven in the centre of the +paper, and were surrounded by a circle of rays, which in its turn was +enveloped in a circle of clouds. In the very corner of the card, and in +very small characters, the words "_general merchant_" were written. + +There was a noise of shoe-cleaning outside the door for about five +minutes, then the door was opened again by the domestic, and a +remarkable gentleman walked very slowly in. He was a tall individual, +with small cunning eyes, black eye-brows, and a beard. He was rather +shabbily attired, and not washed with care. He had thick boorish hands, +and he smelt unpleasantly of tobacco smoke; an affected grin at variance +with every feature, was planted on his face, and sickened an +unprejudiced observer at the very first gaze. His mode of uttering +English betrayed him for a foreigner. He was a native of Poland. Before +uttering a syllable, the interesting stranger walked to a corner of the +room, turned himself to the wall, and muttered a few undistinguishable +words. He then bowed lowly to the company, and took a chair, grinning +all the while. + +"Is that a Polish move?" asked Mr Tomkins. + +"It vos de coshtom mit de anshent tribes, my tear sare, vor alles tings, +to recommend de family to de protection of de hevins. Vy not now mit all +goot Christians?" + +"Why not indeed?" added Mrs Tomkins. "May I offer you a glass of raisin +wine?" + +"Tank you. For de shtomack's sake--yase." + +A glass was poured out. It was but decent to offer me another. I paid my +compliments to the hostess and the gentlemen, and was about to drink it +off, when the enlightened foreigner called upon me in a loud voice to +desist. + +"Shtay, mein young friend--ve are not de heathen and de cannibal. It is +our privilege to live in de Christian society mit de Christian lady. Ve +most ask blessing--alvays--never forget--you excuse--vait tree minutes." + +It was not for me to protest against so pious a movement, albeit it +presented itself somewhat inopportunely and out of place. Mr Levisohn +covered his face with one hand, and murmured a few words. The last only +reached me. It was "Amen," and this was rather heaved up in a sigh, than +articulately expressed. + +"Do you like the wine?" asked Jehu, as if he thought it superfine. + +"Yase, I like moch--especially de sherry and de port." + +Jehu smiled, but made no reply. + +Mrs Tomkins supposed that port and sherry were favourite beverages in +Poland, but, for her part, she had found that nothing agreed so well +with British stomachs as the native wines. + +"Ah! my lady," said the Pole, "ve can give up very moch so long ve got +British religions." + +"Very true, indeed," answered Mrs Tomkins. "Pray, Mr Levisohn, what may +be your opinion of the lost sheep? Do you think they will come into the +fold during our time?" + +Before the gentleman replies, it may be proper to state on his behalf, +that he had never given his questioner any reason to suppose that he was +better informed on such mysterious subjects than herself. The history of +his introduction into the family of the linen-draper is very short. He +had been for some years connected with Mr Tomkins in the way of +business, having supplied that gentleman with all the genuine foreign, +but certainly English, perfumery, that was retailed with considerable +profit in his over-nice and pious establishment. Mrs Tomkins, no less +zealous in the cause of the church than that of her own shop, at length, +and all on a sudden, resolved to set about his conversion, and to +present him to the chapel as a brand plucked with her own hand from the +burning. As a preliminary step, he was invited to supper, and treated +with peculiar respect. The matter was gently touched upon, but +discussion postponed until another occasion. Mr Levisohn being very +shrewd, very needy, and enjoying no particular principles of morality +and religion, perceived immediately the object of his hostess, met her +more than half-way in her Christian purposes, and accepted her numerous +invitations to tea and supper with the most affectionate readiness. +Within two months he was received into the bosom of the church, and +became as celebrated for the depth and intensity of his belief as for +the earnestness and promptitude with which he attended the meetings of +the brethren, particularly those in which eating and drinking did not +constitute the least important part of the proceedings. Being a +foreigner, he was listened to with the deepest attention, very often +indeed to his serious annoyance, for his ignorance was awful, and his +assurance, great as it was, not always sufficient to get him clear of +his difficulties. His foreign accent, however, worked wonders for him, +and whenever too hard pressed, afforded him a secure and happy retreat. +An unmeaning grin, and "_me not pronounce_," had saved him from +precipices, down which an Englishman, _caeteris paribus_, must +unquestionably have been dashed. + +"Vill dey come?" said Mr Levisohn, in answer to the question. "Yase, +certainly, if dey like, I tink." + +"Ah, sir, I fear you are a latitudinarian," said the lady. + +"I hope Hevin, my dear lady, vill forgive me for dat, and all my +wickedness. I am a shinner, I shtink!" + +I looked at the converted gentleman, at the same moment that Mrs Jehu +assured him that it would be a great thing if they were all as satisfied +of their condition as he might be. "Your strong convictions of your +worthlessness is alone a proof," she added, "of your accepted state." + +"My lady," continued the humble Stanislaus, "I am rotten, I am a tief, a +blackguard, a swindler, a pickpocket, a housebreak, a sticker mit de +knife. I vish somebody would call me names all de day long, because I +forget sometime dat I am de nashty vurm of de creation. I tink I hire a +boy to call me names, and make me not forget. Oh, my lady, I alvays +remember those fine words you sing-- + + 'If I could read my title clear + To manshions in de shkies, + I say farevell to every fear, + And vipe my veeping eyes.'" + +"That is so conscientious of you. Pray, my dear sir, is there an +Establishment in Poland? or have you Independent churches?" + +"Ah, my dear lady, we have noting at all!" + +"Is it possible?" + +"Yase, it is possible--it is true." + +"Who could have thought it! What! nothing?" + +"Noting at all, my lady. Do not ask me again, I pray you. It is +frightful to a goot Christian to talk dese tings." + +"What is your opinion of the Arminian doctrine, Mr Stanislaus?" + +"Do you mean de doctrine?" enquired Stanislaus, slowly, as though he +found some difficulty in answering the question. + +"Yes, my dear sir." + +"I tink," said the gentleman, after some delay, "it vould he very goot +if were not for someting." + +"Dear me!" cried Mrs Jehu, "that is so exactly my opinion!" + +"Den dere is noting more to be said about dat," continued Stanislaus, +interrupting her; "and I hope you vill not ask dese deep questions, my +dear lady, vich are not at all proper to be answered, and vich put me +into de low spirits. Shall ve sing a hymn?" + +"By all means," exclaimed the hostess, who immediately made preparations +for the ceremony. Hymn-books were introduced, and the servant-maid +ordered up, and then a quartet was performed by Mr Levisohn, Mrs +Tomkins, her husband, and Betsy. The subject of the song was the +courtship of Isaac. Two verses only have remained in my memory, and the +manner in which they were given out by the fervent Stanislaus will never +be forgotten. They ran thus:-- + + "Ven Abraham's servant to procure + A vife for Isaac vent, + He met Rebekah, tould his vish, + Her parents gave conshent. + + 'Shtay,' Satan, my old master, cries, + 'Or force shall thee detain.' + 'Hinder me not, I vill be gone, + I vish to break my chain.'" + +This being concluded, Mr Tomkins asked Mr Levisohn what he had to say in +the business line, to which Mr Levisohn replied, "Someting very goot, +but should he not vait until after soppare?" whereupon Mr Tomkins gave +his lady a significant leer, and the latter retired, evidently to +prepare the much desired repast. Then did little Jehu turn +confidentially to Stanislaus, and ask him when he meant to deliver that +ere _conac_ that he had promised him so long ago. + +"Ven Providence, my tear dikkon, paremits--I expect a case of goots at +de cushtom-house every day; but my friend vot examins de marchandis, and +vot saves me de duties ven I makes it all right mit him, is vary ill, I +am sorry for to say, and ve most vait, mit Christian patience, my dear +sare, till he get well. You see dat?" + +"Oh, yes; that's clear enough. Well, Stanny, I only hope that fellow +won't die. I don't think you'd find it so easy to make it _all right_ +with any other chap; that's all!" + +"I hope he vill not die. Ve mosht pray dat he live, my dear dikkon. I +tink it vill be vell if der goot Mr Clayton pray mit der church for him. +You shall speak for him." + +"Well, what have you done about the _Eau de Cologne_?" continued Jehu +Tomkins. "Have you nailed the fellow?" + +"It vos specially about dis matter dat I vish to see you, my dear sare. +I persvade der man to sell ten cases. He be very nearly vot you call in +der mess. He valk into de Gazette next week. He shtarve now. I pity him. +De ten cases cost him ten pounds. I give fifty shilling--two pound ten. +He buy meat for de childs, and is tankful. I take ten shillings for my +trouble. Der Christian satisfied mit vary little." + +"Any good bills in the market, Stanny?" + +Stanislaus Levisohn winked. + +"Ho--you don't say so," said the deacon. "Have you got 'em with you?" + +"After soppare, my dear sare," answered Stanislaus, who looked at me, +and winked again significantly at Jehu. + +Mrs Tomkins returned, accompanied by the vocal Betsy. The cloth was +spread, and real silver forks, and fine cut tumblers, and blue plates +with scripture patterns, speedily appeared. Then came a dish of fried +sausages and parsley--then baked potatoes--then lamb chops. Then we all +sat round the table, and then, against all order and propriety, Mrs Jehu +grossly and publicly insulted her husband at his own board, by calling +upon the enlightened foreigner to ask a blessing upon the meal. + +The company sat down; but scarcely were we seated before Stanislaus +resumed. + +"I tank you, my tear goot Mrs Tomkins for dat shop mit der brown, ven it +comes to my turn to be sarved. It look just der ting." + +Mrs Jehu served her guest immediately. + +"I vill take a sossage, tear lady, also, if you please." + +"And a baked potato?" + +"And a baked potato? Yase." + +He was served. + +"I beg your pardon, Christian lady, have you got, perhaps, der littel +pickel-chesnut and der crimson cabbage?" + +"Mr Tomkins, go down-stairs and get the pickles," said the mistress of +the house, and Tomkins vanished like a mouse on tiptoe. + +Before he could return, Stanislaus had eaten more than half his chop, +and discovered that, after all, "it was _not_ just the ting." Mrs Jehu +entreated him to try another. He declined at first; but at length +suffered himself to be persuaded. Four chops had graced the dish +originally; the remaining two were divided equally between the lady and +myself. I begged that my share might be left for the worthy host, but +receiving a recommendation from his wife "not to mind _him_," I said no +more, but kept Mr Stanislaus Levisohn in countenance. + +"I hope you'll find it to your liking, Mr Stukely," said our hostess. + +"Mishter vat?" exclaimed the foreigner, looking quickly up. "I tink +I"---- + +"What is the matter, my dear sir?" enquired the lady of the house. + +"Noting, my tear friend, I tought der young gentleman vos a poor +unconverted sinner dat I met a long time ago. Dat is all. Ve talk of +someting else." + +Has the reader forgotten the dark-visaged individual, who at the +examination of my lamented father before the Commissioners of Bankruptcy +made his appearance in company with Mr Levy and the ready Ikey? Him I +mean of the vivid imagination, who swore to facts which were no facts at +all, and whom an unpoetic jury sentenced to vile imprisonment for wilful +perjury? _There he sat_, transformed into a Pole, bearded and whiskered, +and the hair of his head close clipped, but in every other regard the +same as when the constable invited him to forsake a too prosaic and +ungrateful world: and had Mr Levisohn been wise and guarded, the +discovery would never have been made by me; for we had met but once +before, then only for a short half hour, and under agitating +circumstances. But my curiosity and attention once roused by his +exclamation, it was impossible to mistake my man. I fixed my eye upon +him, and the harder he pulled at his chop, and the more he attempted to +evade my gaze, the more satisfied was I that a villain and an impostor +was seated amongst us. Thinking, absurdly enough, to do my host and +hostess a lasting service, I determined without delay to unmask the +pretended saint, and to secure his victims from the designs he purposed. + +"Mr Levisohn," I said immediately, "you have told the truth--we have met +before." + +"Nevare, my tear friend, you mistake; nevare in my life, upon my vurd." + +"Mrs Tomkins," I continued, rising, "I should not be worthy of your +hospitality if I did not at once make known to you the character of that +man. He is a convicted criminal. I have myself known him to be guilty of +the grossest practices." Mr Levisohn dropped his chop, turned his greasy +face up, and then looked round the room, and endeavoured to appear +unconcerned, innocent, and amazed all at once. At this moment Jehu +entered the room with the pickles, and the face of the deaconess grew +fearfully stern. + +"Were you ever in the Court of Bankruptcy, Mr Levisohn?" I continued. + +"I have never been out of London, my good sare. You labour under de +mistake.--I excuse you. Ah!" he cried our suddenly, as if a new idea had +struck him very hard; "I see now vot it is. I explain. You take me for +somebody else." + +"I do not, sir. I accuse you publicly of having committed perjury of the +most shameless kind, and I can prove you guilty of the charge. Do you +know a person of the name of Levy?" + +Mr Stanislaus looked to the ceiling after the manner of individuals who +desire, or who do not desire, as the case may be, to call a subject to +remembrance. "No," he answered, after a long pause; "certainly not. I +never hear dat name." + +"Beware of him, Mrs Tomkins," I continued, "he is an impostor, a +disgrace to mankind, and to the faith which he professes." + +"What do you mean by that, you impertinent young man?" said Mrs Tomkins, +her blood rising to her face, herself rising from her chair. "I should +have thought that a man who had been so recently expelled from his +church would have had more decency. A pretty person you must be, to +bring a charge of this kind against so good a creature as that." + +"No, do not say dat," interposted Stanny; "I am not goot. I am a brute +beast." + +"Mr Tomkins," continued the lady, "I don't know what object that person +has in disturbing the peace of our family, or why he comes here at all +to-night. He is a mischief-making, hardened young man, or he would never +have come to what he has. Well, I'm sure--What will Satan put into his +head next!" + +"I vould vish you be not angry. Der young gentleman is, I dare say, vary +goot at heart. He is labouring under de deloosions." + +"Mr Levisohn, pardon me, I am not. Proofs exist, and I can bring them to +convict you." + +"Do you hear that, Mr Tomkins. Were you ever insulted so before? Are you +master in your own house?" + +"What shall I do?" said Jehu, trembling with excitement at the door. + +"Do! What! Give him his hat, turn him out." + +"Oh, my dear goot Christian friends," said Mr Levisohn, imploringly; "de +booels of der Christian growls ven he shees dese sights; vot is de goot +of to fight? It is shtoopid. Let me be der peacemaker. Der yong man has +been drink, perhaps. I forgive him from te bottom of my heart. If ve +quarrel ve fight. If ve fight ve lose every ting. + + 'So Samson, ven his hair vos lost, + Met the Philistines to his cost, + Shook his vain limbs in shad shurprise, + Made feeble fight, and lost his eyes.'" + +"Mr Tomkins," I exclaimed, "I court inquiry, I can obtain proofs." + +"We want none of your proofs, you backslider," cried the deaconess. + +"Madam, you"---- + +"Get out of the house, ambassador of Satan! Mr Tomkins, will you tell +him instantly to go?" + +"Go!" squealed Tomkins from the door, not advancing an inch. + +I seized my hat, and left the table. + +"You will be sorry for this, sir," said I; "and you, madam"---- + +"Don't talk to me, you bad man. If you don't go this minute I'll spring +the rattle and have up the watchmen." + +I did not attempt to say another word. I left the room, and hurried from +the house. I had hardly shut the street door before it was violently +opened again, and the head of Mr Levisohn made itself apparent. + +"Go home," exclaimed that gentleman, "and pray to be shaved, you +shtoopid ass." + +It was not many days after the enacting of this scene, that I entered +upon my duties as the instructor of the infant children of my friend. It +was useless to renew my application to the deacon, and I abandoned the +idea. The youngest of my pupils was the lisping Billy. It was my honour +to introduce him at the very porch of knowledge--to place him on the +first step of learning's ladder--to make familiar to him the simple +letters of his native tongue, in whose mysterious combinations the +mighty souls of men appear and speak. The lesson of the alphabet was the +first that I gave, and a heavy sadness depressed and humbled me when, as +the child repeated wonderingly after me, letter by letter, I could not +but feel deeply and acutely the miserable blighting of my youthful +promises. How long was it ago--it seemed but yesterday, when the sun +used to shine brightly into my own dear bed-room, and awake me with its +first gush of light, telling my ready fancy that he came to rouse me +from inaction, and to encourage me to my labours. Oh, happy labours! +Beloved books! What joy I had amongst you! The house was silent--the +city's streets tranquil as the breath of morning. I heard nothing but +the glorious deeds ye spoke of, and saw only the worthies that were but +dust, when centuries now passed were yet unborn, but whose immortal +spirits are vouchsafed still to elevate man, and cheer him onward. How +intense and sweet was our communion; and as I read and read on, how +gratefully repose crept over me; how difficult it seemed to think +unkindly of the world, or to believe in all the tales of human +selfishness and cruelty with which the old will ever mock the ear and +dull the heart of the confiding and the young. How willing I felt to +love, and how gay a place was earth, with her constant sun, and +overflowing lap, and her thousand joys, for man! And how intense was the +fire of _hope_ that burned within me--fed with new fuel every passing +hour, and how abiding and how beautiful _the future_! THE FUTURE! and it +was here--a nothing--a dream--a melancholy phantasm! + +There are seasons of adversity, in which the mind, plunged in +despondency and gloom, is startled and distressed by pictures of a +happier time, that travel far to fool and tantalize the suffering heart. +I sat with the child, and gazing full upon him, beheld him not, but--a +vision of my father's house. There sits the good old man, and at his +side--ah, how seldom were they apart!--my mother. And there, too, is the +clergyman, my first instructor. Every well-remembered piece of furniture +is there. The chair, sacred to my sire, and venerated by me for its age, +and for our long intimacy. I have known it since first I knew myself. +The antique bookcase--the solid chest of drawers--the solemn sofa, all +substantial as ever, and looking, as at first, the immoveable and +natural properties of the domestic parlour. My mother has her eyes upon +me, and they are full of tears. My father and the minister are building +up my fortunes, are fixing in the sandy basis of futurity an edifice +formed of glittering words, incorporeal as the breath that rears it. And +the feelings of that hour come back upon me. I glow with animation, +confidence, and love. I have the strong delight that beats within the +bosom of the boy who has the parents' trusty smile for ever on him. I +dream of pouring happiness into those fond hearts--of growing up to be +their prop and staff in their decline. I pierce into the future, and +behold myself the esteemed and honoured amongst men--the patient, +well-rewarded scholar--the cherished and the cherisher of the dear +authors of my life--all brightness--all glory--all unsullied joy. The +child touches my wet cheek, and asks me why I weep?--why?--why? He knows +not of the early wreck that has annihilated the unhappy teacher's peace. + +We were still engaged upon our lesson, when John Thompson interrupted +the proceeding, by entering the apartment in great haste, and placing in +my hands a newspaper. "He had been searching," he said, "for one whole +fortnight, to find a situation that would suit me, and now he thought +that he had hit upon it. There it was, 'a tutorer in a human family,' to +teach the languages and the sciences. Apply from two to four. It's just +three now. Send the youngster to his mother, and see after it, my +friend. I wouldn't have you lose it for the world." I took the journal +from his hands, and, as though placed there by the hand of the avenger +to arouse deeper remorse, to draw still hotter blood from the lacerated +heart, the following announcement, and nothing else, glared on the +paper, and took possession of my sight. + +"UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. After a contest more severe than any known for +years, MR JOHN SMITHSON, _of Trinity College, Cambridge_, has been +declared THE SENIOR WRANGLER of his year. Mr Smithson is, we understand, +the son of a humble curate in Norfolk, whose principal support has been +derived from the exertions of his son during his residence in the +University. The honour could not have been conferred on a more deserving +child of Alma Mater." + +A hundred recollections crowded on my brain. My heart was torn with +anguish. The perseverance and the filial piety of Smithson, so opposite +to my unsteadiness and unnatural disloyalty, confounded and unmanned me. +I burst into tears before the faithful Thompson, and covered my face for +very shame. + +"What is the matter, lad?" exclaimed the good fellow, pale with +surprise, his eye trembling with honest feeling. "Have I hurt you? Drat +the paper! Don't think, Stukely, I wished to get rid of you. Don't think +so hard of your old friend. I thought to help and do you service; I know +you have the feelings of a gentleman about you, and I wouldn't wound +'em, God knows, for any thing. There, think no more about it. I am so +rough a hand, I'm not fit to live with Christians. I mean no harm, +believe me. Get rid of you, my boy! I only wish you'd say this is your +home, and never leave me--that would make me happy." + +"Thompson," I answered, through my tears, "I am not deserving of your +friendship. You have not offended me. You have never wronged me. You are +all kindness and truth. I have had no real enemy but myself. Read that +paper." + +I pointed to the paragraph, and he read it. + +"What of it?" he asked. + +"Thompson," listen to me; "what do you say of such a son?" + +"I can guess his father's feelings," said my friend. "Earth's a heaven, +Stukely, when father and child live together as God appointed them." + +"But when a child breaks a parent's heart, Thompson--what then?" + +"Don't talk about it, lad. I have got eleven of 'em, and that's a side +of the picture that I can't look at with pleasure. I think the boys are +good. They have gone on well as yet; but who can tell what a few years +will do?" + +"Or a few months, Thompson," I answered quickly, "or a few days, or +hours, when the will is fickle, principles unfixed, and the heart +treacherous and false. That Smithson and I, Thompson, were fellow +students. We left home together--we took up our abode in the University +together--we were attached to the same college--taught by the same +master--read from the same books. My feelings were as warm as his. My +resolution to do well apparently as firm, my knowledge and attainments +as extensive. If he was encouraged, and protected, and urged forward by +the fond love of a devoted household--so was I. If parental blessings +hallowed his entrance upon those pursuits which have ended so +successfully for him--so did they mine. If he had motive for exertion, I +had not less--we were equal in the race which we began together--look at +us now!" + +"How did it happen, then?" + +"He was honest and faithful to his purpose. I was not. He saw one object +far in the distance before him, and looked neither to the right nor +left, but dug his arduous way towards it. He craved not the false +excitement of temporary applause, nor deemed the opinion of weak men +essential to his design. He had a sacred duty to perform, which left him +not the choice of action, and he performed it to the letter. He had a +feeling conscience, and a reasoning heart, and the home of his youth, +and the sister who had grown up with him, the father who had laboured, +the mother who had striven for him, visited him by night and by day--in +his silent study, and in his lonely bed, comforting, animating, and +supporting him by their delightful presence." + +"And what did you do?" + +"Just the reverse of this. I had neither simplicity of aim, nor +stability of affection. One slip from the path, and I hadn't energy to +take the road again. One vicious inclination, and the virtuous resolves +of years melted before it. The sneer of a fool could frighten me from +rectitude--the smile of a girl render me indifferent to the pangs that +tear a parent's heart. Look at us both. Look at him--the man whom I +treated with contemptuous derision. What a return home for him--his +mission accomplished--HIS DUTY DONE! Look at me, the outcast, the +beggar, the despised--the author of a mother's death, a father's +bankruptcy and ruin--with no excuse for misconduct, no promise for the +future, no self-justification, and no hope of pardon beyond that +afforded to the vilest criminal that comes repentant to the mercy throne +of God!" + +"Well--but, sir--Stukely--don't take the thing to heart. You are +young--look for'rads. Oh, I tell you, it's a blessed thing to be sorry +for our faults, and to feel as if we wished to do better for the time to +come. I'm an older man than you, and I bid you take comfort, and trust +to God for better things, and better things will come, too. You are not +so badly off now as you were this time twelvemonth. And you know I'll +never leave you. Don't despond--don't give away. It's unnatural for a +man to do it, and he's lost if he does. Oh, bless you, this is a life of +suffering and sorrow, and well it is; for who wouldn't go mad to think +of leaving all his young 'uns behind him, and every thing he loves, if +he wasn't taught that there's a quieter place above, where all shall +meet agin? You know me, my boy; I can't talk, but I want to comfort you +and cheer you up--and so, give me your hand, old fellow, and say you +won't think of all this any more, but try and forget it, and see about +settling comfortably in life. What do you say to the advertisement? A +tutorer in a human family, to teach the languages and the sciences. Come +now, that's right; I'm glad to see you laugh. I suppose I don't give the +right pronunciation to the words. Well, never mind; laugh at your old +friend. He'd rather see you laugh at him than teaze your heart about +your troubles." + +Thompson would not be satisfied until I had read the advertisement, and +given him my opinion of its merits. He would not suffer me to say +another word about my past misfortunes, but insisted on my looking +forward cheerfully, and like a man. The situation appeared to him just +the thing for me; and after all, if I had wrangled as well as that 'ere +Smithson--(though, at the same time, _wrangling_ seemed a very +aggravating word to put into young men's mouths at all)--perhaps I +shouldn't have been half as happy as a quiet comfortable life would make +me. "I was cut out for a tutorer. He was sure of it. So he'd thank me to +read the paper without another syllable." The advertisement, in truth, +was promising. "The advertiser, in London, desired to engage the +services of a young gentleman, capable of teaching the ancient +languages, and giving his pupils 'an introduction to the sciences.' The +salary would be liberal, and the occupation with a humane family in the +country, who would receive the tutor as one of themselves. References +would be required and given." + +"References would be required and given," I repeated, after having +concluded the advertisement, and put the paper down. + +"Yes, that's the only thing!" said Thompson, scratching his honest ear, +like a man perplexed and driven to a corner. "We haven't got no +references to give. But I'll tell you what we've got though. We've got +the papers of these freehold premises, and we've something like two +thousand in the bank. I'll give 'em them, if you turns out a bad 'un. +That I'll undertake to do, and shan't be frightened either. Now, you +just go, and see if you can get it. Where do you apply?" + +"Wait, Thompson. I must not suffer you"---- + +"Did you hear what I said, sir? where do you apply?" + +"At X.Y.Z." said I, "in Swallow street, Saint James's." + +"Then, don't you lose a minute. I shouldn't be surprised if the place is +run down already. London's overstocked with tutorers and men of larning. +You come along o' me, Billy, and don't you lose sight of this 'ere +chance, my boy. If they wants a reference, tell 'em I'll be glad to wait +upon 'em." + +Three days had not elapsed after this conversation, before my services +were accepted by X.Y.Z.--and I had engaged to travel into Devonshire to +enter at once upon my duties, as teacher in the dwelling-house of the +Reverend Walter Fairman. X.Y.Z. was a man of business; and, fortunately +for me, had known my father well. He was satisfied with my connexion, +and with the unbounded recommendation which Thompson gave with me. Mr +Fairman was incumbent of one of the loveliest parishes in England, and +the guardian and teacher of six boys. My salary was fifty pounds per +annum, with board and lodging. The matter was settled in a few hours, +and before I had time to consider, my place was taken in the coach, and +a letter was dispatched to Mr Fairman, announcing my intended departure. +Nothing could exceed the joy of Thompson at my success--nothing could be +kinder and more anxious than his valuable advice. + +"Now," he said as we walked together from the coach-office, "was I wrong +in telling you that better things would turn up? Take care of yourself, +and the best wrangler of the lot may be glad to change places with you. +It isn't lots of larning, or lots of money, or lots of houses and +coaches, that makes a man happy in this world. They never can do it; but +they can do just the contrarery, and make him the miserablest wretch as +crawls. _A contented mind_ is 'the one thing needful.' Take what God +gives gratefully, and do unto others as you would that they should do +unto you. That's a maxim that my poor father was always giving me, and, +I wish, when I take the young 'uns to church, that they could always +hear it, for human natur needs it." + +The evening before my setting out was spent with Thompson's family. I +had received a special invitation, and Thompson, with the labouring +sons, were under an engagement to the mistress of the house, to leave +the workshop at least an hour earlier than usual. Oh, it was a sight to +move the heart of one more hardened than I can boast to be, to behold +the affectionate party assembled to bid me farewell, and to do honour to +our leave-taking. A little feast was prepared for the occasion, and my +many friends were dressed, all in their Sunday clothes, befittingly. +There was not one who had not something to give me for a token. Mary had +worked me a purse; and Mary blushed whilst her mother betrayed her, and +gave the little keepsake. Ellen thought a pincushion might be useful; +and the knitter of the large establishment provided me with comforters. +All the little fellows, down to Billy himself, had a separate gift, +which each must offer with a kiss, and with a word or two expressive of +his good wishes. All hoped I would come soon again, and Aleck more than +hinted a request that I would postpone my departure to some indefinite +period which he could not name. Poor tremulous heart! how it throbbed +amongst them all, and how sad it felt to part from them! Love bound me +to the happy room--the only love that connected the poor outcast with +the wide cold world. This was the home of my affections--could I leave +it--could I venture once more upon the boisterous waters of life without +regret and apprehension? + +Thompson kindly offered to accompany me on the following morning to the +inn from which I was destined to depart, but I would not hear of it. He +was full of business; had little time to spare, and none to throw away +upon me. I begged him not to think of it, and he acquiesced in my +wishes. We were sitting together, and his wife and children had an hour +or two previously retired to rest. + +"Them's good children, ain't they, Stukely?" enquired Thompson, after +having made a long pause. + +"You may well be proud of them," I answered. + +"It looked nice of 'em to make you a little present of something before +you went. But it was quite right. That's just as it should be. I like +that sort of thing, especially when a man understands the sperrit that a +thing's given with. Now, some fellows would have been offended if any +thing had been offered 'em. How I do hate all that!" + +"I assure you, Thompson, I feel deeply their kind treatment of their +friend. I shall never forget it." + +"You ain't offended, then?" + +"No, indeed." + +"Well, now, I am so happy to hear it, you can't think," continued +Thompson, fumbling about his breeches pocket, and drawing from it at +length something which he concealed in his fist. "There, take that," he +suddenly exclaimed; "take it, my old fellow, and God bless you. It's no +good trying to make a fuss about it." + +I held a purse of money in my hand. + +"No, Thompson," I replied, "I cannot accept it. Do not think me proud or +ungrateful; but I have no right to take it." + +"It's only twenty guineas, man, and I can afford it. Now look, Stukely, +you are going to leave me. If you don't take it, you'll make me as +wretched as the day is long. You are my friend, and my friend mustn't go +amongst strangers without an independent spirit. If you have twenty +guineas in your pocket, you needn't be worrying yourself about little +things. You'll find plenty of ways to make the money useful. You shall +pay me, if you like, when you grow rich, and we meets again; but take it +now, and make John Thompson happy." + +In the lap of nature the troubled mind gets rest; and the wounds of the +heart heal rapidly, once delivered there, safe from contact with the +infectious world; and the bosom of the nursing mother is not more +powerful or quick to lull the pain and still the sobs of her distressed +ones. It is the sanctuary of the bruised spirit, and to arrive at it is +to secure shelter and to find repose. Peace, eternal and blessed, +birthright and joy of angels, whither do those glimpses hover that we +catch of thee in this tumultuous life, weak, faint, and transient though +they be, melting the human soul with heavenly tranquillity? Whither, if +not upon the everlasting hills, where the brown line divides the sky, or +on the gentle sea, where sea and sky are one--a liquid cupola--or in the +leafy woods and secret vales, where beauty lends her thrilling voice to +silence? How often will the remembrance only of one bright spot--a +vision of Paradise rising over the dull waste of my existence--send a +glow of comfort to my aged heart, and a fresh feeling of repose which +the harsh business of life cannot extinguish or disturb! And what a fair +history comes with that shadowy recollection! How much of passionate +condensed existence is involved in it, and how mysteriously, yet +naturally connected with it, seem all the noblest feelings of my +imperfect nature! The scene of beauty has become "a joy for ever." + +I recall a spring day--a sparkling day of the season of youth and +promise--and a nook of earth, fit for the wild unshackled sun to skip +along and brighten with his inconstant giddy light. Hope is everywhere; +murmuring in the brooks, and smiling in the sky. Upon the bursting trees +she sits; she nestles in the hedges. She fills the throat of mating +birds, and bears the soaring lark nearer and nearer to the gate of +Heaven. It is the first holiday of the year, and the universal heart is +glad. Grief and apprehension cannot dwell in the human breast on such a +day; and, for an hour, even _Self_ is merged in the general joy. I reach +my destination; and the regrets for the past, and the fear for the +future, which have accompanied me through the long and anxious journey, +fall from the oppressed spirit, and leave it buoyant, cheerful, +free--free to delight itself in a land of enchantment, and to revel +again in the unsubstantial glories of a youthful dream. I paint the +Future in the colours that surround me, and I confide in her again. + +It was noon when we reached the headquarters of the straggling parish of +Deerhurst--its chief village. We had travelled since the golden sunrise +over noble earth, and amongst scenes scarcely less heavenly than the +blue vault which smiled upon them. Now the horizon was bounded by a +range of lofty hills linked to each other by gentle undulations, and +bearing to their summits innumerable and giant trees; these, crowded +together, and swayed by the brisk wind, presented to the eye the figure +of a vast and supernatural sea, and made the intervening vale of +loveliness a neglected blank. Then we emerged suddenly--yes, +instantaneously--as though designing nature, with purpose to surprize, +had hid behind the jutting crag, beneath the rugged steep--upon a world +of beauty; garden upon garden, sward upon sward, hamlet upon hamlet, far +as the sight could reach, and purple shades of all beyond. Then, flashes +of the broad ocean, like quick transitory bursts of light, started at +intervals, washing the feet of a tall emerald cliff, or, like a lake, +buried between the hills. Shorter and shorter become the intermissions, +larger and larger grows the watery expanse, until, at length, the mighty +element rolls unobstructed on, and earth, decked in her verdant leaves, +her flowers and gems, is on the shore to greet her. + +The entrance to the village is by a swift, precipitous descent. On +either side are piled rude stones, placed there by a subtle hand, and +with a poet's aim, to touch the fancy, and to soothe the traveller with +thoughts of other times--of ruined castles, and of old terrace walks. +Already have the stones fulfilled their purpose, and the ivy, the brier, +and the saxifrage have found a home amongst them. At the foot of the +declivity, standing like a watchful mother, is the church--the small, +the unpretending, the venerable and lovely village church. You do not +see a house till she is passed. Before a house was built about her, she +was an aged church, and her favoured graves were rich in heavenly clay. +The churchyard gate; and then at once, the limited and quiet village, +nestling in a valley and shut out from the world: beautiful and +self-sufficient. Hill upon hill behind, each greener than the last--hill +upon hill before, all exclusion, and nothing but her own surpassing +loveliness to console and cheer her solitude. And is it not enough? What +if she know little of the sea beyond its voice, and nothing of external +life--her crystal stream, her myrtle-covered cottages, her garden plots, +her variegated flowers and massive foliage, her shady dells and scented +lanes are joys enough for her small commonwealth. Thin curling smoke +that rises like a spirit from the hidden bosom of one green hillock, +proclaims the single house that has its seat upon the eminence. It is +the parsonage--my future home. + +With a trembling heart I left the little inn, and took my silent way to +the incumbent's house. There was no eye to follow me, the leafy street +was tenantless, and seemed made over to the restless sun and dissolute +winds to wanton through it as they pleased. As I ascended, the view +enlarged--beauty became more beauteous, silence more profound. I reached +the parsonage gate, and my heart yearned to tell how much I longed to +live and die on this sequestered and most peaceful spot. The +dwelling-house was primitive and low; its long and overhanging roof was +thatched; its windows small and many. A myrtle, luxuriant as a vine, +covered its entire front, and concealed the ancient brick and wood. A +raised bank surrounded the green nest, and a gentle slope conducted to a +lawn fringed with the earliest flowers of the year. I rang the loud +bell, and a neatly dressed servant-girl gave me admittance to the house. +In a room of moderate size, furnished by a hand as old at least as the +grandsires of the present occupants, and well supplied with books, sat +the incumbent. He was a man of fifty years of age or more, tall and +gentlemanly in demeanour. His head was partly bald, and what remained of +his hair was grey almost to whiteness. He had a noble forehead, a marked +brow, and a cold grey eye. His mouth betrayed sorrow, or habitual deep +reflection, and the expression of every other feature tended to +seriousness. The first impression was unfavourable. A youth, who was +reading with the minister when I entered the apartment, was dismissed +with a simple inclination of the head, and the Rev. Walter Fairman then +pointed to a seat. + +"You have had a tedious journey, Mr Stukely," began the incumbent, "and +you are fatigued, no doubt." + +"What a glorious spot this is, sir!" I exclaimed. + +"Yes, it is pretty," answered Mr Fairman, very coldly as I thought. "Are +you hungry, Mr Stukely? We dine early; but pray take refreshment if you +need it." + +I declined respectfully. + +"Do you bring letters from my agent?" + +"I have a parcel in my trunk, sir, which will be here immediately. What +magnificent trees!" I exclaimed again, my eyes riveted upon a stately +cluster, which were about a hundred yards distant. + +"Have you been accustomed to tuition?" asked Mr Fairman, taking no +notice of my remark. + +"I have not, sir, but I am sure that I shall be delighted with the +occupation. I have always thought so." + +"We must not be too sanguine. Nothing requires more delicate handling +than the mind of youth. In no business is experience, great discernment +and tact, so much needed as in that of instruction." + +"Yes, sir, I am aware of it." + +"No doubt," answered Mr Fairman quietly. "How old are you?" + +I told my age, and blushed. + +"Well, well," said the incumbent, "I have no doubt we shall do. You are +a Cambridge man, Mr Graham writes me?" + +"I was only a year, sir, at the university. Circumstances prevented a +longer residence. I believe I mentioned the fact to Mr Graham." + +"Oh yes, he told me so. You shall see the boys this afternoon. They are +fine-hearted lads, and much may be done with them. There are six. Two of +them are pretty well advanced. They read Euripides and Horace. Is +Euripides a favourite of yours?" + +"He is tender, plaintive, and passionate," I answered; "but perhaps I +may be pardoned if I venture to prefer the vigour and majesty of the +sterner tragedian." + +"You mean you like AEschylus better. Do you write poetry, Mr Stukely? Not +Latin verses, but English poetry." + +"I do not, sir." + +"Well, I am glad of that. It struck me that you did. Will you really +take no refreshment? Are you not fatigued?" + +"Not in the least, sir. This lovely prospect, for one who has seen so +little of nature as I have, is refreshment enough for the present." + +"Ah," said Mr Fairman, sighing faintly, "you will get accustomed to it. +There is something in the prospect, but more in your own mind. Some of +our poor fellows would be easily served and satisfied, if we could feed +them on the prospect. But if you are not tired you shall see more of it +if you will. I have to go down to the village. We have an hour till +dinner-time. Will you accompany me?" + +"With pleasure, sir." + +"Very well." Mr Fairman then rang the bell, and the servant girl came +in. + +"Where's Miss Ellen, Mary?" asked the incumbent. + +"She has been in the village since breakfast, sir. Mrs Barnes sent word +that she was ill, and Miss took her the rice and sago that Dr Mayhew +ordered." + +"Has Warden been this morning?" + +"No, sir." + +"Foolish fellow. I'll call on him. Mary, if Cuthbert the fisherman +comes, give him that bottle of port wine; but tell him not to touch a +drop of it himself. It is for his sick child, and it is committing +robbery to take it. Let him have the blanket also that was looked out +for him." + +"It's gone, sir. Miss sent it yesterday." + +"Very well. There is nothing more. Now, Mr Stukely, we will go." + +I have said already that the first opinion which I formed of the +disposition of Mr Fairman was not a flattering one. Before he spoke a +word, I felt disappointed and depressed. My impression after our short +conversation was worse than the first. The natural effect of the scene +in which I suddenly found myself, had been to prepare my ever too +forward spirit for a man of enthusiasm and poetic temperament. Mr +Fairman was many degrees removed from warmth. He spoke to me in a sharp +tone of voice, and sometimes, I suspected, with the intention of mocking +me. His _manner_, when he addressed the servant-girl, was not more +pleasing. When I followed him from the room, I regretted the haste with +which I had accepted my appointment; but a moment afterwards I entered +into fairyland again, and the passing shadow left me grateful to +Providence for so much real enjoyment. We descended the hill, and for a +time, in silence, Mr Fairman was evidently engaged in deep thought, and +I had no wish to disturb him. Every now and then we lighted upon a view +of especial beauty, and I was on the point of expressing my unbounded +admiration, when one look at my cool and matter-of-fact companion at +once annoyed and stopped me. + +"Yes," said Mr Fairman at length, still musing. "It is very +difficult--very difficult to manage the poor. I wonder if they are +grateful at heart. What do you think, Mr Stukely?" + +"I have nothing to say of the poor, sir, but praise." + +Mr Fairman looked hard at me, and smiled unpleasantly. + +"It is the scenery, I suppose. That will make you praise every thing for +the next day or so. It will not do, though. We must walk on our feet, +and be prosaic in this world. The poor are not as poets paint them, nor +is there so much happiness in a hovel as they would lead you to expect. +The poets are like you--they have nothing to say but praise. Ah, me! +they draw largely on their imaginations." + +"I do not, sir, in this instance," I answered, somewhat nettled. "My +most valued friends are in the humblest ranks of life. I am proud to say +so. I am not prepared to add, that the most generous of men are the most +needy, although it has been my lot to meet with sympathy and succour at +the hands of those who were much in want of both themselves." + +"I believe you, Mr Stukely," answered the incumbent in a more feeling +tone. "I am not fond of theories; yet that's a theory with which I would +willingly pass through life; but it will not answer. It is knocked on +the head every hour of the day. Perhaps it is our own fault. We do not +know how to reach the hearts, and educate the feelings of the ignorant +and helpless. Just step in here." + +We were standing before a hut at the base of the hill. It was a low +dirty-looking place, all roof, with a neglected garden surrounding it. +One window was in the cob-wall. It had been fixed there originally, +doubtless with the object of affording light to the inmates; but light, +not being essential to the comfort or happiness of the present tenants, +was in a great measure excluded by a number of small rags which occupied +the place of the diamond panes that had departed many months before. A +child, ill-clad, in fragments of clothes, with long and dirty hair, +unclean face, and naked feet, cried at the door, and loud talking was +heard within. Mr Fairman knocked with his knuckle before he entered, and +a gruff voice desired him to "come in." A stout fellow, with a surly +countenance and unshaven beard, was sitting over an apology for a fire, +and a female of the same age and condition was near him. She bore an +unhappy infant in her arms, whose melancholy peakish face, not +twelve-months old, looked already conscious of prevailing misery. There +was no flooring to the room, which contained no one perfect or complete +article of furniture, but symptoms of many, from the blanketless bed +down to the solitary coverless saucepan. Need I add, that the man who +sat there, the degraded father of the house, had his measure of liquor +before him, and that the means of purchasing it were never wanting, +however impudently charity might be called upon to supply the starving +family with bread? + +The man did not rise upon our entrance. He changed colour very slightly, +and looked more ignorantly surly, or tried to do so. + +"Well, Jacob Warden," said the incumbent, "you are determined to brave +it out, I see." The fellow did not answer. + +"When I told you yesterday that your idleness and bad habits were +bringing you to ruin, you answered--_I was a liar_. I then said, that +when you were sorry for having uttered that expression, you might come +to the parsonage and tell me so. You have not been yet--I am grieved to +say it. What have I ever done to you, Jacob Warden, that you should +behave so wickedly? I do not wish you to humble yourself to me, but I +should have been glad to see you do your duty. If I did mine, perhaps, I +should give you up, and see you no more, for I fear you are a hardened +man." + +"He hasn't had no work for a month," said the wife, in a tone of +upbraiding, as if the minister had been the wilful cause of it. + +"And whose fault is that, Mrs Warden? There is work enough for sober and +honest men in the parish. Why was your husband turned away from the +Squire's?" + +"Why, all along of them spoons. They never could prove it agin him, +that's one thing--though they tried it hard enough." + +"Come, come, Mrs Warden, if you love that man, take the right way to +show it. Think of your children." + +"Yes; if I didn't--who would, I should like to know? The poor are +trodden under foot." + +"Not so, Mrs Warden, the poor are taken care of, if they are deserving. +God loves the poor, and commands us all to love them. Give me your +Bible?" The woman hesitated a minute, and then answered-- + +"Never mind the Bible, that won't get us bread." + +"Give me your Bible, Mrs Warden." + +"We have'nt got it. What's the use of keeping a Bible in the house for +children as can't read, when they are crying for summat to eat?" + +"You have sold it, then?" + +"We got a shilling on it--that's all." + +"Have you ever applied to us for food, and has it been denied you?" + +"Well, I don't know. The servant always looks grumpy at us when we come +a-begging, and seems to begrudge us every mouthful. It's all very well +to live on other persons' leavings. I dare say you don't give us what +you could eat yourselves." + +"We give the best we can afford, Mrs Warden, and, God knows, with no +such feeling as you suppose. How is the child? Is it better?" + +"Yes, no thanks to Doctor Mayhew either." + +"Did he not call, then?" + +"Call! Yes, but he made me tramp to his house for the physic, and when +he passed the cottage the other day, I called after him; but devil a bit +would he come back. We might have died first, of course: he knows, he +isn't paid, and what does he care?" + +"It is very wrong of you to talk so. You are well aware that he was +hurrying to a case of urgency, and could not be detained. He visited you +upon the following day, and told you so." + +"Oh yes, the following day! What's that to do with it?" + +"Woman" exclaimed Mr Fairman, solemnly, "my heart bleeds for those poor +children. What will become of them with such an example before their +eyes? I can say no more to you than I have repeated a hundred times +before. I would make you happy in this world if I could; I would save +you. You forbid me. I would be your true friend, and you look upon me as +an enemy. Heaven, I trust, will melt your heart! What is that child +screaming for?" + +"What! she hasn't had a blessed thing to-day. We had nothing for her." + +Mr Fairman took some biscuits from his pockets, and placed them on the +table. "Let the girl come in, and eat," said he. "I shall send you some +meat from the village. Warden, I cannot tell you how deeply I feel your +wickedness. I did expect you to come to the parsonage and say you were +sorry. It would have looked well, and I should have liked it. You put it +out of my power to help you. It is most distressing to see you both +going headlong to destruction. May you live to repent! I shall see you +again this evening, and I will speak to you alone. Come, Mr Stukely, our +time is getting short." + +The incumbent spoke rapidly, and seemed affected. I looked at him, and +could hardly believe him to be the cold and unimpassioned man that I had +at first imagined him. + +We pursued our way towards the village. + +"There, sir," said the minister in a quick tone of voice, "what is the +beautiful prospect, and what are the noble trees, to the heart of that +man? What have they to do at all with man's morality? Had those people +never seen a shrub or flower, could they have been more impenetrable, +more insolent and suspicious, or steeped in vice much deeper? That man +wants only opportunity, a large sphere of action, and the variety of +crime and motive that are to be found amongst congregated masses of +mankind, to become a monster. His passions and his vices are as wilful +and as strong as those of any man born and bred in the sinks of a great +city. They have fewer outlets, less capability of mischief--and there is +the difference." + +I ventured no remark, and the incumbent, after a short pause, continued +in a milder strain. + +"I may be, after all, weak and inefficient. Doubtless great delicacy and +caution are required. Heavenly truths are not to be administered to +these as to the refined and willing. The land must be ploughed, or it is +useless to sow the seed. Am I not perhaps, an unskilful labourer?" + +Mr Fairman stopped at the first house in the village--the prettiest of +the half dozen myrtle-covered cottages before alluded to. Here he tapped +softly, and a gentle foot that seemed to know the visitor hastened to +admit him. + +"Well, Mary," said the minister, glancing round the room--a clean and +happy-looking room it was--"where's Michael?" + +"He is gone, sir, as you bade him, to make it up with Cousin Willett. He +couldn't rest easy, sir, since you told him that it was no use coming to +church so long as he bore malice. He won't be long, sir." + +Mr Fairman smiled; and cold as his grey eye might be, it did not seem so +steady now. + +"Mary, that is good of him; tell him his minister is pleased. How is +work with him?" + +"He has enough to do, to carry him to the month's end, sir." + +"Then at the month's end, Mary, let him come to the parsonage. I have +something for him there. But we can wait till then. Have you seen the +itinerary preacher since?" + +"It is not his time, sir. He didn't promise to come till Monday week." + +"Do neither you nor Michael speak with him, nor listen to his public +preachings. I mean, regard him not as one having authority. I speak +solemnly, and with a view to your eternal peace. Do not forget." + +Every house was visited, and in all, opportunity was found for the +exercise of the benevolent feelings by which the incumbent was +manifestly actuated. He lost no occasion of affording his flock sound +instruction and good advice. It could not be doubted for an instant that +their real welfare, temporal and everlasting, lay deeply in his heart. I +was struck by one distinguishing feature in his mode of dealing with his +people; it was so opposed to the doctrine and practice of Mr Clayton, +and of those who were connected with him. With the latter, a certain +degree of physical fervour, and a conventional peculiarity of +expression, were insisted upon and accepted as evidences of grace and +renewed life. With Mr Fairman, neither acquired heat, nor the more +easily acquired jargon of a clique, were taken into account. He rather +repressed than encouraged their existence; but he was desirous, and even +eager, to establish rectitude of conduct and purity of feeling in the +disciples around him: these were to him tangible witnesses of the +operation of that celestial Spirit before whose light the mists of +simulation and deceit fade unresistingly away. I could not help +remarking, however, that in every cottage the same injunction was given +in respect of the itinerant; the same solemnity of manner accompanied +the command; the same importance was attached to its obedience. There +seemed to me, fresh from the hands of Mr Clayton, something of bigotry +and uncharitableness in all this. I did not hint at this effect upon my +own mind, nor did I inquire into the motives of the minister. I was not +pleased; but I said nothing. As if Mr Fairman read my very thoughts, he +addressed me on the subject almost before the door of the last cottage +was closed upon us. + +"_Bigoted_ and _narrow-minded,_ are the terms, Mr Stukely, by which the +extremely liberal would characterize the line of conduct which I am +compelled by duty to pursue. I cannot be frightened by harsh terms. I am +the pastor of these people, and must decide and act for them. I am their +shepherd, and must be faithful. Poor and ignorant, and unripe in +judgment, and easily deceived by the shows and counterfeits of truth as +the ignorant are, is it for me to hand them over to perplexity and risk? +They are simple believers, and are contented. They worship God, and are +at peace. They know their lot, and do not murmur at it. Is it right that +they should be disturbed with the religious differences and theological +subtleties which have already divided into innumerable sects the +universal family of Christians whom God made one? Is it fair or merciful +to whisper into their ears the plausible reasons of dissatisfaction, +envy, and complaining, to which the uninformed of all classes but too +eagerly listen? I have ever found the religious and the political +propagandist united in the same individual. The man who proposes to the +simple to improve his creed, is ready to point out the way to better his +condition. He succeeds in rendering him unhappy in both, and there he +leaves him. So would this man, and I would rather die for my people, +than tamely give them over to their misery." + +A tall, stout, weather-beaten man, in the coarse dress of a fisherman, +descending the hill, intercepted our way. It was the man Cuthbert, +already mentioned by Mr Fairman. He touched his southwester to the +incumbent. + +"How is the boy, Cuthbert?" asked the minister, stopping at the same +moment. + +"All but well, sir. Doctor Mayhew don't mean to come again. It's all +along of them nourishments that Miss Ellen sent us down. The Doctor says +he must have died without them." + +"Well, Cuthbert, I trust that we shall find you grateful." + +"Grateful, sir!" exclaimed the man. "If ever I forget what you have done +for that poor child, I hope the breath----" The brawny fisherman could +say no more. His eyes filled suddenly with tears, and he held down his +head, ashamed of them. He had no cause to be so. + +"Be honest and industrious, Cuthbert; give that boy a good example. +Teach him to love his God, and his neighbour as himself. That will be +gratitude enough, and more than pay Miss Ellen." + +"I'll try to do it, sir. God bless you!" + +We said little till we reached the parsonage again; but before I +re-entered its gate the Reverend Walter Fairman had risen in my esteem, +and ceased to be considered a cold and unfeeling man. + +We dined; the party consisting of the incumbent, the six students, and +myself. The daughter, the only daughter and child of Mr Fairman, who was +himself a widower, had not returned from the cottage to which she had +been called in the morning. It was necessary that a female should be in +constant attendance upon the aged invalid; a messenger had been +despatched to the neighbouring village for an experienced nurse; and +until her arrival Miss Fairman would permit no one but herself to +undertake the duties of the sick chamber. It was on this account that we +were deprived of the pleasure of her society, for her accustomed seat +was at the head of her father's table. I was pleased with the pupils. +They were affable and well-bred. They treated the incumbent with marked +respect, and behaved towards their new teacher with the generous +kindness and freedom of true young gentlemen. The two eldest boys might +be fifteen years of age. The remaining four could not have reached their +thirteenth year. In the afternoon I had the scholars to myself. The +incumbent retired to his library, and left us to pass our first day in +removing the restraint that was the natural accompaniment of our +different positions, and in securing our intimacy. I talked of the +scenery, and found willing listeners. They understood me better than +their master, for they were worshippers themselves. They promised to +show me lovelier spots than any I had met with yet; sacred corners, +known only to themselves, down by the sea, where the arbute and +laurustinus grew like trees, and children of the ocean. Then there were +villages near, more beautiful even than their own; one that lay in the +lap of a large hill, with the sea creeping round, or rolling at its feet +like thunder, sometimes. What lanes, too, Miss Fairman knew of! She +would take me into places worth the looking at; and oh, what drawings +she had made from them! Their sisters had bought drawings, and paid very +dearly for them too, that were not half so finely done! They would ask +her to show me her portfolio, and she would do it directly, for she was +the kindest creature living. It was not the worst trait in the +disposition of these boys, that, whatever might be the subject of +conversation, or from whatever point we might start in our discourse, +they found pleasure in making all things bear towards the honour and +renown of their young mistress. The scenery was nothing without Miss +Fairman and her sketches. The house was dull without her, and the +singing in the church, if she were ill and absent, was as different as +could be. There were the sweetest birds that could be, heard warbling in +the high trees that lined the narrow roads; but at Miss Fairman's window +there was a nightingale that beat them all. The day wore on, and I did +not see the general favourite. It was dusk when she reached the +parsonage, and then she retired immediately to rest, tired from the +labours of the day. The friend of the family, Doctor Mayhew, had +accompanied Miss Fairman home; he remained with the incumbent, and I +continued with my young companions until their bedtime. They departed, +leaving me their books, and then I took a survey of the work that was +before me. My duties were to commence on the following day, and our +first subject was the tragedy of _Hecuba_. How very grateful did I feel +for the sound instruction which I had received in early life from my +revered pains-taking tutor, for the solid groundwork that he had +established, and for the rational mode of tuition which he had from the +first adopted. From the moment that he undertook to cultivate and inform +the youthful intellect, this became itself an active instrument in the +attainment of knowledge--not, as is so often the case, the mere idle +depositary of encumbering _words_. It was little that he required to be +gained by rote, for he regarded all acquisitions as useless in which the +understanding had not the chiefest share. He was pleased to communicate +facts, and anxious to discover, from examination, that the principles +which they contained had been accurately seen and understood. Then no +labour and perseverance on his part were deemed too great for his pupil, +and the business of his life became his first pleasure. In the study of +Greek, for which at an early age I evinced great aptitude, I learnt the +structure of the language and its laws from the keen observations of my +master, whose rules were drawn from the classic work before us--rather +than from grammars. To this hour I retain the information thus obtained, +and at no period of my life have I ever had greater cause for +thankfulness, than when, after many months of idleness and neglect, with +a view to purchase bread I opened, not without anxiety, my book again, +and found that time had not impaired my knowledge, and that light shone +brightly on the pages, as it did of old. Towards the close of the +evening, I was invited to the study of Mr Fairman. Doctor Mayhew was +still with him, and I was introduced to the physician as the teacher +newly arrived from London. The doctor was a stout good-humoured +gentleman of the middle height, with a cheerful and healthy-looking +countenance. He was, in truth, a jovial man, as well as a great +snuff-taker. The incumbent offered me a chair, and placed a decanter of +wine before me. His own glass of port was untouched, and he looked +serious and dejected. + +"Well, sir, how does London look?" enquired the doctor, "are the folks +as mad as they used to be? What new invention is the rage now? What +bubble is going to burst? What lord committed forgery last? Who was the +last woman murdered before you started?" + +I confessed my inability to answer. + +"Well, never mind. There isn't much lost. I am almost ashamed of old +England, that's the truth on't. I have given over reading the +newspapers, for they are about as full of horrors as Miss +What's-her-name's tales of the Infernals. What an age this is! all crime +and fanaticism! Everyman and everything is on the rush. Come, Fairman, +take your wine." + +Mr Fairman sat gazing on the fire, quietly, and took no notice of the +request. "People's heads," continued the medical gentleman, "seem turned +topsy-turvy. Dear me, how different it was in my time! What men are +about, I can't think. The very last newspaper I read had an +advertisement that I should as soon have expected to see there when my +father was alive, as a ship sailing along this coast keel upwards. You +saw it, Fairman. It was just under the Everlasting Life Pill +advertisement; and announced that the Reverend Mr Somebody would preach +on the Sunday following, at some conventicle, when the public were +invited to listen to him--and that the doors would be opened half an +hour earlier than usual to prevent squeezing. That's modern religion, +and it looks as much like ancient play-acting as two peas. Where will +these marching days of improvement bring us to at last?" + +"Tell me, Mayhew," said Mr Fairman, "does it not surprise you that a +girl of her age should be so easily fatigued?" + +"My dear friend, that makes the sixth time of asking. Let us hope that +it will be the last. I don't know what you mean by '_so easily_' +fatigued. The poor girl has been in the village all day, fomenting and +poulticing old Mrs Barnes, and if it had been any girl but herself, she +would have been tired out long before. Make your mind easy. I have sent +the naughty puss to bed, and she'll be as fresh as a rose in the +morning." + +"She must keep her exertions within proper bounds," continued the +incumbent. "I am sure she has not strength enough to carry out her good +intentions. I have watched her narrowly, and cannot be mistaken." + +"You do wrong, then, Fairman. Anxious watching creates fear, without the +shadow of an excuse for it. When we have anything like a bad symptom, it +is time to get uneasy." + +"Yes, but what do you call a bad symptom, Doctor?" + +"Why, I call your worrying yourself into fidgets, and teazing me into an +ill temper, a shocking symptom of bad behaviour. If it continue, you +must take a doze. Come, my friend, let me prescribe that glass of good +old port. It does credit to the cloth." + +"Seriously, Mayhew, have you never noticed the short, hacking cough that +sometimes troubles her?" + +"Yes; I noticed it last January for the space of one week, when there +was not a person within ten miles of you who was not either hacking, as +you call it, or blowing his nose from morning till night. The dear child +had a cold, and so had you, and I, and everybody else." + +"And that sudden flush, too?" + +"Why, you'll be complaining of the bloom on the peach next! That's +health, and nothing else, take my word for it." + +"I am, perhaps, morbidly apprehensive; but I cannot forget her poor +mother. You attended her, Mayhew, and you know how suddenly that came +upon us. Poor Ellen! what should I do without her!" + +"Fairman, join me in wishing success to our young friend here. Mr +Stukely, here's your good health; and success and happiness attend you. +You'll find little society here; but it is of the right sort, I can tell +you. You must make yourself at home." The minister became more cheerful, +and an hour passed in pleasant conversation. At ten o'clock, the horse +of Doctor Mayhew was brought to the gate, and the gentleman departed in +great good-humour. Almost immediately afterwards, the incumbent himself +conducted me to my sleeping apartment, and I was not loth to get my +rest. I fell asleep with the beautiful village floating before my weary +eyes, and the first day of my residence at the parsonage closed +peacefully upon me. + +It was at the breakfast table on the succeeding morning that I beheld +the daughter of the incumbent, the favourite and companion of my pupils, +and mistress of the house--a maiden in her twentieth year. She was +simply and artlessly attired, gentle and retiring in demeanour, and +femininely sweet rather than beautiful in expression. Her figure was +slender, her voice soft and musical; her hair light brown, and worn +plain across a forehead white as marble. The eye-brows which arched the +small, rich, hazel eyes were delicately drawn, and the slightly aquiline +nose might have formed a study for an artist. With the exception, +however, of this last-named feature, there was little in the individual +lineaments of the face to surprise or rivet the observer. Extreme +simplicity, and perfect innocence--these were stamped upon the +countenance, and were its charm. It was a strange feeling that possessed +me when I first gazed upon her through the chaste atmosphere that dwelt +around her. It was degradation deep and unaffected--a sense of shame and +undeservedness. I remembered with self-abhorrence the relation that had +existed between the unhappy Emma and myself, and the enormity and +disgrace of my offence never looked so great as now, and here--in the +bright presence of unconscious purity. She reassured and welcomed me +with a natural smile, and pursued her occupation with quiet cheerfulness +and unconstraint. I did not wonder that her father loved her, and +entertained the thought of losing her with fear; for, young and gentle +as she was, she evinced wisdom and age in her deep sense of duty, and in +the government of her happy home. Method and order waited on her doings, +and sweetness and tranquillity--the ease and dignity of a matron +elevating and upholding the maiden's native modesty. And did she not +love her sire as ardently? Yes, if her virgin soul spoke faithfully in +every movement of her guileless face. Yes, if there be truth in tones +that strike the heart to thrill it--in thoughts that write their meaning +in the watchful eye, in words that issue straight from the fount of +love, in acts that do not bear one shade of selfish purpose. It was not +a labour of time to learn that the existence of the child, her peace and +happiness, were merged in those of the fond parent. He was every thing +to her, as she to him. She had no brother--he no wife: these natural +channels of affection cut away, the stream was strong and deep that +flowed into each other's hearts. My first interview with the young lady +was necessarily limited. I would gladly have prolonged it. The morning +was passed with my pupils, and my mind stole often from the work before +me to dwell upon the face and form of her, whom, as a sister, I could +have doated on and cherished. How happy I should have been, I deemed, if +I had been so blessed. Useless reflection! and yet pleased was I to +dwell upon it, and to welcome its return, as often as it recurred. At +dinner we met again. To be admitted into her presence seemed the reward +for my morning toil--a privilege rather than a right. What labour was +too great for the advantage of such moments?--moments indeed they were, +and less--flashes of time, that were not here before they had +disappeared. We exchanged but few words. I was still oppressed with the +conviction of my own unworthiness, and wondered if she could read in my +burning face the history of shame. How she must avoid and despise me, +thought I, when she has discovered all, and how bold and wicked it was +to darken the light in which she lived with the guilt that was a part of +me! Not the less did I experience this when she spoke to me with +kindness and unreserve. The feeling grew in strength. I was conscious of +deceit and fraud, and could not shake the knowledge off. I was taking +mean advantage of her confidence, assuming a character to which I had no +claim, and listening to the accents of innocence and virtue with the +equanimity of one good and spotless as herself. In the afternoon the +young students resumed their work. When it was over, we strolled amongst +the hills; and, at the close of a delightful walk, found ourselves in +the enchanting village. Here we encountered Miss Fairman and the +incumbent, and we returned home in company. In one short hour we reached +it. How many hours have passed since _that_ was ravished from the hand +of Time, and registered in the tenacious memory! Years have floated by, +and silently have dropped into the boundless sea, unheeded, unregretted; +and these few minutes--sacred relics--live and linger in the world, in +mercy it may be, to lighten up my lonely hearth, or save the whitened +head from drooping. The spirit of one golden hour shall hover through a +life, and shed glory where he falls. What are the unfruitful, +unremembered years that rush along, frightening mortality with their +fatal speed--an instant in eternity! What are the moments loaded with +passion, intense, and never-dying--years, ages upon earth! Away with the +divisions of time, whilst one short breath--the smallest particle or +measure of duration, shall outweigh ages. Breathless and silent is the +dewy eve. Trailing a host of glittering clouds behind him, the sun +stalks down, and leaves the emerald hills in deeper green. The lambs are +skipping on the path--the shepherd as loth to lead them home as they to +go. The labourer has done his work, and whistles his way back. The +minister has much of good and wise to say to his young family. They hear +the business of the day; their guardian draws the moral, and bids them +think it over. Upon my arm I bear his child, the fairest object of the +twilight group. She tells me histories of this charmed spot, and the +good old tales that are as old as the gray church beneath us: she +smiles, and speaks of joys amongst the hills, ignorant of the tearful +eye and throbbing heart beside her, that overflow with new-found bliss, +and cannot bear their weight of happiness. + +Another day of natural gladness--and then the Sabbath; this not less +cheerful and inspiriting than the preceding. The sun shone fair upon the +ancient church, and made its venerable gray stones sparkle and look +young again. The dark-green ivy that for many a year has clung there, +looked no longer sad and sombre, but gay and lively as the newest of the +new-born leaves that smiled on every tree. The inhabitants of the +secluded village were already a-foot when we proceeded from the +parsonage, and men and women from adjacent villages were on the road to +join them. The deep-toned bell pealed solemnly, and sanctified the vale; +for its sound strikes deeply ever on the broad ear of nature. Willows +and yew-trees shelter the graves of the departed villagers, and the +living wend their way beneath them, subdued to seriousness, it may be, +by the breathless voice that dwells in every well-remembered mound. +There is not one who does not carry on his brow the thoughts that best +become it now. All are well dressed, all look cleanly and contented. The +children are with their parents, their natural and best instructors. +Whom should they love so well? To whom is honour due if not to them? The +village owns no school to disannul the tie of blood, to warp and weaken +the affection that holds them well together. + +All was quietness and decorum in the house of prayer. Every earnest eye +was fixed, not upon Mr Fairman, but on the book from which the people +prayed, in which they found their own good thoughts portrayed, their +pious wishes told, their sorrow and repentance in clearest form +described. Every humble penitent was on his knees. With one voice, loud +and heartfelt, came the responses which spoke the people's acquiescence +in all the pastor urged and prayed on their behalf. The worship over, Mr +Fairman addressed his congregation, selecting his subject from the +lesson of the day, and fitting his words to the capacities of those who +listened. Let me particularly note, that whilst the incumbent pointed +distinctly to the cross as the only ground of a sinner's hope, he +insisted upon good works as the necessary and essential accompaniment of +his faith. "Do not tell me, my dear friends," he said, at the conclusion +of his address--"do not tell me that you believe, if your daily life is +unworthy a believer. I will not trust you. What is your belief, if your +heart is busy in contrivances to overreach your neighbour? What is it, +if your mind is filled with envy, malice, hatred, and revenge? What if +you are given over to disgraceful lusts--to drunkenness and debauchery? +What if you are ashamed to speak the truth, and are willing to become a +liar? I tell you, and I have warrant for what I say, that your conduct +one towards another must be straightforward, honest, generous, kind, and +affectionate, or you cannot be in a safe and happy state. You owe it to +yourselves to be so; for if you are poor and labouring men, you have an +immortal soul within you, and it is your greatest ornament. It is that +which gives the meanest of us a dignity that no earthly honours can +supply; a dignity that it becomes the first and last of us by every +means to cherish and support. Is it not, my friends, degrading, fearful +to know that we bear about with us the very image of our God, and that +we are acting worse than the very brutes of the field? Do yourselves +justice. Be pure--pure in mind and body. Be honest, in word and deed. Be +loving to one another. Crush every wish to do evil, or to speak harshly; +be brothers, and feel that you are working out the wishes of a +benevolent and loving Father, who has created you for love, and smiles +upon you when you do his bidding." There was more to this effect, but +nothing need be added to explain the scope and tendency of his +discourse. His congregation could not mistake his meaning; they could +not fail to profit by it, if reason was not proof against the soundest +argument. As quietly as, and, if it be possible, more seriously than, +they entered the church, did the small band of worshippers, at the close +of the service, retire from it. Could it be my fancy, or did the wife in +truth cling closer to her husband--the father clasp his little boy more +firmly in his hand? Did neighbour nod to neighbour more eagerly as they +parted at the churchyard gate--did every look and movement of the many +groups bespeak a spirit touched, a mind reproved? I may not say so, for +my own heart was melted by the scene, and might mislead my judgment. +There was a second service in the afternoon. This concluded, we walked +to the sea-beach. In the evening Mr Fairman related a connected history +from the Old Testament, whilst the pupils tracked his progress on their +maps, and the narrative became a living thing in their remembrances. +Serious conversation then succeeded; to this a simple prayer, and the +day closed, sweetly and calmly, as a day might close in Paradise. + +The events of the following month partook of the character of those +already glanced at. The minister was unremitting in his attendance upon +his parishioners, and no day passed during which something had not been +accomplished for their spiritual improvement or worldly comfort. His +loving daughter was a handmaid at his side, ministering with him, and +shedding sunshine where she came. The villagers were frugal and +industrious; and seemed, for the most part, sensible of their +incumbent's untiring efforts. Improvement appeared even in the cottage +of the desperate Warden. Mr Fairman obtained employment for him. For a +fortnight he had attended to it, and no complaint had reached the +parsonage of misbehaviour. His wife had learned to bear her imagined +wrongs in silence, and could even submit to a visit from her best friend +without insulting him for the condescension. My own days passed smoothly +on. My occupation grew every day more pleasing, and the results of my +endeavours as gratifying as I could wish them. My pupils were attached +to me, and I beheld them improving gradually and securely under their +instruction. Mr Fairman, who, for a week together, had witnessed the +course of my tuition, and watched it narrowly, was pleased to express +his approbation in the warmest terms. Much of the coldness with which I +thought he had at first encountered me disappeared, and his manner grew +daily more friendly and confiding. His treatment was most generous. He +received me into the bosom of his family as a son, and strove to render +his fair habitation my genuine and natural home. + +Another month passed by, and the colour and tone of my existence had +suffered a momentous change. In the acquirement of a fearful joy, I had +lost all joy. In rendering every moment of my life blissful and +ecstatic, I had robbed myself of all felicity. A few weeks before, and +my state of being had realized a serenity that defied all causes of +perturbation and disquiet. Now it was a sea of agitation and disorder; +and a breath, a nothing had brought the restless waves upon the quiet +surface. Through the kindness of Mr Fairman, my evenings had been almost +invariably passed in the society of himself and his daughter. The lads +were early risers, and retired, on that account, at a very early hour to +rest. Upon their dismission, I had been requested to join the company in +the drawing-room. This company included sometimes Doctor Mayhew, the +neighbouring squire, or a chance visitor, but consisted oftenest only of +the incumbent and his daughter. Aware of the friendly motive which +suggested the request, I obeyed it with alacrity. On these occasions, +Miss Fairman used her pencil, whilst I read aloud; or she would ply her +needle, and soothe at intervals her father's ear with strains of music, +which he, for many reasons, loved to hear. Once or twice the incumbent +had been called away, and his child and I were left together. I had no +reason to be silent whilst the good minister was present, yet I found +that I could speak more confidently and better when he was absent. We +conversed with freedom and unrestraint. I found the maiden's mind well +stored--her voice was not more sweet than was her understanding clear +and cloudless. Books had been her joy, which, in the season of +suffering, had been my consolation. They were a common source of +pleasure. She spoke of them with feeling, and I could understand her. I +regarded her with deep unfeigned respect; but, the evening over, I took +my leave, as I had come--in peace. Miss Fairman left the parsonage to +pay a two-days' visit at a house in the vicinity. Until the evening of +the first day I was not sensible of her absence. It was then, and at the +customary hour of our reunion, that, for the first time, I experienced, +with alarm, a sense of loneliness and desertion--that I became +tremblingly conscious of the secret growth of an affection that had +waited only for the time and circumstance to make its presence and its +power known and dreaded. In the daily enjoyment of her society, I had +not estimated its influence and value. Once denied it, and I dared not +acknowledge to myself how precious it had become, how silently and +fatally it had wrought upon my heart. The impropriety and folly of +self-indulgence were at once apparent--yes, the vanity and +wickedness--and, startled by what looked like guilt, I determined +manfully to rise superior to temptation. I took refuge in my books; they +lacked their usual interest, were ineffectual in reducing the ruffled +mind to order. I rose and paced my room, but I could not escape from +agitating thought. I sought the minister in his study, and hoped to +bring myself to calm and reason by dwelling seriously on the business of +the day--with him, the father of the lady, and _my master_. He was not +there. He had left the parsonage with Doctor Mayhew an hour before. I +walked into the open air restless and unhappy, relying on the freshness +and repose of night to be subdued and comforted. It was a night to +soften anger--to conquer envy--to destroy revenge--beautiful and bright. +The hills were bathed in liquid silvery light, and on their heights, and +in the vale, on all around, lay passion slumbering. What could I find on +such a night, but favour and incitement, support and confirmation, +flattery and delusion? Every object ministered to the imagination, and +love had given that wings. I trembled as I pursued my road, and fuel +found its unobstructed way rapidly to the flame within. Self-absorbed, I +wandered on. I did not choose my path. I believed I did not, and I +stopped at length--before the house that held her. I gazed upon it with +reverence and love. One room was lighted up. Shadows flitted across the +curtained window, and my heart throbbed sensibly when, amongst them, I +imagined I could trace her form. I was borne down by a conviction of +wrong and culpability, but I could not move, or for a moment draw away +my look. It was a strange assurance that I felt--but I did feel it, +strongly and emphatically--that I should see her palpably before I left +the place. I waited for that sight in certain expectation, and it came. +A light was carried from the room. Diminished illumination there, and +sudden brightness against a previously darkened casement, made this +evident. The light ascended--another casement higher than the last was, +in its turn, illumined, and it betrayed her figure. She approached the +window, and, for an instant--oh how brief!--looked into the heavenly +night. My poor heart sickened with delight, and I strained my eyes long +after all was blank and dark again. + +Daylight, and the employments of day, if they did not remove, weakened +the turbulence of the preceding night. The more I found my passion +acquiring mastery, with greater vigour I renewed my work, and with more +determination I pursued the objects that were most likely to fight and +overcome it. I laboured with the youths for a longer period. I undertook +to prepare a composition for the following day which I knew must take +much thought and many hours in working out. I armed myself at all +points--but the evening came and found me once more conscious of a void +that left me prostrate. Mr Fairman was again absent from home. I could +not rest in it, and I too sallied forth, but this time, to the village. +I would not deliberately offer violence to my conscience, and I shrunk +from a premeditated visit to the distant house. My own acquaintances in +the village were not many, or of long standing, but there were some half +dozen, especial favourites of the incumbent's daughter. To one of these +I bent my steps, with no other purpose than that of baffling time that +hung upon me painfully and heavily at home. For a few minutes I spoke +with the aged female of the house on general topics; then a passing +observation--in spite of me--escaped my lips in reference to Miss Ellen. +The villager took up the theme and expatiated widely. There was no end +to what she had to say of good and kind for the dear lady. I could have +hugged her for her praise. Prudence bade me forsake the dangerous +ground, and so I did, to return again with tenfold curiosity and zest. I +asked a hundred questions, each one revealing more interest and ardour +than the last, and involving me in deeper peril. It was at length +accomplished. My companion hesitated suddenly in a discourse, then +stopped, and looked me in the face, smiling cunningly. "I tell you what, +sir," she exclaimed at last, and loudly, "you are over head and ears in +love, and that's the truth on't." + +"Hush, good woman," I replied, blushing to the forehead, and hastening +to shut an open door. "Don't speak so loud. You mistake, it is no such +thing. I shall be angry if you say so--very angry. What can you mean?" + +"Just what I say, sir. Why, do you know how old I am? Seventy-three. I +think I ought to tell, and where's the harm of it? Who couldn't love the +sweetest lady in the parish--bless her young feeling heart!" + +"I tell you--you mistake--you are to blame. I command you not to repeat +this to a living soul. If it should come to the incumbent's ears"-- + +"Trust me for that, sir. I'm no blab. He shan't be wiser for such as me. +But do you mean to tell me, sir, with that red face of your'n, you +haven't lost your heart--leave alone your trembling? ah, well, I hopes +you'll both be happy, anyhow." + +I endeavoured to remonstrate, but the old woman only laughed and shook +her aged head. I left her, grieved and apprehensive. My secret thoughts +had been discovered. How soon might they be carried to the confiding +minister and his unsuspecting daughter! What would they think of me! It +was a day of anxiety and trouble, that on which Miss Fairman returned to +the parsonage. I received my usual invitation; but I was indisposed, and +did not go. I resolved to see her only during meals, and when it was +impossible to avoid her. I would not seek her presence. Foolish effort! +It had been better to pass hours in her sight, for previous separation +made union more intense, and the passionate enjoyment of a fleeting +instant was hoarded up, and became nourishment for the livelong day. + +It was a soft rich afternoon in June, and chance made me the companion +of Miss Fairman. We were alone: I had encountered her at a distance of +about a mile from the parsonage, on the sea-shore, whither I had walked +distressed in spirit, and grateful for the privilege of listening in +gloomy quietude to the soothing sounds of nature--medicinal ever. The +lady was at my side almost before I was aware of her approach. My heart +throbbed whilst she smiled upon me, sweetly as she smiled on all. Her +deep hazel eye was moist. Could it be from weeping? + +"What has happened, Miss Fairman?" I asked immediately. + +"Do I betray my weakness, then?" she answered. "I am sorry for it; for +dear papa tells all the villagers that no wise man weeps--and no wise +woman either, I suppose. But I cannot help it. We are but a small family +in the village, and it makes me very sad to miss the old faces one after +another, and to see old friends dropping and dropping into the silent +grave." + +As she spoke the church-bell tolled, and she turned pale, and ceased. I +offered her my arm, and we walked on. + +"Whom do you mourn, Miss Fairman?" I asked at length. + +"A dear good friend--my best and oldest. When poor mamma was dying, she +made me over to her care. She was her nurse, and was mine for years. It +is very wrong of me to weep for her. She was good and pious, and is +blest." + +The church-bell tolled again, and my companion shuddered. + +"Oh! I cannot listen to that bell," she said. "I wish papa would do away +with it. What a withering sound it has! I heard it first when it was +tolling for my dear mother. It fell upon my heart like iron then, and it +falls so now." + +"I cannot say that I dislike the melancholy chime. Death is sad. Its +messenger should not be gay." + +"It is the soul that sees and hears. Beauty and music are created +quickly if the heart be joyful. So my book says, and it is true. You +have had no cause to think that bell a hideous thing." + +"Yet I have suffered youth's severest loss. I have lost a mother." + +"You speak the truth. Yes, I have a kind father left me--and you"-- + +"I am an orphan, friendless and deserted. God grant, Miss Fairman, you +may be spared my fate for years." + +"Not friendless or deserted either, Mr Stukely," answered the young lady +kindly; "papa does not deserve, I am sure, that you should speak so +harshly." + +"Pardon me, Miss Fairman. I did not mean to say that. He has been most +generous to me--kinder than I deserve. But I have borne much, and still +must bear. The fatherless and motherless is in the world alone. He needs +no greater punishment." + +"You must not talk so. Papa will, I am sure, be a father to you, as he +is to all who need one. You do not know him, Mr Stukely. His heart is +overflowing with tenderness and charity. You cannot judge him by his +manner. He has had his share of sorrow and misfortune; and death has +been at his door oftener than once. Friends have been unfaithful and men +have been ungrateful; but trial and suffering have not hardened him. You +have seen him amongst the poor, but you have not seen him as I have; nor +have I beheld him as his Maker has, in the secret workings of his +spirit, which is pure and good, believe me. He has received injury like +a child, and dealt mercy and love with the liberality of an angel. Trust +my father, Mr Stukely."-- + +The maiden spoke quickly and passionately, and her neck and face +crimsoned with animation. I quivered, for her tones communicated +fire--but my line of conduct was marked, and it shone clear in spite of +the clouds of emotion which strove to envelope and conceal it--as they +did too soon. + +"I would trust him, Miss Fairman, and I do," I answered with a faltering +tongue. "I appreciate his character and I revere him. I could have made +my home with him. I prayed that I might do so. Heaven seemed to have +directed my steps to this blissful spot, and to have pointed out at +length a resting place for my tired feet. I have been most happy +here--too happy--I have proved ungrateful, and I know how rashly I have +forfeited this and every thing. I cannot live here. This is no home for +me. I will go into the world again--cast myself upon it--do any thing. I +could be a labourer on the highways, and be contented if I could see +that I had done my duty, and behaved with honour. Believe me, Miss +Fairman, I have not deliberately indulged--I have struggled, fought, and +battled, till my brain has tottered. I am wretched and forlorn--but I +will leave you--to-morrow--would that I had never come----." I could say +no more. My full heart spoke its agony in tears. + +"What has occurred? What afflicts you? You alarm me, Mr Stukely." + +I had sternly determined to permit no one look to give expression to the +feeling which consumed me, to obstruct by force the passage of the +remotest hint that should struggle to betray me; but as the maiden +looked full and timidly upon me, I felt in defiance of me, and against +all opposition, the tell-tale passion rising from my soul, and creeping +to my eye. It would not be held back. In an instant, with one +treacherous glance, all was spoken and revealed. + + * * * * * + + + + + By that dejected city, Arno runs, + Where Ugolino clasps his famisht sons. + There wert thou born, my Julia! there thine eyes + Return'd as bright a blue to vernal skies. + And thence, my little wanderer! when the Spring + Advanced, thee, too, the hours on silent wing + Brought, while anemonies were quivering round, + And pointed tulips pierced the purple ground, + Where stood fair Florence: there thy voice first blest + My ear, and sank like balm into my breast: + For many griefs had wounded it, and more + Thy little hands could lighten were in store. + But why revert to griefs? Thy sculptured brow + Dispels from mine its darkest cloud even now. + What then the bliss to see again thy face, + And all that Rumour has announced of grace! + I urge, with fevered breast, the four-month day. + O! could I sleep to wake again in May. + + WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. + + * * * * * + + + + +IMAGINARY CONVERSATION. BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. + +SANDT AND KOTZEBUE. + + +_Sandt_.--Generally men of letters in our days, contrary to the practice +of antiquity, are little fond of admitting the young and unlearned into +their studies or their society. + +_Kotzebue_.--They should rather those than others. The young _must_ +cease to be young, and the unlearned _may_ cease to be unlearned. +According to the letters you bring with you, sir, there is only youth +against you. In the seclusion of a college life, you appear to have +studied with much assiduity and advantage, and to have pursued no other +courses than the paths of wisdom. + +_Sandt_.--Do you approve of the pursuit? + +_Kotzebue_.--Who does not? + +_Sandt_.--None, if you will consent that they direct the chase, bag the +game, inebriate some of the sportsmen, and leave the rest behind in the +slough. May I ask you another question? + +_Kotzebue_.--Certainly. + +_Sandt_.--Where lie the paths of wisdom? I did not expect, my dear sir +to throw you back upon your chair. I hope it was no rudeness to seek +information from you? + +_Kotzebue_.--The paths of wisdom, young man, are those which lead us to +truth and happiness. + +_Sandt_.--If they lead us away from fortune, from employments, from +civil and political utility; if they cast us where the powerful +persecute, where the rich trample us down, and where the poorer (at +seeing it) despise us, rejecting our counsel and spurning our +consolation, what valuable truth do they enable us to discover, or what +rational happiness to expect? To say that wisdom leads to truth, is only +to say that wisdom leads to wisdom; for such is truth. Nonsense is +better than falsehood; and we come to that. + +_Kotzebue_.--How? + +_Sandt_.--No falsehood is more palpable than that wisdom leads to +happiness--I mean in this world; in another, we may well indeed believe +that the words are constructed of very different materials. But here we +are, standing on a barren molehill that crumbles and sinks under our +tread; here we are, and show me from hence, Von Kotzebue, a discoverer +who has not suffered for his discovery, whether it be of a world or of a +truth--whether a Columbus or a Galileo. Let us come down lower: Show me +a man who has detected the injustice of a law, the absurdity of a tenet, +the malversation of a minister, or the impiety of a priest, and who has +not been stoned, or hanged, or burnt, or imprisoned, or exiled, or +reduced to poverty. The chain of Prometheus is hanging yet upon his +rock, and weaker limbs writhe daily in its rusty links. Who then, unless +for others, would be a darer of wisdom? And yet, how full of it is even +the inanimate world? We may gather it out of stones and straws. Much +lies within the reach of all: little has been collected by the wisest of +the wise. O slaves to passion! O minions to power! ye carry your own +scourges about you; ye endure their tortures daily; yet ye crouch for +more. Ye believe that God beholds you; ye know that he will punish you, +even worse than ye punish yourselves; and still ye lick the dust where +the Old Serpent went before you. + +_Kotzebue_.--I am afraid, sir, you have formed to yourself a romantic +and strange idea, both of happiness and of wisdom. + +_Sandt_.--I too am afraid it may be so. My idea of happiness is, the +power of communicating peace, good-will, gentle affections, ease, +comfort, independence, freedom, to all men capable of them. + +_Kotzebue_.--The idea is, truly, no humble one. + +_Sandt_.--A higher may descend more securely on a stronger mind. The +power of communicating those blessings to the capable, is enough for my +aspirations. A stronger mind may exercise its faculties in the divine +work of creating the capacity. + +_Kotzebue_.--Childish! childish!--Men have cravings enow already; give +them fresh capacities, and they will have fresh appetites. Let us be +contented in the sphere wherein it is the will of Providence to place +us; and let us render ourselves useful in it to the utmost of our power, +without idle aspirations after impracticable good. + +_Sandt_.--O sir! you lead me where I tremble to step; to the haunts of +your intellect, to the recesses of your spirit. Alas! alas! how small +and how vacant is the central chamber of the lofty pyramid? + +_Kotzebue_.--Is this to me? + +_Sandt_.--To you, and many mightier. Reverting to your own words; could +not you yourself have remained in the sphere you were placed in? + +_Kotzebue_.--What sphere? I have written dramas, and novels, and +travels. I have been called to the Imperial Court of Russia. + +_Sandt_.--You sought celebrity.--I blame not that. The thick air of +multitudes may be good for some constitutions of mind, as the thinner of +solitudes is for others. Some horses will not run without the clapping +of hands; others fly out of the course rather than hear it. But let us +come to the point. Imperial courts! What do they know of letters? What +letters do they countenance--do they tolerate? + +_Kotzebue_.--Plays. + +_Sandt_.--Playthings. + +_Kotzebue_.--Travels. + +_Sandt_.--On their business. O ye paviours of the dreary road along +which their cannon rolls for conquest! my blood throbs at every stroke +of your rammers. When will ye lay them by? + +_Kotzebue_.--We are not such drudges. + +_Sandt_.--Germans! Germans! Must ye never have a rood on earth ye can +call your own, in the vast inheritance of your fathers? + +_Kotzebue_.--Those who strive and labour, gain it; and many have rich +possessions. + +_Sandt_.--None; not the highest. + +_Kotzebue_.--Perhaps you may think them insecure; but they are not lost +yet, although the rapacity of France does indeed threaten to swallow +them up. But her fraudulence is more to be apprehended than her force. +The promise of liberty is more formidable than the threat of servitude. +The wise know that she never will bring us freedom; the brave know that +she never can bring us thraldom. She herself is alike impatient of both; +in the dazzle of arms she mistakes the one for the other, and is never +more agitated than in the midst of peace. + +_Sandt_.--The fools that went to war against her, did the only thing +that could unite her; and every sword they drew was a conductor of that +lightening which fell upon their heads. But we must now look at our +homes. Where there is no strict union, there is no perfect love; and +where no perfect love, there is no true helper. Are you satisfied, sir, +at the celebrity and the distinctions you have obtained? + +_Kotzebue_.--My celebrity and distinctions, if I must speak of them, +quite satisfy me. Neither in youth nor in advancing age--neither in +difficult nor in easy circumstances, have I ventured to proclaim myself +the tutor or the guardian of mankind. + +_Sandt_.--I understand the reproof, and receive it humbly and +gratefully. You did well in writing the dramas, and the novels, and the +travels; but, pardon my question, who called you to the courts of +princes in strange countries? + +_Kotzebue_.--They themselves. + +_Sandt_.--They have no more right to take you away from your country, +than to eradicate a forest, or to subvert a church in it. You belong to +the land that bore you, and were not at liberty--(if right and liberty +are one, and unless they are, they are good for nothing)--you were not +at liberty, I repeat it, to enter into the service of an alien. + +_Kotzebue_.--No magistrate, higher or lower, forbade me. Fine notions of +freedom are these! + +_Sandt_.--A man is always a minor in regard to his fatherland; and the +servants of his fatherland are wrong and criminal, if they whisper in +his ear that he may go away, that he may work in another country, that +he may ask to be fed in it, and that he may wait there until orders and +tasks are given for his hands to execute. Being a German, you +voluntarily placed yourself in a position where you might eventually be +coerced to act against Germans. + +_Kotzebue_.--I would not. + +_Sandt_.--Perhaps you think so. + +_Kotzebue_.--Sir, I know my duty. + +_Sandt_.--We all do; yet duties are transgressed, and daily. Where the +will is weak in accepting, it is weaker in resisting. Already have you +left the ranks of your fellow-citizens--already have you taken the +enlisting money and marched away. + +_Kotzebue_.--Phrases! metaphors! and let me tell you, M. Sandt, not very +polite ones. You have hitherto seen little of the world, and you speak +rather the language of books than of men. + +_Sandt_.--What! are books written by some creatures of less intellect +than ours? I fancied them to convey the language and reasonings of men. +I was wrong, and you are right, Von Kotzebue! They are, in general, the +productions of such as have neither the constancy of courage, nor the +continuity of sense, to act up to what they know to be right, or to +maintain it, even in words, to the end of their lives. You are aware +that I am speaking now of political ethics. This is the worst I can +think of the matter, and bad enough is this. + +_Kotzebue_.--You misunderstand me. Our conduct must fall in with our +circumstances. We may be patriotic, yet not puritanical in our +patriotism, not harsh, nor intolerant, nor contracted. The philosophical +mind should consider the whole world as its habitation, and not look so +minutely into it as to see the lines that divide nations and +governments; much less should it act the part of a busy shrew, and take +pleasure in giving loose to the tongue, at finding things a little out +of place. + +_Sandt_.--We will leave the shrew where we find her: she certainly is +better with the comedian than with the philosopher. But this +indistinctness in the moral and political line begets indifference. He +who does not keep his own country more closely in view than any other, +soon mixes land with sea, and sea with air, and loses sight of every +thing, at least, for which he was placed in contact with his fellow men. +Let us unite, if possible, with the nearest: Let usages and +familiarities bind us: this being once accomplished, let us confederate +for security and peace with all the people round, particularly with +people of the same language, laws, and religion. We pour out wine to +those about us, wishing the same fellowship and conviviality to others: +but to enlarge the circle would disturb and deaden its harmony. We +irrigate the ground in our gardens: the public road may require the +water equally: yet we give it rather to our borders; and first to those +that lie against the house! God himself did not fill the world at once +with happy creatures: he enlivened one small portion of it with them, +and began with single affections, as well as pure and unmixt. We must +have an object and an aim, or our strength, if any strength belongs to +us, will be useless. + +_Kotzebue_.--There is much good sense in these remarks: but I am not at +all times at leisure and in readiness to receive instruction. I am old +enough to have laid down my own plans of life; and I trust I am by no +means deficient in the relations I bear to society. + +_Sandt_.--Lovest thou thy children? Oh! my heart bleeds! But the birds +can fly; and the nest requires no warmth from the parent, no cover +against the rain and the wind. + +_Kotzebue_.--This is wildness: this is agony. Your face is laden with +large drops; some of them tears, some not. Be more rational and calm, my +dear young man! and less enthusiastic. + +_Sandt_.--They who will not let us be rational, make us enthusiastic by +force. Do you love your children? I ask you again. If you do, you must +love them more than another man's. Only they who are indifferent to all, +profess a parity. + +_Kotzebue_.--Sir! indeed your conversation very much surprises me. + +_Sandt_.--I see it does: you stare, and would look proud. Emperors and +kings, and all but maniacs, would lose that faculty with me. I could +speedily bring them to a just sense of their nothingness, unless their +ears were calked and pitched, although I am no Savonarola. He, too, died +sadly! + +_Kotzebue_.--Amid so much confidence of power, and such an assumption of +authority, your voice is gentle--almost plaintive. + +_Sandt_.--It should be plaintive. Oh, could it be but persuasive! + +_Kotzebue_.--Why take this deep interest in me? I do not merit nor +require it. Surely any one would think we had been acquainted with each +other for many years. + +_Sandt_.--What! should I have asked you such a question as the last, +after long knowing you? + +_Kotzebue_, (_aside_.)--This resembles insanity. + +_Sandt_.--The insane have quick ears, sir, and sometimes quick +apprehensions. + +_Kotzebue_.--I really beg your pardon. + +_Sandt_.--I ought not then to have heard you, and beg yours. My madness +could release many from a worse; from a madness which hurts them +grievously; a madness which has been and will be hereditary: mine, again +and again I repeat it, would burst asunder the strong swathes that +fasten them to pillar and post. Sir! sir! if I entertained not the +remains of respect for you, in your domestic state, I should never have +held with you this conversation. Germany is Germany: she ought to have +nothing political in common with what is not Germany. Her freedom and +security now demand that she celebrate the communion of the faithful. +Our country is the only one in all the explored regions on earth that +never has been conquered. Arabia and Russia boast it falsely; France +falsely; Rome falsely. A fragment off the empire of Darius fell and +crushed her: Valentinian was the footstool of Sapor, and Rome was buried +in Byzantium. Boys must not learn this, and men will not. Britain, the +wealthiest and most powerful of nations, and, after our own, the most +literate and humane, received from us colonies and laws. Alas! those +laws, which she retains as her fairest heritage, we value not: we +surrender them to gangs of robbers, who fortify themselves within walled +cities, and enter into leagues against us. When they quarrel, they push +us upon one another's sword, and command us to thank God for the +victories that enslave us. These are the glories we celebrate; these are +the festivals we hold, on the burial-mounds of our ancestors. Blessed +are those who lie under them! blessed are also those who remember what +they were, and call upon their names in the holiness of love. + +_Kotzebue_.--Moderate the transport that inflames and consumes you. +There is no dishonour in a nation being conquered by a stronger. + +_Sandt_.--There may be great dishonour in letting it be stronger; great, +for instance, in our disunion. + +_Kotzebue_.--We have only been conquered by the French in our turn. + +_Sandt_.--No, sir, no: we have not been, in turn or out. Our puny +princes were disarmed by promises and lies: they accepted paper crowns +from the very thief who was sweeping into his hat their forks and +spoons. A cunning traitor snared incautious ones, plucked them, devoured +them, and slept upon their feathers. + +_Kotzebue_.--I would rather turn back with you to the ancient glories of +our country than fix my attention on the sorrowful scenes more near to +us. We may be justly proud of our literary men, who unite the suffrages +of every capital, to the exclusion of almost all their own. + +_Sandt_.--Many Germans well deserve this honour, others are manger-fed +and hirelings. + +_Kotzebue_.--The English and the Greeks are the only nations that rival +us in poetry, or in any works of imagination. + +_Sandt_.--While on this high ground we pretend to a rivalship with +England and Greece, can we reflect, without a sinking of the heart, on +our inferiority in political and civil dignity? Why are we lower than +they? Our mothers are like their mothers; our children are like their +children; our limbs are as strong, our capacities are as enlarged, our +desire of improvement in the arts and sciences is neither less vivid and +generous, nor less temperate and well-directed. The Greeks were under +disadvantages which never bore in any degree on us; yet they rose +through them vigorously and erectly. They were Asiatic in what ought to +be the finer part of the affections; their women were veiled and +secluded, never visited the captive, never released the slave, never sat +by the sick in the hospital, never heard the child's lesson repeated in +the school. Ours are more tender, compassionate, and charitable, than +poets have feigned of the past, or prophets have announced of the +future; and, nursed at their breasts and educated at their feet, blush +we not at our degeneracy? The most indifferent stranger feels a pleasure +at finding, in the worst-written history of Spain, her various kingdoms +ultimately mingled, although the character of the governors, and perhaps +of the governed, is congenial to few. What delight, then, must overflow +on Europe, from seeing the mother of her noblest nation rear again her +venerable head, and bless all her children for the first time united! + +_Kotzebue_.--I am bound to oppose such a project. + +_Sandt_.--Say not so: in God's name, say not so. + +_Kotzebue_.--In such confederacy I see nothing but conspiracy and +rebellion, and I am bound, I tell you again, sir, to defeat it, if +possible. + +_Sandt._--Bound! I must then release you. + +_Kotzebue_.--How should you, young gentleman, release me? + +_Sandt_.--May no pain follow the cutting of the knot! But think again: +think better: spare me! + +_Kotzebue_.--I will not betray you. + +_Sandt_.--That would serve nobody: yet, if in your opinion betraying me +can benefit you or your family, deem it no harm; so much greater has +been done by you in abandoning the cause of Germany. Here is your paper; +here is your ink. + +_Kotzebue_.--Do you imagine me an informer? + +_Sandt_.--From maxims and conduct such as yours, spring up the brood, +the necessity, and the occupation of them. There would be none, if good +men thought it a part of goodness to be as active and vigilant as the +bad. I must go, sir! Return to yourself in time! How it pains me to +think of losing you! Be my friend! + +_Kotzebue_.--I would be. + +_Sandt_.--Be a German! + +_Kotzebue_.--I am. + +_Sandt_, (_having gone out_.)--Perjurer and profaner! Yet his heart is +kindly. I must grieve for him! Away with tenderness! I disrobe him of +the privilege to pity me or to praise me, as he would have done had I +lived of old. Better men shall do more. God calls them: me too he calls: +I will enter the door again. May the greater sacrifice bring the people +together, and hold them evermore in peace and concord. The lesser victim +follows willingly. (_Enters again_.) + +Turn! die! (_strikes_.) + +Alas! alas! no man ever fell alone. How many innocent always perish with +one guilty! and writhe longer! + +Unhappy children! I shall weep for you elsewhere. Some days are left me. +In a very few the whole of this little world will lie between us. I have +sanctified in you the memory of your father. Genius but reveals +dishonour, commiseration covers it. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE JEWELLER'S WIFE. + +A PASSAGE IN THE CAREER OF EL EMPECINADO. + + +When the Empecinado, after escaping from the Burgo de Osma, rejoined his +band, and again repaired to the favourite skirmishing ground on the +banks of the Duero, he found the state of affairs in Old Castile +becoming daily less favourable for his operations. The French overran +the greater part of the province, and visited with severe punishment any +disobedience of their orders; so that the peasantry no longer dared to +assist the guerillas as they had previously done. Many of the villages +on the Duero had become _afrancesados_, not, it is true, through love, +but through dread of the invaders, and in the hope of preserving +themselves from pillage and oppression. However much the people in their +hearts might wish success to men like the Empecinado, the guerillas were +too few and too feeble to afford protection to those who, by giving them +assistance or information, would incur the displeasure of the French. +The clergy were the only class that, almost without an exception, +remained stanch to the cause of Spanish independence, and their purses +and refectories were ever open to those who took up arms in its defence. + +Noways deterred by this unfavourable aspect of affairs, the Empecinado +resolved to carry on the war in Old Castile, even though unaided and +alone. He established his bivouac in the pine-woods of Coca, and sent +out spies towards Somosierra and Burgos, to get information of some +convoy of which the capture might yield both honour and profit. + +It was on the second morning after the departure of the spies, and a few +minutes before daybreak, that the little camp was aroused by a shot from +a sentry, placed on the skirt of the wood. In an instant every man was +on his feet. It was the Empecinado's custom, when outlying in this +manner, to make one-half his band sleep fully armed and equipped, with +their horses saddled and bridled beside them; and a fortunate precaution +it was in this instance. Scarcely had the men time to untether and +spring upon their horses, when the sentry galloped headlong into the +camp. + +"_Los Franceses! Los Franceses_!" exclaimed he, breathless with speed. + +One of the Empecinado's first qualities was his presence of mind, which +never deserted him even in the most critical situations. Instantly +forming up that moiety of his men which was already in the saddle, he +left a detachment in front of those who were hastily saddling and +arming, and with the remainder retired a little to the left of the open +ground on which the bivouac was established. Almost before he had +completed this arrangement, the jingling of arms and clattering of +horses' feet were heard, and a squadron of French cavalry galloped down +the glade. The Empecinado gave the word to charge, and as Fuentes at the +head of one party advanced to meet them, he himself attacked them in +flank. The French, not having anticipated much opposition from a foe +whom they had expected to find sleeping, were somewhat surprized at the +fierce resistance they met. A hard fight took place, rendered still more +confused by the darkness, or rather by a faint grey light, which was +just beginning to appear, and gave a shadowy indistinctness to +surrounding objects. The Spaniards were inferior in number to their +opponents, and it was beginning to go hard with them, when the remainder +of the guerillas, now armed and mounted, came up to their assistance. On +perceiving this accession to their adversaries' force, the French +thought they had been led into an ambuscade, and retreating in tolerable +order to the edge of the wood, at last fairly turned tail and ran for +it, leaving several killed and wounded on the ground, and were pursued +for some distance by the guerillas, who, however, only succeeded in +making one prisoner. This was a young man in the dress of a peasant, who +being badly mounted, was easily overtaken. On being brought before the +Empecinado, the latter with no small surprize recognized a native of +Aranda, named Pedro Gutierrez, who was one of the emissaries he had sent +out two days previously to get information concerning the movements of +the enemy. + +With pale cheek and faltering voice, the prisoner answered the +Empecinado's interrogatories. It appears that he had been detected as a +spy by the French, who had given him his choice between a halter and the +betrayal of his countrymen and employers. With the fear of death before +his eyes, he had consented to turn traitor. + +The deepest silence prevailed among the guerillas during his narrative, +and remained unbroken for a full minute after he had concluded. The +Empecinado's brow was black as thunder, and his features assumed an +expression which the trembling wretch well knew how to interpret. + +"_Que podia hacer, senores_?" said the culprit, casting an appealing, +imploring glance around him. "The rope was round my neck; I have an aged +father and am his only support. Life is very sweet. What could I do?" + +"_Die_!" replied the Empecinado, in his deep stern voice--"Die like a +man _then_, instead of dying like a dog _now_!" + +He turned his back upon him, and ten minutes later, the body of the +unfortunate spy was dangling from the branches of a neighbouring tree, +and the guerillas marched off to seek another and a safer bivouac. + +A few days after this incident the other spies returned, and after +receiving their report, and consulting with his lieutenant, Mariano +Fuentes, the Empecinado broke up the little camp, and led his band in +the direction of the _camino real_. + +Along that part of the high-road, from Madrid to the Pyrenees, which +winds through the mountain range of Onrubias, an escort of fifty French +dragoons was marching, about an hour before dusk, on an evening of early +spring. Two carriages, and three or four heavily-laden carts, each drawn +by half-a-dozen mules, composed the whole of the convoy; the value of +which, however, might be deemed considerable, judging from the strength +of the escort, and the precautions observed by the officer in command to +avoid a surprise--precautions which were not of much avail; for, on +reaching a spot where the road widened considerably, and was traversed +by a broad ravine, the party was suddenly charged on either flank by +double their number of guerillas. The dragoons made a gallant +resistance, but it was a short one, for they had no room or time to form +in any order, and were far overmatched in the hand-to-hand contest that +ensued. With the very first who fled went a gentleman in civilian's +garb, who sprang out of the most elegant of the two carriages, and +mounting a fine Andalusian horse led by a groom, was off like the wind, +disregarding the shrieks of his travelling companion, a female two or +three-and-twenty years old, of great beauty, and very richly attired. +The cries and alarm of the lady thus deserted were redoubled, when an +instant later a guerilla of fierce aspect presented himself at the +carriage-door. + +"Have no fear, senora," said the Empecinado, "you are in the hands of +honourable men, and no harm shall be done you." And having by suchlike +assurances succeeded in calming her terrors, he obtained from her some +information as to the contents of the carts and carriages, as well as +regarding herself and her late companion. + +The man who had abandoned her, and consulted his own safety by flying +with the escort, was her husband, Monsieur Barbot, jeweller and diamond +merchant to the late King Charles the Fourth. Alarmed by the unsettled +state of things in Spain, he was hastening to take refuge in France, +with his handsome wife and his great wealth--of the latter of which no +inconsiderable portion was contained in the carriage, in the shape of +caskets of jewellery, diamonds, and other valuables. + +Repairing to the neighbouring mountains, the guerillas proceeded to +examine their booty, which the Empecinado permitted them to divide among +themselves, with the exception of the carriage and its contents, +including the lady, which he reserved for his own share. + +On the following day came letters from the French military governor of +Aranda del Duero, and from Monsieur Barbot, who had taken refuge in that +town, and offered a large sum as ransom for his wife. To this +application the Empecinado did not vouchsafe any answer, but marched off +to his native village of Castrillo, taking with him jewels, carriage, +and lady. The latter he established in the house of his brother Manuel, +recommending her to the care of his sister-in-law, and commanding that +she should be treated with all possible respect, and her wishes attended +to on every point. + +The Empecinado's exultation at the success of his enterprize was great, +but he little foresaw all the danger and trouble that his rich capture +was hereafter to occasion him. He had become violently enamoured of his +fair prisoner, and in order to have leisure to pay his court to her, he +sent off his partida on a distant expedition under the command of +Fuentes, and himself remained at Castrillo, doing his utmost to find +favour in the eyes of the beautiful Madame Barbot. He was then in the +prime of life, a remarkably handsome man, and notwithstanding that the +French affected to treat him as a brigand, his courage and patriotism +were admitted by the unprejudiced among all parties, and his bold and +successful deeds had already procured him a degree of renown that was an +additional recommendation of him to the fair sex. It may not, therefore, +be deemed very surprising that, after the first few days of her +captivity were passed, and she had become a little used to the novelty +of her position, the lady began to consider the Empecinado with some +degree of favour, and seemed not altogether disposed to be inconsolable +in her widowhood. He on his part spared no pains to please her. His very +nature seemed changed by the violence of his new passion; and so great +was the metamorphosis that his best friends scarcely recognized him for +the same man. He seemed totally to have forgotten the career to which he +had devoted himself, and the hatred and war of extermination he had +vowed against the French. The restless activity and spirit of enterprize +which formed such distinguishing traits in his character, were +completely lulled to sleep by the charms of the fair Barbot. Nor was the +change in his external appearance less striking. Aware that the rude +manners and attire of a guerilla were not likely to please the +fastidious taste of a town-bred dame, he hastened to discard them. His +rough bushy beard and mustaches were carefully trimmed and adjusted by +the most expert barber of the neighbourhood; his sheepskin jacket, heavy +boots, and jingling double-roweled spurs thrown aside, and in their +place he assumed the national garb, so well adapted to show off a +handsome person, and which, although now almost disused throughout +Spain, far surpasses in elegance the prevailing costumes of the +nineteenth century: a short light jacket of black velvet, and waistcoat +of the richest silk, both profusely decorated with gold filigree +buttons; purple velvet breeches fastened at the knee with bunches of +ribands; silk stockings, and falling boots of chamois leather, by the +most expert maker in Cordova; a crimson silk sash round his waist, and +round his neck a silk handkerchief, of which the ends were drawn through +a magnificent jewelled ring. A green velvet cap, ornamented with sables +and silver, and an ample cloak trimmed with silver lace, the spoil of a +commandant of French gendarmes, completed this picturesque costume. + +Thus attired, and mounted on a splendid horse, the Empecinado escorted +the object of his new flame to all the fetes and merry-makings of the +surrounding country. Not a _romeria_ in the neighbouring villages, not a +fair or a bull-fight in all the valley of the Duero, but were graced by +the presence of Martin Diez and his dulcinea, whose fine horse and +gallant equipment, but more especially the beauty of the rider, inspired +universal admiration. As might be expected, many of those who had known +the Empecinado a poor vine-dresser, became envious of his good fortune, +and others who envied him not, were indignant at seeing him waste his +time in such degrading effeminacy, instead of following up the career +which he had so nobly begun. There was much murmuring, therefore, to +which, however, he gave little heed; and several weeks had passed in the +manner above described, when an incident occurred to rouse him from the +sort of lethargy in which he was sunk. + +A despatch reached him from the Captain-General, Don Gregorio Cuesta, +requiring his immediate presence at Ciudad Rodrigo, there to receive +directions concerning the execution of a service of the greatest +importance, and which was to be intrusted to him. + +This order had its origin in circumstances of which the Empecinado was +totally ignorant. The jeweller Barbot, finding that neither large offers +nor threats of punishment had any effect upon the Empecinado, who +persisted in keeping his wife prisoner, made interest with the Duke of +Infantado, then general of one of the Spanish armies, and besought him +to exert his influence in favour of the captive lady, and to have her +restored to her friends. The duke, who was a very important personage at +the court of Charles the Fourth, and the favourite of Ferdinand the +Seventh at the beginning of his reign, entertained a particular +friendship for Barbot; and, if the _chronique scandaleuse_ of Madrid +might be believed, a still more particular one for his wife. He +immediately wrote to General Cuesta, desiring that the lady might be +sent back to her husband without delay, as well as all the jewels and +other spoil that had been seized by the Empecinado. + +With much difficulty did the guerilla make up his mind to abandon the +inglorious position, and to go where duty called him. Strongly +recommending his captive to his brother and sister-in-law, he set out +for Ciudad Rodrigo, escorted by a sergeant and ten men of his partida. +They had not proceeded half a mile from Castrillo, when, from behind a +hedge bordering the road, a shot was fired, and the bullet slightly +wounded the Empecinado's charger. Two of the escort pushed their horses +through the hedge, and immediately returned, dragging between them a +grey-haired old man, seventy years of age, who clutched in his wrinkled +fingers a rusty carbine that had just been discharged. + +"He is surely mad!" exclaimed the Empecinado, gazing in astonishment at +the venerable assassin. "_Dime, viejo_; do you know me? And why do you +seek my life?" + +"_Si, si, te conozes_. You are the Empecinado--the bloody Empecinado. +Give me back my Pedro, whom you murdered. _Ay di me! mi Pedrillo, te han +matado!_" + +And the old man's frame quivered with rage, as he glared on the +Empecinado with an expression of unutterable hate. + +One of the guerillas stepped forward-- + +"'Tis old Gutierrez, the father of Pedro, who was hung in the Pinares de +Coca, for betraying us to the French." + +"Throw his carbine into yonder pool, and leave the poor wretch," said +the Empecinado; "his son deserved the death he met." + +"He missed his aim to-day, but he may point truer another time," said +one of the men, half drawing a pistol from his holster. + +"Harm him not!" said the Empecinado sternly, and the party rode on. + +"_Maldito seas_!" screamed the old man, casting himself in the dust of +the road, in a paroxysm of impotent fury. "_Maldito! Maldito! Ay de mi! +mi Pedrillo!_" + +And his curses and lamentations continued till the guerillas were out of +hearing. + +On arriving at Ciudad Rodrigo, the Empecinado went immediately to +General Cuesta, who, although he did not receive him unkindly, could not +but blame him greatly for the enormous crime he had committed in +carrying off a lady who was distinguished by so mighty a personage as +the Duke of Infantado. He told him it was absolutely necessary to devise +some plan by which the Duke's anger might be appeased. Murat also had +sent a message to the central junta, saying, that if satisfaction were +not given, he would send troops to lay waste the whole district of +Penafiel, in which Castrillo was situated; and it was probable, that if +he had not done so already, it was because a large portion of the +inhabitants of that district were believed to be well affected to the +French. Without exactly telling him what he must do, the old general +gave him a despatch for the _corregidor_ of Penafiel, and desired him to +present himself before that functionary, and concert with him the +measures to be taken. + +The Empecinado took his leave, and was quitting the governor's palace +when he overtook at the door an _avogado_, who was a countryman of his, +and whom he had left at Castrillo when he set out from that place. The +sight of this man was a ray of light to the Empecinado, who immediately +suspected that his enemies were intriguing against him. He proposed to +the lawyer that they should walk to the inn, to which the latter +consented. They had to traverse a lonely place, known by the name of San +Francisco's Meadow, and on arriving there, behind the shelter of some +walls, the Empecinado seized the advocate by the collar, and swore he +would strangle him if he did not instantly confess what business had +brought him to Ciudad Rodrigo, as well as all the plans or plots against +the Empecinado to which he might be privy. + +The lawyer, who had known Diez from his childhood, and was fully aware +of his desperate character and of his own peril, trembled for his life, +and besought him earnestly to use no violence, for that he was willing +to tell all he knew. Thereupon the Empecinado loosened his grasp, which +had wellnigh throttled the poor avogado, and cocking a pistol, as a sort +of warning to the other to tell the truth, bade him sit down beside him +and proceed with his narrative. + +The lawyer informed him that the _ayuntamiento_ or corporation of +Castrillo, and those of all the towns and villages of the district, +found themselves in great trouble on account of the convoy he had +intercepted, and more particularly of the lady whom he kept prisoner, +and whose friends it appeared were persons of much influence with both +contending parties, for that the junta and the French had alike demanded +her liberty; and while the latter were about to send troops to put the +whole country to fire and sword, the former, as well as the Spanish +generals, had refused to afford them any protection against the +consequences of her detention, and accused the ayuntamiento and the +priests of encouraging the Empecinado to hold her in captivity. He +himself had been sent to Ciudad Rodrigo to beg General Cuesta's advice, +and the general had declared himself unable to assist them, but +recommended them to restore the lady and treasure, if they did not wish +the French to lay waste the country, and take by force the bone of +contention. + +The Empecinado, suspecting that General Cuesta had not used all due +frankness with him in this matter, handed to the lawyer the letter that +had been given him for the corregidor of Penafiel, and compelled him, +much against his will, to open and read it. Its contents coincided with +what the avogado had told him; the general advising the corregidor to +use every means to compromise the matter, rather than wait till the +French should do themselves justice by the strong hand. + +Perceiving that, from various motives, every body was against him in +this matter, the Empecinado bethought himself how he should get out of +the scrape. + +"As an old friend and countryman, and more especially as a lawyer," said +he to the avogado, "you are the most fitting man to give me advice in +this difficulty. Tell me, then, what I ought to do, in order that our +native town, which is innocent in the matter, should suffer no +prejudice." + +"You speak now like a sensible man," replied the other, "and as a friend +will I advise you. Let us immediately set off to Penafiel, deliver the +general's letter to the corregidor, and take him with us to Castrillo. +There, for form's sake, an examination of your conduct in the affair can +take place. You shall give up the jewels, the carriage, and the lady, +and set off immediately to join your partida." + +"To the greater part of that I willingly agree," said the Empecinado. +"The jewels are buried in the cellar, and the carriage is in the stable. +Take both when you list. But as to the lady, before I give her up, I +will give up my own soul. She is my property; I took her in fair fight, +and at the risk of my life." + +"You will think better of it before we get to Castrillo," replied the +lawyer. + +The Empecinado shook his head, but led the way to the inn, where they +took horse, and the next day reached Penafiel, whence they set out the +following morning for Castrillo, which is a couple of leagues further, +accompanied by the corregidor, his secretary, and two alguazils. The +Empecinado was induced to leave his escort at Penafiel, in order that +the sort of _pro forma_ investigation which was to be gone through might +not appear to have taken place under circumstances of intimidation. The +avogado started a couple of hours earlier than the rest of the party, to +have things in readiness, so that the proceedings might be got through +as rapidly as possible. + +It was about eight o'clock on a fine summer's morning that the +Empecinado and his companions reached Castrillo. As they entered the +town, an old mendicant, who was lying curled up like a dog in the +sunshine under the porch of a house, lifted his head at the noise of the +horses. As his eyes rested upon Diez, he made a bound forward with an +agility extraordinary in one of his years, and fell almost under the +feet of the Empecinado's horse, making the startled animal spring aside +with a violence and suddenness sufficient to unhorse many a less +practised rider than the one who bestrode him. The Empecinado lifted his +whip in anger, but the old man, who had risen to his feet, showed no +sign of fear, and as he stood in the middle of the road, and immediately +in the path of the Empecinado, the latter recognized the wild features +and long grey hair of old Gutierrez. + +"_Maldito seas_!" cried the old man, extending his arms towards the +guerilla. "Murderer! the hour of vengeance is nigh. I saw it in my +dreams. My Pedrillo showed me his assassin trampled under the feet of +horses. _Asesino! Venga la hora de tu muerte!_" + +And the old man, who was half crazed by his misfortunes, relapsed into +an incoherent strain of lamentations for his son, and curses upon him +whom he called his murderer. + +The Empecinado, who, on recognizing old Gutierrez, had lowered his +riding-whip, and listened unmoved to his curses and predictions, rode +forward, explaining as he went, to the astonished corregidor, the scene +that had just occurred. A little further on he separated from his +companions, giving them rendezvous at ten o'clock at the house of the +ayuntamiento. Proceeding to his brother's dwelling, he paid a visit to +Madame Barbot, breakfasted with her, and then prepared to keep his +appointment. He placed a brace of pistols and a poniard in his belt, and +taking a loaded _trabuco_ or blunderbuss, in his hand, wrapped himself +in his cloak so as to conceal his weapons, and repaired to the +town-hall. + +He found the tribunal already installed, and every thing in readiness. +Saluting the corregidor, he began pacing up and down the room without +taking off his cloak. The corregidor repeatedly urged him to be seated, +but he refused, and continued his walk, replying to the questions that +were put to him, his answers to which were duly written down. About a +quarter of an hour had passed in this manner, when a noise of feet and +talking was heard in the street, and the Empecinado, as he passed one of +the windows that looked out upon the _plaza_, saw, with no very +comfortable feelings, that a number of armed peasants were entering the +town hall. He perceived that he was betrayed, but his presence of mind +stood his friend, and with his usual promptitude, he in a moment decided +how he should act. Without allowing it to appear that he had any +suspicion of what was going on, he walked to the door of the audience +chamber, and before any one could interfere, shut and locked it. Then +stepping up to the corregidor, he threw off his cloak, and presented his +trabuco at the magistrate's head. + +"Senor Corregidor," said he, "this is not our agreement, but a base act +of treachery. Commend yourself to God, for you are about to die." + +The corregidor was so dreadfully terrified at these words, and at the +menacing action of the Empecinado, that he swooned away, and fell down +under the table--the escribano fled into an adjoining chamber, and +concealed himself under a bed--while the alguazils, trembling with fear, +threw themselves upon their knees, and petitioned for mercy. The +Empecinado, finding himself with so little trouble master of the field +of battle, took possession of the papers that were lying upon the table, +and, unlocking the door, proceeded to the principal staircase, which he +found occupied by inhabitants of the town, armed with muskets and +fowling-pieces. Placing his blunderbuss under his arm, with his hand +upon the trigger, "Make way!" cried he; "the first who moves a finger +may reckon upon the contents of my trabuco." His menace and resolute +character produced the desired effect; a passage was opened, and he left +the house in triumph. On reaching the street, however, he found a great +crowd of men, women, and even children, assembled, who occupied the +plaza and all the adjacent streets, and received him with loud cries of +"Death to the Empecinado! _Muera el ladron y mal Cristiano_!" The armed +men whom he had left in the town-house fired several shots at him from +the windows, but nobody dared to lay hands upon him, as he marched +slowly and steadily through the crowd, trabuco in hand, and casting +glances on either side that made those upon whom they fell shrink +involuntarily backwards. + +On the low roof of one of the houses of the plaza, that formed the angle +of the Calle de la Cruz, or street of the cross, old Gutierrez had taken +his station. With the fire of insanity in his bloodshot eyes, and a grin +of exultation upon his wasted features, he witnessed the persecution of +the Empecinado, and while his ears drank in the yells and hootings of +the multitude, he added his shrill cracked voice to the uproar. When the +shots were fired from the town-hall, he bounded and capered upon the +platform, clapping his meagre fingers together in ecstasy; but as the +Empecinado got further from the house, and the firing was discontinued, +an expression of anxiety replaced the look of triumph that had lighted +up the old maniac's face. Diez still moved on unhurt, and was now within +a few paces of the house on which Gutierrez had perched himself. The old +man's uneasiness increased. "Va a escapar!" muttered he to himself; +"they will let him escape. Oh, if I had a gun, my Pedrillo would soon be +avenged!" + +The Empecinado was passing under the house. A sudden thought struck +Gutierrez. Stamping with his foot, he broke two or three of the tiles on +which he was standing, and snatching up a large heavy fragment, he +leaned over the edge of the roof to get a full view of the Empecinado, +who was at that moment leaving the plaza and entering the Calle de la +Cruz. In five seconds more he would be out of sight. As it was, it was +only by leaning very far forward that Gutierrez could see him, walking +calmly along, and keeping at bay the angry but cowardly mob that yelped +at his heels, like a parcel of village curs pursuing a bloodhound, whose +look alone prevents their too near approach. + +Throwing his left arm round a chimney, the old man swung himself +forward, and with all the force that he possessed, hurled the tile at +the object of his hate. The missile struck the Empecinado upon the +temple, and he fell, stunned and bleeding, to the ground. + +"_Viva_!" screamed Gutierrez; but a cry of agony followed the shout of +exultation. The chimney by which the old man supported himself was loose +and crumbling, and totally unfit to bear his weight as he hung on by it, +and leaned forward to gloat over his vengeance. It tottered for a +moment, and then fell with a crash into the street. The height was not +great, but the pavement was sharp and uneven; the old man pitched upon +his head, and when lifted up was already a corpse. + +When the mob saw the Empecinado fall, they threw themselves upon him +with as much ferocity as they had previously shown cowardice, and beat +and ill-treated him in every possible manner. Not satisfied with that, +they bound him hand and foot, and pushed him through a cellar window, +throwing after him stones, and every thing they could find lying about +the street. At last, wearied by their own brutality, they left him for +dead, and he remained in that state till nightfall, when the corregidor +and the ayuntamiento proceeded to inspect his body, in order to certify +his death, and have him buried. When he was brought out of the cellar, +however, they perceived he still breathed, and sent for a surgeon, and +also for a priest to administer the last sacraments. They then carried +him upon a ladder to the _posito_, or public granary, a strong building, +where they considered he would be in safety, and put him to bed, bathed +in blood and covered with wounds and bruises. + +The corregidor, fearing that the news of the riot, and of the death of +the Empecinado, would reach Penafiel, and that the escort which had been +left there, and the many partizans that Diez had in that town, would +come over to Castrillo to avenge his death, persuaded one of the cures +or parish priests of the latter place, to go over to Penafiel in all +haste, and, counterfeiting great alarm, to spread the report that the +French had entered Castrillo, seized the Empecinado, and carried him off +to Aranda. This was accordingly done; and the Empecinado's escort being +made aware of the vicinity of the French and the risk they ran, +immediately mounted their horses and marched to join Mariano Fuentes, +accompanied by upwards of fifty young men, all partizans of the +Empecinado, and eager to revenge him. This matter being arranged, the +corregidor had the jewels that were buried in the cellar of Manuel Diez +dug up, and having taken possession of them, and installed Madame Barbot +with all due attention in one of the principal houses of the town, he +forwarded a report to General Cuesta of all that had occurred. The +general immediately sent an escort to conduct the lady and the treasure +to Ciudad Rodrigo, and ordered that as soon as the Empecinado was in a +state to be moved, he should also be sent under a strong guard to that +city. + +Meanwhile, the Empecinado's vigorous constitution triumphed over the +injuries he had received, and he was getting so rapidly better, that for +his safer custody the corregidor thought it necessary to have him +heavily ironed. Deeming it impossible he should escape, and there being +no troops in the village, no sentry was placed over him, so that at +night his friends were able to hold discourse with him through the +grating of one of the windows of the posito. In this manner he contrived +to send a message to his brother Manuel, who, having also got into +trouble on account of Madame Barbot's detention, had been compelled to +take refuge in the mountains of Bilbuena, three leagues from Castrillo. +Manuel took advantage of a dark night to steal into the town in +disguise, and to speak with the Empecinado. He informed him that the +superior of the Bernardine Monastery, in the Sierra de Balbuena, had +been advised that it was the intention of the Empecinado's enemies to +deliver him over to the French, in order that they might shoot him. The +Empecinado replied, that he strongly suspected there was some such plot +in agitation, and desired his brother to seek out Mariano Fuentes, and +order him to march his band into the neighbourhood of Castrillo, and +that on their arrival he would send them word what to do. + +Eight days elapsed, and the Empecinado was now completely cured of his +wounds, so that he was in much apprehension lest he should be sent off +to Ciudad Rodrio before the arrival of Fuentes. On the eighth night, +however, his brother came to the window, and informed him that the +partida was in the neighbourhood, and only waited his orders to march +upon Castrillo, rescue him, and revenge the treatment he had received. +This the Empecinado strongly enjoined them not to do, but desired his +brother to come to his prison door at two o'clock the next morning with +a led horse, and that he had the means to set himself at liberty. Manuel +Diez did as he was ordered, wondering, however, in what manner the +Empecinado intended to get out of the posito, which was a solidly +constructed edifice with a massive door and grated windows. But the next +night, when the guerilla heard the horses approaching his prison, he +seized the door by an iron bar that traversed it on the inner side, and, +exerting his prodigious strength, tore it off the hinges as though it +had been of pasteboard. His feet being fastened together by a chain, he +was compelled to sit sideways upon the saddle; but so elated was he to +find himself once more at liberty that he pushed his horse into a +gallop, and with his fetters clanking as he went, dashed through the +streets of Castrillo, to the astonishment and consternation of the +inhabitants, who knew not what devil's dance was going on in their +usually quiet town. + +At Olmos, a village a quarter of a league from Castrillo, the fugitives +halted, and roused a smith, who knocked off the Empecinado's irons. +After a short rest at the house of an approved friend they remounted +their horses, and a little after daybreak reached the place where +Fuentes had taken up his bivouac. The Empecinado was received with great +rejoicing, and immediately resumed the command. He passed a review of +his band, and found it consisted of two hundred and twenty men, all well +mounted and armed. + +Great was the alarm of the inhabitants of Castrillo when they found the +prison broken open and the prisoner gone; and their terror was increased +a hundred-fold, when a few hours later news was brought that the +Empecinado was marching towards the town at the head of a strong body of +cavalry. Some concealed themselves in cellars and suchlike +hiding-places, others left the town and fled to the neighbouring woods; +but the majority, despairing of escape by human means from the terrible +anger of the Empecinado, shut themselves up in their houses, closed the +doors and windows, and prayed to the Virgin for deliverance from the +impending evil. Never had there been seen in Castrillo such a counting +of rosaries and beating of breasts, such genuflexions, and mumbling of +aves and paters, as upon that morning. + +At noon the Empecinado entered the town at the head of his band, +trumpets sounding, and the men firing their pistols and carbines into +the air, in sign of joy at having recovered their leader. Forming up the +partida in the market-place, the Empecinado sent for the corregidor and +other authorities, who presented themselves before him pale and +trembling, and fully believing they had not five minutes to live. + +"Fear nothing!" said the Empecinado, observing their terror. "It is +certain I have met foul treatment at your hands; and it was the harder +to bear coming from my own countrymen and townsfolk. But you have been +misled, and will one day repent your conduct. I have forgotten your ill +usage, and only remember the poverty of my native town, and the misery +in which this war has plunged many of its inhabitants." + +So saying, he delivered to the alcalde and the parish priests a hundred +ounces of gold for the relief of the poor and support of the hospital, +and ten more to be spent in a _novillada_, or bull-bait and festival for +the whole town. Cutting short their thanks and excuses, he left +Castrillo and marched to the village of Sacramenia, where he quartered +his men, and, accompanied by Mariano Fuentes, went to pay a visit to a +neighbouring monastery. The monks received him with open arms and a +hearty welcome, hailing him as the main prop of the cause of +independence in Old Castile. They sat down to dinner in the refectory; +and the conversation turning upon the state of the country, the +Empecinado expressed his unwillingness to carry on the war in that +province, on account of the little confidence he could place in the +inhabitants, so many of whom had become _afrancesados_; and as a proof +of this, he related all that had occurred to him at Castrillo. Upon +hearing this the abbot, who was a man distinguished for his talents and +patriotism, recommended Diez to lead his band to New Castile, where he +would not have to encounter the persecutions of those who, having known +him poor and insignificant, envied him his good fortune, and sought to +throw obstacles in his path. He offered to get him letters from the +general of the order of San Bernardo to the superiors of the various +monasteries, in order that he might receive such assistance and support +as they could give, and he might chance to require. + +"No one is a prophet in his own country," said the good father; "Mahomet +in his native town of Medina met with the same ill-treatment that you, +Martin Diez, have encountered in the place of your birth. Abandon, then, +a province which does not recognize your value, and go where your +reputation has already preceded you, to defend the holy cause of Spain +and of religion." + +Struck by the justice of this reasoning, the Empecinado resolved to +change the scene of his operations, and the next morning marched his +squadron in the direction of New Castile. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE TALE OF A TUB: AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER. + +HOW JACK RAN MAD A SECOND TIME. + + +After Jack and Martin parted company, you may remember that Jack, who +had turned his face northward, got into high favour with the landlord of +the North Farm Estate, who, being mightily edified with his discourses +and sanctimonious demeanour, and not aware of his having been mad +before, or being, perchance, just as mad himself--took him in, made much +of him, gave him a cottage upon his manor to live in, and built him a +tabernacle in which he might hold forth when the spirit moved him. In +process of time, however, it happened that North Farm and the Albion +Estates came into the possession of one proprietor, Esquire Bull, in +whose house Martin had always been retained as domestic chaplain--at +least, ever since that desperate scuffle with Lord Peter and his crew, +when he tried to land some Spanish smugglers on the coast, for the +purpose of carrying off Martin, and establishing himself in Squire +Bull's house in his stead. Squire Bull, who was a man of his word, and +wished to leave all things on North Farm as he found them, Jack and his +tabernacle included, undertook at once to pay him a reasonable salary, +with the free use of his house and tabernacle to him and his heirs for +ever. But knowing that on a previous occasion, (which you may +recollect,[46]) Jack's melancholy had gone so far that he had hanged +himself, though he was cut down just before giving up the ghost, and by +dint of bloodletting and galvanism, had been revived; and also that, +notwithstanding his periodical fits and hallucinations, he could beat +even Peter himself, who had been his instructor, for cunning and +casuistry, he took care that, before Jack was allowed to take possession +under his new lease, every thing should be made square between them. So +he had the terms of their indenture all written out on parchment, +signed, sealed, and delivered before witnesses, and even got a private +Act of Parliament carried through, for the purpose of making every thing +between them more secure. And well it was for the Squire that he +bethought himself of his precaution in time, as you will afterwards +hear. + + [46] John Bull, Part IV. ch. ii. + +This union of the two entailed properties in the Bull family, brought +Jack and Martin a good deal more into one anothers' company than they +had formerly been; and 'twas clear, that Jack, who had now got somewhat +ashamed of his threadbare raiment, and tired of his spare oatmeal diet, +was mightily struck with the dignified air and comfortable look of +Martin, and grudged him the frequency with which he was invited to +Squire Bull's table. By degrees, he began to conform his own uncouth +manner to an imitation of his. He wore a better coat, which he no longer +rubbed against the wall to take the gloss from off it; he ceased to +interlard all his ordinary speech with texts of Scripture; his snuffle +abated audibly; he gave up his habit of extempore rhapsody, and lost, in +a great measure, his aversion to Christmas tarts and plum-pudding. After +a time, he might even be seen with a fishing-rod over his shoulder; then +he contrived sundry improvements in gun-locks and double-barrels, for +which he took out a patent, and in fact did not entirely escape the +suspicion of being a poacher. He held assemblies in his house, where at +times he allowed a little singing; nay, on one occasion, a son of +his--for he had now a large family--was found accompanying a psalm-tune +upon the (barrel) organ, and it was rumoured about the house, that Jack, +though he thought it prudent to disclaim this overture, had no great +objection to it. Be that as it may, it is certain, that instead of his +old peaked hat and band, Jack latterly took to wearing broad-brimmed +beavers, which he was seen trying to mould into a spout-like shape, much +resembling a shovel. And so far had the transformation gone, that the +Vicar of Fudley, meeting him one evening walking to an assembly arrayed +in a court coat, with this extraordinary hat upon his head, and a pair +of silver buckles in his shoes, pulled off his hat to him at a little +distance, mistaking him for a near relation of Martin, if not for Martin +himself. + +There was no great harm you will think in all these whims, and for my +own part, I believe that Jack was never so honest a fellow as he was +during this time, when he was profiting by Martin's example. He kept his +own place, ruling his family in a quiet and orderly way, without +disturbing the peace of his neighbours: and seemed to have forgotten his +old tricks of setting people by the ears, and picking quarrels with +constables and justices of the peace. Howbeit, those who knew him +longest and best, always said that this was too good to last: that with +him these intervals of sobriety and moderation were always the prelude +to a violent access of his peculiar malady, and that by-and-bye he would +break out again, and that there would be the devil to pay, and no pitch +hot. + +It so happened that Squire Bull had a good many small village schools on +his Estate of North Farm, to which the former proprietors had always +been in the custom of appointing the ushers themselves; and much to +Jack's annoyance, when Squire Bull succeeded, the latter had taken care +in his bargain with him, to keep the right of appointment to these in +his own hand. But, at the same time, he told Jack fairly, that as he had +no wish to dabble in Latin, Greek, or school learning himself, he left +him at full liberty to say whether those whom he appointed were fit for +the situation or not--so that if they turned out to be ignoramuses, +deboshed fellows, or drunken dogs, Jack had only to say so on good +grounds, and they were forthwith sent adrift. Matters went on for a time +very smoothly on this footing. Nay, it was even said that Jack was +inclined to carry his complaisance rather far, and after a time seldom +troubled himself much about the usher's qualifications, provided his +credentials were all right. He might ask the young fellow, who presented +John's commission, perhaps, what was the first letter of the Greek +alphabet? what was Latin for beef and greens? or where Moses was when +the candle was blown out?--but if the candidate answered these questions +correctly, and if there were no scandal or _fama clamosa_ against him, +as Jack in his peculiar jargon expressed it, he generally shook hands +with him at once, put the key of the schoolhouse in his hand, and told +him civilly to walk up-stairs. + +The truth was, however, that in this respect Jack had little reason to +complain; for though the Squire, in the outset, may not have been very +particular as to his choice, and it was said once or twice gave an +ushership to an old exciseman, on account of his skill in mensuration of +fluids, he had latterly become very particular, and would not hear of +settling any body as schoolmaster on North Farm, who did not come to him +with an excellent character, certified by two or three respectable +householders at least. But, strangely enough, it was observed that just +in proportion as the Squire became more considerate, Jack became more +arrogant, pestilent, and troublesome. Now-a-days he was always +discovering some objection to the Squire's appointments: one usher, it +seemed, spoke too low, another too loud, one used an ear-trumpet, +another a pair of grass-green spectacles; one had no sufficient gifts +for flogging; another flogged either too high or too low--(for Jack was +like the deserter, there was no pleasing him as to the mode of +conducting the operation;) and, finally, another was rejected because he +was unacquainted with the vernacular of Ossian--to the great injury and +damage, as was alleged, of two Highland chairmen, who at an advanced +period of life were completing their education in the school in +question. At first Squire Bull, honest gentleman, had given in to these +strange humours on the part of Jack, believing that this new-born zeal +on his part was in the main conscientious, though he could not help +thinking it at times sufficiently whimsical and preposterous. He had +even gone so far, occasionally, as to send Jack a list of those to whom +he proposed giving the usherships, accompanied with a polite note, in +some such terms as these, "Squire Bull presents his respects, and begs +his good friend Jack will read over the enclosed list, and take the +trouble of choosing for himself;" a request with which Jack was always +ready to comply. And, further, as Jack had always a great hankering +after little-goes and penny subscriptions of every kind, and was +eternally trumpeting forth some new nostrum or _scheme_ of this kind, as +he used to call it, the Squire had been prevailed upon to purchase from +him a good many tickets for these schemes from time to time, for which +he always paid in hard cash, though I have never heard that any of them +turned up prizes, except it may have been to Jack himself. + +Jack, as we have said, grew bolder as the Squire became more complying, +thinking that, in the matter of these appointments, as he had once got +his hand in, it would be his own fault if he could not contrive to +wriggle in his whole body. It so happened, too, that just about the very +time that one of John's usherships became vacant, one of those +atrabilious and hypochondriac fits came over Jack, with which, as we +have said, he was periodically afflicted, and which, though they +certainly unsettled his brain a little, only served, as in the case of +other lunatics, to render him, during the paroxysm, more cunning, +inventive, and mischievous. After moving about in a moping way for a day +or two--mumbling in corners, and pretending to fall on his knees, in his +old fashion, in the midst of the street, he suddenly got up, flung his +broad-brimmed beaver into the kennel, trampled his wig in the dirt, so +as to expose his large ears as of old, ran home, pulled his rusty black +doublet out of the chest where it had lain for years, squeezing it on as +he best could--for he had got somewhat corpulent in the mean time--and +thus transfigured, he set out to consult the village attorney, with whom +it was observed he remained closeted for several hours, turning over +Burns' Justice, and perusing an office-copy of his indenture with the +Squire--a planetary conjunction from which those who were astrologically +given boded no good. + +What passed between these worthies on this occasion--whether the +attorney really persuaded Jack that, if he set about it, he would +undertake to find him a flaw in his contract with Squire Bull, which +would enable him to take the matter of the usherships into his own hand, +and to do as he pleased; or whether Jack--as he seemed afterwards to +admit in private--believed nothing of what the attorney told him, but +was resolved to take advantage of the Squire's good-nature, and to run +all risks as to the result, 'tis hard to say. Certain it was, however, +that Jack posted down at once from the attorney's chamber to the village +school, which happened to be then vacant, and gathering the elder boys +about him, he told them he had reason to believe the Squire was about to +send them another usher, very different from the last, who was a mortal +enemy to marbles, pitch-and-toss, chuck-farthing, ginger-bread, and half +holydays; with a corresponding liking to long tasks and short commons; +that the use of the cane would be regularly taught, along with that of +the globes, accompanied with cuts and other practical demonstrations; +that the only chance of escaping this visitation was to take a bold +line, and show face to the usher at once, since otherwise the chance +was, that at no distant period they might be obliged to do the very +reverse. + +Jack further reasoned the matter with the boys learnedly, somewhat in +this fashion--"That as no one could have so strong an interest in the +matter, so no one could be so good a judge of the qualifications of the +schoolmaster as the schoolboy; that the close and intimate relation +between these parties was of the nature of a mutual contract, in the +formation of which both had an equal right to be consulted; so that, +without mutual consent, or, as it were, a harmonious call by the boys, +there could be no valid ushership, but a mere usurpation of the power of +the tawse, and unwarrantable administration of the birchen twig; that, +further, this latter power involved a fundamental feature, in which they +could not but feel they had all a deep interest--and which, he might +say, lay at the bottom of the whole question; that he himself perfectly +remembered that, in former days, the schoolboys had always exercised +this privilege, which he held to be equally salutary and constitutional; +and that he would, at his leisure, show them a private memorandum-book +of his own, in which, though he had hitherto said nothing about it, he +had found an entry to that effect made some thirty years before. In +short, he told them, if they did not wish to be rode over rough-shod, +they must stand up boldly for themselves, and try to get all the schools +in the neighbourhood to join them, if necessary, in a regular +barring-out, or general procession, in which they were to appear with +flags and banners, bearing such inscriptions as the following: "_Pro +aris et focis_"--"Liberty is like the air we breathe," &c. &c., and, +lastly, in large gilt capitals--"_No usher to be intruded into any +school contrary to the will of the scholars in schoolroom assembled_." +And, in short, that this process was to be repeated until they succeeded +in getting quit of Squire Bull's usher, and getting an usher who would +flog them with all the forbearance and reserve with which Sancho +chastised his own flesh while engaged in the process of disenchanting +Dulcinea del Toboso. At the same time, with that cunning which was +natural to him, Jack took care to let the scholars know that _his_ name +was not to be mentioned in the transaction; and that, if they were asked +any questions, they must be prepared to say, nay, to swear, for that +matter, that they objected to John's usher from no personal dislike to +the man himself, and without having received fee or reward, in the shape +of apples, lollypops, gingerbread, barley-sugar, or sweetmeats +whatever--or sixpences, groats, pence, halfpence, or other current coin +of the realm. + +It will be readily imagined that this oration of Jack, pronounced as it +was with some of his old unction, and accompanied with that miraculous +and subtle twist of the tongue which we have described in a former +chapter,[47] produced exactly the effect upon his audience which might +be expected. The boys were delighted--tossed up their caps--gave Jack +three cheers, and told him if he stood by them they would stand by him, +and that they were much mistaken if they did not contrive to make the +schoolhouse too hot for any usher whom Squire Bull might think fit to +send them. + + [47] Tale of a Tub. Sect. xi. + +It happened not long after, as Jack had anticipated, that one morning a +young man called upon with a letter from the Squire, intimating that he +had named him to the vacant ushership; and requesting Jack to examine +into his qualifications as usual. Jack begged him to be seated, and +(having privately sent a message to the schoolboys) continued to +entertain him with enquiries as to John's health and the state of the +weather, till he heard, by the noise in the court, that the boys had +arrived. In they marched accordingly, armed with horn-books, primers, +slates, rulers, Gunter's-scales, and copy-books, taking up their station +near the writing-desk. The young usher-elect, though he thought this a +whimsical exhibition, supposed that the urchins had been brought there +only to do honour to his examination, and accordingly begged Jack, as he +was in a hurry, to proceed. "Fair and softly, young man," said Jack, in +his blandest tones; "we must first see what these intelligent young +gentlemen have got to say to that. Tom, my fine fellow, here is a +gentleman sent by Squire Bull to be your usher. What do you say to him?" +"I don't like him," said Tom. "May I venture to ask why?" said the +usher, putting in a word. "Don't like him," repeated Tom. "Don't like +him neither," said Dick. "And no mistake," added Peter, with a grin, +which immediately circulated round the school. "It is quite impossible," +said Jack, "under existing circumstances, that the matter can proceed +any further; it is plain the school can never be edified by such an +usher. But, stop, that there may be no misconception on the subject. +Here you, Smith--do you really mean to say, on soul and conscience, you +don't think this respectable gentleman can do you any good?" Of course, +Smith stated that his mind was quite made up on the subject. "Come here, +Jenkins," said Jack, beckoning to another boy; "tell the truth +now--honour bright, remember. Has any body given or promised you any +apples, parliament, or other sweetmeat unknown, to induce you to vote +against the usher?" Jenkins, who had just wiped his lips of the last +remains of a gingerbread cake, which somehow or other had dropped into +his pocket by accident, protested, on his honour, that he was quite +above such a thing, and was, in fact, actuated purely by a conscientious +zeal for the cause of flogging all over the world. "The scruples of +these intelligent and ingenuous youths," said John, turning to the +usher, "must, in conscience, receive effect; the law, as laid down in my +copy of Squire Bull's own contract, is this--'That noe ushere be +yntruded intoe anie schoole against ye wille of ye schooleboys in +schoole-roome assembled.' So, with your permission, we will adjourn the +consideration of the case till the Greek Calends, or latter Lammas, if +that be more convenient." And, so saying, he left John's letter lying on +the table, and shut the schoolroom door in the face of the astonished +usher. + +Squire Bull, as may be imagined, was not a little astonished and +mortified at hearing from the usher, who returned looking foolish and +chop-fallen, of this outbreak on the part of Jack, for whom he had +really begun to conceive a sort of sneaking kindness; but knowing of old +his fantastical and melancholic turn, he attributed this sally rather to +the state of his bowels, which at all times he exceedingly neglected, +and which, being puffed up with flatulency and indigestion to an +extraordinary degree, not unfrequently acted upon his brain--generating +therein strange conceits and dangerous hallucinations--than to any +settled intention on Jack's part to pick a quarrel with him or evade +performance of the conditions of their indenture, so long as he was not +under the influence of hypochondria. And having this notion as to Jack's +motives, and knowing nothing of the private confab at the village +lawyer's, he could not help believing that, by a brisk course of +purgatives and an antiphlogistic treatment--and without resorting to a +strait-waistcoat, which many who knew Jack's pranks at once recommended +him to adopt--he might be cured of those acrid and intoxicating vapours, +which, ascending into the brain, led him into such extravagant vagaries. +"I'faith," said the Squire, "since the poor man has taken this mad fancy +into his head as to the terms of his bargain, the best way to restore +him to his senses is to bring the matter, as he himself seemed to desire +it, before the Justices of the Peace at once: 'Tis a hundred to one but +he will have come to his senses long before they have come to a +decision; at all events, unless he is madder than I take him to be, when +he finds how plain the terms of the indenture are, he will surely submit +with a good grace.'" + +So thought the Squire; and, accordingly, by his direction, the +usher-elect brought his case before the Justices at their next sittings, +who forthwith summoned Jack before them to know why he refused +performance of his contract with the Squire. Jack came on the day +appointed, attended by the attorney--though for that matter he might +have safely left him behind, being fully as much master of all +equivocation or chicanery as if he had never handled anything but quills +and quirks from his youth upward. This, indeed, was probably the effect +of his old training in Peter's family, for whose hairsplitting +distinctions and Jesuistical casuistries, notwithstanding his dislike to +the man himself, he had a certain admiration, founded on a secret +affinity of nature. Indeed it was wonderful to observe how, with all +Jack's hatred to Peter, real or pretended, he took after him in so many +points--insomuch that at times, their look, voice, manner, and way of +thinking, were so closely alike, that those who knew them best might +very well have mistaken them for each other. The usher having produced +the Squire's copy of the indenture, pointed out the clause by which Jack +became bound to examine and admit to the schools on North Farm any +qualified usher whom the Squire might send--as the condition on which he +was to retain his right to the tabernacle and his own mansion upon the +Farm--at the same time showing Jack's seal and signature at the bottom +of the deed. Jack, being called upon by the justices to show cause, +pulled out of his pocket an old memorandum-book--very greasy, musty, and +ill-flavoured--and which, from the quantity of dust and cobwebs with +which it was overlaid, had obviously been lying on the shelf for half a +century at least. This he placed in the hands of his friend Snacks the +attorney, pointing out to him a page or two which he had marked with his +thumb nail, as appropriate to the matter in hand. And there, to be sure, +was to be found, among a quantity of other nostrums, recipes, cooking +receipts, prescriptions, and omnium-gatherums of all kinds, an entry to +this effect:--"That no ushere be yntruded intoe anie schoole against ye +wille of ye schooleboys in schoole-roome assembled." Whereupon the +attorney maintained, that, as this memorandum-book of Jack's was plainly +of older date than the indenture, and had evidently been seen by the +Squire at or prior to the time of signing, as appeared from some of the +entries which it contained being incorporated in the deed, it must be +presumed, that its whole contents, though not to be found in the +indenture _per expressum_, or _totidem verbis_, were yet included +therein _implicitly_, or in a latent form, inasmuch as they were not +_per expressum_ excluded therefrom;--this being, as you will recollect, +precisely the argument which Jack had borrowed from Peter, when the +latter construed their father's will in the question as to the +lawfulness of their wearing shoulder-knots; and very much of the same +kind with that celebrated thesis which Peter afterwards maintained in +the matter of the brown loaf. And though he was obliged to admit (what +indeed from the very look of the book he could not well dispute) that no +such rule had ever been known or acted upon--and on the contrary that +Jack, until this last occasion, had always admitted the Squire's ushers +without objection whatsoever; yet he contended vehemently, that now that +his conscience was awakened on the subject, the past must be laid out of +view; and that the old memorandum-book, as part and parcel of the +indenture itself, must receive effect; and farther, that whether he, +Jack, was right or wrong in this matter, the Justices had no right to +interfere with them. + +But the Justices, on looking into this antiquated document, found that, +besides this notandum, the memorandum-book contained a number of other +entries of a very extraordinary kind--such, for instance, as that Martin +was no better than he should be, and ought to be put down speedily: that +Squire Bull had no more right to nominate ushers than he had to be Khan +of Tartary: that that right belonged exclusively to Jack himself, or to +the schoolboys under Jack's control and direction: that Jack was to have +the sole right of laying down rules for his own government, and of +enforcing them against himself by the necessary compulsitors, if the +case should arise; thus, that Jack should have full powers to censure, +fine, punish, flog, flay, banish, imprison, or set himself in the stocks +as often as he should think fit; but that whether Jack did right or +wrong, in any given case, Jack was himself to be the sole judge, and +neither Squire Bull nor any of his Justices of the Peace was to have one +word to say to him or his proceedings in the matter: on the contrary, +that any such interference on their part, was to be regarded as a high +grievance and misdemeanour on their part, for which Jack was to be +entitled at the least to read them a lecture from the writing-desk, and +shut the schoolroom door in their own or their children's face. + +There were many other whimsical and extravagant things contained in this +private note-book, so much so, that it was evident no man in his senses +could ever have intended to make them part of his bargain with Jack. But +the matter was put beyond a doubt by the usher producing the original +draft of the indenture, on which some of these crotchets, including this +fancy about the right of the schoolboys to reject the usher if they did +not like him, had been _interlined_ in Jack's hand: but all of which the +Squire, on revising the deed, had scored out with his own pen, adding in +the margin, opposite to the very passage, the words, in italics--"_See +him damned first.--J.B._" And as it could not be disputed that Jack and +the Squire ultimately subscribed the deed, omitting all this +nonsense--the Justices had no hesitation in holding, that Jack's private +memorandum-book, even if he had always carried it in his breeches +pocket, and quoted it on all occasions, instead of leaving it--as it was +plain he had done--for many a long year, in some forgotten corner of his +trunk or lumber-room, could no more affect the construction of the +indenture between himself and Squire, or afford him any defence against +performance of his part of that indenture, than if he had founded on the +statutes of Prester John, on the laws of Hum-Bug, Fee-Faw-Fum, or any +other Emperor of China for the time being. And so, after hearing very +deliberately all that the attorney for Jack had to say to the contrary, +they decided that Jack must forthwith proceed to examine the usher, and +give him possession, if qualified, of the schoolhouse and other +appurtenances; or else make up his mind to a thundering action of +damages if he did not. + +The Justices thought that Jack, on hearing the case fairly stated, and +their opinion given against him, with a long string of cases in point, +would yield, and give the usher possession in the usual way; but no: no +sooner was the sentence written out than Jack entered an appeal to the +Quarter-sessions. There the whole matter was heard over again, at great +length, before a full bench; but after Jack and his attorney had spoken +till they were tired, the Quarter-sessions, without a moment's +hesitation, confirmed the sentence of the Justices, with costs. + +Jack, who had blustered exceedingly as to his chances of bamboozling the +Quarter-sessions, and quashing the sentence of the Justices, looked +certainly not a little discomfited at the result of his appeal. For some +days after, he was observed to walk about looking gloomy and +disheartened, and was heard to say to some of his family, that he began +to think matters had really gone too far between him and his good friend +the Squire, to whom he owed his bread; that, on second thoughts, he +would give up the point about intruding ushers on the schools, and see +whether the Squire might not be prevailed on to arrange matters on an +amicable footing; and that he would take an opportunity, the next time +he had an assembly at his house, of consulting his friends on the +subject. And had Jack stuck to this resolution, there is little doubt +that, by some device or other, he would have gained all he wanted; for +the Squire, being an easy, good-natured man, and wishing really to do +his duty in the matter of the ushership, would probably, if Jack had +yielded in this instance with a good grace, have probably allowed him in +the end to have things very much his own way. But to the surprise of +everybody, the next time Jack had a party of friends with him, he rose +up, and putting on that peculiarly sanctimonious expression which his +countenance generally assumed when he had a mind to confuse and mystify +his auditors by a string of enigmas and Jesuitical reservations, made a +long, unintelligible, and inconsistent harangue, the drift of which no +one could well understand, except that it bore that "both the Justices +and the Quarter-sessions were a set of ignoramuses who could not +understand a word of Jack's contract, and knew nothing of black-letter +whatever; but that, nevertheless, as they had decided against him, he, +as a loyal subject, must and would submit;--not, however, that he had +the least idea of taking the Squire's usher, or any other usher +whatsoever, on trials, contrary to the schoolboys' wishes; _that_, he +begged to say, he would never hear of:--still he would obey the law by +laying no claim himself to the usher's salary, nor interfering with the +usher's drawing it; and yet that he could not exactly answer for others +not doing so;"--Jack knowing all the time, that, claim as he might, he +himself had no more right to the salary than to the throne of the +Celestial Empire; while, on the other hand, by locking up the +schoolroom, and keeping the key in his pocket, he had rendered it +impossible for the poor wight of an usher to recover one penny of +it--the legal condition of his doing so being his actual possession of +the schoolhouse itself, of which Jack, by this last manoeuvre, had +contrived to deprive him. But, as if to finish the matter, and to prove +the knavish spirit in which this protestation was made, he instantly got +a _private_ friend and relative of his own, with whom the whole scheme +had been arranged beforehand, to come forward and bring an action on the +case, in which the latter claimed the whole fund which would have +belonged to the unlucky usher--in terms, as he said, of some old +arrangement made by the Squire's predecessor as to school-salaries +during vacancy; to be applied, as the writ very coolly stated it, "for +behoof of Jack's destitute widow, in the event of his decease, and of +his numerous and indigent family." + +Many of Jack's own family, who were present on this occasion, +remonstrated with him on the subject, foreseeing that if he went on as +he had begun and threatened to proceed, he must soon come to a rupture +with the Squire, which could end in nothing else than his being turned +out of house and hall, and thrown adrift upon the wide world, without a +penny in his pocket. But the majority--who were puffed up with more than +Jack's own madness and had a notion that by sheer boldness and bullying +on their part, the Squire would, after a time, be sure to give way, +encouraged Jack to go on at all hazards, and not to retract a hair's +breadth in his demands. And Jack, who had now become mischievously +crazed on the subject, and began to be as arrogant and conceited of his +own power and authority, as ever my Lord Peter had been in his proudest +and most pestilential days, was not slow to follow their advice. + +'Twas of no consequence that a friend of the Squire's, who had known +Jack long, and had really a great kindness towards him, tried to bring +about an arrangement between him and the Squire upon very handsome +terms. He had a meeting with Jack;--at which he talked the matter over +in a friendly way--telling him that though the Squire must reserve in +his own hands the nomination of his own ushers, he had always been +perfectly willing to listen to reason in any objections that might be +taken to them; only some reason he must have, were it only that Jack +could not abide the sight of a red-nosed usher:--let that reason, such +as it was, be put on paper, and he would consider of it; and if, from +any peculiar idiosyncracy in Jack's temperament and constitution, he +found that his antipathy to red noses was unsuperable, probably he would +not insist on filling up the vacancy with a nose of that colour. Jack, +who was always more rational when alone than when he had got the +attorney and the more frantic members of his family at his elbow, +acknowledged, as he well might, that all this seemed very reasonable; +and that he really thought that on these terms the Squire and he would +have little difficulty in coming to an agreement. So they parted, +leaving the Squire's friend under the impression that all was right, and +that he had only to get an agreement to that effect drawn out, signed +and sealed by the parties. + +Next morning, however, he received a letter by the penny-post, written +no doubt in Jack's hand, but obviously dictated by the attorney, in +these terms:-- + + "Honoured Sir--Lest there should be any misconception between + us as to our yesterday's conversation, I have put into writing + the substance of what was agreed on between us, which I + understand to be this: that there shall be no let or impediment + to the Squire's full and absolute right of naming an usher in + all cases of vacancy; that I shall have an equally full right + to object to the said usher for any reasons that may be + satisfactory to myself, and thereupon to exclude him from the + school; leaving it to the Squire, if he pleases, to send + another, whom I shall have the right of handling in the same + fashion, with this further proviso, that if the Squire does not + fill up the office to my satisfaction within half-a-year, I + shall be entitled to take the appointment into my own hands. I + need hardly add that no Justices of the Peace are to take + cognizance of anything done by me in the matter, be it good, + bad, or indifferent. Hoping that this statement of our mutual + views will be found correct and satisfactory--I remain, your + humble servant, + + "JACK." + +The moment the Squire's friend perused this missive, he saw plainly that +all hope of bringing Jack to his senses was at an end; and that under +the advice of evil counsellors, lunatic friends, and lewd fellows of the +baser sort, Jack would shortly bring himself and his family to utter +ruin. + +And now, as might be expected, Jack's disorder, which had hitherto been +comparatively of the calm and melancholy kind, broke out into the most +violent and phrenetic exhibitions. He sometimes raved incoherently, for +hours together, against the Squire; often, in the midst of his speeches, +he was assailed with epileptic fits, during which he displayed the +strangest contortions and most laughable gestures; he threw entirely +aside the decent coat he had worn for some time back, and habitually +attired himself in the old and threadbare raiment, which he had worn +after he and Martin had been so unceremoniously sent to the right-about +by Lord Peter, and even ran about the streets with his band tied round +his peaked beaver, bearing thereon the motto--"_Nemo me impune +lacessit_." If his madness had only led him to make a spectacle and +laughing-stock of himself, by these wild vagaries and mountebank +exhibitions, all had been well, but this did not satisfy Jack; his old +disposition for a riot had returned, and a riot, right or wrong, he was +determined to have. So he set to work to frighten the women of the +village with stories, as to the monsters whom the Squire would send +among them as ushers, who would do nothing but teach their children +drinking, chuck-farthing, and cock-fighting; to the schoolboys +themselves, talked of the length, breadth, and thickness, of the usher's +birch, which he assured them was dipped in vinegar every evening, in +order to afford a more agreeable stimulus to the part affected; he plied +them with halfpence and strong beer; exhorted them to insurrections and +barrings-out; taught them how to mock at any usher who would not submit +to be Jack's humble servant; and by gibes and scurril ballads, which he +would publish in the newspapers, try to make his life a burden to him. +He also instructed them how best to stick darts into his wig, cover his +back with spittle, fill his pockets with crackers, burn assafoetida in +the fire, extinguish the candles with fulminating powder, or blow up the +writing-desk by a train of combustibles. Above all, he counselled the +urchins to stand firm the next time that John sent an usher down to that +quarter, and vehemently to protest for the doctrine of election as to +their own usher, and reprobation as to the Squire's; assuring them, that +provided they took his advice, and followed the plan which he would +afterwards impart to them in confidence at the proper time, he could +almost take it upon himself to say, that in a short time, no tyrannical +usher, or cast-off tutor of the Squire, should venture to show his face, +with or without tawse or ferule, within the boundaries of North Farm. + +It was not long before an opportunity offered of putting these precious +schemes in practice; for shortly afterwards, the old usher of a school +on the northermost boundary of the North Farm estates having died, the +ushership became vacant, and John, as usual, appointed a successor in +his room. Being warned this time by what had taken place on the last +occasion, the Squire took care to apply beforehand to the Justices of +the Peace--got a peremptory _mandamus_ from them, directing Jack to +proceed forthwith, and, after the usual trials, to put the usher in +possession of the schoolhouse by legal form, and without re-regard to +any protest or interruption from any or all of the schoolboys put +together. So down the usher proceeded, accompanied by a posse of +constables and policemen of various divisions, till they arrived at the +schoolhouse, which lay adjacent to the churchyard, and then demanded +admittance. It happened that in this quarter resided some of Jack's +family, who, as we have already mentioned, differed from him entirely, +thinking him totally wrong in the contest with the Squire and being +completely satisfied that all his glosses upon his contract were either +miserable quibbles or mere hallucinations, and that it was his duty, so +long as he ate John's bread, and slept under John's roof, to perform +fairly the obligations he had come under:--and so, on reading the +Justices' warrant, which required them, on pain of being set in the +stocks, and forfeiture of two shillings and sixpence of penalty, besides +costs, to give immediate possession to the Squire's usher, they at once +resolved to obey, called for the key of the schoolhouse, and proceeded +to the door, accompanied by the usher and the authorities, for the +purpose of complying with the warrant and admitting the usher as in +times past. But on arriving there, never was there witnessed such a +scene of confusion. The churchyard was crowded with ragamuffins of every +kind, from all the neighbouring parishes; scarcely was there a sot or +deboshed fellow within the district who had not either come himself or +found a substitute; gipsies, beggarwomen, and thimbleriggers were thick +as blackberries; while Jack himself--who, upon hearing of what was going +forward, had come down by the night coach with all expedition--was +standing on a tombstone near the doorway, and holding forth to the whole +bevy of rascals whom he had assembled about him. It was evident from his +tones and gestures that Jack had been exciting the mob in every possible +way; but as the justices and the constables drew near, he changed the +form of his countenance, pulled a psalm-book out of his pocket, and, +with much sanctity and appearance of calmness, gave out the tune; in +which the miscellaneous assemblage around him joined, with similar +unction and devotion. When the procession reached the door, they found +the whole inside of the schoolhouse already packed with urchins and +blackguards of all kinds, who, having previously gained admission by the +window, had forcibly barricaded the door against the constables, being +assisted in the defence thereof by the mob without, who formed a double +line, and kept hustling the poor usher and the constables from side to +side, helping themselves to a purse or two in passing, and calling out +at the same time, "take care of pickpockets"--occasionally amusing +themselves also by playfully smashing the beaver of some of the justices +of the peace over their face, to the tune of "all round my hat," sung in +chorus, on the Mainzerian system, amidst peals of laughter. + +Meantime Jack was skipping up and down upon the tombstone, calling out +to his myrmidons--"Good friends! Sweet friends! Let me not stir your +spirits up to mutiny. Though that cairn of granite stones lies very +handy and inviting, I pray you refrain from it. Touch it not. I humbly +entreat my friend with the dirty shirt not to break the sconce of the +respectable gentleman whom I have in my eye, with that shillelah of +his--though I must admit that he is labouring under strong and just +provocation." "For mercy's sake, my dear sir!" he would exclaim to a +third--"don't push my respected friend the justice into yonder +puddle--the one which lies so convenient on your right hand there; +though, to be sure, the ground _is_ slippery, and the thing _might_ +happen, in a manner without any one's being able to prevent it." And so +on he went, taking care to say nothing for which the justices could +afterwards venture to commit him to Bridewell; but, in truth, stirring +up the rabble to the utmost, by nods, looks, winks, and covert speeches, +intended to convey exactly the opposite meaning from what the words +bore. + +At last by main force, and after a hard scuffle, the constables +contrived to force the schoolhouse door open, and so to make way for the +justices, the usher, and those of Jack's family who, as we have seen +already, had made up their minds to give the usher possession, to enter. +But having entered, the confusion and bedevilment was ten times worse +than even in the churchyard itself. The benches were lined with a pack +of overgrown rascals in corduroy vestments, and with leather at the +knees, from all the neighbouring villages; in a gallery at one end sat a +Scotch bagpiper, flanked by a blind fiddler, and an itinerant performer +on the hurdygurdy, accompanied by his monkey--who in the course of his +circuit through the village, had that morning received a special +retainer, in the shape of half a quartern of gin, for the occasion; +while in the usher's chair were ensconced two urchins of about fourteen +years of age, smoking tobacco, playing at all fours, and drinking purl, +with their legs diffused in a picturesque attitude along the +writing-desk. One of the justices tried to command silence--till the +Squire's commission to the usher should be read; but no sooner had he +opened his mouth than the whole multitude burst forth as if the +confusion of tongues had taken place for the first time; twenty spoke +together, ten whistled, as many more sang psalms and obscene songs +alternately; the bagpiper droned his worst; the fiddler uttered notes +that made the hair of those who heard them stand on end; while the +hurdygurdy man did his utmost to grind down both his companions, in +which task he was ably assisted by the grinning and chattering of the +honourable and four-footed gentleman on his left. Meantime stones, +tiles, and rafters, pewter pint-pots, fragments of slates, rulers, and +desks, were circulating through the schoolhouse in all directions, in +the most agreeable confusion. + +One of the justices tried to speak, but even from the first it was all +dumb show; and scarcely had he proceeded through two sentences, when his +oration was extinguished as suddenly and by the same means as the +conflagration of the Royal Palace at Lilliput. After many attempts to +obtain a hearing, it became obvious that all chance of doing so in the +schoolhouse was at an end; and so the usher, the justices, and the rest, +adjourned to the next ale-house, where they had the usher's commission +quietly read over in presence of the landlord and the waiter, and handed +him over the keys of the house before the same witnesses; of all which, +and of their previous deforcement by a mob of rapscallions, they took +care to have an instrument regularly drawn out by a notary-public. +Thereafter they ordered a rump and dozen, being confident that as the +day was bitterly cold, and the snow some feet deep upon the ground, the +courage of the rioters would be cooled before they had finished dinner; +and so it was, for towards evening, the temperature having descended +considerably beneath the freezing point, the mob, who had now exhausted +their beer and gin, and who saw that there was no more fun to be +expected for the day, began to disperse each man to his home, so that +before nightfall the coast was clear; on which the justices, with the +_posse comitatus_, escorted the usher to the schoolhouse, opened the +door, put him formally in possession, and, wishing him much good of his +new appointment, departed. + +But how did Jack, you will ask, bear this rebuff on the part of his own +kin? Why, very ill indeed; in truth, he became furious, and seemed to +have lost all natural feelings towards his own flesh and blood. He +summoned such of his family as had given admission to the usher before +him, called a sort of court-martial of the rest of his relations to +enquire into their conduct; and, notwithstanding the accused protested +that they had the highest respect and regard for Jack, were his humble +servants to command in all ordinary matters, and only acted in this +instance in obedience to the justices' warrant, (the which, if they had +disobeyed, they were certain to have been at that moment cooling their +heels in the stocks,) Jack, who was probably worked up to a kind of +frenzy by his more violent of his inmates, kicked them out of the room, +and sent a set of his myrmidons after them, with instructions to tear +their coats off their backs, strip them of their wigs and small-clothes, +and turn them into the street. Against this the unlucky wights appealed +to the justices for protection, who, to be sure, sent down some +policemen, who beat off the mob, and enabled them to make their doors +fast against Jack and his emissaries. But beyond that they could give +them little assistance; for though Jack and his abettors could not +actually venture upon a trespass by forcing their way within doors, they +contrived to render the very existence of all who were not of their way +of thinking miserable. If it was an usher who, in spite of all their +efforts to exclude him, had fairly got admittance into the schoolhouse, +they set up a sentry-box at his very door, in which a rival usher held +forth on Cocker and the alphabet; they drew off a few stray boys from +the village school, and this detachment, recruited and reinforced by all +the idlers of the neighbourhood, to whom mischief was sport, was +studiously instructed to keep up a perpetual whistling, hooting, +howling, hissing, and imitations of the crowing of a cock, so as to +render it impossible for the usher and boys within the school to hear or +profit by one word that was said. If the scholars within were told to +say A, the blackguards without were bellowing B; or if the usher asked +how many three times three made, the answer from the outside would be +"ten," or else that "it depended upon circumstances." Every week some +ribald and libellous paragraph would appear in the county newspaper, +headed "Advertisement," in such terms as the following:--"We have just +learned from the best authority, that the usher of a school not a +hundred miles off from Hogs-Norton, has lately been detected in various +acts of forgery, petty larceny, sedition, high treason, burglary, &c. +&c. If this report be not officially contradicted by the said usher +within a fortnight, by advertisement, duly inserted and paid for in this +newspaper, we shall hold the same to be true." Or sometimes more +mysteriously thus:--"Delicacy forbids us to allude to the shocking +reports which are current respecting the usher of Mullaglass. Christian +charity would lead us to hope they were unfounded, but Christian verity +compels us to state that we believe every word of them." And though Jack +and his editor sometimes overshot their mark, and got soused in damages +at the instance of those whom they had libelled, yet Jack, who found +that it answered his ends, persevered, and so kept the whole +neighbourhood in hot water. + +You would not believe me were I to tell you of half the tyrannical and +preposterous pranks which he performed about this period; but some of +them I can't help noticing. He had picked up some subscriptions, for +instance, from charitable folks in the neighbourhood, to build a school +upon a remote corner of North Farm, where not a single boy had learned +his alphabet within the memory of man; and what, think ye, does he do +with the money, but insists on clapping down the new school exactly +opposite the old school in the village, merely to spite the poor usher, +against whom he had taken a dislike--though there was no more need to +build a school there than to ship a cargo of coals for Newcastle. Again, +having ascertained that one of his servants had been seen shaking hands +with some of Jack's family with whom he had quarrelled as above +mentioned, he refused to give him a character, though the poor fellow +was only thinking of taking service somewhere in the plantations. + +Notwithstanding all Jack's efforts, however, it sometimes happened that +when an usher was appointed he could not get up a sufficient cabal +against him, and that even the schoolboys, knowing something of the man +before, had no objection to him. In such cases Jack resorted to various +schemes in order to cast the candidate upon his examinations. Sometimes +he would shut him up in a small closet, telling him he must answer a +hundred and fifty questions, in plane and spherical trigonometry, within +as many minutes, and that he would be allowed the assistance of +Johnson's Dictionary, and the _Gradus ad Parnassum_, for the purpose. At +other tines he would ask the candidate, with a bland smile, what was his +opinion of things in general, and of the dispute between him (Jack) and +the Squire in particular; and if that question was not answered to his +satisfaction, he remitted him to his studies. When no objection could be +made to the man's parts, Jack would say that he had scruples of +conscience, because he doubted whether his commission had been fairly +come by, or whether he had not bribed the Squire by a five-pound note to +obtain it. At last he did not even take the trouble of going through +this farce, but would at once, if he disliked the look of the man's +face, tell him he was busy at the moment;--that he might lay the +Squire's letter on the table, and call again that day six months for an +answer. He no longer pretended, in fact, to any fairness or justice in +his dealings; for though those who sided with him might be guilty of all +the offences in the calendar, Jack continued to wink so hard, and shut +his ears so close, as not to see or hear of them; while as to the +unhappy wights who differed from him, he had the eyes of Argus and the +ear of Dionysius, and the tender mercies of a Spanish inquisitor, +discovering _scandalum magnatum_ and high treason in ballads which they +had written twenty years before, and in which Jack, though he received a +presentation copy at the time, had never pretended, up to that moment, +to detect the least harm. + +The last of these freaks which I shall here mention took place on this +wise. Jack had never been accustomed to invite any one to his assemblies +but the ushers who had been appointed by the Squire, and it was always +understood that they alone had a vote in all vestry matters. But when +John quarrelled with his family, as above mentioned, and a large part of +the oldest and most respectable of his relatives drew off from him, it +occurred to Jack that he could bring in a set of new auxiliaries, upon +whose vote he could count in all his family squabbles, or his deputes, +with Squire Bull; and the following was the device he fell upon for that +end. + +Here and there upon North Farm, where the village schools were crowded, +little temporary schoolhouses had been run up, where one or two of the +monitors were accustomed to teach such of the children as could not be +accommodated in the larger school. But these assistants had always been +a little looked down upon, and had never been allowed a seat at Jack's +board. Now, however, he began to change his tone towards them, and to +court and flatter them on all occasions. One fine morning he suddenly +made his appearance on the village green, followed by some of his +hangers on, bearing a theodolite, chains, measuring rods, sextants, +compasses, and other instruments of land-surveying. Jack set up his +theodolite, took his observations, began noting measurements, and laying +down the bases of triangles in all directions, then, having summed up +his calculations with much gravity, gave directions to those about him +to line off with stakes and ropes the space which he pointed out to +them, and which in fact enclosed nearly half the village. In the course +of these operations, the usher, who had witnessed these mathematical +proceedings of Jack from the window, but could not comprehend what the +man would be at, sallied forth, and accosting Jack, asked him what he +meant by these strange lines of circumvallation. "Why," answered Jack, +"I have been thinking for some time past of relieving you of part of +your heavy duties, and dividing the parish-school between you and your +assistant; so in future you will confine yourself to the space outside +the ropes, and leave all within the inclosure to him." It was in vain +that the usher protested he was quite equal to the duty; that the boys +liked him, and disliked his assistant; that if the village was thus +divided, the assistant would be put upon a level with him, and have a +vote in the vestry, to which he had no more right than to a seat in the +House of Commons. Jack was not to be moved from his purpose, but gave +orders to have a similar apportionment made in most of the neighbouring +villages, and then inviting the assistants to a party at his house, he +had them sworn in as vestrymen, telling them, that in future they had +the same right to a seat at his board as the best of John's ushers had. +Here again, however, he found he had run his head against a wall, and +that he was not the mighty personage he took himself for; for, on a +complaint to the justices of the peace, a dozen special constables were +sent down, who tore up the posts, removed the ropes, and demolished all +Jack's inclosures in a trice. + +These frequent defeats rendered Jack nearly frantic. He now began to +quarrel even with his best friends, not a few of whom, though they had +gone with him a certain length, now left his house, and told him plainly +they would never set foot in it again. He burst forth into loud +invectives against Martin, who had always been a good friend to his +penny subscriptions, and more than once had come to his assistance when +Jack was hard pressed by Hugh, a dissenting schoolmaster, between whom +and Jack there had long been a bloody feud. Jack now denounced Martin in +set terms; accused him of being in the pay of Peter, with whom he said +he had been holding secret conferences of late at the Cross-Keys; and of +setting the Squire's mind against him (Jack)--whereas poor Martin, till +provoked by Jack's abuse to defend himself, had never said an unkind +word against him. Finding, however, that, with all his efforts, he did +not make much way with the men, Jack directed his battery chiefly +against the women, who were easily caught by his sanctimonious air, and +knowing nothing earthly of the subject, took for gospel all that Jack +chose to tell them. He held love-feasts in his house up to a late hour, +at which he generally harangued on the subject of the persecutions which +he endured. He vowed the justices were all in a conspiracy against him; +that they were constantly intruding into his grounds, notwithstanding +his warnings that spring-guns were set in the premises; that on one +occasion a tall fellow of a sheriff's officer had made his way into his +house and served him with a writ of _fieri facias_ even in the midst of +one of his assemblies, a disgrace he never could get over; that he could +not walk ten yards in any direction, or saunter for an instant at the +corner of a street, without being ordered by a policeman to move on; in +short, that he lived in perpetual terror and anxiety--and all this +because he had done his best to save them and their children from the +awful scourge of deboshed and despotical ushers. At the conclusion of +these meetings he invariably handed round his hat, into which the silly +women dropped a good many shillings, which Jack assured them would be +applied for the public benefit, meaning thereby his own private +advantage. + +Jack, however, with all his craze, was too knowing not to see that the +women, beyond advancing him a few shillings at a time, would do little +for his cause so far as any terms with Squire Bull was concerned; so, +with the view of making a last attack upon the Squire, and driving him +into terms, he began to look about for assistance among those with whom +he had previously been at loggerheads. It cost him some qualms before he +could so far abase his stomach as to do so; but at last he ventured to +address a long and pitiful letter to Hugh, in which he set forth all his +disputes with John, and dwelt much on his scruples of conscience; begged +him to forget old quarrels, and put down his name to a Round Robin, +which he was about to address to the Squire in his own behalf. To this +epistle Hugh answered as follows:--"Dearly beloved,--my bowels are +grieved for your condition, but I see only one cure for your scruples of +conscience. Strip off the Squire's livery, and give up your place, as I +did, and your peace of mind will be restored to you. In the mean time, I +do not see very well why I should help you to pocket the Squire's wages, +and do nothing for it. Yours, in the spirit of meekness and +forgiveness--HUGH." After this rebuff, Jack, you may easily believe, saw +there was little hope of assistance from that quarter. + +As a last resource, he called a general meeting of his friends, at which +it was resolved to present the proposed Round Robin to John, signed by +as many names as they could muster; in which Jack, who seemed to be of +opinion that the more they asked the greater was their chance of getting +something at least, set forth the articles he wanted, and without which, +he told John, he could no longer remain in his house; but that he and +his relatives and friends would forthwith, if this petition was +rejected, walk out, to the infinite scandal of the neighbourhood, +leaving the Squire without a teacher or a writing-master within fifty +miles to supply their place. They demanded that the Squire should give +up the nomination of the ushers entirely, though in whose favour they +did not explain; and that Jack was in future to be a law unto himself, +and to be supreme in all matters of education, with power to himself to +define in what such matters consisted. On these requests being conceded, +they stated that they would continue to give their countenance to the +Squire as in times past; otherwise the whole party must quit possession +incontinently. Jack prevailed on a good many to sign this +document--though some did not like the idea of walking out, demurred, +and added after the word _incontinently_, "i.e. when convenient,"--and +thus signed, they put the Round Robin under a twopenny cover, and +dispatched it to "John Bull, Esquire"--with haste. + +If they really thought the Squire was to be bullied into these terms by +this last sally, they found themselves consumedly mistaken; for after a +time down came a long and perfectly civil letter from the Squire's +secretary, telling them their demands were totally out of the question, +and that the Squire would see them at the antipodes sooner than comply +with them. + +Did Jack then, you will ask, walk out as he had threatened, when he got +the Squire's answer? Not he. He now gave notice that he intended to +apply for an Act of Parliament on the subject: and that, in the +meantime, the matter might stand over. Meantime, and in case matters +should come to the worst, he is busily engaged begging all over the +country, for cash to erect a new wooden tenement for him, in the event +of his having to leave his old one of stone and lime. Some say even that +he has been seen laying down several pounds of gunpowder in the cellar +of his present house, and has been heard to boast of his intention to +blow up his successor when he takes possession; but for my own part, and +seeing how he has shuffled hitherto, I believe that he is no nearer +removing than he was a year ago. Indeed he has said confidentially to +several people, that even if his new house were all ready for him, he +could not, with his asthmatic tendency, think of entering it for a +twelvemonth or so, till the lath and plaster should be properly +seasoned. Of all this, however, we shall hear more anon. + + * * * * * + + + + +PAUL DE KOCKNEYISMS. + +BY A COCKNEY. + + +When any one thinks of French literature, there immediately rises before +him a horrid phantasmagoria of repulsive objects--murders, incests, +parricides, and every imaginable shape of crime that horror e'er +conceived or fancy feigned. He sees the whole efforts of a press, +brimful of power and talent, directed against every thing that has +hitherto been thought necessary to the safety of society, or the +happiness of domestic life--marriage deliberately written down, and +proved to be the cause of all the miseries of the social state: and +strange to say, in the crusade against matrimony, the sharpest swords +and strongest lances are wielded by women. Those women are received into +society--men's wives and daughters associate with them--and their books +are noticed in the public journals without any allusions to the +Association for the prevention of vice, but rather with the praises +which, in other times and countries, would have been bestowed on works +of genius and virtue. The taste of the English public has certainly +deteriorated within the last few years; and popularity, the surest index +of the public's likings, though not of the writer's deservings, has +attended works of which the great staple has been crime and +blackguardism. A certain rude power, a sort of unhealthy energy, has +enabled the writer to throw an interest round pickpockets and murderers; +and if this interest were legitimately produced, by the exhibition of +human passions modified by the circumstances of the actor--if it arose +from the development of one real, living, thinking, doing, and suffering +man's heart, we could only wonder at the author's choice of such a +subject, but we should be ready to acknowledge that he had widened our +sphere of knowledge--and made us feel, as we all do, without taking the +same credit for it to ourselves that the old blockhead in France does, +that being human, we have sympathies with all, even the lowest and +wickedest of our kind. But the interest those works excite arises from +no such legitimate source--not from the development of our common +nature, but from the creation of a new one--from startling contrasts, +not of two characters but of one--tenderness, generosity in one page; +fierceness and murder in the next. But though our English _tastes_ are +so far deteriorated as to tolerate, or even to admire, the records of +cruelty and sin now proceeding every day from the press--our English +_morals_ would recoil with horror from the deliberate wickedness which +forms the great attraction of the French modern school of romance. The +very subjects chosen for their novels, by the most popular of their +female writers, shows a state of feeling in the authors more dreadful to +contemplate than the mere coarse raw-head-and-bloody-bones descriptions +of our chroniclers of Newgate. A married woman, the heroine--high in +rank, splendid in intellect, radiant in beauty--has for the hero a +villain escaped from the hulks. There is no record of his crimes--we are +not called upon to follow him in his depredations, or see him cut +throats in the scientific fashion of some of our indigenous rascals. He +is the philosopher,--the instructor--the guide. The object of _his_ +introduction is to show the iniquity of human laws--the object of _her_ +introduction is to show the absurdity of the institution of marriage. +This would never be tolerated in England. Again, a married woman is +presented to us--for the sympathy which with us attends a young couple +to the church-door, only begins in France after they have left it: as a +child she has been betrothed to a person of her own rank--at five or six +incurable idiocy takes possession of her proposed husband--but when she +is eighteen the marriage takes place--the husband is a mere child still; +for his intellect has continued stationary though his body has reached +maturity--a more revolting picture was never presented than that of the +condition of the idiot's wife--her horror of her husband--and of course +her passion for another. The most interesting scenes between the lovers +are constantly interrupted by the hideous representative of matrimony, +the grinning husband, who rears his slavering countenance from behind +the sofa, and impresses his unfortunate wife with a sacred awe for the +holy obligations of marriage. + +Again, a dandy of fifty is presented to us, whose affection for his ward +has waited, of course, till she is wedded to another, to ripen into +love. He still continues her protector against the advances of others; +for jealousy is a good point of character in every one but the husband, +and there it is only ridiculous. The husband in this case is another +admirable specimen of the results of wedlock for life--he is a +chattering, shallow pretender--a political economist, prodigiously dull +and infinitely conceited--an exaggerated type of the Hume-Bowring +statesman--and, as is naturally to be expected, our sympathies are +awakened for the wretched wife, and we rejoice to see that her beauty +and talents, her fine mind and pure ideas, are appreciated by a dashing +young fellow, who outwits our original friend the dandy of fifty and the +philosophical depute; the whole leaving a pleasing impression on the +reader's mind from the conviction that the heroine is no longer +neglected. + +From the similarity of these stories--and they are only taken at random +from a great number--it will be seen that the spirit of almost all of +them is the same. But when we go lower in the scale, and leave the class +of philosophic novels, we find their tales of life and manners still +more absurd in their total untrueness than the others were hateful in +their design. There is a novel just now appearing in one of the most +widely-circulated of the Parisian papers, so grotesquely overdone, that +if it had been meant for a caricature of the worst parts of our own +hulk-and-gallows authors, it would have been very much admired; but +meant to be serious, powerful, harrowing, and all the rest of it, it is +a most curious exhibition of a nation's taste and a writer's audacity. +The _Mysteries of Paris_, by Eugene Sue, has been dragging its slow +length along for a long time, and gives no sign of getting nearer its +denouement than when it began. A sovereign prince is the hero--his own +daughter, whom he has disowned, the heroine; and the tale commences by +his fighting a man on the street, and taking a fancy to his unknown +child, who is the inhabitant of one of the lowest dens in the St Giles' +of Paris! The other _dramatis personae_ are convicts, receivers of stolen +goods, murderers, intriguers of all ranks--the aforesaid prince, +sometimes in the disguise of a workman, sometimes of a pickpocket, +acting the part of a providence among them, rewarding the good and +punishing the guilty. The English personages are the Countess Sarah +McGregor--the lawful wife of the prince--her brother Tom, and Sir Walter +Murph, Esquire. These are all jostled, and crowded, and pushed, and +flurried--first in flash kens, where the language is slang; then in +country farms, and then in halls and palaces--and so intermixed and +confused, that the clearest head gets puzzled with the entanglements of +the story; and confusion gets worse confounded as the farrago proceeds. +How M. Sue will manage ever to come to a close is an enigma to us; and +we shall wait with some impatience to see how he will distribute his +poetic justice, when he can't get his puppets to move another step. +Horror seems the great ingredient in the present literary fare of +France, and in the _Mysteres de Paris_ the most confirmed glutton of +such delicacies may sup full of them. In the midst of such depraved and +revolting exhibitions, it is a sort of satisfaction, though not of the +loftiest kind, to turn to the coarse fun and ludicrous descriptions of +Paul de Kock. And, after all, our friend Paul has not many more sins +than coarseness and buffoonery to answer for. As to his attempting, of +set purpose, to corrupt people's morals, it never entered into his head. +He does not know what morals are; they never form any part of his idea +of manners or character. If a good man comes in his way, he looks at him +with a strange kind of unacquaintance that almost rises into respect; +but he is certainly more affectionate, and on far better terms, with men +about town--amative hairdressers, flirting grisettes, and the whole +genus, male and female, of the epiciers. It would no doubt be an +improvement if the facetious Paul could believe in the existence of an +honest woman; but such women as come in his way he describes to the +life. A ball in a dancing-master's private room up six pairs of stairs, +a pic-nic to one of the suburbs, a dinner at a restaurateur's, or a +family consultation on a proposal of marriage, are far more in Paul's +way than tales of open horror or silk-and-satin depravity. One is only +sorry, in the midst of so much gaiety and good-humour, to stumble on +some scene or sentiment that gives on the inclination to throw the book +in the fire, or start, like Caesar, on the top of the diligence to pull +the author's ears. But the next page sets all right again; and you go on +laughing at the disasters of my neighbour Raymond, or admiring the +graces or Chesterfieldian politeness of M. Bellequeue. French nature +seems essentially different from all the other natures hitherto known; +and yet, though so new, there never rises any doubt that it is _a_ +nature, a reality, as Thomas Carlyle says, and not a sham. The +personages presented to us by Paul de Kock can scarcely, in the strict +sense of the word, be called human beings; but they are French beings of +real flesh and blood, speaking and thinking French in the most decided +possible manner, and at intervals possessed of feelings which make us +inclined to include them in the great genus _homo_, though with so many +inseparable accidents, that it is impossible for a moment to shut one's +eyes to the species to which they belong. But such as they are in their +shops, and back-parlours, and ball-rooms, and _fetes champetres_, there +they are in Paul de Kock--nothing extenuated, little set down in +malice--vain, empty, frivolous, good-tempered, gallant, lively, and +absurd. Let us go to the wood of Romainville to celebrate the +anniversary of the marriage of M. and Madame Moutonnet on the day of St +Eustache. + +"At a little distance from the ball, towards the middle of the wood, a +numerous party is seated on the grass, or rather on the sand; napkins +are spread on the ground, and covered with plates and cold meat and +fruits. The bottles are placed in the cool shade, the glasses are filled +and emptied rapidly; good appetites and open air make every thing appear +excellent. They make plates out of paper, and toss pieces of pate and +sausage to each other. They eat, they drink, they sing, they laugh and +play tricks. It seems a struggle who shall be funniest. It is well known +that all things are allowable in the country; and the cits now assembled +in the wood of Romainville seem fully persuaded of the fact. A jolly old +governor of about fifty tries to carve a turkey, and can't succeed. A +little woman, very red, very fat, and very round, hastens to seize a +limb of the bird; she pulls at one side, the jolly old governor at the +other--the leg separates at last, and the lady goes sprawling on the +grass, while the gentleman topples over in the opposite direction with +the remainder of the animal in his hand. The shouts of laughter +redouble, and M. Moutonnet--such is the name of the jolly old +governor--resumes his place, declaring that he will never try to carve +any thing again. 'I knew you would never be able to manage it,' said a +large woman bluntly, in a tone that agreed exactly with her starched and +crabbed features. She was sitting opposite the stout gentleman, and had +seen with indignation the alacrity with which the little lady had flown +to M. Moutonnet's assistance. + +"'In the twenty years we have been married,' she continued, 'have you +ever carved any thing at home, sir?' + +"'No, my dear, that's very true;' replied the stout gentleman in a +submissive voice, and trying to smile his better half into good-humour. + +"'You don't know how to help a dish of spinach, and yet you attempt a +dish like that!' + +"'My dear--in the country, you know----' + +"'In the country, sir, as in the town, people shouldn't try things they +can't perform.' + +"'You know, Madame Moutonnet, that generally I never attempt any +thing--but to day'---- + +"'To day you should have done as you do on other days,' retorted the +lady. + +"'Ah, but, my love, you forget that this is Saint Eustache----' + +"'Yes, yes, this is Saint Eustache!' is repeated in chorus by the whole +company, and the glasses are filled and jingled as before. + +"'To the health of Eustache; Eustache for ever!' + +"'To yours, ladies and gentlemen,' replied M. Moutonnet graciously +smiling--'and yours, my angel.' + +"It is to his wife M. Moutonnet addresses himself. She tried to assume +an amiable look, and condescends to approach her glass to that of M. +Eustache Moutonnet. M. Eustache Moutonnet is a rich laceman of the Rue +St Martin; a man highly respected in trade; no bill of his was ever +protested, nor any engagement failed in. For the thirty years he has +kept shop he has been steadily at work from eight in the morning till +eight at night. His department is to take care of the day-book and +ledger; Madame Moutonnet manages the correspondence and makes the +bargains. The business of the shop and the accounts are confided to an +old clerk and Mademoiselle Eugenie Moutonnet, with whom we shall +presently become better acquainted. + +"M. Moutonnet, as you may perhaps already have perceived, is not +commander-in-chief at hone. His wife directs, rules, and governs all +things. When she is in good-humour--a somewhat extraordinary +occurrence--she allows her husband to go and take his little cup of +coffee, provided he goes for that purpose to the coffee-house at the +corner of the Rue Mauconseil--for it is famous for its liberal allowance +of sugar, and M. Moutonnet always brings home three lumps of it to his +wife. On Sundays they dine a little earlier, to have time for a +promenade to the Tuileries or the Jardin Turk. Excursions into the +country are very rare, and only on extraordinary occasions, such as the +fete-day of M. and Madame Moutonnet. That regular life does not hinder +the stout lace-merchant from being the happiest of men--so true is it +that what is one man's poison is another man's meat. M. Moutonnet was +born with simple tastes--she required to be led and managed like a +child. Don't shrug your shoulders at this avowal, ye spirited gentlemen, +so proud of your rights, so puffed up with your merits. You! who think +yourselves always masters of your actions, you yield to your passions +every day! they lead you, and sometimes lead you very ill. Well, M. +Moutonnet has no fear of that--he has no passions--he knows nothing but +his trade, and obedience to his spouse. He finds that a man can be very +happy, though he does not know how to carve a turkey, and lets himself +be governed by his wife. Madame Moutonnet is long past forty, but it is +a settled affair that she is never to be more than thirty-six. She never +was handsome, but she is large and tall, and her husband is persuaded +she is superb. She is not a coquette, but she thinks herself superior to +every body else in talents and beauty. She never cared a rush about her +husband, but if he was untrue to her she would tear his eyes out. Madame +Moutonnet, you perceive, is excessively jealous of her rights. A +daughter is the sole issue of the marriage of M. Eustache Moutonnet and +Mademoiselle Barbe Desormeaux. She is now eighteen years old, and at +eighteen the young ladies in Paris are generally pretty far advanced. +But Eugenie has been educated severely--and although possessed of a good +deal of spirit, is timid, docile, submissive, and never ventures on a +single observation in presence of her parents. She has cleverness, +grace, and sensibility, but she is ignorant of the advantages she has +received from nature--her sentiments are as yet concentrated at the +bottom of her heart. She is not coquettish--or rather she scarcely +ventures to give way to the inclination so natural to women, which leads +them to please and to be pretty. But Eugenie has no need of those little +arts, so indispensable to others, or to have recourse to her mirror +every hour. She is well made, and she is beautiful; her eyes are soft +and expressive, her voice is tender and agreeable, her brow is shadowed +by dark locks of hair, her mouth furnished with fine white teeth. In +short, she has that nameless something about her, which charms at first +sight, which is not always possessed by greater beauties and more +regular features. We now know all the Moutonnet family; and since we +have gone so far, let us make acquaintance with the rest of the party +who have come to the wood of Romainville to celebrate the Saint +Eustache. + +"The little woman who rushed so vigorously to the assistance of M. +Moutonnet, is the wife of a tall gentleman of the name of Bernard, who +is a toyman in the Rue St Denis. M. Bernard plays the amiable and the +fool at the same time. He laughs and quizzes, makes jokes, and even +puns; he is the wit of the party. His wife has been rather good-looking, +and wishes to be so still. She squeezes in her waist till she can hardly +breathe, and takes an hour to fit her shoes on--for she is determined to +have a small foot. Her face is a little too red; but her eyes are very +lively, and she is constantly trying to give them as mischievous an +expression as she can. Madame Bernard has a great girl of fifteen, whom +she dresses as if she were five, and treats occasionally to a new doll, +by way of keeping her a child. By the side of Madame Bernard is seated a +young man of eighteen, who is almost as timid as Eugenie, and blushes +when he is spoken to, though he has stood behind a counter for six +months. He is the son of a friend of M. Bernard, and his wife has +undertaken to patronize him, and introduce him to good society. + +"A person of about forty years of age, with one of those silly +countenances which there is no mistaking at the first glance, is seated +beside Eugenie. M. Dupont--such is his name--is a rich grocer of the Rue +aux Ours. He wears powder and a queue, because he fancies they are +becoming, and his hairdresser has told him that they are very +aristocratic. His coat of sky-blue, and his jonquil-coloured waistcoat, +give him still more the appearance of a simpleton, and agree admirably +with the astonished expression of his gooseberry eyes. He dangles two +watch-chains, that hang down his nankeen trowsers, with great +satisfaction, and seems struck with admiration at the wisdom of his own +remarks. He thinks himself captivating and full of wit. He has the +presumption of ignorance, propped up by money. Finally, he is a +bachelor, which gives him great consideration in all the families where +there are marriageable daughters. M. and Madame Gerard, perfumers in the +Rue St Martin, are also of the party. The perfumer enacts the gallant +gay Lothario, and in his own district has the reputation of a prodigious +rake, though he is ugly, and ill-made, and squints. But he fancies he +overcomes all these drawbacks by covering himself with odours and +perfumes--accordingly, you smell him half an hour before he comes in +sight. His wife is young and pretty. She married him at fifteen, and has +a boy of nine, who looks more like her brother than her son. The little +Gerard hollos and jumps about, breaks the glasses and bottles, and makes +as much noise as all the rest of the company put together. 'He's a +little lion,' exclaims M. Gerard; 'he's exactly what I was. You never +could hear yourselves speak wherever I was, at his age. People were +delighted with me. My son is my perfect image.' + +"M. Gerard's sister, an old maid of forty-five, who takes every +opportunity of declaring that she never intends to marry, and sighs +every tine M. Dupont looks at her, is next to M. Moutonnet. The old +clerk of the laceman--M. Bidois--who waits for Madame Moutonnet's +permission before he opens his mouth, and fills his glass every time she +is not looking--is placed at the side of Mademoiselle Cecile Gerard; +who, though she swears every minute that she never will marry, and that +she hates the men, is very ill pleased to have old M. Bidois for her +neighbour, and hints pretty audibly that Madame Bernard monopolizes all +the young beaux. A young man of about twenty, tall, well-made, with +handsome features, whose intelligent expression announces that he is +intended for higher things than perpetually to be measuring yards of +calico, is seated at the right hand of Eugenie. That young man, whose +name is Adolphe, is assistant in a fashionable warehouse where Madame +Moutonnet deals; and as he always gives good measure, she has asked him +to the fete of St Eustache. And now we are acquainted with all the party +who are celebrating the marriage-day of M. Moutonnet." + +We are not going to follow Paul de Kock in the adventures of all the +party so carefully described to us. Our object in translating the +foregoing passage, was to enable our readers to see the manner of people +who indulge in pic-nics in the wood of Romainville, desiring them to +compare M. Moutonnet and _his_ friends, with any laceman and _his_ +friends he may choose to fix upon in London. A laceman as well to do in +the world as M. Moutonnet, a grocer as rich as M. Dupont, and even a +perfumer as fashionable as M. Gerard, would have a whitebait dinner at +Blackwall, or make up a party to the races at Epsom--and as to admitting +such a humble servitor as M. Bidois to their society, or even the +unfriended young mercer's assistant, M. Adolphe, they would as soon +think of inviting one of the new police. Five miles from town our three +friends would pass themselves off for lords, and blow-up the waiter for +not making haste with their brandy and water, in the most aristocratic +manner imaginable. In France, or at least in Paul de Kock, there seems +no straining after appearances. The laceman continues a laceman when he +is miles away from the little back shop; and even the laceman's lady has +no desire to be mistaken for the wife of a squire. Madame Moutonnet +seems totally unconscious of the existence of any lady whatever, +superior to herself in rank or station. The Red Book is to her a sealed +volume. Her envies, hatreds, friendships, rivalries, and ambitions, are +all limited to her own circle. The wife of a rich laceman, on the other +hand, in England, most religiously despises the wives of almost all +other tradesmen; she scarcely knows in what street the shop is situated, +but from the altitudes of Balham or Hampstead, looks down with supreme +disdain on the toiling creatures who stand all day behind a counter. The +husband, in the same way, manages to cast off every reminiscence of the +shop, in the course of his three miles in the omnibus, and at six or +seven o'clock you might fancy they were a duke and duchess, sitting in a +gaudily furnished drawing-room, listening to two elegant young ladies +torturing a piano, and another still more elegant young lady severely +flogging a harp. The effect of this, so far as our English Paul de Kocks +are concerned, is, that their linen-drapers, and lacemen, and rich +perfumers, are represented assuming a character that does not belong to +them, and aping people whom they falsely suppose to be their betters; +whereas the genuine Paul paints the Parisian tradesmen without any +affectation at all. Ours are made laughable by the common farcical +attributes of all pretensions, great or small; while real +unsophisticated shopkeeping (French) nature is the staple of Paul's +character-sketches, and they are more valuable, and in the end more +interesting, accordingly. Who cares for the exaggerated efforts of a +Manchester warehouseman to be polished and gentlemanly? It is only +acting after all, and gives us no insight into his real character, or +the character of his class, any more than Mr Coates' anxiety to be Romeo +enlightened us as to his disposition in other respects. The Manchester +warehouseman, though he fails in his attempt at fashionable parts, may +be a very estimable and pains-taking individual, and, with the single +exception of that foible, offers nothing to the most careful observer to +distinguish him from the stupid and respectable in any part of the +world. And in this respect, any one starting as the chronicler of +citizen life among us, would labour under a great disadvantage. Whether +our people are phlegmatic, or stupid, or sensible--all three of which +epithets are generally applicable to the same individual--or that they +have no opportunities of showing their peculiarities from the domestic +habits of the animal--it is certain that, however better they may be +qualified for the business of life than their neighbours, they are far +less fitted for the pages of a book. And the proof of it is this, that +wherever any of our novelists has introduced a tradesman, he has either +been an invention altogether, or a caricature. Even Bailie Nicol Jarvie +never lived in the Saut Market in half such true flesh and blood as he +does in _Rob Roy_. At all events, the inimitable Bailie is known to the +universe at large by the additions made to his real character by the +prodigal hand of his biographer, and the ridiculous contrasts in which +he is placed with the caterans and reivers of the hills. In the city of +Glasgow he was looked upon, and justly, as an honour to the gude +town--consulted on all difficult matters, and famous for his knowledge +of the world and his natural sagacity. Would this have been a fit +subject for description? or is it just to think of the respectable +Bailie in the ridiculous point of view in which he is presented to us in +the Highlands? How would Sir Peter Laurie look if he had been taken long +ago by Algerine pirates, and torn, with all his civic honours thick upon +him, from the magisterial chair, and made hairdresser to the ladies of +the harem--threatened with the bastinado for awkwardness in combing, as +he now commits other unfortunate fellows to the treadmill for crimes +scarcely more enormous? Paul de Kock derives none of his interest from +odd juxtapositions. He knows nothing about caves and prisons and +brigands--but he knows every corner of coffee-houses, and beer-shops, +and ball-rooms. And these ball-rooms give him the command of another set +of characters, totally unknown to the English world of fiction, because +non-existent in England. With us, no shop-boy or apprentice would take +his sweetheart to a public hop at any of the licenced music-houses. No +decent girl would go there, nor even any girl that wished to keep up the +appearance of decency. No flirtations, to end in matrimony, take their +rise between an embryo boot-maker and a barber's daughter, in the course +of the _chaine Anglaise_ beneath the trees of the Green Park, or even at +the Yorkshire Stingo. Fathers have flinty hearts, and the +above-mentioned barber would probably increase the beauty of his +daughter's "bonny black eye," by giving her another, if she talked of +going to a ball, whether in a room or the open air. The Puritans have +left their mark. Dancing is always sinful, and Satan is perpetual M.C. +But let us follow the barber, or rather hairdresser--for the mere +gleaner of beards is not intended by the name--into his own amusements. +In Paul de Kock he goes to a coffee-house, drinks a small cup of coffee, +and pockets the entire sugar; or to a ball, where he performs all the +offices of a court chamberlain, and captivates all hearts by his +graceful deportment. His wife, perhaps, goes with him, and flirts in a +very business-like manner with a tobacconist; and his daughter is +whirled about in a waltz by Eugene or Adolphe, the young confectioner, +with as much elegance and decorum as if they were a young marquis and +his bride in the dancing hall at Devonshire House. Our English friend +goes to enjoy a pipe, or, if he has lofty notions, a cigar, and gin and +water, at the neighbouring inn. Or when he determines on having a night +of real rational enjoyment, he goes to some tavern where singing is the +order of the evening. A stout man in the chair knocks on the table, and +being the landlord, makes disinterested enquiries if every gentleman has +a bumper. He then calls on himself for a song, and states that he is to +be accompanied on the piano by a distinguished performer; whereupon, a +tall young man of a moribund expression of countenance, and with his +hair closely pomatumed over his head, rises, and, after a low bow, seats +himself at the instrument. The stout man sings, the young man plays, and +thunders of applause, and various fresh orders for kidneys and strong +ale, and welch rabbits and cold-without, reward their exertions. +Drinking goes on for some time, and waiters keep flying about with +dishes of all kinds, and the hairdresser becomes communicative to his +next neighbour, a butcher from Whitechapel, and they exchange their +sentiments about kidneys and music in general, and the kidneys and music +now offered to them in particular. In a few minutes, a gentleman with a +strange obliquity in his vision, seated in the middle of the +coffee-room, takes off his hat, and after a thump on the table from the +landlord's hammer, commences a song so intensely comic, that when it is +over, the orders for supper and drink are almost unanimous. The house is +now full, the theatres have discharged their hungry audiences, and a +distinguished guinea-a-week performer seats himself in the very next box +to the hairdresser. That worthy gentleman by this time is stuffed so +full of kidneys, and has drank so many glasses of brandy and water, that +he can scarcely understand the explanations of the Whitechapel butcher, +who has a great turn for theatricals, and wishes to treat the dramatic +performer to a tumbler of gin-twist. Another knock on the table produces +a momentary silence, and a little man starts off with an extempore song, +where the conviviality of the landlord, and the goodness of his suppers, +are duly chronicled. The hairdresser hears a confused buzz of +admiration, and even attempts to join in it, but thinks it, at last, +time to go. He goes, and narrowly escapes making the acquaintance of Mr +Jardine, from his extraordinary propensity to brush all the lamp-posts +he encounters with the shoulder of his coat; and gets home, to the great +comfort of his wife and daughter, who have gone cozily off to sleep, in +the assurance that their distinguished relative is safely locked up in +the police-office. The Frenchman, on the other hand, never gets into +mischief from an overdose of _eau sucree_, though sometimes he certainly +becomes very rombustious from a glass or two of _vin ordinaire_; and +nothing astonishes us so much as the small quantities of small drink +which have an effect on the brains of the steadiest of the French +population. They get not altogether drunk, but decidedly very talkative, +and often quarrelsome, on a miserable modicum of their indigenous small +beer, to a degree which would not be excusable if it were brandy. We +constantly find whole parties at a pic-nic in a most prodigious state of +excitement after two rounds of a bottle--jostling the peasants, and +talking more egregious nonsense than before. And when they quarrel, what +a Babel of words, and what a quakerism of hands! Instead of a round or +two between the parties, as it would be in our own pugnacious +disagreements, they merely, when it comes to the worst, push each other +from side to side, and shout lustily for the police; and squalling +women, and chattering men, and ignorant country people, and elegant +mercers' apprentices, and gay-mannered grocers, hustle, and scream, and +swear, and lecture, and threaten, and bluster--but not a single blow! +The guardian of the public peace appears, and the combatants evanish +into thin air; and in a few minutes after this dreadful _melee_, the +violin strikes up a fresh waltz, and all goes "gaily as a +marriage-bell." We don't say, at the present moment, that one of these +methods of conducting a quarrel is better than the other, (though we +confess we are rather partial to a hit in the bread-basket, or a tap on +the claret-cork)--all we mean to advance is, that with the materials to +work upon, Paul de Kock, as a faithful describer of real scenes, has a +manifest advantage over the describer of English incidents of a parallel +kind. + +The affectations of a French cit, when that nondescript animal +condescends to be affected, are more varied and interesting than those +of their brethren here. He has a taste for the fine arts--he talks about +the opera--likes to know artists and authors--and, though living up five +or six pairs of stairs in a narrow lane, gives _soirees_ and +_conversaziones_. More ludicrous all this, and decidedly less +disgusting, than the assumptions of our man-milliners and fishmongers. +There is short sketch by Paul de Kock, called a _Soiree Bourgeoise_, +which we translate entire, as an illustration of this curious phase of +French character; and we shall take an early opportunity of bringing +before our readers the essays of the daily feuilletonists of the +Parisian press, which give a clearer insight into the peculiarities of +French domestic literature than can be acquired in any other quarter. + + +A CIT'S SOIREE. + +Lights were observed some time ago, in the four windows of an apartment +on the second floor of a house in the Rue Grenetat. It was not quite so +brilliant as the Cercle des Etrangers, but still it announced something. +These four windows, with lights glancing in them all, had an air of +rejoicing, and the industrious inhabitants of the Rue Grenetat, who +don't generally go to much expense for illumination, even in their +shops, looked at the four windows which eclipsed the street lamps in +their brilliancy, and said, "There's certainly something very +extraordinary going on this evening at M. Lupot's!" M. Lupot is an +honest tradesman, who has retired from business some time. After having +sold stationary for thirty years, without ever borrowing of a neighbour, +or failing in a payment, M. Lupot, having scraped together an income of +three hundred and twenty pounds, disposed of his stock in trade, and +closed his ledger, to devote himself entirely to the pleasures of +domestic life with his excellent spouse, Madam Felicite Lupot--a woman +of an amazingly apathetic turn of mind, who did admirably well in the +shop as long as she had only to give change for half-crowns, but whose +abilities extended no further. But this had not prevented her from +making a very good wife to her husband, (which proves that much talent +is not required for that purpose,) and presenting him with a daughter +and a son. + +The daughter was the eldest, and had attained her seventeenth year; and +M. Lupot, who spared nothing on her education, did not despair of +finding a husband for her with a soul above sticks of sealing-wax and +wafers--more especially as it was evident she had no turn for trade, and +believed she had a decided genius for the fine arts--for she had painted +her father as a shepherd with his crook, when she was only twelve, and +had learned a year after to play "Je suis Lindore" by ear on the piano. +M. Lupot was proud of his daughter, who was thus a painter and a +musician; who was a foot taller than her papa; who held herself as +upright as a Prussian grenadier; who made a curtsy like Taglioni, who +had a Roman nose three times the size of other people's, a mouth to +match, and eyes so arch and playful, that it was difficult to discover +them. The boy was only seven; he was allowed to do whatever he chose--he +was so very young; and Monsieur Ascanius availed himself of the +permission, and was in mischief from morning to night. His father was +too fond of him to scold him, and his mother wouldn't take the trouble +to get into a passion. + +Well, then, one morning M. Lupot soliloquized--"I have a good fortune, a +charming family, and a wife who has never been in a rage; but all this +does not lead to a man's being invited, courted, and made much of in the +world. Since I have cut the hotpress-wove and red sealing-wax, I have +seen nobody but a few friends--retired tradesmen like myself--who drop +in to take a hand at _vingt-et-un_, or loto; but I wish more than +that--my daughter must not live in so narrow a circle; my daughter has a +decided turn for the arts; I ought to have artists to my house. I will +give soirees, tea-parties--yes, with punch at parting, if it be +necessary. We shall play _bouillote_ and _ecarte_, for my daughter can't +endure loto. Indeed, I wish to set people talking about my re-unions, +and to find a husband for Celanire worthy of her." M. Lupot was seated +near his wife, who was seated on an elastic sofa, and was caressing a +cat on her knee. He said to her-- + +"My dear Felicite, I intend to give soirees--to receive lots of company. +We live in too confined a sphere for our daughter, who was born for the +arts--and for Ascanius, who, it strikes me, will make some noise in the +world." + +Madame Lupot continued to caress the cat, and replied, "Well, what have +I to do with that? Do I hinder you from receiving company? If it doesn't +cause me any trouble--for I must tell you first of all, you musn't count +on me to help you"-- + +"You will have nothing at all to do, my dear Felicite, but the honours +of the house." + +"I must be getting up every minute"-- + +"You do it so gracefully," replied the husband--"I will give all the +orders, and Celanire will second me." + +Mademoiselle was enchanted with the intention of her sire, and threw her +arms round his neck. + +"Oh yes! papa," she said, "invite as many as you can, I will learn to +play some country-dances that we may have a ball, and finish my head of +Belisarius--you must get it framed for the occasion." + +And the little Ascanius whooped and hollo'd in the middle of the room. +"I shall have tea and punch and cakes. I'll eat every thing!" + +After this conversation M. Lupot had set to work. He went to his friends +and his friends' friends--to people he hardly knew, and invited them to +his party, begging them to bring any body with them they liked. M. Lupot +had formerly sold rose-coloured paper to a musician, and drawing pencils +to an artist. He went to his ancient customers, and pressed them to come +and to bring their professional friends with them. In short, M. Lupot +was so prodigiously active that in four days he had run through nearly +the whole of Paris, caught an immense cold, and spent seven shillings in +cab hire. Giving an entertainment has its woes as well as its pleasures. + +The grand day, or rather the grand evening, at last arrived. All the +lamps were lighted, and they had even borrowed some from their +neighbours; for Celanire had discovered that their own three lamps +did not give light enough both for the public-room and the +supper-room--(which on ordinary occasions was a bed-chamber.) It was the +first time that M. Lupot had borrowed any thing--but also it was the +first time that M. Lupot gave a soiree. + +From the dawn of day M. Lupot was busy in preparation: He had ordered in +cakes and refreshments; bought sundry packs of cards, brushed the +tables, and tucked up the curtains. Madame Lupot had sat all the time +quietly on the sofa, ejaculating from time to time, "I'm afraid 'twill +be a troublesome business all this receiving company." + +Celanire had finished her Belisarius, who was an exact likeness of Blue +Beard, and whom they had honoured with a Gothic frame, and placed in a +conspicuous part of the room. Mademoiselle Lupot was dressed with +amazing care. She had a new gown, her hair plaited _a la Clotilde_. All +this must make a great sensation. Ascanius was rigged out in his best; +but this did not hinder him from kicking up a dust in the room, from +getting up on the furniture, handling the cards, and taking them to make +houses; from opening the cupboards, and laying his fingers on the cakes. + +Sometimes M. Lupot's patience gave way, and he cried, "Madame, I beg +you'll make your son be quiet." But Madame Lupot answered without +turning her head, "Make him quiet yourself, M. Lupot--You know very well +it's _your_ business to manage him." + +It was now eight o'clock, and nobody was yet arrived. Mademoiselle +looked at her father, who looked at his wife, who looked at her cat. The +father of the family muttered every now and then--"Are we to have our +grand soiree all to ourselves?" And he cast doleful looks on his lamps, +his tables, and all his splendid preparations. Mademoiselle Celanire +sighed and looked at her dress, and then looked in the mirror. Madame +Lupot was as unmoved as ever, and said, "Is this what we've turned every +thing topsy-turvy for?" As for little Ascanius, he jumped about the +room, and shouted, "If nobody comes, what lots of cakes we shall have!" +At last the bell rang. It is a family from the Rue St Denis, retired +perfumers, who have only retained so much of their ancient profession, +that they cover themselves all over with odours. When they enter the +room, you feel as if a hundred scent-bottles were opened at once. There +is such a smell of jasmine and vanille, that you have good luck if you +get off without a headache. Other people drop in. M. Lupot does not know +half his guests, for many of them are brought by others, and even these +he scarcely knows the names of. But he is enchanted with every thing. A +young fashionable is presented to him by some unknown third party, who +says, "This is one of our first pianists, who is good enough to give up +a great concert this evening to come here." The next is a famous singer, +a lion in musical parties, who is taken out every where, and who will +give one of his latest compositions, though unfortunately labouring +under a cold. This man won the first prize at the Conservatory, an +unfledged Boildieu, who will be a great composer of operas--when he can +get librettos to his music, and music to his librettos. The next is a +painter. He has shown at the exhibition--he has had wonderful success. +To be sure nobody bought his pictures, because he didn't wish to sell +them to people that couldn't appreciate them. In short, M. Lupot sees +nobody in his rooms that is not first-rate in some way or other. He is +delighted with the thought--ravished, transported. He can't find words +enough to express his satisfaction at having such geniuses in his house. +For their sakes he neglects his old friends--he scarcely speaks to them. +It seems the new-comers, people he has never seen before, are the only +people worthy of his attentions. Madame Lupot is tired of getting up, +curtsying, and sitting down again. But her daughter is radiant with joy; +her husband goes from room to room, rubbing his hands, as if he had +bought all Paris, and got it a bargain. And little Ascanius never comes +out of the bed-room without his mouth full. But it is not enough to +invite a large party; you must know how to amuse them; it is a thing +which very few people have the art of, even those most accustomed to +have soirees. In some you get tired, and you are in great ceremony; you +must restrict yourself to a conversation that is neither open, nor +friendly, nor amusing. In others, you are pestered to death by the +amphitryon, who is perhaps endowed with the bump of music, and won't +leave the piano for fear some one else should take his place. There are +others fond of cards, who only ask their friends that they may make up a +table. Such individuals care for nothing but the game, and don't trouble +themselves whether the rest of their guests are amused or not. Ah! there +are few homes that know how to receive their company, or make every body +pleased. It requires a tact, a cleverness, an absence of self, which +must surely be very unusual since we see so few specimens of them in the +soirees we attend. + +M. Lupot went to and fro--from the reception-room to the bed-chamber, +and back again--he smiled, he bowed, and rubbed his hands. But the +new-comers, who had not come to his house to see him smile and rub his +hands, began to say, in very audible whispers, "Ah, well, do people pass +the whole night here looking at each other? Very delightful--very!" + +M. Lupot has tried to start a conversation with a big man in spectacles, +with a neckcloth of great dimensions, and who makes extraordinary faces +as he looks round on the company. M. Lupot has been told, that the +gentleman with the large neckcloth is a literary man, and that he will +probably be good enough to read or recite some lines of his own +composition. The ancient stationer coughs three times before venturing +to address so distinguished a character, but says at last--"Enchanted to +see at my house a gentleman so--an author of such----" + +"Ah, you're the host here, are you?--the master of the house?"--said the +man in the neckcloth. + +"I flatter myself I am--with my wife, of course--the lady on the +sofa--you see her? My daughter, sir--she's the tall young lady, so +upright in her figure. She designs, and has an excellent touch on the +piano. I have a son also--a little fiend--it was he who crept this +minute between my legs--he's an extraordinary clev----" + +"There is one thing, sir," replied the big man, "that I can't +comprehend--a thing that amazes me--and that is, that people who live in +the Rue Grenetat should give parties. It is a miserable street--a horrid +street--covered eternally with mud--choked up with cars--a wretched part +of the town, dirty, noisy, pestilential--bah!" + +"And yet, sir, for thirty years I have lived here." + +"Oh Lord, sir, I should have died thirty times over! When people live in +the Rue Grenetat they should give up society, for you'll grant it is a +regular trap to seduce people into such an abominable street. I"---- + +M. Lupot gave up smiling and rubbing his hands. He moves off from the +big man in the spectacles, whose conversation had by no means amused +him, and he goes up to a group of young people who seem examining the +Belisarius of Mademoiselle Celanire. + +"They're admiring my daughter's drawing," said M. Lupot to himself; "I +must try to overhear what these artists are saying." The young people +certainly made sundry remarks on the performance, plentifully intermixed +with sneers of a very unmistakable kind. + +"Can you make out what the head is meant for?" + +"Not I. I confess I never saw any thing so ridiculous." + +"It's Belisarius, my dear fellow." + +"Impossible!--it's the portrait of some grocer, some relation, probably, +of the family--look at the nose--the mouth--" + +"It is intolerable folly to put a frame to such a daub." + +"They must be immensely silly." + +"Why, it isn't half so good as the head of the Wandering Jew at the top +of a penny ballad." + +M. Lupot has heard enough. He slips off from the group without a word, +and glides noiselessly to the piano. The young performer who had +sacrificed a great concert to come to his soiree, had sat down to the +instrument and run his fingers over the notes. + +"What a spinnet!" he cried--"what a wretched kettle! How can you expect +a man to perform on such a miserable instrument? The thing is +absurd--hear this A--hear this G--it's like a hurdygurdy--not one note +of it in tune!" But the performer stayed at the piano notwithstanding, +and played incessantly, thumping the keys with such tremendous force, +that every minute a chord snapped; when such a thing happened--he burst +into a laugh, and said, "Good! there's another gone--there will soon be +none left." + +M. Lupot flushed up to the ears. He felt very much inclined to say to +the celebrated performer, "Sir, I didn't ask you here to break all the +chords of my piano. Let the instrument alone if you don't like it, but +don't hinder other people from playing on it for our amusement." + +But the good M. Lupot did not venture on so bold a speech, which would +have been a very sensible speech nevertheless; and he stood quietly +while his chords were getting smashed, though it was by no means a +pleasant thing to do. + +Mademoiselle Celanire goes up to her father. She is distressed at the +way her piano is treated; she has no opportunity of playing her air; but +she hopes to make up for it by singing a romance, which one of their old +neighbours is going to accompany on the guitar. + +It is not without some difficulty that M. Lupot obtains silence for his +daughter's song. At sight of the old neighbour and his guitar a +smothered laugh is visible in the assembly. It is undeniable that the +gentleman is not unlike a respectable Troubadour with a barrel organ, +and that his guitar is like an ancient harp. There is great curiosity to +hear the old gentleman touch his instrument. He begins by beating time +with his feet and his head, which latter movement gives him very much +the appearance of a mandarin that you sometimes see on a mantelpiece. +Nevertheless Mademoiselle Lupot essays her ballad; but she can never +manage to overtake her accompanier, who, instead of following the +singer, seems determined to make no alteration in the movement of his +head and feet. The ballad is a failure--Celanire is confused, she has +mistaken her notes--she loses her recollection; and, instead of hearing +his daughter's praises, M. Lupot overhears the young people +whispering--"It wouldn't do in a beer-shop." + +"I must order in the tea," thought the ex-stationer--"it will perhaps +put them into good-humour." + +And M. Lupot rushes off to give instructions to the maid; and that old +individual, who has never seen such a company before, does not know how +to get on, and breaks cups and saucers without mercy, in the effort to +make haste. + +"Nannette, have you got ready the other things you were to bring in with +the tea?--the muffins--the cakes?" + +"Yes, sir"--replied Nannette--"all is ready--every thing will be in in a +moment." + +"But there is another thing I told you, Nannette--the sandwiches." + +"The witches, sir?--the sand?"--enquired the puzzled Nannette. + +"It is an English dish--I explained it to you before--slices of bread +and butter, with ham between." + +"Oh la, sir!" exclaimed the maid--"I have forgotten that ragout--oh +dear!" + +"Well--make haste, Nannette; get ready some immediately, while my +daughter hands round the tea and muffins--you can bring them in on a +tray." + +The old domestic hurries into the kitchen grumbling at the English +dainty, and cuts some slices of bread and covers them with butter; but +as she had never thought of the ham, she cogitates a long time how she +can supply the want of it--at last, on looking round, she discovers a +piece of beef that had been left at dinner. + +"Pardieu," she says, "I'll cut some lumps of this and put them on the +bread. With plenty of salt they'll pass very well for ham--they'll drive +me wild with their English dishes--they will." + +The maid speedily does as she says, and then hurries into the room with +a tray covered with her extempore ham sandwiches. + +Every body takes one,--for they have grown quite fashionable along with +tea. But immediately there is an universal murmur in the assembly. The +ladies throw their slices into the fire, the gentlemen spit theirs on +the furniture, and they cry--"why the devil do people give us things +like these?--they're detestable." + +"It's my opinion, God forgive me! the man means to feed us with scraps +from the pig-trough," says another. + +"It's a regular do, this soiree," says a third. + +"The tea is disgustingly smoked," says a fourth. + +"And all the little cakes look as if they had been fingered before," +says the fifth. + +"Decidedly they wish to poison us," says the big man in the neckcloth, +looking very morose. + +M. Lupot is in despair. He goes in search of Nannette, who has hidden +herself in the kitchen; and he busies himself in gathering up the +fragments of the bread and butter from the floor and the fireplace. + +Madame Lupot says nothing; but she is in very bad humour, for she has +put on a new cap, which she felt sure would be greatly admired; and a +lady has come to her and said-- + +"Ah, madame, what a shocking head-dress!--your cap is very +old-fashioned--those shapes are quite gone out." + +"And yet, madame," replies Madame Lupot, "I bought it, not two days ago, +in the Rue St Martin." + +"Well, madame--Is that the street you go to for the fashions? Go to +Mademoiselle Alexina Larose Carrefous Gaillon--you'll get delicious caps +there--new fashions and every thing so tasteful: for Heaven's sake, +madame, never put on that cap again. You look, at least, a hundred." + +"It's worth one's while, truly," thought Madame Lupot, "to tire one's +self to death receiving people, to be treated to such pretty +compliments." + +Her husband, in the meanwhile, continued his labours in pursuit of the +rejected sandwiches. + +The big man in spectacles, who wondered that people could live in the +Rue Grenetat, had no idea, nevertheless, of coming there for nothing. He +has seated himself in an arm-chair in the middle of the room, and +informs the company that he is going to repeat a few lines of his own to +them.--The society seems by no means enchanted with the announcement, +but forms itself in a circle, to listen to the poet. He coughs and +spits, wipes his mouth, tales a pinch of snuff, sneezes, has the lamps +raised, the doors shut, asks a tumbler of sugar and water, and passes +his hand through his hair. After continuing these operations for some +minutes, the literary man at last begins. He spouts his verses in a +voice enough to break the glasses; before he has spoken a minute, he has +presented a tremendous picture of crimes, and deaths, and scaffolds, +sufficient to appal the stoutest hearts, when suddenly a great crash +from the inner room attracts universal attention. It is the young +Ascanius, who was trying to get a muffin on the top of a pile of dishes, +and has upset the table, with muffin, and dishes, and all on his own +head. M. Lupot runs off to ascertain the cause of the dreadful cries of +his son; the company follow him, not a little rejoiced to find an excuse +for hearing no more of the poem; and the poet, deprived in this way of +an audience, gets up in a furious passion, takes his hat, and rushes +from the room, exclaiming--"It serves me right. How could I have been +fool enough to recite good verses in the Rue Grenetat!" + +Ascanius is brought in and roars lustily, for two of the dishes have +been broken on his nose; and as there is no chance now, either of poetry +or music, the party have recourse to cards--for it is impossible to sit +all night and do nothing. + +They make up a table at _bouillote_, and another at _ecarte_. M. Lupot +takes his place at the latter. He is forced to cover all the bets when +his side refuses; and M. Lupot, who never played higher than shilling +stakes in his life, is horrified when they tell him--"You must lay down +fifteen francs to equal our stakes." + +"Fifteen francs!" says M. Lupot, "what is the meaning of all this?" + +"It means, that you must make up the stakes of your side, to what we +have put down on this. The master of the house is always expected to +make up the difference." + +M. Lupot dare not refuse. He lays down his fifteen francs and loses +them; next game the deficiency is twenty. In short, in less than half an +hour, the ex-stationer loses ninety francs. His eyes start out of his +head--he scarcely knows where he is; and to complete his misery, the +opposite party, in lifting up the money they have won, upset one of the +lamps he had borrowed from his neighbours, and smashed it into fifty +pieces. + +At last the hour of separation comes. The good citizen has been anxious +for it for a long time. All his gay company depart, without even wishing +good-night to the host who has exerted himself so much for their +entertainment. The family of the Lupots are left alone; Madame, overcome +with fatigue, and vexed because her cap had been found fault with; +Celanire, with tears in her eyes, because her music and Belisarius had +been laughed at; and Ascanius sick and ill, because he has nearly burst +himself with cakes and muffins; M. Lupot was, perhaps, the unhappiest of +all, thinking of his ninety francs and the broken lamp. Old Annette +gathered up the crumbs of the sandwiches, and muttered--"Do they think +people make English dishes to have them thrown into the corners of the +room?" + +"It's done," said M. Lupot; "I shall give no more soirees. I begin to +think I was foolish in wishing to leave my own sphere. When people of +the same class lark and joke each other, it's all very well; but when +you meddle with your superiors, and they are uncivil, it hurts your +feelings. Their mockery is an insult, and you don't get over it soon. My +dear Celanire, I shall decidedly try to marry you to a stationer." + + * * * * * + + + + +THE WORLD OF LONDON. SECOND SERIES. PART III. + +THE ARISTOCRACIES OF LONDON LIFE. + +OF GENTILITY-MONGERING. + + +The HEAVY SWELL was recorded in our last for the admiration and +instruction of remote ages. When the nineteenth century shall be long +out of date, and centuries in general out of their _teens_, posterity +will revert to our delineation of the heavy swell with pleasure +undiminished, through the long succession of ages yet to come; the +macaroni, the fop, the dandy, will be forgotten, or remembered only in +our graphic portraiture of the heavy swell. But the heavy swell is, +after all, a harmless nobody. His curse, his besetting sin, his +_monomania_, is vanity tinctured with pride: his weak point can hardly +be called a crime, since it affects and injures nobody but himself, if, +indeed, it can be said to injure him who glories in his vocation--who is +the echo of a sound, the shadow of a shade. + +The GENTILITY-MONGERS, on the contrary, are positively noxious to +society, as well particular as general. There is a twofold or threefold +iniquity in their goings-on; they sin against society, their families, +and themselves; the whole business of their lives is a perversion of the +text of Scripture, which commandeth us, "in whatever station we are, +therewith to be content." + +The gentility-monger is a family man, having a house somewhere in +Marylebone, or Pancras parish. He is sometimes a man of independent +fortune--how acquired, nobody knows; that is his secret, his mystery. He +will let no one suppose that he has ever been in trade; because, when a +man intends gentility-mongering, it must never be known that he has +formerly carried on the tailoring, or the shipping, or the +cheese-mongering, or the fish-mongering, or any other mongering than the +gentility-mongering. His house is very stylishly furnished; that is to +say, as unlike the house of a man of fashion as possible--the latter +having only things the best of their kind, and for use; the former +displaying every variety of extravagant gimcrackery, to impress you with +a profound idea of combined wealth and taste, but which, to an educated +eye and mind only, conveys a lively idea of ostentation. When you call +upon a gentility-monger, a broad-shouldered, coarse, ungentlemanlike +footman, in Aurora plushes, ushers you to a drawing-room, where, on +tables round, and square, and hexagonal, are set forth jars, porcelain, +china, and delft; shells, spars; stuffed parrots under bell-glasses; +corals, minerals, and an infinity of trumpery, among which albums, +great, small, and intermediate, must by no means be forgotten. + +The room is papered with some _splendacious_ pattern in blue and gold; a +chandelier of imposing gingerbread depends from the richly ornamented +ceiling; every variety of ottoman, lounger, settee, is scattered about, +so that to get a chair involves the right-of-search question; the +bell-pulls are painted in Poonah; there is a Brussels carpet of flaming +colours, curtains with massive fringes, bad pictures in gorgeous frames; +prints, after Ross, of her Majesty and Prince Albert, of course; and +mezzotints of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel, for whom the +gentility-monger has a profound respect, and of whom he talks with a +familiarity showing that it is not _his_ fault, at least, if these +exalted personages do not admit him to the honour of their acquaintance. + +In fact, you see the drawing-room is not intended for sitting down in, +and when the lady appears, you are inclined to believe she never sits +down; at least the full-blown swell of that satin skirt seems never +destined to the compression of a chair. The conversation is as +usual--"Have you read the morning paper?"--meaning the Court Circular +and fashionable intelligence; "do you know whether the Queen is at +Windsor or Claremont, and how long her Majesty intends to remain; +whether town is fuller than it was, or not so full; when the next +Almacks' ball takes place; whether you were at the last drawing-room, +and which of the fair _debutantes_ you most admire; whether Tamburini is +to be denied us next year?" with many lamentations touching the possible +defection, as if the migrations of an opera thrush were of the least +consequence to any rational creature--of course you don't say so, but +lament Tamburini as if he were your father; "whether it is true that we +are to have the two Fannies, Taglioni and Cerito, this season; and what +a heaven of delight we shall experience from the united action of these +twenty supernatural pettitoes." You needn't express yourself after this +fashion, else you will shock miss, who lounges near you in an agony of +affected rapture: you must sigh, shrug your shoulders, twirl your cane, +and say "divine--yes--hope it may be so--exquisite--_exquisite_." This +naturally leads you to the last new songs, condescendingly exhibited to +you by miss, if you are _somebody_, (if _nobody_, miss does not appear;) +you are informed that "_My heart is like a pickled salmon_" is dedicated +to the Duchess of Mundungus, and thereupon you are favoured with sundry +passages (out of Debrett) upon the intermarriages, &c., of that +illustrious family; you are asked whether Bishop is the composer of "_I +saw her in a twinkling_," and whether the _minor_ is not fine? Miss +tells you she has transposed it from G to C, as suiting her voice +better--whereupon mamma acquaints you, that a hundred and twenty guineas +for a harp is moderate, she thinks; you think so too, taking that +opportunity to admire the harp, saying that you saw one exactly like it +at Lord (any Lord that strikes you) So-and-So's, in St James's Square. +This produces an invitation to dinner; and with many lamentations on +English weather, and an eulogium on the climate of Florence, you pay +your parting compliments, and take your leave. + +At dinner you meet a claret-faced Irish absentee, whose good society is +a good dinner, and who is too happy to be asked any where that a good +dinner is to be had; a young silky clergyman, in black curled whiskers, +and a white _choker_; one of the meaner fry of M.P.'s; a person who +_calls himself_ a foreign count; a claimant of a dormant peerage; a +baronet of some sort, not above the professional; sundry propriety-faced +people in yellow waistcoats, who say little, and whose social position +you cannot well make out; half-a-dozen ladies of an uncertain age, +dressed in grand style, with turbans of imposing _tournure_; and a +young, diffident, equivocal-looking gent who sits at the bottom of the +table, and whom you instinctively make out to be a family doctor, tutor, +or nephew, with expectations. No young ladies, unless the young ladies +of the family, appear at the dinner-parties of these gentility-mongers; +because the motive of the entertainment is pride, not pleasure; and +therefore prigs and frumps are in keeping, and young women with brains, +or power of conversation, would only distract attention from the grand +business of life, that is to say, dinner; besides, a seat at table here +is an object, where the expense is great, and nobody is asked for his or +her own sake, but for an object either of ostentation, interest, or +vanity. Hospitality never enters into the composition of a +gentility-monger: he gives a dinner, wine, and a shake of the hand, but +does not know what the word _welcome_ means: he says, now and then, to +his wife "My dear, I think we must give a dinner;" a dinner is +accordingly determined on, cards issued three weeks in advance, that you +may be premeditatedly dull; the dinner is gorgeous to repletion, that +conversation may be kept as stagnant as possible. Of those happy +surprize invitations--those unexpected extemporaneous dinners, that as +they come without thinking or expectation, so go off with _eclat_, and +leave behind the memory of a cheerful evening--he has no idea; a man of +fashion, whose place is fixed, and who has only himself to please, will +ask you to a slice of crimped cod and a hash of mutton, without +ceremony; and when he puts a cool bottle on the table, after a dinner +that he and his friend have really enjoyed, will never so much as +apologize with, "my dear sir, I fear you have had a wretched dinner," or +"I wish I had known: I should have had something better." This affected +depreciation of his hospitality he leaves to the gentility-monger, who +will insist on cramming you with fish, flesh, and fowls, till you are +like to burst; and then, by way of apology, get his guests to pay the +reckoning in plethoric laudation of his mountains of victual. + +If you wait in the drawing-room, kicking your heels for an hour after +the appointed time, although you arrived to a _minute_, as every +Christian does, you may be sure that somebody who patronizes the +gentility-monger, probably the Honourable Mr Sniftky, is expected, and +has not come. It is vain for you to attempt to talk to your host, +hostess, or miss, who are absorbed, body and soul, in expectation of +Honourable Sniftky; the propriety-faced people in the yellow waistcoats +attitudinize in groups about the room, putting one pump out, drawing the +other in, inserting the thumb gracefully in the arm-hole of the yellow +waistcoats, and talking _icicles_; the young fellows play with a sprig +of lily-of-the-valley in a button-hole--admire a flowing portrait of +miss, asking one another if it is not very like--or hang over the back +of a chair of one of the turbaned ladies, who gives good evening +parties; the host receives a great many compliments upon one thing and +another, from some of the professed diners-out, who take every +opportunity of paying for their dinner beforehand; every body freezes +with the chilling sensation of dinner deferred, and "curses, not loud +but deep," are imprecated on the Honourable Sniftky. At last, a +prolonged _rat-tat-tat_ announces the arrival of the noble beast, the +lion of the evening; the Honourable Sniftky, who is a junior clerk in +the Foreign Office, is announced by the footman out of livery, (for the +day,) and announces himself a minute after: he comes in a long-tailed +coat and boots, to show his contempt for his entertainers, and mouths a +sort of apology for keeping his betters waiting, which is received by +the gentility-monger, his lady, and miss, with nods, and becks, and +wreathed smiles of unqualified admiration and respect. + +As the order of precedence at the house of a gentility-monger is not +strictly understood, the host desires Honourable Sniftky to take down +miss; and calling out the names of the other guests, like muster-master +of the guards, pairs them, and sends them down to the dining-room, where +you find the nephew, or family doctor, (or whatever he is,) who has +inspected the arrangement of the table, already in waiting. + +You take your place, not without that excess of ceremony that +distinguishes the table of a gentility-monger; the Honourable Sniftky, +_ex-officio_, takes his place between mamma and miss, glancing vacancy +round the table, lest any body should think himself especially honoured +by a fixed stare; covers are removed by the mob of occasional waiters in +attendance, and white soup and brown soup, thick and heavy as judges of +assize, go circuit. + +Then comes hobnobbing, with an interlocutory dissertation upon a +_plateau, candelabrum_, or some other superfluous machine, in the centre +of the table. One of the professed diners-out, discovers for the +twentieth time an inscription in dead silver on the pedestal, and +enquires with well-affected ignorance whether that is a _present_; the +gentility-monger asks the diner-out to wine, as he deserves, then enters +into a long apologetical self-laudation of his exertions in behalf of +the CANNIBAL ISLANDS, ABORIGINES, PROTECTION, AND BRITISH SUBJECT +TRANSPORTATION SOCIETY, (some emigration crimping scheme, in short,) in +which his humble efforts to diffuse civilization and promote +Christianity, however unworthy, ("No, no!" from the diner-out,) gained +the esteem of his fellow-labourers, and the approbation of his own +con----"Shall I send you some fish, sir?" says the man at the foot of +the table, addressing himself to the Honourable Sniftky, and cutting +short the oration. + +A monstrous salmon and a huge turbot are now dispensed to the hungry +multitude; the gentility-monger has no idea that the biggest turbot is +not the best; he knows it is the _dearest_, and that is enough for him; +he would have his dishes like his cashbook, to show at a glance how much +he has at his banker's. When the flesh of the guests has been +sufficiently fishified, there is an _interregnum_, filled up with +another circuit of wine, until the arrival of the _pieces de +resistance_, the imitations of made dishes, and the usual _etceteras_. +The conversation, meanwhile, is carried on in a _staccato_ style; a +touch here, a hit there, a miss almost every where; the Honourable +Sniftky turning the head of mamma with affected compliments, and +hobnobbing to himself without intermission. After a sufficiently tedious +interval, the long succession of wasteful extravagance is cleared away +with the upper tablecloth; the dowagers, at a look from our hostess, +rise with dignity and decorously retire, miss modestly bringing up the +rear--the man at the foot of the table with the handle of the door in +one hand, and a napkin in the other, bowing them out. + +Now the host sings out to the Honourable Sniftky to draw his chair +closer and be jovial, as if people, after an oppressively expensive +dinner, can be jovial _to order_. The wine goes round, and laudations go +with it; the professed diners-out enquire the vintage; the Honourable Mr +Sniftky intrenches himself behind a rampart of fruit dishes, speaking +only when he is spoken to, and glancing inquisitively at the several +speakers, as much as to say, "What a fellow you are, to talk;" the host +essays a _bon-mot_, or tells a story bordering on the _ideal_, which he +thinks is fashionable, and shows that he knows life; the Honourable +Sniftky drinks claret from a beer-glass, and after the third bottle +affects to discover his mistake, wondering what he could be thinking of; +this produces much laughter from all save the professed diners-out, who +dare not take such a liberty, and is _the_ jest of the evening. + +When the drinkers, drinkables, and talk are quite exhausted, the noise +of a piano recalls to our bewildered recollections the ladies, and we +drink their healths: the Honourable Sniftky, pretending that it is +foreign-post night at the Foreign Office, walks off without even a bow +to the assembled diners, the gentility-monger following him submissively +to the door; then returning, tells us that he's sorry Sniftky's gone, +he's such a good-natured fellow, while the gentleman so characterized +gets into his cab, drives to his club, and excites the commiseration of +every body there, by relating how he was bored with an old _ruffian_, +who insisted upon his (Sniftky's) going to dinner in Bryanston Square; +at which there are many "Oh's!" and "Ah's!" and "what could you +expect?--Bryanston Square!--served you right." + +In the mean time, the guests, relieved of the presence of the Honourable +Sniftky, are rather more at their ease; a baronet (who was lord mayor, +or something of that sort) waxes jocular, and gives decided indications +of something like "how came you so;" the man at the foot of the table +contradicts one of the diners-out, and is contradicted in turn by the +baronet; the foreign count is in deep conversation with a hard-featured +man, supposed to be a stockjobber; the clergyman extols the labours of +the host in the matter of the Cannibal Islands' Aborigines Protection +Society, in which his reverence takes an interest; the claimant of the +dormant peerage retails his pedigree, pulling to pieces the +attorney-general, who has expressed an opinion hostile to his +pretensions. + +In the mean time, the piano is joined by a harp, in musical solicitation +of the company to join the ladies in the drawing-room; they do so, +looking flushed and plethoric, sink into easy-chairs, sip tea, the +younger beaux turning over, with miss, Books of Beauty and Keepsakes: at +eleven, coaches and cabs arrive, you take formal leave, expressing with +a melancholy countenance your sense of the delightfulness of the +evening, get to your chambers, and forget, over a broiled bone and a +bottle of Dublin stout, in what an infernal, prosy, thankless, +stone-faced, yellow-waistcoated, unsympathizing, unintellectual, +selfish, stupid set you have been condemned to pass an afternoon, +assisting, at the ostentatious exhibition of vulgar wealth, where +gulosity has been unrelieved by one single sally of wit, humour, +good-nature, humanity, or charity; where you come without a welcome, and +leave without a friend. + +The whole art of the gentility-mongers of all sorts in London, and _a +fortiori_ of their wives and families, is to lay a tax upon social +intercourse as nearly as possible amounting to a prohibition; their +dinners are criminally wasteful, and sinfully extravagant to this end; +to this end they insist on making _price_ the test of what they are +pleased to consider _select society_ in their own sets, and they +consequently cannot have a dance without guinea tickets nor a _pic-nic_ +without dozens of champagne. This shows their native ignorance and +vulgarity more than enough; genteel people go upon a plan directly +contrary, not merely enjoying themselves, but enjoying themselves +without extravagance or waste: in this respect the gentility-mongers +would do well to imitate people of fashion. + +The exertions a gentility-monger will make, to rub his skirts against +people above him; the humiliations, mortifications, snubbing, he will +submit to, are almost incredible. One would hardly believe that a +retired tradesman, of immense wealth, and enjoying all the respect that +immense wealth will secure, should actually offer large sums of money to +a lady of fashion, as an inducement to procure for him cards of +invitation to her _set_, which he stated was the great object of his +existence. Instead of being indignant at his presumption, the lady in +question, pitying the poor man's folly, attempted to reason with him, +assuring him with great truth that whatever might be his wealth, his +power or desire of pleasing, he would be rendered unhappy and +ridiculous, by the mere dint of pretension to a circle to which he had +no legitimate claim, and advising him, as a friend, to attempt some more +laudable and satisfactory ambition. + +All this good advice was, however, thrown away; our gentility-monger +persevered, contriving somehow to gain a passport to some of the _outer_ +circles of fashionable life; was ridiculed, laughed at, and honoured +with the _soubriquet_ (he was a pianoforte maker) of the _Semi-Grand_! + +We know another instance, where two young men, engaged in trade in the +city, took a splendid mansion at the West End, furnished it sumptuously, +got some desperate knight or baronet's widow to give parties at their +house, inviting whomsoever she thought proper, at their joint expense. +It is unnecessary to say, the poor fellows succeeded in getting into +good society, not indeed in the _Court Circular_, but in the--_Gazette_. + +There is another class of gentility-mongers more to be pitied than the +last; those, namely, who are endeavouring to "make a connexion," as the +phrase is, by which they may gain advancement in their professions, and +are continually on the look-out for introductions to persons of quality, +their hangers-on and dependents. There is too much of this sort of thing +among medical men in London, the family nature of whose profession +renders connexion, private partiality, and personal favour, more +essential to them than to others. The lawyer, for example, need not be a +gentility-monger; he has only to get round attorneys, for the +opportunity to show what he can do, when he has done this, in which a +little toadying, "_on the sly_," is necessary--all the rest is easy. The +court and the public are his judges; his powers are at once appreciable, +his talent can be calculated, like the money in his pocket; he can now +go on straight forward, without valuing the individual preference or +aversion of any body. + +But a profession where men make way through the whisperings of women, +and an inexhaustible variety of _sotto voce_ contrivances, must needs +have a tendency to create a subserviency of spirit and of manner, which +naturally directs itself into gentility-mongering: where realities, such +as medical experience, reading, and skill, are remotely, or not at all, +appreciable, we must take up with appearances; and of all appearances, +the appearance of proximity to people of fashion is the most taking and +seductive to people _not_ of fashion. It is for this reason that a +rising physician, if he happen to have a lord upon his sick or visiting +list, never has done telling his plebeian patients the particulars of +his noble case, which they swallow like almond milk, finding it an +excellent _placebo_. + +As it is the interest of a gentility-monger, and his constant practice, +to be attended by a fashionable physician, in order that he may be +enabled continually to talk of what Sir Henry thinks of this, and how +Sir Henry objects to that, and the opinion of Sir Henry upon t'other, so +it is the business of the struggling doctor to be a gentility-monger, +with the better chance of becoming one day or other a fashionable +physician. Acting on this principle, the poor man must necessarily have +a house in a professional neighbourhood, which usually abuts upon a +neighbourhood fashionable or exclusive; he must hire a carriage by the +month, and be for ever stepping in and out of it, at his own door, +keeping it purposely bespattered with mud to show the extent of his +visiting acquaintance; he must give dinners to people "who _may_ be +useful," and be continually on the look-out for those lucky accidents +which have made the fortunes, and, as a matter of course, the _merit_, +of so many professional men. + +He becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society, which gives him the chance of +conversing with a lord, and the right of entering a lord's (the +president's) house, which is turned into sandwich-shop four times a-year +for his reception; this, being the nearest approach he makes to +acquaintance with great personages, he values with the importance it +deserves. + +His servants, with famine legibly written on their bones, are assiduous +and civil; his wife, though half-starved, is very genteel, and at her +dinner parties burns candle-ends from the palace.[48] + + [48] In a wax-chandler's shop in Piccadilly, opposite St. + James's Street, may be seen stumps, or, as the Scotch call + them, _doups_ of wax-lights, with the announcement "Candle-ends + from Buckingham Palace." These are eagerly bought up by the + gentility-mongers, who burn, or it may be, in the excess of + their loyalty, _eat_ them! + +If you pay her a morning visit, you will have some such conversation as +follows. + +"Pray, Mr ----, is there any news to-day?" + +"Great distress, I understand, throughout the country." + +"Indeed--the old story, shocking--very.--Pray, have you heard the +delightful news? The Princess-Royal has actually cut a tooth!" + +"Indeed?" + +"Yes, I assure you; and the sweet little royal love of a martyr has +borne it like a hero." + +"Positively?" + +"Positively, I assure you; Doctor Tryiton has just returned from a +consultation with his friend Sir Henry, upon a particularly difficult +case--Lord Scruffskin--case of elephantiasis I think they call it, and +tells me that Sir Henry has arrives express from Windsor with the news." + +"Indeed!" + +"Do you think, Mr ----, there will be a general illumination?" + +"Really, madam, I cannot say." + +"_There ought to be_, [with emphasis.] You must know, Mr ----, Dr +Tryiton has forwarded to a high quarter a beautifully bound copy of his +work on ulcerated sore throat; he says there is a great analogy between +ulcers of the throat and den--den--den--something, I don't know +what--teething, in short. If nothing comes of it, Dr Tryiton, thank +Heaven, can do without it; but you know, Mr ----, it may, on a future +occasion, be _useful to our family_." + +If there is, in the great world of London, one thing more spirit-sinking +than another, it is to see men condemned, by the necessities of an +overcrowded profession, to sink to the meannesses of pretension for a +desperate accident by which they may insure success. When one has had an +opportunity of being behind the scenes, and knowing what petty shifts, +what poor expedients of living, what anxiety of mind, are at the bottom +of all this empty show, one will not longer marvel that many born for +better things should sink under the difficulties of their position, or +that the newspapers so continually set forth the miserably unprovided +for condition in which they so often are compelled to leave their +families. To dissipate the melancholy that always oppresses us when +constrained to behold the ridiculous antics of the gentility-mongers, +which we chronicle only to endeavour at a reformation--let us contrast +the hospitality of those who, with wiser ambition, keep themselves, as +the saying is, "_to themselves_;" and, as a bright example, let us +recollect our old friend Joe Stimpson. + +Joe Stimpson is a tanner and leather-seller in Bermondsey, the architect +of his own fortune, which he has raised to the respectable elevation of +somewhere about a quarter of a million sterling. He is now in his +seventy-second year, has a handsome house, without and pretension, +overlooking his tanyard. He has a joke upon prospects, calling you to +look from the drawing-room window at his tanpits, asking you if you ever +saw any thing like that at the west end of the town; replying in the +negative, Joe, chuckling, observes that it is the finest prospect _he_ +ever saw in his life, and although he has been admiring it for half a +century, he has not done admiring it yet. Joe's capacity for the +humorous may be judged of by this specimen; but in attention to business +few can surpass him, while his hospitality can command a wit whenever he +chooses to angle for one with a good dinner. He has a wife, a venerable +old smiling lady in black silk, neat cap, and polished shoes; three +daughters, unmarried; and a couple of sons, brought up, after the London +fashion, to inherit their father's business, or, we might rather say, +_estate_. + +Why the three Miss Stimpsons remain unmarried, we cannot say, nor would +it be decorous to enquire; but hearing them drop a hint now and then +about visits, "a considerable time ago," to Brighthelmstone and Bath, we +are led, however reluctantly in the case of ladies _now_ evangelical, to +conclude, their attention has formerly been directed to +gentility-mongering at these places of fashionable resort; the tanyard +acting as a repellent to husbands of a social position superior to their +own, and their great fortunes operating in deterring worthy persons of +their own station from addressing them; or being the means of inducing +them to be too prompt with refusals, these amiable middle-aged young +ladies are now "on hands," paying the penalty of one of the many curses +that pride of wealth brings in its train. At present, however, their +"affections are set on things above;" and, without meaning any thing +disrespectful to my friend Joe Stimpson, Sarah, Harriet, and Susan +Stimpson are certainly the three least agreeable members of the family. +The sons are, like all other sons in the houses of their fathers, +steady, business-like, unhappy, and dull; they look like fledged birds +in the nest of the old ones, out of place; neither servants nor masters, +their social position is somewhat equivocal, and having lived all their +lives in the house of their father, seeing as he sees, thinking as he +thinks, they can hardly be expected to appear more than a brace of +immature Joe Stimpsons. They are not, it is true, tainted with much of +the world's wickedness, neither have they its self-sustaining trials, +its hopes, its fears, its honest struggles, or that experience which is +gathered only by men who quit, when they can quit it, the petticoat +string, and the paternal despotism of even a happy home. As for the old +couple, time, although silvering the temples and furrowing the front, is +hardly seen to lay his heavy hand upon the shoulder of either, much less +to put his finger on eyes, ears, or lips--the two first being yet as +"wide awake," and the last as open to a joke, or any other good thing, +as ever they were; in sooth, it is no unpleasing sight to see this jolly +old couple with nearly three half centuries to answer for, their +affection unimpaired, faculties unclouded, and temper undisturbed by the +near approach, beyond hope of respite, of that stealthy foe whose +assured advent strikes terror to us all. Joe Stimpson, if he thinks of +death at all, thinks of him as a pitiful rascal, to be kicked down +stairs by the family physician; the Bible of the old lady is seldom far +from her hand, and its consolations are cheering, calming, and assuring. +The peevish fretfulness of age has nothing in common with man or wife, +unless when Joe, exasperated with his evangelical daughters' continual +absence at the class-meetings, and love-feasts, and prayer-meetings, +somewhat indignantly complains, that "so long as they can get to heaven, +they don't care who goes to ----," a place that Virgil and Tasso have +taken much pains in describing, but which the old gentleman sufficiently +indicates by one emphatic monosyllable. + +Joe is a liberal-minded man, hates cant and humbug, and has no +prejudices--hating the French he will not acknowledge is a prejudice, +but considers the bounden duty of an Englishman; and, though fierce +enough upon other subjects of taxation, thinks no price too high for +drubbing them. He was once prevailed upon to attempt a journey to Paris; +but having got to Calais, insisted upon returning by the next packet, +swearing it was a shabby concern, and he had seen enough of it. + +He takes in the _Gentleman's Magazine,_ because his father did it before +him--but he never reads it; he takes pride in a corpulent dog, which is +ever at his heels; he is afflicted with face-ache, and swears at any +body who calls it _tic-douloureux._ + +When you go to dine with him, you are met at the door by a rosy-checked +lass, with ribands in her cap, who smiles a hearty welcome, and assures +you, though an utter stranger, of the character of the house and its +owner. You are conducted to the drawing-room, a plain, substantial, +_honest_-looking apartment; there you find the old couple, and are +received with a warmth that gives assurance of the nearest approach to +what is understood by _home_. The sons, released from business, arrive, +shake you heartily by the hand, and are really glad to see you; of the +daughters we say nothing, as there is nothing in _them_. + +The other guests of the day come dropping in--all straightforward, +business-like, free, frank-hearted fellows--aristocrats of wealth, the +best, because the _unpretending_, of their class; they come, too, +_before_ their time, for they know their man, and that Joe Stimpson +keeps nobody waiting for nobody. When the clock--for here is no +_gong_--strikes five, you descend to dinner; plain, plentiful, good, and +well dressed; no tedious course, with long intervals between; no +oppressive _set-out_ of superfluous plate, and what, perhaps, is not the +least agreeable accessory, no piebald footmen hanging over your chair, +whisking away your plate before you have done with it, and watching +every bit you put into your mouth. + +Your cherry-cheeked friend and another, both in the family from +childhood, (another good sign of the house,) and looking as if they +really were glad--and so they are--to have an opportunity of obliging +you, do the servitorial offices of the table; you are sure of a glass of +old sherry, and you may call for strong beer, or old port, with your +cheese--or, if a Scotchman, for a dram--without any other remark than an +invitation to "try it again, and make yourself comfortable." + +After dinner, you are invited, as a young man, to smoke a cigar with the +"boys," as Joe persists in calling them. You ascend to a bed-room, and +are requested to keep your head out o' window while smoking, lest the +"Governor" should snuff the fumes when he comes up stairs to bed: while +you are "craning" your neck, the cherry-cheeked lass enters with brandy +and water, and you are as merry and easy as possible. The rest of the +evening passes away in the same unrestrained interchange of friendly +courtesy; nor are you permitted to take your leave without a promise to +dine on the next Sunday or holiday--Mrs Stimpson rating you for not +coming last Easter Sunday, and declaring she cannot think "why young men +should mope by themselves, when she is always happy to see them." + +Honour to Joe Stimpson and his missus! They have the true _ring_ of the +ancient coin of hospitality; none of your hollow-sounding _raps_: they +know they have what I want, _a home_, and they will not allow me, at +their board, to know that I want one: they compassionate a lonely, +isolated man, and are ready to share with him the hearty cheer and +unaffected friendliness of their English fireside: they know that they +can get nothing by me, nor do they ever dream of an acknowledgment for +their kindness; but I owe them for many a social day redeemed from +cheerless solitude; many an hour of strenuous labour do I owe to the +relaxation of the old wainscotted dining-room at Bermondsey. + +Honour to Joe Stimpson, and to all who are satisfied with their station, +happy in their home, have no repinings after empty sounds of rank and +shows of life; and who extend the hand of friendly fellowship to the +homeless, _because they have no home_! + + +THE ARISTOCRACY OF TALENT. + + "There is a quantity of talent latent among men, ever rising to + the level of the great occasions that call it forth." + +This illustration, borrowed by Sir James Mackintosh from chemical +science, and so happily applied, may serve to indicate the undoubted +truth, that talent is a _growth_ as much as a _gift_; that circumstances +call out and develop its latent powers; that as soil, flung upon the +surface from the uttermost penetrable depths of earth, will be found to +contain long-dormant germs of vegetable life, so the mind of man, acted +upon by circumstances, will ever be found equal to a certain sum of +production--the amount of which will be chiefly determined by the force +and direction of the external influence which first set it in motion. + +The more we reflect upon this important subject, we shall find the more, +that external circumstances have an influence upon intellect, increasing +in an accumulating ratio; that the political institutions of various +countries have their fluctuating and contradictory influences; that +example controls in a great degree intellectual production, causing +after-growths, as it were, of the first luxuriant crop of masterminds, +and giving a character and individuality to habits of thought and modes +of expression; in brief, that great occasions will have great +instruments, and there never was yet a noted time that had not noted +men. Dull, jog-trot, money-making, commercial times will make, if they +do not find, dull, jog-trot, money-making, commercial men: in times when +ostentation and expense are the measures of respect, when men live +rather for the world's opinion than their own, poverty becomes not only +the evil but the shame, not only the curse but the disgrace, and will be +shunned by every man as a pestilence; every one will fling away +immortality, to avoid it; will sink, as far as he can, his art in his +trade; and _he_ will be the greatest genius who can turn most money. + +It may be urged that true genius has the power not only to _take_ +opportunities, but to make them: true, it may make such opportunities as +the time in which it lives affords; but these opportunities will be +great or small, noble or ignoble, as the time is eventful or otherwise. +All depends upon the time, and you might as well have expected a Low +Dutch epic poet in the time of the great herring fishery, as a Napoleon, +a Demosthenes, a Cicero in this, by some called the nineteenth, but +which we take leave to designate the "_dot-and-carry-one_" century. If a +Napoleon were to arise at any corner of any London street, not five +seconds would elapse until he would be "_hooked_" off to the +station-house by Superintendent DOGSNOSE of the D division, with an +exulting mob of men and boys hooting at his heels: if Demosthenes or +Cicero, disguised as Chartist orators, mounting a tub at Deptford, were +to Philippicize, or entertain this motley auditory with speeches against +Catiline or Verres, straightway the Superintendent of the X division, +with a _posse_ of constables at his heels, dismounts the patriot orator +from his tub, and hands him over to a plain-spoken business-like justice +of the peace, who regards an itinerant Cicero in the same unsympathizing +point of view with any other vagabond. + +What is become of the eloquence of the bar? Why is it that flowery +orators find no grist coming to their mills? How came it that, at +Westminster Hall, Charles Philips missed his market? What is the reason, +that if you step into the Queen's Bench, or Common Pleas, or Exchequer, +you will hear no such thing as a speech--behold no such animal as an +orator--only a shrewd, plain, hard-working, steady man, called an +attorney-general, or a sergeant, or a leading counsel, quietly talking +over a matter of law with the judge, or a matter of fact with the jury, +like men of business as they are, and shunning, as they would a +rattlesnake, all clap-trap arguments, figures, flowers, and the obsolete +embroidery of rhetoric? + +The days of romantic eloquence are fled--the great constitutional +questions that called forth "thoughts that breathe, and words that +burn," from men like Erskine, are _determined_. Would you have men +oratorical over a bottomry bond, Demosthenic about an action of trespass +on the case, or a rule to compute? + +To be sure, when Follett practised before committees of the House of +Commons, and, by chance, any question involving points of interest and +difficulty in Parliamentary law and practice came before the Court, +there was something worth hearing: the _opportunity_ drew out the _man_, +and the _orator_ stepped before the _advocate_. Even now, sometimes, it +is quite refreshing to get a topic in these Courts worthy of Austin, and +Austin working at it. But no man need go to look for orators in our +ordinary courts of law; judgment, patience, reading, and that rare +compound of qualities known and appreciated by the name of _tact_, tell +with judges, and influence juries; the days of _palaver_ are gone, and +the talking heroes extinguished for ever. + +All this is well known in London; but the three or four millions (it may +be _five_) of great men, philosophers, poets, orators, patriots, and the +like, in the rural districts, require to be informed of this our +declension from the heroics, in order to appreciate, or at least to +understand, the modesty, sobriety, business-like character, and division +of labour, in the vast amount of talent abounding in every department of +life in London. + +London overflows with talent. You may compare it, for the purpose of +illustration, to one of George Robins' patent filters, into which pours +turbid torrents of Thames water, its sediment, mud, dirt, weeds, and +rottenness; straining through the various _strata_, its grosser +particles are arrested in their course, and nothing that is not pure, +transparent, and limpid is transmitted. In the great filter of London +life, conceit, pretension, small provincial abilities, _pseudo_-talent, +_soi-disant_ intellect, are tried, rejected, and flung out again. True +genius is tested by judgment, fastidiousness, emulation, difficulty, +privation; and, passing through many ordeals, persevering, makes its way +through all; and at length, in the fulness of time, flows forth, in +acknowledged purity and refinement, upon the town. + +There is a perpetual onward, upward tendency in the talent, both high +and low, mechanical and intellectual, that abounds in London: + + "Emulation hath a thousand sons," + +who are ever and always following fast upon your heels. There is no time +to dawdle or linger on the road, no "stop and go on again:" if you but +step aside to fasten your shoe-tie, your place is occupied--you are +edged off, pushed out of the main current, and condemned to circle +slowly in the lazy eddy of some complimenting clique. Thousands are to +be found, anxious and able to take your place; while hardly one misses +you, or turns his head to look after you should you lose your own: you +_live_ but while you _labour_, and are no longer remembered than while +you are reluctant to repose. + +Talent of all kinds brings forth perfect fruits, only when concentrated +upon one object: no matter how versatile men may be, mankind has a wise +and salutary prejudice against diffused talent; for although _knowledge_ +diffused immortalizes itself, diffused _talent_ is but a shallow pool, +glittering in the noonday sun, and soon evaporated; _concentrated_, it +is a well, from whose depths perpetually may we draw the limpid waters. +Therefore is the talent of London concentrated, and the division of +labour minute. When we talk of a lawyer, a doctor, a man of letters, in +a provincial place, we recognize at once a man who embraces all that his +opportunities present him with, in whatever department of his +profession. The lawyer is, at one and the same time, advocate, chamber +counsel, conveyancer, pleader; the doctor an accoucheur, apothecary, +physician, surgeon, dentist, or at least, in a greater or less degree, +unites in his own person, these--in London, distinct and +separate--professions, according as his sphere of action is narrow or +extended; the country journalist is sometimes proprietor, editor, +sub-editor, traveller, and canvasser, or two or more of these +heterogeneous and incompatible avocations. The result is, an obvious, +appreciable, and long-established superiority in that product which is +the result of minutely divided labour. + +The manufacture of a London watch or piano will employ, each, at least +twenty trades, exclusive of the preparers, importers, and venders of the +raw material used in these articles; every one of these tradesmen shall +be nay, _must_ be, the best of their class, or at least the best that +can be obtained; and for this purpose, the inducements of high wages are +held out to workmen generally, and their competition for employment +enables the manufacturer to secure the most skilful. It is just the same +with a broken-down constitution, or a lawsuit: the former shall be +placed under the care of a lung-doctor, a liver-doctor, a heart-doctor, +a dropsy-doctor, or whatever other doctor is supposed best able to +understand the case; each of these doctors shall have read lectures and +published books, and made himself known for his study and exclusive +attention to one of the "thousand ills that flesh is heir to:" the +latter shall go through the hands of dozens of men skilful in that +branch of the law connected with the particular injury. So it is with +every thing else of production, mechanical or intellectual, or both, +that London affords: the extent of the market permits the minute +division of labour, and the minute division of labour reacts upon the +market, raising the price of its produce, and branding it with the signs +of a legitimate superiority. + +Hence the superior intelligence of working men, of all classes, high and +low, in the World of London; hence that striving after excellence, that +never-ceasing tendency to advance in whatever they are engaged in, that +so distinguishes the people of this wonderful place; hence the +improvements of to-day superseded by the improvements of to-morrow; +hence speculation, enterprize, unknown to the inhabitants of less +extended spheres of action. + +Competition, emulation, and high wages give us an aristocracy of talent, +genius, skill, _tact_, or whatever you like to call it; but you are by +no means to understand that any of these aristocracies, or better +classes, stand prominently before their fellows _socially_, or, that one +is run after in preference to another; nobody runs after anybody in the +World of London. + +In this respect, no capital, no country on the face of the earth, +resembles us; every where else you will find a leading class, giving a +tone to society, and moulding it in some one or other direction; a +predominating _set_, the pride of those who are _in_, the envy of those +who are _below_ it. There is nothing of this kind in London; here every +man has his own set, and every man his proper pride. In every set, +social or professional, there are great names, successful men, prominent; +but the set is nothing the greater for them: no man sheds any lustre +upon his fellows, nor is a briefless barrister a whit more thought of +because he and Lyndhurst are of the same profession. + +Take a look at other places: in money-getting places, you find society +following, like so many dogs, the aristocracy of 'Change: every man +knows the worth of every other man, that is to say, _what_ he is worth. + +A good man, elsewhere a relative term, is _there_ a man good for _so_ +much; hats are elevated and bodies depressed upon a scale of ten +thousand pounds to an inch; "I hope you are well," from one of the +aristocracy of these places is always translated to mean, "I hope you +are solvent," and "how d'ye do?" from another, is equivalent to "doing a +bill." + +Go abroad, to Rome for example--You are smothered beneath the petticoats +of an ecclesiastical aristocracy. Go to the northern courts of +Europe--You are ill-received, or perhaps not received at all, save in +military uniform; the aristocracy of the epaulet meets you at every +turn, and if you are not at least an ensign of militia, you are nothing. +Make your way into Germany--What do you find there? an aristocracy of +functionaries, mobs of nobodies living upon everybodies; from Herr Von, +Aulic councillor, and Frau Von, Aulic councilloress, down to Herr Von, +crossing-sweeper, and Frau Von, crossing-sweeperess--for the women there +must be _better_-half even in their titles--you find society led, or, to +speak more correctly, society _consisting_ of functionaries, and they, +every office son of them, and their wives--nay, their very curs--alike +insolent and dependent. "Tray, Blanche, and Sweetheart, see they bark at +_me_!" There, to get into society, you must first get into a place: you +must contrive to be the _servant_ of the public before you are permitted +to be the _master_: you must be paid by, before you are in a condition +to despise, the _canaille_. + +Passing Holland and Belgium as more akin to the genius of the English +people, as respects the supremacy of honest industry, its independent +exercise, and the comparative insignificance of aristocracies, +conventionally so called, we come to FRANCE: there we find a provincial +and a Parisian aristocracy--the former a servile mob of placemen, one in +fifty, at least, of the whole population; and the latter--oh! my poor +head, what a _clanjaffrey_ of _journalistes, feuilletonistes, artistes_, +dramatists, novelists, _vaudivellistes_, poets, literary ladies, lovers +of literary ladies, _hommes de lettres, claqueurs, litterateurs, +gerants, censeurs, rapporteurs_, and _le diable boiteux_ verily knows +what else! + +These people, with whom, or at least with a great majority of whom, +common sense, sobriety of thought, consistency of purpose, steady +determination in action, and sound reasoning, are so sadly eclipsed by +their vivacity, _empressement_, prejudice, and party zeal, form a +prominent, indeed, _the_ prominent aristocracy of the _salons_: and only +conceive what must be the state of things in France, when we know that +Paris acts upon the provinces, and that Paris is acted upon by this +foolscap aristocracy, without station, or, what is perhaps worse, +enjoying station without property; abounding in maddening and exciting +influences, but lamentably deficient in those hard-headed, +_ungenius-like_ qualities of patience, prudence, charity, forbearance, +and peace-lovings, of which their war-worn nation, more than any other +in Europe, stands in need. + +When, in the name of goodness, is the heart of the philanthropist to be +gladdened with the desire of peace fulfilled over the earth? When are +paltry family intrigues to cease, causing the blood of innocent +thousands to be shed? When will the aristocracy of genius in France give +over jingling, like castanets, their trashy rhymes "_gloire_" and +"_victoire_," and apply themselves to objects worthy of creatures +endowed with the faculty of reason? Or, if they must have fighting, if +it is their nature, if the prime instinct with them is the thirst of +human blood, how cowardly, how paltry, is it to hound on their +fellow-countrymen to war with England, to war with Spain, to war with +every body, while snug in their offices, doing their little best to +bleed nations with their pen! + +Why does not the foolscap aristocracy rush forth, inkhorn in hand, and +restore the glories (as they call them) of the Empire, nor pause till +they mend their pens victorious upon the brink of the Rhine. + +To resume: the aristocracies of our provincial capitals are those of +literature in the one, and lickspittling in the other: mercantile towns +have their aristocracies of money, or muckworm aristocracies: Rome has +an ecclesiastical--Prussia, Russia, military aristocracies: Germany, an +aristocracy of functionaries: France has two, or even three, great +aristocracies--the military, place-hunting, and foolscap. + +Now, then, attend to what we are going to say: London is cursed with no +predominating, no overwhelming, no _characteristic_ aristocracy. There +is no _set_ or _clique_ of any sort or description of men that you can +point to, and say, that's the London set. We turn round and desire to be +informed what set do you mean: every _salon_ has its set, and every +pot-house its set also; and the frequenters of each set are neither +envious of the position of the other, nor dissatisfied with their own: +the pretenders to fashion, or hangers-on upon the outskirts of high +life, are alone the servile set, or spaniel set, who want the proper +self-respecting pride which every distinct aristocracy maintains in the +World of London. + +We are a great firmament, a moonless azure, glowing with stars of all +magnitudes, and myriads of _nebulae_ of no magnitudes at all: we move +harmoniously in our several orbits, minding our own business, satisfied +with our position, thinking, it may be, with harmless vanity, that we +bestow more light upon earth than any ten, and that the eyes of all +terrestrial stargazers are upon us. Adventurers, pretenders, and quacks, +are our meteors, our _aurorae_, our comets, our falling-stars, shooting +athwart our hemisphere, and exhaling into irretrievable darkness: our +tuft-hunters are satellites of Jupiter, invisible to the naked eye: our +clear frosty atmosphere that sets us all a-twinkling is prosperity, and +we, too have our clouds that hide us from the eyes of men. The noonday +of our own bustling time beholds us dimly; but posterity regards us as +it were from the bottom of a well. Time, that exact observer, applies +his micrometer to every one of us, determining our rank among celestial +bodies without appeal and from time to time enrolling in his _ephemeris_ +such new luminaries as may be vouchsafed to the long succession of ages. + +If there is one thing that endears London to men of superior order--to +true aristocrats, no matter of what species, it is that universal +equality of outward condition, that republicanism of everyday life, +which pervades the vast multitudes who hum, and who drone, who gather +honey, and who, without gathering, consume the products of this gigantic +hive. Here you can never be extinguished or put out by any overwhelming +interest. + +Neither are we in London pushed to the wall by the two or three hundred +great men of every little place. We are not invited to a main of small +talk with the cock of his own dung-hill; we are never told, as a great +favour, that Mr Alexander Scaldhead, the phrenologist, is to be there, +and that we can have our "bumps" felt for nothing; or that the Chevalier +Doembrownski (a London pickpocket in disguise) is expected to recite a +Polish ode, accompanying himself on the Jew's harp; we are not bored +with the misconduct of the librarian, who _never_ has the first volume +of the last new novel, or invited to determine whether Louisa Fitzsmythe +or Angelina Stubbsville deserves to be considered the heroine; we are +not required to be in raptures because Mrs Alfred Shaw or Clara Novello +are expected, or to break our hearts with disappointment because they +didn't come: the arrival, performances, and departure, of Ducrow's +horses, or Wombwell's wild beasts, affect us with no extraordinary +emotion; even Assizes time concerns most of us nothing. + +Then, again, how vulgar, how commonplace in London is the aristocracy of +wealth; of Mrs Grub, who, in a provincial town, keeps her carriage, and +is at once the envy and the scandal of all the Ladies who have to +proceed upon their ten toes, we wot not the existence. Mr Bill Wright, +the banker, the respected, respectable, influential, twenty per cent +Wright, in London is merely a licensed dealer in money; he visits at +Camberwell Hill, or Hampstead Heath, or wherever other tradesmen of his +class delight to dwell; his wife and daughters patronize the Polish +balls, and Mr Bill Wright, jun., sports a stall at the (English) opera; +we are not overdone by Mr Bill Wright, overcome by Mrs Bill Wright, or +the Misses Bill Wright, nor overcrowed by Mr Bill Wright the younger: in +a word, we don't care a crossed cheque for the whole Bill Wrightish +connexion. + +What are carriages, or carriage-keeping people in London? It is not +here, as in the provinces, by their carriages shall you know them; on +the contrary, the carriage of a duchess is only distinguishable from +that of a _parvenu_, by the superior expensiveness and vulgarity of the +latter. + +The vulgarity of ostentatious wealth with us, defeats the end it aims +at. That expense which is lavished to impress us with awe and +admiration, serves only as a provocative to laughter, and inducement to +contempt; where great wealth and good taste go together, we at once +recognize the harmonious adaptation of means and ends; where they do +not, all extrinsic and adventitious expenditure availeth its disbursers +nothing. + +What animal on earth was ever so inhumanly preposterous as a lord +mayor's footman, and yet it takes sixty guineas, at the least, to make +that poor lick-plate a common laughing-stock? + +No, sir; in London we see into, and see through, all sorts of +pretension: the pretension of wealth or rank, whatever kind of quackery +and imposture. When I say _we_, I speak of the vast multitudes forming +the educated, discriminating, and thinking classes of London life. We +pass on to _what_ a man _is_, over _who_ he is, and what he _has_; and, +with one of the most accurate observers of human character and nature to +whom a man of the world ever sat for his portrait--the inimitable La +Bruyere--when offended with the hollow extravagance of vulgar riches, we +exclaim--"_Tu te trompes, Philemon, si avec ce carrosse brillant, ce +grand nombre de coquins qui te suivent, et ces six betes qui te +trainent, tu penses qu'on t'en estime d'avantage: ou ecarte tout cet +attirail qui t'est etranger, pour penetrer jusq'a toi qui n'es qu'un +fat_." + +In London, every man is responsible for himself, and his position is the +consequence of his conduct. If a great author, for example, or artist, +or politician, should choose to outrage the established rules of society +in any essential particular, he is neglected and even shunned in his +private, though he may be admired and lauded in his public capacity. +Society marks the line between the _public_ and the _social_ man; and +this line no eminence, not even that of premier minister of England, +will enable a public man to confound. + +Wherever you are invited in London to be introduced to a great man, by +any of his parasites or hangers-on, you may be assured that your great +man is no such thing; you may make up your mind to be presented to some +quack, some hollow-skulled fellow, who makes up by little arts, small +tactics, and every variety of puff, for the want of that inherent +excellence which will enable him to stand alone. These gentlemen form +the Cockney school proper of art, literature, the drama, every thing; +and they go about seeking praise, as a goatsucker hunts insects, with +their mouths wide open; they pursue their prey in troops, like Jackals, +and like them, utter at all times a melancholy, complaining howl; they +imagine that the world is in a conspiracy not to admire them, and they +would bring an action against the world if they could. But as that is +impossible, they are content to rail against the world in good set +terms; they are always puffing in the papers, but in a side-winded way, +yet you can trace them always at work, through the daily, weekly, +monthly periodicals, in desperate exertion to attract public attention. +They have at their head one sublime genius, whom they swear by, and they +admire him the more, the more incomprehensible and oracular he appears +to the rest of mankind. + +These are the men who cultivate extensive tracts of forehead, and are +deeply versed in the effective display of depending ringlets and +ornamental whiskers; they dress in black, with white _chokers_, and you +will be sure to find a lot of them at evening parties of the middling +sort of doctors, or the better class of boarding-houses. + +This class numbers not merely literary men, but actors, artists, +adventuring politicians, small scientifics, and a thousand others, who +have not energy or endurance to work their way in solitary labour, or +who feel that they do not possess the power to go alone. + +Public men in London appear naked at the bar of public opinion; laced +coats, ribands, embroidery, titles, avail nothing, because these things +are common, and have the common fate of common things, to be cheaply +estimated. The eye is satiated with them, they come like shadows, so +depart; but they do not feed the eye of the mind; the understanding is +not the better for such gingerbread; we are compelled to look out for +some more substantial nutriment, and we try the inward man, and test his +capacity. Instead of measuring his bumps, like a landsurveyor, we +dissect his brain, like an anatomist; we estimate him, whether he be +high or low, in whatever department of life, not by what he says he can +do, or means to do, but by what he _has_ done. By this test is every man +of talent tried in London; this is his grand, his formal difficulty, to +get the opportunity of showing what he can do, of being put into +circulation, of having the chance of being tested, like a shilling, by +the _ring_ of the customer and the _bite_ of the critic; for the +opportunity, the chance to edge in, the chink to _wedge_ in, the +_purchase_ whereon to work the length of his lever, he must be ever on +the watch; for the sunshine blink of encouragement, the April shower of +praise, he must await the long winter of "hope deferred" passing away. +Patience, the _courage_ of the man of talent, he must exert for many a +dreary and unrewarded day; he must see the quack and the pretender lead +an undiscerning public by the nose, and say nothing; nor must he exult +when the too-long enduring public at length kicks the pretender and the +quack into deserved oblivion. From many a door that will hereafter +gladly open for him, he must be content to be presently turned away. +Many a scanty meal, many a lonely and unfriended evening, in this vast +wilderness, must he pass in trying on his armour, and preparing himself +for the fight that he still believes _will_ come, and in which his +spirit, strong within him, tells him he must conquer. While the night +yet shrouds him he must labour, and with patient, and happily for him, +if, with religious hope, he watch the first faint glimmerings of the +dawning day; for his day, if he is worthy to behold it, will come, and +he will yet be recompensed "by that time and chance which happeneth to +all." And if his heart fails him, and his coward spirit turns to flee, +often as he sits, tearful, in the solitude of his chamber, will the +remembrance of the early struggles of the immortals shame that coward +spirit. The shade of the sturdy Johnson, hungering, dinnerless, will +mutely reproach him for sinking thus beneath the ills that the +"scholar's life assail." The kindly-hearted, amiable Goldsmith, pursued +to the gates of a prison by a mercenary wretch who fattened upon the +produce of that lovely mind, smiling upon him, will bid him be of good +cheer. A thousand names, that fondly live in the remembrance of our +hearts, will he conjure up, and all will tell the same story of early +want, and long neglect, and lonely friendlessness. Then will reproach +himself, saying, "What am I, that I should quail before the misery that +broke not minds like these? What am I, that I should be exempt from the +earthly fate of the immortals?" + +Nor marvel, then, that men who have passed the fiery ordeal, whose power +has been tried and not found wanting, whose nights of probation, +difficulty, and despair are past, and with whom it is now noon, should +come forth, with deportment modest and subdued, exempt from the insolent +assumption of vulgar minds, and their yet more vulgar hostilities and +friendships: that such men as Campbell and Rogers, and a thousand others +in every department of life and letters, should partake of that quietude +of manner, that modesty of deportment, that compassion for the +unfortunate of their class, that unselfish admiration for men who, +successful, have deserved success, that abomination of cliques, +coteries, and _conversaziones_, and all the littleness of inferior fry: +that such men should have parasites, and followers, and hangers-on; or +that, since men like themselves are few and far between, they should +live for and with such men alone. + +But thou, O Vanity! thou curse, thou shame, thou sin, with what tides of +_pseudo_ talent hast thou not filled this ambitious town? Ass, dolt, +miscalculator, quack, pretender, how many hast thou befooled, thou +father of multifarious fools? Serpent, tempter, evil one, how many hast +thou seduced from the plough tail, the carpenter's bench, the +schoolmaster's desk, the rural scene, to plunge them into misery and +contempt in this, the abiding-place of their betters, thou unhanged +cheat? Hence the querulous piping against the world and the times, and +the neglect of genius, and appeals to posterity, and damnation of +managers, publishers, and the public; hence cliques, and _claqueurs_, +and coteries, and the would-if-I-could-be aristocracy of letters; hence +bickerings, quarellings, backbitings, slanderings, and reciprocity of +contempt; hence the impossibility of literary union, and the absolute +necessity imposed upon the great names of our time of shunning, like a +pestilence, the hordes of vanity-struck individuals who would tear the +coats off their backs in desperate adherence to the skirts. Thou, too, O +Vanity! art responsible for greater evils:--Time misspent, industry +misdirected, labour unrequited, because uselessly or imprudently +applied: poverty and isolation, families left unprovided for, pensions, +solicitations, patrons, meannesses, subscriptions! + +True talent, on the contrary, in London, meets its reward, if it lives +to be rewarded; but it has, of its own right, no _social_ pre-eminence, +nor is it set above or below any of the other aristocracies, in what we +may take the liberty of calling its private life. In this, as in all +other our aristocracies, men are regarded not as of their set, but as of +themselves: they are _individually_ admired, not worshipped as a +congregation: their social influence is not aggregated, though their +public influence may be. When a man, of whatever class, leaves his +closet, he is expected to meet society upon equal terms: the scholar, +the man of rank, the politician, the _millionaire_, must merge in the +gentleman: if he chooses to individualize his aristocracy in his own +person, he must do so at home, for it will not be understood or +submitted to any where else. + +The rewards of intellectual labour applied to purposes of remote, or not +immediately appreciable usefulness, as in social literature, and the +loftier branches of the fine arts, are, with us, so few, as hardly to be +worth mentioning, and pity 'tis that it should be so. The law, the +church, the army, and the faculty of physic, have not only their fair +and legitimate remuneration for independent labour, but they have their +several prizes, to which all who excel, may confidently look forward +when the time of weariness and exhaustion shall come; when the pressure +of years shall slacken exertion, and diminished vigour crave some haven +of repose, or, at the least, some mitigated toil, with greater security +of income: some place of honour with repose--the ambition of declining +years. The influence of the great prize of the law, the church, and +other professions in this country, has often been insisted upon with +great reason: it has been said, and truly said, that not only do these +prizes reward merit already passed through its probationary stages, but +serve as inducements to all who are pursuing the same career. It is not +so much the example of the prize-holder, as the _prize_, that stimulates +men onward and upward: without the hope of reaching one of those +comfortable stations, hope would be extinguished, talent lie fallow, +energy be limited to the mere attainment of subsistence; great things +would not be done, or attempted, and we would behold only a dreary level +of indiscriminate mediocrity. If this be true of professions, in which, +after a season of severe study, a term of probation, the knowledge +acquired in early life sustains the professor, with added experience of +every day, throughout the rest of his career, with how much more force +will it apply to professions or pursuits, in which the mind is +perpetually on the rack to produce novelties, and in which it is +considered derogatory to a man to reproduce his own ideas, copy his own +pictures, or multiply, after the same model, a variety of characters and +figures! + +A few years of hard reading, constant attention in the chambers of the +conveyancer, the equity craftsman, the pleader, and a few years more of +that disinterested observance of the practice of the courts, which is +liberally afforded to every young barrister, and indeed which many enjoy +throughout life, and he is competent, with moderate talent, to protect +the interests of his client, and with moderate mental labour to make a +respectable figure in his profession. In like manner, four or five years +sedulous attendance on lectures, dissections, and practice of the +hospitals, enables your physician to see how little remedial power +exists in his boasted art; knowing this, he feels pulses, and orders a +recognized routine of draughts and pills with the formality which makes +the great secret of his profession. When the patient dies, nature, of +course, bears the blame; and when nature, happily uninterfered with, +recovers his patient, the doctor stands on tiptoe. Henceforward his +success is determined by other than medical sciences: a pillbox and +pair, a good house in some recognized locality, Sunday dinners, a bit of +a book, grand power of head-shaking, shoulder-shrugging, bamboozling +weak-minded men and women, and, if possible, a religious connexion. + +For the clergyman, it is only necessary that he should be orthodox, +humble, and pious; that he should on no occasion, right or wrong, set +himself in opposition to his ecclesiastical superiors; that he should +preach unpretending sermons; that he should never make jokes, nor +understand the jokes of another: this is all that he wants to get on +respectably. If he is ambitious, and wishes one of the great prizes, he +must have been a free-thinking reviewer, have written pamphlets, or made +a fuss about the Greek particle, or, what will avail him more than all, +have been tutor to a minister of state. + +Thus you perceive, for men whose education is _intellectual_, but whose +practice is more or less _mechanical_, you have many great, +intermediate, and little prizes in the lottery of life; but where, on +the contrary, are the prizes for the historian, transmitting to +posterity the events, and men, and times long since past; where the +prize of the analyst of mind, of the dramatic, the epic, or the lyric +poet, the essayist, and all whose works are likely to become the +classics of future times; where the prize of the public journalist, who +points the direction of public opinion, and, himself without place, +station, or even name, teaches Governments their duty, and prevents +Ministers of State becoming, by hardihood or ignorance, intolerable +evils; where the prize of the great artist, who has not employed himself +making faces for hire, but who has worked in loneliness and isolation, +living, like Barry, upon raw apples and cold water, that he might +bequeath to his country some memorial worthy the age in which he lived, +and the art _for_ which he lived? For these men, and such as these, are +no prizes in the lottery of life; a grateful country sets apart for them +no places where they can retire in the full enjoyment of their fame; +condemned to labour for their bread, not in a dull mechanical routine of +professional, official, or business-like duties, but in the most severe, +most wearing of all labour, _the labour of the brain_, they end where +they begun. With struggling they begin life, with struggling they make +their way in life, with struggling they end life; poverty drives away +friends, and reputation multiplies enemies. The man whose thoughts will +become the thoughts of our children, whose minds will be reflected in +the mirror of _his_ mind, who will store in their memories his household +words, and carry his lessons in their hearts, dies not unwillingly, for +he has nothing in life to look forward to; closes with indifference his +eyes on a prospect where no gleam of hope sheds its sunlight on the +broken spirit; he dies, is borne by a few humble friends to a lowly +sepulchre, and the newspapers of some days after give us the following +paragraph:-- + +"We regret to be obliged to state that Dr ----, or ---- ----, Esq. (as +the case may be) died, on Saturday last at his lodgings two pair back in +Back Place, Pimlico, (or) at his cottage (a miserable cabin where he +retired to die) at Kingston-upon-Thames. It is our melancholy duty to +inform our readers that this highly gifted and amiable man, who for so +many years delighted and improved the town, and who was a most strenuous +supporter of the (Radical or Conservative) cause, (_it is necessary to +set forth this miserable statement to awaken the gratitude of faction +towards the family of the dead_,) has left a rising family totally +unprovided for. We are satisfied that it is only necessary to allude to +this distressing circumstance, in order to enlist the sympathies, &c. +&c., (in short, _to get up a subscription_)." + +We confess we are at a loss to understand why the above advertisement +should be kept stereotyped, to be inserted with only the interpolation +of name and date, when any man dies who has devoted himself to pursuits +of a purely intellectual character. Nor are we unable to discover in the +melancholy, and, as it would seem, unavoidable fates of such men, +substantial grounds of that diversion of the aristocracy of talent to +the pursuit of professional distinction, accompanied by profit, of which +our literature, art, and science are now suffering, and will continue to +suffer, the consequences. + +In a highly artificial state of society, where a command, not merely of +the essentials, but of some of the superfluities of life are requisite +as passports to society, no man will willingly devote himself to +pursuits which will render him an outlaw, and his family dependent on +the tardy gratitude of an indifferent world. The stimulus of fame will +be inadequate to maintain the energies even of _great_ minds, in a +contest of which the victories are wreaths of barren bays. Nor will any +man willingly consume the morning of his days in amassing intellectual +treasures for posterity, when his contemporaries behold him dimming with +unavailing tears his twilight of existence, and dying with the worse +than deadly pang, the consciousness that those who are nearest and +dearest to his heart must eat the bread of charity. Nor is it quite +clear to our apprehension, that the prevalent system of providing for +merely intellectual men, by a State annuity or pension, is the best that +can be devised: it is hard that the pensioned aristocracy of talent +should be exposed to the taunt of receiving the means of their +subsistence from this or that minister, upon suppositions of this or +that ministerial assistance which, whether true or false, cannot fail to +derogate from that independent dignity of mind which is never +extinguished in the breast of the true aristocrat of talent, save by +unavailing struggles, long-continued, with the unkindness of fortune. + +We wish the aristocracy of power to think over this, and so very +heartily bid them farewell. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE LOST LAMB. + +BY DELTA. + + A shepherd laid upon his bed, + With many a sigh, his aching head, + For him--his favourite boy--on whom + Had fallen death, a sudden doom. + "But yesterday," with sobs he cried, + "Thou wert, with sweet looks, at my side, + Life's loveliest blossom, and to-day, + Woes me! thou liest a thing of clay! + It cannot be that thou art gone; + It cannot be, that now, alone, + A grey-hair'd man on earth am I, + Whilst thou within its bosom lie? + Methinks I see thee smiling there, + With beaming eyes, and sunny hair, + As thou were wont, when fondling me, + To clasp my neck from off my knee! + Was it thy voice? Again, oh speak, + My boy, or else my heart will break!" + + Each adding to that father's woes, + A thousand bygone scenes arose; + At home--a field--each with its joy, + Each with its smile--and all his boy! + Now swell'd his proud rebellious breast, + With darkness and with doubt opprest; + Now sank despondent, while amain + Unnerving tears fell down like rain: + Air--air--he breathed, yet wanted breath-- + It was not life--it was not death-- + But the drear agony between, + Where all is heard, and felt, and seen-- + The wheels of action set ajar; + The body with the soul at war. + 'Twas vain, 'twas vain; he could not find + A haven for his shipwreck'd mind; + Sleep shunn'd his pillow. Forth he went-- + The noon from midnight's azure tent + Shone down, and, with serenest light, + Flooded the windless plains of night; + The lake in its clear mirror show'd + Each little star that twinkling glow'd; + Aspens, that quiver with a breath, + Were stirless in that hush of death; + The birds were nestled in their bowers; + The dewdrops glitter'd on the flowers; + Almost it seem'd as pitying Heaven + A while its sinless calm had given + To lower regions, lest despair + Should make abode for ever there; + So tranquil--so serene--so bright-- + Brooded o'er earth the wings of night. + + O'ershadow'd by its ancient yew, + His sheep-cot met the shepherd's view; + And, placid, in that calm profound, + His silent flocks lay slumbering round: + With flowing mantle, by his side, + Sudden, a stranger he espied, + Bland was his visage, and his voice + Soften'd the heart, yet bade rejoice.-- + "Why is thy mourning thus?" he said, + "Why thus doth sorrow bow thy head? + Why faltereth thus thy faith, that so + Abroad despairing thou dost go? + As if the God who gave thee breath, + Held not the keys of life and death! + When from the flocks that feed about, + A single lamb thou choosest out, + Is it not that which seemeth best + That thou dost take, yet leave the rest? + Yes! such thy wont; and, even so, + With his choice little ones below + Doth the Good Shepherd deal; he breaks + Their earthly bands, and homeward takes, + Early, ere sin hath render'd dim + The image of the seraphim!" + + Heart-struck, the shepherd home return'd; + Again within his bosom burn'd + The light of faith; and, from that day, + He trode serene life's onward way. + + * * * * * + + + + +COMTE. + + _Cours de Philosophie Positive_, par M. Auguste Comte. + + +It is pleasant to find in some extreme, uncompromising, eccentric work, +written for the complete renovation of man, a new establishment of +truth, little else, after all its tempest of thought has swept over the +mind, than another confirmation of old, and long-settled, and temperate +views. Our sober philosophy, like some familiar landscape seen after a +thunder storm, comes out but the more distinct, the brighter, and the +more tranquil, for the bursting cloud and the windy tumult that had +passed over its surface. Some such experience have we just had. Our +Conservative principles, our calm and patient manner of viewing things, +have rarely received a stronger corroboration than from the perusal or +the extraordinary work of M. Comte--a work written, assuredly, for no +such comfortable purpose, but for the express object (so far as we can +at present state it to our readers) of re-organizing political society, +by means of an intellectual reformation amongst political thinkers. + +We would not be thought to throw an idle sneer at those generous hopes +of the future destiny of society which have animated some of the noblest +and most vigorous minds. It is no part of a Conservative philosophy to +doubt on the broad question of the further and continuous improvement of +mankind. Nor will the perusal of M. Comte's work induce, or permit, such +a doubt. But while he leaves with his reader a strong impression of the +unceasing development of social man, he leaves a still stronger +impression of the futile or mischievous efforts of those--himself +amongst the number--who are thrusting themselves forward as the peculiar +and exclusive advocates of progress and improvement. He exhibits himself +in the attitude of an innovator, as powerless in effect as he is daring +to design; whilst, at the same time, he deals a _crashing_ blow (as upon +rival machinators) on that malignant party in European politics, whether +it call itself liberal or of the movement, whose most distinct aim seems +to be to unloose men from the bonds of civil government. We, too, +believe in the silent, irresistible progress of human society, but we +believe also that he is best working for posterity, as well as for the +welfare of his contemporaries, who promotes order and tranquil effort in +his own generation, by means of those elements of order which his own +generation supplies. + +That which distinguishes M. Comte's work from all other courses of +philosophy, or treatises upon science, is the attempt to reduce to +the _scientific method_ of cogitation the affairs of human +society--morality, politics; in short, all those general topics which +occupy our solitary and perplexed meditation, or sustain the incessant +strife of controversy. These are to constitute a new science, to be +called _Social Physics_, or _Sociology_. To apply the Baconian, or, as +it is here called, the positive method, to man in all phases of his +existence--to introduce the same fixed, indissoluble, imperturbable +order in our ideas of morals, politics, and history, that we attain to +astronomy and mechanics, is the bold object of his labours. He does not +here set forth a model of human society based on scientific conclusions; +something of this kind is promised us in a future work; in the present +undertaking he is especially anxious to compel us to think on all such +topics in the scientific method, _and in no other_. For be it known, +that science is not only weak in herself, and has been hitherto +incompetent to the task of unravelling the complicate proceedings of +humanity, but she has also a great rival in the form of theologic +method, wherein the mind seeks a solution for its difficulties in a +power above nature. The human being has contracted an inveterate habit +of viewing itself as standing in a peculiar relation to a supreme +Architect and Governor of the world--a habit which in many ways, direct +and indirect, interferes, it seems, with the application of the positive +method. This habit is to be corrected; such supreme Architect and +Governor is to be dismissed from the imagination of men; science is to +supply the sole mode of thought, and humanity to be its only object. + +We have called M. Comte's an extraordinary book, and this is an epithet +which our readers are already fully prepared to apply. But the book, in +our judgment, is extraordinary in more senses than one. It is as +remarkable for the great mental energy it displays, for its originality +and occasional profundity of thought, as it is for the astounding +conclusions to which it would conduct us, for its bold paradoxes, and +for what we can designate no otherwise than its egregious errors. As a +discipline of the mind, so far as a full appreciation is concerned of +the scientific method, it cannot be read without signal advantage. The +book is altogether an anomaly; exhibiting the strangest mixture that +ever mortal work betrayed of manifold blunder and great intellectual +power. The man thinks at times with the strength of a giant. Neither +does he fail, as we have already gathered, in the rebellious and +destructive propensities for which giants have been of old renowned. +Fable tells us how they could have no gods to reign over them, and how +they threatened to drive Jupiter himself from the skies. Our +intellectual representative of the race nourishes designs of equal +temerity. Like his earth-born predecessors, his rage, we may be sure, +will be equally vain. No thunder will be heard, neither will the hills +move to overwhelm him; but in due course of time he will lie down, and +be covered up with his own earth, and the heavens will be as bright and +stable as before, and still the abode of the same unassailable Power. + +For the _style_ of M. Comte's work, it is not commendable. The +philosophical writers of his country are in general so distinguished for +excellence in this particular, their exposition of thought is so +remarkably felicitous, that a failure in a Frenchman in the mere art of +writing, appears almost as great an anomaly as any of the others which +characterize this production. During the earlier volumes, which are +occupied with a review of the recognized branches of science, the vices +of style are kept within bounds, but after he has entered on what is the +great subject of all his lucubrations, his social physics, they grow +distressingly conspicuous. The work extends to six volumes, some of them +of unusually large capacity; and by the time we arrive at the last and +the most bulky, the style, for its languor, its repetitions, its +prolixity, has become intolerable. + +Of a work of this description, distinguished by such bold features, +remarkable for originality and subtlety, as well as for surprising +hardihood and eccentricity of thought, and bearing on its surface a +manner of exposition by no means attractive, we imagine that our readers +will not be indisposed to receive some notice. Its errors--supposing we +are capable of coping with them--are worthy of refutation. Moreover, as +we have hinted, the impression it conveys is, in relation to politics, +eminently Conservative; for, besides that he has exposed, with peculiar +vigour, the utter inadequacy of the movement, or liberal party, to +preside over the organization of society, there is nothing more +calculated to render us content with an _empirical_ condition of +tolerable well-being, than the exhibition (and such, we think, is here +presented to us) of a strong mind palpably at fault in its attempt to +substitute, out of its own theory of man, a better foundation for the +social structure than is afforded by the existing unphilosophical medley +of human thought. Upon that portion of the _Cours de Philosophie +Positive_ which treats of the sciences usually so called, we do not +intend to enter, nor do the general remarks we make apply to it. Our +limited object is to place our reader at the point of view which M. +Comte takes in his new science of Sociology; and to do this with any +justice to him or to ourselves, in the space we can allot to the +subject, will be a task of sufficient difficulty. + +And first, as to the title of the work, _Philosophie Positive_, which +has, perhaps, all this while been perplexing the reader. The reasons +which induced M. Comte to adopt it, shall be given in his own words; +they could not have been appreciated until some general notion had been +given of the object he had in view. + + "There is doubtless," he says, in his _Avertissement_, "a close + resemblance between my _Philosophie Positive_, and what the + English, especially since the days of Newton, understand by + _Natural Philosophy_. But I would not adopt this last + expression, any more than that of _Philosophy of the Sciences_, + which would have perhaps been still more precise, because + neither of these has yet been extended to all orders of + phenomena, whilst _Philosophie Positive_, in which I comprehend + the study of the social phenomena, as well as all others, + designs a uniform manner of reasoning applicable to all + subjects on which the human mind can be exerted. Besides which, + the expression _Natural Philosophy_ is employed in England to + denote the aggregate of the several sciences of observation, + considered even in their most minute details; whereas, by the + title of _Philosophie Positive_, I intimate, with regard to the + several positive sciences, a study of them only in their + generalities, conceiving them as submitted to a uniform method, + and forming the different parts of a general plan of research. + The term which I have been led to construct is, therefore, at + once more extended and more restricted than other + denominations, which are so far similar that they have + reference to the same fundamental class of ideas." + +This very announcement of M. Comte's intention to comprehend in his +course of natural philosophy the study of the several phenomena, compels +us to enquire how far these are fit subjects for the strict application +of the scientific method. We waive the metaphysical question of the free +agency of man, and the theological question of the occasional +interference of the Divine Power; and presuming these to be decided in a +manner favourable to the project of our Sociologist, we still ask if it +be possible to make of the affairs of society--legislation and politics, +for instance--a department of science? + +The mere multiplicity and complication of facts in this department of +enquiry, have been generally regarded as rendering such an attempt +hopeless. In any social problem of importance, we invariably feel that +to embrace the whole of the circumstances, with all their results and +dependencies, is really out of our power, and we are forced to content +ourselves with a judgment formed on what appear to us the principal +facts. Thus arise those limited truths, admitting of exceptions, of +qualification, of partial application, on which we are fain to rely in +the conduct of human affairs. In framing his measures, how often is the +statesman, or the jurist, made aware of the utter impossibility of +guarding them against every species of objection, or of so constructing +them that they shall present an equal front on every side! How still +more keenly is the speculative politician made to feel, when giving in +his adherence to some great line of policy, that he cannot gather in +under his conclusions _all_ the political truths he is master of! He +reluctantly resigns to his opponent the possession, or at least the +usufruct, of a certain class of truths which he is obliged to postpone +to others of more extensive or more urgent application. + +But this multiplicity and complication of facts may merely render the +task of the Sociologist extremely difficult, not impossible; and the +half truths, and the perplexity of thought above alluded to, may only +prove that his scientific task has not yet been accomplished. Nothing is +here presented in the nature of the subject to exclude the strict +application of _the method_. There is, however, one essential, +distinctive attribute of human society which constitutes a difference in +the nature of the subject, so as to render impossible the same +scientific survey and appreciation of the social phenomena of the world +that we may expect to obtain of the physical. This is the gradual and +incessant _developement_ which humanity has displayed, and is still +displaying. Who can tell us that that _experience_ on which a fixed and +positive theory of social man is to be formed, is all before us? From +age to age that experience is enlarging. + +In all recognized branches of science nature remains the same, and +continually repeats herself; she admits of no novelty; and what appears +new to us, from our late discovery of it, is as old as the most palpable +sequence of facts that, generation after generation, catches the eye of +childhood. The new discovery may disturb our theories, it disturbs not +the condition of things. All is still the same as it ever was. What we +possessed of real knowledge is real knowledge still. We sit down before +a maze of things bewildering enough; but the vast mechanism, +notwithstanding all its labyrinthian movements, is constant to itself, +and presents always the same problem to the observer. But in this +department of humanity, in this sphere of social existence, the case is +otherwise. The human being, with hand, with intellect, is incessantly at +work--has a progressive movement--_grows_ from age to age. He discovers, +he invents, he speculates; his own inventions react upon the inventor; +his own thoughts, creeds, speculations, become agents in the scene. Here +_new facts_ are actually from time to time starting into existence; new +elements are introduced into society, which science could not have +foreseen; for if they could have been foreseen, they would already have +been there. A new creed, even a new machine, may confound the wisest of +speculations. Man is, in relation to the science that would survey +society, a _creator_. In short, that stability in the order of events, +that invariable recurrence of the same linked series, on which science +depends for its very existence, here, in some measure, fails us. In such +degree, therefore, as humanity can be described as progressive, or +developing itself, in such degree is it an untractable subject for the +scientific method. We have but one world, but one humanity before us, +but one specimen of this self developing creature, and that perhaps but +half grown, but half developed. How can we know whereabouts _we are_ in +our course, and what is coming next? We want the history of some +extinguished world in which a humanity has run its full career; we need +to extend our observation to other planets peopled with similar but +variously developed inhabitants, in order scientifically to understand +such a race as ours. + +What, for example, could be more safely stated as an eternal law of +society than that of property?--a law which so justly governs all our +political reasonings, and determines the character of our political +measures the most prospective--a law which M. Comte has not failed +himself to designate as fundamental. And yet, by what right of +demonstration can we pronounce this law to be inherent in humanity, so +that it shall accompany the race during every stage of its progress? +That industry should be rewarded by a personal, exclusive property in +the fruits of industry, is the principle consecrated by our law of +property, and to which the spontaneous passions of mankind have in all +regions of the earth conducted. Standing where we do, and looking out as +far as our intellectual vision can extend, we pronounce it to be the +basis of society; but if we added that, as long as the world lasts, it +must continue to be the basis of society, that there are no elements in +man to furnish forth, if circumstances favoured their development, a +quite different principle for the social organization, we feel that we +should be overstepping the modest bounds of truth, and stating our +proposition in terms far wider and more absolute than we were warranted. +Experiments have been made, and a tendency has repeatedly been +manifested, to frame an association of men in which the industry of the +individual should have its immediate reward and motive in the +participated prosperity of the general body--where the good of the whole +should be felt as the interest of each. _How_ such a principle is to be +established, we confess ourselves utterly at a loss to divine; but that +no future events unforeseen by us, no unexpected modification of the +circumstances affecting human character, shall ever develop and +establish such a principle--this is what no scientific mind would +venture to assert. Our knowledge is fully commensurate to our sphere of +activity, nor need it, nor _can_ it, pass beyond that sphere. We know +that the law of property now forms the basis of society; we know that an +attempt to abrogate it would be the signal for war and anarchy, and we +know this also, that _at no time_ can its opposite principle be +established by force, because its establishment will require a wondrous +harmony in the social body; and a civil war, let the victory fall where +it may, must leave mankind full of dissension, rancour, and revenge. Our +convictions, therefore, for all practical purposes, can receive no +confirmation. If the far future is to be regulated by different +principles, of what avail the knowledge of them, or how can they be +intelligible to us, to whom are denied the circumstances necessary for +their establishment, and for the demonstration of their reasonableness? + +"The great Aristotle himself," says M. Comte, speaking of the +impossibility of any man elevating himself above the circumstances of +his age--"The great Aristotle himself, the profoundest thinker of +ancient times, (_la plus forte tete de toute l'antiquite_,) could not +conceive of a state of society not based on slavery, the irrevocable +abolition of which commenced a few generations afterwards."--Vol. iv. +p.38. In the sociology of Aristotle, slavery would have been a +fundamental law. + +There is another consideration, not unworthy of being mentioned, which +bears upon this matter. In one portion of M. Comte's work, (we cannot +now lay our hand upon the passage,) the question comes before him of the +comparative _happiness_ of the savage and the civilized man. He will not +entertain it, refuses utterly to take cognizance of the question, and +contents himself with asserting the fuller _development_ of his nature +displayed by the civilized man. M. Comte felt that science had no scale +for this thing happiness. It was not ponderable, nor measurable, nor was +there an uniformity of testimony to be collected thereon. How many of +our debates and controversies terminate in a question of this kind--of +the comparative happiness of two several conditions? Such questions are, +for the most part, practically decided by those who have to _feel_; but +to estimate happiness by and for the feelings of others, would be the +task of science. Some future Royal Society must be called upon to +establish a _standard measure_ for human felicity. + +We are speaking, it will be remembered, of the production of a science. +A scientific discipline of mind is undoubtedly available in the +examination of social questions, and may be of eminent utility to the +moralist, the jurist, and the politician--though it is worthy of +observation that even the habit of scientific thought, if not in some +measure tempered to the occasion, may display itself very inconveniently +and prejudicially in the determination of such questions. Our author, +for instance, after satisfying himself that marriage is a fundamental +law of society, is incapable of tolerating any infraction whatever of +this law in the shape of a divorce. He would give to it the rigidity of +a law of mechanics; he finds there should be cohesion here, and he will +not listen to a single case of separation: forgetful that a law of +society may even be the more stable for admitting exceptions which +secure for it the affection of those by whom it is to be reverenced and +obeyed. + +With relation to the _past_, and in one point of view--namely, so far as +regards the development of man in his speculative career--our +Sociologist has endeavoured to supply a law which shall meet the +peculiar exigencies of his case, and enable him to take a scientific +survey of the history of a changeful and progressive being. At the +threshold of his work we encounter the announcement of a _new law_, +which has regulated the development of the human mind from its rudest +state of intellectual existence. As this law lies at the basis of M. +Comte's system--as it is perpetually referred to throughout his work--as +it is by this law he proceeds to view history in a scientific +manner--as, moreover, it is by aid of this law that he undertakes to +explain the _provisional existence_ of all theology, explaining it in +the past, and removing it from the future--it becomes necessary to enter +into some examination of its claims, and we must request our readers' +attention to the following statement of it:-- + + "In studying the entire development of the human intelligence + in its different spheres of activity, from its first efforts + the most simple up to our own days, I believe I have discovered + a great fundamental law, to which it is subjected by an + invariable necessity, and which seems to me capable of being + firmly established, whether on those proofs which are furnished + by a knowledge of our organization, or on those historical + verifications which result from an attentive examination of the + past. The law consists in this--that each of our principal + conceptions, each branch of our knowledge, passes successively + through three different states of theory: the _theologic_, or + fictitious; the _metaphysic_, or abstract; the scientific, or + _positive_. In other terms, the human mind, by its nature, + employs successively, in each of its researches, three methods + of philosophizing, the character of which is essentially + different, and even radically opposed; at first the theologic + method, then the metaphysical, and last the positive method. + Hence three distinct philosophies, or general systems of + conceptions on the aggregate of phenomena, which mutually + exclude each other; the first is the necessary starting-point + of the human intelligence; the third is its fixed and definite + state; the second is destined to serve the purpose only of + transition. + + "In the _theologic_ state, the human mind, directing its + researches to the intimate nature of things, the first causes + and the final causes of all those effects which arrest its + attention, in a word, towards an absolute knowledge of things, + represents to itself the phenomena as produced by the direct + and continuous action of supernatural agents, more or less + numerous, whose arbitrary intervention explains all the + apparent anomalies of the universe. + + "In the _metaphysic_ state, which is, in its essence, a + modification of the former, the supernatural agents are + displaced by abstract forces, veritable entities (personified + abstractions) inherent in things, and conceived as capable of + engendering by themselves all the observed phenomena--whose + explanation, thenceforth, consists in assigning to each its + corresponding entity. + + "At last, in the _positive_ state the human mind, recognizing + the impossibility of obtaining absolute notions, renounces the + search after the origin and destination of the universe, and + the knowledge of the intimate causes of phenomena, to attach + itself exclusively to the discovery, by the combined efforts of + ratiocination and observation, of their effective laws; that is + to say, their invariable relations of succession and of + similitude. The explanation of things, reduced now to its real + terms, becomes nothing more than the connexion established + between the various individual phenomena and certain general + facts, the number of which the progress of science tends + continually to diminish. + + "The _theologic_ system has reached the highest state of + perfection of which it is susceptible, when it has substituted + the providential action of one only being for the capricious + agency of the numerous independent divinities who had + previously been imagined. In like manner, the last term of the + _metaphysic_ system consists in conceiving, instead of the + different special entities, one great general entity, _nature_, + considered as the only source of all phenomena. The perfection + of the _positive_ system, towards which it unceasingly tends, + though it is not probable it can ever attain to it, would be + the ability to represent all observable phenomena as particular + cases of some one general fact; such, for instance, as that of + gravitation."--Vol. I. p. 5. + +After some very just, and indeed admirable, observations on the +necessity, or extreme utility, of a theologic hypothesis at an early +period of mental development, in order to promote any systematic thought +whatever, he proceeds thus:-- + + "It is easily conceivable that our understanding, compelled to + proceed by degrees almost imperceptible, could not pass + abruptly, and without an intermediate stage, from the + _theologic_ to the _positive_ philosophy. Theology and physics + are so profoundly incompatible, their conceptions have a + character so radically opposed, that before renouncing the one + to employ exclusively the other, the mind must make use of + intermediate conceptions of a bastard character, fit, for that + very reason, gradually to operate the transition. Such is the + natural destination of metaphysical conceptions; they have no + other real utility. By substituting, in the study of phenomena, + for supernatural directive agency an inseparable entity + residing in things, (although this be conceived at first merely + as an emanation from the former,) man habituates himself, by + degrees, to consider only the facts themselves, the notion of + these metaphysical agents being gradually subtilized, till they + are no longer in the eyes of men of intelligence any thing but + the names of abstractions. It is impossible to conceive by what + other process our understanding could pass from considerations + purely supernatural, to considerations purely natural, from the + theologic to the positive _regime_."--P. 13. + +We need hardly say that we enter our protest against the supposition +that theology is not the _last_, as well as the _first_, of our forms of +thought--against the assertion that is here, and throughout the work, +made or implied, that the scientific method, rigidly applied in its +appropriate field of enquiry, would be found incompatible with the great +argument of an intelligent Cause, and would throw the whole subject of +theology out of the range of human knowledge. It would be superfluous +for us to re-state that argument; and our readers would probably be more +displeased to have presented before them a hostile view of this subject, +though for the purpose only of controversy, than they would be edified +by a repetition of those reasonings which have long since brought +conviction to their minds. We will content ourselves, therefore, with +this protest, and with adding--as a fact of experience, which, in +estimating a law of development, may with peculiar propriety be insisted +on--that hitherto no such incompatibility has made itself evident. +Hitherto science, or the method of thinking, which its cultivation +requires and induces, has not shown itself hostile to the first great +article of religion--that on which revelation proceeds to erect all the +remaining articles of our faith. If it is a fact that, in rude times, +men began their speculative career by assigning individual phenomena to +the immediate causation of supernatural powers, it is equally a fact +that they have hitherto, in the most enlightened times, terminated their +inductive labours by assigning that _unity_ and _correlation_ which +science points out in the universe of things to an ordaining +intelligence. We repeat, as a matter of experience, it is as rare in +this age to find a reflective man who does not read _thought_ in this +unity and correlation of material phenomena, as it would have been, in +some rube superstitious period, to discover an individual who refused to +see, in any one of the specialities around him, the direct interference +of a spirit or demon. In our own country, men of science are rather to +blame for a too detailed, a puerile and injudicious, manner of treating +this great argument, than for any disposition to desert it. + +Contenting ourselves with this protest, we proceed to the consideration +of the _new law_. That there is, in the statement here made of the +course pursued in the development of speculative thought, a measure of +truth; and that, in several subjects, the course here indicated may be +traced, will probably, by every one who reads the foregoing extracts, be +at once admitted. But assuredly very few will read it without a feeling +of surprise at finding what (under certain limitations) they would have +welcomed in the form of a general observation, proclaimed to them as a +_law_--a scientific law--which from its nature admits of no exception; +at finding it stated that every branch of human knowledge must of +necessity pass through these three theoretic stages. In the case of some +branches of knowledge, it is impossible to point out what can be +understood as its several theologic and metaphysic stages; and even in +cases where M. Comte has himself applied these terms, it is extremely +difficult to assign to them a meaning in accordance with that which they +bear in this statement of his law; as, for instance, in his application +of them to his own science of social physics. But we need not pause on +this. What a palpable fallacy it is to suppose, because M. Comte find +the positive and theologic methods incompatible, that, historically +speaking, and in the minds of men, which certainly admit of stranger +commixtures than this, they should "mutually exclude each other"--that, +in short, men have not been all along, in various degrees and +proportions, both _theologic_ and _positive_. + +What is it, we ask, that M. Comte means by the _succession_ of these +several stages or modes of thinking? Does he mean that what is here +called the positive method of thought is not equally _spontaneous_ to +the human mind as the theological, but depends on it for its +development? Hardly so. The predominance of the positive method, or its +complete formation, may be postponed; but it clearly has an origin and +an existence independent of the theological. No barbarian ever deified, +or supernaturalized, every process around him; there must always have +been a portion of his experience entertained merely _as experience_. The +very necessity man has to labour for his subsistence, brings him into a +practical acquaintance with the material world, which induces +observation, and conducts towards a natural philosophy. If he is a +theologian the first moment he gives himself up to meditation, he is on +the road to the Baconian method the very day he begins to labour. The +rudest workman uses the lever; the mathematician follows and calculates +the law which determines the power it bestows; here we have industry and +then science, but what room for the intervention of theology? + +Or does M. Comte mean this only--which we presume to be the case--that +these methods of thought are, in succession, predominant and brought to +maturity? If so, what necessity for this _metaphysic_ apparatus for the +sole purpose of _transition_? If each of these great modes, the positive +and theological, has its independent source, and is equally +spontaneous--if they have, in fact, been all along contemporary, though +in different stages of development, the function attributed to the +metaphysic mode is utterly superfluous; there can be no place for it; +there is no transition for it to operate. And what can be said of _a law +of succession_ in which there is no relation of cause and effect, or of +invariable sequence, between the phenomena? + +Either way the position of M. Comte is untenable. If he intends that his +two great modes of thought, the theologic and the positive, (between +which the metaphysic performs the function of transition,) are _not_ +equally spontaneous, but that the one must in the order of nature +precede the other; then, besides that this is an unfounded supposition, +it would follow--since the mind, or _organization_, of man remains from +age to age the same in its fundamental powers--that, at this very time, +no man could be inducted into the positive state of any branch of +knowledge, without first going through its theologic and metaphysic. +Truth must be expounded through a course of errors. Science must be +eternally postponed, in every system of education, to theology, and a +theology of the rudest description--a result certainly not contemplated +by M. Comte. If, on the other hand, he intends that they _are_ equally +spontaneous in their character, equally native to the mind, then, we +repeat, what becomes of the elaborate and "indispensable" part ascribed +to the _metaphysic_ of effectuating a transition between them? And how +can we describe that as a scientific _law_ in which there is confessedly +no immediate relation of cause and effect, or sequency, established? The +statement, if true, manifestly requires to be resolved into the law, or +laws, capable of explaining it. + +Perhaps our readers have all this while suspected that we are acting in +a somewhat captious manner towards M. Comte; they have, perhaps, +concluded that this author could not have here required their assent, +strictly speaking, to a _law_, but that he used the term vaguely, as +many writers have done--meaning nothing more by it than a course of +events which has frequently been observed to take place; and under this +impression they may be more disposed to receive the measure of truth +contained in it than to cavil at the form of the statement. But indeed +M. Comte uses the language of science in no such vague manner; he +requires the same assent to this law that we give to any one of the +recognized laws of science--to that of gravitation for instance, to +which he himself likens it, pronouncing it, in a subsequent part of his +work, to have been as incontrovertibly established. Upon this law, think +what we may of it, M. Comte leans throughout all his progress; he could +not possibly dispense with it; on its stability depends his whole social +science; by it, as we have already intimated, he becomes master of the +past and of the future; and an appreciation of its necessity to him, at +once places us at that point of view from which M. Comte contemplates +our mundane affairs. + +It is his object to put the scientific method in complete possession of +the whole range of human thought, especially of the department, hitherto +unreduced to subjection, of social phenomena. Now there is a great rival +in the field--theology--which, besides imparting its own supernatural +tenets, influences our modes of thinking on almost all social questions. +Theology cannot itself be converted into a branch of science; all those +tenets by which it sways the hopes and fears of men are confessedly +above the sphere of science: if science, therefore, is to rule +absolutely, it must remove theology. But it can only remove by +explaining; by showing how it came there, and how, in good time, it is +destined to depart. If the scientific method is entirely to predominate, +it must explain religion, as it must explain every thing that exists, or +has existed; and it must also reveal the law of its departure--otherwise +it cannot remain sole mistress of the speculative mind. Such is the +office which the law of development we have just considered is intended +to fulfil; how far it is capable of accomplishing its purpose we must +now leave our readers to decide. + +Having thus, as he presumes, cleared the ground for the absolute and +exclusive dominion of the positive method, M. Comte proceeds to erect +the _hierarchy_, as he very descriptively calls it, of the several +sciences. His classification of these is based on the simplest and most +intelligible principle. We think that we rather add to, than diminish +from, the merits of this classification, when we say, that it is such as +seems spontaneously to arise to any reflective mind engaged in a review +of human knowledge. Commencing with the most simple, general, and +independent laws, it proceeds to those which are more complicated, which +presume the existence of other laws; in such manner that at every stage +of our scientific progress we are supporting ourselves on the knowledge +acquired in the one preceding. + + "The positive philosophy," he tells us, "falls naturally into + five divisions, or five fundamental sciences, whose order of + succession is determined by the necessary or invariable + subordination (estimated according to no hypothetical opinions) + of their several phenomena; these are, astronomy, mechanics, + (_la physique_,) chemistry, physiology, and lastly, social + physics. The first regards the phenomena the most general, the + most abstract, the most remote from humanity; they influence + all others, without being influenced by them. The phenomena + considered by the last are, on the contrary, the most + complicated, the most concrete, the most directly interesting + to man; they depend more or less on all the preceding + phenomena, without exercising on them any influence. Between + these two extremes, the degrees of speciality, of complication + and personality, of phenomena, gradually increase, as well as + their successive dependence."--Vol. I. p. 96. + +The principle of classification is excellent, but is there no rank dropt +out of this _hierarchy_? The metaphysicians, or psychologists, who are +wont to consider themselves as standing at the very summit--where are +they? They are dismissed from their labours--their place is occupied by +others--and what was considered as having substance and reality in their +proceedings, is transferred to the head of physiology. The phrenologist +is admitted into the hierarchy of science as an honest, though hitherto +an unpractised, and not very successful labourer; the metaphysician, +with his class of internal observations, is entirely scouted. M. Comte +considers the _mind_ as one of those abstract entities which it is the +first business of the positive philosophy to discard. He speaks of man, +of his organization, of his thought, but not, scientifically, of his +_mind_. This entity, this occult cause, belongs to the _metaphysic_ +stage of theorizing. "There is no place," he cries, "for this illusory +psychology, the last transformation of theology!"--though, by the way, +so far as a belief in this abstract entity of mind is concerned, the +_metaphysic_ condition of our knowledge appears to be quite as old, +quite as primitive, as any conception whatever of theology. Now, whether +M. Comte be right in this preference of the phrenologist, we will not +stay to discuss--it were too wide a question; but thus much we can +briefly and indisputably show, that he utterly misconceives, as well as +underrates, the _kind of research_ to which psychologists are addicted. +As M. Comte's style is here unusually vivacious, we will quote the whole +passage. Are we uncharitable in supposing that the prospect of +demolishing, at one fell swoop, the brilliant reputations of a whole +class of Parisian _savans_, added something to the piquancy of the +style? + + "Such has gradually become, since the time of Bacon, the + preponderance of the positive philosophy; it has at present + assumed indirectly so great an ascendant over those minds even + which have been most estranged from it, that metaphysicians + devoted to the study of our intelligence, can no longer hope to + delay the fall of their pretended science, but by presenting + their doctrines as founded also upon the observation of facts. + For this purpose they have, in these later times, attempted to + distinguish, by a very singular subtilty, two sorts of + observations of equal importance, the one external, the other + internal; the last of which is exclusively destined for the + study of intellectual phenomena. This is not the place to enter + into the special discussion of this sophism. I will limit + myself to indicate the principal consideration, which clearly + proves that this pretended direct contemplation of the mind by + itself, is a pure illusion. + + "Not a long while ago men imagined they had explained vision by + saying that the luminous action of bodies produces on the + retina pictures representative of external forms and colours. + To this the physiologists [query, the _physiologists_] have + objected, with reason, that if it was _as images_ that the + luminous impressions acted, there needed another eye within the + eye to behold them. Does not a similar objection hold good + still more strikingly in the present case? + + "It is clear, in fact, from an invincible necessity, that the + human mind can observe directly all phenomena except its own. + For by whom can the observation be made? It is conceivable + that, relatively to moral phenomena, man can observe himself in + regard to the passions which animate him, from this anatomical + reason, that the organs which are the seat of them are distinct + from those destined to the function of observation. Though each + man has had occasion to make on himself such observations, yet + they can never have any great scientific importance; and the + best means of knowing the passions will be always to observe + them without; [_indeed_!] for every state of passion very + energetic--that is to say, precisely those which it would be + most essential to examine, are necessarily incompatible with + the state of observation. But as to observing in the same + manner intellectual phenomena, while they are proceeding, it is + manifestly impossible. The thinking individual cannot separate + himself in two parts, of which the one shall reason, and the + other observe it reasoning. The organ observed and the organ + observing being in this case identical, how can observation be + carried on? + + "This pretended psychological method is thus radically absurd. + And only consider to what procedures profoundly contradictory + it immediately conducts! On the other hand, they recommend you + to isolate yourself as much as possible from all external + sensation; and, above all, they interdict you every + intellectual exercise; for if you were merely occupied in + making the most simple calculation, what would become of your + _internal_ observation? On the other hand, after having thus, + by dint of many precautions, attained to a perfect state of + intellectual slumber, you are to occupy yourself in + contemplating the operations passing in your mind--while there + is no longer any thing passing there. Our descendants will one + day see these ludicrous pretensions transferred to the + stage."--P. 34. + +They seem transferred to the stage already--so completely burlesqued is +the whole process on which the psychologist bases his results. He does +not pretend to observe the mind itself; but he says, you can remember +previous states of consciousness, whether of passion or of intellectual +effort, and pay renewed attention to them. And assuredly there is no +difficulty in understanding this. When, indeed, M. Cousin, after being +much perplexed with the problem which Kant had thrown out to him, of +objective and subjective truth, comes back to the public and tells them, +in a second edition of his work, that he has succeeded in discovering, +in the inmost recesses of the mind, and at a depth of the consciousness +to which neither he nor any other had before been able to penetrate, +this very sense of the absolute in truth of which he was in +search--something very like the account which M. Conte gives, may be +applicable. But when M. Cousin, or other psychologists, in the ordinary +course of their investigations, observe mental phenomena, they simply +pay attention to what memory brings them of past experiences; +observations which are not only a legitimate source of knowledge, but +which are continually made, with more or less accuracy, by every human +being. If they are impossible according to the doctrines of phrenology, +let phrenology look to this, and rectify her blunder in the best way, as +speedily as she can. M. Comte may think fit to depreciate the labours of +the metaphysician; but it is not to the experimental philosopher alone +that he is indebted for that positive method which he expounds with so +exclusive an enthusiasm. M. Comte is a phrenologist; he adopts the +fundamental principles of Gall's system, but repudiates, as consummately +absurd, the list of organs, and the minute divisions of the skull, which +at present obtain amongst phrenologists. How came he, a phrenologist, so +far and no further, but from certain information gathered from his +consciousness, or his memory, which convicted phrenology of error? And +how can he, or any other, rectify this erroneous division of the +cranium, and establish a more reasonable one, unless by a course of +craniological observations directed and confirmed by those internal +observations which he is pleased here to deride? + +His hierarchy being erected, he next enters on a review of the several +received sciences, marking throughout the successful, or erroneous, +application of the positive method. This occupies three volumes. It is a +portion of the work which we are restricted from entering on; nor shall +we deviate from the line we have prescribed to ourselves. But before +opening the fourth volume, in which he treats of social physics, it will +not be beside our object to take a glance at the _method_ itself, as +applied in the usual field of scientific investigation, to nature, as it +is called--to inorganic matter, to vegetable and animal life. + +We are not here determining the merits of M. Comte in his exposition of +the scientific method; we take it as we find it; and, in unsophisticated +mood, we glance at the nature of this mental discipline--to make room +for which, it will be remembered, so wide a territory is to be laid +waste. + +Facts, or phenomena, classed according to their similitude or the law of +their succession--such is the material of science. All enquiry into +causes, into substance, into being, pronounced impertinent and nugatory; +the very language in which such enquiries are couched not allowed, +perhaps, to have a meaning--such is the supreme dictate of the method, +and all men yield to it at least a nominal submission. Very different is +the aspect which science presents to us in these severe generalities, +than when she lectures fluently before gorgeous orreries; or is heard +from behind a glittering apparatus, electrical or chemical; or is seen, +gay and sportive as a child, at her endless game of unwearying +experiment. Here she is the harsh and strict disciplinarian. The +museful, meditative spirit passes from one object of its wonder to +another, and finds, at every pause it makes, that science is as +strenuous in forbidding as in satisfying enquiry. The planet rolls +through space--ask not how!--the mathematician will tell you at what +rate it flies--let his figures suffice. A thousand subtle combinations +are taking place around you, producing the most marvellous +transformations--the chemist has a table of substances, and a table of +proportions--names and figures both--_why_ these transmutations take +place, is a question you should be ashamed to ask. Plants spring up from +the earth, and _grow_, and blossom at your feet, and you look on with +delight, and an unsubduable wonder, and in a heedless moment you ask +what is _life?_ Science will generalize the fact to you--give you its +formula for the expression of _growth, decomposition, and +recomposition_, under circumstances not as yet very accurately +collected. Still you stand gazing at the plant which a short while since +stole through a crevice of the earth, and taking to itself, with such +subtle power of choice, from the soil or the air, the matter that it +needed, fashioned it to the green leaf and the hanging blossom. In vain! +Your scientific monitor calls you from futile reveries, and repeats his +formula of decomposition and recomposition. As _attraction_ in the +planet is known only as a movement admitting of a stated numerical +expression, so _life_ in the plant is to be known only as decomposition +and recomposition taking place under certain circumstances. Think of it +as such--no more. But, O learned philosopher! you exclaim, you shall +tell me that you know not what manner of thing life is, and I will +believe you; and if you add that I shall never discover it, I will +believe you; but you cannot prevent me from knowing that it is something +I do not know. Permit me, for I cannot help it, still to wonder what +life is. Upon the dial of a watch the hands are moving, and a child asks +why? Child! I respond, that the hands _do_ move is an ultimate fact--so, +represent it to yourself--and here, moreover, is the law of their +movement--the longer index revolves twelve times while the shorter +revolves once. This is knowledge, and will be of use to you--more you +cannot understand. And the child is silent, but still it keeps its eye +upon the dial, and knows there is something that it does not know. + +But while you are looking, in spite of your scientific monitor, at this +beautiful creature that grows fixed and rooted in the earth--what is +this that glides forth from beneath its leaves, with self-determined +motion, not to be expressed by a numerical law, pausing, progressing, +seeking, this way and that, its pasture?--what have we here? +_Irritability and a tissue._ Lo! it shrinks back as the heel of the +philosopher has touched it, coiling and writhing itself--what is this? +_Sensation and a nerve._ Does the nerve _feel_? you inconsiderately ask, +or is there some sentient being, other than the nerve, in which +sensation resides? A smile of derision plays on the lip of the +philosopher. _There is sensation_--you cannot express the fact in +simpler or more general terms. Turn your enquiries, or your microscope, +on the organization with which it is, in order of time, connected. Ask +not me, in phrases without meaning, of the unintelligible mysteries of +ontology. And you, O philosopher! who think and reason thus, is not the +thought within thee, in every way, a most perplexing matter? Not more +perplexing, he replies, than the pain of yonder worm, which seems now to +have subsided, since it glides on with apparent pleasure over the +surface of the earth. Does the organization of the man, or something +else within him, _think_?--does the organization of that worm, or +something else within it, _feel_?--they are virtually the same +questions, and equally idle. Phenomena are the sole subjects of science. +Like attraction in the planet, like life in the vegetable, like +sensation in the animal, so thought in man is an ultimate fact, which we +can merely recognize, and place in its order in the universe. Come with +me to the dissecting-room, and examine that cerebral apparatus with +which it is, or _was_, connected. + +All this "craves wary walking." It is a trying course, this _method_, +for the uninitiated. How it strains the mind by the very limitations it +imposes on its outlook! How mysterious is this very sharp, and +well-defined separation from all mystery! How giddy is this path that +leads always so close over the unknowable! Giddy as that bridge of +steel, framed like a scimitar, and as fine, which the faithful Moslem, +by the aid of his Prophet, will pass with triumph on his way to +Paradise. But of our bridge, it cannot be said that it has one foot on +earth and one in heaven. Apparently, it has no foundation whatever; it +rises from cloud, it is lost in cloud, and it spans an inpenetrable +abyss. A mist, which no wind disperses, involves both extremities of our +intellectual career, and we are seen to pass like shadows across the +fantastic, inexplicable interval. + +We now open the fourth volume, which is emblazoned with the title of +_Physique Social_. And here we will at once extract a passage, which, if +our own remarks have been hitherto of an unattractive character, shall +reward the reader for his patience. It is taken from that portion of the +work--perhaps the most lucid and powerful of the whole--where, in order +to demonstrate the necessity of his new science of Sociology, M. Comte +enters into a review of the two great political parties which, with more +or less distinctness, divide every nation of Europe; his intention being +to show that both of them are equally incompetent to the task of +organizing society. We shall render our quotation as brief as the +purpose of exposition will allow:-- + + "It is impossible to deny that the political world is + intellectually in a deplorable condition. All our ideas of + _order_ are hitherto solely borrowed from the ancient system of + religious and military power, regarded especially in its + constitution, catholic and feudal; a doctrine which, from the + philosophic point of view of this treatise, represents + incontestably the _theologic_ state of the social science. All + our ideas of _progress_ continue to be exclusively deduced from + a philosophy purely negative, which, issuing from + Protestantism, has taken in the last age its final form and + complete development; the doctrines of which constitute, in + reality, the _metaphysic_ state of politics. Different classes + of society adopt the one or the other of these, just as they + are disposed to feel chiefly the want of conservation or that + of amelioration. Rarely, it is true, do these antagonist + doctrines present themselves in all their plenitude, and with + their primitive homogeneity; they are found less and less in + this form, except in minds purely speculative. But the + monstrous medley which men attempt in our days of their + incompatible principles, cannot evidently be endowed with any + virtue foreign to the elements which compose it, and tends + only, in fact, to their mutual neutralization. + + "However pernicious may be at present the theologic doctrine, + no true philosophy can forget that the formation and first + development of modern societies were accomplished under its + benevolent tutelage; which I hope sufficiently to demonstrate + in the historical portion of this work. But it is not the less + incontestably true that, for about three centuries, its + influence has been, amongst the nations most advanced, + essentially retrograde, notwithstanding the partial services it + has throughout that period rendered. It would be superfluous to + enter here into a special discussion of this doctrine, in order + to show its extreme insufficiency at the present day. The + deplorable absence of all sound views of social organization + can alone account for the absurd project of giving, in these + times, for the support of social order, a political system + which has already been found unable to sustain itself before + the spontaneous progress of intelligence and of society. The + historical analysis which we shall subsequently institute of + the successive changes which have gradually brought about the + entire dissolution of the catholic and feudal system, will + demonstrate, better than any direct argument, its radical and + irrevocable decay. The theologic school has generally no other + method of explaining this decomposition of the old system than + by causes merely accidental or personal, out of all reasonable + proportion with the magnitude of the results; or else, when + hard driven, it has recourse to its ordinary artifice, and + attempts to explain all by an appeal to the will of Providence, + to whom is ascribed the intention of raising a time of trial + for the social order, of which the commencement, the duration, + and the character, are all left equally obscure."...--P.14 + + "In a point of view strictly logical, the social problem might + be stated thus:--construct a doctrine that shall be so + rationally conceived that it shall be found, as it develops + itself, to be still always consistent with its own principles. + Neither of the existing doctrines satisfies this condition, + even by the rudest approximation. Both display numerous and + direct contradictions, and on important points. By this alone + their utter insufficiency is clearly exhibited. The doctrine + which shall fulfil this condition, will, from this test, be + recognized as the one capable of reorganizing society; for it + is an _intellectual reorganization_ that is first wanted--a + re-establishment of a real and durable harmony amongst our + social ideas, disturbed and shaken to the very foundation. + Should this regeneration be accomplished in one intelligence + only, (and such must necessarily be its manner of + commencement,) its extension would be certain; for the number + of intelligences to be convinced can have no influence except + as a question of time. I shall not fail to point out, when the + proper opportunity arrives, the eminent superiority, in this + respect, of the positive philosophy, which, once extended to + social phenomena, will necessarily combine the ideas of men in + a strict and complete manner, which in no other way can be + attained."--P. 20. + +M. Comte then mentions some of the inconsistencies of the theologic +school. + + "Analyze, for example, the vain attempts, so frequently renewed + during two centuries by so many distinguished minds, to + subordinate, according to the theologic formula, reason to + faith; it is easy to recognize the radical contradiction this + attempt involves, which establishes reason herself as supreme + judge of this very submission, the extent and the permanence of + which is to depend upon her variable and not very rigid + decisions. The most eminent thinker of the present catholic + school, the illustrious _De Maistre_, himself affords a proof, + as convincing as involuntary, of this inevitable contradiction + in his philosophy, when, renouncing all theologic weapons, he + labours in his principal work to re-establish the Papal + supremacy on purely historical and political reasonings, + instead of limiting himself to command it by right divine--the + only mode in true harmony with such a doctrine, and which a + mind, at another epoch, would not certainly have hesitated to + adopt."--P. 25. + +After some further observations on the theologic or retrograde school, +he turns to the _metaphysic_, sometimes called the anarchical, sometimes +_doctrine critique_, for M. Comte is rich in names. + + "In submitting, in their turn, the _metaphysic_ doctrine to a + like appreciation, it must never be overlooked that, though + exclusively critical, and therefore purely revolutionary, it + has not the less merited, for a long time, the title of + progressive, as having in fact presided over the principal + political improvements accomplished in the course of the three + last centuries, and which have necessarily been of a _negative_ + description. If, when conceived in an absolute sense, its + dogmas manifest, in fact, a character directly anarchical, when + viewed in an historical position, and in their antagonism to + the ancient system, they constitute a provisional state, + necessary to the introduction of a new political organization. + + "By a necessity as evident as it is deplorable, a necessity + inherent in our feeble nature, the transition from one social + system to another can never be direct and continuous; it + supposes always, during some generations at least, a sort of + interregnum, more or less anarchical, whose character and + duration depend on the importance and extent of the renovation + to be effected. (While the old system remains standing, though + undermined, the public reason cannot become familiarized with a + class of ideas entirely opposed to it.) In this necessity we + see the legitimate source of the present _doctrine critique_--a + source which at once explains the indispensable services it has + hitherto rendered, and also the essential obstacles it now + opposes to the final reorganization of modern societies.... + + "Under whatever aspect we regard it, the general spirit of the + metaphysic revolutionary system consists in erecting into a + normal and permanent state a necessarily exceptional and + transitory condition. By a direct and total subversion of + political notions, the most fundamental, it represents + government as being, by its nature, the necessary enemy of + society, against which it sedulously places itself in a + constant state of suspicion and watchfulness; it is disposed + incessantly to restrain more and more its sphere of activity, + in order to prevent its encroachments, and tends finally to + leave it no other than the simple functions of general police, + without any essential participation in the supreme direction of + the action of the collective body or of its social development. + + "Approaching to a more detailed examination of this doctrine, + it is evident that the absolute right of free examination + (which, connected as it is with the liberty of the press and + the freedom of education, is manifestly its principal and + fundamental dogma) is nothing else, in reality, but the + consecration, under the vicious abstract form common to all + metaphysic conceptions, of that transitional state of unlimited + liberty in which the human mind has been spontaneously placed, + in consequence of the irrevocable decay of the theologic + philosophy, and which must naturally remain till the + establishment in the social domain of the positive method.[49] + ... However salutary and indispensable in its historical + position, this principle opposes a grave obstacle to the + reorganization of society, by being erected into an absolute + and permanent dogma. To examine always without deciding ever, + would be deemed great folly in any individual. How can the + dogmatic consecration of a like disposition amongst all + individuals, constitute the definitive perfection of the social + order, in regard, too, to ideas whose finity it is so + peculiarly important, and so difficult, to establish? Is it not + evident, on the contrary, that such a disposition is, from its + nature, radically anarchical, inasmuch as, if it could be + indefinitely prolonged, it must hinder every true mental + organization? + + "No association whatever, though destined for a special and + temporary purpose, and though limited to a small number of + individuals, can subsist without a certain degree of reciprocal + confidence, both intellectual and moral, between its members, + each one of whom finds a continual necessity for a crowd of + notions, to the formation of which he must remain a stranger, + and which he cannot admit but on the faith of others. By what + monstrous exception can this elementary condition of all + society be banished from that total association of mankind, + where the point of view which the individual takes, is most + widely separated from that point of view which the collective + interest requires, and where each member is the least capable, + whether by nature or position, to form a just appreciation of + these general rules, indispensable to the good direction of his + personal activity. Whatever intellectual development we may + suppose possible, in the mass of men it is evident, that social + order will remain always necessarily incompatible with the + permanent liberty left to each, to throw back every day into + endless discussion the first principles even of society.... + + "The dogma of _equality_ is the most essential and the most + influential after that which I have just examined, and is, + besides, in necessary relation to the principle of the + unrestricted liberty of judgment; for this last indirectly + leads to the conclusion of an equality of the most fundamental + character--an equality of intelligence. In its bearing on the + ancient system, it has happily promoted the development of + modern civilization, by presiding over the final dissolution of + the old social classification. But this function constitutes + the sole progressive destination of this energetic dogma, which + tends in its turn to prevent every just reorganization, since + its destructive activity is blindly directed against the basis + of every new classification. For, whatever that basis may be, + it cannot be reconciled with a pretended equality, which, to + all intelligent men, can now only signify the triumph of the + inequalities developed by modern civilization, over those which + had predominated in the infancy of society.... + + "The same philosophical appreciation is applicable with equal + ease to the dogma of the _sovereignty of the people_. Whilst + estimating, as is fit, the indispensable transitional office of + this revolutionary dogma, no true philosopher can now + misunderstand the fatal anarchical tendency of this + metaphysical conception, since in its absolute application it + opposes itself to all regular institution, condemning + indefinitely all superiors to an arbitrary dependence on the + multitude of their inferiors, by a sort of transference to the + people of the much-reprobated right of kings." + + [49] "There is," says M. Comte here in a note, which consists + of an extract from a previous work--"there is no liberty of + conscience in astronomy, in physics, in chemistry, even in + physiology; every one would think it absurd not to give credit + to the principles established in these sciences by competent + men. If it is otherwise in politics, it is because the ancient + principles having fallen; and new ones not being yet formed, + there are, properly speaking, in this interval no established + principles." + +As our author had shown how the _theologic_ philosophy was inconsistent +often with itself, so, in criticising the _metaphysics_, he exposes here +also certain self-contradictions. He reproaches it with having, in its +contests with the old system, endeavoured, at each stage, to uphold and +adopt some of the elementary principles of that very system it was +engaged in destroying. + + "Thus," he says, "there arose a Christianity more and more + simplified, and reduced at length to a vague and powerless + theism, which, by a strange medley of terms, the metaphysicians + distinguished by the title of _natural religion_, as if all + religion was not inevitably _supernatural_. In pretending to + direct the social reorganization after this vain conception, + the metaphysic school, notwithstanding its destination purely + revolutionary, has always implicitly adhered, and does so, + especially and distinctly, at the present day, to the most + fundamental principle of the ancient political doctrine--that + which represents the social order as necessarily reposing on a + theological basis. This is now the most evident, and the most + pernicious inconsistency of the metaphysic doctrine. Armed with + this concession, the school of Bossuet and De Maistre will + always maintain an incontestable logical superiority over the + irrational detractors of Catholicism, who, while they proclaim + the want of a religious organization, reject, nevertheless, the + elements indispensable to its realization. By such a concession + the revolutionary school concur in effect, at the present day, + with the retrograde, in preventing a right organization of + modern societies, whose intellectual condition more and more + interdicts a system of politics founded on theology." + +Our readers will doubtless agree with us, that this review of political +parties (though seen through an extract which we have been compelled to +abbreviate in a manner hardly permissible in quoting from an author) +displays a singular originality and power of thought; although each one +of them will certainly have his own class of objections and exceptions +to make. We said that the impression created by the work was decidedly +_conservative_, and this quotation has already borne us out. For without +implying that we could conscientiously make use of every argument here +put into our hands, we may be allowed to say, as the lawyers do in +Westminster Hail, _if this be so_, then it follows that we of the +retrograde, or as we may fairly style ourselves in England--seeing this +country has not progressed so rapidly as France--we of the stationary +party are fully justified in maintaining our position, unsatisfactory +though it may be, till some better and more definite system has been +revealed to us, than any which has yet made its advent in the political +world. If the revolutionary, metaphysic, or liberal school have no +proper office but that of destruction--if its nature be essentially +transitional--can we be called upon to forego this position, to quit our +present anchorage, until we know whereto we are to be transferred? Shall +we relinquish the traditions of our monarchy, and the discipline of our +church, before we hear what we are to receive in exchange? M. Comte +would not advise so irrational a proceeding. + +But M. Comte has himself a _constructive_ doctrine; M. Comte will give +us in exchange--what? The Scientific Method! + +We have just seen something of this scientific method. M. Comte himself +is well aware that it is a style of thought by no means adapted to the +multitude. Therefore there will arise with the scientific method an +altogether new class, an intellectual aristocracy, (not the present race +of _savans_ or their successors, whom he is particularly anxious to +exclude from all such advancement,) who will expound to the people the +truths to which that method shall give birth. This class will take under +its control all that relates to education. It will be the seat of the +moral power, not of the administrative. This, together with some +arguments to establish what few are disposed to question, the +fundamental character of the laws of property and of marriage, is all +that we are here presented with towards the definite re-organization of +society. + +We shall not go back to the question, already touched upon, and which +lies at the basis of all this--how far it is possible to construct a +science of Sociology. There is only one way in which the question can be +resolved in the affirmative--namely, by constructing the science. + +Meanwhile we may observe, that the general consent of a cultivated order +of minds to a certain class of truths, is not sufficient for the +purposes of government. We take, says M. Comte, our chemistry from the +chemist, our astronomy from the astronomer; if these were fixed +principles, we should take our politics with the same ease from the +graduated politician. But it is worth while to consider what it is we do +when we take our chemistry from the chemist, and our astronomy from the +astronomer. We assume, on the authority of our teacher, certain facts +which it is not in our power to verify; but his reasonings upon these +facts we must be able to comprehend. We follow him as he explains the +facts by which knowledge has been obtained, and yield to his statement a +rational conviction. Unless we do this, we cannot be said to have any +knowledge whatever of the subject--any chemistry or astronomy at all. +Now, presuming there were a science of politics, as fixed and perfect as +that of astronomy, the people must, at all events, be capable of +understanding its exposition, or they could not possibly be governed by +it. We need hardly say that those ideas, feelings, and sentiments, which +can be made general, are those only on which government can rest. + +In the course of the preceding extract, our author exposes the futility +of that attempt which certain churchmen are making, as well on this side +of the Channel as the other, to reason men back into a submission of +their reason. Yet, if the science of Sociology should be above the +apprehension of the vulgar, (as M. Comte seems occasionally to presume +it would be,) he would impose on his intellectual priesthood a task of +the very same kind, and even still more hopeless. A multitude once +taught to argue and decide on politics, must be reasoned back into a +submission of their reason to political teachers--teachers who have no +sacred writings, and no traditions from which to argue a delegated +authority, but whose authority must be founded on the very +reasonableness of the entire system of their doctrine. But this is a +difficulty we are certainly premature in discussing, as the true +Catholic church in politics has still itself to be formed. + +We are afraid, notwithstanding all his protestations, M. Comte will be +simply classed amongst the _Destructives_, so little applicable to the +generality of minds is that mode of thought, to establish which (and it +is for this we blame him) he calls, and so prematurely, for so great +sacrifices. + +The fifth volume--the most remarkable, we think, of the whole--contains +that historical survey which has been more than once alluded to in the +foregoing extracts. This volume alone would make the fortune of any +expert Parisian scribe who knew how to select from its rich store of +original materials, who had skill to arrange and expound, and, above +all, had the dexterity to adopt somewhat more ingeniously than M. Comte +has done, his abstract statements to our reminiscences of historical +facts. Full of his own generalities, he is apt to forget the concrete +matter of the annalist. Indeed, it is a peculiarity running through the +volume, that generalizations, in themselves of a valuable character, are +shown to disadvantage by an unskilful alliance with history. + +We will make one quotation from this portion of the work, and then we +must leave M. Comte. In reviewing the theological progress of mankind, +he signalizes three epochs, that of Fetishism, of Polytheism, and of +Monotheism. Our extract shall relate to the first of these, to that +primitive state of religion, or idolatry, in which _things themselves_ +were worshipped; the human being transferring to them immediately a +life, or power, somewhat analogous to its own. + + "Exclusively habituated, for so long a time, to a theology + eminently metaphysic, we must feel at present greatly + embarrassed in our attempt to comprehend this gross primitive + mode of thought. It is thus that fetishism has often been + confounded with polytheism, when to the latter has been applied + the common expression of idolatry, which strictly relates to + the former only; since the priests of Jupiter or Minerva would, + no doubt, have as justly repelled the vulgar reproach of + worshipping images, as do the Catholic doctors of the present + day a like unjust accusation of the Protestants. But though we + are happily sufficiently remote from fetishism to find a + difficulty in conceiving it, yet each one of us has but to + retrace his own mental history, to detect the essential + characters of this initial state. Nay, even eminent thinkers of + the present day, when they allow themselves to be involuntarily + ensnared (under the influence, but partially rectified, of a + vicious education) to attempt to penetrate the mystery of the + essential production of any phenomenon whose laws are not + familiar to them, they are in a condition personally to + exemplify this invariable instinctive tendency to trace the + generation of unknown effects to a cause analogous to life, + which is no other, strictly speaking, than the principle of + fetishism.... + + "Theologic philosophy, thoroughly investigated, has always + necessarily for its base pure fetishism, which deifies + instantly each body and each phenomenon capable of exciting the + feeble thought of infant humanity. Whatever essential + transformations this primitive philosophy may afterwards + undergo, a judicious sociological analysis will always expose + to view this primordial base, never entirely concealed, even in + a religious state the most remote from the original point of + departure. Not only, for example, the Egyptian theocracy has + presented, at the time of its greatest splendour, the + established and prolonged coexistence, in the several castes of + the hierarchy, of one of these religious epochs, since the + inferior ranks still remained in simple fetishism, whilst the + higher orders were in possession of a very remarkable + polytheism, and the most exalted of its members had probably + raised themselves to some form of monotheism; but we can at all + times, by a strict scrutiny, detect in the theologic spirit + traces of this original fetishism. It has even assumed, amongst + subtle intelligences, the most metaphysical forms. What, in + reality, is that celebrated conception of a soul of the world + amongst the ancients, or that analogy, more modern, drawn + between the earth and an immense living animal, and other + similar fancies, but pure fetishism disguised in the pomp of + philosophical language? And, in our own days even, what is this + cloudy pantheism which so many metaphysicians, especially in + Germany, make great boast of, but generalized and systematized + fetishism enveloped in a learned garb fit to amaze the + vulgar."--Vol. V. p. 38. + +He then remarks on the perfect adaptation of this primitive theology to +the initial torpor of the human understanding, which it spares even the +labour of creating and sustaining the facile fictions of polytheism. The +mind yields passively to that natural tendency which leads us to +transfer to objects without us, that sentiment of existence which we +feel within, and which, appearing at first sufficiently to explain our +own personal phenomena, serves directly as an uniform base, an absolute +unquestioned interpretation, of all external phenomena. He dwells with +quite a touching satisfaction on this child-like and contented condition +of the rude intellect. + + "All observable bodies," he says "being thus immediately + personified and endowed with passions suited to the energy of + the observed phenomena, the external world presents itself + spontaneously to the spectator in a perfect harmony, such as + never again has been produced, and which must have excited in + him a peculiar sentiment of plenary satisfaction, hardly by us + in the present day to be characterized, even when we refer back + with a meditation the most intense on this cradle of humanity." + +Do not even these few fragments bear out our remarks, both of praise and +censure? We see here traces of a deep penetration into the nature of +man, coupled with a singular negligence of the historical picture. The +principle here laid down as that of fetishism, is important in many +respects; it is strikingly developed, and admits of wide application; +but (presuming we are at liberty to seek in the rudest periods for the +origin of religion) we do not find any such systematic procedure amongst +rude thinkers--we do not find any condition of mankind which displays +that complete ascendancy of the principle here described. Our author +would lead us to suppose, that the deification of objects was uniformly +a species of explanation of natural phenomena. The accounts we have of +fetishism, as observed in barbarous countries, prove to us that this +animation of stocks and stones has frequently no connexion whatever with +a desire to explain _their_ phenomena, but has resulted from a fancied +relation between those objects and the human being. The _charm_ or the +_amulet_--some object whose presence has been observed to cure diseases, +or bring good-luck--grows up into a god; a strong desire at once leading +the man to pray to his amulet, and also to attribute to it the power of +granting his prayer.[50] + + [50] Take, for instance, the following description of fetishism + in Africa. It is the best which just now falls under our hand, + and perhaps a longer search would not find a better. Those only + who never read _The Doctor_, will be surprised to find it + quoted on a grave occasion:-- + + "The name Fetish, though used by the negroes themselves, is + known to be a corrupt application of the Portuguese word for + witchcraft, _feitico_; the vernacular name is _Bossum_, or + _Bossifoe_. Upon the Gold Coast every nation has its own, every + village, every family, and every individual. A great hill, a + rock any way remarkable for its size or shape, or a large tree, + is generally the national Fetish. The king's is usually the + largest tree in his country. They who choose or change one, + take the first thing they happen to see, however worthless--a + stick, a stone, the bone of a beast, bird, or fish, unless the + worshipper takes a fancy for something of better appearance, + and chooses a horn, or the tooth of some large animal. The + ceremony of consecration he performs himself, assembling his + family, washing the new object of his devotion, and sprinkling + them with the water. He has thus a household or personal god, + in which he has as much faith as the Papist in his relics, and + with as much reason. Barbot says that some of the Europeans on + that coast not only encouraged their slaves in this + superstition, but believed in it, and practised it + themselves."--Vol. V. p. 136. + +We carry on our quotation one step further, for the sake of illustrating +the impracticable _unmanageable_ nature of our author's generalizations +when historically applied. Having advanced to this stage in the +development of theologic thought, he finds it extremely difficult to +extricate the human mind from that state in which he has, with such +scientific precision, fixed it. + + "Speculatively regarded, this great transformation of the + religious spirit (from fetishism to polytheism) is perhaps the + most fundamental that it has ever undergone, though we are at + present so far separated from it as not to perceive its extent + and difficulty. The human mind, it seems to me, passed over a + less interval in its transit from polytheism to monotheism, the + more recent and better understood accomplishment of which has + naturally taught us to exaggerate its importance--an importance + extremely great only in a certain social point of view, which I + shall explain in its place. When we reflect that fetishism + supposes matter to be eminently active, to the point of being + truly alive, while polytheism necessarily compels it to an + inertia almost absolute, submitted passively to the arbitrary + will of the divine agent; it would seem at first impossible to + comprehend the real mode of transition from one religious + _regime_ to the other."--P. 97. + +The transition, it seems, was effected by an early effort of +generalization; for as men recognized the similitude of certain objects, +and classified them into one species, so they approximated the +corresponding Fetishes, and reduced them at length to a principal +Fetish, presiding over this class of phenomena, who thus, liberated from +matter, and having of necessity an independent being of its own, became +a god. + + "For the gods differ essentially from pure fetishes, by a + character more general and more abstract, pertaining to their + indeterminate residence. They, each of them, administer a + special order of phenomena, and have a department more or less + extensive; while the humble fetish governs one object only, + from which it is inseparable. Now, in proportion as the + resemblance of certain phenomena was observed, it was necessary + to classify the corresponding fetishes, and to reduce them to a + chief, who, from this time, was elevated to the rank of a + god--that is to say, an ideal agent, habitually invisible, + whose residence is not rigorously fixed. There could not exist, + properly speaking, a fetish common to several bodies; this + would be a contradiction, every fetish being necessarily + endowed with a material individuality. When, for example, the + similar vegetation of the several trees in a forest of oaks, + led men to represent, in their theological conceptions, what + was _common_ in these objects, this abstract being could no + longer be the fetish of a tree, but became the god of the + forest."--P. 101. + +This apparatus of transition is ingenious enough, but surely it is +utterly uncalled for. The same uncultured imagination that could animate +a tree, could people the air with gods. Whenever the cause of any +natural event is _invisible_, the imagination cannot rest in Fetishism; +it must create some being to produce it. If thunder is to be +theologically explained--and there is no event in nature more likely to +suggest such explanation--the imagination cannot animate the thunder; it +must create some being that thunders. No one, the discipline of whose +mind had not been solely and purely _scientific_, would have created for +itself this difficulty, or solved it in such a manner.[51] + + [51] At the end of the same chapter from which this extract is + taken, the _Doctor_ tells a story which, if faith could be put + in the numerous accounts which men relate of themselves, (and + such, we presume, was the original authority for the anecdote,) + might deserve a place in the history of superstition. + + "One of the most distinguished men of the age, who has left a + reputation which will be as lasting as it is great, was, when a + boy, in constant fear of a very able but unmerciful + schoolmaster; and in the state of mind which that constant fear + produced, he fixed upon a great spider for his fetish, and used + every day to pray to it that he might not be flogged." + + * * * * * + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. +CCCXXIX., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE *** + +***** This file should be named 12761.txt or 12761.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/7/6/12761/ + +Produced by Jon Ingram, Brendan O'Connor and PG Distributed +Proofreaders. 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