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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14778 ***
+
+BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+NO. CCCXLI. MARCH, 1844. VOL. LV.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+    ETHIOPIA,
+    A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES. BY LORGNON,
+    THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. PART I.,
+    COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA,
+    BELFRONT CASTLE. A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW,
+    DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE,
+    MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN. PART IX.,
+    THE OLYMPIC JUPITER,
+    A ROMAN IDYL,
+    GOETHE,
+    HYMN OF A HERMIT,
+    THE LUCKLESS LOVER,
+    FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION--THE CORN LAWS,
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ETHIOPIA[1]
+
+    [1] _The Highlands of Ethiopa._ by Major W. CORNWALLIS HARRIS, H.E.
+    I.C. Engineers. 3 vols.
+
+
+From the various circumstances of our day, the impression is powerfully
+made upon intelligent men in Europe, that some extraordinary change is
+about to take place in the general condition of mankind. A new ardour of
+human intercourse seems to be spreading through all nations. Europe has
+laid aside her perpetual wars, and seems to be assuming a _habit_ of peace.
+Even France, hitherto the most belligerent of European nations, is
+evidently abandoning the passion for conqest, and begining to exert her
+fine powers in the cultivation of commerce. All the nations of Europe are
+either following her example, or sending out colonies of greater or less
+magnitude, to fill the wild portions of the world. Regions hitherto
+utterly neglected, and even scarcely known, are becoming objects of
+enlightened regard; and mankind, in every quarter, is approaching, with
+greater or less speed, to that combined interest and mutual intercourse,
+which are the first steps to the true possession of the globe.
+
+But, we say it with the gratification of Englishmen, proud of their
+country's fame, and still prouder of its principles--that the lead in this
+noblest of all human victories, has been clearly taken by England. It is
+she who pre-eminently stimulates the voyage, and plants the colony, and
+establishes the commerce, and civilizes the people. And all this has been
+done in a manner so little due to popular caprice or national ambition, to
+the mere will of a sovereign, or the popular thirst of possession, that it
+invests the whole process with a sense of unequaled security. Resembling
+the work of nature in the simplicity of its growth, it will probably also
+resemble the work of nature in the permanence of its existence. It is not
+an exotic, fixed in an unsuitable soil by capricions planting; but a seed
+self-sown, nurtured by the common air and dews, assimilated to the climate,
+and strikig its roots deep in the ground which it has thus, by its own
+instincts, chosen. The necessities of British commerce, the urgency of
+English protection, and the overflow of British population, have been the
+great acting causes of our national efforts; and as those are causes which
+regulate themselves, their results are as regular and unshaken, as they
+are natural and extensive. But England has also had a higher motive. She
+has unquestionably mingled a spirit of benevolence largely with her
+general exertions. She has laboured to communicate freedom, law, a feeling
+of property, and a consciousness of the moral debt due by man to the Great
+Disposer of all, wherever she has had the power in her hands. No people
+have ever been the worse for her, and all have been the better, in
+proportion to their following her example. Wherever she goes, oppression
+decays, the safety of person and property begins to be felt, the sword is
+sheathed, the pen and the ploughshare commence alike to reclaim the mental
+and the physical soil, and civilization comes, like the dawn, however
+slowly advancing, to prepare the heart of the barbarian for the burst of
+light, in the rising of Christianity upon his eyes.
+
+The formation of a new route between India and Europe by the Red Sea--a
+route, though well known to the ancient world, yet wholly incapable of
+adoption by any but an Arab horseman, from the perpetual tumults of the
+country--compelled England to look for a resting-place and depot for her
+steam-ships at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden, a desolated port, was the
+spot fixed on; and the steam-vessels touching there were enabled to
+prepare themselves for the continuance of their voyage. We shall
+subsequently see how strikingly British protection has changed the
+desolateness of this corner of the Arab wilderness, how extensively it has
+become a place of commerce, and how effectually it will yet furnish the
+means of increasing our knowledge of the interior of the great Arabian
+peninsula.
+
+It is remarkable that Africa, one of the largest and most fertile portions
+of the globe, remains one of the least known. Furnishing materials of
+commerce which have been objects of universal desire since the
+deluge--gold, gems, ivory, fragrant gums, and spices--it has still
+remained almost untraversed by the European foot, except along its coast.
+It has been circumnavigated by the ships of every European nation, its
+slave-trade has divided its profits and its pollutions among the chief
+nations of the eastern and western worlds; and yet, to this hour, there
+are regions of Africa, probably amounting to half its bulk, and possessing
+kingdoms of the size of France and Spain, of which Europe has no more
+heard than of the kingdoms of the planet Jupiter. The extent of Africa is
+enormous:--5000 miles in length, 4600 in breadth, it forms nearly a
+square of 13,430,000 square miles! the chief part solid ground; for we
+know of no Mediterranean to break its continuity--no mighty reservoir for
+the waters of its hills--and scarcely more than the Niger and the Nile for
+the means of penetrating any large portion of this huge continent.
+
+The population naturally divides itself into two portions, connected with
+the character of its surface--the countries to the north and the south of
+the mountains of Kong and the Jebel-al-Komr. To the north of this line of
+demarcation, are the kingdoms of the foreign conquerors, who have driven
+the original natives to the mountains, or have subjected them as slaves.
+This is the Mahometan land. To the south of this line dwells the Negro, in
+a region a large portion of which is too fiery for European life. This is
+Central Africa; distinguished from all the earth by the unspeakable
+mixture of squalidness and magnificence, simplicity of life yet fury of
+passion, savage ignorance of its religious notions yet fearful worship of
+evil powers, its homage to magic, and desperate belief in spells,
+incantations and the _fetish_. The configuration of the country, so far as
+it can be conjectured, assists this primeval barbarism. Divided by natural
+barriers of hill, chasm, or river, into isolated states, they act under a
+general impulse of hostility and disunion. If they make peace, it is only
+for purposes of plunder; and, if they plunder, it is only to make slaves.
+The very fertility of the soil, at once rendering them indolent and
+luxurious, excites their passions, and the land is a scene alike of
+profligacy and profusion. To the south of this vast region lies a
+third--the land of the Caffre, occupying the eastern coast, and, with the
+Betjouana and the Hottentot, forming the population of the most promising
+portion of the continent. But here another and more enterprising race have
+fixed themselves; and the great English colony of the Cape, with its
+dependent settlements, has begun the first real conquest of African
+barbarism. Whether Aden may not act on the opposite coasts of the Red Sea,
+and Abyssinia become once more a Christian land; or whether even some
+impulse may not divinely come from Africa itself, are questions belonging
+to the future. But there can scarcely be a doubt, that the existence of a
+great English viceroyalty in the most prominent position of South Africa,
+the advantages of its government, the intelligence of its people, their
+advancement in the arts essential to comfort, and the interest of their
+protection, their industry, and their example, must, year by year, operate
+in awaking even the negro to a feeling of his own powers, of the enjoyment
+of his natural faculties, and of that rivalry which stimulates the skill
+of man to reach perfection.
+
+The name of Africa, which, in the Punic tongue, signifies "ears of corn,"
+was originally applied only to the northern portion, lying between the
+Great Desert and the shore, and now held by the pashalics of Tunis and
+Tripoli. They were then the granary of Rome. The name Lybia was derived
+from the Hebrew _Leb_, (heat,) and was sometimes partially extended to the
+continent, but was geographically limited to the provinces between the
+Great Syrtis and Egypt. The name Ethiopia is evidently Greek, (burning, or
+black, visage.)
+
+There is strong reason to believe that the Portuguese boast of the
+sixteenth century--the circumnavigation of Africa--was anticipated by the
+Phoenician sailors two thousand years and more. We have the testimony of
+Herodotus, that Necho, king of Egypt, having failed in an attempt to
+connect the Nile with the Red Sea by a canal, determine to try whether
+another route might not be within his reach, and sent Phoenician vessels
+from the Red Sea, with orders to sail round Africa, and return by the
+Mediterranean. It is not improbable that, from being unacquainted with the
+depth to which it penetrates the south, he had expected the voyage to be a
+brief one. It seems evident that the navigators themselves did not
+conceive that it could extend beyond the equator, from their surprise at
+seeing the sun rise on their _right hand_. The narrative tells us--"The
+Phoenicians, taking their course from the Red Sea, entered into the
+Southern Ocean on the approach of autumn; they landed in Lybia, planted
+corn, and remained till the harvest. They then sailed again. After having
+thus spent two years, they passed the Columns of Hercules in the third,
+and returned to Egypt." Herodotus doubted their story--"Their relation,"
+says the honest old Greek, "may obtain belief from others, but to me it
+seems incredible; for they affirmed, that, having sailed round Africa,
+they _had the sun on their right hand_. Thus was Africa for the first time
+known."
+
+Thus the very circumstance which the old historian regarded as throwing
+doubt on the discovery, is now one of the strongest corroborations of its
+truth.[2] There appear to have been several attempts to sail along the
+west coast, by ancient expeditions; but to the Portuguese is due the
+modern honour of having first sailed round the Cape. From 1412, the
+Portuguese, under a race of adventurous princes, had extended their
+discoveries; but it occupied them sixty years to reach the Line, and
+nearly thirty years more to reach the Cape, which they first called Cabo
+Tormentoso, (Stormy Cape.) But the king gave it the more lucky, though the
+less poetical, title which it now bears.
+
+    [2] Reunell, p. 682.
+
+The triumph of Columbus, in his discovery of the New World in 1493, raised
+the emulation of the Portuguese, then regarded as the first navigators in
+the world; yet it was not until four years after, that their expedition
+was sent, to equalize the stupendous accession to the Spanish domains, by
+the possession of the East. In July 1497, Gama sailed, reached Calicut May
+2, 1498, and returned to Portugal, covered with well-earned renown, after
+a voyage of upwards of two years.
+
+Having given this brief outline of the divisions and character of the
+mighty continent, which seemed important to the better understanding of
+the immediate subject, we revert to the intelligent and animated volumes
+of Captain (now Major) Harris.
+
+A letter from the Bombay government, 29th April 1841, gave him this
+distinguished credential:--
+
+"SIR--I am directed to inform you that the Honourable the Governor in
+Council, having formed a very high estimate of your talents and
+acquirements, and of the spirit of enterprise and decision, united with
+prudence and discretion, exhibited in your recently published travels
+through the territories of the Maselakatze to the Tropic of Capricorn, has
+been pleased to select you to conduct the mission which the British
+Government has resolved to send to Sahela Selasse, the king of Shoa, in
+Southern Abyssinia, whose capital, Ankober, is supposed to be about four
+hundred miles inland from the port of Tajura, on the African coast."
+
+[Then followed the mention of the vessels appointed to carry the mission.]
+
+    (Signed) "J.P. WILLOUGHBY,"
+
+    "Secretary to Government."
+
+The persons comprising the mission were Major W.C. Harris, Bombay
+Engineers, Captain Douglas Graham, Bombay army, principal assistant, with
+others, naturalists, draftsmen, &c., and an escort of two sergeants and
+fifteen rank and file, volunteers from H.M. 6th foot and the Bombay
+Artillery.
+
+On the afternoon of a sultry day in April, Major Harris, with his gallant
+and scientific associates, embarked on board the East India Company's
+steam ship Auckland, in the harbour of Bombay, on their voyage to the
+kingdom of Shoa in Southern Abyssinia, in the year 1841. The steam frigate
+pursued her way prosperously through the waters, and on the ninth day was
+within sight of Cape Aden, after a voyage of 1680 miles. The Cape, named
+by the natives, Jebel Shemshan, rises nearly 1800 feet above the ocean, is
+frequently capped with clouds, a wild and fissured mass of rock, and
+evidently intended by nature for one of those great beacons which announce
+the approach to an inland sea. On rounding the Cape, the British eye was
+delighted with the sight of the Red Sea squadron, riding at anchor within
+the noble bay. The arrival of the frigate also caused a sensation on the
+shore; and Major Harris happily describes the feelings with which a new
+arrival is hailed by the British garrison on that dreary spot, their only
+excitement being the periodical visits of the packets between Suez and
+Bombay. In the dead of the night a blue light shoots up in the offing. It
+is answered by the illumination of the block ship, then the thunder of her
+guns is heard, then, as she nears the shore, the flapping of her paddles
+is heard through the silence, then the spectral lantern appears at the
+mast-head, and then she rushes to her anchorage, leaving in her wake a
+long phosphoric train.
+
+Wherever England drops an anchor a new scene of existence has begun. At
+Aden, the supply of coals for the steam-ships has introduced a new trade;
+gangs of brawny Seedies, negroes from the Zanzibar coast, but fortunately
+enfranchised, make a livelihood by transferring the coal from the depots
+on shore to the steamers. Though the most unmusical race in the world,
+they can do nothing without music, but it is music of their own--a
+tambourine beaten with the thigh-bone of a calf; but their giant frames go
+through prodigious labour, carry immense sacks, and drink prodigious
+draughts to wash the coal-dust down. Such is the furious excitement with
+which they rush into this repulsive operation, that Major Harris thinks
+that for every hundred tons of coal thus embarked, at least one life is
+sacrificed; those strong savages, at once inflamed by drink, and overcome
+with toil, throwing themselves down on the dust or the sand, to rise no
+more. This shows the advantage of English philosophy: our coal-heavers in
+the Thames toil as much, are nearly as naked, nearly as black, and
+probably drink more; but we never hear of their dying in a fit of rapture
+in the embrace of a coal-sack. When the day is done, drunk or sober,
+washed or unwashed, they go home to their wives, sleep untroubled by the
+cares of kings, and return to fresh dust, drink, and dirt, next morning.
+
+The coast of Arabia has no claims to the picturesque: all its charms, like
+those of the oyster, lie within the roughest of possible shells. Its first
+aspect resembles heaps of the cinders of a glass-house--a building whose
+heat seems to be fully realized by the temperature of this fearful place.
+England has a resident there, Captain Haynes, named as political agent.
+That any human being, who could exist in any other place, would remain in
+Aden, is one of the wonders of human nature. An officer, of course, must
+go wherever he is sent; but such is the innate love for a post, that if
+this gallant and intelligent person were roasted to death, as might happen
+in one of the coolest days of the Ethiopian summer, there would be a
+thousand applications before a month was over, to the Foreign Office, for
+the honour of being carbonaded on the rocks of Aden.
+
+The promontory has all the marks of volcanic eruption, and is actually
+recorded, by an Arab historian of the tenth century, to have been thrown
+up about that period. "Its sound, like the rumbling of thunder, might then
+be heard many miles, and from its entrails vomited forth redhot stones,
+with a flood of liquid fire." The crater of the extinguished volcano is
+still visible, though shattered and powdered down by the tread under which
+Alps and Appennines themselves crumble away--that of Time. The only point
+on which we are sceptical is the late origin of the promontory. Nothing
+beyond a sandhill or a heap of ashes has been produced on the face of
+nature since the memory of man. That a rock, or rather a mountain chain,
+with a peak 1800 feet high, should have been produced at any time time
+within the last four thousand years, altogether tasks our credulity. The
+powers of nature are now otherwise employed than in rough-hewing the
+surface of the globe. She has been long since, like the sculptor, employed
+in polishing and finishing--the features were hewn out long ago. Her
+master-hand has ever since been employed in smoothing them.
+
+Aden's reputation for barrenness is an old one--"Aden," says Ben Batuta of
+Tangiers, "is situate upon the sea-shore; a large city without either seed,
+water, or tree." This was written five hundred years ago; yet the ruins of
+fortifications and watch-towers along the rocks, show that even this human
+oven was the object of cupidity in earlier times; and the British guns,
+bristling among the precipices, show that the desire is undecayed even in
+our philosophic age.
+
+Yet the Arab imagination has created its wonders even in this repulsive
+scene; and the generation of monkeys which tenant the higher portion of
+the rocks, are declared by Arab tradition to be the remnant of the once
+powerful tribe of Ad, changed into apes by the displeasure of Heaven, when
+"the King of the World," Sheddad, renowned in eastern story,
+presumptuously dared to form a garden which should rival Paradise. The
+prophet Hud remonstrated; but his remonstrances went for nothing, and the
+indignant monarch and his courtiers suddenly found their visages simious,
+their tongues chattering, and their lower portions furnished with tails--a
+species of transformation, which, so far as regards visage and tongue, is
+supposed to be not unfrequent among courtiers to this day. But this showy
+tradition goes further still. The Bostan al Irem (Garden of Paradise) is
+believed still to exist in the deserts of Aden; though geographers differ
+on its position. It still retains its domes and bowers--both of
+indescribable beauty; its crystal fountains, and its walks strewed with
+pearls for sand. It is true, that no living man can absolutely aver that
+he has seen this place of wonders; but that is a mere result of our very
+wicked age. This has not been always the case; for Abdallah Ibn Aboo
+Kelaba passed a night in its palace in the reign of Moowiych, the prince
+of the Faithful. Lucky the man who shall next find it, but unlucky the
+world when he does; for then the day of the general conflagration will be
+at hand. In the mean time, it remains, like the top of Mount Meru, covered
+with clouds, or, like the inside of a Chinese puzzle, a work of unrivaled
+art, conceivable but intangible by man.
+
+In this pleasant mingling of fact, visible to his shrewd eye, and fiction
+drawn from ancient fancy, Major Harris leads us on. But Aden is not yet
+exhausted of wonders--an island in its bay, Seerah, (the fortified black
+isle,) is pronounced to have been the refuge of Cain on the murder of Abel;
+and its volcanic and barren chaos is no unequal competitor for the honour
+with the rocks of the Caucasus.
+
+But England, which changes every thing, is changing all this. Within the
+next generation, the railway will run down the romances of Nutrib; a
+cotton manufactory will send up its smokes to blot out the celestial blue
+by day, and shoot forth its sullen illumination by night, over the
+anointed soil; the minstrel will turn policeman, and the sheik be a
+justice of peace; political economy will have its itinerant lecturers,
+enlightening the Bedouins on the principles of rent and taxes; the city
+will have a lord mayor and corporation of the deepest black; the volcano
+will be planted with villas; turnpikes will measure out the sands; a hotel
+will flourish on the summit of Jebel Shemshan; and Aden will differ from
+Liverpool in nothing but being two thousand miles further from the smoke
+and multitudes of London.
+
+The Arab is still the prominent person among the native population of this
+territory. Major Harris describes him well. The bronzed and sunburnt
+visage, surrounded by long matted locks of raven hair; the slender but
+wiry and active frame, and the energetic gait and manner, proclaimed the
+untamable descendant of Ishmael. He nimbly mounts the crupper of his now
+unladen dromedary, and at a trot moves down the bazar. A checked kerchief
+round his brows, and a kilt of dark blue calico round his frame, comprise
+his slender costume. His arms have been deposited outside the Turkish wall;
+and as he looks back, his meagre, ferocious aspect, flanked by that
+tangled web of hair, stamps him the roving tenant of the desert. It is
+curious to find in this remote country a custom similar to that of the
+fiery cross, which in old times summoned the Celtic tribes to arms. On the
+alarm of invasion, a branch, torn by the priest from the _nebek_, (a tree
+bearing a fruit like the Siberian crab,) is lighted in the fire, the flame
+is then quenched in the blood of a newly slaughtered ram. It is then sent
+forth with a messenger to the nearest clan. Thus, great numbers are
+assembled with remarkable promptitude. In the invasion under Ibrahim Pasha,
+sixteen thousand of these wild warriors were assembled from one tribe.
+They crept into the Egyptian camp by night, and, using only their daggers,
+made such formidable slaughter, that the Pasha was glad to escape by a
+precipitate retreat.
+
+The Jews form an important part of the population, as artizans and
+manufacturers. Feeling the natural veneration for the Chosen People in all
+their misfortunes, and convinced that the time will come when those
+misfortunes will be obliterated, it is highly gratifying to find, that
+even in this place of their ancient sufferings, they are beginning to feel
+the benefit of British protection. Hitherto, through their indefatigable
+industry, having acquired opulence in Arabia as elsewhere, they were
+afraid either to display or to enjoy it; but now, under the protection of
+the British flag, they not merely enjoy their wealth, but they publicly
+practise the rights of their religion. Stone slabs with Hebrew
+inscriptions mark the place of their dead. They have schools for the
+education of their children; and their men and women, arrayed in their
+holiday apparel, sit fearlessly in the synagogue, and listen to the
+reading of the law and the prophets, as of old. It is a great source of
+gratification to the philanthropist to find, that wherever England extends
+her power, industry, commerce, and peace are the natural result. Aden,
+barren as the soil is, is evidently approaching to a prosperity which it
+never possessed even in its most flourishing days. Emigrants from Yemen
+and from both shores of the Red Sea, are daily crowding within the walls,
+through the security which they offer against native oppression. In the
+short space of three years, the population has risen to twenty thousand
+souls. Substantial dwellings are rising up in every quarter, and at all
+the adjacent ports hundreds of native merchants are only waiting the
+erection of permanent fortifications, in token of our intending to remain,
+to flock under the guns with their families and wealth. The opinion of
+this intelligent writer is, that Aden, as a free port, whilst she pours
+wealth into a now impoverished land, must erelong become the queen of the
+adjacent seas, and rank amongst the most useful dependencies of the
+British crown.
+
+The mission having remained some time at Aden, to purchase horses and
+stores, sailed on the 15th May; and, on losing sight of Aden, the members
+of the mission characteristically took the "Pilgrims' vow" not to shave
+until their return. On the 17th they opened the town of Tajura, on the
+verge of a broad expanse of blue water, over which a gossamerlike fleet of
+fishing catamarans already plied their craft. Their pilot, an old Arab,
+was a man of fun, and the specimens of his tongue are good. In some
+reference to the anchorage, he said, "Now if we only had two-fathom Ali
+here, you would not have all these difficulties. When they want to lay out
+an anchor, they have nothing to do but to hand it over to Ali, and he
+walks away with it into six or eight feet without any ado. I went once
+upon a time in the dark to grope for a berth on board of his buggalow, and,
+stumbling over some one's toes, enquired to whom they belonged. 'To Ali,'
+was the reply. 'And whose knees are these?' said I, after walking half
+across the deck. 'Ali's.' 'And this head in the scuppers, pray whose is
+it?' 'Ali's; what do you want with it?' 'Ali again!' I exclaimed; 'then I
+must even look for stowage elsewhere.'"
+
+The sight of a shark in the harbour let loose the old jester again. "A
+friend of mine," said he, "pilot of a vessel almost as fast a sailer as my
+own, which is acknowledged to be the best in these seas, was bound to
+Mocha with camels on board. When off the high table-land betwixt the Bay
+of Tajura and the Red Sea, one of the beasts dying, was hove overboard. Up
+came a shark ten times the size of that fellow there, and swallowed the
+camel, leaving only his hinder legs sticking out of his jaws; but before
+he had time to think where he was to find stowage for it, up came another
+tremendous fellow and bolted the shark, camel, legs, and all."
+
+In return for this anecdote, the major gave him the story of the two
+Kilkenny cats in the saw-pit, which fought, until nothing remained of
+either but the tail and a bit of the flue. The old pilot doubted. "How can
+that be?" said he, revolving the business seriously in his mind. "As for
+the story I have told you, it is as true as the Koran."
+
+After a short stay and presentation to the Sultan of Tajura, a slave-port,
+with a miserable old man for its master, the mission once more set forth
+for Shoa; yet even here we glean a specimen of Arab speech. "Trees attain
+not to their growth in a single day," said an Arab, when remonstrating
+with the sultan on his inordinate love of lucre. "Take the tree as your
+text, and learn that property is to be gathered only by slow degrees."
+"True," said the old miser; "but, sheik, you must have lost sight of the
+fact, that my leaves are already withered, and that, if I would be rich, I
+have not a moment to lose."
+
+The packing up for the journey was a new source of trouble; every
+camel-driver found fault with his load. However, at length every article
+was stowed, except a hand-organ and a few stand of arms. At length, a
+great hulking savage offered to take the arms, provided they were cut in
+two to suit the back of his animals. We have then another instance of Arab
+drollery. "You are a tall man," said the old pilot; "suppose we shorten
+you by the legs." "No, no," said the barbarian, "I am flesh and blood, and
+shall be spoiled." "So will the contents of these cases, you offspring of
+an ass," said the old man, "if you divide them."
+
+The progress to the interior from the port of Tajura, led them over
+immense ranges of basaltic cliffs, where the heat of the sun was felt with
+an intensity scarcely conceivable by European feelings. In this land of
+fire, the road skirting the base of a barren range covered with heaps of
+lava blocks, and its foot marked by piles of stones, the memorials of
+deeds of blood, the lofty conical peak of Jebel Seearo rose in sight, and
+not long afterwards the far-famed Lake Assad, surrounded by its dancing
+mirage, was seen sparkling at its base.
+
+The first glimpse of this phenomenon, "though curious, was far from
+pleasing"--"an elliptical basin, seven miles in its transverse axis,
+filled half with smooth water of the deepest cerulean hue, and half with a
+sheet of glittering snow-white salt, girded on three sides by huge
+hot-looking mountains, that dip their basins into its very bowl, and on
+the fourth by crude, half-formed rocks of lava, broken and divided by
+chasms. No sound broke on the ear, not a ripple played on the water. The
+molten surface of the lake lay like burnished steel, the fierce sky was
+without a cloud, and the angry sun, like a ball of metal at a white heat,
+rode in full blaze."
+
+It is scarcely wonderful, that among a people devoted to superstition,
+those terrible passes and sultry hollows should be marked as the haunts of
+the powers of evil. Adyli, a deep mysterious cavern at the extremity of
+one of those melancholy plains, is believed to be the especial abode of
+gins and _afreets_, whose voices are heard in the night, and who carry off
+the traveller to devour him without remorse. A late instance was mentioned
+of a man who was compelled by the weariness of his camel to fall behind
+the caravan, and who left no remnants behind him but his spear and shield.
+Major Harris well describes this spot as one which, from its desolate
+position, might be believed to be the last stage of the habitable world.
+"A close mephitic stench, impeding respiration, arose from the saline
+exhalations of the stagnant lake. A frightful glare from the white salt
+and limestone hillocks threatened extinction to the vision, and a
+sickening heaviness in the loaded atmosphere was enhanced rather than
+alleviated by the fiery breath of the north-westerly wind, which blew
+without interruption during the day. The air was inflamed, the sky
+sparkled, and columns of burning sand, which at quick intervals towered
+high into the atmosphere, became so illumined as to appear like tall
+pillars of fire. Crowds of horses, mules, and camels, tormented to madness
+by the poisonous gad-fly, flocked to share the only bush; and, disputing
+with their heels the slender shelter it afforded, compelled several of the
+party to seek refuge in caves formed below by fallen masses of volcanic
+rock, heated to the temperature of a potter's kiln, and fairly baking up
+the marrow in the bones." The heat in this place, with the thermometer
+under the shade of cloaks and umbrellas, was at 126°. It is only
+surprising how any of the party survived. Certainly if Abyssinia is to be
+approached only by this road, the prospect of an intercourse with it from
+the east, appears among the most improbable things of this world.
+
+One of the advantages of continental travel has been long since said to be,
+its teaching us how many comfortable things we enjoy at home; and it
+appears that no Englishman can comprehend the value of that despised fluid,
+fresh water, until he has left the precincts of his own fortunate land:
+but it is in Africa, and peculiarly on this Abyssinian high-road, that the
+value of a draught of spring water is to be especially estimated. "Since
+leaving the shores of India," says Major Harris, "the party had gradually
+been in training towards a disregard of dirty water. On board a ship of
+any description, the fluid is seldom very clear or very plentiful. At Cape
+Aden, there was little perceptible difference between the sea water and
+the land water. At Tajura, the beverage obtainable was far from being
+improved in quality by the taint of the new skins in which it was
+transferred from the only well; and now, in the very heart of the
+scorching Tehama, where a copious draught of pure water seemed absolutely
+indispensable every five minutes, the mixture was the very acme of
+abomination. Fresh hides stript from the he-goat, besmeared inside as well
+as out with old tallow and strong bark tan, filled from an impure well at
+Sagallo, tossed and tumbled during two days and nights under a distilling
+heat," formed a drink which we should conclude to be little short of
+poison. However, the human throat learns to accommodate itself to every
+thing in time, and the time came when even this abomination was longed for.
+
+But the worst was not yet come. It was midnight when the party commenced
+the steep ascent of the south-eastern boundary of the lake, a ridge of
+volcanic rocks. "The north-east wind had scarcely diminished its parching
+fierceness, and in hot suffocating gusts swept over the glittering expanse
+of water and salt, where the moon shone brightly; each deadly puff
+succeeded by the stillness that foretells a tropical hurricane. The
+prospect around was wild--beetling, basaltic cones, and jagged slabs of
+shattered lava."
+
+The path itself was formidable, winding along the crest of the ridge over
+sheets of broken lava, with scarcely more than sufficient width to admit
+of the progress in single file. "The horrors of this dismal night set all
+description at defiance." The hope of water, though at the distance of
+sixteen miles, excited them for a while; but at length even this
+excitement failed. And "owing to the heat, fasting, and privation, the
+limbs of the weaker refused the task, and after the first two miles they
+dropped fast into the rear. Under the fiery blast of the midnight sirocco
+the cry for water, uttered feebly and with difficulty by numbers of
+parched throats, now became incessant; and the supply for the whole party
+falling short of a gallon and a half, it was not long to be answered. A
+tiny sip of diluted vinegar for a moment assuaged the burning thirst which
+raged in the vitals; but its effects were transient, and, after struggling
+a few steps, they sank again, declaring their days to be numbered, and
+their resolution to rise up no more. Dogs incontinently expired upon the
+road, horses and mules that once lay down were abandoned to their fate;
+while the lion-hearted soldier, who had braved death at the cannon's
+mouth, subdued and unmanned by thirst, lay gasping by the wayside, hailing
+approaching dissolution with delight, as the termination of tortures which
+were no longer to be endured. As another day dawned, and the "round red
+sun" again rose over the lake of salt, the courage even of those who had
+borne up against this fiery trial began to flag: "a dimness came before
+the drowsy eyes, giddiness seized the brain, and the hope held out by the
+guides, of water in advance, seemed like the delusion of a dream."
+
+In this crisis, at which our chief wonder is, that Major Harris and his
+explorers were ever heard of again, or had left any memorials of
+themselves but their bones, a wild Bedouin was seen, "like a delivering
+angel," hurrying forward with a large skin, filled with muddy water. This
+well-timed supply was divided among the fainting people: a quantity was
+poured over the face and down the throat of each; and at a late hour,
+"ghastly, haggard, and exhausted, like men who had escaped from the jaws
+of death, the whole had contrived to straggle into a camp, which, but for
+the foresight and firmness of the son of Ali Abi,(who had sent the water,)
+few individuals would have reached alive."
+
+After traversing this terrible desert of fifty miles--a barrier to all
+general and commercial intercourse, which we should think impassable,
+however it might be overcome by a small party of bold and hardy men, well
+led, furnished with every supply, water excepted, which could sustain them
+through its horrors, (and which yet, through that single want, had nearly
+perished)--they persued a long and dlifficult march through a dreary
+country, scantily peopled, dotted with robber clans, and exhibiting
+impediments of all kinds in the knavery and villany of the native
+authorities; until they reached the borders of Abyssinia. We had by no
+means been aware that volcanoes had made so large a share of this portion
+of Africa. The whole border seems to be volcanic, and to retain in its
+blasted and broken surface, evidence of its having been, in remote ages,
+perhaps in the earliest, the scene of most intense and general volcanic
+action.
+
+In Major Harris's animated description--"singular and interesting indeed
+is the wild scenery in the vicinity of the treacherous oasis of Sultelli.
+A field of extinct volcanic cones, vomited out of the entrails of the
+earth, and each encircled by a black belt of vitrified lava, environs it
+on three sides; and of these Mount Abida, three thousand feet in height,
+whose cup, enveloped in clouds, stretches some two and a half miles in
+_diameter_, would seem to be the parent. Beyond, the still loftier crater
+of Aiulloo, the ancient landmark of the now-decayed empire of Ethiopia, is
+visible in dim perspective; and, looming hazily in the extreme distance,
+is the great blue Abyssinian range."
+
+In any part of Africa a river of tolerable magnitude is an object of the
+most anxious interest; and the approach to the Hawash, the boundary river
+of the kingdom of Shoa, was looked to with eager speculation. At length
+the height was reached from which was obtained "an exhilarating prospect
+over the dark, lone valley of the long looked-for Hawash. The course of
+the river was marked by a dense belt of trees and verdure, stretching
+towards the base of the great mountain range, of which the cloud-capped
+cone, which frowns over the capital of Shoa, forms the most conspicuous
+feature." The mission now began to exalt:--"Though still far distant, the
+ultimate destination of the embassy appeared almost to have been gained,
+and none had an idea of the length of time that must elapse before his
+foot should press the soil of Ankober." A day of intense heat was as usual
+followed by a heavy fall of rain, which, owing to the unaccommodating
+arrangement of striking the tents at sunset, thoroughly drenched the whole
+party.
+
+The new difficulty was, how to cross the Hawash, "second of the rivers of
+Abyssinia, and rising in the very heart of Ethipoia, at an elevation of
+8000 feet above the sea. It is fed by niggardly tributaries from the high
+bulwarks of Shoa and Efat, and flows, like a great artery, through the
+arid plains of the Adaiel, green and wooded throughout its long course,
+and finally absorbed in the lagoons of Aussa. The canopy of fleecy clouds,
+which, as mid-day dawned, hung thick and heavy over the lofty blue peaks
+beyond, gave sad presage of the deluge that was pouring between its
+verdant banks from the higher regions of the source."
+
+The party now descended to enjoy the real luxuries of shade and water, in
+a region where they had hitherto seen nothing but salt and lava. At first
+thinly wooded, they found the soil covered with tall rank grass, from
+which, however, the perpetual incursions of the robber tribes scare the
+flocks and herds. Deeper down, they entered among gum-bearing acacias and
+fruit-trees. "Guinea-fowl rose before them, groves of tamarisk, ringing to
+the voice of the bell-bird, flanked every open glade, and the fractured
+branches of the nobletrees gave proof of the presence of the most
+ponderous of the mammalia."
+
+Forcing their way, with some difficulty, through this jungle, they
+obtained their first near view of the river, a "deep volume of turbid
+water," covered with drift wood, and rolling, at the rate of three miles
+an hour, between clayey walls twenty-five feet in height. The breadth fell
+short of sixty yards, but the flood was not yet at its maximum. Willows,
+drooping over the stream, were festooned with recent drift, hanging many
+feet above the level of the banks; and it was evident that the waters had
+lately been out, to the overflowing of the country for many miles. The
+river, now upwards of 2200 feet above the level of the ocean forms, in
+this quarter, the nominal boundary of the kingdom of Shoa.
+
+They were now on "the spot which exhibited the forest life of Africa." In
+a lake adjoining the river, the hippopotamus "rolled his unwieldy carcass
+to the surface, and floating crocodiles, protruding his snout to blow a
+snort that might be heard at the distance of a mile." An unfortunate
+donkey, which had been partly drowned and partly strangled, was thrown out
+of the camp. No sooner had night fallen, than this prey roused the
+appetites of the whole forest, the howl and growl of wild beasts was heard
+at their banquet on the donkey throughout the night. Lightening played
+over the woods; the "violent snapping of the branches proclaimed the
+nocturnal movements of the elephant and hippopotamus;" the loud roar and
+startling snort were constantly heard; and by morning every vestige of the
+dead animal, even to the skull, had disappeared.
+
+Africa, in all its provinces, is the scene of the boldest field sports in
+the world--India and its tigers, perhaps, excepted. But Africa excels even
+India in the variety and multitude of its mighty savages--lions, elephants,
+panthers, and hippopotami; the sands, the forests, the jungles, the rivers,
+the marshes, every thing and place abounds with brute life, on the largest,
+the boldest, and the fiercest scale. Africa, with the human race on the
+lowest grade, has the brute on the highest, and its true name is the great
+kingdom of savage nature.
+
+A two-ounce ball had been lodged in the forehead of hippopotamus on the
+evening of reaching the Hawash; but the animal having dived, the natives,
+in some jealousy of the skill of the British rifle, declared that it had
+not been mortally struck. The next dawn, however, decided the question,
+for the "freckled pink sides of a dead hippopotamus were to be seen high
+above the surface, as the distended carcass floated like a monstrous buoy
+at anchor." Hawsers were carried out with all diligence, and the "colossus"
+was towed ashore amidst the acclamations of the whole caravan. Then came a
+native scene. A tribe of savages, who had waited, squatting, to see the
+arrival of the monster, threw aside their bows and arrows, and, stripping
+its thick hide from the ribs, attacked it with the vigour of an African
+horde. Donkeys and women were laden with incredible despatch, and,
+"staggering under huge flaps of meat," the savages went their way.
+
+The soil now became swampy, yet only the more filled with animal existence.
+LE ADO, (the White Water,) a lake which they skirted, of two miles'
+diameter, was the haunt of countless wild-fowl, geese, mallards, teal,
+herons, flamingoes. A party of Bedouin women deposed to having seen
+another "party" of elephants taking a bath in the spot half an hour before,
+and the prints of their huge feet in the moist sands corroborated the
+testimony. Hideously withered women followed the march of the mission,
+carrying curds, and covered over with marsh-flies. Above, vast flights of
+locusts, which had stripped the coast, were pouring in towards Abyssinia.
+"They quite darkened the air" where the caravan halted; and above them
+again were a host of adjutant birds, sometimes bursting down through the
+mass, and then stooping to the ground, and stalking along to devour the
+killed and wounded. This is the land, too, of the hurricane. Nature is
+queen or tyrant here; the thunder tears the sensorium; the lightning burns
+out the eyes; the rain is a cataract; the hall is a continued volley of
+ice; the clouds stoop to earth, and bury the daylight like a shroud; the
+rivers become torrents; the dry plain becomes first a swamp, and then a
+sea. Tents and tarpaulins are useless to keep out the deluge from above,
+or are beaten down by its weight on the heads of the unfortunates who
+trust to them for shelter, until at length the caravan, stripped of all
+covering, has no resource but to bide the pelting of the pitiless storm,
+and, shivering and shelterless, wait until the hurricane has howled itself
+away.
+
+At length they reached the city of Furri, loaded, for the thirty-fifth
+time, with the baggage of the British embassy. The caravan, escorted by a
+detachment of three hundred matchlock men, with flutes playing, and
+muskets echoing, and the heads of the warriors decorated with white plumes,
+on the 16th July entered the frontier town of the kingdom of Efat.
+Clusters of conical-roofed houses, covering the sides of twin hills, here
+presented the first permanent habitations that had greeted the eye since
+leaving the sea-coast--rude and ungainly, but right welcome signs of
+transition from depopulated waste to the abodes of man. The African seems
+a robber by nature, and the sight of the bales and boxes excited the
+national propensity in a most violent degree. Even the royal ministers and
+courtiers seem to have felt a passion for looking into those prohibited
+treasures, which evidently tempted their virtue in a most perilous degree.
+Meanwhile a special messenger arrived, bearing reiterated compliments from
+the Negoos, (king,) with a horse and a mule from the royal stud, attired
+in the peculiar trappings which belong to majesty. Those animals awoke all
+the loyal curiosity of the people. At the sight women and girls, enveloped
+in blood-red shifts, who had thronged to stare at the strangers, burst
+into a scream of acclamation. A group of hooded widows thrust their
+fingers into their ears and joined in the clamour. The escort and
+camel-drivers placed no bounds to their hilarity. A fat ox, that had been
+promised, was turned loose among the spectators, pursued by fifty savages
+with their gleaming _creeses_, and hamstrung by a dexterous blow, which
+threw it bellowing to the earth in the height of its mad career, and
+tribes of lean curs commenced an indiscriminate engagement over the
+garbage.
+
+The neighbouring nations look upon the population of this province with
+great contempt. They say that their tongues are long for lying, their arms
+are long for stealing, and their legs are long for running away.
+
+The mission now approached another region, perhaps the finest in Africa.
+Every change in the climate and soil in Africa is in extremes, and
+barreness and unbounded fertility lie side by side.
+
+  "As if by the touch of the magician's wand, the scene now passes, in
+  an instant, from parched wastes to the geen, and lovely islands of
+  Abyssinia, presenting one scene of rich and thriving cultivation. The
+  baggage having at length been consigned to the shoulders of six
+  hundred grumbling Moslem porters--for here the camel, from the
+  steepness of the hills, was useless--and forming a line, which
+  extended upwards of a mile, the embassy, on the morning of the 17th,
+  comnenced the ascent of the Abyssinian Alps; the flutes again played,
+  the wild warriors of the escort again chanted their songs. It was a
+  cool and lovely morning, and an invigorating breeze played over the
+  mountains' side, on which, now less than ten degrees from the equator,
+  flourished the vegetation of northern climes. The rough and stony
+  road wound on, by a steep ascent, over hill and dale, now skirting
+  some precipitous ascent, now dipping into the basin of some verdant
+  hollow, where it suddenly emerged into a succession of shady lanes,
+  bounded by flowering hedgerows."
+
+All this is so like England, and so unlike Africa, that we should suspect
+the major's memory to have been as active at least as his observation. But
+the work contains so much internal evidence of accuracy, independently of
+the confidence attached to the character of the intelligent writer himself,
+that we must believe the heart of Ethiopa to possess secnes that would be
+worthy of the heart of our own fresh and flower-bearing island. The scene
+which follows is quite Arcadian.
+
+  "The wild rose, the fern, the lantana, and the honeysuckle, smiled
+  round a succession of highly cultivated terraces, and on every
+  eminence, stood a cluster of conically thatched houses, environed by
+  green hedges, and partially embowered amid dark trees As the troop
+  passed on, the peasant abandoned his occupation to gaze at the novel
+  procession; while merry groups of hooded women, decked in scarlet and
+  crimson left their avocations in the hut to welcome the king's guests
+  with a shrill _ziroleet_, which ran from every hand. Birds warbled
+  among the groves. At various turns of the road the prospect was
+  rugged, wild, and beautiful. The first Christian village was soon
+  revealed on the summit of a height. Three principal ranges of hills
+  were next crossed in succession. Lastly, the view opened upon the
+  wooded site of Ankober occupying a central position in a horseshoe
+  crescent of mountains, still high above which enclose a magnificent
+  amphitheatre of ten miles in diameter. This is clothed throughout
+  with a splendid vigorous, and varied vegetation."
+
+The embassy now halted, waiting for permission to enter the capital, and
+taking up their quarters in a town three thousand feet above Furri, on the
+frontier. The escort of the troop fired a salute on entering, and, as they
+marched along, performed the war dance. A veteran capered before the ranks
+with a drawn sword between his teeth, and the martial song was chorused by
+three hundred Christian throats. The prospect from this elevated point
+naturally struck the travellers with astonishment and admiration. The site
+of the town is only one of the thousand cones into which the mountain side
+is broken as it approaches the plain. The prospect over the plain was
+boundless, and countless villages met the eye upon the mountain slope.
+Wherever the plough could go, all was cultivated. Wheat, barley, Indian
+corn, beans, peas, cotton, and oil plant, throve luxuriantly round every
+hamlet. The regularly marked fields mounted in terraces to the height of
+three or four thousand feet, becoming, in their boundaries, more and more
+indistinct, until totally lost in the shadowy green side of Mamrat (the
+Mother of Grace.)
+
+This mountain is a wonder, shrouded in clouds whilst all was sunshine
+below. It is clothed with a dense forest, and ascends to an elevation of
+13,000 feet above the sea. Here are collected, for security, the treasures
+of the monarch which have been amassing since the re-establishment of the
+kingdom, one hundred and fifty years since.
+
+After remaining some time in the market-place, the governor of the town
+appeared, and conducted the mission to the house of an old Moslem woman,
+where they were to lodge for the night. The names of the three daughters,
+Major Harris observes, were worthy of the days of Prince Cherry and Fair
+Star. They were Eve, Sweet Limes, and Sunbeam. The ladies vacated the
+house with great good-humour; but it was low, intolerably filthy, and
+without bedding or food. The unfortunate mission had thus to spend a night,
+probably unequaled by their sufferings in the open field. Though so near
+the equator, they felt the cold severely; rain set in with great violence,
+pouring through the roof, and entering into the threshold. A fire was
+indispensable, yet they were nearly suffocated with smoke; they were
+devoured with insects, and in this torment and fever tossed till dawn. At
+the arrival of morning they received the disappointing message, that the
+king could not yet visit his capital, but that they might either seek him
+among the mountains, or wait for him  where they were.
+
+Major Harris imputes this disappointment to the accidental opening of one
+of the boxes of presents. Royal cupidity had been so strongly excited by
+the conjectures of their contents, that the king had evidently been
+anxious, in the first instance, to hasten their delivery as much as
+possible. Gold and jewels were probably uppermost in the royal conceptions;
+but the box happening to contain only the leathern buckets belonging to
+the "galloper guns," the spectators were loud in their derision. "These,"
+they exclaimed, "are but a poor people! What is their nation compared with
+the Amhara? for behold, in this trash, specimens of the offerings brought
+from their boasted land to the footstool of the mightiest of monarchs."
+
+The rainy season was now setting in, and the situation of the embassy
+became more comfortless from day to day. Notes were written, and answers
+received from the monarch, but the royal interview was still postponed,
+partly by the artifice of the knavish governors, who kept a longing eye on
+the presents, and partly by the barbarian etiquette of showing the natives
+the scorn with which their king was entitled to treat all the nations of
+the world.
+
+The residence of the mission in this comfortless place, however, gave a
+opportunity of acquiring considerable knowledge of the habits and commerce
+of the interior. The chief traffic is in slaves, but coffee is exported
+extensively from Hurrna, and large caravans three times in the year visit
+the ports, Zeyla and Barbara, laden with ivory, ostrich feathers, ghee,
+saffrons, gums, and myrrh. In return are brought blue and white calicoes,
+Indian piece goods, Indian prints, silks, and shawls, red cotton yarn,
+silk threads, beads, frankincense, copper wire, and zinc.
+
+A fortnight rolled away painfully in this detestable place, which was
+named Alio Amba, when a summons came from the monarch in these formal
+words:--"Tarry not by day, neither stay ye by night; for the heart of the
+father longeth to see his children, and let him not be disappointed."
+
+They now ascended through a country of romantic beauty, to Machalwan, the
+place appointed for the interview. The Abyssinian in charge of the embassy,
+was now sent forward to obtain permission to fire a salute of twenty-one
+guns on the arrival of the troop at the royal residence. This request
+seemed to have alarmed his majesty in no slight degree. The most romantic
+reports of the ordnance had gone before them. It was currently believed
+that their discharge was sufficient to set fire to the ground, to shiver
+rocks, and to dismantle mountain fastnesses. Men were said to have arrived,
+with "copper legs," who served those tremendous engines; and in alarm for
+the safety of his palace, capital, and treasures, the suspicious monarch
+still peremptorily insisted on withholding the desired license, until he
+should have seen the battery "with his own eyes." It rained incessantly
+during the night which preceded the day of presentation, and until the
+morning broke; when a great volume of white mist rose from the deep
+valleys, and drifted like a scene-curtain across the summit of the giant
+Mamrat. The whole troop now began to ascend the mountain; and, as they
+approached within sight of the stockaded palace, the escort commenced to
+fire their matchlocks. The view here is described as very lovely, and
+giving some conception of European variety of vegetation, with tropical
+luxuriance. Farm-houses, rich fields, foaming cascades, and bright green
+meadows covered with flowers, met the eye on every side; and above all
+towered the great Abyssinian range, some thousand feet perpendicularly
+overhead, with its summits crested with clouds. The crowd of spectators
+was immense, and were repelled only by strokes of the bamboo. At length a
+large tent was pitched for the reception of the embassy, the floor was
+strewed with heath, myrtles, and other aromatic shrubs; and the weather
+having cleared up, "the mission, radiant with plumes and gold embroidery,
+moved on." As they reached the precincts of the palace, the artillery
+fired a salute, which equally awed and astonished the multitude, the
+discharge being followed by universal shouts in the native tongue
+of--"Wonderful English! Well done, well done!"
+
+After several further stoppages, they entered the reception hall. It was
+circular, and showy. The lofty walls glittered with a profusion of silver
+ornaments, emblazoned shields, matchlocks, and double-barreled guns.
+Persian carpets and rugs of all sizes, colours, and patterns, covered the
+floors; and crowds of governors, chiefs, and officers of the court, in
+their holiday attire, stood in a posture of respect, uncovered to the
+girdle. Two wide alcoves receded on either side, in one of which blazed a
+cheerful wood fire, engrossed by indolent cats; while in the other, on a
+flowered satin ottoman, surrounded by withered slaves and juvenile pages,
+and supported by gay velvet cushions, lay "His most Christian majesty,
+Sahela Selasse!" The Dech Agulari (state doorkeeper,) as master of the
+ceremonies, stood with a rod of green rushes to preserve the exact
+distance of approach to royalty; and as the British entered and made their
+bows, pointed them to chairs, which done, it was commanded that all should
+be covered.
+
+The monarch was not unworthy of figuring in this pomp. Forty summers, of
+which eight-and-twenty had been passed on the throne, had slightly
+furrowed his forehead, and grizzled a full bushy head of hair, arranged in
+elaborate curls. But, though wanting the left eye, "the expression of his
+manly features, open, pleasing, and commanding, did not belie the
+character for impartial justice which he had obtained far and wide; even
+the robber tribes of the low country calling him a fine balance of gold."
+
+After the delivery of the ambassadorial letters, the exhibition commenced,
+which had so long been the envy of the courtiers, and probably the
+conversation of the kingdom. The presents were displayed. A rich Brussels
+carpet, which completely covered the hall, Cashmere shawls, and
+embroidered Delhi scarfs of resplendent hues, excited universal admiration.
+The finer specimens were handed to the king. As the various presents
+succeeded, the delight increased. A group of Chinese dancing figures,
+produced bursts of merriment; and when the European escort, in full
+uniform, with the sergeant at their head, marched into the hall, paced in
+front of the throne, and performed the manual and platoon exercises, amid
+ornamented clocks chiming, and musical boxes playing "God save the Queen,"
+his majesty appeared quite entranced. "But many and bright were the smiles
+that lighted up the royal features, as three hundred muskets, with
+bayonets fixed, were piled in front of the royal footstool. A buzz of
+mingled wonder and applause arose from the crowded courtiers; and the
+monarch's satisfaction now filled to overflowing. 'God will reward you,'
+he exclaimed--'for I cannot!'"
+
+But a more serious and a more striking display was still to follow. The
+artillery were to exhibit their powers; and the crowd rushed out, and
+scattered over the hill to see its practice. A sheet was attached to the
+opposite face of the ravine, the valley rang to the roar of the guns; and
+as the white cloth flew in shreds to the wind, under a rapid discharge of
+round shot, canister, and grape, amid the crumbling of the rock, and the
+rush of falling stones, shouts of admiration rang from hill to hill. This
+eventful evening was closed by testimonies of the king's satisfaction, in
+the shape of a huge pepper pie from the royal kitchen, with his commands
+that his children might feast; and a visit from the royal confessor, a
+dwarf enveloped in robes and turbans, and armed with silver cross and
+crosier. Seating himself in a chair, he delivered a speech, which affords
+as good a specimen of court oratory as any thing that we remember; and
+also shows the powerful effect of the presents on the courtly
+sensibilities. The speech was as follows:--
+
+  "Forty years have rolled away since Asfa Woosen, on whose memory be
+  peace! grandsire to our beloved monarch, saw in a dream that the red
+  men were bringing into his kingdom, curious and beautiful commodities
+  from countries beyond the great sea. The astrologers, on being
+  commanded to give an interpretation thereof, predicted with one
+  accord, that foreigners from the land of Egypt would come into
+  Abysinia during his majesty's most illustrious reign; and that yet
+  more and wealthier would follow in that of his son, and of his son's
+  son, who should sit next upon the throne. Praise be unto God, that
+  the dream and its interpretation have now been fulfilled! Our eyes,
+  though they be old, have never beheld wonders until this day; and
+  during the reign over Shoa of seven successive kings, no such
+  miracles as these have been wrought in Ethiopia!!"
+
+The embassy were now fixed under the protection of the monarch; and they
+were invited to join in the various displays and festivals of the new year,
+which the Abyssinians begin on the 10th of September. Of these, the
+cavalry review was by far the most showy, as well as the most suited to
+the gratification of the British officers. Some parts of this display
+seemed to have been borrowed from the days of European knighthood. The
+king's master of the horse advanced at the head of his squadrons of picked
+household cavalry, "the flower of the Christian lances." Ayto Melkoo,
+their leader, was arrayed in a party-coloured vest, surmounted by a
+crimson Arab fleece, handsomely studded with silver jets. A gilt embossed
+gauntlet encircled his right arm, from the wrist to the elbow; his targe
+and horse trappings glittered with a profusion of silver crosses and
+devices, and he looked a stately and martial figure, curveting at the head
+of his well-appointed lancers.
+
+This warrior, advancing with his line, galloped up in front, and made a
+speech in the manner of old heroic times, vaunting his past prowess and
+his present loyalty, his troopers accompanying the more succcessful parts
+of his speech by striking the lance upon the targe. At the close, he threw
+his spears upon the ground, unsheathed his two-edged falchion, gave a howl,
+which was answered by a roar from his horsemen, and a discharge of
+fire-arms; and the whole made a dash, and charged across the parade.
+
+At the royal command, the British now fired a salute of twenty-one guns,
+to the great wonder and astonishment of the wild Galla and the multitude
+of spectators. Thirteen governors, (of provinces, we presume,) clothed in
+the skins of lions and leopards and covered with silver chains, cuirasses,
+and gauntlets, emblems of their gallantry in the field, next passed before
+the king, each at the head of his troop, and each making a harangue.
+Abyssinia must be a very oratorical country. Last of all, came the tall,
+martial figure of Abegoz Moreteh, chief of the tributary Galla of the
+south, at the head of his legion, three thousand in number: this "sea of
+wild horsemen" moved in advance, to the sound of kettle-drums, their arms
+and decorations flashing in the sun, and their ample white robes and long
+sable hair streaming in the breeze. At the war-hoop of their leader, "with
+the rush of a hurricane the moving forest of lances disappeared under a
+cloud of dust." From _eight to ten thousand_ cavalry were in the field;
+and the spectacle, which lasted from nine in the morning until five in the
+afternoon, was "exceedingly wild and impressive." But the most impressive
+display of all was to be supplied by the British. With fire-arms the
+people were acquainted already. The "brass galloper," though viewed with
+"wonderful respect," was still only an engine on a larger scale than those
+to which they were familiarized. But the rocket was a formidable and
+splendid novelty. Night had now thrown her mantle round the field, and, by
+the king's command, the rocket practice began; the first brilliant rush
+into the air was matter of amazement to all. When the rocket started with
+a roar from its bed, men, women, and children fell on their faces--horses
+and mules broke from their tethers--and the warriors who had any heart
+remaining shouted aloud. The Galla tribes, who witnessed the explosion,
+ascribed the phenomenon to "potent medicines," and declared, that since
+the Gyptzis (British) could, at pleasure, produce comets in the sky and
+rain fire down heaven, there was nothing for them but submission to the
+king's command.
+
+The review was followed, at some interval of time, by a more substantial
+display. Thrice in the year the king summons his rude militia for an
+inroad into some of the neighbouring lands; and, as he was particularly
+anxious to have the presence of the embassy on this occasion, and as they
+conceived it to offer the best opportunity of seeing the country, they
+accordingly accepted the invitation. As it is to be presumed that they had
+no intention of taking any personal part in this marauding expedition, we
+are not disposed to criticise their acquiescence; otherwise there could be
+no doubt whatever, that they had no right to assist the king of Shoa in
+his foray on his neighbours, more than they would have had a right to
+assist his neighbours in their attacks upon the king of Shoa.
+
+The march was peculiar, and even pompous, in its kind. It was
+extraordinary to see it preceded by a copy of the Holy Scriptures, under a
+canopy of scarlet cloth, and borne on a mule; but, it must be owned,
+accompanied by the "Ark of the cathedral of St Michael," which works
+miracles, and is regarded as a pledge of victory. Then came the king on a
+specially caparisoned mule, surrounded by his guard of shield-bearers, and
+flanked by matchlock-men; then came forty damsels, royal cooks, painted
+with ochre, and muffled in crimson-striped robes of cotton--a troop
+rigorously guarded by attendants with long white wands. Beyond these, as
+far as the eye could penetrate the clouds of dust, every hill and valley
+teemed with horsemen, camp-followers, sumpter-mules, and men carrying
+sheaves of spears, and leading caparisoned horses, all mixed in the most
+picturesque confusion. After a march of fifteen miles, the female cooks
+halted, like a flight of flamingoes, in a pretty, secluded valley. It was
+evident that the day's march was now at an end, and the army halted to
+bivouac for the night. In the centre of this straggling camp, which could
+not be less than five miles in diameter, was raised a suite of royal tents,
+consisting of a gay party-coloured marquee of Turkish manufacture,
+surrounded by twelve ample awnings of black serge, over which floated five
+crimson pennons, surmounted respectively by silver globes. There was
+something of African, or perhaps European, pomp in this proceeding. Until
+the royal tents were enclosed from the vulgar eye, the Negoos, ascending
+an adjacent eminence with his chiefs and an escort of picked warriors,
+remained seated on cushioned _alga_, and under the crimson canopy of the
+state umbrella.
+
+When night fell, rockets were fired by the royal command, "to instil
+terror into the breasts of the Galla hordes;" and the peak which ran near
+the headquarters, was chosen as the most central spot for the display. The
+effect, brilliant every where, was here all that even Majesty could have
+desired. The "fire-rainers" (the picturesqe name which, we presune, Major
+Harris has adopted from the natives) produced delight, wonder, and terror,
+in all their degrees; and if the Galla nation were present, they must, to
+a man, have solicited chains, rather than be roasted alive by those flying
+monsters, which the people seem to have taken for the works of magic, if
+not magicians themselves. The display was followed by a repast in the old
+heroic style, and which will not be forgotten, should Abyssinia ever give
+the world a sable Homer.
+
+  "The chiefs and nobles sat down to their feast in the royal pavilion,
+  where hydromel, beer, and _raw_ flesh were in regal profusion!! After
+  supper, speeches were made in the Homeric style, boasting of what the
+  warriors had done, and intended to do. A fragment of one of the
+  speeches; addressed to the English as the party broke up, gives a
+  fair idea of Abyssinian table eloquence, 'You are the adorners,' (the
+  orator had been decorated with a scarlet cloak;) 'you have given me
+  scarlet broadcloth, and behold I have reserved the gift for this day.
+  This garment will bring me success; for the Pagan who sees a crimson
+  cloak on the shoulders of the Amhara,' (Abyssinian,) 'believing him
+  to be a warrior of distinguished valour, will take, like an ass, to
+  his heels, and be speared without the smallest danger.'"
+
+The march, and the foray into the country of one of the Galla tribes, are
+admirably told, and perhaps are among the best descriptions in the
+volumes--exact without being tedious, and deeply coloured without
+exaggeration. But we must hasten to other things. This was the monarch's
+eighty-fourth foray; and on this we may conceive something of the horrors
+of barbarian life, and of the tremendous evils which nations have escaped
+whose laws and principles tame down the original evil of man.
+
+We are glad to find that the embassy refused to take any share in this
+horrible work, though they fell into some disrepute with the troops, and
+even with the monarch, for their remissness. The king had even reserved an
+unlucky Galla in a tree, to be shot by his guests. But this they declined,
+first, on the pretext of its being the Sabbath, and next, more distinctly
+on the ground, that--"no public body was authorized by the law of nations,
+to draw a sword offensively in any country not at war with its own." They
+then offered the compromise, "that an elephant was esteemed equivalent to
+forty Gallas, and a wild buffalo to five, and that they were ready to
+shoot as many of both as his Majesty pleased." But the embassy did more
+effectual things; the sick and wounded received relief from them to the
+extent of their means, and they even prevailed on the king to liberate all
+his prisoners. The troops in the foray amounted to about 20,000.
+
+On the return of this destroying expedition, which seems to have turned a
+very fine country into a desert, the king made a kind of triumphal entry
+into his capital. His costume was splendidly savage. A lion's skin over
+his shoulders, richly ornamented, and half concealing beneath its folds an
+embroidered green mantle of Indian manufacture; on his right shoulder were
+three chains of gold, as emblems of the Holy Trinity,(!) and the
+fresh-plucked bough of asparagus, which denoted his recent exploit, rose
+from the centre of an embossed coronet of silver on his brow. His dappled
+war-horse, in housings of blue and yellow, was led beside him; and in
+front his "champion" rode a coal-black charger, bearing the royal shield
+of massive silver, with the cross upon it, and dressed in a panther's hide.
+The two chief officers of his army rode either side of the crimson
+umbrella; at the palace gates, a deputation of priests in white robes
+received the conqueror with a benediction and a volley of musketry
+announced his arrival. The leader of the royal matchlock-men performed a
+war dance before the Ark as it was borne along, and in the inner court the
+principal warriors, each carring some human fragment on his lance, flung
+then on the ground before the royal footstool, and shouted their war
+praise.
+
+The embassy at length attained personal distinction by the death of an
+elephant, which one of the party brought to the ground by a two-ounce ball.
+The "warriors" were all in astonishment at this feat, to which all had
+predicted the most disastrous termiration; and "Boroo, the brave chief of
+the Soopa," exclaimed in his delight, "The world was made for you, and no
+one else has any business in it!"
+
+The chief object of the embassy was still to be accomplished--the
+formation of something that approached to a treaty of commerce. Beads,
+cutlery, and trinkets, had been received from the coast; but the beggary
+of the nobles for those things was perpetual and intolerable. They called
+those ornanents pleasing things, and the cry was constant, "show me
+pleasing things," "give me delighting things," "adorn me from head to
+foot." It is scarcely surprising that the natives should be enamoured of
+European conmodities; for, though an old commerce had subsisted with
+Arabia, the supplies brought by the English were of the most exciting kind.
+Detonating caps were in great request; treble strong canister powder was
+also much in demand. Yet there was some ingenuity amongst themselves; for
+a young fellow was taken up for making dollars of pewter. Every spot and
+letter had been closely represented with punch and file. "Tell me," said
+the king, on the case of this culprit being mentioned to him, "how is that
+machine made which in your country pours out the silver crowns like a
+shower of rain?" The hand corn-mills, presented by the British Government,
+had been erected within the palace walls, and slaves were turning the
+wheels with unceasing diligence. "Demetrius, the Armenian, made a machine
+to grind corn," exclaimed his majesty in a transport of delight, as the
+flour streamed upon the floor; "and though it cost the people a year of
+hard labour to construct, it was useless when finished, because the priest
+declared it to be the devil's work, and cursed the bread. But, may the
+Sahela Selasse die--these engines are the work of clever hands."
+
+The monarch, elated with his knowledge, now determined to build a bridge,
+which in three days was completed; and, as was predicted by the quiet
+English spectators, in three hours fell down on the very first fresh
+produced by the annual rains.
+
+Weaving excepted, the people manufactured nothing; but British commerce
+has long been known, though evidently of the coarsest kind. At length, on
+his majesty's being told that five thousand looms would bring him more
+wealth than ten thousand soldiers, he gradually consented to form a
+commercial treaty. The crown had hitherto appropriated the property of
+strangers dying in the country. The purchase or display of costly goods by
+the subject had been interdicted, and a maxim exhibiting the whole
+jealousy of savage life had been established, that the stranger who once
+entered was never to depart from Abyssinia. By the articles of the
+commercial treaty, all those barbarous prohibitions have been abolished.
+
+As the monarch returned the deed, he made a short speech sufficiently able
+and appropriate: "You have loaded me with costly presents, the rainment
+that I  wear, the throne on which I sit, the curiosities in my
+store-houses, and the muskets which hang round my great hall--all are from
+your country. What have I to give in return for such wealth? My kingdom is
+as nothing."
+
+The hereditary provinces at this day subject to the King of Shoa, are
+comprised in a rectangular domain of 150 by 90 miles; an area traversed by
+five systems of mountains, of which the culminating point divides the
+basin of the Nile from that of the Hawash. The Christian population of
+Shoa and Efat are estimated at a million; and the Moslem and Pagan
+population at a million and a half. The royal revenues are said to amount
+to 80,000 or 90,000 German crowns, arising chiefly from import duties in
+slaves, merchandise, and salt. As the annual expenses of the state do not
+exceed 10,000 dollars; it is presumed that the king, during his thirty
+years' reign, has amassed much treasure, which is regularly deposited
+under ground.
+
+We recommend the enquirers into the truth of Herodotus, to examine the
+curious illustrations stated in these volumes; and, among the rest, the
+kingdom of pigmies. The geographer will find ample interest in tracing the
+course of the Gochob, a sort of central Nile; and the naturalist, botanist,
+and entomologist, will find abundant information in the very interesting
+and complete appendices on those subjects. The history of the Christian
+missions of early ages is an excellent chapter, and the general statistics
+of religion.
+
+The practical religion of the Abyssinian Christian is of the very lowest
+degree of formality. Fasts, penances, and excommunications, form the chief
+discipline; but the penitent can always provide a substitute for the two
+former, and the latter is always to be averted by money. Spiritual
+offences, however, are rare; for murder and sacrilege alone give umbrage
+to the easy conscience of the natives of Shoa. Abstinence and largesses of
+money are equivalent to wiping away every sin. Their creed advises the
+invocation of saints, confession to the priest, and faith in charms and
+amulets. Prayers for the dead, and absolution, are indispensable; and, as
+a more summary mode of relieving the burdens of the flesh, it is
+pronounced, that all sins are forgiven from the moment that the kiss of
+the pilgrim is imprinted on the stones of Jerusalem, and that even kissing
+the hand of a priest purifies the body from all sin. A creed of this order,
+which makes spiritual safety dependent, not upon personal purification of
+mind and divine mercy, but upon forms which are unconnected with either,
+and which even can be executed by a substitute, of course excludes the
+necessity for morals of any kind. All is corruption--"Born amid falsehood
+and deceit, cradled in bloodshed, and nursed in the arms of idleness and
+debauchery, the national character almost defies the missionary."
+
+There are some strange remnants of Judaism still lingering amongst the
+tribes of these highland regions. The Galla have a tradition, that their
+whole nation will one day be called on to march, _en masse_, and reconquer
+Palestine for the return of the Jews. The king of Shoa regards himself as
+a direct descendant of the house of Solomon, calls himself king of Israel,
+and the national standard bears the motto, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah
+hath prevailed." They believe the 45th Psalm to be a prophecy of Queen
+Magueda's visit to Jerusalem; whither she was attended by a daughter of
+Hiram, king of Tyre. The Jewish prohibitions against the flesh of unclean
+animals, are observed by the Abyssinians. The sinew which shrank, and the
+eating of which was prohibited to the Israelite, is also prohibited in
+Shoa. The Jewish Sabbath is strictly observed. The Abyssinians are said,
+by Ludolf, to be the greatest fasters in the world. The Wednesdays and
+Fridays are fasts; the forty days before Easter are rigidly observed as a
+fast; and from the Thursday preceding Easter till the Sunday, no morsel of
+meat is to enter the lips, and the prohibition against drink is equally
+rigorous. St Michael and the Virgin Mary are venerated in the highest
+degree; St Michael as the leader of the hosts of heaven, and the latter as
+the chief of all saints, and queen of heaven and earth, and both as the
+great intercessors of mankind.
+
+Like the Jews of old, the Abyssinians weep and lament on all occasions of
+death; and the shriek ascends to the sky, as if the soul could be recalled
+from the world of spirits. As with the Jews, the most inferior garments
+are employed as the weeds of woe; and the skin torn from the temples, and
+scarified on the cheeks and breast, proclaims the last extremity of grief.
+As the Rabbins believe that angels were the governors of all sublunary
+things, the Abyssinians adopt this belief: carrying it even further, they
+confidently implore their assistance in all concerns, and invoke and adore
+them in a higher degree than the Creator. The clergy enjoy the price of
+deathbed confession; and the churchyard is sternly denied to all who die
+without the rite, or whose relations refuse the fee and the funeral feast.
+Eight pieces of salt are the price of wafting a poor man's soul to the
+place of rest, and the feast for the dead places him in a state of
+happiness, according to the cost of the entertainment. For the rich, money
+procures the attendance of priests, who absolve, and pray continually day
+and night. The anniversaries of the deaths of the six kings of Shoa are
+held with great ceremony in the capital; and once every twelvemonth,
+before a splendid feast, their souls are absolved from all sin.
+
+Major Harris expresses himself ardently and eloquently on the hopes of
+commerce which might be maintained by Great Britain with this little-known
+but productive part of the world. It is notorious that gold and gold dust,
+ivory, ostrich feathers, peltries, spices, wax, and precious gums, form a
+part of the lading of every slave caravan; notwithstanding that the
+tediousness of the transport, and the penuriousness of the Indian and Arab
+merchant, offer but a small compensation for their labour. No quarter of
+the globe abounds to a greater extent in vegetable and mineral productions
+than tropical Africa; and in the populous, fertile, and salubrious
+portions lying immediately north of the equator, the very highest
+capabilities are presented for the employment of British capital. Coal has
+already been found; cotton, of a quality unrivaled in the whole world, is
+every where a weed, and might be cultivated to any extent. The coffee
+which is sold in Arabia as the produce of Mocha, is chiefly of wild
+African growth; and that species of the tea plant which is used by the
+lower orders of the Chinese, flourishes so widely, and with so little care,
+that the climate would doubtless be found well adapted for the
+higher-flavoured and more delicate species. If, at a very moderate
+calculation, a sum falling very little short of a hundred thousand pounds
+sterling, can be annually invested in European goods, to supply the wants
+of some of the poorer tribes adjacent to Abyssinia, what important results
+might not be anticipated from well-directed efforts, adopting the natural
+neans of communication in Africa?
+
+Another winter passed--a dreary time for the mission in Ankober. Torrents
+rushed down the mountains, every footpath had been converted into a stream,
+and every valley into a morass. The season was peculiarly tempestuous; the
+heavy white clouds constantly hung on the mountain pinnacles, and the
+torrents swelled the Hawash to such an extent, that the land for many
+miles on both sides was inundated. There must have been some difficulty in
+spending the time of this solitary confinement among the hills; but the
+author was well employed in writing his volumes, and engineers were
+employed in erecting a Gothic hall, to the great delight of his Abyssinian
+majesty. He would allow them to do every thing except paint his
+portrait--the national idea being, that whoever takes a likeness,
+immediately becomes invested with power over the original. "You are
+writing a book," he said. "I know this, because I never enquire what you
+are doing that they do not tell me you are using a pen, or gazing at the
+heavens. That is a good thing, and it pleases me. You will speak
+favourably of myself; but you shall not insert my portrait, as you have
+done that of the King of Zingero."
+
+The English had new wonders for him; they shaped planks out of trees in a
+fashion new to the Abyssinians, who waste a tree on every plank. "You
+English are indeed a strange people," said the king, as he saw the first
+plank formed in this economical style. "I do not understand your stories
+of the roads dug under rivers, nor of the carriages that gallop without
+horses; but you are a strong people, and employ wonderful inventions."
+
+At length the Gothic hall was complete. It may be presumed that nothing
+like it was ever seen in Abyssinia before; for the mission not merely
+built, but furnished it with couches, ottomans, chairs, tables, and
+curtains; doubtless a very showy affair, though we camot exactly
+comprehend the author's expression of its being furnished after the manner
+of an English cottage ornee. The king, however, was delighted with it. "I
+shall turn it into a chapel," said his majesty, patting his chief
+ecclesiastic on the back. "What say you to that plan, my father?"  As a
+last finishing touch, were suspended in the centre hall a series of large
+coloured engravings, representing the chase of the tiger in all its
+various phases. The domestication of the elephant, and its employment in
+war or in the pageant, had ever proved a stumbling block to the king; but
+the appearance of the hugest of beasts in his hunting harness struck the
+chord of a new idea. "I will have a nunber caught on the Roby," he
+exclaimed, "that you may tame then, and that I too may ride on an elephant
+before I die!"
+
+Another of those fearful displays of barbarian plunder and havoc took
+place at the end of September. Twenty thousand warriors, headed by the
+king, made an inroad on the Galla. Those unfortunate people were so little
+prepared, that they seem to have been slaughtered without resistance.
+Between four and five thousand were butchered, and forty-three thousand
+head of cattle were driven off. A thousand captives, chiefly women and
+children, were marched in triumph to the capital; but they were soon
+liberated, apparently on the remonstrance of the British mission.
+
+But a terrible disaster was to befall the palace and the people. The
+dweller amongst mountains must be always exposed to their dilapidation;
+and a season of unusual rain, continuing to a much later period than usual,
+produced an earth-avalanche.
+
+  "As the evening of an eventful night (Dec. 6th) closed in, not a
+  single breath of wind disturbed the thick fog which brooded over the
+  mountain. A sensible difference was perceptible in the atmosphere;
+  but the rain again began to descend, and for hours pelted like the
+  dischage of a waterspout. Towards morning, a violent thunder storm
+  careered along the crest of the range, and every rock and cranny
+  re-echoed from the crash of the thunder. Deep darkness again settled
+  on the mountains, and a heavy rumbling noise, like the passage of
+  artillery wheels, as followed by the shrill cry of despair. The earth,
+  saturated with moisture, had slidden from their steep slopes, houses
+  and cottages were engulfed in the debris, or shattered to fragments
+  by the descending masses, and daylight presented a strange scene of
+  ruin. Perched on the apex of the conical peak, the palace buildings
+  were now stripped of their palisades, or overwhelmed: the roads along
+  the hill were completely obliterated. The desolation had spread for
+  miles along the great range: houses, with their inmates, had been
+  hurried away."
+
+Before the mission took its departure, it did honour to the character of
+its country by one act which alone would have been worth its time and
+trouble. The horrid policy of African despotism condemns all the brothers
+of the throne to the dungeon, from the moment of the royal accession. The
+king had exhibited qualities of a very unexpected order in an African
+despot, and, under the guidance of the mission, had made some advances to
+justice, and even to clemency. At this period, he was suddenly seized with
+an alarming spasmodic disorder, and he apprehended that his constitution,
+enfeebled by the habits of his life, was likely to give way. On his
+recovery being despaired of by both priests and physicians, he suddenly
+sent for the British mission.
+
+  "'My children,' said his majesty in a sepulchral voice, as he
+  extended his burning hand towards them, 'behold I am sore stricken.
+  Last night they believed me dead, and the voice of mourning had
+  arisen within the palace walls; but God hath spared me until now.'"
+
+It seems to be the custom for the king's physician to taste the draught
+prescribed for him, and an attenpt being made to do this by the British,
+the sick monarch generously forbade it.
+
+  "'What need is there now of this?' he exclaimed reproachfully. 'Do I
+  not know that you would administer to Sahela Selasse nothing that
+  could do him mischief?'"
+
+The reader will probably remember an almost similar act of confidence of
+Alexander the Great in his physician. An opportunity was now taken of
+urging him to an act of humanity, however strongly opposed to the habits
+of the country, and to the interests of the man. It was represented to him
+that his uncles and brothers had been immured in a dungeon during the
+thirty years of his reign, and that no act could be more honourable to
+himself, or acceptable to Heaven, than the extinction of this barbarous
+custom.
+
+  "'And I will release them,' returned the monarch, after a moment's
+  debate within himself. 'By the Holy Eucharist I swear, and by the
+  Church of the Holy Trinity in Koora Gadel, that if Sahela Selasse
+  arise from this bed of sickness, all of whom you speak shall be
+  restored to the enjoyment of liberty.'"
+
+Fortunately he did arise from that bed of sickness, and he honourably
+determined to keep his promise. The royal captives were seven, and the
+British mission were summoned to see their introduction into the presence.
+They had been so exhausted by long captivity, that at first they seemed
+scarcely to comprehend freedom. They had been manacled, and spent their
+time in the fabrication of harps and combs, of which they brought
+specimens to lay at the feet of their monarch. This touching interview
+concluded with a speech of the king to the embassy--
+
+  "'My children, you will write all that you have seen to your country,
+  and will say to the British Queen, that, though far behind the
+  nations of the White Men, from whom Ethiopia first received her
+  religion, there yet remains a spark of Christian love in the breast
+  of the King of Shoa.'"
+
+We have thus given a rapid and bird's-eye view of a work, which we regard
+as rivaling in interest and importance any "book of travels" of this
+century.  The name of Abyssinia was scarcely more than a recollection,
+connected with the adventurous ramblings of Bruce, for the romantic
+purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. His narrative had also been
+wholly profitless--attracting public curiosity in a remarkable degree at
+he time, no direct foundation of European intercourse was laid, and no
+movement of European traffic followed. But giving Bruce all the credit,
+which was so long denied him, for fidelity to fact, and for the spirit of
+bold adventure which he exhibited in penetrating a land of violence and
+barbarism, the mission of Major Harris at once establishes its object on
+more substantial grounds. It is not a private adventure, but a public act,
+rendered natural by the circumstances of British neighbourhood, and
+important for the opening of Abyssinia and central Africa to the greatest
+civilizer which the world has ever seen--the commerce of England. There
+are still obvious difficulties of transit, between the coast and the
+capital, by the ordinary route. But if the navigation of the Gochob, or
+the route from Tajura, should once be secured, the trade will have
+commenced, which in the course of a few years will change the face of
+Abyssinia; limit, if not extinguish, that disgrace of human nature--the
+slave trade; and, if not reform, at least enlighten, the clouded
+Christianity of the people.
+
+As the author was commissioned, not merely as a discoverer, but a
+diplomatist, it is to be presumed that on many interesting points he
+writes under the restraints of diplomatic reserve. But he has told us
+enough to excite our strong interest in the beauty, the fertility, and the
+capabilities of the country which he describes; and more than enough to
+show, that it is almost a British duty to give the aid of our science, our
+inventions, and our principles, to a monarch and a people evidently
+prepared for rising in the scale of nations.
+
+We have a kind of impression, that some general improvement is about to
+take place in the more neglected portions of the world, and that England
+is honoured to be the chief agent in the great work. Africa, which has
+been under a _ban_ for so many thousand years, may be on the eve of relief
+from the misery, lawlessness, and impurity of barbarism; and we are
+strongly inclined to look upon this establishment of British feeling, and
+intercourse in Abyssinia, as the commencement of that proud and fortunate
+change. All attempts to enter Africa by the western coast have failed. The
+heat, the swamps, the rank vegetation, and the unhealthy atmosphere, have
+proved insurmountable barriers. The north is fenced by a line of burning
+wilderness. But the east is open, free, fertile, and beautiful. A British
+factory in Abyssinia would be not merely a source of infinite comfort to
+the people, by the communication of European conveniences and manufactures,
+but a source of light. British example would teach obedience and loyalty
+to the laws, subordination on the part of the people, and mercy on that of
+the sovereign.
+
+But we have also another object, sufficiently important to determine our
+Government in looking to the increase of our connexion with Eastern Africa.
+It is certainly a minor one, but one which no rational Government can
+undervalue. The policy of the present French King is directed eminently to
+the extension of commercial influence in all countries. To this policy,
+none can make objection. It is the duty of a monarch to develop all the
+resources of his country; and while France exerts herself only in the
+rivalry of peace, her advance is an advance of all nations. But her
+extreme attention, of late years, to Africa, ought to open our eyes to the
+necessity of exertion in that boundless quarter. On the western coast, she
+had long fixed a lazy grasp; but that grasp is now becoming vigorous, and
+extending hour by hour. Her flag flies at Golam, 250 miles up the Senegal.
+She has a settlement at Gori; she has lately established a settlement at
+the mouth of the Assinee, another at the mouth of the Gaboon, and is on
+the point of establishing another in the Bight of Benin; when she will
+command all Western Africa.
+
+She is not less active on the eastern shore. At Massawah, on the coast of
+Abyssinia, she is fast monopolizing the trade in gold and spices. She has
+purchased Edh, and is endeavouring to purchase Brava. Her attention to
+_Northern_ Abyssinia is matter of notoriety, and we must regard this
+system, not so much with regard to advantages which such possessions might
+give to ourselves, as to their prejudice to us in falling into rival hands.
+The possession of Algeria should direct the eye of Europe to the ulterior
+objects of France; the first change of masters in Egypt, must be looked to
+with national anxiety; and the transmission of the great routes of Africa
+into her hands, must be guarded against with a vigilance worthy of the
+interests of England and Europe.
+
+If the river shall be found navigable to any extent, what an opening is
+thus presented to both the Merchant and the philanthropist; a soil
+surpassed by none in the world, a climate varying only 1º in the mean
+temperature of summer and winter, and presenting an average of 55-1/2º,
+and a population who could hardly fail to feel the advantages of commerce
+and civilization. From such a point as Aden offers, access is promised to
+the very heart of Africa, and thence to the sources of the mighty rivers
+which find an outlet on the western side of the continent; thus not merely
+benefiting the British merchant in a remarkable degree, but rapidly
+abolishing the slave trade, by giving employment to the people, wealth to
+the native trader, and a new direction to the powers of the country and
+the mind of its unhappy population.
+
+On the whole consideration of the subject, we feel convinced, that Eastern
+Africa is the safe and the natural point for British enterprise; that it
+is the most direct and effective point for the extinction of the cruel
+traffic in human flesh; and that it is the most promising and productive
+point for the establishment of that substantial connexion with the
+governments of the interior, which alone can be regarded as worth the
+attention of the statesman.
+
+Insignificant stations on the coast, to carry on a peddling traffic, are
+beneath a manly and comprehensive policy. We must penetrate the mountains,
+ascend the rivers, and reach the seats of sovereignty. We must, by a large
+and generous self-interest, combine the good, the knowledge, and the
+virtue of the population with our own; and we must lay the foundation of
+our permanent influence over this fourth of the globe, by showing that we
+are the fittest to communicate the benefits, and establish the example of
+civilized society.
+
+To those who desire to go into more minute details, we recommend an
+accompanying volume by the missionaries Isenberg and Krapf--the latter of
+whom acted as interpreter to the embassy. A capital geographical memoir is
+also given by Mr M'Queen, the well-known African geographer.
+
+On the whole, it is highly gratifying to our respect for British
+soldiership; to see works of this rank proceeding from our military men.
+They have great opportunities, and may thus render national services in
+peace, not less important than their enterprise in war. The East India
+Company offers inducements of the most important order, to the
+accomplishment and scientific activity of its officers; and Major Harris
+must feel the distinction of having been selected for a mission of such
+interest, as well as the high gratification of having conducted it to so
+benevolent, solid, and satisfactory a close.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES.
+
+BY LORGNON.
+
+
+      "Vai, ch'avete gl'intelletti sani,
+  Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde,
+  Sotto queste coperte, alte e profonde!"--BERNI.
+
+In the course of social transition, professions, like dogs, have their day.
+A calling honourable in one century, becomes infamous in the next; and
+vocations grow obsolete, like the fashioning of our garments or figures of
+speech. In barbarous communities, the strong man is king:--
+
+  "Le premier roi fut un soldat heureux."
+
+Where human statute is beginning to prize the general weal, the legist is
+of high account, and the priest paramount. Higher civilization engenders
+the influence of the man of letters, the artist, the dramatist, the wit,
+the poet, and the orator. Or when, with a wisdom surpassing the philosophy
+of the schools, we tumble down to prose, and assume the leathern apron of
+the utilitarian--the civil engineer, or operative chemist, starts up into
+a colossus. Sir Humphrey Davy, and Sir Isambert Brunel, are the true
+knights of modern chivalry; and Sir Walter--our Sir Walter--never showed
+himself more shrewd than in his exclamation to Moore--"Ah, Tam!--it's
+lucky, man, we cam' sae soon!" Great as was his influence, equaling that
+of the other two great Sir Walters, Manny and Raleigh, in their several
+epochs of valour and enterprise, it is likely enough, that, if born a
+century later, the MSS. of the Scotch novels would have been chiefly
+valuable to light the furnace of some factory!
+
+So much in exposition of the fact, that, so long as the world possessed
+only three of what we choose to call quarters, an executioner was an
+officer of state; and that, now it possesses five, the female of highest
+renown, and greatest power of self-enrichment, is the _danseuse_, or
+opera-dancer!
+
+Many intermediary callings have disappeared. The domestic chaplain of a
+lordly household is now nearly as superfluous as its archers or falconers;
+and the court calendars of former reigns record a variety of places and
+perquisites, which, did they still exist, would be unpalatable to modern
+courtiers, though compelled to earn their daily cakes, however dirty. Just
+as the last golden pippin of the house of Crenie was preserved in wax for
+the edification of posterity, a watchman has been deposited, with his
+staff and lantern, in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, or the Museum of the
+Zoological, or United Service Club, or some other of your grand national
+collections, as a specimen of the extinct Dogberry or Charley of the
+eighteenth century; and in process of time, as much and more also will
+probably be done to a parish beadle, a theatrical manager, a lord
+chamberlain--and other public functionaries whom it might not be
+altogether safe to enumerate.
+
+Among them, however, there is really some satisfaction in hinting at the
+hangman!--For, hear it, ye sanguinary _manes_ of our ancestors:--"_Les
+bourreaux s'en vont!_" Executioners are departing! We shall shortly have
+to commemorate in our obituaries, and signalize by the hands of our
+novelists--"the last of the Jack Ketches." In these days of
+ultra-philanthropy, the hangman scarcely finds salt to his porridge, or
+porridge to salt.
+
+_Exempli gratia_. In the course of last year, a patient of the lower class
+was admitted into the lunatic ward of the public hospital at Marseilles,
+whose malady seemed the result of religious depression. In that
+supposition, the usual means of relief were resorted to, and he was at
+length discharged as convalescent; when, to attest the perfectness of his
+cure, he went and hanged himself! A _procès verbal_ was, as usual, made
+out, and the supposed fanatic proved to be the ex-executioner of Lyons!
+Tender-hearted people instantly ascribed his melancholy to qualms of
+conscience. But it appeared in evidence, that, since the accession of the
+citizen king, the trade of the hangman had become a dead failure; and the
+disconsolate bankrupt was accordingly forced to take French leave of a
+world wherein _bourreaux_ can no longer turn an honest penny!
+
+Yet, less than three centuries ago, his predecessors were men of mark and
+consideration. Our own King Hal took more heed of his executioner than of
+half the counties over whose necks his axe was suspended; while Louis XI.,
+a _legitimate_ sovereign of France, used to dip in the dish with Tristan
+Hermite and Olivier le Dain. A few reigns later, and the hangman of the
+French metropolis (who shares with its diocesan the honour of being styled
+"Monsieur de Paris") was respected as the most accomplished in Europe. The
+treasons of its civil wars had created so many executions, that a Gascon,
+wishing to prove that his father had been beheaded as a nobleman, instead
+of hanged like a dog or a citizen, asserted the decollation to have been
+so expertly executed _en Grève_, that the sufferer was unconscious of his
+end. "Shake yourself," exclaimed the executioner; and, on his lordship's
+making the attempt, his head rolled into the dust.
+
+This adroitness was the result of competition. In that day there were
+degrees of hangmen, and promotion might be accomplished. Not only had the
+king his executioner, and the Lorraines theirs--the court and the
+city--the abbot of St Germain des Près--the abbot of this, and the abbot
+of that--but various communities and Signories, having right of life and
+death over their vassals, kept an executioner for purposes of domestic
+torture, as they kept a seneschal to carve their meats; or as people now
+keep a _chef_ or a_ maître d'hôtel_. In those excellent olden times of
+Europe, hangmen, doubtless, carried about written characters from lord to
+lord, certifying their experience with rope and axe--branding-iron and
+thong. So long as the Inquisition afforded constant work for able hands, a
+good hangman out of place must have been a treasure! Had there been
+register-offices or newspaper advertisements, there probably would have
+appeared--
+
+"WANTS A SITUATION--An able-bodied, middle-aged man, without encumbrance,
+who can have an undeniable character from his last situation, as headsman,
+hangman, and general executioner. He is accustomed to the use of
+thumbikins and the most approved and fashionable modes of torture; and
+officiated for many years as superintendent of the wheel of a foreign
+prince, renowned for the neatness of his rack. Drawing and quartering in
+all their branches. Pressing to death performed in the most economical
+style. Impalement in the Turkish manner; and the pile, as practised by the
+best Smithfield hands, &c. &c. &c."
+
+Independent, indeed, of the high prosperity and vast perquisites of such
+posts as executioner of the Tower of London or the Grève of Paris, there
+was honour and satisfaction in the office. A royal master knew when he was
+well served. Henry III. stood by, in his chateau of Blois, to see, not
+only the heads severed from the dead bodies of the Duke and Cardinal de
+Guise, but their _flesh cut into small pieces_, preparatory to being
+burned, and the ashes scattered to the winds. "His majesty," says an
+eyewitness, "stood in a pool of blood to witness the hacking of the
+bodies."
+
+This Italian _gusto_ for the smell of blood, appears to have been
+introduced into the palaces of France from those of Italy by alliance with
+the Medici--those ennobled pawnbrokers of the middle ages, whose _parvenu_
+taste engendered the fantastic gilding of the _renaissance_, which they
+naturalized in the Tuileries and at Fontainbleau, in common with the
+stiletto and acqua tofana of their poisoners, and the fatalism of their
+judicial astrology.
+
+But enough of Catharine de Medicis and her sanguinary son--enough of Henry
+Tudor and his savage daughters--enough of the monstrous professions
+flourishing in their age of monstrosities. And turn we for relief to the
+exquisite vocation completing the antithesis--the vocation whose execution
+is that of _pas de zéphyrs_, and the tortures of whose infliction are the
+tortures of the tender heart!
+
+The calling of the _danseuse_, we repeat, is among the most lucrative of
+modern times, and nearly the most influential. The names of Taglioni and
+Elssler are as European, nay, as universal, as those of Wellington and
+Talleyrand-Metternich or Thiers; and modern statesmanship and modern
+diplomacy show pale beside the Machiavelism of the _coulisses_.
+
+With what pomp of phraseology are the triumphs and movements of these
+_danseuses_ announced, by the self-same journal which despatches, with a
+stroke of the pen, the submission of a province or revolution of a kingdom!
+One poor halfpenny-worth, or half a line, suffices for the death of a
+sultana; while fiery columns precede the departure and arrival of the
+steamer honoured by conveying across the Atlantic some ethereal being,
+whose light fantastic toe is to give the law to the United States. Her
+appearance in the Ecclesiastic States, on the other hand, is announced in
+Roman capitals; and her triumphal entry into St Petersburg received with
+regiments of notes of admiration!!!
+
+Were Taglioni, by the malediction of Providence, to break her leg, what
+corner of the civilized earth but would sympathize in the casualty? Or
+were Elssler epidemically carried off, on the same day with the Pope, the
+Archbishop of Dublin, a chancellor of an university, an historiographer,
+or astronomer-royal--_which_ would be most cared for by society at large,
+or to which would the public journals distribute the larger share of their
+dolefuls?
+
+Nor is it alone the levities of Europe which have encompassed with a
+gaseous atmosphere of enthusiasm these idols of the day. We appeal to our
+sober, plodding, painstaking brother Jonathan. We move for returns of the
+sums he has expended on his beloved Fanny, and for notes of the honours
+conferred upon her, not only on the boards of his theatres and in the
+publicity of his causeways, but amid the august nationalities of his
+senate! "Fanny Elssler in Congress" has become as historical as the name
+of Washington! As if for the purpose of proving that extremes meet, the
+democrats of the New World were demonstrating the wildest infatuation in
+favour of one dancer, while the great autocrat of the Old was exhibiting a
+similar fervour in honour of another. La Gitana became all but
+presidentess of the Transatlantic republic; La Bayadère depolarized the
+tyrant of the Poles! But, above all, the Empress of Russia--albeit, the
+lightest of sovereigns and coldest of women--was carried so far by her
+enthusiasm as to fasten a bracelet of gems on the fair arm of Taglioni;
+while the Queen-Dowager of England conferred a similar honour on the
+Neapolitan dancer Cerito!
+
+Now, what queen or princess, we should like to know, has lavished necklace,
+or bracelet, or one poor pitiful brooch, on Miss Edgeworth or Miss Aitkin,
+Mrs Somerville or Joanna Baillie, or any other of the female illustrations
+of the age, saving these aerial machines which have achieved such enviable
+supremacy? Mrs Marcet, who has taught the young idea of our three kingdoms
+how to shoot; Miss Martineau, who has engrafted new ones on our oldest
+crab-stocks, might travel from Dan to Beersheba without having a fatted
+calf or a fatted capon killed for them, at the public expense. But let
+Taglioni take the road, and what clapping of hands--what gratulation--what
+curiosity--what expansion of delight!
+
+The only wonder of all this is, that we should wonder about the matter.
+Dancing constitutes that desideratum of the learned of all ages--an
+universal language. Music, which many esteem much, is nearly as
+nationalized in its rhythm as dialect in its words; whereas the organs of
+sight are cosmopolitan. The eye of man and the foot of the dancer include
+between them all nations and languages. The poetry of motion is
+interpreted by the lexicon of instinct; and the unimpregnable grace of a
+Taglioni becomes omnipotent and catholic as that of
+
+  "The statue that enchants the world!"
+
+Who can doubt that the names of these sorceresses of our time will reach
+posterity, as those of the Aspasias and Lauras of antiquity have reached
+our own--as having held philosophers by the beard, and trampled on the
+necks of the conquerors of mankind--as being those for whom Solon
+legislated, and to whom Pericles succumbed?
+
+Pausanius tells us of the stately tomb of the frail Pythonice in the Vica
+Sacra; and we know that Phryne offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, by
+Alexander overthrown. And surely, if modern guide-books instruct us to
+weep in the cemetery of Père la Chaise over the grave of Fanny Bias,
+history will say a word or two in honour of Cerito, who proposed through
+the newspapers, last season, an alliance offensive and defensive with no
+less a man than Peter Borthwick, Esq. M.P., (_Arcades ambo_!) to relieve
+the distress of the manufacturing classes of Great Britain! It is true
+such heroines can afford to be generous; for what lord chancellor or
+archbishop of modern times commands a revenue half as considerable?
+
+Why, therefore--O Public! why, we beseech thee, seeing that the influence
+of the operative class is fairly understood, and undeniably established
+among us--why not at once elevate choriography to the rank of one of the
+fine arts?--Why not concentrate, define, and qualify the calling, by a
+public academy?--since all hearts and eyes are amenable to the charm of
+exquisite dancing, why vex ourselves by the sight of what is bad, when
+better may be achieved? Be wise, O Pubic, and consider! Establish a
+professor's chair for the improvement of pirouetters. We have hundreds of
+professor's chairs, quite as unavailable to the advancement of the
+interests of humanity, and wholly unavailable to its pleasures. Neither
+painters nor musicians acquire as much popularity as dancers, or amass an
+equal fortune. Why should they be more highly protected by the state?
+
+To disdain this exquisite art, is a proof of barbarism. The nations of the
+East may cause their dances to be performed by slaves; but two of the
+greatest kings of ancient and modern times, the kings after God's own
+heart and man's own heart--David and Louis le Grand--were excellent
+dancers, the one before the ark, the other before his subjects.
+
+Never, perhaps, did the art of dancing attain such eminent honours in the
+eyes of mankind, as during the _siècle doré_ of the latter monarch. At an
+epoch boasting of Molière and Racine, Bossuet and Fénélon, Boileau and La
+Fontaine, Colbert and Perrault, (the fairy talisman of politics and
+architecture,) the court of Versailles could imagine no manifestation of
+regality more august, or more exquisite, than that of getting up a royal
+ballet; and the father of his people, Louis XIV., was, in his youth, its
+_coulon_.
+
+How amusing are the descriptions of these _entrées de ballet_,
+circumstantially bequeathed us by the memoirs of the regency of Anne of
+Austria! The cardinal himself took part in them; but the chief performers
+were the young King, his brother Gaston d'Orleans, and the maids of honour,
+figuring as Apollo and the Muses, or Hamadryads adoring some sylvan
+divinity. Who has not sympathized in the joy of Madame de Sevigné, at
+seeing her fair daughter exhibit among the _coryphées_! Who has not felt
+interested in the _jetées_ and _pas de bourrées_ of the _ancien régime_,
+when accomplished at court by Condés, Contis, Montpensiers, Montmorencys,
+Rohans, Guises! The Marquis de Dangeau first recommended himself to the
+favour of the royal master whose courts he was destined to journalize for
+posterity, by the skill of his _pas de basques_; and long before the all
+but conjugal influence of the lovely La Vallière commenced over the heart
+of the _grand monarque_, his early love, and more especially his passion
+for the beautiful niece of the Cardinal, may be traced to the rehearsals
+and _rondes de jambes_ of Maitz and Fontainbleau.
+
+The reign of Madame de Maintenon (_la raison même_) over his affections,
+declared itself by the sudden transfer of a ballet-opera, expressly
+composed by Rameau and Quinault for the beauties of the court, to the
+public theatre of the Palais Royal. No more noble figurantes at Versailles!
+Louis le Pirouettiste's occupation was gone; and the _maître des ballets
+du roi_ arrayed himself in sackcloth and ashes. But, lo! the glories of
+his throne took wing with the loves and graces; ballets and victories
+being effaced on the same page from the annals of his reign.
+
+During the minority of Louis XV., the same royal dansomania was renewed.
+The regent, Duke of Orleans, entertained the same notions of kingly
+education, on this head, as his predecessor the cardinal; and Louis _le
+Bien-aimé_, like his great-grandfather before him, was the best dancer of
+his realm. Such dancing as it was! such exquisite footing! In the upper
+story of the grand gallery at Versailles, hang several pictures
+representing these court ballets; Cupids in coatees of pink lustring, with
+silver lace and tinsel wings, wearing full-bottomed wigs and the riband of
+the St Esprit; or Venuses in hoops and powder, whose _minauderies_ might
+afford a lesson to the divinities of our own day for the benefit of the
+omnibus box.
+
+Some of these groups, by Mignard, Boucher, and their imitators, are
+charming studies as _tableaux de genre_. But in nothing, by the way, are
+they more remarkable than in their _decency_. The nudities of the present
+times appear to have been undreamed of in the philosophy of Versailles.
+That simple-hearted, though strong-minded American writer, Miss Sedgwick,
+who has published an account of her consternation as she sat with Mrs
+Jameson in the stalls of our Italian opera, might have witnessed the royal
+performance unabashed. On being told, as she gazed upon the intrepid
+self-exposure of Taglioni, "_qu'il fallait être sage pour danser comme
+ça_," Miss S. observes, that it requires to be more or less than woman,
+and proposes to divide the human species into men, women, and
+OPERA-DANCERS, little suspecting that half her readers translate such a
+classification into "men, women, and ANGELS;" or that they would see
+herself and her sister moralist go down in the _President_ without a pang,
+provided Elssler and Taglioni were saved from the deep!
+
+Natural enough! we repeat it--natural enough! To create a good dancer,
+requires the rarest combination of physical and mental endowments.
+Graceful as the forms transmitted to us by the pottery of Etruria and the
+frescoes of Herculaneum, she must unite with the strength of an athlete,
+the genius of a first-rate actress. That even moderate dancing demands
+immoderate abilities, is attested by the exhibition of human ungainliness
+disfiguring all the court balls of Europe. There may be seen the
+representatives of the highest nobility, tutored by the highest education,
+shuffling over the polished floor with stiffened arms and bewildered
+legs--often out of time--always out of place--as if acting under the
+influence of a galvanic battery. Not one in ten of them rises even to
+mediocrity as a dancer. A few degrees lower in the social scale, and it
+would be not one in twenty. Amid the shoving, shouldering, shuffling mob
+of dancers in an ordinary ball-room, the absence of all grace amounts even
+to the ludicrous. Forty years long have people been dancing the quadrilles
+now in vogue, which consist of six favourite country-dances, fashionable
+in Paris at the close of the last century, and then singly known by the
+names they still retain--"La Poule, L'Eté, Le Pantalon, Le Trenis," &c. &c.
+To avoid the monotony of dancing each in succession, for hours at a time,
+down a file of forty couple, it was arranged that every eight couple
+should form a square, and perform the favourite dances, in succession,
+with the same partner--a considerable relief to the monotony of the
+ball-room. Yet, after all this experience, if poor Monsieur le Trenis
+(after whom one of the figures was named, and who, during the consulate,
+died dancing-mad in a public lunatic asylum) could rise, sane, from the
+dead, it would be enough to drive him mad again to see how little had been
+acquired, in the way of practice, since his decease. The processes and
+varieties of the ball-room are just where he left then on his exit!
+
+Previous to the introduction of quadrilles and country dances or
+_contredanses_, the inaptitude of nine-tenths of mankind for dancing was
+still more eminently demonstrated in the murders of the minuet. For (as
+Morall, the dancing-master of Marie Antoinette, used passionately to
+exclaim)--_que de choses dans un minuet_! What worlds of modest
+dignity--of alternate amenity and scorn! The minuet has all the tender
+coquetry of the bolero, divested of its licentious fervour. With the
+minuet and the hoop, indeed, disappeared that powerful circumvallation of
+female virtue, rendering superfluous the annual publication of a dozen
+codes of ethics, addressed to the "wives of England" and their daughters.
+All was comprehended in the _pas grave_. That noble and right Aulic dance
+was expressly invented in deference to the precariousness of powdered
+heads; and its calm sobrieties, once banished from the ball-room,
+revolutionary _boulangères_ succeeded--and chaos was come again! The
+stately _pavon_ had possession of the English court, with ruffs and
+farthingales, in the reign of Elizabeth. With the Stuarts came the wild
+courante or corante--
+
+  "Hair loosely flowing, robes as free"--
+
+and if the House of Hanover, and minuets, reformed for a time the
+irregularities of St James's--what are we to expect now that waltzes,
+galops, and the eccentricities of the cotillon have possession of the
+social stage? WHAT NEXT? as the pamphlets say--"What will the lords
+do?"--what the ladies?
+
+Thus much in proof, that the boss of pirouettiveness is strangely wanting
+in human conformation, and that there is consequently all the excuse of
+ignorance for the wild enthusiasm lavished by London on the operative
+class. Ten guineas per night--five hundred for the season--is the price
+exacted for a first-rate opera-box; and as the exclusives usually arrive
+at the close of the opera, or, if earlier, keep up a perpetual babble
+during its performance, they clearly come for the dancing.--"_On voit
+l'opéra, et l'on écoute le ballet_," used to be said of the Académie de
+Musique. But it might be asserted now, with fully as much truth, of the
+Queen's Theatre, where the evolutions of Carlotta Grisi, Elssler, and
+Cerito, keep the audience in a state of breathless attention denied to
+Shakspeare.
+
+In two out of these instances, it may be advanced that they are consummate
+actresses as well as graceful and active dancers. Elssler's comedy is
+almost as piquant as that of Mademoiselle Mars. Nor is the ballet
+unsusceptible of a still higher order of histrionic display. We never
+remember to have seen a stronger _levée en masse_ of cambric handkerchiefs
+in honour of O'Neill's _Mrs Haller_, or Siddons's _Isabella_, than of the
+ballet of "Nina;" while the affecting death-dance in "Masaniello" is still
+fresh in the memory of the admirers of Pauline Leroux. We have heard of
+swoons and hysterics along the more impressionable audiences of La Scala,
+during the performance of the ballet of "La Vestale;" and have witnessed
+with admiration the striking effect of the fascinative scene in "Faust."
+
+Of late years, the union of Italian blood and a French education has been
+found indispensable to create a _danseuse_--"Sangue Napolitano in scuola
+Parigiana;"--and Vesuvius is the Olympus of all our recent divinities.
+Formerly, a Spanish origin was the most successful. The first dancer who
+possessed herself of European notoriety was La Camargo, whose portraits,
+at the close of a century, are still popular in France, where she has been
+made the heroine of several recent dramas. To her reign, succeeded that of
+the Gruinards and Duthés--in honour of whose bright eyes, a variety of
+noblemen saw the inside both of Fort St Evêque and St Pelagie; the opera
+being at that time a fertile source of _lettres de cachet_. To obtain
+admittance to the private theatricals of the former dancer, in her
+magnificent hotel in the Chaussée d'Antin, the ladies of fashion and of
+the court had recourse to the meanest artifices; while the latter has
+obtained historical renown, by having excited the jealousy, or rather envy,
+of Marie Antoinette. Mademoiselle Duthé appeared at the fêtes of
+Longchamps, in the Bois de Boulogne, in a gorgeous chariot drawn by six
+milk-white steeds, with red morocco harness, richly ornamented with cut
+steel; and thus accomplished the object of incurring the resentment of the
+court, from the prodigality of one of whose married princes these
+splendours were supposed to emanate--splendours exceeding those of the
+Rhodopes of old.
+
+But the greatest triumph ever achieved by _danseuse_, was that of
+Bigottini! The Allied sovereigns, after vanquishing the victor of modern
+Europe, were by _her_ vanquished in their turn. At her feet, fresh
+trembling from an _entre-chat_, did
+
+  "Fiery French and furious Hun"
+
+lay down their arms! The Allied armies appeared to have entered Paris only
+to become the slaves of Bigottini!
+
+In our own country, devotees of the _danseuse_ have done more, by
+promoting her to the decencies of the domestic fireside. In our own
+country, also, even Punch was once purchased by an eccentric nobleman for
+the diversion of his private life. But as Demosthenes observed of the cost
+of such a pleasure, "that is buying repentance too dear!"
+
+We are perhaps offending the gravity of certain of our readers by the
+extent of this notice; albeit, we have striven to propitiate their
+prejudices by the peculiar combination and juxtaposition of professions,
+selected for consideration. But we are not acting unadvisedly. Close its
+eyes as it may, the public cannot but perceive, that the legitimate drama
+is banished by want of encouragement from the national theatres, and that
+the ballet is brandishing her cap and bells triumphantly in its room.
+
+Such changes are never the result of accident. The supply is created by
+the demand. It is because we prefer the Sylphide to Juliet, that the
+Sylphide figures before us. Shakspeare was played to empty benches; the
+Peri and Gisele fill the houses.
+
+We repeat, therefore, since such is the bent of public appetite, let it be
+gratified in the least objectionable way. Let us have a royal academy of
+dancing. We shall easily find some Earl of Westmoreland to compose its
+ballets, and lady patronesses to give an annual ball for the benefit of
+the institution. Do not let some eighty thousand a-year be lost to the
+country. An idol is as easily carved out of one block of wood as another.
+Let us make unto ourselves goddesses out of the haberdashers' shops of
+Oxford Street; and qualify the youthful caprices of Whitechapel to command
+the homage of Congress, and of the great autocrat of all the Russias.
+Properly instructed, little Sukey Smith may still obtain an enameled
+brooch or bracelet from her Majesty the Queen-Dowager! Let us "people this
+whole isle with sylphs!" Let Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden flourish;
+but--thanks to Great Britain pirouettes!--the art of giving ten guineas
+for a couple of hours spent in an opera-box, will then become less
+criminal; and we shall have no fear of the influence of some Herodias's
+daughter in our domestic life, when we see the Cracovienne announced in
+the bills "by Miss Mary Thomson." The charm will be destroyed. The
+unfrequented _coulisses_, like Dodona, will cease to give forth oracles.
+
+Under the influence of an "establishment," we shall have to record of
+opera-dancers as of other professions, that "the goddesses are departing!"
+The _danse à roulades_ of Fanny Elssler will be voted vulgar, when
+attempted by a Buggins. Let Mr Bunn look to himself. He may yet survive
+his immortality. We foresee a day in which he will be no longer styled
+Alfred the Great. With the aid of George Robins, and other illustrious
+persons interested in the destinies of theatrical property, we do not
+despond of hearing attached to "a bill for the legalization of the Royal
+and National Academy of Dancing of the United Kingdom," the satisfactory
+decree of "LA REINE LE VEUT!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE PIRATES OF SEGNA.
+
+A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. IN TWO PARTS.
+
+PART I.
+
+CHAPTER I.--THE STUDIO.
+
+
+It was on a bright afternoon in spring, and very near the close of the
+sixteenth century, that a handsome youth, of slender form and patrician
+aspect, was seated and drawing before an easel in the studio of the aged
+cavaliere Giovanni Contarini--the last able and distinguished painter of
+the long-declining school of Titian. The studio was a spacious and lofty
+saloon, commanding a cheerful view over the grand canal. Full curtains of
+crimson damask partially shrouded the lofty windows, intercepting the
+superabundant light, and diffusing tints resembling the ruddy, soft, and
+melancholy hues of autumnal foliage; while these hues were further
+deepened by a richly carved ceiling of ebony, which, not reflecting but
+absorbing light, allayed the sunny radiance beneath, and imparted a sombre
+yet brilliant effect to the pictured walls, and glossy draperies, of the
+spacious apartment. Above the rich and lofty mantelpiece hung one of the
+last portraits of himself painted by the venerable Titian, and on the dark
+pannels around were suspended portraits of great men and lovely women by
+the gifted hands of Giorgione, Paul Veronese, Paris Bordone, and
+Tintoretto. Regardless, however, of all around him, and almost breathless
+with eagerness and impatience, the student pursued his object, and with
+rapid and vigorous strokes had half completed his sketch--totally
+unconcious the while that some one had opened the folding-doors, crossed
+the saloon, and now stood behind his chair.
+
+"But tell me, Antonello mio!" exclaimed old Contarini, after gazing awhile
+in mute astonishment at the sketch before him; "tell me, in the name of
+wonder, what kind of face do you mean to draw around that lean and
+withered nose and that horribly wrinkled mouth?"
+
+Antonio, however, was so unconcious of the "world without," that he
+started not at this sudden interruption of the previous stillness.
+Regardless, too, of the serious and indeed reproving tone of the old man's
+voice, he hastily replied without averting his gaze from the canvass.
+"Hush, maestro! I beseech you. Question me not, for Heaven's sake! I
+cannot spare a word in reply. The original," continued he, after a brief
+interval of close attention to his object, and drawing as he spoke; "the
+original is still firmly fixed in my memory. I see its sharp outlines
+clear within me, and, as you well know and oft have told me, a feature
+lost is lost for ever. Alas! alas! those lines and angles around the mouth
+are already fading into shadow."
+
+After he had thrown out these words, from time to time, like interjections,
+and with Venetian rapidity of utterance, nothing was audible in the saloon
+for some minutes but the young artist's sharp and rapid strokes upon the
+canvass.
+
+"No more of this, Antonio!" at length exclaimed the old painter with
+energy, after gazing for some time at the gradual appearance of an old
+woman's lean and winkled features, dried up and yellow as if one of the
+dead, and yet lighted up by a pair of dark deep-set eyes, which seemed to
+blaze with supernatural life and lustre. At each touch of the artist, this
+mummy-like and unearthly visage was brought out into sharper and more
+disgusting relief, when Contarini, no longer able to control his
+indignation, dashed the charcoal from his pupil's hand. "Apage, Satanas!"
+he shouted, "thy talent hath a devil in it. I see his very hoof-print in
+that horrible design."
+
+Startled by this unexpected violence, the young artist turned round, and
+beheld with amazement the usually benign featutes of his venerable teacher
+flashing upon him with irrepressible anger, which was the more impressive
+because the Cavaliere had just returned from a visit to the Doge, and was
+richly attired in the imposing patrician costume of the period. Around his
+neck was the golden chain hung there by the imperial hands of Rodolph the
+Second, and he wore the richly enameled barret, and lofty heron's plume,
+which the same picture-loving emperor had placed upon his head when he
+knighted him as a reward for the noble pictures he had painted in Germany.
+There was a true and fine air of nobility in his lofty form and
+well-marked features--a character of matured thought and intellectual
+power in the expansive brow, and in the firm gaze of his large dark eyes,
+as yet undimmed by age--with evidence of decision and self-respect, and
+habitual composure in the finely formed mouth and chin. Thus splendidly
+arrayed, and thus dignified in form, features, and expression, this
+distinguished man recalled so powerfully to the memory of his imaginative
+pupil the high-minded doges of the heroic period of Venice, and the
+imposing portraits of Titian's senators, that, with a deep sense of his
+own moral inferiority, he obeyed in silence, and with starting tears
+removed the offending sketch. Then placing before him a small picture of a
+weeping and lovely Magdalen by Contarini, which he had undertaken to copy,
+he began the sketch, patiently awaiting a voluntary explanation of this
+unwonted vehemence in his beloved teacher, who, seated in his armchair,
+leaned his head upon his hand and seemed lost in thought.
+
+And now again for some time was the deep stillness of the studio
+interrupted only by the strokes of Antonio's charcoal, which, unlike his
+rapid and feverish efforts when sketching the old woman, were now subdued
+and tranquil. As he gazed into the upraised and pleading eyes of the
+beautiful Magdalen, his excitement gradually yielded to the pacifying
+influence of her mute and eloquent sorrow. This salutary change escaped
+not the observation of Contarini, whose benevolent features softened as he
+gazed upon these tokens of a better spirit in his pupil.
+
+"I rejoice to see, Antonio," he began, "that you already feel, how ever
+imperfectly, the soothing and hallowed influence of the Beautiful in Art
+and Nature, and the peril to soul and body of delighting in imaginary
+forms of horror. If you indulge these cravings of a distempered fancy, you
+will sink to the base level of those Flemish artists who delight in
+painting witches and demons, and in all fabulous and monstrous forms. You,
+who are nobly born, devoted to poetry and fine art, and possess manifest
+power in portraiture, should aim at the Heroic in painting. Make this your
+first and steadfast purpose. Devote to it your life and soul; and, should
+the power to reach this elevation be wanting, you may still achieve the
+Beautiful, and paint lovely women in lovely attitudes. But tell me,
+Antonello!" continued he, resuming his wonted kindness, "how came that
+horrid visage across thy path, or rather across thy fancy? for surely no
+such original exists. Say, didst thou see it living, or was it the growth
+of those distempered dreams to which painters, more than other men, are
+subject?"
+
+"No, padre mio! it was no dream," eagerly answered his pupil. "Yesterday I
+went in our gondola, as is my wont on festivals, to the beautiful church
+of San Moyses, which I love for its oriental and singular architecture.
+When near the church I heard a melodious voice calling to Jacopo, my
+gondolier, the only boatman in sight, and begging a conveyance across the
+canal. Issuing from the cabin, I saw a tall figure, closely veiled,
+standing on the steps of the palace facing the church and occupied by the
+Archduke's ambassador. Approaching the steps, Jacopo placed a plank for
+the stranger; but, as she stepped out to reach it, a sudden gust caught
+her large loose mantle, which, clinging to her shape, displayed for a
+moment a form of such majestic and luxuriant fulness--such perfect and
+glorious symmetry, as no man, still less an artist, could look on unmoved.
+In trembling and indescribable impatience, I awaited the raising of her
+veil. Another gust, and a slight stumble as she bounded rather than
+stepped into the boat, befriended me; the partial shifting of her veil,
+which she hastily replaced, permitted a glimpse of her features--brief,
+indeed, but never to be forgotten. Yes, father! the face which surmounted
+that goddess-like and splendid person, was the horrid visage I have
+sketched, lean and yellow, drawn up into innumerable wrinkles, and with
+black eyes of intolerable brightness, blazing out of deep and faded
+sockets. Staggered by this unearthly contrast, I fell back upon the bench
+of the gondola, and gazed in silent horror at the stranger, who answered
+not the blunt questions of Jacopo; and, as if ashamed of her astounding
+ugliness, sat motionless and shrouded from head to foot in her capacious
+mantle. I followed her into the church; but, unable to hold out during the
+mass, I left her there and hastily returned to sketch this sublime example
+of the hideous before any of its points had faded from my memory. Forgive
+me, father, for yielding to an impulse so strong as to overwhelm all power
+of resistance. Yet why should I abandon this rare opportunity of
+displaying any skill I may have gained from so gifted a teacher? Pictures
+of Madonnas and of lovely women so abound in all our palaces, that a young
+artist can only rise above the common level by representing something
+extraordinary, something rarely or never seen in life."
+
+Contarini gazed with sorrowing and affectionate interest upon the flushed
+features of his pupil, again excited as before by his own description of
+the mysterious stranger. One less acquainted with human nature, would have
+mistaken the flashing eyes and animated features of the youthful artist
+for the sure tokens of conscious and advancing talent; but the aged
+painter, whose practised eye was not dazzled by the soft harmony of
+features which gave a character of feminine beauty to Antonio, saw in the
+excitement which failed to give a more intellectual character to his
+countenance, sad evidence of a soul too feeble and infirm of purpose to
+achieve eminence in any thing, and with growing alarm he inferred a
+predisposition to mental disease from those morbid and uncontrolled
+impulses, which delighted in portraying objects revolting to all men of
+sound and healthy feelings.
+
+He arose in evident emotion, and after pacing the studio some time in
+silence, he approached Antonio, who, yielding to his eccentric longings,
+had seized the sketch of the old woman's head, and was gazing on it with
+evident delight. "Give me the sketch, Antonio!" resumed the painter in his
+kindest tone, "'Tis finished, and the hunter cares not for the hunted
+beast when stricken. What wouldst thou with it?" "What would I, maestro?"
+exclaimed the alarmed youth, hastily removing his sketch from the extended
+hand of the painter, "Finish the subject of course, and place this
+wonderful old head upon the magnificent form to which it belongs."
+
+"But, saidst thou not, Antonio, that the poor creature in the gondola
+hastily concealed her features when accident revealed them, as if ashamed
+of her unnatural ugliness? And canst thou be so heartless as to publish to
+the world that strange deformity she is doomed to bear through life, and
+which she is evidently anxious to conceal? Wouldst thou add another pang
+to the existence of one to whom life is worse than death, and whose
+eternal veil is but a foretaste of the winding-sheet and the grave? Thou
+wilt not, canst not, my Antonio, make such unheard-of misery thy
+stepping-stone to fame and fortune." This impassioned appeal to all his
+better feelings at length reached the heart of Antonio. For a short time
+he continued to withhold the drawing; but his kindly nature triumphed.
+Tearing his sketch into fragments, he threw himself into the extended arms
+of his beloved teacher, who with deep emotion placed his trembling hand on
+the curling locks of his pupil, and implored the blessing of Heaven on his
+better feelings and purposes.
+
+With a view to improve the impression he had made, the painter led Antonio
+round the studio, and sought to fix his attention upon several portraits
+of lovely women which adorned it. "Here," said he, "are heads worthy to
+crown that striking figure in the gondola. Behold that all-surpassing
+portrait by Giorgione, of such beauty as painters and poets may dream of
+but never find, and yet not superhuman in its type. Too impassioned for an
+angel; too brilliant for a Madonna; and with too much of thought and
+character for a Venus--she is merely _woman_. Belonging to no special rank
+or class in society, and neither classical nor ideal, she personifies all
+that is most lovely in her sex; and, whether found in a palace or a
+cottage, would delight and astonish all beholders. This rarely gifted
+woman was the daughter of Palma Vecchio, and the beloved of Giorgione, one
+of the handsomest men of his time; but her sympathies were not for him,
+and he died of grief and despair in his prime. She was the favourite model
+of Titian and his school, and the type that more or less prevails in many
+celebrated pictures.
+
+"How different and yet how beautiful of its kind, is that portrait of a
+Doge's daughter, by Paris Bordone! Less dazzling and luxuriant in her
+beauty than Palma's daughter, she is in all respects intensely
+aristocratic. In complexion not rich and glowing, but of a transparent and
+pearly lustre, through which the course of each blue vein is visible. In
+shape and features not full and beautifully rounded, but somewhat taller
+and of more delicate symmetry. In look and attitude not open, frank, and
+natural; but astute, refined, courteous, and winning to a degree
+attainable only by aristocratic training and the habits of high society.
+In apparel, neither national nor picturesque, but attired with studied
+elegance. Rich rows of pearls wind through her braided hair, in colour
+gold, in texture soft as silk. A band of gold forms the girdle of her
+ruby-coloured velvet robe, which descends to the wrist, and there reveals
+the small white hand and tapering fingers of patrician beauty. All this
+may captivate the fastidious noble; but, to men less artificial in their
+tastes and habits, could such a woman be better than a statue--and could
+love, the strongest of human passions, be ever more to her than a
+short-lived and amusing pastime?
+
+"From these immortal portraits, my Antonio, you may learn that _colour_
+was the grand secret of the great Venetian painters. _Their_ pale forms
+are never white, nor their blooming cheeks rose-colour, but the true
+colour of life--mellow, rich, and glowing; both men and women strictly
+true to nature, and looking as if they could turn pale with anger or blush
+with tender passion. From these great men can best be learned how much
+charm may be conveyed by _colour_, and what life and glow, what passion,
+grace, and beauty it gives to _form_.
+
+"But I weary thee, Antonio; and after such excitement thou hast need of
+repose. To-morrow, let me see thee early."
+
+The exhausted youth gladly departed from a scene of so much trial; and,
+hastening to his gondola, sought refreshment in an excursion to the Lido.
+Returning after nightfall, he landed on the Place of St Mark's, and
+wandered through its cool arcades until they were deserted. In vain,
+however, did he strive to banish the graceful form and grisly features of
+the stranger. The strong impression he had received became so vivid and
+absorbing, that at every turn he thought he saw her gazing at him as if in
+mockery, and lighting up the deep shadows beneath the arches with her
+glowing orbs, which seemed to his disordered fancy to emit sparks and
+flashes of fire. No longer able to resist the impulse, forgetting alike
+the paternal admonitions of the old painter, and the promises so sincerely
+given, he quitted the piazza and hastened to the palace of his father, the
+Proveditore Marcello, then absent on state affairs in the Levant.
+
+Retiring to his own apartment, he fixed an easel with impetuous haste, and
+by lamp-light again began to sketch the Medusa head of the old woman.
+Yielding himself up to this new frenzy, he succeeded beyond his hopes; a
+supernatural power seemed to guide his hand, and soon after midnight he
+had drawn to the life not only the appalling head, but the commanding and
+beautiful person, of the mysterious personage in the gondola. After gazing
+awhile upon his work with triumphant delight, he retired to bed; but slept
+not until long after sunrise, and then the extraordinary incidents of the
+past day haunted his feverish dreams. A female form, youthful and of
+surpassing beauty, hovered around his couch, but ever changing in
+appearance. At first her head was invisible and veiled in mist, from which,
+at intervals, flashed features of resplendent loveliness, and eyes of
+heavenly blue, which beamed upon him with thrilling tenderness; and then
+the mist dispersed, and the beauteous phantom stooped down to kiss his
+cheek, when suddenly her blooming face darkened and withered into the
+death-like visage of that fearful stranger, and her long bright hair was
+converted into hissing sepents. Starting with a scream of horror from his
+troubled and exhausting slumbers, he again sought refuge in his gondola,
+but returned, alas! to make his sketch into a picture, which the hues of
+life made still more hideous and repulsive. After several days thus
+occupied, he sketched in various attitudes the imposing figure of the old
+woman, and endeavoured to fit this beautiful Torso with a head not
+unworthy of it. But herein, after many attempts, he failed. His excitement,
+so long indulged, had risen into fever. His diseased fancy controlled his
+pencil, and blended with features of the highest order of beauty so many
+touches of the old woman's ghastly visage, that he threw down his pencil,
+and abandoned all further efforts in despair.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE CAVERN.
+
+
+The shores of Austrian Dalmatia south of the port of Fiume, are of so
+rugged and dangerous a nature, that although broken into numerous creeks
+and bays, there are but few places where vessels, even of small dimensions,
+dare to approach them, or indeed where it is possible to effect a landing.
+A long experience of the coast, and of the adjacent labyrinth of islands
+which block up the gulf of Carnero, is necessary in order to accomplish in
+safety the navigation of the shallow rocky sea; and even when the mariner
+succeeds in setting foot on land, he not unfrequently finds his progress
+into the interior barred by precipices steep as walls, roaring torrents,
+and yawning ravines.
+
+It was on a mild evening of early spring, and a few days after the
+incidents recorded in the preceding chapter, that a group of wild-looking
+figures was assembled on the Dalmatian shore, opposite the island of
+Veglia. The sun was setting, and the beach was so overshadowed by the
+beetling summits of the high chalky cliffs, that it would have been
+difficult to discover much of the appearance of the persons in question,
+but for an occasional streak of light that shot out of a narrow ravine
+opening among the rocks in rear of the party, and lit up some dark-bearded
+visage, or flashed on the bright barrel of a long musket. High above the
+ravine, and standing out against the red stormy-looking sky behind it, the
+outline of a fortress was visible, and in the hollow beneath might be
+distinguished the small closely-built mass of houses known as the town of
+Segna.
+
+This castle, which, by natural even more than artificial defences, was
+deemed impregnable, especially on its sea face, was the stronghold of a
+handful of hardy and desperate adventurers, who, although their numbers
+never exceeded seven hundred men, had yet, for many years preceding the
+date of this narrative, made themselves a name dreaded throughout the
+whole Adriatic. The inhabitants of the innumerable Dalmatian islands, the
+subjects of the Grand Turk, the people of Ancona--all, in short, who
+inhabited the shores of the Adriatic, and were interested in its commerce,
+or in the countless merchant vessels that skimmed over its
+waters--trembled and turned pale when the name of these daring freebooters
+was mentioned in their hearing. In vain was it that the Sultan, who in his
+sublimity scarcely deigned to know the names of some of the great European
+powers, had caused his pachas to take the field with strong armaments for
+the extermination of this nest of pirates. These expeditions were
+certainly not disadvantageous to the Porte, which seized the opportunity
+of annexing to its dominions some large slices of Hungarian and Venetian
+territory; but their ostensible object remained unaccomplished, and the
+proverbial salutation of the time, "God save you from the Uzcoques!" was
+still on the lips of every one.
+
+The word "Uzcoque," by which this dreaded people was known, had grown into
+a sound of mourning and panic to the inhabitants of the shores and islands
+of the Adriatic. At the utterance of that fearful name, young girls
+crowded together like frightened doves; the child hid its terrified face
+in its mother's lap; the eyes of the matron overflowed with tears as the
+images of murdered sons and outraged daughters passed before her mind's
+eye, and, like Banquo's ghost, filled the vacant seats at the table; while
+the men gazed anxiously out, expecting to see their granaries and
+store-houses in flames. Nor were the seaman's apprehensions less lively,
+when night surprised him with some valuable cargo in the neighbourhood of
+the pirates' haunts. Every rock, each tree, and bush became an object of
+dread; the very ripple of the waves on the shingle a sound of alarm. To
+his terrified fancy, a few leafless and projecting branches assumed the
+appearance of muskets, a point of rock became the prow of one of those
+light, sharp-built boats in which the Uzcoques were wont to dart like
+seabirds upon their prey; and, invoking his patron saint, the frightened
+sailor crossed himself, and with a turn of the rudder brought his vessel
+yet nearer to the Venetian galleys that escorted the convoy.
+
+At the cry "Uzcoque" the slender active Albanian grasped his fire-lock,
+with rage and hatred expressed on his bearded countenance: the phlegmatic
+Turk sprang in unwonted haste from his carpet; his pipe and coffee were
+neglected, his women and treasures secured in the harem, while he shouted
+for the Martellossi,[3] and slipping them like dogs from a leash, sent
+them to the encounter of their foes on the devastated plains of Cardavia.
+In the despatches from Madrid, from the ministers of that monarch on whose
+dominions the sun never set, to his ambassadors, the name of these seven
+hundred outlaws occupied a frequent and prominent place. But by none were
+the Uzcoques more feared and detested than by the greyheaded doge and
+senators of the Ocean Queen, the sea-born city, before whose cathedral the
+colours of three kingdoms fluttered from their crimson flagstaffs; and the
+few young Venetians in whose breasts the remembrance of their heroic
+ancestors yet lived, blushed for their country's degradation when they
+beheld her rulers braved and insulted by a band of sea-robbers.
+
+    [3] The Turks, finding their own troops not well adapted to the
+    irregular and desperate kind of warfare waged by the Uzcoques, and
+    also unable to compete with them in the rapidity of their movements,
+    formed a corps expressly for the pursuit of the freebooters, which
+    was composed of men as wild and desperate as themselves. With these
+    _Martellossi_, as they were called, the Uzcoques had frequent and
+    sanguinary conflicts. Minucci says of the Martellossi, in his
+    _Historia degli Uscochi_, that they were "Scelerati barbari anco
+    'ordine de' medesime Scochi."
+
+To this band belonged the wild figures, whose appearance on the shore has
+been noticed, and who were busily employed in rummaging a number of sacks
+and packages which lay scattered on the ground. They pursued their
+occupation in profound silence, except when the discovery of some object
+of unusual value elicited an exclamation of delight, or a disappointment
+brought a grumbling curse to their lips. They seemed carefully to avoid
+noise, lest it should draw down upon them the observation of the castle
+that frowned above their heads, and at the embrasures and windows of which
+they cast frequent and frightened glances, although the darkness of the
+ravine, at the entrance of which they had stationed themselves, and the
+rapidly deepening twilight, rendered it almost impossible to discover them.
+
+"By the beard of the prophet, Hassan!" exclaimed in a suppressed tone a
+young Turk, who lay bound hand and foot at a short distance from the
+pirates, "why do these mangy curs keep us lying so long on the wet grass?
+Why do they not seek their kennel up yonder?"
+
+The person addressed was a little, round, oily-looking Turk, a Levant
+merchant, whose traffic had called him to one of the neighbouring islands,
+and who had been laid hold of on his passage by the Uzcoques. He was
+sitting up, being less strictly manacled than his more youthful and
+energetic-looking companion; and his comical countenance wore a most
+desponding expression, as, in reply to the question put to him, he shook
+his head slowly from side to side, at the same time gravely stroking his
+beard.
+
+"By Allah!" exclaimed the young man impatiently, as he saw the pirates
+rummaging more eagerly than ever, and now and then concealing something of
+value under their cloaks, "could not the greedy knaves wait till they got
+home before they shared the plunder? May their fathers' souls burn!"
+
+"What saith the sage Oghuz?" quoth old Hassan slowly, "'As people grow
+rich their maw widens.'"
+
+"Silence, unbelieving hound!" exclaimed a harsh voice behind him, and a
+thump between the shoulders warned the old Turk to keep his proverbs for a
+more fitting season. The pirate was about to repeat the blow, when
+suddenly his hand fell, and the curses died away upon his lips.
+
+The clouds that had hitherto veiled the setting sun had suddenly broken,
+and a broad stream of golden light poured down the ravine, flashing upon
+the roofs and gables of the town, and making the castle appear like a huge
+and magnificent lantern. The ravine was lighted up as though by
+enchantment, and the unexpected illumination caused an alarm among the
+group of pirates, not unlike that of an owl into whose gloomy
+roosting-place a torch is suddenly intruded. Terror was depicted upon
+their countenances as they gazed up at the castle. For a moment all was
+still and hushed as the grave, and the Uzcoques scarcely seemed to breathe
+as they drew their greedy hands in silent haste out of the sacks; then,
+suddenly recovering from their stupefaction, they snatched up their
+muskets and crowded into a dark cavern in the rock, which the beams of the
+setting sun had now for the first time rendered visible, without, however,
+lighting up its deep and dark recesses. In their haste and alarm, more
+than one of the freebooters had his tattered mantle caught by the thorny
+arms of some of the bushes scattered over the shore, and turned in terror,
+thinking himself in the grasp of a foe. A few only had the presence of
+mind to throw their cloaks over the varied and glittering plunder that lay
+scattered about on the ground; and strange was the contrast of the
+sparkling jewellery, the rich stuffs, and embroidered robes, strewed on
+the beach, with the mean and filthy garments that partially concealed them,
+and the wild and squalid figures of their present possessors.
+
+A number of the Uzcoques now threw themselves with brutal violence upon
+the two prisoners, muffled their heads in cloaks to prevent their crying
+out, and carried them with the speed of light into the cave, in the
+innermost recess of which they bestowed them. They then rejoined their
+companions, who were grouped together at the entrance of the cavern like a
+herd of frightened deer, and gazing anxiously up at the castle. After the
+lapse of a very few minutes, the bright glow again faded away, the
+fortress reassumed its black and frowning aspect, the roofs of Segna
+relapsed into their dull grey hue, and shadows, deeper than before,
+covered the ravine.
+
+Reviving under the influence of the darkness, so congenial to their habits
+and occupations, the Uzcoques began to recover from their alarm, and the
+murmur of voices was again heard as they seized the sacks, and hastily
+filled them with the various objects lying on the beach. Every thing being
+collected, the pirates commenced toiling their way up the steep mountain
+path leading to the castle, with the exception of a few who still lingered
+at the entrance of the cavern, and whom the prisoners could hear disputing
+about some point on which there seemed to exist much difference of opinion.
+
+"Hell and the devil!" at last exclaimed an impatient voice, in a louder
+tone than had yet been employed. "There's little chance that we have not
+been seen from the castle; for the warder would expect us back about this
+time, and doubtless was on the look-out. These Turkish hounds have seen
+every thing, and might easily betray us. Let us leave them here till
+to-morrow, till I have spoken to the warder, and arranged that they be
+sent on at once to Gradiska without coming to speech of the captain. I
+will join the escort myself to make it still surer."
+
+After some slight opposition on the part of the others, this proposal was
+adopted, and the remaining pirates took their departure. The sound of
+their footsteps along the rocky path had scarcely died away on the ears of
+the anxiously listening captives, when loud acclamations and cries of joy
+announced the arrival of the first detachment at the castle. The heavy
+gates of the fortress were opened with much din and rattle; after a short
+space they were again slammed to, the portcullis fell, and then no further
+sound broke the deep silence that reigned in the ravine.
+
+The collection of the plunder, the discussion among the pirates, and their
+departure, had passed so rapidly, that the young Turk had scarcely had
+time to recover from the giddy, half-stunned state into which the rough
+usage he had received had thrown him, when he found himself alone with his
+old fellow-captive.
+
+"Well, Hassan," said he at last, in a voice of suppressed fury, "what
+think you of all this?"
+
+The old man made no verbal reply, but merely stroked his beard, shrugged
+his shoulders, and opened his eyes wider than before, as much as to say,
+"I don't think at all; what do you think?"
+
+"It is not the prospect of passing the night in this damp hole, bound hand
+and foot, that chafes me to madness, and makes my very blood boil in my
+veins," resumed the young man after a pause. "That is a small matter,
+ but"--
+
+"A small matter!" interrupted Hassan with unusual vivacity. "That is,
+because you have forgotten the most dreadful part of our position. Bound
+hand and foot as we are, we can expect nothing less than to fall, ere
+cock-crow, into the power of Satan."
+
+"Of Satan!" repeated the other. "Has terror turned thy brain?"
+
+"Of a truth, the Evil One has already tied the three fatal nooses which he
+hangs over the head of the sleeping believer," replied the old Mahometan
+in a lachrymose tone. "He who awakes and forthwith invokes the holy name
+of Allah, is thereby delivered from the first noose; by performing his
+ablutions, the second becomes loosened; and by fervent prayer he unties
+the third. Our bonds render it impossible for us to wash, and the second
+noose, therefore, will remain suspended over our devoted heads."
+
+"Runs it so in the Koran, old man?" asked the youth.
+
+"In the Koran! What Mussulman are you? It is the hundred and forty-ninth
+passage of the Suna."
+
+"The Suna!" repeated the other, in a tone of indifference. "If that is all,
+it will not break my slumbers."
+
+"Allah protect me!" exclaimed the old man, as he made an attempt to pluck
+out his beard, which the shackles on his wrists rendered ineffectual.
+"Allah protect me! Is it not enough that I have fallen into captivity? Am
+I also doomed to pass the night under the same roof with an unbeliever,
+even as the Nazarenes are?"
+
+"May the bolt of Heaven fall on thy lying tongue!" exclaimed the youth in
+great wrath. "I an unbeliever! I, Ibrahim, the adopted son of Hassan,
+pacha of Bosnia!"
+
+In deepest humility did the old merchant bow his head, and endeavour to
+lay hold of the hem of the young man's crimson caftan, in order to carry
+it to his lips.
+
+"Enough! enough!" said Ibrahim, whose good temper had returned. "You spoke
+in haste and ignorance. I am well pleased when I break no commandment of
+the Koran; and trouble my head little about the sayings of those babbling
+greybeards, the twelve holy Imaums."
+
+"But the nooses," expostulated Hassan, not a little scandalized by his
+companion's words.
+
+"You have nothing to do but to sleep all night without awaking," replied
+the young Turk laughing. "Then you will have no need either to wash or
+pray."
+
+The superstitious old man turned his face to the wall in consternation and
+anguish of spirit.
+
+"This night have I seen with my own eyes what we have hitherto refused to
+believe," resumed Ibrahim after a pause, and in a tone of indignation that
+echoed through the cavern. "I am now convinced that the shameless
+scoundrels do not rob on their own account, since they are obliged to
+pilfer and conceal a part of their plunder in order to get a profit from
+their misdeeds. Marked you not, Hassan, how they trembled when the sun lit
+up the ravine, lest their tricks should be espied by some sentry on the
+battlements; and how their panic fear made them carry every thing up to
+the castle?"
+
+The old Turk bowed his head assentingly.
+
+"Glory be to God and the Sultan!" continued the youth. "Before the bright
+countenance of the prophet's vicegerent, who reigneth in Stamboul, no
+misdeed can remain hidden that occurs in the remotest corner of his vast
+dominions. Nay, much of what happens in the land of the Giaour is also
+manifest to his penetrating vision. Witness the veil of turpitude and
+cunning which has long been seen through by the clear eyes of our holy
+mollahs, and of the council at the Seraglio, and which has just now been
+torn away from before me, like a mist dispersing in the sunshine of truth.
+Truly spoke the Christian maiden, whom but a few weeks back I took captive
+in a fight with the Uzcoques, but who was shortly after rescued by another
+band of those raging fiends."
+
+"Saw you the maiden," exclaimed Hassan, "the good maiden that accompanies
+the pirates, like an angel walking among demons?"
+
+"What know you of the Houri?" eagerly demanded the youth, in vain
+endeavouring to raise his head from the damp stones.
+
+"That it was the hand of Allah that rescued her from you," replied the
+other. He chastiseth his creatures with rods, but even in his chastisemcnt
+is mercy. "How many more had not the dogs and the ravens devoured, had the
+Christian maiden been taken from among the Uzcoques? She belongs to them,
+she is the daughter of their leader, the terrible Dansowich, beside whom
+she is ever to be found, instilling the musk and amber of mildness into
+his fierce soul, and pouring healing into the wounds he makes. I know her
+not, but often have I heard the Christians, with whom my traffic brought
+me acquainted, include her in the prayers they addressed to their God."
+
+"Her eyes were as brilliant stars, and they blinded my very soul,"
+exclaimed Ibrahim impetuously; "the honey of her words dropped like balm
+into my heart! As the sound of bubbling fountains, and the rustle of
+flowery groves to the parched wanderer in the desert, fell her sweet voice
+upon my ear. So gentle and musical were its tones, that I thought not of
+their meaning, and it is only to-day that I understand them."
+
+"I know not," quoth Hassan, "what you may have seen; but doubtless, Satan,
+who wished to inspire you with an unholy desire for a Nazarene woman,
+began by blinding you. According to all I have heard, the Uzcoque maiden
+is good and compassionate, but as ugly as night."
+
+"Ugly!" cried Ibrahim, "Then there must be two of them; for the one I saw
+was blooming as the spring, her eyes like the morning star, and her cheeks
+of velvet. Oh, that I could again behold her! In that hope it was that I
+pressed so rashly forward in the fight, and was made prisoner; but yet
+have I not beheld the pearl of mine eyes."
+
+"She cannot be amongst them," said Hassan; "and thence comes it that the
+pirates have this year committed greater cruelties than ever, and done
+deeds that cry out to Allah for vengeance."
+
+"Instead of her silver tones," continued Ibrahim, "I hear the shrieks of
+the tortured; instead of her words of peace and blessing, the curses of
+the murderer."
+
+"But what did the maiden tell you?" enquired Hassan, who was getting
+impatient at the transports of the enamoured youth.
+
+"Her words flowed like a clear stream out of the well of truth. It is not
+the Uzcoques alone," said she, "who are to blame for the horrors that"--
+
+"Hark!" interrupted the old Turk.
+
+A clamour of voices and splashing of oars became audible, a keel grated on
+the beach, and then hurried footsteps were heard in the ravine.
+
+"It is another vessel with Uzcoques!" exclaimed Ibrahim; "but these are
+not laden with plunder, their movements are too rapid."
+
+As he spoke, the tumult and murmur of voices and trampling of feet
+increased, and above all a noise like distant musketry was heard.
+
+"Holy Virgin!" suddenly exclaimed a clear and feminine voice, apparently
+close to the mouth of the cavern. "They are already at the castle--the
+gates, no doubt, are shut, the drawbridge raised. Before they could come
+down it would be too late."
+
+The young Turk started.
+
+"It is she, Hassan!" he exclaimed. "It is Strasolda, the Christian maiden!"
+
+"Oh, my father!" cried the same voice in tones of heart-rending anguish.
+"How shall we deliver thee? Alas! alas! who can tell the tortures they
+will make thee suffer in their dreadful dungeons?"
+
+The noise of the musketry became more and more distinct. Some of the newly
+arrived Uzcoques who had hurried up the winding path, were soon heard
+clamouring furiously for admittance at the castle gates.
+
+"They will be too late!" exclaimed the maiden, wringing her hands in
+despair. The next moment a sudden thought seemed to flash across her mind,
+lending her fresh hope and energy.
+
+"Gracious Heaven!" she exclaimed in joyful tones. "Have we not here the
+cave, from which, invoked by fire, the storm and the hurricane, the north
+wind and the tempest, come forth and shatter the most stately vessels
+against our iron-bound coast.[4] Up, Uzcoques, and fire the cavern! Let
+the elements do battle for us. Perchance by their aid the bark of your
+leader Dansowich may yet escape its foes and reach the haven."
+
+    [4] In Minucci's History of the Uzcoques, continued by Paola Sarpi,
+    we find the following:--"Segna, through its position on a cragged
+    rock, was unapproachable by carts or horses, and consequently by
+    artillery. The harbour appertaining to it, however, was tolerably
+    good, but exceedingly difficult of access on account of the north
+    wind, (vento di Buora,) which blew almost incessantly in the
+    channel leading to it. According to popular belief, the Segnarese
+    had the power of causing this wind to blow at will, by merely
+    kindling a fire in a certain hollow of the cliffs. The mysterious
+    operation of this fire was to heat the veins of the earth, which
+    then, through pain or fury, sent out the raging hurricanes that
+    rendered those narrow seas in the highest degree dangerous, and
+    indeed untenable."
+
+Immediately after these words, which made the two Moslems quail, the
+pirate's daughter hastily entered the cavern with a blazing torch, the
+flashes of which awakened from slumber into life and glow the various tints
+of mosses, lichens, and stalactites innumerable that studded the ample
+vault. In this flitting and singular illumination, the appearance of the
+Uzcoque maiden was awful. Above the common stature of woman, and finely
+formed, she was attired in a white woollen garment, carelessly adjusted
+and confined at the waist by broad red girdle, from which it fell in long
+and graceful folds to her feet. Her face was a perfect oval; her features
+of regular and striking beauty; her complexion, naturally of that clear
+rich brown, which lends more lustre to the eyes than the purest red and
+white, was now ghastly with intense alarm; and this death-like paleness
+imparted a more prominent and commanding character to her well-defined,
+jet-black brows, and the full, dark, humid eyes, which gleamed like
+brilliants through their long lashes. Heavy tresses of raven hair,
+escaping beneath her turban-like head-dress, streamed out like a sable
+banner as she rushed into the cavern, then fell and flowed in waving
+luxuriance over neck and shoulders to her girdle. The Turks in the
+interior of the cavern, gazed in speechless wonder at this beautiful
+apparition standing erect in the strong red light. Waving her torch with
+energetic and graceful action, she appeared like an antique sybil at the
+moment of inspiration, or some Arabian enchantress preparing for an
+incantation. Their admiration, however, yielded to alarm, when they beheld
+her dash the torch upon the ground, and her attendants pile upon it straw
+and fagots, which blazed up instantly to the cavern roof, emitting volumes
+of smoke that made the captives invisible, and by its suffocating
+influence deprived them erelong of all power of utterance.
+
+The evening was serene and still, with scarcely a breath of wind stirring,
+and the flames blazed upward to the cavern roof; only now and then a light
+breeze from the sea wafted them on one side, and, at the sane time,
+dispersing the smoke, gave the Turks a momentary glimpse of the maiden,
+standing with uplifted hands, expectation, anxiety, and grief, depicted on
+her speaking countenance, as she invoked the spirit of the storm, while
+around her stood the few remaining Uzcoques, with sorrowing and downcast
+faces.
+
+"They come not!" she exclaimed after a pause, during which the fire began
+to burn low for lack of fuel, and the noise of the musketry diminished and
+finally ceased. "Uzcoques!" she cried in a louder voice, and with
+inspiration in her thrilling tones--"Take heed and warning, for your hour
+is come. Your crags and caverns, your rocky shores and howling storms,
+refuse you further service!"
+
+She paused, and at that moment was heard the rush of a rapidly approaching
+boat.
+
+"Speak not, ye messengers of evil!" exclaimed Strasolda in piercing
+accents. "Utter not a word. You have left Dansowich in the hands of the
+Venetians."
+
+There was no reply to her half frantic exclamation, and the deep silence
+was only broken by the footsteps of the new-comers, as with dejected looks
+they joined their companions. Just then some damp branches that had lain
+smouldering and smoking on the fire, burned brightly up, and by their
+light Ibrahim and Hassan beheld the maiden kneeling in the midst of the
+pirates, her tearful face covered by her fair and slender fingers. The
+next moment she raised her head and gazed into the cavern.
+
+As she did so, the sorrowful expression of her features changed, and her
+countenance was lighted up with a look of rapture, while a loud cry burst
+from her lips. Through the opening in the smoke, the prisoners became
+visible to her as they lay motionless in the interior of the cave, the
+light from the flames glowing on their red garments, and giving them the
+appearance of two statues of fire. In the handsome countenance of one of
+the figures thus suddenly revealed to her, Strasolda recognized the young
+Moslem, whose prisoner she had been, and whose noble person and bearing,
+courteous manners, and gentle treatment, had more than once since the day
+of her captivity, occupied the thoughts and fancy of the Uzcoque maiden.
+Unaware of Ibrahim's capture, Strasolda did not for an instant suppose
+that she beheld him in flesh and blood before her. To her excited and
+superstitious imagination, the figures of the Turks appeared formed out of
+fire itself, and she doubted not that the spirits of the cave had chosen
+this means of presenting to her, as in a prophetic mirror, a shadowy
+fore-knowledge of future and more favourable events.
+
+While she yet gazed eagerly on what she deemed a supernatural appearance,
+the rent in the veil of smoke suddenly closed, the flame sank down, and
+again all was gloom and darkness in the cavern. The thick stifling vapour
+of the damp wood, augmenting as the flame diminished, was now so
+overpowering that the Turks were in imminent danger of suffocation. In
+their extremity, making a violent effort, their pent up voices found vent
+in a cry of such startling wildness, that the Uzcoques, struck with terror,
+sprang back from the mouth of the cave, hurrying the maiden with them. The
+cry was not repeated, for the Turks had lost all consciousness from the
+stifling effects of the smoke.
+
+"Banish your fears, Uzcoques!" exclaimed Strasolda, staying the fugitives.
+"The voice that to you is a sound of dismay, gives me hope and confidence.
+I see the golden crescent rising in irresistible might, and shedding its
+rays over all the lands of the earth. Happy they on whom it casts its mild
+and favouring beams, and truer far the safeguard it affords to those who
+serve it, than that which is found beneath the shadow of the cross. Better
+the sharp cimeter and plighted word of the Moslem, than the fair promises
+of the lying Christian, who, in the hour of peril, abandons those by whose
+courage he has profited. But enough!" cried she in an altered tone. "Our
+first duty is to rescue my father from the hands of the Venetians. Go not
+into Segna. There are traitors there who might reveal what we most wish
+kept secret. The Venetians know not the person of Dansowich, and that may
+save him if no time be lost in plotting his deliverance. Let none even of
+our own people hear of his captivity. Now to the castle!"
+
+She led the way, and in silence and sadness the pirates followed the
+daughter of their captive chief.
+
+The fire was quite out, the smoke had cleared away, the moon poured its
+silvery light into the cavern, and the stillness was unbroken, save by the
+ripple of the waves on the beach, when Ibrahim recovered from the state of
+insensibility into which he had been thrown by the suffocating influence
+of the smoke, and heard his companion snoring at his side. For some time
+the young Turk lay, revolving in his mind the eventful scene he had
+witnessed, and the strange and startling circumstances that had come to
+his knowledge during the few preceding hours. The capture of Dansowich was
+an event of much importance; nor was there less weight in the discovery
+Ibrahim had made of the dependence of the Uzcoques upon a higher power,
+which, in secret, aided and profited by their depredations. Although
+Austria had been frequently accused of abetting the piracies of the
+Uzcoques, the charge had never been clearly proved, and to many appeared
+too improbable to obtain credence. Ibrahim had hitherto been among the
+incredulous; but what he had this day seen and heard, removed every doubt,
+and fully convinced him of the justice of those imputations.
+
+Turning in disgust from the contemplation of the labyrinth of crime and
+treachery to which he had seized the clue; the young Moslem sought and
+found a far pleasanter subject of reflection in the remembrance of the
+maiden, whose transcendent beauty and touching devotion to her captive
+parent, shone out the more brightly from their contrast with the vice and
+degradation by which she was surrounded. With much interest did he
+endeavour to solve the problem, and explain what appeared almost
+miraculous, how so fair a creature--such a masterpiece of Heaven's
+handiwork--could have passed her childhood and youth amongst the refuse of
+humanity assembled on the island, and yet have retained the spotless
+purity which was apparent in every look and gesture. But, however
+interesting these reflections were to the enamoured Ibrahim, his recent
+fatigues had been too great for nature not to assert her claims, and the
+wearied body finished by triumphing over the rebellious restlessness of
+the excited spirit. The graceful form of Strasolda, and the wild figures
+of the Uzcoques, swam more and more indistinctly before his closing eyes,
+until he sank at last into a deep and refreshing slumber.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE JEWELS.
+
+
+The tribe of the Uzcoques, or Scochi, derived their name from _scoco_, a
+refugee or fugitive, a word bearing reference to their origin. Towards the
+commencement of the sixteenth century, a band of hardy and warlike men
+abandoned the the provinces of Southern Hungary, Bulgaria, and Servia, and
+took refuge in Dalmatia from the tyranny and ill usage of the Turks, who
+had overrun the first-named provinces. Accompanied by their wives and
+families, and recruiting their numbers as they went along, they at last
+reached the fortress of Clissa, situated in the mountains, a few miles
+from the old Roman town of Spalatro. There, with the permission of its
+owner, Pietro Crosichio, they established themselves, forming one of the
+outposts of Christendom, and thence carried on a war of extermination
+against the Turks, to whom they did a degree of injury that would appear
+quite incommensurate with the smallness of their numbers. The name of
+Uzcoque soon became known throughout the Adriatic as the synonyme of a
+gallant warrior, till at length the Turks, driven nearly frantic by the
+exploits of this handful of brave men, fitted out a strong expedition and
+laid siege to Clissa, with the double object of getting rid of a
+troublesome foe, and of advancing another step into Christian Europe.
+
+The different powers who had benefited greatly, although indirectly, by
+the enterprising valour of the Uzcoques, neglected to give them the
+smallest assistance in their hour of peril. After an heroic defence,
+Clissa fell into the hands of the Turks, and a scanty and disheartened
+remnant of its brave defenders fled northward to seek some new place of
+refuge. This they found in the fortress of Segna, then belonging to a
+Count Frangipani, who allowed them to occupy it; and, at the same time,
+Ferdinand the First of Austria bethought himself, although somewhat
+tardily, that the Uzcoques had deserved better at his hands, and at those
+of other Christian princes, than to be left to their own resources when
+assailed by the overwhelming power of the Porte. As a sort of atonement,
+he took them formally into his pay, to assist him in his wars against the
+infidel. But from this day forward the Uzcoques gradually declined in
+valour and in moral worth. From a race of heroes they degenerated into a
+horde of mercenary adventurers, and finally, of cruel and cowardly pirates.
+Their primitive customs and simple virtues were exchanged for the vices of
+refugees and criminals from Venice and other neighbouring states, who came
+in crowds to fill up the frequent vacancies occurring in their ranks.
+
+At length the military value of the Uzcoques being much impaired, and
+their services also less required, Austria became irregular in her
+payments, and at last entirely discontinued them. The barren mountains
+round Segna produced nothing, and the unfortunate Uzcoques were in danger
+of dying of hunger. This they felt by no means inclined to do, and erelong
+complaints began to be made of piracies and depredations committed by the
+Segnarese on the vessels and territory of Venice. For some time no
+application on the subject was made to Austria, and when made it was found
+to be of little avail.
+
+At the period to which this narrative refers, Austria had already formed
+those designs upon her southern neighbour, which in more modern times she
+has carried out with complete success. The fertile plains of Northern
+Italy, the convenient ports on the Adriatic, the rich commerce with the
+Levant, were tempting baits to what was then the most ambitious power in
+Europe; and with an undeviating steadiness did she follow up the policy
+which promised to place such desirable acquisitions within her grasp.
+Venice, whose power and importance were already on the decline, was the
+state against which her most strenuous efforts were directed; and nothing
+that could injure the trade, or lower the dignity and importance of the
+republic, was omitted by the Austrian Machiavels of the day. Insignificant
+as such a means of annoyance may appear, the band of Uzcoques was one of
+the prime engines employed to undermine the bulwarks of Venetian
+independence. Through her commerce had Venice achieved her greatness, and
+through her commerce was she to be assailed and overthrown. Whilst the
+Venetians, for the sake of their trade, had formed alliances with the
+Turks, the Austrians, professing great religious zeal, and hatred of the
+infidels, as well as a dread of further encroachments upon European
+territory, did all in their power to ruin the traffic and break the
+connexion between the republic and the Porte. The Uzcoques, who, although
+asserting a sort of independence, still dwelt on Austrian territory, and
+were reckoned as Austrian subjects, were secretly encouraged in the
+piracies which they committed indiscriminately against Turkish and
+Venetian vessels. These acts of piracy usually took place in the night,
+and could rarely be brought home to their perpetrators, although there
+could be no moral doubt as to the identity of the latter; but, even when
+proved, it was found impossible to obtain any substantial redress. At the
+time now referred to, the evil was at its height. Nominally peace both
+with Venice and the Porte, Austria, nevertheless, stimulated the Uzcoques
+to aggressions upon the subjects of both. The Archduke Ferdinand, a
+well-intentioned and virtuous prince, but young and inexperienced, was
+completely led and deceived by the wily and unprincipled politicians who
+governed in his name. He was kept entirely in the dark as to the real
+character of the Segnarese, and thus prevented from giving credence to the
+frequent complaints made against them by neighbouring states. His corrupt
+ministers, moreover, not content with making the pirates instrumental in
+this tortuous policy, were not ashamed to squeeze from them a portion of
+their illicit gains; and a lion's share of the spoil found its way into
+the coffers of the archducal counsellors, who welcomed the golden Pactolus,
+utterly regardless of the foul channel through which it flowed. The
+Uzcoques, on their part, who were no longer the race of brave and hardy
+soldiers they had been some half century before, clung to the protection
+of Austria, conscious that, in their degenerate state, and with their
+diminished numbers, they must soon fall a prey to their numerous foes,
+should that protection be withdrawn. Thus, although inwardly chafing at
+being compelled to disgorge a large part of the hard-won booty for which
+they frequently periled their lives, they did not dare to withhold the
+tribute, nor to omit the rich presents which they were in the habit of
+making to certain influential persons about the archducal court. In return,
+the ports of Austria on the Adriatic, were open to them to build and
+repair vessels, or obtain supplies of provisions; every species of
+indirect assistance was afforded them, and more than once, when some of
+their number had fallen into the hands of the Venetians, their release, as
+subjects of Austria, had been demanded and obtained by the authorities at
+Gradiska. On the other hand, the claims of Venice for satisfaction, when
+some of her richly laden merchant-ships had been captured or pillaged,
+were slightly attended to, the applicants put off from day to day, and
+from year to year, with promises and excuses, until the weak and cowardly
+republic, seeing that no satisfaction was to be obtained by peaceable
+means, and being in no state to declare war against her powerful neighbour,
+usually ended the matter by ceasing to advance claims, the prosecution of
+which only tended to her further humiliation.
+
+It was Easter Sunday in the town of Gradiska. The strict religious
+ceremonies with which the Passion week was commemorated at the court of
+the youthful but pious Archduke Ferdinand were at an end; the black
+hangings disappeared from the church walls, and the bells rang out a merry
+peal in joyful commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. The nobles and
+ladies of the court, wearied with the vigils and fasting which the
+religious zeal of the time rendered imperative, betook themselves with
+lightened hearts to their apartments, the elder portion to repose, the
+younger ones to prepare for the brilliant festival and ball which the
+following day was to witness.
+
+In a richly furnished apartment of the castle, the young and handsome wife
+of one of the archducal counsellors was pacing up and down, her full and
+voluptuous form reflected on every side by the tall Venetian mirrors that
+covered the walls of the apartment. The lady was apparently in no gentle
+mood; her step was hurried and impatient, her face flushed, her lips
+peevishly compressed, and her irritation seemed to increase each time that
+she passed before a table on which were displayed a number of jewel-boxes
+and caskets, all open, and nearly all empty. Since the Easter festival of
+the preceding year, the caprices and necessities of this spendthrift
+beauty had abstracted one by one the rich kernels from these now worthless
+husks, and the recollection of the follies, or worse, in which their value
+had been squandered, now came to aggravate the vexation which the want of
+the jewels occasioned her. So absorbed was she in the consideration of her
+annoyances and perplexities, that for some time she took no notice of the
+presence of a young and graceful female in plain attire, who stood
+apparently in deep thought in the embrasure of one of the windows. The
+maiden had her back turned to the room; but the admirable contours of her
+fine figure, and the rich luxuriance of the jet-black locks that flowed
+over her shoulders, gave promise of a perfection that was not belied, when,
+on an exclamation of impatience from her mistress, she suddenly turned
+round, and revealed the beauteous features of Dansowich's daughter. She it
+was who formed the usual medium of communication between the pirates and
+their archducal allies; and during her frequent sojourns at Gradiska, she
+assumed the character of attendant on the counsellor's lady.
+
+"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the court dame, stamping her foot violently on
+the polished floor. "What can detain the knaves? Say, girl! where can they
+be lingering?"
+
+Strasolda made no reply to this impetuous enquiry. She was no longer the
+excited and impetuous Uzcoque heroine, invoking the spirit of the storm
+amidst the precipices and caverns of her native shores. A total change had
+come over her. Her look was subdued, her cheek pale, her eyes red and
+swollen with weeping. She cast an humble and sorrowful glance at the lady,
+and a tear trembled on her long dark lashes.
+
+"Why come they not?" repeated the angry dame in a voice half-choked with
+passion. "By all the saints!" she continued, with a furious look at
+Strasolda, "I believe thy father, Dansowich, to be the cause of this delay;
+for well I know it is with small good-will he pays the tribute. But if the
+thieving knaves thus play me false, if the Easter gift is wanting, and for
+lack of jewels I am compelled to plead sickness, and pass to-morrow in my
+apartment, instead of, as heretofore, eclipsing every rival by the
+splendour of my jewels, rest assured, maiden, that thy robber friends
+shall pay dearly for their neglect. A word from me, and thy father,
+brethren, and kinsmen grace the gallows, and their foul eyrie is leveled
+with dust."
+
+Strasolda pressed her hands upon her heart, and burst into a flood of
+tears. Then throwing herself at the lady's feet--
+
+"That word you will never have the cruelty to utter," cried she. "Bethink
+you, noble lady, of the perils to which they are exposed. The bravest
+cannot command success, and you know not yet whether their last expedition
+may not have been unprosperous."
+
+"I!" replied her irritated mistress. "How should I be privy to their
+proceedings? But _you_ ought to be able to give some tidings: Wherefore
+did you not accompany your father this last voyage?"
+
+"I told you, lady," answered Strasolda, "that I was busied with plans for
+the deliverance of the Uzcoques now held captive in Venice. I have
+brothers amongst those unfortunate prisoners, and it is the uncertainty of
+their fate which thus afflicts me."
+
+The maiden gazed tearfully and imploringly at the angry lady. It was not
+without good reason that she concealed from her the fact of her father's
+captivity. The stern and inflexible Dansowich had ever viewed with an eye
+of disapproval the connexion between his people and the counsellors at
+Gradiska; and the latter, aware of this, would not have been likely to
+take much pains for the release of one who was unfavourable to their
+interests. It was only, therefore, by representing the captive Uzcoques as
+less nearly connected with her, that Strasolda could hope for aid to
+rescue them from the hands of the Venetians.
+
+"So much the more should you desire the arrival of the tribute!" exclaimed
+the lady. "Did I not, at your request, make interest with our ambassador
+at Venice, that he should insist upon the surrender of the Uzcoques as
+Austrian subjects? Assuredly the feeble signoria will not venture to
+refuse compliance. A casket of jewels is but a paltry guerdon for such
+service, and yet even that is not forthcoming. But it is not too late to
+alter what has been done. If I say the word, the prisoners linger in the
+damp and fetid dungeons of the republic, until they welcome death as a
+blessing."
+
+"Alas, alas!" sobbed Strasolda; "have you the heart thus to add to my
+sorrow? Is it not enough to know those I love in captivity, to behold my
+people, once so noble and heroic, degraded to the very refuse of humanity
+despised and detested of all men, having their dwelling on a barren rock,
+and earning by crime and bloodshed a precarious existence and doubtful
+freedom? Is it not enough"--
+
+"Hush!" interrupted the lady in a quick sharp whisper, raising her finger,
+and glancing towards the door of the apartment. There was a noise as of
+stealthy footsteps in the corridor. Strasolda sprang from the kneeing
+posture which she had maintained during her conversation with her mistress,
+and resumed her station in the recess of a window, while the counsellor's
+lady snatched up a rich shawl from a damask covered ottoman, and threw it
+over the caskets spread out upon the table. Scarcely were these
+arrangements completed, when the door was partially opened, and a wild
+sunburnt and bearded countenance showed itself at the aperture.
+
+"Heaven and the saints be praised!" exclaimed the lady. "They are come at
+last. In with you, Jurissa Caiduch: there is no one but Strasolda here."
+
+The person thus addressed, was a strongly built and active man, rather
+under the middle size, muffled in a coarse brown cloak, which was drawn
+over the lower part of his face, apparently with a view to concealment. A
+broad-brimmed felt hat was slouched over his small black eyes, which
+glittered through its shadow like those of a snake, never fixing
+themselves on an object, but casting restless and suspicious glances, as
+though apprehensive of danger or treachery. Gliding into the room, and
+closing the door noiselessly behind him, he approached the table, and
+placed upon it a tolerably large casket, which he produced from under his
+cloak; then retreating a step or two, he removed his hat, and stood in an
+attitude of silent respect, his eyes still gleaming, however, with their
+habitual expression of mistrust and cunning.
+
+Without uttering a word, the lady seized the casket, and impatiently
+forced open its delicate silver lock. A cry of joyful surprise burst from
+her lips on beholding the rich contents of the jewel-case. Diamond chains,
+golden girdles and bracelets, combs and hair ornaments studded with orient
+pearls, passed in rapid succession through the white and eager fingers of
+the gratified dame, who seemed to lack words to express her pleasure and
+astonishment at the sight of such costly gems. At last she turned to the
+bearer.
+
+"Of a truth, Jurissa" cried she, "you are unusually liberal this time, and
+you must have great need of the good offices of myself and Father Cipriano,
+to be willing to purchase our influence with the archduke at so high a
+price."
+
+"Our last expedition was a successful one, noble lady," replied the
+Uzcoque. "The tender-hearted Strasolda," added he with a spiteful glance
+at the maiden, who still kept her station by the window, "that guardian
+angel, who so often steps between us and our prey, was absent, and we had
+no need to stay our hands."
+
+As he spoke, the door was again hastily opened as softly as before, but
+somewhat wider, and the burly figure of a monk entered the room. This was
+no other than the Father Cipriano Guido Lucchese, whom the lady had
+alluded to, and who, by his pleadings at the papal court, in favour of the
+Uzcoques, had earned himself the honourable cognomen of Ambassador de
+Ladri, or the Thieves' Envoy. He had expiated his discreditable
+intercession by a sojourn in the prisons of the Inquisition, which did not,
+however, present his being in high favour with the Archduke Ferdinand, at
+whose court he filled the triple office of theologian, confessor, and
+privy counsellor.
+
+The sleek and unctuous physiognomy of the monk wore an expression of
+unusual care and anxiety. Without bestowing a salutation or a look upon
+the lady whose apartment he thus unceremoniously entered, he addressed
+himself at once to the Uzcoque Jurissa.
+
+"Away with you!" cried he. "Out of the palace; and quietly, too, as your
+own shadow. Thumbscrews are waiting for you if you linger."
+
+Strasolda gazed in alarm at Father Cipriano. Jurissa thrust his right hand
+under his cloak, and seemed to clutch some weapon. Even the counsellor's
+dame for a moment turned her eyes from the jewels she was admiring to the
+anxious countenance of the padre.
+
+"Your last exploit will bring you into trouble," continued the latter to
+Jurissa. "You have gone beyond all bounds; and a special ambassador has
+arrived here from Venice."
+
+"Well!" replied the Uzcoque surlily, "was not the sack of doubloons
+sufficient fee to keep you at your post?"
+
+"I have but just left it," answered the monk, "and you may thank me if the
+storm is averted for the moment, although it must burst erelong. Before
+the ambassador could obtain his audience, I hurried to the archduke, and
+chanted the old ditty; told him you were the Maccabees of the century--the
+bulwarks of Christendom: that without you the Turks would long since have
+been in Gradiska--that the Venetians, through fear and lust of gain, were
+hand and glove with the followers of Mahomet--and that it was their own
+fault if you had to strike through them to get at the infidel: that they
+cared little about religion, so long as the convenience of their traffic
+was not interfered with--and that it would be a sin and a shame to deprive
+himself of such valiant defenders for the sake of obliging the republic.
+This, and much more, did I say to his highness, Signor Jurissa," concluded
+the fat priest, wiping away the perspiration which his eagerness and
+volubility had caused to start out on his brow; "and, in good truth, I
+think your paltry bag of doubloons but poor reward for the pains I took,
+and the zeal I have shown in your defence."
+
+"And wherein consists the danger, then," interrupted Jurissa, "since your
+eloquence has sped so well on our behalf?"
+
+"You do not hear me out, my son," replied the priest. "The greybeards at
+Venice have chosen an envoy who is right well informed of your small
+numbers, bad equipment, and cowardice in broad daylight. Nay, man, never
+grind your teeth. I do but repeat the ambassador's words; for I had
+stationed myself in an adjoining room, and heard all that passed between
+him and the archduke. He said, moreover, that, far from being of use as a
+bulwark against Turkish encroachments, it was you who had afforded to the
+infidels a pretext to wrest more than one rich province from Christian
+potentates. All this seemed to make some impression upon the archduke, and
+to plant suspicions in his mind which bode no good to you and your race.
+For the present, the capture of those two Turks, one of whom is a person
+of rank, is testimony in your favour with his highness, to whom the
+crescent is an abomination. Could he follow his own inclinations, he would,
+I fully believe, start a new crusade against the followers of Mahoun. But
+come, Jurissa, this is no time for gossip. You must not be seen in
+Gradiska. Away with you!"
+
+"And the Venetian," cried Jurissa, "what is his name?"
+
+"It is the Proveditore Marcello, who has lately returned from a long
+absence in the East."
+
+The Uzcoque started. The name seemed to have some potent and mysterious
+effect upon him, and he stood for a few moments with his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, apparently forgetful of the necessity for his immediate
+departure. The priest took him by the arm, and drew him towards the door,
+which he was about to open, when Jurissa shook off his grasp and hastily
+approached the counsellor's wife, who had thrown herself into a large
+gilded chair before one of the pier-glasses, and was busily engaged in
+trying on the ornaments that had just been brought her.
+
+"Have a care, noble lady!" cried the Uzcoque. "You will do well to let a
+couple of weeks elapse before you appear in public with those pretty gauds.
+At any rate, wear them not at to-morrow's ball, lest, perchance, they find
+an owner. Beware, lady, of the Proveditore Marcello!"
+
+With a look of peculiar meaning he left the room, accompanied by Father
+Cipriano. But his warning fell faintly upon the lady's ear, who, though
+she heard the words, was far too much engrossed in arranging and admiring
+the costly gems so lately become her own, to give much heed to their
+import. She remained before her mirror, loading her white neck and arms
+with chains and jewels, and interweaving diamonds and pearls in her
+tresses, regardless of the grief of Strasolda who sat in tears and sadness,
+deploring her father's increasing peril, and the cloud that menaced the
+future fortunes of her people.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE BALL.
+
+
+The ancient burg, or castle, of Gradiska had been originally on a larger
+scale, but, at this period, consisted only of a centre, flanked at right
+angles by two wings ending in square towers, large, grey, and massive, and
+embattled, with overhanging galleries for sentinels to pace along, while
+similar galleries, on a smaller scale, extended along the entire front and
+wings of the castle. The central edifice contained, on the ground-floor,
+numerous apartments and offices for menials; above which arose a spacious
+saloon and other lofty apartments, lighted by windows high above the
+flooring, and terminating in the round-headed arches so commonly seen in
+the castellated mansions of northern Italy. In this palatial hall
+preparation had been busy for the ball, to which the wife of the archducal
+counsellor so impatiently looked forward, as an opportunity to eclipse all
+rivals by the splendour of her jewels. The hour of reception by the
+archduke had arrived. The exterior of the spacious edifice was illuminated
+from end to end by nunerous torches, and the capacious staircase was
+lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers, in splendid apparel. In the
+interior of the vast apartment huge waxen tapers were fixed above the
+_chevron_, or zig-zag moulding, which ran round the walls, and connected
+the casement of each window. Large crystal lamps, pendant from the point
+of each inverted pinnacle on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant
+light, and imparted life and colour to the rich tapestries, portraying
+stirring scenes from the Crusades, which covered the walls from floor to
+window. Complete suits of armour, exhibiting every known device of harness,
+and numerous weapons, fancifully arranged, decorated the spaces between
+the windows. And now began to appear, in this scene of splendour, groups
+of knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and cloth of gold, and attending
+upon fair dames, sparkling with jewels, and bearing nodding plumes upon
+their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst these, and towering above all in
+stature, appeared the haughty mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of
+dark green velvet, which well relieved the fairness of her complexion, and
+displaying upon her finely moulded neck and arms a collar and bracelets of
+large and lustrous oriental pearls. Her firlgers were bedecked with costly
+rings, and upon her head she wore an ornament of singular device, which
+soon attracted universal attention. Above the rim of a golden comb, richly
+chased and studded with brilliants, arose a peacock with expanded tail.
+The body was of chased gold in imitation of feathers, the arching neck was
+mosaic work of precious stones, the eyes were sparkling diamonds of the
+purest water, and the feathers of the tail glittered with emeralds, rubies,
+and sapphires of singular beauty and lustre. So great was the curiosity
+excited by the dazzling splendour of these jewels, that the fair wearer
+was followed round the room by a train of ladies, anxious to observe at
+leisure a display of ornaments so extraordinary, and whispering to
+sympathizing ears conjectures not over charitable to the counsellor's wife.
+When, at length, she had seated herself upon one of the sofas which lined
+the walls, a circle of admiring gazers was formed, whose numbers were
+rapidly increased by the attendant cavaliers. While the lady was enjoying
+her triumph, a bustle at the entrance of the hall turned every head in
+that direction, when the cause appeared in the person of the young
+archduke, who entered in full costume, followed by a group of courtiers,
+and accompanied by a Venetian cavalier, of tall and commanding person,
+with whom he appeared to be in earnest discourse. The stranger was a
+large-boned, spare, and powerful man, of middle age, and attired in a
+black vest and pantaloons of woven silk, with a short cloak, of the same
+hue. The golden hilt of his rapier, and a gold chain and medallion round
+his neck, were his only ornaments. His features were large, regular, and
+grand, and the gaze of his full dark eyes serene, yet firm and potent; his
+complexion pale, and contrasting strongly with a dark beard which circled
+his visage like a frame. His high and massive forehead, and well closed
+lips, had a character of thought and decision, while his mien and tread
+were those of one long accustomed to authority. He seemed a man born after
+his time, and worthy to have lived and acted in the high and palmy days of
+Venice. After attending the archduke to the steps of the dais at the upper
+end of the hall, he made his bow, and began to pace the floor in seeming
+abstraction from the gay scene around him. Arrested in his progress by the
+numerous groups which, after saluting the archduke, had again collected
+around the counsellor's lady, he paused in returning conciousness; and,
+looking for the cause of such unwonted attraction, was enabled, by his
+lofty stature, to obtain a glimpse of the jewelled lady within the circle.
+Her features were unknown to him; but when his careless gaze fell upon the
+rare ornament which crowned her redundant tresses, his countenance became
+suddenly darkened by some strong emotion. Again, he looked more earnestly,
+and with increasing wonder and curiosity. Controlling, by a sudden effort,
+all outward evidence of feeling, he watched his opportunity, and at length
+penetrating within the crowd, stood for some moments before the object of
+attraction, and gazed, as if admiringly, upon her various adornments in
+succession; then, bowing gracefully, he addressed to her some words of
+compliment upon the splendour and value of the dazzling bird upon her head.
+"Fair lady," he continued, "I have a daughter whom I fondly love, and fain
+would I bestow upon her youthful beauty such ornaments as yours. But say,
+I pray you, where can the cunning hand be found which fashions such
+glorious birds? Was it in Venice or Vienna that you bought this materpiece
+of art?" Unsuspicious of evil, and bridling at gratified vanity at this
+attention from a stranger of such distinguished mien, the spoil-bedecked
+fair one replied to him as she had done to others.
+
+"I bought this ornament, some weeks back, in Venice, at the store of a
+Greek trader from the Levant."
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed the stranger; "and where dwelt this Greek, that I may see
+and ask him for another such?"
+
+The concious lady, embarrassed by such close questioning, and somewhat
+alarmed by the kindling glances of the questioner, replied in haste--"Nay,
+signor, now I remember better, it was not a Greek I bought these gauds,
+but of a trading Jew, who walks the Merceria with a box of jewellry."
+
+"Just now, methinks, you said a Greek, fair lady; and now you say a Jew.
+What next? Why not a Moslem, or perchance _an Uzcoque?_"
+
+At this ominous conclusion, which the stranger muttered in tones of marked
+significance, the alarmed culprit started to her feet; and her fierce
+temper getting the better of her prudence, she boldly faced the cavalier,
+exclaiming, in a louder key than beseemed a courtier's wife--
+
+"And who are you, signor, that dare thus question the lady of an archducal
+counsellor?"
+
+"Lady!" he sternly answered, "here I am known to none save your husband's
+master; but in Venice men call me the Proveditore Marcello."
+
+And now flashed upon the indignant signora a fearful reminiscence of
+Jurissa's unheeded and forgotten warning, to hide her jewels for a time,
+and to beware of the Proveditore Marcello. In utter dismay, and nearly
+fainting with alarm, she sank upon the sofa, and her eyes expanded into
+the wide stare of terror as she gazed at the menacing visage of the
+Venetian noble. Unwilling to expose the conscience-striken woman before so
+numerous an assemblage, he seated himself beside her, and in tones
+inaudible to others thus whispered in her ear--"Lady! but eight days back
+the jewels that you wear were mine. That peacock was my own design, and
+made for my daughter by a cunning artificer in Candia. Its like exists not
+in the world; for the mould was made by my order, and broken as soon as
+used. 'Twas mine until the base Uzcoques plundered my baggage. How thus
+quickly it passed from them to you, is as well known to me as to yourself.
+But mark me, lady! if all these jewels are not delivered at my apartments
+in the west wing of the castle ere midnight, I will denounce your husband
+and his colleagues as long-suspected and now-proved partakers with the
+Pirates of Segna. And, should redress be denied me here, the ambassador of
+Venice shall report this infamous collusion before a higher tribunal in
+Vienna."
+
+Struck dumb by this terrible denunciation, the fair culprit gasped for
+breath, and her evident distress having been watched in growing wonder by
+the assembled ladies and cavaliers, the latter began to mutter threats of
+vengeance. One of them now stepped forward, and, grasping the hilt of his
+rapier, accused the Venetian of having insulted the wife of a nobleman
+high in the councils of the archduke, when the Proveditore, looking down
+upon the courtier with that riveted and intensely piercing gaze which
+staggers the beholder like a sudden blow, and may still be noted in many
+of Titian's portraits, answered with brief and startling emphasis--
+
+"Signor! you do me grievous wrong. 'Tis I, and not the lady, who am the
+injured party."
+
+Awed by his gathering brow, and the settled, stern, unsparing resolution
+which flashed from every feature, and indicated a man confident in his own
+resources, the courtiers did involuntary homage to his loftier spirit, and
+gave way. The proud Venetian strode through the yielding circle and
+quitted the hall, while the counsellor's wife, pleading illness and
+fatigue in reply to the pointed and numerous questions of surrounding
+friends and enemies, summoned her husband to attend her, and retired to
+her apartments.
+
+Meanwhile the young Moslem and his companion in misfortune, who had been
+brought prisoners to Gradiska, were confined in one of the massive towers
+which flanked the castle. They had arrived not long before the comencement
+of the festival, and when going under guard along a corridor in the east
+wing, Ibrahim passed the open door of an apartment in which Strasolda was
+adjusting the rich jewels of the counsellor's lady before her appearance
+in the ball-room. Startled by the approaching tramp of armed men, the
+Uzcoque maiden raised her eyes, and beheld the noble and well-remembered
+features of the young Turk, whose captive she had been, and whose image
+had so strangely reappeared to her through the flitting cloud of smoke in
+the cavern. "Mother of Heaven!" she exclaimed, covering her eyes with her
+hands; "do I again behold that Moslem youth, ever appearing when least
+expected?" Again she gazed; but the prisoners, hurried onward by their
+guards, had proceeded to the end of the corridor, where a narrow winding
+staircase, fashioned in the immense thickness of the tower wall, led to
+their appointed prison, a large square apartment, the sides of which were
+panneled to a considerable height, and imperfectly lighted by small
+windows, or rather embrasures, perforating a wall many feet in thickness.
+Here they were left to their reflections, and to what comfort they could
+derive fron a lamp and a supply of provisions. Hassan, wearied with his
+journey, hastily swallowed his supper, and, stretching himself upon a
+paillasse, soon forgot his calamities in sound repose. Ibrahim, more
+vigilant and less apprehensive of future evil, as the Turks and Austrians
+were then at peace, paced awhile along the floor of his spacious prison,
+musing on the peerless charms of the Uzcoque maiden. From time to time he
+gazed upon the walls and windows as if calculating the chances of escape,
+when gradually the peculiar and regular design of the panneling caught and
+fixed his attention. It was divided by prominent mouldings into oblong
+squares, from the centres of which projected large diamond-shaped bosses
+of carved oak. This peculiarity at length roused into action some
+reminiscences of the early life and adventures of his beloved patron, the
+pacha of Bosnia, to the recital of which he had often, in his boyhood,
+listened with eager delight. These recollections, at first shadowy and
+indistinct, became gradually more vivid and accurate, until finally the
+full conviction flashed upon him that his benefactor, when taken prisoner
+in his youth by the Austrians, had been confined in this very tower and
+room, and, by a singular discovery, had been enabled to liberate himself
+and his fellow-prisoners. The pacha, then a subordinate in rank, in
+endeavouring to reach the level of one of the embrasures, had mounted upon
+the shoulders of a comrade, and was supporting himself by a firm grasp of
+the large boss in the centre of the pannel, when suddenly he felt it
+turning round in his hand. Surprised to find it not a fixture, he pulled
+it towards him, and found that it slowly yielded to the impulse. Drawing
+it out of the socket, he saw it followed by an iron chain, which for a
+time resisted all his efforts, but at length gave way, and he heard a
+grating sound like the drawing of a rusty bolt. Suddenly the entire pannel
+shook, and then the lower end started back sufficiently to betray a recess
+in the wall. Hastily descending on his comrade's shoulders, and pushing
+back the pannel, he discovered that it was supported by hinges, and was
+doubtless intended to conceal a secret issue from the castle, which he
+soon ascertained, and effected his escape. These facts were all that the
+memory of Ibrahim could supply; but they were enough to guide him in his
+search, and he immediately proceeded to sound the pannels in succession
+with his fist. Commencing with the southern or outer wall, which he
+supposed more massive and more likely to contain a secret passage, he
+sounded each pannel, and perceiving in the corner one more reverberation
+than in the others, he roused Hassan from his slumbers. "Hassan! Hassan!"
+he exclaimed, "Arouse thee, man! and listen to good tidings." The awakened
+sleeper gazed with half-opened eyes upon his excited companion, and would
+have dropped to sleep again had not a few words of explanation and the
+hope of escape fully roused him. Having with some difficulty perched his
+rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibrahim, he followed his
+directions and grasped the wooden boss, which, to the inexpressible
+delight of both, yielded, as it had done forty years before to the captive
+Turk, and displayed the iron chain. Bidding Hassan replace the boss,
+Ibrahim determined to postpone his attempt until the festival had
+collected all the guards and menials into the central edifice and its
+approaches. An hour before midnight, when the young Moslem expected the
+revelry would be at its height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders,
+and after many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded in drawing up the
+bolt. The pannel receded some inches, and Ibrahim raising it still further,
+seized the lamp and entered a small oblong recess in the wall, which was
+not less than ten or twelve feet in thickness. Perceiving no outlet, he
+examined the wooden flooring, and soon discovered a trap, which, when
+raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a steep and narrow descending
+staircase, leading apparently to some sally-port beyond the castle ditch.
+After carefully trimming his lamp, he was about to lead the way into this
+dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and sudden, as of something falling in the
+adjacent prison, caught his ear. Retracing his steps, he re-entered the
+apartment, where, after a brief search, he found beneath one of the
+embrasures a paper folded round a large pebble. Hastily opening it, the
+following lines, written in the _lingua Franca_ so common in the Levant,
+were visible.
+
+"Moslem! If thy soul belie not thy noble form and features, thou wilt not
+withhold thine aid from a bereaved and sorrowing daughter. Before
+to-morrow's sunset thou wilt be free, for Austria wars not with the Turk.
+Then straight repair to Venice, and there await the Battle of the Bridge.
+Take thy stand beneath the portal of St Barbara, and follow the man who
+whispers in thine ear,
+
+    "STRASOLDA."
+
+"Mashallah!" shouted the enraptured youth, "these lines are from the
+Uzcoque maiden; and by the gates of Paradise I'll do her bidding, though
+it perils life."
+
+For a time he was tempted to follow her guidance implicitly, and await the
+promised release from the authorities of Gradiska; recollecting, however,
+the proverbial slowness of Austrian counsellors, and too restless and
+ardent to endure suspense, he resumed his purpose of exploring the secret
+passage. After he had secured the pannel and replaced the boss, he bade
+Hassan follow him and began to descend. The staircase ended in a small
+passage round an angle, beyond which he discovered a similar descent,
+followed by another angle and staircase, proving that this secret issue
+from the castle penetrated through each of the four massive walls which
+formed the tower. At length their further progress was stopped by a door,
+originally strong and plated with iron, but now so much decayed, that
+although fastened by bolts without, the joint strength of the two captives
+forced it from its hinges. They now entered a vaulted passage of hewn
+stone, low and narrow, and with no visible termination. As they advanced,
+the long pent-up and dank unwholesome vapours made it difficult to breathe,
+and compelled Ibrahim to pause repeatedly and trim his lamp, which burned
+so dimly in this oppressive atmosphere as to be nearly extinguished. After
+a while the path began to slope upwards, and erelong they distinguished
+moonlight faintly streaming through a tangled mass of ivy which concealed
+the remains of an iron grating, broken probably in his patron's successful
+attempt to escape by this secret passage from the prison above. Gazing
+through the aperture, they perceived not many feet below what had once
+been the castle ditch, now dry, and forming a portion of the archduke's
+gardens. With a joyous heart and an elastic bound, Ibrahim reached the
+soft turf beneath. The more timid and helpless Hassan lowered himself by
+clinging to a remaining iron bar, and with the aid of his companion was
+soon on his feet, enjoying, with many thanks to Allah, the fresh air of
+heaven and the consciousness of escape from captivity. The gates of the
+palace gardens being unguarded during the festival, the liberated
+prisoners reached the coast without an obstacle, compelled a fisherman to
+take them in his bark across the Adriatic, and land them on the Lido,
+which forms the outward limit of the port of Venice. Then making free with
+an unwatched gondola, they sped across the bay, and were soon in safety,
+beneath the roof of a Turkish trader and correspondent of Hassan.
+
+Before their escape was discovered on the following morning, the indignant
+Proveditore had departed for Venice, and Strasolda had disappeared.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.[5]
+
+
+    [5] _Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India_, from Bareilly,
+    in Rohilcund, to Hurdwar and Nahun, in the Himalaya Mountains;
+    with a Tour in Bundelcund, a Sporting Excursion in the Kingdom of
+    Oude, and a Voyage down the Ganges. By C.J.C. DAVIDSON, Esq.,
+    late Lieut.-Col. of Engineers, Bengal.
+
+The appearance of this work was heralded some three months since, as
+divers of our readers may possibly remember, by a species of
+puff-preliminary, for which even the annals of Great Marlborough Street
+afforded no precedent--being nothing less than the appearance of Mr
+Colburn, _in propriâ personâ_, at the bar of the police-office adjoining
+his premises, to answer the complaint of the gallant and irate author for
+what he was pleased to consider the unwarrantable detention of the MS.
+from which his narrative had been printed. It was alleged, in extenuation,
+that "the gallant colonel's MS. was so nearly undecipherable, that Mr
+Colburn had been put to considerable expense in revising the press;"--and
+a mysterious and curiosity-provoking hint was further thrown out, that "it
+was the custom of the trade, that, until a work was published, the MS.
+should not be parted with by the publisher, as it might turn out that some
+part of it was libellous, and in such case the publisher must produce the
+MS." In the end the gallant colonel (whom the newspaper reports described
+as "very much excited,") took nothing by his motion in regard to the
+recovery of the MS.; but though in this respect he may have been somewhat
+scurvily treated, we cannot equally sympathize with his complaints of the
+work not having been duly _advertised_; for surely all the little "neatly
+turned paragraphs" that ever proceeded from Mr Colburn's laboratory, could
+not have been so effectual as the method struck out by the impromptu
+genius of the colonel himself, in intimating to the public that something
+quite out of the common way might be expected from the forthcoming
+production thus brought before its notice.
+
+And verily those who have been prepared for a queer volume, will not be
+disappointed in the diary of our choleric and corpulent colonel. If ever
+the assurance, which seems to be regarded as indispensable in the preface
+to works of this class, that the author "wrote the following pages purely
+for his own amusement," bore the stamp of unequivocal truth, it is in the
+present instance; and, notwithstanding the asseverations of Mr Colburn and
+his literary employés, it is difficult to conceive that any revision
+whatever can have been bestowed on the rough notes of the writer, since
+they were first hastily committed to paper amidst the scenes which they
+describe. The style is as rambling and unconnected as the incidents to
+which it refers; but wherever the author's devious footsteps lead us, from
+the jungles of Bundelcund to the holy ghâts of Hurdwar, the principal
+figure is always that of the colonel himself, who, in the portly
+magnificence of twenty stone minus two pounds, fills up the whole
+foreground with himself and his accessories of servants, elephant, stud,
+Nagoree cows, and other component parts of the _suwarree_ or suite of a
+_Qui-hye_, who can afford to make himself comfortable after the fashion of
+the country. The quantity (sometimes not trifling) and quality of his
+meals, the consequent state of his digestion, and his endless rows on the
+score of accommodations and forage with thannadars, darogahs, kutwals, and
+all the other designations for Hindoo and Hindoostani jacks-in-office,
+(for to Feringhi society he appears to have been not very partial,) may
+doubtless have been points of peculiar interest to the colonel himself,
+but are not likely to engage the attention of the world in general, and
+had better have been omitted in the revision of the diary, instead of
+being chronicled, as they are on all occasions, with wearisome minuteness
+of detail. But with all these drawbacks, a man who, as he says of himself,
+"has dwelt in India twenty-five years, and traversed it from the snowy
+range to Bombay on the west, must have seen something of the country, and
+may be supposed to know something of the natives"--among whom, by the way,
+he seems to have mingled more familiarly than most Feringhis; and in spite
+of all the egotism and rigmarole with which his pages abound, the rambles
+of this "stout gentleman" through Upper India, and some other parts of the
+country not much visited by Europeans, present us with a good deal of
+plain sense and sterling matter, viewed, it is true, with the eccentric
+eye of a humorist, and frequently couched in very odd phraseology; but not
+the less true on that account. His opinions on all men and all things are
+expressed with the same honesty and candour with which he narrates the
+various scrapes in which he was involved, while pushing right a-head like
+an elephant through a jungle;--and though laughing at him quite as often
+as with him, we have found the colonel, on the whole, far from an
+unpleasant travelling companion.
+
+Bareilly, on the fronters of Oude and Rohilcund, was the colonel's
+starting-point;--and thence on St Patrick's day[6] he set forward for
+Hurdwar, at the head of a retinue, the members of which, both quadruped
+and biped, he enumerates seriatim, giving the _pas_ to the former--a
+precedence perhaps well merited by steeds up to such a welter weight under
+the climate of India, over such a set of unredeemed and thriftless knaves
+as he describes his native attendants. Accordingly, he gives the names and
+pedigrees of the whole stud, from "the buggy mare Maiden-head and my
+wicked little favourite Fish-Guts," up to "my favourite brood-mare Fair
+Amelia, purchased at a prize sale on the frontier, and bred by the king of
+Bokhara, with his royal stamp on her near flank--stands nearly fifteen and
+a half hands high, with magnificent action and great show of blood--had,
+when taken, four gold rings in her nostrils, now removed and replaced by
+silver, which will be stolen by her groom one by one." His first day's
+march was to Futtehgunge, ("the mart of victory," being the scene of the
+memorable battle in 1774, in which the English, as the bought allies of
+the Nawab Shoojah-ed-dowlah, defeated and slew the gallant Rohilla chief,
+Hafez-Rehmut;) and here he oracularly announced a discovery in gastronomy,
+of which it would be unpardonable not to give our readers the benefit. "I
+used my farourite condiment, tomata sauce, with my beef; and _to all who
+are ignorant_ of this delicious vegetable I may venture to recommend its
+sauce, as at once both wholesome and savoury, if eaten with anything but
+cranberry tart or apple pie!" It is melancholy to reflect how often the
+best efforts of genius are anticipated and rendered of no avail. The
+colonel, when he penned this sentence with a heart overflowing with
+Epicurean philanthropy, was evidently unconscious that "chops and tomata
+sauce" were already familiar to the British public from the immortal
+researches of Mr Pickwick!
+
+    [6] The year is not specified; but as the Ramazan is subsequently
+    said to have ended March 25, it must have been in the year of the
+    Hejra 1245, ansering to A.D. 1830.
+
+Rampore, in the territory of which the colonel now found himself, is still
+a semi-independent state, the Nawab of which has a revenue of sixteen lacs
+of rupees, (£160,000,) while the city, being without the pale of English
+law, is "a city of refuge, a very Goshen of robbers, ... the streets are
+crowded with a mob of very handsome, idle, lounging fellows, having
+generally the fullest and finest jet-black beards and black mustaches in
+the world. Many of these were handsomely dressed, and many (which struck
+me as a very curious fact) appeared clean!" These were the Pathans and
+Rohillas, partly descended from the original Moslem conquerors of India,
+and partly from those who have more recently migrated from Affghanistan
+and the adjoining countries. The most athletic and warlike race among the
+Indian Mahommedans, and too proud of their blood to exercise any
+profession but that of arms, they are found in every town throughout Upper
+India, swaggering about with sword, shield, and matchlock, in the retinues
+of the native princes, and ready to join any enterprise, or flock to the
+standard of any invader, through whose means any prospect is afforded of
+shaking off the Feringhi yoke, and resuming their ancient predominance in
+the country which their forefathers won by their swords from the idolaters.
+"They hate us with the most intense bitterness, and can any one be
+surprised at it? We have taken their broad lands foot by foot." Few if any
+of these turbulent spirits are found in our European regular native army;
+their dislike to the cumbrous accoutrements and awkward European saddles
+operating equally, perhaps, with the severity of the drill and discipline
+to deter them; but they form the strength of the various corps of
+irregular horse--a force which, of late years, has most judiciously been
+greatly increased in numbers, and the uniform dashing bravery of which in
+the field, strongly contrasts with the misconduct of one at least of the
+regular native cavalry regiments in the late Affghan war. "I have seen,"
+(says the colonel,) "a lineal descendant of Pathan Nawab's serving in the
+ranks of Hearsay's horse, as a common trooper on twenty rupees a-month,
+out of which he had merely to buy and feed his horse, procure clothes,
+arms, and harness, and sustain his hereditary dignity! By his commander
+and his fellow-soldiers he was always addressed by his title of Nawab
+Sahib!"
+
+The small-pox was committing dreadful ravages in Rampore and its
+neighbourhood; and though vaccination was performed gratis at Bareilly,
+the fatalist prejudices of the natives, even of those of rank and
+education, prevented them from availing themselves of the boon. All the
+instances of the colonel, in behalf of a charming little girl, four years
+old, whose mother and sister had already taken the infection, could get
+from her father nothing more than a promise "to think of it! If it's her
+fate----" said he. "'You fool!' said I, in my civil way," (and the
+colonel's _brusquerie_ was here, at least, not misplaced,) "'if a man
+throws himself into the fire or a well, or in the path of a tiger, is he
+without blame?'" Such apathy seems almost unaccountable to English minds;
+but it may find a parallel in Lady Chatterton's story of the Irish parents,
+[7] who, after refusing to spend fourpence in nourishment for a dying
+child, came in deep grief after its death to their employer, to solicit an
+advance of thirty shillings to _wake the corpse_! Perhaps some ingenious
+systematists might hence deduce a fresh argument in favour of the alleged
+oriental origin of the Irish.
+
+    [7] Rambles in the South of Ireland; ii. 143.
+
+The colonel's next stage was to Moradabad, another Pathan city, but under
+the _raj_ of the Company, where, in a visit to a native original, named
+Meer Mahommed, he was greatly delighted by his new friend's introduction
+of the English word _swap_ into a sentence of Hindoostani. And on the 25th
+he reached Dhampore, where the welcome proclamation, "that the new moon
+had been seen," terminated the fast of the Ramazan, to the uncontrollable
+joy of the Mussulmans, who would have been subjected to another day's
+abstinence if it had not been perceived till the succeeding evening. The
+colonel, however, slyly remarks, that "it was very odd that the _Hindoos_
+could not see the new moon," and hints that their imperfection of vision
+was shared by himself, but it was otherwise decided by the Faithful; and
+he proceeded, amid the noisy rejoicings of the Moslem feast of _Bukra-Eed_,
+(called by the Turks Bairam,) by Najeena, the Birmingham of Upper India,
+to Nujeebabad. Here resided, on a pension of 60,000 rupees (£6000) a-year
+from the English government, the Nawab Gholam-ed-deen, better known by the
+nickname of Bumbo Khan, a brother of the once famous Rohilla chief
+Gholam-Khadir. Though past eighty years of age, and weighing upwards of
+twenty stone, he had not lost, any more than the equiponderant colonel,
+his taste for the good things of this world; and our traveller, on
+partaking of the Nawab's hospitality, records with infinite zest the
+glories of a peculiar preparation of lamb, called _nargus_, or the
+narcissus. But, alas! the reminiscences of the nargus were less grateful
+than the fruition, and the remorse of the colonel's guilty stomach (as
+poor Theodore Hooke, or some one else, used to call indigestion) continued
+to afflict him all the way to Hurdwar; and may probably account, by the
+consequent irritation of his temper, for various squabbles in which he was
+involved on the route.
+
+The great fair of Hurdwar was in full swing at the colonel's arrival, with
+its vast concourse of Hindoo devotees from all parts of India, to whom it
+is in itself a spot of peculiar sanctity, besides lying in the way to the
+shrine of Gungotree, (the source of the Ganges,) in the Himmalaya--its
+crowds of merchants and adventurers of all sorts, even from Uzbek Tartary
+and the remote regions of Central Asia--Seiks by thousands from the Punjab,
+with their families--Affghan and Persian horse-dealers--and numerous
+grandees, both of the Hindoo and Moslem faith, who repair hither as to a
+scene of gaiety and general resort. The colonel found quarters in the tent
+of a friend employed in the purchase of horses for government, and seems
+to have entered with all his heart into the humours of the scene; his
+description of which, and of the varied characteristics of the motley
+groups composing the half million of human beings present, is one of the
+most graphic and picturesque sketches in his work. "Huge heaps of
+assafoetida, in bags, from the mountains beyond Cabool--tons of raisins of
+various sorts--almonds, pistachio nuts, sheep with four or five
+horns--Balkh[8] cats, with long silken hair; of singular beauty--faqueers
+begging, and abusing the uncharitable with the grossest and most filthy
+language--long strings of elderly ladies, proceeding in a chant to the
+priests of the Lingam, to bargain for bodily issue--Ghât priests
+presenting their books for the presents and signatures of the European
+visitors--groups of Hindoos surrounding a Bramin, who gives each of them a
+certificate of his having performed the pilgrimage"--such are a few of the
+component parts of the scene; but the colonel's attention seems to have
+been principally fixed upon the horses, and the tricks of the _dulals_ or
+brokers, to whom the purchase is generally confided, it being almost
+hopeless for an European to make a personal bargain with a native dealer.
+But among the greatest curiosities in this way were some _tortoiseshell_
+ponies--for we can call them nothing else--a peculiar race from Uzbek
+Tartary, which we never remember to have heard of before. "They were under
+thirteen hands high, and the most curious compound of colours and marks
+that can be imagined. Suppose the animal pure, snowy white; cover the
+white with large, irregular, light bay spots through which the white is
+visible; in the middle of these light bay let there be dark bay marbled
+spots; at every six or eight inches plant rhomboidal patches of a very
+dark iron-grey; then sprinkle the whole with dark flea-bites! There's a
+_phooldar_, ( flower-market,) as they call them;" and we agree with the
+colonel that such an animal would be a fortune at Bartlemy fair.
+
+    [8] In the original "bulkh," which we have ventured to amend as
+    above. The Oriental words and phrases are, in several instances,
+    very incorrectly printed; but whether the fault rests with the
+    colonel's "undecipherable" MS., or the correctors of the press, it
+    is not for us to decide.
+
+Among the distinguished visitors to Hurdwar at this season of festivity
+was the noted Begum Sombre, or Sumroo, whose face the colonel compares to
+that of an old Scotch highlander, and her person to a sackful of shawls,
+and who declared "that the Duke of Wellington _must_ be at heart a
+Catholic, _because_ he emancipated the Catholics!" He also renewed his
+gastronomic friendship with his friend Bumbo Khan, with whom the
+recollections of past indigestion did not prevent him from feasting on
+_mahaseer_, a delicious fish found in this part of the Ganges; and on this
+occasion his Apician ecstasies are not alloyed by subsequent
+regrets--"even now the recollection soothes me"--and he recommends such of
+his readers as are yet ignorant of this luxury to start forthwith for
+Hurdwar and repair the omission. The fair ended April 13; and the colonel
+having previously succeeded in disposing of his buggy to a potentate whom
+he calls "the Kheerea Thunnasir Rajah," (we believe, the ruler of one of
+the Seik protected states,) and buying a stout Turcomani pony for the
+hills, started the same day on the road to Suharunpoor. He favours his
+readers, _en passant_, with some exceedingly original speculations
+touching the Mosaic deluge, in reference to the hills about Hurdwar, which
+do not speak very highly for his attainments in geology, though in some
+other branches of natural history, and particularly in botany, he appears
+to be no mean proficient. The journey was disturbed by attempts to steal
+the colonel's new purchase, (which was not, like the rest of the stud,
+distinguished from the horses of the country by having its tail cut,) and
+by a quarrel at Secunderpore with a thannadar, or native police magistrate,
+whose European superior's neglect of the colonel's complaint he charitably
+attributes to "some (I hope slight) derangement of the stomach." At
+Suharunpore he visited the well-known botanist Dr Royle, the curator of
+the Company's botanic garden there, then engaged in those labours on the
+Flora of the Himmalayas which have been since given to the world; and at
+Boorea, leaving the British territory, he entered that of the protected
+Seik states, whose petty chieftains are secured in their semi-independence
+by the treaty with Runjeet in 1809, which confined the ruler of Lahore to
+the right bank of the Sutlej. But their reception of the colonel did not
+appear to indicate any great degree of gratitude for these favours to the
+British nation, as represented in his person; for not one of the five Seik
+chiefs, "each of whom has his own snug little fort close to the city,"
+would supply him with a lodging; and it was only by perseverance and
+ingenuity that he secured a place to lay his head, after long wrangling
+with the subordinate functionaries. Matters improved, however, as he
+advanced further into the country; and, at the little mountain-city of
+Nahun, he was most hospitably received and entertained by the young rajah,
+Futteh Pur Grass Sing, "who had been educated almost entirely under the
+kind and fatherly superintendence of Captain Murray," the commissioner of
+the Seik states, and whose frank and gentlemanlike manners, "so unlike
+those of the ghee-fed wretches of the plains," did honour to his guardian's
+precepts. The town of Nahun, which is 3600 feet above the level of the
+sea, is described as clean and well paved; and the rajah, whose revenue
+had been increased under the management of Captain Murray from 37,000 to
+53,000 rupees, was highly popular, and by the colonel's account deservedly
+so, with his subjects. He earnestly pressed "the fat gentleman" (whose
+caution in mounting an elephant, while two men on the other side of the
+howdah balanced his weight, vehemently excited his risibility) to return
+to the plains through Nahun, and have a month's shooting with him in the
+valley; but whether the invitation was accepted or not remains untold,
+as--"Alas for the literature of the age! when I was ordered to Bundelcund,
+a vile thief entered my tents at night, and robbed me of my second volume;
+and thus did I lose my carefully written account of the sub-Himmalayan
+range, which cost me fully eight months' labour."
+
+Thus abruptly terminates the first part of the colonel's travels, and at
+the commencement of the second we find him crossing the Jumna to Calpee,
+the frontier town of Bundelcund, a wild and unsettled province, prolific
+in Thugs and bad characters of all sorts, and principally inhabited by a
+peculiar race called Bundelas, who have never been perfectly reconciled to
+the British supremacy, and who, at this present writing, are kept quiet
+only by the presence of a force of 15,000 men. Calpee is said to be the
+hottest place in India, the thermometer in June, according to the colonel,
+standing even on a cloudy day at 145 degrees--a degree of heat almost
+incredible; and it is also the principal mart for the cotton, which the
+rich black soil of Bundelcund produces of finer quality than any other
+part of Hindostan. But, notwithstanding its commercial inportance, the
+town was at this time left to the government of a native Darogah or chief
+of police, the nearest European courts being at Hameerpore, thirty miles
+distant, and the state of society seems to have been somewhat singular.
+Among its most conspicuous members is "Gopal, the celebrated robber,
+murderer, and smuggler, a tall athletic man about forty-two years of age,
+with a most hideous muddy eye, having the glare of hell itself. It is said
+that he has always fifteen servants in stated pay, and can in a few hours
+command the services of three hundred armed and desperate men; and the
+strength and vigour of the Calpee police may be estimated by the fact,
+that he has been known to walk into the house of a rich merchant in the
+centre of the town, when he was surrounded by his servants and family; he
+has very coolly selected the gold bangles of his children, and silenced
+the trembling remonstrances of the Mahajun by threats of vengeance; nor is
+this a solitary instance. When he murders, he is equally above all
+concealment; as in the recent case of a sepahee returning home with his
+savings, who was waylaid and murdered by our hero in open day. He very
+coolly gave himself up, acknowledging that he had killed the sepahee, who
+had first assaulted him. It was proved on the trial, that the sepahee was
+wholly unarmed, and he was condemned to be hung by the court of Hameerpore
+on his own confession, but released, _from want of evidence_, by the
+Sudder Court at Calcutta. Their objection was excellent, though curious;
+that if his confession was taken, it must be taken altogether, and not
+that part only which could lead to his conviction. He was released, and
+now walks about in his Sunday clothes, a living evidence of British
+tenderness."
+
+Gopal was not the only amiable character with whom the colonel became
+acquainted at Calpee, as he sought and obtained an interview with a famous
+Thug approver, who had retired from the active exercise of his profession,
+and was travelling the country in company with a party of police,
+denouncing his former associates to justice. We cannot help suspecting,
+both from the traits recorded of him, and from the vicinity of Calpee to
+his former residence at Jalone, that this personage was no other than the
+celebrated Ameer Ali, whose adventures formed the ground of Captain
+Meadows Taylor's well-known "Confessions of a Thug;" and as a pendant to
+the already published descriptions of him, we here quote the impression he
+made upon the colonel. "I expected to see a great man, but at the first
+glance I saw that I was in the presence of a master. The Thug was tall,
+active, and slenderly formed; his head was nearly oval; his eye most
+strongly resembled that of a cobra di capello; its dart was perfectly wild
+and maniacal, restless, brilliant, metallic, and concentrated." The
+colonel had a narrow escape from irretrievably affronting this eminent
+professor of murder, by unguardedly enquiring whether he was in any way
+cognizant of a trifling robbery by which the colonel himself had been a
+sufferer. "No, sir!" he exclaimed with a look which might have frozen a
+less innocent querist; "murder, not robbery, is my profession ... and none
+but the merest novices would descend so low as to rob a tent or a
+dwelling-house." The colonel, however, expresses a shrewd suspicion, from
+circumstances which had come to his knowledge, that his distinguished
+visitor's _esprit de corps_ led him to deviate from truth in this
+particular--a belief in which Captain Taylor's pages fully bear him out.
+
+The colonel's movements, after quitting Calpee and its attractive circles,
+appear to have been somewhat desultory. We find him, successively, at
+Murgaon or Murgong, Julalpore, Keitah, &c., without being told what
+decided his route; but from some subsequent remarks, it appears probable
+that he was engaged on engineering service by order of Government. Between
+Julalpore and Keitah he fell in with a gang of _nutts_[9] or gipsies,
+whom the beauty of their women (a point to which the colonel is always
+alive) did not prevent him from suspecting of an intention to practise
+_thuggee_ on his own portly person--a belief in which he was confirmed by
+hearing them speak _in another tongue_ among themselves--no doubt the
+_Ramasee_, or cant language of the Thugs, subsequently made known to the
+world at large by the investigations of Major Sleeman. At Goraree he
+purchased some small cups, carved from the variegated serpentine of the
+rock on which the town is built; but, on proposing to employ the artist in
+making some larger vases, "he told me that he was a very poor man, and his
+efforts had never been directed to larger patterns; meaning to infer that
+it was impossible he could either try or succeed!" Such is Hindoo nature!
+
+    [9] The Indian gipsies are several times mentioned in the journal of
+    Bishop Heber, who says they are called Kunjas in Bengal. Colonel
+    Davidson also mentions a race in Bundelcund called Kunjurs who
+    were in the habit, as he was informed by the Bramins, of
+    "catching lizards, scorpions, snakes, and foxes," which, if it is
+    meant that they use them for food, is analogous to the omnivorous
+    propensities of the gipsies.
+
+Churkaree, the capital of Ruttun Sing Buhadoor, one of the principal of
+the numerous rajahs among whom Bundelcund is divided, is described as
+"prettily situated on the side of the hill, over a lake covered with the
+white lotus flower, and having a very fine appearance from a distance, as
+most of the houses have their upper stories whitewashed, and are seen
+peeping through the dark-green leafy trees of the country, but the town,
+which contains perhaps 15,000 souls, of whom 1000 may be Mussulmen, is
+very straggling, irregular, and dirty." The male population were all
+fiercely mustached, and loaded with arms; but their repulsive exterior was
+more than compensated by the charms of the other sex, all of whom wore
+immense hollow ankle bangles of zinc, filled with bits of gravel, which
+tinkled as they walked. "I have never seen so many well-formed and
+handsome women together as I did at the wells outside the town, drawing
+water _à la Rebecca_. Some of their faces were strikingly intelligent, and
+their figures eminently graceful. The population is almost purely Hindoo;
+and I think the Hindoo females are more delicate in their forms than the
+Mussulmanees." The Rajah was, however, absent on a sporting excursion, and
+the darogah refused to provide the colonel with lodgings, alleging his
+master's orders that no Feringhis should be allowed in the town; and it
+was not till after a long altercation, of which the colonel gives himself
+greatly the best, that he succeeded in finding quarters in the house of a
+_bunneea_ or grocer. But the next day's march (for Bundelcund is almost as
+thickly set with sovereign princes as Saxony itself) carried him out of
+the realm of this inhospitable potentate into the territories of the Rajah
+of Jalone, the once noted patron and protector of Thuggee, by whose agent
+he was most politely received at Mahoba, a once splendid but now ruined
+city, celebrated for its artificial lakes, which in long-past times were
+formed by a famous Rajpoot prince named Purmal, by damming up the narrow
+gorges of the hills. "Never had I seen, in the plains of India, a prospect
+more enchanting! Conceive a beautiful sheet of calm, clear, silvery water,
+of several miles in circumference, occasionally agitated by the splashing
+leaps of large fishes, or the gradual alighting of noble swan-like aquatic
+birds: its margin broken as if by the most skilful artist; now running
+into the centre, and ending in most romantic low rocky hills, covered with
+trees and embellished with black, antique Jain temples, deserted probably
+for hundreds of years, and at present the retreat of the elegant peafowl;
+in other places embanked with huge blocks of cut granite, embrowned by the
+shade of magnificent trees, under which small bright Hindoo temples,
+carefully whitewashed, might be seen in the shade; or bounded by abrupt
+rocky promontories, surmounted by many-pillared temples in ruins, hanging
+in the sky. A fine rich sunset gave an exquisite richness and classic
+magnificence to the scene. Many little boys with rod and line were
+ensnaring the sweet little _singhee_, or the golden _rohoo_ or
+carp--bringing back to my heart the days, when, stealing from school, I
+was wont to sit on the rocks of the Dee, at Craglug, near Aberdeen,
+watching the motion of a float that was not under water once in the
+twenty-four hours."
+
+The colonel's laudable habit of associating freely, whenever opportunity
+occurred, with the natives, gave him considerable insight into the state
+of the country, where the caprices of the native princes were not then
+much interfered with, and which consequently, as he says, "was pretty much
+in the situation of the Emerald Isle;" and verily if the tale told him by
+the Hindoo _gosain_ or priest at Jourâhoô, of the murder of his
+predecessor in the temple, and the impunity of the robbers, were correctly
+related, the Bundelas have not much to learn in the arts of bloodshed and
+depredation. "This village being a sort of corner to the territories of
+several Rajahs, robberies, murders, and all other diversions, are of daily
+occurrence; and when enquiries are made; each territory throws the blame
+on its neighbour." The maxim of government most current in Bundelcund,
+both with rulers and ruled, seems indeed to have been--
+
+  "The good old rule, the simple plan,
+  That those should take who have the power,
+  And those should keep who can;"
+
+for while this strange confusion of _meum_ and _tuum_ prevailed among the
+peasantry, the country was ruined by the oppressive and irregular
+exactions of the rajahs, both zemindars and cultivators flying from their
+habitations to escape the levying of the rents, which were often demanded
+more than once by different collectors. At Chundla, the colonel was lodged
+in the house of an opulent zemindar, who had absconded for the reason just
+given; "and one of the thanna servants told me, that, by those means,
+Bundelcund was depopulated"--a statement corroborated by the numerous
+ruined brick houses remaining in the towns among the miserable hovels of
+the present day. The rajahs of Bundelcund are, almost without exception,
+of Rajpoot lineage, and thus of a different race from their Bundela
+subjects; but the condition of the country is much the same wherever it is
+left under the sway of the Hindoo princes, who are exempt even from the
+partial restraint which the Koran imposes on the despotism of Mahommedan
+rulers. The only effectual cure for the evils reigning in Bundelcund will
+be its formal incorporation with the dominions of the Company--a
+consummation which, from the refractory spirit shown in the province after
+our losses in Affghanistan, is probably not far distant.
+
+The remainder of the colonel's notes on Bundelcund relate principally to
+his visits to the ancient hill-fortresses of Ajeegur and Kalingur, both
+formerly occupied in force by the British, but now--with the exception of
+a havildar's (sergeant's) party of sepoys posted at the former, and a
+single company at the latter--garrisoned solely by the _lungoors_, or
+large black monkeys, whom the colonel found holding solemn assembly in the
+Jain temples and the hall of audience, built by the famous Rajah Purmal at
+Ajeegur. While exploring his way along the ruined and overgrown ramparts,
+he had a narrow escape from the fangs of a large venomous serpent, ("the
+_Katula Rekula Poda_, No. 7 of Russell,") on which he was on the point of
+treading, and which, in commendable gratitude for its forbearance; he
+allowed to glide off unharmed by his fowling-piece; "but he was the first
+reptile that ever escaped without the chance of losing his life at my
+hands." On the road to Kalingur he had an interview with a petitioner, who
+offered him 400 rupees in cash, or a large diamond, for his interest in a
+certain case then pending before the judge at Bandah; "but I explained to
+my client that I was not in that line of business, and as I saw he had no
+intention of insulting me, we parted friends." Kalingur, which was taken
+by the British after a long siege in 1812, stands on a rock towering
+"upwards of 850 feet above the plain below, and probably about 3000 feet
+above the level of the sea;" but its strength as a fortress is as nothing
+in comparison to its sanctity, which entitles every one, who resides there
+only as long as it takes to milk a cow, to especial beatitude--the object
+of veneration being a _lingam_ of black stone enshrined in a temple, the
+guardianship of which is jointly vested in five resident families of
+Bramins. "At this time," says the colonel, "the place is not worth keeping,
+the country being so thoroughly impoverished and desolate;" and he
+accordingly, after viewing the marvels of the locality, pursued his way to
+Banda, and thence _laid a dâk_ (or travelled by palanquin with relays of
+bearers) to Calpee, "there to sit from nine to four, writing filthy
+accounts of bricks and mortar, square feet, cubic feet, and running feet,
+rupees, annas, and pie; squabbling with wrinkled unromantic villains,
+whose cool-tempered and overwhelming patience amply deserve their unlawful
+gains--I mean as labourers in the vineyard of villany."
+
+"A sporting excursion in Oude," in the spring of 1836, comes next in order
+of time; and in regular order we accordingly take it, though it has
+pleased either Mr Colburn or the colonel to place it after the voyage down
+the Ganges. The colonel left Lucknow, March 2; and three days later the
+whole party rendezvoused at Khyrabad, consisting of "Mrs, Miss, and
+Brigadier Churchill, Colonel Arnold, Major Cureton, Lieut. Waugh, Dr Ross
+of her Majesty's 16th Lancers, and the writer of these amiable records;"
+to whom was soon after added, in the capacity of guide and hanger-on, "Sam
+Lall, by birth a Chuttree or Rajpoot, by profession a zemindar, and by
+inclination a sycophant and shikarree, (hunter.)" Indian field sports,
+with their concomitants of hogs, hogdeer, jungles, elephants, tigers, and
+nullahs, have been of late years rendered so familiar to stay-at-home
+travellers, that we shall but concisely notice the colonel's exploits in
+this forest campaign, which present no remarkable novelty, though detailed
+_con amore_, and with the two-fold zest of a sportsman and an epicure.
+With all deference, indeed, to the colonel, we have shrewd doubts whether
+the latter feeling was not the predominant one; for the death of a tiger,
+nine of which fell during the three weeks' foray before the rifles of
+himself and his companions, is evidently chronicled with less of
+heart-felt enthusiasm than characterises his encomiums on the hogdeer soup,
+the delicate floricans and black partridges, (in the preparation of bread
+sauce, for which, with his own hands, he earned immortal renown,) and the
+other materials for good living poured forth from the cornucopia of an
+Indian game-bag. His gastronomic fervour during this jaunt reaches at
+times an ecstatic pitch, which, as old Weller says, "werges on the
+poetical." "For him (the gastronomist) the dark rocks and arid plains of
+the dry Dekkan produce their purple grapes, and cunning but goodly bustard;
+for him burning Bundelcund its wonderful rock pigeon and ortolan
+inimitable; the Jumna, most ancient of rivers, its large rich Kala banse,
+and tasty crabs; for him yields the low and marshy Terace her elegant
+florican; the mighty Gunga its melting mahaseer; the Goomtee its exquisite
+mullet. And shall he not eat and delight in her fruits? ... Let the ass eat
+its thistles, and the swallow its flies _au naturel_; you and I, reader,
+know better!"
+
+One day, while wading on their elephants through a deep marsh in pursuit
+of a tiger, the chasseurs suddenly stumbled upon a pleasant family
+party--"a labyrinth of huge boa-constrictors or pythons, sound asleep,
+floating on a bed of crushed _nurkool_, (a gigantic species of reed,) the
+least of them twenty feet long, and two feet in circumference. A more
+beautiful natural mosaic cannot be imagined: they appeared, from being wet,
+as if recently varnished. Perhaps they were from twenty to thirty in
+number, and occupied a spot of about twenty feet square. No sooner did the
+dreadful glistening reptiles hear the click of my rifle, and feel its ball,
+than they shot forth with all their vigour, and diving, disappeared in an
+instant under the matted roots of the tall nurkool, and, although I tried,
+I could not get another glimpse." One of these giant serpents, seventeen
+feet long, and eighteen inches in circumference, which the colonel calls a
+small one, was shot a few days afterwards by Colonel Arnold. The marsh and
+jungle swarmed with peacocks, jungle-fowl, and wild-fowl of all sorts,
+affording glorious sport; and, besides the smaller kinds of deer, several
+specimens occurred of a magnificent species of stag with twelve-tyned
+horns, called _baru-singa_--apparently allied to the _sambur_ and _rusa_
+of the Dekkan. The comparatively small number of tigers killed was,
+however, a source of disappointment; since the utility of these battues,
+in which the superior fire-arms and appliances of the English are brought
+into action for the destruction of these ferocious animals, may be
+estimated from the damage done by them in the wilder parts of India,
+"which is beyond the belief even of Indo-European residents, and must,
+consequently, appear an exaggeration to distant Englishmen. General (then
+Captain) Briggs, when resident at Dhoolia in Candeish, in 1821, where his
+potails, or head men, were obliged to keep a register of the oxen
+(exclusive of sheep and goats) destroyed in their villages, reported that
+no less than 21,000 had been killed in three years! As no register is kept
+in Oude, it is impossible to register the number."
+
+On the banks of the Mohun-nuddee the party was joined by Rajah Ruttun Sing,
+a chief holding a considerable tract of country under the suzerainté of
+Oude, who favoured them with his company while they remained in his
+district--a compliment which he expected to be acknowledged, as he
+distinctly intimated on taking leave, by the gift of a valuable
+fowling-piece; but this modest request was parried by the rejoinder, that
+none of their guns were good enough for his highness! During one of the
+halts, an incident occurred which strongly illustrates the inhuman apathy
+of the Hindoos towards any one not connected with them by the ties of
+caste. A man was found sitting under a tree near the camp, uttering
+strange cries, and the servants were desired to order him to withdraw;
+"they returned, saying carelessly that he was a _nutt_, or gipsy, who had
+been robbed." A robbery _from_ a gipsy was such a strange contradiction of
+terms, that the colonel went personally to enquire into the matter, when
+he was horror-struck by finding, that the man had been, not only plundered
+of his earnings by a band of Bunjarras, but frightfully mutilated and
+wounded, a trifle which the Hindoo servants had not thought worth
+mentioning. The poor wretch's arm was amputated by Dr Ross; and, being
+carried with the camp and carefully tended, he was at last dismissed, with
+a fair prospect of recovery, and with a gift of sixty rupees subscribed
+among the party; but not even the example of the _sahibs_ could teach the
+Hindoos humanity, and only the peremptory commands of Dr Ross could
+prevail upon his bearer to place a mattress under the sufferer! On their
+return march, the party were further honoured by visits from several
+rajahs and zemindars, all of whom were "loud in complaint against the
+extortions of the aumils, who constantly attempted to gather more, and
+sometimes twice and a half as much, as the stipulated rent, in consequence
+of which the zemindars were compelled to rebel;" a view of the political
+condition of Oude which naturally results from its anomalous position,
+under a sovereign nominally independent, who is at once too weak to
+control his own subjects, and fearful of diminishing the shadow of
+authority left to him by calling in the only available aid. On the 29th of
+March the party again reached Khyrabad, the appointed place of their
+separation, as it had been of their meeting; and here the narrative, as
+before, breaks off abruptly.
+
+The concluding part, in order of time, of the colonel's lucubrations,
+contains his narrative of a voyage on the Ganges, from Allahabad, by
+Dhacca, to Calcutta; but the features and incidents of this navigation
+have been so frequently described by travellers of all sorts and kinds,
+from Bishop Heber and Captain Bellew to our own much-esteemed Kerim Khan,
+that we shall devote but brief space to it. He quitted Allahabad, as he
+informs us, December 5, 1839, so deeply regretted by the native population,
+that they determined to perpetuate his memory by the erection of a new
+ghât or landing-place, every brick of which was to be stamped with the
+letter D--a distinction which he had, no doubt, deserved by the
+_bonhommie_ towards both Hindoo and Moslem, which forms one of the most
+favourable traits in the jovial colonel's character. The Tribeenee Ghât,
+immediately below Allahabad, where the streams of the Jumna and the Ganges
+unite, is one of the holiest spots in India; to which pilgrims resort from
+all quarters, in the hope of securing paradise by dying at the junction of
+the sacred waters. The spirit of religious exclusiveness prevails here as
+well as in other places; and the colonel mentions his having been once an
+eyewitness of some rough treatment received by a _chumar_, or
+leather-dresser, (one of the lowest castes,) at the hands of some high
+caste sepoys, who were highly indignant that so mean a carcass should
+presume to defile the holy ground! Leaving the ghâts and devotees behind
+him, however, and floating down the stream in his capacious three-roomed
+budgerow, he passed Mirzapoor, Chunar, and even the holy city of Benares,
+(which he perversely spells Bunarus,) without halting; and reached without
+adventure or mishap the mouth of the Goomtee, where his attention was
+attracted by a party of eighteen young elephants, the property of the king
+of Oude, bathing in the river. "Of all animals, saving the Bundela goat,
+there is none that suffers more from change of climate than the elephant:
+of the numbers caught on the eastern frontier, probably not one in four
+survives a journey to Delhi. Bred in the darkest and most gloomy forests,
+they are in a great measure sheltered from heat by the eternal moisture of
+the cool shady bower under which they rove; and are then expected to bear
+all on a sudden the most intense heat, acting directly on their jet-black
+skins, when brought into the plains of Upper India. A very clever native
+told me he could make money by any thing but young elephants." Another
+curious fact relative to the elephant, mentioned in a subsequent chapter
+on the authority of Captain Broadfoot of the Madras commissariat, is, that
+both wild and tame elephants are extremely subject to a pulmonary disease,
+which proved on dissection to be tubercular--in fact, consumption! It was
+found to yield, however, to copious bleedings, if taken in its early
+stages.
+
+The colonel's pages, at this point, are filled with digressions and
+dissertations on subjects somewhat miscellaneous--Aberdeen pale ale--the
+enormities of Warren Hastings' government--the late James Prinsep and the
+moral precepts of the Rajah Piyâdâsee--and a most incomprehensible
+rhapsody about "a red mustached member of the Bengal civil service," of
+which we profess ourselves utterly incompetent to make either head or tail,
+and strongly recommend the colonel to expunge it if the work reaches
+another edition. The voyage presents no incidents but the usual ones of
+pelicans, alligators, and porpoises: and on January 15, he arrived at
+Dhacca, "the once famous city of muslins." But the muslin trade has now
+almost wholly disappeared; and with it "the thousands of families of
+muslin weavers, who, from the extreme delicacy of their manufacture, were
+obliged to work in pits, sheltered from the heat of the sun and changes of
+the weather; and even after that precaution, only while the dew lay on the
+ground, as the increasing heat destroyed the extremely delicate thread."
+The jungle is in consequence advancing close upon the city, which is thus
+rendered almost uninhabitable from malaria--the only manufacturers which
+continue to flourish being those of violins, bracelets, made from a
+peculiar shell resembling the _Murex tulipa_, and--idols for Hindoo
+worship!
+
+The colonel remained at Dhacca till February 4, awaiting ulterior orders
+from headquarters, and had, consequently, abundance of leisure for making
+himself acquainted with the place and its people. These researches,
+however, were not always unattended with danger; for on one occasion,
+while viewing the city from an elevated building, a piece of plaster was
+struck from the cornice near where he stood by a matchlock ball--a
+delicate hint that the Mussulmans disliked being overlooked. The Nawab,
+apparently the son of Bishop Heber's acquaintance, Shumseddowlah, still
+resides in the palace of his ancestors, but is described as an extravagant,
+uneducated youth, who has mortgaged away his income from 5000 to 200
+rupees per mensem--that is, from L.6000 to L.240 per annum. The
+inhabitants were a mixture of almost all the creeds and nations of
+Asia--Chinese, Thibetans, Mugs from Arracan, Burmese, Malays, etc.; but
+the great majority are Hindoos, whose sanguinary goddess Kalee is adored
+in not less than fifty temples. The Greeks and Armenians also have each a
+church, the services of which, as described by the colonel, are conducted
+in much the same form as at Constantinople:--"But among the (Armenian)
+matrons only was any appearance of devotion visible; one of them, most
+gorgeously appareled in the Armenian fashion, with a magnificent tiara of
+jewels on her brow, and wearing a superb shawl, threw herself on the
+ground, with her head sunk between her arms, towards the altar, and
+remained in that position nearly five minutes. The others, being dressed
+_à l'Anglaise_, with stiff stays and fashionable bonnets, could not afford
+to indulge in such a position." The Armenians were formerly numerous in
+Dhacca, and are still an influential and wealthy body; the Greeks are now
+"few and far between," but in the palmy days of Dhacca they were a
+flourishing community.
+
+Dhacca was a place abounding in strange characters from all parts of the
+world; and among others whom the colonel encountered, was a singular
+specimen of a cosmopolite, a native of Fez, who called himself a Moslem,
+but whom our friend vehemently suspected of being a Jew. He had been
+almost as great a traveller as his countryman the famous Sheikh Ebn Batuta,
+whose wanderings are immortalized in the pages of Maga,[10] and came last
+from Moulmein, with a cargo of black pepper and rubies. He had resided
+seventeen years in India, and proposed to the colonel, whom he claimed as
+a brother, "since from his own home he could reach England in ten days,"
+that they should jointly freight a vessel with valuables, and go _home_
+together! And, among other scattered facts, a casual encounter with some
+Chinese in the employ of the Assam Tea Company, whom the colonel
+considerably astonished by addressing them in their own language,
+introduces "the very curious fact," that at Tipperah, a civil station not
+more than fifty or sixty miles from Dhacca, the natives have from time
+immemorial used the tea which grows there abundantly, and is prepared
+after a fashion of their own. "And yet" (continues the colonel--and we
+fear there is too much truth in his remarks) "the existence of the
+tea-plant is but a recent discovery! Any other nation would have
+established a tea-manufactory at Tipperah, immediately after the first
+settlement, and the Yankees would have 'progressed' railroads and
+steam-boats for its success. India is at this moment a mine of unexplored
+wealth. No sooner had steam-boats appeared than coal has been discovered
+in every direction!" The manufacture of native iron in Bengal, which had
+been pressed upon Lord Hastings, as the colonel seems to imply, by himself,
+and at first warmly adopted by him, was objected to in the council, and
+ultimately abandoned, "on the grounds that it would militate against the
+commercial interests of Great Britain--that is, against the profits of
+those India stockholders, possessing votes, who followed the trade of
+ironmongers!" There is many a true word spoken in jest; and this and other
+side-cuts of the colonel at the shortsighted proceedings of the Bahadurs
+at Calcutta, though sometimes queerly worded, contain now and then some
+unpalatable facts. The administration of the present Governor-General has
+shown at least some _promise_ of a better state of things--and if the
+impulse now given to the development of the resources of India be steadily
+followed up, this reproach will erelong be taken away. The receipt of his
+final orders, however, which pointed out China as his destination, put an
+end to the colonel's speculations; and re-embarking on the stream of the
+Booree Gunga, he passed, with little incident worth noticing, through the
+numerous branches of the river, and the picturesque jungles of the
+Soonderbunds, and arrived safely, after an absence of twenty-one years, at
+the city of palaces--and there we leave him.
+
+    [10] May 1841.
+
+The subject of the manufactures and products of India, is not, however,
+the only point connected with the internal administration, respecting
+which some inconvenient facts find their way to light in the colonel's
+pages--and with one or two of these revelations, we shall conclude our
+extracts. The majority of those Anglo-Indian employés, who have favoured
+the world with "Reminiscences" and "Narratives," are singularly free from
+the charge of what is familiarly termed "telling tales out of school."
+According to their account, nowhere is justice so efficiently administered,
+or its functionaries so accessible, as in our Indian empire; but here,
+whether from the native frankness of the colonel's disposition, or from
+his having nothing more to hope or fear from the old Begum in Leadenhall
+Street, we find this important subject placed, on several occasions, in
+rather a different light from that in which it is usually represented. It
+is well known that Sir David Ochterlony, a short time before his death,
+discovered by mere accident that he was enrolled as a pensioner to a large
+amount on the civil list of almost every native prince in Upper India,
+from the emperor of Delhi downwards--his principal moonshee, or native
+secretary, having thrown out intelligible hints, as though from his master,
+that such douceurs would not be without their use in securing his powerful
+interest at Calcutta--the moonshee himself quietly pocketing the proceeds.
+This was certainly an outrageous instance; but it is the direct interest
+of every native subordinate to screen his own misdeeds and extortions, by
+promoting to the utmost, in his European superior, that inaccessibility to
+which he is naturally but too much inclined--and the extent to which this
+system of exclusion is carried, may be inferred from the following
+anecdote. The colonel had been requested by a native landholder of high
+respectability, to introduce him to the house of a civilian; and on asking
+why he could not go by himself, was told, "I dare not approach the very
+compound of the house he lives in! If his head man should hear that I
+ventured to present myself before the gentleman without his permission, he
+would immediately harass me by some false complaint, or even by
+instituting an enquiry into the very title-deeds of my estate, which might,
+however falsely, terminate in my ruin. It is not long since I paid eleven
+hundred rupees to ---- to suppress false claims, which, if they had
+actually gone into court, would have cost me ten times the sum."
+
+Of the practical effects of criminal punishments, the colonel does not
+speak more highly. "In the real Hindoostanee view of the subject, a
+convict in chains is nearly a native gentleman--a little roué,
+perhaps--employed on especial duties in the Company's service, for which
+he is well fed, and has little labour. A jail-bird can easily be
+distinguished after the first six months, by his superior bodily condition.
+On his head maybe seen either a kinkhâb (brocade) or embroidered cap, or
+one of English flowered muslin, enriched with a border of gold or silver
+lace. Gros de Naples is coming into fashion, but slowly.... Was he
+low-spirited, he could, for a trifling present, send to the bazar, and
+enjoy a nautah from the hour the judge went to sleep till daybreak next
+morning--nay, under proper management, he might be gratified by the
+society of his wife and family.... See him at work, the burkandauze
+(policeman) is smoking _his_ chillum, while he and his friends are sound
+asleep, _sub tegmine fagi_. All of a sudden there is an alarm--the judge
+is coming! up they all start, and work like devils for ten or fifteen
+seconds, and then again to repose. This is working in chains on the roads!
+In fact, after a man is once used to the comforts of an Indian prison,
+there's no keeping him out!"
+
+All this, no doubt, is broad caricature--but "ridentem dicere verum quid
+vetat?" a motto which the colonel could not do better than adopt for any
+future edition of his eccentric lucubrations. And so Rookhsut! Colonel
+Sahib! may your favourite tomata sauce never pall upon your palate; and
+though perhaps you would hardly thank us for the usual oriental good wish,
+that your shadow may continue to increase, may it at least never be
+diminished by that worst of all fiends, indigestion!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+BELFRONT CASTLE.
+
+A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.
+
+
+One half of the world was surprised that Reginald Belfront married Jane
+Holford--and the other half was equally surprised that Jane Holford
+married Reginald Belfront; for, considering the experience that both
+halves of the world must have had, it is amazing how subject they still
+are to surprise. To us, who have not the pleasure to belong to either half,
+there is very little surprising in the matter. Reginald had been for some
+time on a visit at the house of a distant relation--old Sir Hugh de Mawley.
+He had wandered through the great woods of the estate, and found them very
+tiresome; had strolled in the immense park, and found it dull; and, in the
+long evenings, had sat in the stately hall, and listened to the endless,
+whispered anecdotes of his host, and found them both intolerable. No
+wonder he started with joyful surprise when, one day in the drawing-room,
+he heard the rustle of a silk gown; caught the glancing of some beautiful
+real flowers on the top of a bright-green bonnet; and, more wonderful than
+all, the smile of the prettiest lips, and the glances of the clearest eyes
+he had ever seen in his life. The gown, the bonnet, the smiles, and eyes,
+all belonged to Jane Holford; and Reginald, who had, up to this time, made
+no great progress in the study of comparative physiology, now made such
+rapid strides, that he could have told you every point in which the
+possessor of the above-named attributes differed from the stiff and prim
+Miss de Mawley, who had hitherto been the sole representative of the
+female sex in Mawley Court. The neck and shoulders--the chin--nose--arms--
+ankles--feet--not to mention the hair and eyebrows--of the new specimen,
+were minutely studied; and, in spite of the usual antipathy he entertained
+against all scientific pursuits, he felt a strong inclination to be the
+owner of it himself, in order to pursue his investigations at full leisure.
+He was no genius--hated books--disliked clever people--but prided himself
+on his horsemanship, his play at quarterstaff, his personal strength, and,
+above all, in his fine old castle in a somewhat inaccessible part of
+Yorkshire, which had remained in the possession of his family ever since
+the Conquest. Jane, on the other hand, had no castle to boast of; and
+probably had no ancestor whatever at any period preceding the year 1750,
+when her grandfather had bought an estate near Mawley Court--which had
+gone on improving with the improvement of the times, till her father found
+himself the possessor of a rent-roll of fifteen hundred a year, four sons,
+and six grown-up daughters. It will easily be believed that no objections
+to the match were raised on the part of a middle-aged gentleman, with so
+many reasons for agreeing to the marriage settlement proposed by Reginald
+Belfront; consisting, as it did, of a jointure to the widow, and the use
+of Belfront Castle for life, without the remotest allusion to any portion
+or other contingent advantage on the other side; and as Jane herself was,
+if possible, still more satisfied on the subject than her father, all the
+arrangements were rapidly made, and in less than three months after the
+apparition of the silk gown and other etceteras in the drawing-room, the
+indissoluble knot was tied, and Miss Cecilia, the second daughter, was
+advanced to the dignity of Miss Holford, vice Jane--promoted.
+
+The church was all decked out with roses and other pleasing emblems of the
+unfading nature of connubial bliss; wreaths of sunflowers, with the same
+comfortable moral, were hung up over the great gate of Mawley Court; while
+Miss de Mawley, representing in her own person the evergreens omitted in
+the garlands, received the happy couple on their return from the ceremony
+at the head of all the female domestics, from the housekeeper down to the
+kitchenmaid, and led the bride and bridegroom to the table in the great
+hall, where old Sir Hugh was sitting in great state. They kneeled down
+before his chair; and, laying his hand on their heads, he began blessing;
+but not having practised that style of oratory so much as he ought, it
+rapidly degenerated into a grace--and, as lunch in the mean time was
+brought in, and the Holford family, and one or two of the neighbours who
+had been present at the ceremony, had now arrived, the eloquence of Sir
+Hugh was not altogether thrown away. There were several speeches and
+toasts, and sundry attempts at jocularity; and Sir Hugh began the story of
+the French countess and the waterfall at Fountainbleau; and Reginald
+availed himself of the somnolency of the rest of the party to slip out
+with his bride without being observed, just as the royal family began to
+suspect the secret--and, long before the incensed husband sent the
+challenge, the happy pair were careering onward as fast as the postboy
+could drive, on the first stage of their wedding tour.
+
+A month afterwards they were in a country inn in Wales. The window at
+which they sat commanded a view of the beautiful vale of Cwmcwyllchly--a
+small river glided down in winding mazes, hiding itself behind wooded
+knolls, and brawling over rocks in the most playful and picturesque manner
+imaginable. The sun had begun to set, and was taking a last look at the
+prospect, with his vast chin rested on the top of Penchymcrwm, presenting
+to the poetical mind an image of a redfaced farmer looking over a
+five-barred gate--every thing, in short, that is generally met with in
+Tourists' Guides, as constituting a splendid view, was assembled on this
+favoured spot; and yet Jane heaved a deep sigh, and appeared to take no
+notice of the landscape.
+
+"You're tired, my love," said Reginald; "you have walked too far up these
+Welsh mountains."
+
+"I hope to get used to climbing," answered Jane; "there are plenty of
+hills at Belfront--aren't there?"
+
+"Yes, we have plenty of hills; but why don't you call it home, Jane?"
+
+"Because I have never lived there," she replied; "and a place can scarcely
+be called home that one has never seen."
+
+"But you have never said you wished to see it."
+
+"Oh, but I have wished it all the same--may we--may we go--home?"
+
+She said the word at last, and Reginald was delighted.
+
+"Home! to be sure--to-morrow, at daybreak; for, to tell you the truth, I
+don't care sixpence for fine views--in fact, I don't think there is any
+difference between any two landscapes--except that there may be hills in
+one, and none in another, or woods, or a river--but they are all exactly
+the same in reality. So, let us go home, my love, as fast as we can, or
+I'm very much afraid Mr Peeper won't like it."
+
+"Mr Peeper?" enquired Jane. "Who is Mr Peeper?"
+
+"You will know him in good time," said Reginald; "and I hope he will like
+you."
+
+"I hope he will--I hope all your friends will like me--I will do every
+thing in my power to please them."
+
+"You're a very good girl, Jane; and Mr Peeper can't help but be pleased,
+and I am glad of it; for it ought to be our first study to make ourselves
+agreeable to _him_."
+
+"Agreeable to Mr Peeper!" thought Jane. "How strange that I never was told
+about him before this moment! Does he live in the castle, Reginald?" she
+asked.
+
+"Certainly. One of his family has lived there ever since one of mine did;
+so there is a connexion between us of a few hundred years."
+
+"Have you any other friends who live in the castle?" enquired the bride.
+
+"I don't know whether Phil Lorimer is there just now or not; he has a room
+whenever he comes; and a knife and fork at table."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"A capital fellow--full of wit--and makes funnier faces and better songs
+than any man in Yorkshire. You will like Phil Lorimer."
+
+"And I hope he will like me!"
+
+"If he don't, I'll break every bone in his body."
+
+"Oh! I beg you won't," said the bride with a smile, and looking up in
+Reginald's face to assure herself he spoke in joke. It was as earnest a
+face as if it had been of cast-iron; and she saw that Mr Lorimer's only
+chance of preserving a whole skin was to like her with all his might.
+
+"Is there any one else?"
+
+"There's Mr Peeper's assistant, Mark Lutter--a clever man, and a great
+scholar. I hate scholars, so he dines in the servants' hall, or far down
+the table--below the salt."
+
+"Are you serious?" enquired Jane.
+
+"Do you not like scholars?"
+
+"What's the use of them? I never could see what they were good for--and,
+besides, Mr Peeper hates them too."
+
+"Then why does he keep this man as his assistant?"
+
+"Because if he didn't, the fellow would rebel."
+
+"Well, you could turn him off."
+
+"We never turn any body off at Belfront Castle. If they go of their own
+accord, we punish them for it if we can--if they stay, they are welcome.
+Mr Peeper must look to it, or Lutter will make a disturbance."
+
+"What a curious place this castle must be," thought Jane, "and what odd
+people they are that live in it!" She asked no more questions, but
+determined to restrain her curiosity till she could satisfy it on the spot;
+and, luckily, she had not long to wait. Next day they started on their
+homeward way. As they drew nearer their destination, Jane's anxiety to
+gain the first glimpse of her future home increased with every mile. She
+had, of course, formed many fancy pictures of it in her own mind; and, as
+love lent the brush and most obligingly compounded the colours, there can
+be no doubt they made out a very captivating landscape of it between them.
+
+"At the top of the next hill," said Reginald, "you will see the keep."
+
+Jane stretched her head forward, and looked through the front window as if
+she could pierce the hill that lay between her and home. On went the
+horses; but the next hill seemed an incredible way off; it was now getting
+late, and the shadows of evening, like a flock of tired black sheep, began
+to lie down and rest thenselves on the vast dreary moor they were
+travelling over. At last Jane felt that they were beginning an ascent; and
+a sickly moon, that seemed to have undergone a severe operation, and lost
+nearly all her limbs, lifted up her pale face in the sky. The wind, too,
+began to whistle in long low gusts, and Reginald, who was not of a
+poetical temperament, as we have already observed, was nearly asleep. They
+reached the hill top at last, and a great expanse of rugged and broken
+country lay before them.
+
+"Where is it?--on which hand?" said Jane.
+
+"Straight before you," replied the husband; "it is only three miles off;
+the high-road turns off to the left, but we go through fields right on."
+
+Jane looked with almost feverish anxiety. At a good distance in front,
+rose a tall black structure, like the chimney of a shot manufactory--a
+single, square, gigantic tower--throwing a darker mass against the
+darkened sky, and sicklied o'er on one of the faces with the yellow-green
+moonlight. There were no lights in it, nor any sign of habitation; and
+Jane would have indulged in various enquiries and exclamations, if the
+carriage had allowed her; but it had by this time left the main road, and
+sank up to the axles in the ruts; it bounded against stones, and wallowed
+in mire alternately; and all that she could do, was to hold on by one of
+the arm rests, as if she had been in the cabin of a storm-toss'd ship.
+
+"For mercy's sake, Reginald, will this last long?" she said, out of breath
+with her exertions.
+
+"We are about a mile from the drawbridge. I hope they have not drawn it
+up."
+
+"Could we not get into the castle if they have?"
+
+"We might fall into the moat if we tried the postern."
+
+"Oh, gracious!--is there a moat?"--and instinctively she put her hand to
+her throat, for her mother had brought her up with a salutary dread of
+colds, and she felt a sensation of choking at the very name.
+
+At this moment, the agonized carriage, after several groans that would
+have moved the heart of a highway commissioner, gave a rush downward, and
+committed suicide in the most determined manner, by dashing its axle on
+the ground--the wheels endeavouring in vain to fathom the profundity of
+the ruts, and the horses totally unable to move the stranded equipage. The
+sudden jerk knocked Reginald's hat over his eyes against the roof of the
+carriage, and Jane screamed when she felt the top of her bonnet squeezed
+as flat as a pancake by the same process, but neither of them, luckily,
+was hurt.
+
+"We must get out and walk," said the husband; "it isn't more than half a
+mile, and we will send Phil Lorimer, or some of them, for the trunks."
+
+He put his arm round Jane's waist, and helped her over the almost
+impassable track.
+
+"We must try to get the road mended," said Jane.
+
+"It has never been mended in our time," was the reply; and it was said in
+a tone which showed that the fact so announced was an unanswerable
+argument against the proposition of the bride.
+
+"A few stones well broken would do it all," she urged.
+
+"We never break stones at Belfront," was the rejoinder; and in silence,
+and with some difficulty, they groped their unsteady way. At last they
+emerged from a thick overgrown copse, in which the accident had happened,
+and, after sundry narrow escapes from sprained ankles and broken arms,
+they reached the gate. It was an immense wooden barrier, supported at each
+end by little round buildings--like a slice of toast laid lengthways
+between two half pounds of butter. It was thickly studded with iron nails,
+and the round piers were of massive stone, partly overgrown with ivy, and
+as solid as if they had been formed of one mass.
+
+"Does any body live in those lodges?" enquired Jane.
+
+"There is a warder in the inner court," said Reginald. "These are merely
+the supporters of the outer gate."
+
+"And how are we to get in?"
+
+"We must blow, I suppose." And so saying, Reginald lifted up a horn that
+was hung by an iron chain from one of the piers, and executed a flourish
+that made Jane put her fingers to her ears.
+
+In a short time the creaking of an iron chain--whose recollection of oil
+must have been of the most traditionary nature--gave intimation that its
+intentions were decidedly hospitable; and with many squeaks and grunts the
+enormous portal turned at last on its hinges, and exposed to view a narrow
+winding road between two walls, which, in a short time, conducted the
+visitors to a long wooden bridge over a piece of stagnant water--the said
+bridge having only that moment been let down from the lofty position in
+which its two halves were kept by an immense wooden erection, which bore
+an awful resemblance to a scaffold. When they got over the bridge,
+Reginald turned round, and, imprinting a kiss on the pale cheek of the
+astonished bride, said--
+
+"Welcome home, dear Jane. This is Belfront Castle!"
+
+Jane looked round a spacious courtyard, and saw a square of low
+dark-looking buildings, with the enormous tower she had seen from the top
+of the hill rearing its thick head above all at one corner. They proceeded
+across the roughly-paved quadrangle, and entered a low door; ascended
+three steps, and opened another door. They then found themselves in a
+large and lofty hall, with fitful flashes of red light flickering on the
+walls, as the flame of the wood fire on the hearth rose or fell beneath
+the efforts of a half distinguishable figure, extended at full length on
+the floor, and puffing the enormous log with a pair of gigantic bellows.
+In the palpable obscure, Jane could scarcely make out the persons of the
+occupants of the apartment; but when the flame burnt up a little more
+powerfully than usual, she observed the figure of a tall man dressed in
+black, who shook hands with Reginald, and bowed very coldly and formally
+to her, when he was introduced as Mr Peeper. He seemed about fifty or
+sixty years of age, but very much enfeebled. He stooped and coughed, and
+was very infirm in his motions; but when the red glare from the hearth
+fell upon his eyes, they fixed themselves on Jane with such a piercing
+expression, that she turned away her face almost in fear. His hair was
+snow-white, and yet it was impossible to decide whether he was a man of
+the years we have stated, with the premature appearance of age, or a
+person of extraordinary longevity, retaining the vigorous eyes and active
+spirit of youth. However it was, Mr Peeper was too harsh and haughty in
+his approaches, and exacted too much deference from the youthful bride, to
+be very captivating at first. He said no welcome to the new-comer, and was
+stiff and unkind even to the owner of the castle. Candles were soon
+brought in, and Jane took the opportunity of looking round. The individual
+who had been busy blowing the fire now rose from his humble position, and
+was presented to the lady as Phil Lorimer. He bowed and smiled, and was
+proceeding with a compliment, in which, however, he advanced no further
+than the summer sun bringing out the roses, when Reginald pushed him out
+of the hall, with orders to get the luggage brought in from the carriage,
+and to be back in time for supper. Phil Lorimer seemed a man of thirty,
+strongly built, with a sweet voice and friendly smile; but what station he
+filled in the household--whether a servant, a visitor, a poor relation, or
+what he could be, Jane could not make out, either from his manner or the
+way he was treated.
+
+"Mr Lorimer is very good-natured--very obliging, to take care of the
+luggage, I am sure," said Jane.
+
+"Better that than talking nonsense about roses," replied Reginald. "Did
+you expect us this evening, Mr Peeper?"
+
+"I did, Mr Reginald, and have invited a few of the neighbours to meet you."
+
+"Who are coming?"
+
+"Sir Bryan De Barreilles, Hasket of Norland, Maulerer of Phascald, and old
+Dr Howlet. They will be here soon, so you had better make haste."
+
+"I had better not appear, love," said Jane; "no ladies are coming, and
+among so many gentlemen my presence might be awkward."
+
+"By no means," replied the husband. "It wouldn't be right, Mr Peeper, for
+my wife to be absent from the supper-table?"
+
+"Certainly not. It is to see _her_ the neighbours are coming."
+
+Is this Mr Peeper to have the control of all my actions? thought Jane. Who
+can he be?
+
+She took another glance at the object of her thoughts, but caught his eye
+fixed on her with the same penetrating brightness as before; and she cast
+her looks on the ground; and, whether from anger or fear, she felt her
+cheeks glowing with blushes.
+
+"You will not be long gone, if you please," he said to Jane as she retired
+to change her dress.
+
+"You don't seem pleased to see us, Mr Peeper," said Reginald, when Jane
+had gone to her room under the guidance of a very tall old woman, who
+walked before her, holding out a tremendously long candle, as if it were a
+sword, and she was at the head of a military procession.
+
+"No, sir," replied Mr Peeper; "I am not pleased with the person you have
+brought here. You have gone too far from home for a wife. None of the
+Belfronts have ever married out of Yorkshire, and it may give rise to
+troubles."
+
+"I am very sorry my wife's relations would not allow me to send for you to
+perform the ceremony."
+
+"It is a bad omen," said the old man; "my predecessors have married your
+predecessors without a break since the conquest. It bodes no good."
+
+"I trust no harm will happen, and that you will soon forget the
+disappointment."
+
+"None of my family forget, but we will not _talk_ of it." So saying, he
+turned away, and arranged a goodly array of bottles on the sideboard.
+Reginald sat down on an oak chair beside the fire, and gazed attentively
+into the log.
+
+In the mean time, Jane had followed her gigantic conductor through half a
+mile of passages, and reached a small room at one end of the quadrangle,
+and through the window (of which half the panes were broken, as if on
+purpose) she caught the melodious murmur of a rapid river, that chafed
+against the foundation walls of the castle. On looking round, the prospect
+was not very encouraging. Tattered tapestries hung down the walls, and
+waved in a most melancholy and ghost-like fashion in the wind; the floor
+was thinly littered over with some plaited rushes, to supply the place of
+a carpet; and a few long high-backed oak chairs kept guard against the
+wall. The fire had died an infant in its iron cradle, the grate; and the
+curtain of the bed waved to and fro in mournful sympathy with the tapestry
+round the room. Jane was so cold that she could hardly go through her
+toilette, simple as it was; but having at last achieved a very slight
+alteration in her dress, and left her bonnet on the head of an owl, which
+formed the ornament of one of the high-backed chairs, she endeavoured to
+retrace her steps; and after a few pauses and mistakes, she found her way
+once more into the hall.
+
+The guests in the mean time were assembled and had seated themselves at
+table. On Jane's entrance they all rose, and on being respectively named
+by their host, bowed with cold and stately courtesy, and sat down again.
+The four strangers seemed all of the same ages, fifty or thereabouts--tall,
+hale, and dignified in their manners. Sir Bryan de Barreilles had a patch
+on his right eye; Hasket of Norland a deep scar on his forehead, that cut
+his left eyebrow into two parts, and gave a very extraordinary expression
+to his rigid countenance; Maulerer of Phascald had the general effect of
+very handsome features, marred by the want of his nose; not that there was
+actually no nose, but that it did not occupy the prominent position it
+usually holds on the human face divine, but was inserted deep between the
+cheeks--in fact, was a nose not set on after the fashion of a knocker, but
+a fine specimen of _basso-relievo_, indented after the manner of Socrates's
+head on a seal, and would probably have made a very fine impression. Dr
+Howlet was perfectly blind, and from the tone in which he was addressed by
+the other gentlemen, Jane concluded he was also very nearly deaf. Besides
+these, there were present Mr Peeper, at the foot of the table next to
+Reginald, and on the other side of him a thick square-built man, with a
+fine hilarious open countenance, who was perhaps of too low a rank to be
+introduced to the lady of the castle--no other in fact than the
+redoubtable Mr Lutter, of whom Jane had heard on her journey home.
+
+After the serving men, with some difficulty, had brought in the supper,
+consisting of enormous joints of meat, hot and cold, and deposited on the
+sideboard vast tankards of strong ale and other potent beverages, Mr
+Peeper rose, and folding his hands across his breast, and bending forward
+his head with every appearance of devotion, muttered some words evidently
+intended to represent a grace; but so indistinct that it was utterly
+impossible to make the slightest guess at their meaning, whereupon they
+all fell to with prodigious activity, and cut and slashed the enormous
+dishes as if they had been famished for a year. Mr Lutter, after making an
+observation that true thankfulness was as much shown by moderate enjoyment
+of good gifts as by long prayers said over them, made a most powerful
+assault on the cold sirloin, and, of all the party, was the only one who
+had the politeness to send a helping to Jane. She was tired and hungry,
+and felt really obliged by the attention, but could scarcely do justice to
+the viands from surprise at the conversation of the guests.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said Sir Bryan de Barreilles, "I once knew a thing--such a thing
+it was too--ho! ho!" And partly the vividness of the recollection, and
+principally an enormous mouthful of beef, produced a long fit of
+coughing--"'twill make you laugh," he continued--"'twas a rare feat--ho!
+ho!--even this lady will be pleased to hear it."
+
+Jane bowed in expectation of an amusing anecdote.
+
+"One of my tenants was going to be married; his bride was a very young
+creature, not more than eighteen, and on the wedding-day, as I always was
+ready for a joke in those days--ah! 'tis thirty years ago, or more--I
+asked the bridal party to the Tower. Ho! ho! such laughing we had!--Giles
+Mallet and Robin Henslow fought with redhot brands out of the fire, till I
+thought we should all have died; and Giles--the cleverest fellow and the
+wittiest, ho! ho!--such a fellow was Giles!--he took up the poker instead
+of the fir-log, and watched his opportunity, ho! ho!--it was redhot too--a
+good stout poker as ever you saw--and ran it clean through his cheek--you
+heard the tongue fizz! as it licked the hot iron--'twas a famous play. How
+Robin roared, to be sure, and couldn't speak plain--ho! ho! Well, the
+games went on; and nothing would please some of the young ones but we
+should see the Oubliette. 'Twas a dark hole where my forefathers
+imprisoned their refractory vassals, and sad stories were told about
+it--how that voices were heard from the bottom of it, and groans, and
+sometimes gory heads were seen at the top of it, looking up to the
+skylight, and struggling to escape, but ever tumbling back into the deep
+dark hole, with screams and smothered cries; a rare place for a man's
+enemies--but it had not been used for many years. Well--nothing would do,
+but when we were all merry with ale, we should all go and see the
+Oubliette, and a kiss of the bride was promised to the one who should go
+down the furthest. Now, the stone steps were very narrow at best; and were
+all worn away--and that was the best of it--all along the passages we went,
+and past the dungeon grating, till we came to the open mouth of the
+Oubliette. Ho! ho! how you'll laugh. Down a step went one--no kiss from
+the bride for him--two steps went another--some went down six steps, and
+one bold fellow went down so far that we lost sight of him in the darkness.
+Then the bridegroom, a stout young yeoman--thought it shame to let anyone
+beat him in daring, for so rich a prize as a kiss from the rosy lips of
+his bride, and down--down--he went--step after step--till finally, far
+down in the gloom, we heard a loud scream--such a scream--ho! ho! I can't
+help laughing yet when I think of it--and in a minute or two, whose voice
+should we hear but Giles Mallet's! _There_ was Giles, hollowing and
+roaring for us to send down a rope but _how_ he had got down, or _when_ he
+had gone down, nobody knew. However, a rope was got, and merrily, stoutly,
+we all pulled, but no Giles came up. Instead of him, we drew forth the
+bridegroom! but such a changed man. His eyes were fixed, and his face as
+white as silver--his mouth was wide open, and his great tongue went
+lolling about from side to side--and he shook his head, and mumbled and
+slavered--he was struck all of a sudden into idiocy, and knew nobody; not
+even his bride. She was sinking before him, but he never noticed her, but
+went moaning, and muttering, and shaking his head. Ho! ho! 'twas the
+comicalest thing I ever saw. And when Giles came up he explained it all.
+Giles had gone down deeper than any of them, and waited for the others on
+a ledge in the cavern; and just when the bridegroom reached it, Giles
+seized him by the leg, and said--'Your soul is mine'--ho! ho! 'Your soul
+is mine,' said Giles--and the bridegroom uttered only the loud, long
+scream we had all heard, and stood and shook and trembled. 'Twas a rare
+feat; and if you had come down last year"--he added, turning to Jane--"you
+would have seen the bridegroom going from door to door, followed by all
+the boys in the village--he never recovered. There he went, shake, shaking
+his head--and gape gaping with his mouth. "Twas good sport to teaze him.
+I've set my dogs on him myself; but he never took the least notice. 'Twas
+a good trick--I never knew better."
+
+"And the bride?" enquired Jane.
+
+"Oh, she died in a week or two after the adventure! A silly hussy--I
+wished to marry her, by the left hand, to my forester, but she kept on
+moping and looking at the idiotical bridegroom, and died--a poor fool."
+
+"Ah! we've grown dull since those merry times," said Hasket of Norland,
+looking, round the empty hall, and then towards Reginald, as if
+reproaching him with the absence of the ancient joviality. "There were
+three men killed at my marriage--in fair give and take fight--in the hall,
+at the wedding supper. There is the mark of blood on the floor yet."
+
+"I lost my eye at the celebration of a christening," said Sir Bryan de
+Barreilles. "My uncle of Malmescott pushed it in with the handle of his
+dagger."
+
+"I got this wound on my forehead at a feast after a funeral," said Hasket
+of Norland. "I quarreled with Morley Poyntz, and he cut my eyebrow with an
+axe. 'Twas a merry party in spite of that."
+
+"The Parson of Pynsent jumped on my face at a festival in honour of the
+birth of Sir Ranulph Berlingcourt's heir," said Maulerer of Phascald. "I
+had been knocked on the floor by the Archdeacon of Warleileigh, and the
+Parson of Pynsent trode on my nose. He was the biggest man in Yorkshire,
+and squeezed my nose out of sight--a rare jovial companion, was the Parson
+of Pynsent, and many is the joke we have had about the weight of his foot.
+Ah! we have no fun now--no fighting, no grinning through a horse-collar,
+no roasting before a fire, no singing"--
+
+"Yes," said Reginald, "we have Phil Lorimer."
+
+"Let him come--let us hear him," said some of the party.
+
+"I hate songs," said Dr Howlet; "and think all ballads should be burned."
+
+"And the writers of them, too," added Mr Peeper, with a fierce glance
+towards the fireplace, from which Phil Lorimer emerged.
+
+"Oh no! I think songs an innocent diversion," said Mr Lutter, "and
+softening to the heart. Sit near me, Mr Lorimer."
+
+"Make a face, Phil," cried the knight; "I would rather see a grin than
+hear your ballad."
+
+"Jump, Phil," said Hasket of Norland, applying his fork to Phil's leg as
+he passed, "you are a better morris-dancer than a poet."
+
+Phil, who was imperturbably good-natured, did as he was told. He opened
+his mouth to a preternatural size, turned one eye to the ceiling, and the
+other down to the floor, till Sir Bryan was in ecstasies at his
+achievement. He then sprang to an incredible height in that air, and
+danced once or twice through the hall, throwing himself into the most
+grotesque attitudes imaginable, and the table was nearly shaken in pieces
+by the thumpings with which the party showed their satisfaction.
+
+"Now then, Phil; here's a cup of sherry-wine--drink it, boy, and sing a
+sweet song to the lady," said Reginald.
+
+"Songs are an invention of the devil," said Mr Peeper.
+
+"Unless they are sung through the nose," said Mr Lutter, with a sneer.
+
+"You approve of songs then?" inquired Mr Peeper, with a fierce look.
+
+"Certainly," said Mr Lutter, "when their subject is good, and the language
+modest."
+
+"Then you are an atheist," retorted Mr Peeper.
+
+"What has a ballad to do with atheism?" enquired Mr Lutter, looking angry.
+
+"You approve of wicked songs, and therefore are an atheist."
+
+"A man is more like an atheist," retorted Mr Lutter, "who is ungrateful to
+God for the gift of song, and shuts up the sweetest avenue by which the
+spirit approaches its Creator. I admire poetry, and respect poets."
+
+"Any one who holds such diabolic doctrines is not fit to remain in
+Belfront Castle."
+
+"Nay," replied Mr Lutter, "Belfront Castle would be infinitely improved if
+such doctrines were adopted in it."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Reginald, "you are both learned men; and I know nothing
+about the questions you discuss."
+
+"Your lady shall judge between us," said Mr Lutter.
+
+"She shall not," said Mr Peeper; "I am the sole judge in matters of the
+kind."
+
+"Let us hear Phil's song in the mean time," said Reginald. "Come, Lorimer."
+
+"What shall it be?" said Phil.
+
+"Something comic," said Sir Bryan.
+
+"Something bloody," said Hasket of Norland.
+
+"Something loving," said Maulerer of Phascald.
+
+"Will the lady decide for us?" said Phil, with a smile. "Will you have the
+'Silver Scarf,' madam; or 'the Knight and the Soldan of Bagdad?' They are
+both done into my poor English from the troubadours of Almeigne."
+
+The lady fixed, at haphazard, on "the Knight and the Soldan of Bagdad:"
+and Phil prepared to obey her commands. He took a small harp in his hand,
+and sate down in the vacant chair next to Sir Bryan de Bareilles. The rest
+of the company composed themselves to listen; and, after a short prelude,
+Lorimer, in a fine manly voice, began--
+
+  "Oh, brightly bloom'd the orange flow'r,
+    And fair the roses round;
+  And the fountain, in its marble bed,
+    Leapt up with a happy sound;
+  And stately, stately was the hall,
+    And rich the feast outspread;
+  But the Soldan of Bagdad sigh'd full sore,
+    And never a word he said.
+  Never a word the Soldan said,
+    But many a tear let fall;
+  He had tried all the joys that life could give,
+    And was weary of them all.
+  The Soldan lift up his heavy eye--
+    And to that garden fair,
+  A stranger enter'd with harp in hand,
+    And with a winsome air;
+  Long locks of yellow molten gold
+    Hung over his cheek so brown,
+  And a red mantle of Venice silk
+    Fell from his shoulders down.
+  A weary wanderer he did seem,
+    Come from a distant land;
+  And over the harpstrings thoughtfully,
+    He moveth his cunning hand.
+  He opes his lips, and he poureth forth
+    Such a sweet stream of sound,
+  That the Soldan's heart leaps up in his breast,
+    And his eye he casts around.
+  'Was never a voice,' the Soldan said,
+    'So sweet--nor so blest a song;--
+  Sing on, kind minstrel,' the Soldan said,
+    'I have been sad too long.'
+  The minstrel sang, and soft and sweet
+    The Soldan's tears fell free;
+  'Oh, tell me, thou minstrel dear,' he said,
+    'What boon shall I give to thee?
+  Oh, stay with me but a year and a day,
+    And sing sweet songs to me;
+  And whatever the boon, by Allah, I swear,
+    I will freely give it to thee.'
+  The minstrel stay'd a year and a day,
+    And the Soldan loved him well;
+  'Now what is the boon thou askest of me--
+    I prithee, dear minstrel, tell.'
+  'A Christian knight in thy dungeon pines,
+    And his hope is nearly o'er;
+  His freedom is the boon I ask--
+    Oh, open his prison door!'
+  The minstrel went--and no more was seen;
+    And the Christian knight, set free,
+  Found a stately ship, that bore him safe
+    Home to his own countrie.
+  And his lady met him at the gate,
+    His lady fair and young;
+  And with a scream of pride and joy,
+    She in his bosom hung.
+  Oh, glad, glad was the Christian knight,
+    And glad was his lady fair,
+  And her pale cheek flush'd as he cast aside
+    The locks of her raven hair,
+  And kiss'd her brow, and told the tale
+    Of his dungeon, deep and strong;
+  And of the minstrel, too, he told
+    And of the power of song.
+  And they blest the minstrel, and blest his song,
+    And soon the feast was dight;
+  And prince and noble crowded in,
+    To welcome home the knight.
+  And when the brimming cup went round,
+    Spoke out an evil tongue,
+  And blamed that lady to her lord,
+    That lady fair and young;
+  And told, with many a bitter sneer,
+    How that, for many a day,
+  When he was prison'd in Paynim land,
+    That dame was far away,
+  And none knew where; but all could guess--
+    Up rose the knight, and kept
+  His hand close clutch'd on his dagger heft,
+    And down the hall he stept;
+  And onwards with the dagger bared,
+    He rush'd to the lady's bower--
+  'Thou hast been false, and left thy home--
+    Thou diest this very hour!'
+  'Oh! it is true, I left my home;
+    But yet, before I die,
+  Oh! look not on me with face so changed,
+    Nor with so fierce an eye!
+  Oh! let me, but for a minute's space,
+    Into my chamber hie;
+  One prayer I would say for thee and me--
+    One prayer--before I die!'
+  She left the bower; and as he stept
+    To and fro in ireful mood,
+  A stranger from the chamber came,
+    And close behind him stood.
+  Long locks of molten yellow gold
+    Hung over his cheek so brown,
+  And a red mantle of Venice silk,
+    Fell from his shoulder, down.
+  Dark frown'd the knight--'Vile churl!' he said;
+    But ere he utter'd more,
+  The stranger let the mantle fall
+    Unclasp'd upon the floor,--
+  And off he cast the yellow locks--
+    And, lo! the lady fair,
+  Blushing and casting from her cheek
+    Her glossy raven hair!
+  Down fell the dagger; down the knight
+    Sank kneeling and opprest;
+  And the lady oped her snow white arms,
+    And wept upon his breast!"
+
+"A foul song!--a wanton woman!"--exclaimed Sir Bryan de Barreilles--"he
+should have stabbed her for living so long with a Jew villain like the
+Soldan of Bagdad."
+
+"Was the villain a Jew?" enquired Dr Howlet, who had caught the word. "I
+did not know Bagdad was in Jewry. Is a heathen the same as a Jew, Mr
+Peeper?"
+
+The gentleman thus appealed to, coughed as if to clear his throat, and
+though he usually spoke with the utmost clearness, he mumbled and muttered
+in the same unintelligible manner as he had done when he was saying grace;
+and it was a very peculiar habit of the learned individual, whenever he
+was applied to for an explanation, to betake himself to a mode of speech
+that would have puzzled a far wiser head than Dr Howlet's, to make head or
+tail of it.
+
+Dr Howlett, however, appeared to be perfectly satisfied with the
+information; and by the indignant manner in which he struck his long
+gold-headed ebony walking-stick on the floor, seemed entirely to agree
+with the worthy knight in his estimate of the heroine of Phil Lorimer's
+ballad.
+
+"I like the ballad about the jousting of Romulus the bold Roman, with
+Judas Maccabaeus in the Camp at Ascalon far better," said Hasket of
+Norland. "Sing it, Phil."
+
+"No, no," cried Maulerer, who was far gone in intoxication. "Sing us the
+song of the Feasting at Glaston, when Eneas the Trojan married Arthur's
+daughter.--Sing the song, sirrah, this moment, or I'll cut your tongue in
+two, to make your note the sweeter.--Sing."
+
+Thus adjured, Phil once more began:--
+
+  "There was feasting high and revelry
+    In Glaston's lofty hall;
+  And loud was the sound, as the cup went round,
+    Of joyous whoop and call;
+  And Arthur the king, in that noble ring,
+    Was the merriest of them all.
+  No thought, no care, found entrance there,
+    But beauty's smiles were won;
+  No sour Jack Priest to spoil the feast"--
+
+"Ha!" cried Howlet, interrupting Mr Lorimer in a tremendous passion, "what
+says the varlet? He is a heathen Turk, and no Christian. How dares he talk
+so of the church?" The old man rose as he spoke, and, suddenly catching
+hold of the enormous ebony walking-stick, which generally reposed at the
+side of his chair, he aimed a blow with all his force at the unfortunate
+songster; but, being blind, and not calculating his distance, his staff
+fell with tremendous effect on the left eye of Sir Bryan de Barreilles.
+
+"Is it so?" cried the Knight, stunned; but resisting the tendency to
+prostration produced by the stroke, and flinging a large silver flagon
+across the table, which missed Dr Howlet, and made a deep indentation in
+the skull of Maulerer of Phascald--"Now, then!"
+
+Hasket of Norland attempted to hold Sir Bryan, and prevent his following
+up his attack; and Mr Maulerer recovered sufficiently to fling the heavy
+candlestick at his assailant; the branches of which hit the cheek of
+Hasket, while the massive bottom ejected the three front teeth of Sir
+Bryan.
+
+There was now no possibility of preventing the quarrel; and while the four
+strangers were pounding each other with whatever weapons came first to
+hand, and Mr Peeper crept under the table for safety, and Reginald essayed
+to talk them into reason, Mr Lutter politely handed Jane to the door of
+the hall.
+
+"Permit me, madam, to rescue you from this dreadful scene."
+
+"Is it thus always?" enquired Jane, nearly weeping with fright.
+
+"There are many things that may be improved in the castle," said Mr Lutter.
+"I have seen the necessity of an alteration for a long time, and, if you
+will favour me with your assistance, much may be done."
+
+"Oh! I will help you to the utmost of my power."
+
+"We must upset the influence of Mr Peeper," said Mr Lutter. "May I speak
+to you on the subject to-morrow?"
+
+A month had passed since Jane's arrival at Belfront Castle, and she had
+had many private and confidential conversations with Mr Lutter. The
+ominous eyes of Mr Peeper grew fiercer and fiercer, and she many times
+thought of coming to an open rupture with him at once; but was deterred
+from doing so, by not yet having ascertained whether her influence over
+Reginald was sufficiently established to stand a contest with the
+authority of his ancient friend. She could not understand how her husband
+could have remained hoodwinked so long; or how he had submitted to the
+despotic proceedings of his former tutor, who persisted in assembling the
+same airs of authority over him, as he had exercised when he was a child.
+Such, however, was evidently the case; and Reginald had never entertained
+a thought of rescuing himself from the thraldom in which he had grown up.
+A look from Mr Peeper; a solemn statement from him, that such and such
+things had never been heard of before in Belfront; and, above all, the use
+of the muttered and unintelligible jargon to which Mr Peeper betook
+himself in matters of weight and difficulty, were quite sufficient:
+Reginald immediately gave up his own judgment, and felt in fact rather
+ashamed of himself for having hinted that he had a judgement at all. Under
+these circumstances, Mr Lutter had a very difficult part to play; and all
+that Jane could do, was to second him whenever she had the opportunity.
+One day, in the lovely month of April, Phil Lorimer sat on a sunny part of
+the enornous wall that guarded the castle, and leaning his back against
+one of the little square towers that rose at intervals in the circuit of
+the fortifications, sang song after song, as if for the edification of a
+number of crows that were perched on the trees on the other side of the
+moat. The audience were grossly inattentive, and paid no respect whatever
+to the performer, who still continued his exertions, as highly satisfied
+as if he were applauded by boxes, pit, and gallery of a crowded
+theatre:--Among others, he sang the ballad of the "Silver Scarf."
+
+  "It was a King's fair daughter,
+    With eyes of deepest blue,
+  She wove a scarf of silver
+    The whole long summer through--
+
+  "A stately chair she sat on
+    Before the castle door,
+  And ever in the calm moonlight
+    She work'd it o'er and o'er.
+
+  "And many a knight and noble
+    Went daily out and in,
+  And each one marvell'd in his heart
+    Which the fair scarf might win.
+
+  "She took no heed of questions,
+    From her work ne'er raised her head,
+  And on the snow-white border
+    Sew'd her name in blackest thread.
+
+  "Then came a tempest roaring,
+    From the high hills it came,
+  And bore the scarf far out to sea
+    From forth its fragile frame:
+
+  "The maiden sate unstartled,
+    As if it _must_ be so--
+  She stood up from her stately chair,
+    And to her bower did go.
+
+  "She took from forth her wardrobe
+    Her dress of mourning hue--
+  Whoever for a scarf before
+    Such weight of sorrow knew?
+
+  "In robes of deepest mourning,
+    Three nights and days she sate;
+  On the third night, the warder's horn
+    Was sounded at the gate--
+
+  "A messenger stands at the door,
+    And sad news bringeth he;
+  The king and all his gallant ships
+    Are wreck'd upon the sea.
+
+  "And now the tide is rising,
+    And casts upon the shore
+  Full many a gallant hero's corse,
+    And many a golden store.
+
+  "Then up rose the king's daughter,
+    Drew to her window near;
+  'What is it glitters on thine arm,
+    In the moonlight so clear?'
+
+  "'It is a scarf of silver,
+    I brought it from the strand;
+  I took it from the closed grasp
+    Of a strong warrior's hand.'
+
+  "That feat thou ne'er shouldst boast of
+    If but alive were he;
+  Go take him back thy trophy
+    To the blue rolling sea.
+
+  "And when that knight you've buried,
+    The scarf his grave shall grace;
+  And next to where you've laid him,
+    Oh, leave a vacant place!"
+
+"Here, you cursed old piper! leave off frightening the crows, and open the
+gate this moment. Who the devil, do you think, is to burst a bloodvessel
+by hollowing here all day?"
+
+Mr Lorimer, though used to considerable indignities, as we have already
+seen, had still a little of the becoming poetical pride about him, and
+looked rather angrily over the wall. "Nobody wishes you to break
+bloodvessels, or have their own ears disturbed by your screaming," he said.
+"What do you want?"
+
+"To get into your infernal house, to be sure. Where did you get such
+unchristian roads? My bones are sore with the jolting. Send somebody to
+open the gate."
+
+"The drawbridge is up, and Mr Peeper must have his twopence."
+
+"Who the devil is Mr Peeper?" said the stranger. "I sha'n't give him a
+fraction. Who made the drawbridge his? Is Mr Belfront at home?"
+
+"Yes, he is in Mr Peeper's study."
+
+"And Mrs Belfront?"--
+
+"Pickling cod. It is Mr Peeper's favourite dish; so we all live on it
+sometimes for weeks together."
+
+"With such a trout-stream at your door? He'll be a cleverer fellow than I
+think him if he gets me to eat his salted carrion. Open the door, I say,
+or you'll have the worst of it when my stick gets near your head. Tell Mrs
+Belfront her uncle is here--her Uncle Samson."
+
+Phil Lorimer saw no great resemblance to the Jewish Hercules in the little,
+dapper, bustling-mannered man in a blue coat with bright brass buttons,
+pepper-and-salt knee-breeches, and long gaiters, who thus proclaimed his
+relationship to the lady of the castle. He hurried down from the wall to
+make the required announcement.
+
+"My uncle Samson, the manufacturer, from Leeds! Oh, let him in, by all
+means!" exclaimed Jane; "he was always so kind to me when I was a child!"
+
+"He can't get in, madam, unless Mr Peeper orders the drawbridge to be
+lowered; and he is now busy with Mr Belfront."
+
+"Go for Mr Lutter; he will be glad to hear of uncle Samson's arrival."
+
+Mr Lorimer discovered Mr Lutter comfortably regaling himself in the
+buttery; but on hearing in what respect his services were required, he
+left unfinished a large tankard of ale, with which he was washing down an
+enormous quantity of bread and cheese, and proceeded to the moat.
+
+"Don't disturb Mr Peeper," he said, "but help me to launch the little
+punt."
+
+By dint of a little labour, the small vessel was got into the water, and
+Mr Lutter, taking a scull in his hand, paddled over to the other side, and
+embarked the gentleman in the blue coat. Paddling towards an undefended
+part of the castle, he taught him how to clamber up the wall; and Mr
+Samson, wiping the stains of his climbing from the knees of his nether
+habiliments, looked round the castle-yard. "Well! who'd have thought that
+such a monstrous strong-looking place should be stormed by a middle-aged
+gentleman in a punt!"
+
+"You've a friend in the garrison, you'll remember, sir, and the
+battlements have never been repaired."
+
+"They ain't worth repairing. It's a regular waste of building materials to
+make such thick walls and pinnacles. Blowed, if them stones wouldn't build
+a mill; and a precious water-power, too," he added, as he saw the river
+sparkling downward at the northern side. "Oho! I must have a talk with
+Jane. Will you take me to Mrs Belfront? I haven't seen her for five years.
+She must be much changed since then, and I must prepare her for the
+arrival of her cousins."
+
+Jane was sitting in the great hall, feeling disconsolate enough. Often, in
+her father's comfortable parlour, she had read accounts of baronial
+residences of the olden time; and one of the greatest pleasures she had
+felt in becoming Mrs Belfront, was to be the possessor of a real _bona
+fide_ castle that had been actually a fortress in the days of knighthood.
+She had studied long ago the adventures of high-born dames and stately
+nobles, till she was nearly as far gone in romance as Don Quixote; and
+many questions she had asked about Belfront, and donjon-towers, and keeps,
+and tiltyards, and laboured very hard to acquire a correct idea of the
+mode of life and manners of the days of chivalry. Her imagination, we have
+seen, was too lively to be restrained by the more matter-of-fact nature of
+her husband; and she now felt with great bitterness the difference between
+presiding at a tournament, or being present at the Vow of the Peacock, and
+the slavish submission in which she, with the whole household, was held by
+Mr Pepper. Deeply she now regretted the feelings of superiority she had
+experienced over her own relations by her marriage into such an ancient
+race as the Belfronts. She felt ashamed of the contempt she had felt for
+the industrious founders of her own family's wealth, and at that moment
+would have preferred the blue coat and brass buttons of her uncle Samson,
+to all the escutcheons and shields of the Norman conquest; and at that
+moment, luckily, the identical coat and buttons made their appearance.
+
+"Well, niece, here's a go!" exclaimed the angry uncle. "Is this a way to
+receive a near relation after such a journey?"
+
+"Oh, uncle!"
+
+"Why, did ye never hear tell of such a place as Kidderminster?--have you
+no carpets?"
+
+"Mr Belfront says there were no carpets in his ancestor's time"--
+
+"And no railroads, nor postchaises, nor books, nor nothing; and is that
+any reason why we shouldn't have lots of every thing now? By dad, before
+I've been here a week I'll have a reg'lar French Revolution! No Bastille!
+says I; let's have a Turkey carpet, and a telescope dining-table, good
+roads, and no infernal punts--and, above all, let's get quit of the
+villain Peeper."
+
+"Oh! if Reginald would only consent!"
+
+"Why not? by dad, I'll make his fortune. I'll give him a thousand a-year
+for the water-power that's now all thrown away. I'll have a nice village
+built down in the valley. I'll get him two guineas an acre for his land
+that's now lying waste. I'll dig for coal. We'll build a nice comfortable
+house, and leave this old ruin to the crows."
+
+"And the neighbours, uncle Samson?"
+
+"Why, we'll build a church, and the parson will be a good companion. When
+the roads are made, you'll give a jolly dinner once a-week to every squire
+within ten miles. You'll have a book club. You'll help in the Sunday
+school. You'll go to the county balls. Your husband will join the
+agricultural society, and act as a magistrate. He'll subscribe to the
+hounds. He'll attend to the registrations. He'll have shooting-parties in
+September. And as to any old-world, wretched talks about chivalry and
+antiquity, we'll show him that there never was a time like the
+present--commerce, land, property, and intelligence, all in the very best
+condition. We'll make Lutter superintendent of the whole estate, and send
+old Peeper about his business. And in all this you must help; for there's
+nothing to be done without the help of the ladies: so give me your hand,
+dear niece, and don't cry."
+
+"It would make me so happy! I would never look into Amadis de Gaul again!"
+
+"Hang Amadis de Gall and Amadi de Spurzheim, too! Where is your husband?"
+
+"I seldom see him now. He is always in the oratory with Mr Peeper."
+
+"The deuce he is!" said the uncle. "And how do you get on in other
+respects? Are you comfortable--happy--contented?" Jane told him all she
+had encountered since she had come to the castle, and the uncle seemed
+thunderstruck at the recital.
+
+"Well! bold measures are always the best," he said at last; "I'll kick
+Peeper into the moat!" and before his niece could interfere, the uncle had
+rushed across the quadrangle, guided, we are sorry to say, by Mr Lutter,
+and, grasping the venerable Peeper, whom he met near the drawbridge, he
+dragged him towards the water.
+
+Jane ran to get assistance for the unfortunate victim; and crying "Help!
+help!" as she saw the wretched man forced over the walls, she looked in a
+state of distraction towards her husband. "Dear Jane," said that
+individual, smiling blandly, "I told you you had overtired yourself with
+walking." Jane gazed round; there was Reginald sitting beside her, with
+her head reclining on his shoulder, at the open window of the inn in Wales.
+The vale of Cwmcwyllchly was spread in a beautiful landscape below. They
+were still on their wedding tour.
+
+"You have been asleep, Jane," said Reginald.
+
+"And have had such dreadful dreams. Oh, Reginald! I have had such visions
+of horrid things and people. I shall never be romantic again about
+chivalry. Such coarseness!--such slavery!--such ignorance! Ah, how happy
+we ought to be that we are born in a civilized time, with no Mr Peepers
+for father confessors, nor fighting with firebrands for amusement!"
+
+"You have been reading _Hallam's Middle Ages_--a present from your uncle
+Samson--till you have become a right-down Utilitarian. Come, let us ring
+for tea; and to-morrow we must start for Yorkshire! The Quarter-sessions
+are coming on."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE.
+
+
+We left M. Dumas at Marseilles: we find him again at Naples. Three volumes
+are the result of his visit to the last named city--volumes in which he
+manages to put a little of every thing, and a good deal of some things.
+Antiquarian, historian, virtuoso, novelist, he touches upon all subjects,
+flying from one to the other with a lightness and a facility of transition
+peculiarly his own, and peculiarly agreeable. English travellers and
+Italian composers, St Januarius and the opera, Masaniello and the
+_gettatura_, Pompeii, princes, police spies, Vesuvius, all have their
+turn--M. Dumas, with his usual tact, merely glancing at those subjects
+which are known and written about by every tourist, but giving himself
+full scope when he gets off the beaten track. His book is literally
+crammed with tales and anecdotes, to such a degree indeed, and most of
+them so good, that our principal difficulty in commencing a notice of it,
+is to know where to pick and choose our extracts; _l'embarras des
+richesses_, in short. The best way will probably be to begin at the
+beginning, and go as far as our limits allow us, referring our readers to
+the original for the many good things that want of space will compel us to
+exclude.
+
+M. Dumas calls his book the _Corricolo_, and devotes a short and
+characteristic preface to an explanation of the title. This explanation we
+must give in his own words. It is so highly graphic, that, after reading
+it, we fancied we had seen a picture of what it describes.
+
+"A _corricolo_ is a sort of tilbury or gig, originally intended to hold
+one person, and be drawn by one horse. At Naples they harness two horses
+to it; and it conveys twelve or fifteen individuals, not at a walk nor at
+a trot, but at full gallop, and this, notwithstanding that only one of the
+horses does any work. The shaft horse draws, but the other, which is
+harnessed abreast of him, and called the _bilancino_, prances and curvets
+about, animates his companion, but does nothing else.
+
+"Having said that the gig built to carry one is made to carry fifteen, I
+am, of course, expected to explain how this is accomplished. There is an
+old French proverb, according to which, when there is enough for one there
+is enough for two; but I am not aware of any proverb in any language which
+says, that when there is enough for one, there is enough for fifteen.
+Nevertheless, it is the case with the _corricolo_. In the present advanced
+state of civilization, every thing is diverted from its primitive
+destination. As it is impossible to say at what period, or in how long a
+time, the capacity of the vehicle in question was extended in the ratio of
+one to fifteen, I must content myself with describing the way of packing
+the passengers.
+
+"In the first place, there is almost invariably a fat greasy monk seated
+in the middle, forming the centre of a sort of coil of human creatures. On
+one of his knees is some robust rosy-cheeked nurse from Aversa or Nettuno;
+on the other, a handsome peasant woman from Bauci or Procida. On either
+side of him, between the wheels and the body of the vehicle, stand the
+husbands of these two ladies. Standing on tiptoe behind the monk is the
+driver, holding in his left hand the reins, and in his right the long whip
+with which he keeps his horses at an equal rate of speed. Behind _him_ are
+two or three lazzaroni, who get up and down, go away, and are succeeded by
+others, without any body taking notice of them, or expecting them to pay
+for their ride. On the shafts are seated two boys, picked up on the road
+from Torre del Greco or Pouzzoles, probably supernumerary _ciceroni_ of
+the antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Finally, suspended under the
+carriage, in a sort of coarse rope network with large meshes, which swings
+backwards and forwards at every movement of the vehicle, is a shapeless
+and incomprehensible mass, which cries, laughs, sings, screams, shouts,
+and bellows, all by turns and none for long together, and the nature of
+which it is impossible to distinguish, dimly seen as it is through the
+clouds of dust raised by the horses' feet. This mass consists of three or
+four children, who belong to Heaven knows who, are going Heaven knows
+where, live Heaven knows how, and are there Heaven knows wherefore.
+
+"Now then, put down, one above the other, monk, women, husbands, driver,
+lazzaroni, boys and children; add them up, include the infant in arms,
+which has been forgotten, and the total will be fifteen.
+
+"It sometimes happens that the _coricolo_ passes over a big stone, and
+upsets, pitching out its occupants to a greater or less distance,
+according to their respective gravity. But, on such occasions, nobody
+thinks of himself; the attention of every one is immediately turned to the
+monk. If he is hurt, the journey is over for the day; they carry him to
+the nearest house; the horses are put into the stable, and he is put to
+bed; the women nurse him, make much of him, cry and pray over him. If, on
+the other hand, the monk is safe and sound, nobody has a right to complain;
+he resumes his seat, the nurse and the peasant woman resume theirs, the
+others climb up into their respective places--a crack of the long whip,
+and a shout from the driver, and the _corricolo_ is off again full speed."
+
+From this we learn what a _corricolo_ is, but we have not yet been told
+why M. Dumas should christen his book after the degenerate descendant of
+the Roman curriculum. Patience--we shall get to it in time. Materials
+crowd upon our traveller, and it is only in the second chapter that the
+desired explanation is given. In the first we are informed of M. Dumas's
+installation at the Hotel Vittoria, kept by M. Martin Zill, who, besides
+being an innkeeper, is a man of much taste in art, a distinguished
+antiquary, an amateur of pictures, a collector of autographs and
+curiosities. Apropos of the hotel we have an anecdote of the ex-dey of
+Algiers, who, on being dispossessed of his dominions by the French, took
+refuge at Naples, and established himself under M. Zill's hospitable roof.
+The third floor was entirely occupied by his suite and attendants, the
+fourth was for himself and his treasures, the fifth, or the garrets, he
+converted into his harem. The curious arms, costumes, and jewels which
+Hussein Pacha had brought with him, were a godsend to the virtuoso weary
+of examining and admiring them; and, before the African had been a week in
+the house, he and his host were sworn friends. Unfortunately this harmony
+was not destined to last very long.
+
+"One morning Hussein Pacha's cook (a Nubian as black as ink, and as
+shining as if he had been polished with a shoe-brush) entered the kitchen
+of the hotel, and asked for the largest knife they had. The head-cook gave
+him a sort of carving-knife, some eighteen inches long, sharp as a razor,
+and pliant as a foil. The negro looked at it, shook his head as if in
+doubt whether it would do, but nevertheless took it up stairs with him.
+Presently he brought it down again, and asked for a larger one. The cook
+opened all his drawers, and at last found a sort of cutlass, which he
+hardly ever used on account of its enormous size. With this the Nubian
+appeared more satisfied, and again went up stairs. Five minutes afterwards
+he came down for the third time, and returned the knife, asking for a
+bigger one still. The cook's curiosity was excited, and he enquired who
+wanted the knife, and for what purpose.
+
+"The African told him very coolly that the dey, having left his dominions
+rather in a hurry, had forgotten to bring an executioner with him, and had
+consequently ordered his cook to get a large knife and cut off the head of
+Osmin, chief of the eunuchs, who was convicted of having kept such
+negligent watch and ward over his highness's seraglio, that some
+presumptuous Giaour had made a hole in the wall, and established a
+communication with Zaida, the dey's favourite _odalisque_. Accordingly
+Osmin was to be decapitated; and as to the offending lady, the next time
+the dey took an airing in the bay of Naples, she would be put into the
+boat in a sack, and consigned to the keeping of the kelpies. Thunderstruck
+at such summary proceedings, the cook desired his Nubian brother to wait
+while he went for a larger knife; then hastening to M. Martin Zill, he
+told him what he had just heard.
+
+"M. Martin Zill ran to the minister of police, and laid the matter before
+him. His excellency got into his carriage and went to call upon the dey.
+
+He found his highness reclining upon a divan, his back supported by
+cushions, smoking latakia in a chibouque, while an icoglan scratched the
+soles of his feet, and two slaves fanned him. The minister made his three
+salaams; the dey nodded his head.
+
+"'Your highness,' said his excellency, 'I am the minister of police.'
+
+"'I know you are,' answered the dey.
+
+"'Then your highness probably conjectures the motive of my visit.'
+
+"'No. But you are welcome all the same.'
+
+"'I come to prevent your highness from committing a crime.'
+
+"'A crime! And what crime?' said the dey, taking the pipe from his mouth,
+and gazing at his interlocutor in the most profound astonishment.
+
+"'I wonder your highness should ask the question,' replied the minister.
+'Is it not your intention to cut off Osmin's head?'
+
+"'That is no crime,' answered the dey.
+
+"'Does not your highness purpose throwing Zaida into the sea?'
+
+"'That is no crime,' repeated the dey. 'I bought Osmin for five hundred
+piasters, and Zaida for a thousand sequins, just as I bought this pipe for
+a hundred ducats.'
+
+"'Well,' said the minister, 'what does your highness deduce from that?'
+
+"'That as this pipe belongs to me, as I have bought it and paid for it, I
+may break it to atoms if I choose, and nobody has a right to object.' So
+saying, the pacha broke his pipe, and threw the fragments into the middle
+of the room.
+
+"'All very well, as far as a pipe goes,' said the minister; 'but Osmin,
+but Zaida?'
+
+"'Less than a pipe,' said the dey gravely.
+
+"'How! less than a pipe! A man less than a pipe! A woman less than a pipe!'
+
+"'Osmin is not a man, and Zaida is not a woman: they are slaves. I will
+cut off Osmin's head, and throw Zaida into the sea.'
+
+"'No!' said the magistrate. 'Not at Naples at least.'
+
+"'Dog of a Christian!' shouted the dey, 'do you know who I am?'
+
+"'You are the ex-dey of Algiers, and I am the Neapolitan minister of
+police; and, if your deyship is impertinent, I shall send him to prison,'
+added the minister very coolly.
+
+"'To prison!' repeated the dey, falling back upon his divan.
+
+"'To prison,' replied the minister.
+
+"'Very well,' said Hussein. 'I leave Naples to-night.'
+
+"'Your highness is as free as air to go and to come. Nevertheless, I must
+make one condition. Before your departure, you will swear by the Prophet,
+that no harm shall be done to Osmin or Zaida.'
+
+"'Osmin and Zaida belong to me, and I shall do what I please with them.'
+
+"'Then your highness will be pleased to deliver them over to me, to be
+punished according to the laws of the country; and, until you do so, you
+will not be allowed to leave Naples.'
+
+"'Who will prevent me?'
+
+"'I will.'
+
+"The pacha laid his hand on his dagger. The minister stepped to the window
+and made a sign. The next moment the tramp of heavy boots and jingle of
+spurs were heard upon the stairs; the door opened, and a gigantic corporal
+of gendarmes made his appearance, his right hand raised to his cocked hat,
+his left upon the seam of his trouser.
+
+"'Gennaro,' said the minister of police, 'if I gave you an order to arrest
+this gentleman, would you see any difficulty in executing it?'
+
+"'None, your excellency.'
+
+"'You are aware that this gentleman's name is Hussein Pacha.'
+
+"'I was not, your excellency.'
+
+"'And that he is dey of Algiers.'
+
+"'May it please your excellency, I don't know what that is.'
+
+"'You see?' said the minister, turning to the dey.
+
+"'The devil! exclaimed Hussein.
+
+"'Shall I?' said Gennaro, taking a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, and
+advancing a pace towards the dey, who, on his part, took a step backwards.
+
+"'No,' replied the minister, 'it will not be necessary. His highness will
+do as he is bid. Go and search the hotel for a man named Osmin, and a
+woman named Zaida, and take them both to the prefecture.'
+
+"'What!' cried the dey; 'this man is to enter my harem?'
+
+"'He is not a man,' replied the minister; 'he is a corporal of gendarmes.
+But if you do not wish him to go, send for Osmin and Zaida yourself.'
+
+"'Will you promise to have them punished?' enquired the dey.
+
+"'Certainly; according to the utmost rigour of the law.'
+
+"Hussein Pacha clapped his hands. A door concealed behind a tapestry was
+opened, and a slave entered the room.
+
+"'Bring down Osmin and Zaida,' said the dey.
+
+"The slave crossed his hands on his breast, bowed his head, and
+disappeared without uttering a word. The next instant he came back with
+the two culprits.
+
+"The eunuch was a little round fat fellow, with beardless face, and small
+hands and feet. Zaida was a beautiful Circassian, her eyelids painted with
+kool, her teeth blackened with betel, her nails reddened with henna. On
+perceiving Hussein Pacha, the eunuch fell upon his knees; Zaida raised her
+head. The dey's eyes flashed, and he clutched the hilt of his kangiar.
+Osmin grew pale; Zaida smiled. The minister of police made a sign to the
+gendarme, who stepped up to the two captives, handcuffed them, and led
+them out of the room. As the door closed behind them, the dey uttered a
+sound between a sigh and a roar.
+
+"The magistrate looked out of the window, till he saw the prisoners and
+their escort disappear at the corner of the Strada Chiatamone. Then
+turning to the dey--
+
+"'Your highness is now at liberty to leave Naples, if he wishes so to do,'
+said the imperturbable functionary with a low bow.
+
+"'This very instant!' cried Hussein. 'I will not remain another moment in
+such a barbarous country as yours.'
+
+"'A pleasant journey to your highness,' said the minister.
+
+"'Go to the devil!' retorted Hussein.
+
+"Before an hour had elapsed, the dey had chartered a small vessel, on
+board of which he embarked the same evening with his suite, his wives, and
+his treasures; and at midnight he set sail; cursing the tyranny that
+prevented a man from drowning his wife and cutting off the heads of his
+slaves. The next day the minister of police had the culprits brought
+before him and examined. Osmin was found guilty of having slept when he
+ought to have watched, and Zaida of having watched when she ought to have
+slept. But, by some strange omission, the Neapolitan code allots no
+punishment to such offences; and, consequently, Osmin and Zaida, to their
+infinite astonishment, were immediately set at liberty. Osmin took to
+selling pastilles for a livelihood, and the lady got employment as _dame
+de comptoir_ in a coffeehouse. As to the dey, he had left Naples with the
+intention of going to England, in which country, as he had been informed,
+a man is at liberty to sell his wife, if he may not drown her. He was
+taken ill, however, on the road, and obliged to stop at Leghorn, where he
+died."
+
+M. Dumas, not being in good odour with the Neapolitan authorities, on
+account of some supposed republican tendencies of his, is at Naples under
+an assumed name; and, as it is uncertain how long he may be able to
+preserve his incognito, he is desirous of seeing all that is to be seen in
+as short a time as possible. He finds that Naples, independently of its
+suburbs, consists of three streets where every body goes, and five hundred
+streets where nobody goes. The three streets are, the Chiaja, the Toledo,
+and the Forcella; the five hundred others are nameless--a labyrinth of
+houses, which might be compared to that of Crete, deducting the Minotaur,
+and adding the Lazzaroni. There are three ways of seeing Naples--on foot,
+in a _corricolo_ or in a carriage. On foot, one goes every where, but one
+sees too much; in a carriage, one only goes through the three principal
+streets, and one sees too little--the _corricolo_ is the happy medium, the
+_juste milieu_, to which M. Dumas for once determines to adhere. Having
+made up his mind, he sends for his host, and enquires where he can hire a
+_corricolo_ by the week or month. His host tells him he had better buy one,
+horse and all. To this plan M. Dumas objects the expense.
+
+"'It will cost you,' said M. Martin, after a momentary calculation in his
+head, 'it will cost you--the _corricolo_ ten ducats, each horse thirty
+carlini, the harness a pistole; in all, eighty French francs.'
+
+"'What! for ten ducats I shall have a _corricolo_?'
+
+"'A magnificent one.'
+
+"'New?'
+
+"'Oh! you are asking too much. There are no such things as new _corricoli_.
+There is a standing order of the police forbidding coachmakers to build
+them.'
+
+"'Indeed! How long has that order been in force?'
+
+"'Fifty years, perhaps.'
+
+"'How comes it, then, that there is such a thing as a _corricolo_ in
+existence?'
+
+"'Nothing easier. You know the story of Jeannot's knife?'
+
+"'To be sure I do; it is one of our national chronicles. The blade had
+been changed fifteen times, and the handle fifteen times, but it was still
+the same knife.'
+
+"'The case of the _corricolo_ is exactly similar. It is forbidden to build
+new ones, but it is not forbidden to put new wheels to old bodies, and new
+bodies on old wheels. By these means the _corricolo_ becomes immortal.'
+
+"'I understand. An old body and new wheels for me, if you please. But the
+horses? Do you mean to say that for thirty francs I shall have a pair of
+horses?'
+
+"'A superb pair, that will go like the wind.'
+
+"'What sort of horses?'
+
+"'Oh, dead ones, of course!'
+
+"'Dead ones!'
+
+"'Certainly. At that price you could hardly expect any thing better.'
+
+"'My dear M. Martin, be kind enough to explain. I am travelling for my
+improvement, and information of all kinds is highly acceptable.'
+
+"'You are acquainted with the history of the horse, I suppose?'
+
+"'The natural history? Buffon's? Certainly. The horse is, after the lion,
+the noblest of all the beasts.'
+
+"'No, no; the philosophical history. The different stages and vicissitudes
+in the existence of those noble quadrupeds.'
+
+"'Oh yes! first the saddle, then a carriage or gig, thence to a
+stage-coach or omnibus, hackney-coach or cab, and finally--to the
+knacker's.'
+
+"'And from the knacker's?'
+
+"'To the Elysian fields, I suppose.'
+
+"'No. Not here, at least. From the knacker's they go to the _corricoli_.'
+
+"'How so?'
+
+"'I will tell you. At the Ponte della Maddalena, where horses are taken to
+be killed, there are always persons waiting, who, when a horse is brought,
+buy the hide and hoofs for thirty carlini, which is the price regulated by
+law. Instead of killing the horse and skinning him, these persons take him
+with the skin on, and make the most of the time he yet has to live. They
+are sure of getting the skin sooner or later. And these are what I mean by
+dead horses.'
+
+"'But what can they possibly do with the unfortunate brutes?'
+
+"'They harness them to the _corricoli_.'
+
+"'What! those with which I came from Salerno to Naples'--
+
+"'Were the ghosts of horses; spectre steeds, in short.'
+
+"'But they galloped the whole way.'
+
+"'Why not? _Les morts vont vite._'"
+
+_Et cetera, et cetera_. For the price stated by his host, M. Dumas finds
+himself possessor of a magnificent _corricolo_ of a bright red colour,
+with green trees and animals painted thereon. Two most fiery and impatient
+steeds, half concealed by harness, bells, and ribands, are included in his
+purchase. After a vain attempt to drive himself, the phantom coursers
+having apparently a supreme contempt for whipcord, he gives up the reins
+to a professional charioteer, and commences his perambulations. His first
+visit is to the Chiaja, the favourite promenade of the aristocracy and of
+foreigners; his second to the Toledo, the street of shops and loungers;
+his third to the Forcella, frequented by lawyers and their clients. He
+makes a chapter, and a long one too, out of each street; but not in the
+way usually adopted by those pitiless tour-writers who overwhelm their
+readers with dry architectural details, filling a page with a portico, and
+a chapter with a chapel--not letting one off a pane of a painted window or
+line of worm-eaten inscription however often those things may have been
+described already by previous travellers. M. Dumas prefers men to things
+as subjects for his pen; and the three chapters above named are filled
+with curious illustrations of Neapolitan manners, customs, and character.
+Apropos of the Toledo, we are introduced to the well-known _impresario_,
+Domenico Barbaja, who had his palazzo in that street, and who, from being
+waiter in a coffeehouse at Milan, became the manager of three theatres at
+one time, namely, San Carlo, La Scala, and the Vienna opera. He appears to
+have been a man of great energy and originality of character, concealing
+an excellent heart under the roughest manners and most choleric of tempers.
+
+"It would be impossible," says M. Dumas, "to translate into any language
+the abuse with which Barbaja used to overwhelm the singers and musicians
+at his theatres when they displeased him. Yet not one of them bore him
+malice for it, knowing that, if they had the least triumph, Barbaja would
+be the first to embrace and congratulate them: if they were unsuccessful,
+he would console them with the utmost delicacy: if they were ill, he would
+watch over them with the tenderness of a father or brother. The fortune
+which he had amassed, little by little, and by strenuous exertions, he
+spent in the most generous and princely manner. His palace, his villa, and
+his table, were open to all.
+
+"His genius was of a peculiar and extraordinary kind. Education he had
+none: he was unable to write the commonest letter, and did not know a note
+of music; yet he would give his composers the most valuable hints, and
+dictate with admirable skill the plan of a libretto. His own voice was of
+the harshest and most inharmonious texture; but by his advice and
+instructions he formed some of the first singers in Italy. His language
+was a Milanese patois; but he found means to make himself excellently
+understood by the kings and emperors, with whom he carried on negotiations
+upon a footing of perfect equality. It was a great treat to see him seated
+in his box at San Carlo, opposite that of the King of Naples, on the
+evening of a new opera; with grave and impartial aspect, now turning his
+face to the actors, then to the audience. If a singer went wrong, Barbaja
+was the first to crush him with a severity worthy of Brutus. His '_Can de
+Dio_!' was shouted out in a voice that made the theatre shake and the poor
+actor tremble. If, on the other hand, the public disapproved without
+reason, Barbaja would start up in his box and address the audience.
+'_Figli d'una racca_!' 'Will you hold your tongues? You don't deserve good
+singers.' If by chance the King himself omitted to applaud at the right
+time, Barbaja would shrug his shoulders and go grumbling out of his box.
+
+"With all his peculiarities, he it was who formed and brought forward
+Lablache, Tamburini, Rubini, Donzelli, Colbran, Pasta, Fodor, Donizetti,
+Bellini, and the great Rossini himself, whose masterpieces were composed
+for Barbaja. It is impossible to form an idea of the amount of entreaties,
+stratagems, and even violence, expended by the _impresario_ to make
+Rossini work. I will give an example of it, which is highly characteristic
+both of the manager and of the greatest and happiest, but most
+_insouciant_ and idle, musical genius that ever drew breath under the
+bright sky of Italy."
+
+We are sorry to tantalize our readers, but we have not space for the story
+that follows. It relates to the opera of _Othello_, which was composed by
+Rossini in an incredibly short time, whilst a prisoner in an apartment of
+Barbaja's house. For nearly six months had the composer been living vith
+the manager, entertaining his friends at his well-spread table, drinking
+his choicest wines, and occupying his best rooms--all this under promise
+of producing a new opera within the half-year, a promise which he showed
+little disposition to fulfil. Barbaja was in a fever of anxiety, and
+finding remonstrance unavailing, had recourse to stratagem. One morning,
+when Rossini was about to start on a party of pleasure, he found his doors
+secured outside; and, on putting his head out of the window, was informed
+by Barbaja that he must remain captive until his ransom was paid. The
+ransom, of course, was the opera.
+
+Rossini subsequently revenges himself on his tyrant in a very piquant
+manner; and, finally, the morning after _Othello_ has been performed with
+triumphant success, he starts for Bologna, taking with him, as travelling
+companion, the _prima donna_ of the San Carlo theatre, Signora Colbran,
+whom he had privately married. All this is related very amusingly by M.
+Dumas, but at too great length for our limits.
+
+We have a naval combat in the second volume, in which a French frigate is
+attacked by two English line-of-battle ships, one of which she sinks, and
+receives in return the entire point-blank broadside of the other, a
+three-decker; which broadside, we in our ignorance of nautical matters,
+should have thought sufficient to blow her either out of the water or
+under it. It has not that effect, however, and the frigate is captured;
+the captain of her, when he has hauled down his flag in order to save the
+lives of his men, stepping into his cabin and blowing his brains out. All
+this is very pretty, whatever may be said of its probability. But there
+are two subjects on which the majority of Frenchmen indulge in most
+singular delusions. These are, their invincibility upon the sea, and the
+battle of Waterloo. M. Dumas has not escaped the national monomania.
+
+Our author is very hard upon the poor English in this book. He attacks
+them on all sides and with all weapons. Nelson and Lady Hamilton occupy a
+prominent position in his pages. The execution of Admiral Carraciolo, an
+undoubted blot on the character of our naval hero, is given in all its
+details, and with some little decorations and embellishments, for which we
+suspect that we have to thank our imaginative historian. Nelson's weakness,
+the ascendency exercised over him by Lady Hamilton, or Emma Lyonna, as M.
+Dumas prefers styling her, her intimacy with the Queen of Naples, and
+subservient to the wishes and interests of the Neapolitan court, are all
+set forth in the most glowing colours. This is the heavy artillery, the
+round-shot and shell; but M. Dumas is too skilful a general to leave any
+part of his forces unemployed, and does not omit to bring up his
+sharpshooters, and open a pretty little fire of ridicule upon English
+travellers in Italy, who, as it is well known, go thither to make the
+fortunes of innkeepers and purchase antiquities manufactured in the
+nineteenth century. Strange as it may appear, we should be heartily sorry
+if M. Dumas were to exchange his evident dislike of us for a more kindly
+feeling. We should then lose some of his best stories; for he is never
+more rich and amusing than when he shows up the sons and daughters of _le
+perfide Albion_. In support of our assertion, take the following sketch:--
+
+"During my stay at Naples an Englishman arrived there, and took up his
+quarters at the hotel at which I was stopping. He was one of those
+phlegmatic, overbearing, obstinate Britons, who consider money the engine
+with which every thing is to be moved and all things accomplished, the
+argument in short which nothing can resist. Money was every thing in his
+estimation of mankind; talent, fame, titles, mere feathers that kicked the
+beam the moment a long rent-roll or inscription of three per cents were
+placed in the opposite scale. In proportion as men were rich or poor, did
+he esteem them much or little. Being very rich himself, he esteemed
+himself much.
+
+"He had come direct to Naples by steam, and during the voyage had made
+this calculation: With money I shall say every thing, do every thing, and
+have every thing I please. He had not long to wait to find out his mistake.
+The steamer cast anchor in the port of Naples just half an hour too late
+for the passengers to land. The Englishman, who had been very sea-sick,
+and was particularly anxious to get on shore, sent to offer the captain of
+the port a hundred guineas if he would let him land directly. The
+quarantine laws of Naples are very strict; the captain of the port thought
+the Englishman was mad, and only laughed at his offer. He was therefore
+obliged to sleep on board in an excessively bad humour, cursing alike
+those who made the regulations and those who enforced them.
+
+"The first thing he did when he got on shore, was to set off to visit the
+ruins of Pompeii. There happened to be no regular guide at hand, so he
+took a lazzarone instead. He had not forgotten his disappointment of the
+night before, and all the way to Pompeii he relieved his mind by abusing
+King Ferdinand in the best Italian he could muster. The lazzarone, whom he
+had taken into his carriage, took no notice of all this so long as they
+were on the high-road. Lazzaroni, in general, meddle very little in
+politics, and do not care how much you abuse king or kaiser so long as
+nothing disrespectful is said of the Virgin Mary, St Januarius, or Mount
+Vesuvius. On arriving, however, at the _Via dei Sepolchri_, the ragged
+guide put his finger on his lips as a signal to be silent. But his
+employer either did not understand the gesture, or considered it beneath
+his dignity to take notice of it, for he continued his invectives against
+Ferdinand the Well-beloved.
+
+"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone at last, placing his hand
+upon the side of the barouche, and jumping out as lightly as a harlequin.
+'Pardon me, Eccellenza, but I must return to Naples.'
+
+"'And why so?' inquired the other in his broken Italian.
+
+"'Because I do not wish to be hung.'
+
+"'And who would dare to hang you?'
+
+"'The king.'
+
+"'Why?'
+
+"'Because you are speaking ill of him.'
+
+"'An Englishman has a right to say whatever he likes.'
+
+"'It may be so, but a lazzarone has not.'
+
+"'But you have said nothing.'
+
+"'But I hear everything.'
+
+"'Who will tell what you hear?'
+
+"'The invalid soldier who accompanies us to visit Pompeii.'
+
+"'I do not want an invalid soldier.'
+
+"'Then you cannot visit Pompeii.'
+
+"'Not by paying?'
+
+"'No.'
+
+"'But I will pay double, treble, four times, whatever they ask.'
+
+"'No, no, no.'
+
+"'Oh!' said the Englishman, and he fell into a brown study, during which
+the lazzarone amused himself by trying to jump over his own shadow.
+
+"'I will take the invalid,' said the Englishman after a little reflection.
+
+"'Very good,' replied the lazzarone, 'we will take him.'
+
+"'But I shall say just what I please before him.'
+
+"'In that case I wish you a good morning.'
+
+"'No, no; you must remain.'
+
+"'Allow me to give you a piece of advice then. If you want to say what you
+please before the invalid, take a deaf one.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, delighted with the advice, 'by all means a
+deaf one. Here is a piaster for you for having thought of it.' The
+lazzarone ran to the guard-house, and soon returned with an old soldier
+who was as deaf as a post.
+
+"They began the usual round of the curiosities, during which the
+Englishman continued calling King Ferdinand any thing but a gentleman, of
+all which the invalid heard nothing, and the lazzarone took no notice.
+They visited the Via dei Sepolchri, the houses of Diomedes and Cicero. At
+last they came to Sallust's house, in one of the rooms of which was a
+fresco that hit the Englishman's fancy exceedingly. He immediately sat
+down, took a pencil and a blank book from his pocket, and began copying it.
+He had scarcely made a stroke, however, when the soldier and the lazzarone
+approached him. The former was going to speak, but the latter took the
+words out of his mouth.
+
+"'Eccellenza,' said he, 'it is forbidden to copy the fresco.'
+
+"'Oh!' said the Englishman, 'I must make this copy. I will pay for it.'
+
+"'It is not allowed, even if you pay.'
+
+"'But I will pay ten times its value if necessary; I must copy it, it is
+so funny.'
+
+"'If you do, the invalid will put you in the guard-room.'
+
+"'Pshaw! An Englishman has a right to draw any thing he likes.' And he
+went on with his sketch. The invalid approached him with an inexorable
+countenance.
+
+"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone; 'but would you like to copy
+not only this fresco, but as many more as you please?'
+
+"'Certainly I should, and I will too.'
+
+"'Then, let me give you a word of advice. Take a blind invalid.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, still more enchanted with this second hint
+than with the first. 'By all means, a blind invalid. Here are two piasters
+for the idea.'
+
+"They left Sallust's house, the deaf man was paid and discharged, and the
+lazzarone went to the guard-room, and brought back an invalid who was
+stone-blind and led by a black poodle.
+
+"The Englishman wished to return immediately to continue his drawing, but
+the lazzarone persuaded him to delay it, in order to avoid exciting
+suspicion. They continued their rambles, therefore, guided by the invalid,
+or rather by his dog, who displayed a knowledge of Pompeii that might have
+qualified him to become a member of the antiquarian society. After
+visiting the blacksmith's shop, Fortunata's house, and the public oven,
+they returned to the abode of Sallust, where the Englishman finished his
+sketch, while the lazzarone chatted with the blind man, and kept him
+amused. Continuing their lounge, he made a number of other drawings, and
+in a couple of hours his book was half full.
+
+"At last they arrived at a place where men were digging. There had been
+discovered a number of small busts and statues, bronzes, and curiosities
+of all kinds, which, as soon as they were dug up, were carried into a
+neighbouring house, and had his attention speedily attracted by a little
+statue of a satyr about six inches high. 'Oh!' cried he, 'I shall buy this
+figure.'
+
+"'The king of Naples does not wish to sell it,' replied the lazzarone.
+
+"'I will give its weight in sovereigns--double its weight even.'
+
+"'I tell you it is not to be sold,' persisted the lazzarone; 'but,' added
+he, changing his tone, 'I have already given your excellence two pieces of
+advice which you liked, I will now give you a third: Do not buy the
+statue--steal it.'
+
+"'Oh--oh! that will be very original, and we have a blind invalid too.
+Capital!'
+
+"'Yes, but the invalid has a dog, who has two good eyes and sixteen good
+teeth, and who will fly at you if you so much as touch any thing with your
+little finger.'
+
+"'I'll buy the dog, and hang him.'
+
+"'Do better still; take a lame invalid. Then, as you have seen nearly
+every thing here, put the figure in your pocket and run away. He may call
+out as much as he likes, he will not be able to run after you.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, in convulsions of delight, 'here are three
+piasters for you. Fetch me a lame invalid.'
+
+"And in order not to excite the suspicions of the blind man and his dog,
+he left the house, and pretended to be examining a fountain made of
+shell-work, while the lazzarone went for a third guide. In a quarter of an
+hour he returned, accompanied by an invalid with two wooden legs. They
+gave the blind man three carlini, two for him and one for his dog, and
+sent him away.
+
+"The theatre and the temple of Isis were all that now remained to be seen.
+After visiting them, the Englishman, in the most careless tone he could
+assume, said he should like to return to the house in which were deposited
+the produce of the researches then making. The invalid, without the
+slightest suspicion, conducted them thither, and they entered the
+apartment in which the curiosities were arranged on shelves nailed against
+the wall.
+
+"While the Englishman lounged about, pretending to be examining every
+thing with the greatest interest, the lazzarone busied himself in
+fastening a stout string across the doorway, at the height of a couple of
+feet from the ground. When he had done this, he made a sign to the
+Englishman, who seized the little statue that he coveted from under the
+very nose of the astounded invalid, put it into his pocket, and, jumping
+over the string, ran off as hard as he could, accompanied by the lazzarone.
+Darting through the Stabian gate, they found themselves on the Salerno
+road--an empty hackney-coach was passing, the Englishman jumped in, and
+had soon rejoined his carriage, which was waiting for him in Via dei
+Sepolchri. Two hours after he had left Pompeii he was at Torre del Greco,
+and in another hour at Naples.
+
+"As to the invalid, he at first tried to step over the cord fastened
+across the door, but the height at which the lazzarone had fixed it was
+too great for wooden legs to accomplish. He then endeavoured to untie it,
+but with no better success; for the lazzarone had fastened it in a knot
+compared to which the one of Gordian celebrity would have appeared a mere
+slip-knot. Finally, the old soldier, who had perhaps read of Alexander the
+Great, determined to cut what he could not untie, and accordingly drew his
+sword. But the sword in its best days had never had much edge, and now it
+had none at all; so that the Englishman was halfway to Naples whilst the
+invalid was still sawing away at his cord.
+
+"The same evening the Englishman left Naples on board a steamboat, and the
+lazzarone was lost in the crowd of his comrades; the six plasters he had
+got from his employer enabling him to live in what a lazzarone considers
+luxury for nearly as many months.
+
+"The Englishman had been twelve hours at Naples, and had done the three
+things that are most expressly forbidden to be done there. He had abused
+the king, copied frescoes, and stolen a statue, and all owing, not to his
+money, but to the ingenuity of a lazzarone."
+
+The lazzarone is a godsend for M. Dumas, an admirable peg upon which to
+hang his quaint conceit and sly satire; and he is accordingly frequently
+introduced in the course of the three volumes. We must make room for one
+more extract, in which he figures in conjunction with his friend the
+sbirro or gendarme, who before being invested with a uniform, and armed
+with carbine, pistols, and sabre, has frequently been a lazzarone himself,
+and usually preserves the instincts and tastes of his former station. The
+result of this is a coalition between the lazzarone and the
+sbirro--law-breaker and law-preserver uniting in a systematic attack upon
+the pockets of the public.
+
+"I was one day passing down the Toledo, when I saw a sbirro arrested. Like
+La Fontaine's huntsman, he had been insatiable, and his greediness brought
+its own punishment. This is what had happened.
+
+"A sbirro had caught a lazzarone in the fact.
+
+"'What did you steal from that gentleman in black, who just went by?' he
+demanded he.
+
+"'Nothing, your excellency,' replied the lazzarone. A lazzarone always
+addresses a sbirro as _eccellenza_.
+
+"'I saw your hand in his pocket.'
+
+"'His pocket was empty.'
+
+"'What! Not a purse, a snuff-box, a handkerchief?'
+
+"'Nothing, please your excellency. It was an author.'
+
+"'Why do you go to those sort of people?'
+
+"'I found out my mistake too late.'
+
+"'Come along with me to the police-office.'
+
+"'But, your excellency--since I have stolen nothing?'
+
+"'Idiot, that's the very reason. If you _had_ stolen something, we might
+have arranged matters.'
+
+"'Only wait till next time. I shall not always be so unfortunate. I
+promise you the contents of the pocket of the next person who passes.'
+
+"'Very good; but I will select the individual, or else you will be making
+a bad choice again.'
+
+"'As your excellency pleases.'
+
+"The sbirro folded his arms in a most dignified manner, and leaned his
+back against a post; the lazzarone stretched himself on the pavement at
+his feet. A priest came by, then a lawyer, then a poet; but the sbirro
+made no sign. At last there appeared a young officer, dressed in brilliant
+uniform, who passed gaily along, humming between his teeth a tune out of
+the last opera. The sbirro gave the signal. Up sprang the lazzarone and
+followed the officer. Both disappeared round a corner. Presently the
+lazzarone returned with his ransom in his hand.
+
+"'What have you got there?' said the sbirro.
+
+"'A handkerchief,' replied the other.
+
+"'Is that all?'
+
+"'That all! It is of the finest cambric.'
+
+"'Had he only one?'[11]
+
+    [11] At Naples, it is customary to carry two handkerchiefs, one of
+    silk, and the other of cambric; the latter being used to wipe the
+    forehead.
+
+"'Only one in that pocket.'
+
+"'And in the other?'
+
+"'In the other he had a silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'Why didn't you bring it?'
+
+"'I keep that for myself, excellency. It is fair that we should divide the
+profits. One pocket for you, the other for me.'
+
+"'I have a right to both, and I must have the silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'But, your excelleilcy'----
+
+"'I must have the silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'It is an injustice.'
+
+"'Ha! Do you dare speak ill of his majesty's sbirri? Come along to prison.'
+
+"'You shall have the silk handkerchief, your excellency.'
+
+"'How will you find the officer again?'
+
+"'He is gone to pay a visit in the Strada de Foria. I will go and wait for
+him at the door.'
+
+"The lazzarone walked away, turned the corner of the street, and
+established himself in the recess of a doorway. Presently the young
+officer came out of a house opposite, and before he had gone ten paces,
+put his hand in his pocket, and found he was minus a handkerchief.
+
+"'Pardon me, excellency,' said the lazzarone, stepping up to him; 'you
+have lost something, I think?'
+
+"'I have lost a cambric handkerchief.'
+
+"'Your excellency has not lost it; it has been stolen from him.'
+
+"'And who stole it?'
+
+"'What will your excellency give me if I find him the thief?'
+
+"'I will give you a piastre.'
+
+"'I must have two.'
+
+"'You shall. Hallo! What are you doing?'
+
+"'I am stealing your silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'In order to find my cambric one?'
+
+"'Yes.'
+
+"'And where will both of them be?'
+
+"'In the same pocket. The person to whom I shall give this handkerchief is
+the same to whom I have already given the other. Follow me, and observe
+what I do.'
+
+"The officer followed the lazzarone, who gave the handkerchief to the
+sbirro, and walked away. The latter had hardly put his prize in his pocket
+when the officer came up and seized him by the collar. The sbirro fell on
+his knees, but the officer was inexorable, and he was sent to prison. As
+the sbirro had himself been a lazzarone, he saw at once the trick that had
+been played him. He wanted to cheat his confederate, and his confederate
+had cheated him; but far from bearing him malice for having done so, the
+sbirro views the conduct of the lazzarone in the light of an exploit, and
+feels an additional respect for him in consequence. When he is released
+from prison, he will seek him out, and they will be hand and glove
+together. When that time comes, look to your pockets."
+
+We are introduced to Ferdinand IV. of Naples, King Nasone, as the
+lazzaroni nicknamed him; also to Padre Rocco, a popular preacher, and the
+idol of the lower classes of Neapolitans; and to Cardinal Perelli,
+remarkable for his simplicity, which quality, as may be supposed, loses
+nothing in passing through the hands of his present biographer. With his
+usual skill, M. Dumas glides from a ticklish story of which the cardinal
+is the hero, (a story that he does _not_ tell, for which forbearance we
+give him due credit, since he is evidently sorely tempted thereto,) to an
+account of the Vardarelli, a band of outlaws which for some time infested
+Calabria and the Capitanato.
+
+"Gaetano Vardarelli was a native of Calabria, and one of the earliest
+members of the revolutionary society of the Carbonari. When Murat, after
+for some time favouring that society, began to persecute it, Vardarelli
+fled to Sicily, and took service under King Ferdinand. He was then
+twenty-six years of age, possessing the muscles and courage of a lion, the
+agility of a chamois, the eye of an eagle. Such a recruit was not to be
+despised, and he was made sergeant in the Sicilian guards. On Ferdinand's
+restoration in 1815, he followed him to Naples; but finding that he was
+not likely ever to rise above a very subordinate grade, he became
+disgusted with the service, deserted, and took refuge in the mountains of
+Calabria. There two of his brothers, and some thirty brigands and outlaws,
+assembled around him and elected him their chief, with right of life and
+death over them. He had been a slave in the town; he found himself a king
+in the mountains.
+
+"Proceeding according to the old formula observed by banditti chiefs both
+in Calabria and in melodramas, Vardarelli proclaimed himself redresser
+general of wrongs and grievances, and acted up to his profession by
+robbing the rich and assisting the poor. The consequence was, that he soon
+became exceedingly dreaded by the former, and exceedingly popular among
+the latter class; and at last his exploits reached the ears of King
+Ferdinand himself, who was highly indignant at such goings on, and gave
+orders that the bandit should immediately be hung. But there are three
+things necessary to hang a man--a rope, a gallows, and the man himself. In
+this instance, the first two were easily found, but the third was
+unfortunately wanting. Gendarmes and soldiers were sent after Vardarelli,
+but the latter was too cunning for them all, and slipped through their
+fingers at every turn. His success in eluding pursuit increased his
+reputation, and recruits flocked to his standard. His band soon doubled
+its numbers, and its leader became a formidable and important person,
+which of course was an additional reason for the authorities to wish to
+capture him. A price was set on his head, large bodies of troops sent in
+search of him, but all in vain. One day the Prince of Leperano, Colonel
+Calcedonio, Major Delponte, with a dozen other officers, and a score of
+attendants, were hunting in a forest a few leagues from Bari, when the cry
+of '_Vardarelli_!' was suddenly heard. The party took to flight with the
+utmost precipitation, and all escaped except Major Delponte, who was one
+of the bravest, but, at the same time, one of the poorest, officers of the
+whole army. When he was told that he must pay a thousand ducats for his
+ransom, he only laughed, and asked where he was to get such a sum.
+Vardarelli then threatened to shoot him if it was not forthcoming by a
+certain day. The major replied that it was losing time to wait; and that,
+if he had a piece of advice to give his captor, it was to shoot him at
+once. The bandit at first felt half inclined to do so; but he reflected
+that the less Delponte cared about his life, the more ought Ferdinand to
+value it. He was right in his calculation; for no sooner did the king
+learn that his brave major was in the hands of the banditti, than he
+ordered the ransom to be paid out of his privy purse, and the major
+recovered his freedom.
+
+"But Ferdinand had sworn the extermination of the banditti with whom he
+was thus obliged to treat as from one potentate to another. A certain
+colonel, whose name I forget, and who had heard this vow, pledged himself,
+if a battalion were put under his command, to bring in Vardarelli, his two
+brothers, and the sixty men composing his troop, bound hand and foot, and
+to place them in the dungeons of the Vicaria. The offer was too good to be
+refused; the minister of war put five hundred men at the disposal of the
+colonel, who started with them at once in pursuit of the outlaw. The
+latter was soon informed by his spies of this fresh expedition, and _he_
+also made a vow, to the effect that he would cure his pursuer, once and
+for all, of any disposition to interfere with the Vardarelli.
+
+"He began by leading the poor colonel such a dance over hill and dale,
+that the unfortunate officer and his men were worn out with fatigue; then,
+when he saw them in the state that he wished, he caused some false
+intelligence to be conveyed to them at two o'clock one morning. The
+colonel fell into the snare, and started immediately to surprise
+Vardarelli, whom he was assured was in a little village at the further
+extremity of a narrow pass, through which only four men could pass abreast.
+He made such haste that he marched four leagues in two hours, and at
+daybreak found himself at the entrance of the pass, which, however, seemed
+so peculiarly well adapted for an ambuscade, that he halted his battalion,
+and sent on twenty men to reconnoitre. In a quarter of an hour the twenty
+men returned. They had not met a single living thing. The colonel
+hesitated no longer, and entered the defile; but, on reaching a spot about
+halfway through it, where the road widened out into a sort of platform
+surrounded by high rocks and steep precipices, a shout was suddenly heard,
+proceeding apparently from the clouds, and the poor colonel looking up,
+saw the summits of the rocks covered with brigands, who levelled their
+rifles at him and his soldiers. Nevertheless, he began forming up his men
+as well as the nature of the ground would permit, when Vardarelli himself
+appeared upon a projecting crag. 'Down with your arms, or you are dead
+men!' he shouted in a voice of thunder. The bandits repeated his summons,
+and the echoes repeated their voices, so that the troops, who had not made
+the same vow as their colonel, and who thought themselves surrounded by
+greatly superior numbers, cried out for quarter, in spite of the
+entreaties and menaces of their unfortunate commander. Then Vardarelli,
+without leaving his position, ordered them to pile their arms, and march
+to two different places which he pointed out to them. They obeyed; and
+Vardarelli, leaving twenty of his men in their ambush, came down with the
+remainder, who immediately proceeded to render the Neapolitan muskets
+useless (for the moment at least) by the same process which Gulliver
+employed to extinguish the conflagration of the palace at Lilliput.
+
+"The news of this affair put the king in very bad humour for the first
+twenty-four hours; after which time, however, the love of a joke
+overcoming his anger, he laughed heartily, and told the story to every one
+he saw; and as there are always lots of listeners when a king narrates,
+three years elapsed before the poor colonel ventured to show his face at
+Naples and encounter the ridicule of the court."
+
+The general commanding in Calabria takes the matter rather more seriously,
+and vows the destruction of the banditti. By offers of large pay and
+privileges, they are induced to enter the Neapolitan service, and prove
+highly efficient as a troop of gendarmes. But the general cannot forget
+his old grudge against them; although, for lack of an opportunity, and on
+account of the desperate character of the men, he is obliged to defer his
+revenge for some time. At last he succeeds in having their leaders
+assassinated, and by pretending great indignation, and imprisoning the
+perpetrators of the deed, he lulls the suspicions of the remaining bandits,
+who elect new officers, and on an appointed day, proceed to the town of
+Foggia to have their election confirmed. Only eight of them, apprehensive
+of treachery, refuse to accompany their comrades. The remaining thirty-one,
+and a woman who would not leave her husband, obey the general's summons.
+
+"It was a Sunday, the review had been publicly announced, and the square
+was thronged with spectators. The Vardarelli entered the town in perfect
+order, armed to the very teeth, but giving no sign of hostility or
+mistrust. On reaching the square, they raised their sabres, and with one
+voice exclaimed--'_Viva il Re_!' The general appeared on his balcony to
+acknowledge their salute. The aide-de-camp on duty came down to receive
+them, and after complimenting them on the beauty of their horses and good
+state of their arms, desired them to file past under the general's window,
+which they did with a precision worthy of regular troops. They then formed
+up again in the middle of the square, and dismounted.
+
+"The aide-de-camp went into the house again with the list of the three new
+officers; the Vardarelli were standing by their horses, when suddenly
+there was a great confusion and movement in the crowd, which opened in
+various places, and down every street leading to the square, a column of
+Neapolitan troops was seen advancing. The Vardarelli were surrounded on
+all sides. Perceiving at once that they were betrayed, they sprang upon
+their horses and drew their sabres; but at the same moment the general
+took off his hat, which was the signal agreed upon; the command, '_Faccia
+in terra_,' was heard, and the spectators, throwing themselves on their
+faces, the soldiers fired over them, and nine of the brigands fell to the
+ground, dead or mortally wounded. Those who were unhurt, seeing that they
+had no quarter to expect, dismounted, and forming a compact body, fought
+their way to an old castle in which they took refuge. Two only, trusting
+to the speed of their horses, charged the group of soldiers that appeared
+the least numerous, shot down two of them, and succeeded in breaking
+through the others and escaping. The woman owed her life to a similar
+piece of daring, effected, however, on another point of the enemy's line.
+She broke through, and galloped off, after having discharged both her
+pistols with fatal effect.
+
+"The attention of all was now turned to the remaining twenty Vardarelli,
+who had taken refuge in the ruined castle. The soldiers advanced against
+them, encouraging one another, and expecting to encounter an obstinate
+resistance; but, to their surprise, they reached the gate of the castle
+without a shot being fired at them. The gate was soon beaten in, and the
+soldiers spread themselves through the halls and galleries of the old
+building. But all was silence and solitude; the bandits had disappeared.
+
+"After an hour passed in rummaging every corner of the place, the
+assailants were going away in despair, convinced that their prey had
+escaped them; when a soldier, who was stooping down to look through the
+air-hole of a cellar, fell, shot through the body.
+
+"The Vardarelli were discovered; but still it was no easy matter to get at
+them. Instead of losing men by a direct attack, the soldiers blocked up
+the air-hole with stones, set a guard over it, and then going round to the
+door of the cellar, which was barricadoed on the inner side, they heaped
+lighted fagots and combustibles against it, so that the staircase was soon
+one immense furnace. After a time the door gave way, and the fire poured
+like a torrent into the retreat of the unfortunate bandits. Still a
+profound silence reigned in the vault. Presently two carbine shots were
+fired; two brothers, determined not to fall alive into the hands of their
+enemies, had shot each other to death. A moment afterwards an explosion
+was heard; a bandit had thrown himself into the flames, and his cartridge
+box had blown up. At last the remainder of the unfortunate men being
+nearly suffocated, and seeing that escape was impossible, surrendered at
+discretion, were dragged through the air-hole, and immediately bound hand
+and foot, and conveyed to prison.
+
+"As to the eight who had refused to come to Foggia, and the two who had
+escaped, they were hunted down like wild beasts, tracked from cavern to
+cavern, and from forest to forest. Some were shot, others betrayed by the
+peasantry, some gave themselves up, so that, before the year was out, all
+the Vardarelli were dead or prisoners. The woman who had displayed such
+masculine courage, was the only one who finally escaped. She was never
+heard of afterwards."
+
+M. Dumas finds that the climate of Naples, delightful as it is, has
+nevertheless its little drawbacks and disadvantages. He returns one night
+from an excursion in the environs, and has scarcely got into bed, when he
+is almost blown out of it again by a tornado of tropical violence.
+
+"At midnight, when we returned to Naples, the weather was perfect, the sky
+cloudless, the sea without a ripple. At three in the morning I was
+awakened by the windows of my room bursting open, their eighteen panes of
+glass falling upon the floor with a frightful clatter. I jumped out of bed,
+and felt that the house was shaking. I thought of Pliny the Elder, and
+having no desire for a similar fate, I hastily pulled on my clothes and
+hurried out into the corridor. My first impulse had apparently been that
+of all the inmates of the hotel, who were all standing, more or less
+dressed, at the doors of their apartments; amongst others, Jadin, who made
+his appearance with a phosphorus box in his hand, and his dog Milord at
+his heels. 'What a terrible draught in the house!' said he to me. This
+same draught, as he called it, had just carried off the roof of the Prince
+of San Feodoro's palace, including the garrets and several servants who
+were sleeping in them.
+
+"My first thought had been of an eruption of Vesuvius, but there was no
+such luck for us; it was merely a hurricane. A hurricane at Naples,
+however, is rather different from the same thing in any other European
+country.
+
+"Out of the seventy windows of the hotel, three only had escaped damage.
+The ceilings of seven or eight rooms were rent across. There was a crack
+extending from top to bottom of the house. Eight shutters had been carried
+away, and the servants were running down the street after them, just as
+one runs after one's hat on a windy day. The broken glass was swept away;
+as for sending for glaziers to mend the windows, it was out of the
+question. At Naples nobody thinks of disturbing himself at three in the
+morning. Besides, even had new panes been put in, they would soon have
+shared the fate of the old ones. We were obliged, therefore, to manage as
+well as we could with the shutters. I was tolerably lucky, for I had only
+lost one of mine. I went to bed again, and tried to sleep; but a storm of
+thunder and lightning soon rendered that impossible, and I took refuge on
+the ground-floor, where the wind had done less damage. Then began one of
+those storms of which we have no idea in the more northern parts of Europe.
+It was accompanied by a deluge such as I had never witnessed, except
+perhaps in Calabria. In an instant the Villa Reale appeared to be a part
+of the sea; the water came up to the windows of the ground-floor, and
+flooded the parlours. A minute afterwards, the servants came to tell M.
+Zill that his cellars were full, and his casks of wine floating about and
+staving one another. Presently we saw a jackass laden with vegetables come
+swimming down the street, carried along by the current. He was swept away
+into a large open drain, and disappeared. The peasant who owned him, and
+who had also been carried away, only saved himself from a like fate by
+clinging to a lamp-post. In one hour there fell more water than there
+falls in Paris during the two wettest months in the year.
+
+"Two hours after the cessation of the rain, the water had disappeared, and
+I then perceived the use of this kind of deluge. The streets were clean;
+which they never are in Naples except after a flood of this sort."
+
+One short anecdote, and we have done. After a long account of St Januarius,
+including the well-known miracle of the liquefaction of his blood, and
+some amusing illustrations of his immense popularity with the Neapolitans,
+M. Dumas, in two pithy lines, gives us the length, breadth, and thickness
+of a lazzarone's religion.
+
+"I was one day in a church at Naples," he says, "and I heard a lazzarone
+praying aloud. He entreated God to intercede with St Januarius to make him
+win in the lottery."
+
+On the whole, we think this one of the most amusing of M. Dumas's works,
+very light and sketchy, as is evident from our extracts; but at the same
+time giving a great deal of information concerning Naples, its environs,
+inhabitants, and customs, of much interest, and calculated to be highly
+useful to the traveller. It is also very free from a fault with which we
+taxed its author in a former paper, and we can scarcely call to mind a
+single line which it would be necessary to expunge, in order to render it
+fit reading for the most fastidious. As far as we ourselves are concerned,
+we heartily wish M. Dumas would travel over all the kingdoms of the earth,
+and write a book about each of them; and if he is as good company in a
+post-chaise as his books are at the chimney-corner, there are few things
+we should like better than to accompany him on his pilgrimage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.
+
+PART IX.
+
+
+  "Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
+  Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,
+  Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
+  Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
+  And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
+  Have I not in the pitched battle heard
+  Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?"
+
+        SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+The market-place was lighted up, and filled with dragoons. Leaving my
+hulans under cover of a dark street, and riding forward to reconnoitre, I
+saw with astonishment the utter carelessness with which they abandoned
+themselves to their indulgences in the midst of an irritated population.
+Some were drinking on horseback; some had thrown themselves on the benches
+of the market, and were evidently intoxicated. The people stood at the
+corners of the streets looking on, palpably in terror, yet as palpably
+indignant at the outrage of the military. From the excessive blaze in some
+of the windows, and the shrieks of females, I could perceive that plunder
+was going on, and that the intention was, after having ransacked the place,
+to set it on fire. Yet a strong body of cavalry mounted in the middle of
+the square, and keeping guard round a waggon on which a guillotine had
+been already erected, still made me feel that an attack would be hopeless.
+I soon saw a rush of the people from one of the side streets; a couple of
+dragoon helmets were visible above the crowd; and three or four carts
+followed, filled with young females in white robes and flowers, as if
+dressed for a ball. I gazed intently, to ascertain the meaning of this
+strange and melancholy spectacle. At this moment I felt my horse's bridle
+pulled, and saw the old noble at his head. "Now or never!" he cried, in a
+voice almost choked with emotion. "Those are destined for the guillotine.
+Barbarians! brigands!--they will murder my Amalia." He sank before me.
+"What! is this an execution?" I exclaimed. His answer was scarcely above a
+whisper, for he seemed fainting. "The villains have been sent," said he,
+"to burn the town; they have seized those children of our best families,
+compelled them to dress as they were dressed for the Prussian ball, and
+are now about to murder them by their accursed guillotine." Pointing to
+one lovely girl, who, pale as death, stood in the foremost of those
+vehicles of death, he exclaimed "Amalia! O, my Amalia!" The cart was
+already within a few feet of the scaffold when I gave the word to my
+troopers. The brave fellows answered my "Forward!" with a shout, charged
+sabre in hand, and in an instant had thrown themselves between the victims
+and the scaffold. Their escort, taken completely by surprise, was broken
+at the first shock; we dashed without loss of time on the squadrons
+scattered round the market, and swept it clear of them. Surprised,
+intoxicated, and unacquainted with our force--which they probably thought
+to be the advance of the whole Prussian cavalry--after having lost many
+men, for the peasantry showed no mercy on the dismounted, the regiment
+turned at full gallop to the open country. The townspeople now performed
+their part. The victims were hurried away by their families, among a storm
+of lamentations and rejoicings, tears and kisses. The old noble's daughter,
+half dead, was carried off in her father's arms, with a thousand
+benedictions on me. The guillotine was hewn down with a hundred axes, and
+I saw the fragments burning in the square. Its waggon was made to serve
+its country as a portion of a barricade; and with every vehicle, wheeled
+or unwheeled, which could be rolled out, the entrance to the streets was
+fortified with the national rapidity in any deed, good or ill, under the
+stars.
+
+After having appeased our hunger and that of our famishing horses, and
+being offered all the purses, which the French dragoons, however, had
+lightened nearly to the last coin, we finished the exploit by a general
+chant in honour of the ladies, and marched on our route, followed by the
+prayers of the whole community. This ended the only productive skirmish of
+the retreat. It fed us, broke the monotony of the march, and gave us
+something to talk of--and the soldier asks but little more. A gallant
+action had certainly been done; not the less gallant for its being a
+humane one; and even my bold hulans gave me credit for being a "smart
+officer," a title of no slight value in their dashing service.
+
+Yet what, as the poet Saadi says, is fortune but a peacock "a showy tail
+on a frightful pair of legs?" Our triumph was to be followed by a reverse.
+The burgundy and champagne of the old count's cellar had made us festive,
+and our voices were heard along the road with a gaiety imprudent in a
+hostile land. The sound of a trumpet in our front brought us to our senses
+and a dead stand. But we were in a vein of heroism and instead of taking
+to our old hussar habits, and slipping round the enemy's flanks, we
+determined to cut our way through them, if they had the whole cavalry of
+France as their _appui_. The word was given, and the spur carried us
+through a strong line of cavalry posted across the road. The moon had just
+risen enough to show that there was a still stronger line a few hundred
+yards beyond, which it would be folly to touch. There was now no resource
+but to return as we went, which we did at full speed, and again broke up
+our antagonists. But again we saw squadron after squadron blocking up the
+road. All was now desperate. But Frederick's law of arms was well
+known--"the officer of cavalry who _waits to be charged_, must be broke."
+We made a plunge at our living circumvallation; but the French dragoons
+had now learned common sense--they opened for us--and when we were once
+fairly in, enveloped us completely; it was then a troop to a brigade;
+fifty jaded men and horses to fifteen hundred fresh from camp. What
+happened further I know not. I saw for a minute or two a great deal of
+pistol firing and a great deal of sabre clashing; I felt my horse stagger
+under me, at the moment when I aimed a blow at a gigantic fellow covered
+all over with helmet and mustache; a pistol exploded close at my ear as I
+was going down, and I heard no more.
+
+On opening my eyes again, I found the scene strangely altered. I was lying
+in a little chamber hung round with Parisian ornament--a sufficient
+contrast to a sky dark as pitch, or only illumined by carbines and the
+sparkles of sabres delving at each other. I was lying on an embroidered
+sofa--an equally strong contrast to my position under the bodies of fallen
+men and the heels of kicking horses. A showy Turkish cloak, or _robe de
+chambre_, had superseded my laced jacket, purple pantaloons, and hussar
+boots. I was completely altered as a warrior; and, from a glimpse which I
+cast on a mirror, surrounded with gilt nymphs and swains enough to have
+furnished a ballet, I saw in my haggard countenance, and a wound, which a
+riband but half concealed, across my forehead, that I was not less altered
+as a man.
+
+All round me looked so perfectly like the scenes with which I had been
+familiar in my romance-reading days, that, bruised and feeble as I was, I
+almost expected to find my pillow attended by some of those slight figures
+in long white drapery with blue eyes, which of old ministered to so many
+ill-used knights and exhausted pilgrims. But my reveries were broken up by
+a rough voice in the outer chamber insisting on an entrance into mine, and
+replied to by a weak and garrulous female one, refusing the admission. The
+dialogue was something of this order--
+
+"Strong or weak, well or ill, able or not able, I must send him, before
+twelve o'clock this night, to Paris."
+
+"But the poor gentleman's wounds are still unhealed."
+
+"Still he must set out. The '_malle poste_' will be at the door; and, if
+he had fifty wounds on him, he must go. The marquis is halfway to Paris by
+this time; perhaps more than halfway to the guillotine."
+
+This was followed by a burst of sobs and broken exclamtions from the
+female, whom I discovered, by her sorrowing confessions, to have been a
+nurse in the family.
+
+"Well," was the ruffian's reply; "women of all ages are fools: what is it
+to you whether this young fellow is shot or hanged? He was taken in arms
+against the Republic--one and indivisible. All the enemies of France must
+perish!"
+
+The old woman now partially opened the door, to see whether I slept; and I
+closed my eyes, for the purpose of hearing all that was to be heard
+without interruption. The speaker, whom I alternately took for the
+_gendarme_ of the district, and the executioner, gave went to his swelling
+soul in the national style.
+
+"What! leave _me_! leave Jean Jacques Louis Gilet in charge of this
+wretched aristocrat, while I should be marching with my battalion, and at
+its head too, if merit meets its reward, to sweep the foes of the Republic
+from the face of the earth. No; I shall not remain in this paltry place,
+solicitor of a village, when I ought to be on the highest seat of
+justice--or playing the part of arresting aristocrats, when I might be
+commandant of a brigade, marching over the bodies of the crowned tyrants
+of the earth to glory!"
+
+As his harangue glowed, his pace quickened, and his voice grew more
+vehement; at length, probably impatient of the time which lay between him
+and the first offices of the Republic, he overpowered the resistance of
+the nurse, and rushed into the chamber. Throwng himself into a theatrical
+attitude before a mirror--for what Frenchman ever passes one without a
+glance of happy recognition?--"Rise, aristocrat!" he cried, in the tone of
+Talma calling up the shade of Caesar. "Rise, and account to the world for
+your crimes against the liberty of man!"
+
+I looked with such surprise on this champion of the sons of Adam--a little
+meagre creature, who seemed to be shaped on the model of one of his own
+pens, stripped, withered, and ink-dried--that I actually burst into
+laughter. His indignation rose, and, pulling out a pistol with one hand,
+and a roll of paper from his bosom with the other, he presented them
+together. I perceived, as I lay on my pillow, that the pistol was without
+a lock, and thus was comforted; but the paper was of a more formidable
+description. It was the famous decree of "Fraternization," by which France
+pronounced the fall of her own monarchy, declared "that she would grant
+succour to every people who wished to recover their liberty," and
+commanded her generals "to aid all such, and to defend all citizens who
+might be troubled in the cause of freedom."
+
+This paper indeed startled me; it was the consummation which I had dreaded
+so long. I saw at once that France, in those wild words, had declared war
+against every throne in Europe, and that we were now beginning the era of
+struggle and suffering which Mordecai's strong sense had predicted, and of
+which no human sagacity could foresee the end. My countenance probably
+showed the impression which this European anathema had made upon me; for
+Monsieur Gilet became more heroic than ever, tore his grizzled curls,
+throwing aside his pistol, which he had at length discovered to be _hors
+de combat_, and drawing the falchion which clattered at his heels, and was
+nearly as long as himself, flourished it in quick march backward and
+forward before the mirror--that mirror never forgotten!--in all the
+whirlwind of his rage, and panted for the conquest of "perfidious Albion,"
+the "traitor" Pitt, and the whole brood of hoary power. I was too feeble
+to turn him out of the room, and too contemptuous to reply. But his
+overthrow was not the further off. The old nurse, who, old as she was,
+still retained some of the sinews and all the irritability of a stout
+Champenoise peasant, roused by his insults to the aristocracy, one of whom
+she probably regarded herself, from having lived so long under their roof,
+watched her opportunity, made a spring at him like a wild-cat, wrested the
+sabre from his hand, and, grasping the struggling and screaming little
+functionary in her strong arms, carried him like a child out of the room.
+
+She then returned, and having locked the door to prevent his second inroad,
+sat down by the side of my couch, and, with the usual passion of women
+after strong excitement, burst into exclamations and tears. What I could
+collect from her broken narrative, was little more than the commonplace of
+national misery in that fearful time. She had been a servant in the family
+of the nobleman whose daughter I had saved from death. She had been the
+nurse of the young countess; and all the blessings that sorrow and
+gratitude ever gathered together, could not be exceeded by the praises
+which she poured upon my head. It had been rumoured in the town that I was
+attacked and killed by a body of cavalry sent to revenge the rout of their
+comrades. And the Marquis Lanfranc--I now first learned the name of my
+noble entertainer--had gone forth to look for my remains in the field. I
+was found still breathing, and to avoid further danger was carried to this
+dwelling, a hunting-lodge in the heart of the forest; there I had been
+attended by the family physician only, and, after a week of insensibility,
+had given signs of recovery. The marquis's humanity had brought evil on
+himself. His visits to the lodge had been remarked, and on this very
+morning he had been arrested, and conveyed with his daughter, in a
+carriage escorted by _gendarmes_ to the capital. My detection followed of
+course; papers found on my person had proved that I was an agent of
+England; and the officious M. Gilet had spent the morning in exhibiting to
+the peasantry of the neighbourhood the order of the "Committee of Public
+Safety," a name which froze the blood, to take me under his charge, and
+conduct me forthwith to their tribunal. I tell all this in my own way; for
+the dame's sighs, sobs, and vehement indignation, would have defied all
+record.
+
+My prospect was now black enough, for justice was a word unheard of in the
+present condition of things; and my plea of being an Englishman, and in
+the civil service of my country, would have been a death-warrant. I must
+acknowledge, too, that I had fairly thrown it away by my adoption of the
+Prussian sabre. I might well be now in low spirits; for the guillotine was
+crushing out life at that moment in every province of France, and the
+thirst of public curiosity was to be fed by nothing but blood. Yet, even
+in that moment, let me give myself credit for the recollection, my first
+enquiry was for the fate of my squadron. The old woman could tell me but
+little on the subject; but that little was consolatory. The French
+troopers, who had come back triumphing into the town, had not brought any
+Prussian prisoners: two or three foreigners, who had lost their horses,
+were sheltered in her master's stables until they could make their escape;
+and of them she had heard no more. The truth is, that nothing is more
+difficult in war than to catch a hussar who understands his business; and
+the probability was, that the chief part of them had slipped away, leaving
+the French to sabre each other in the dark. The fall of my horse had
+brought me down, otherwise I might have escaped the shot which stunned me,
+and been at that hour galloping to Berlin.
+
+Monsieur Gilet, with some of the civic authorities, paid me a second visit
+in the evening, to prepare me for my journey. To me it was become
+indifferent whether I died in the carriage or by the edge of the
+guillotine; the journey was short in either case, and the shorter and
+sooner the better. I answered none of their interrogatories; told them I
+was at their disposal; directed the old woman to pack up whatever
+travelling matters remained to me, and to remember me to her master and
+mistress, if she ever should see them in this world; shook her strong old
+hand, and bade God bless her. In return, she kissed me on both cheeks,
+whispered a thousand benedictions, and left the room violently sobbing;
+yet with a parting glance at Monsieur Gilet and his _collaborateurs_, so
+mingled of wrath and ridicule, that it was beyond all my deciphering.
+
+  "Time and the hour run through the longest day,"
+
+says the great poet; and, with the coming of midnight, a _chaise de poste_
+drew up at the door. As I was a prisoner of importance, M. Gilet was not
+suffered to take all the honour of my introduction to the axe on himself;
+and the mayor and deputy-mayor of the district insisted on this
+opportunity of making themselves known to the supreme Republic. They
+mounted the box in front, a couple of gendarmes sat behind, M. Gilet took
+his seat at my side, and, with an infinite cracking of whips, we rushed
+out upon the causeway.
+
+I soon discovered that my companion was by no means satisfied with
+existing circumstances. The officiousness of the pair of mayors
+prodigiously displeased him. He broke forth--
+
+"See these two beggars," he exclaimed, "pretending to patriotism! They
+have no energy, no courage, no civism. Why, _you_ might have remained for
+a twelvemonth under their very nostrils before they would have found you
+out. Gilet is the man for the service of his country." Merely to stop the
+torrent of his complainings, I asked him some vague questions relative to
+the nobleman whom I was now following to Paris. But the patriot was not to
+be moved from his topic.
+
+"Hah! Citizen Lanfranc. All is over with him. He once held his head high
+enough, but it will soon be as low as ever it was high. Yet I could have
+forgiven his aristocracy, if he had not put these two 'chiens' above me."
+
+The position in which the mayor and his deputy sat, on the box of the
+chaise, continually presenting them to the eye of my companion, kept his
+choler peculiarly active.
+
+"One of these fellows," he exclaimed, "was the Marquis's cook, another his
+perruquier! _I_ was his tailor. Every man of taste and talent knows the
+superiority of _my_ profession; for what is the first of noblemen without
+elegance of costume, or what indeed would man himself be without my art,
+the noblest and the earliest art of mankind? And yet he made these two
+'brigands' mayor and deputy--_peste_! I did my duty. I denounced him on
+the spot. I did more. The aristocrat had a faction in the town. It was
+filled with his dependents. In fact, it had been built on his grounds, and
+tenanted by the old hangers-on of the family. So, to make a clear stage, I
+denounced the town." He clapped his hands with exultation at this civic
+triumph.
+
+My recollection of the miseries which his malice had caused roused me into
+wrath, and, rash as the act was, I grasped him by the collar, with the
+full intent of throwing the little writhing wretch out of the window; but,
+while I was lifting him from the seat to which he clung screaming for help,
+and had already forced him halfway outside, a shot whistled close by the
+head of the postilion, which brought him to a full stop. "Mon
+Dieu!--Brigands!" exclaimed Monsieur Gilet; and, dropping back into the
+carriage, attempted to make a screen of my body by slipping his adroitly
+behind me. Two or three more discharges rattled through the trees,
+followed by a rush of peasants, who unceremoniously knocked down the two
+officials in front, and began a general scuffle with the gendarmes. The
+night was so dark, that I could discover nothing of the _mêlée_ but by the
+blaze of the fusils. All, however, was quiet in a few moments, by the
+disappearance of the gendarmes, and the complete capture of the convoy--M.
+Gilet, mayors, and all. Whether we had fallen into the hands of highwaymen,
+or of stragglers from the French army, was doubtful for a while, as not a
+syllable was spoken, nor a sound uttered, except by the unhappy
+functionaries, who grumbled prodigiously as they were dragged along
+through "rough and smooth, moss and mire," and whose pace was evidently
+quickened by many a kick and blow of the fusil. This was a rude march for
+me, too, with my unhealed wound, and my week's sojourn in bed; but I was
+treated, if not with tenderness, without incivility, while my _compagnons
+de voyage_ were insulted with every contemptuous phrase in a vocabulary at
+least as rich in those matters as any other in Europe. At length, after
+about an hour's rapid movement, we reached an open ground, and the door of
+one of the wide, old, staring, yet not uncomfortable farmhouses which are
+to be found in the northern provinces of France.
+
+Signs of comfort within were visible even at a distance, and the light of
+a huge wood fire had been seen for the last quarter of an hour gleaming
+through the woods, and leaving us in doubt whether we were approaching a
+horde of gipsies, or about to realize the classic scenes of Gil Blas.
+
+
+But it was only a farm-house after all. The good dame of the house, with
+an enormous cap, enormous petticoats, enormous earrings, and all the
+glaring good-humour of a countenance of domestic plenty and power, came to
+meet us on the threshold; and her reception of me was ardent, to the very
+verge of stranglulation. Nothing could exceed her rapture at the sight of
+me, or the fierceness of her embraces, except her indignation at the sight
+of my traveling companions. Her disgust at the mayor and his deputy--and
+certainly after their night trip they were not figures to charm the
+eye--was pitched in the highest key of scorn, so as to be surpassed only
+by the torrent of contempt which her well-practised elocution poured upon
+the "_traître tailleur._" I really believe, that, if she could have
+boiled him in the huge soup-kettle which bubbled upon the fire, without
+spoiling our supper, she would have flung him in upon the spot. The
+peasants who had captured us--bold, tall fellows, well dressed and well
+armed with cutlass and fusil, in the style of the
+_gardes-de-chasse_--could scarcely be kept from taking them out to the
+next tree, to make marks of them; and it was probably by my intercession
+alone that they were consigned to an outer house for the night. How the
+scene was to end with me, I knew not; though the jovial visage of my
+protectress showed me that I was secure. But the prisoners had no sooner
+been flung out of the door than I was ushered into an inner room, prepared
+with somewhat more of attention; where, to my great surprise and delight,
+the Marquis Lanfranc came forward to shake my hand, and, with a thousand
+expressions of gratitude, made me known to his daughter. The adventure was
+of the simplest order. The arrest of the Marquis was, of course, known in
+an instant, and a party of his foresters had immediately determined to
+take the law into their own hands--had posted themselves on the road by
+which his carriage was to pass, and had released him without difficulty.
+My release was merely a sequel to the drama. I had been left in the
+hunting-lodge by its owner, under the impression that an individual who
+could not be moved without hazard to life, would escape the vengeance of
+village patriotism. But the nurse, whom he had placed in charge of me, had
+no sooner ascertained that I was arrested, than she sent an express to the
+farm-house. The consequence naturally followed in my liberty; and the
+night which I expected to have spent freezing on my way to the dungeon,
+presented me with the pleasant exchange of hospitable shelter, the society
+of a most accomplished man, and his graceful handsome daughter; and last,
+not least, a couple of kisses from my late nurse, according to the custom
+of the country, as glowing and remorseless as those of my portly landlady
+herself.
+
+We sat for some hours, and scarcely felt them pass in the anxious topics
+which engrossed us; the perils of France, the prospects of the Allies, and
+the captivity of the unhappy Bourbons. Now and then the conversation
+turned on their own hair-breadth escapes, and those of their relatives and
+friends. Among the rest, the hazards of the De Tourville family were
+mentioned, and I heard the name of Clotilde pronounced with a sensation
+indescribable. The name was connected with such displays of fortitude,
+nobleness of spirit, and deep devotion to the royal cause, that, if I had
+loved before, I now honoured her. She had saved the lives of her household;
+she had, by an act of extraordinary, but most perilous affection, saved
+the life of her mother, at the moment when the first insurgency broke out;
+and, young as she was, she had exhibited so noble a union of generosity
+and strength of mind, that the Marquis's eyes filled with tears as he told
+it, and Amalia buried her forehead in her hands to conceal her convulsive
+emotions: what must have been mine!
+
+Our conversation was not unfrequently interrupted by bursts of merriment
+from the outer room, where the peasants were at supper provided by the
+Marquis for his bold rescuers--an indulgence which they seemed to enjoy
+with the highest zest imaginable. Songs were sung with very various kinds
+of merit in the performer, but all well received. Healths were proposed,
+in which the existing Government was certainly not much honoured; and, if
+the good wishes of the party could have sent the "Committee of Public
+Safety," the butcher cabinet of France, to the darkest spot on earth, or
+under it, its time would have been brief. But even this died away; the
+laugh subsided, the mirth grew silent, and at length the
+_gardes-de-chasse_ went away, making the forest ring with their
+professional whoops and holloas, the remnants of their honest revel. At
+length the Marquis and his daughter, who were to be on the wing at
+daybreak for the German frontier, and who had generously offered to take
+charge of my invalid frame in the same direction, retired; and wrapping
+myself up in a dark cloak, furnished by my mistress and formed to her
+showy proportions, I threw myself on the sofa, and was in the land of
+dreams.
+
+But though I slept, I did not rest. My fever, or my lassitude, or probably
+some presentiment of the troubled career into which I was to be plunged,
+made "tired nature's sweet restorer" a stepmother to me. I can never
+endure hearing the dreams of others, and thus I cannot suffer myself to
+inflict them on my hearers; but on that night, Queen Mab, like Jehu, drove
+her horses furiously. Every possible kind of disappointment, vexation, and
+difficulty; every conceivable shape of things, past and present, rushed
+through my brain; and all pale, fierce, disastrous, and melancholy. I was
+beckoned along dim shades by shapeless phantoms; I was trampled in battle;
+I was brought before a tribunal; I was on board a ship which blew up, and
+was flung strangling down an infinite depth in a midnight ocean. But this
+exceeded the privilege even of dreams. I made one desperate effort to rise,
+and awoke with a bound on the floor. There I found a real obstacle--a
+ruffian in a red cap. One strong hand was on my throat; and by the glimmer
+of the dying lantern, which hung from the roof, I saw the glitter of a
+pistol-barrel in the other. "Surrender in the name of the Republic!" were
+the words which told me my fate. Four or five wearers of the same ominous
+emblem, with sabres and pistols, were round me at the moment, and after a
+brief struggle I was secured. Cries were now heard outside the door, and a
+wounded gendarme was carried in, borne in the arms of his comrades. From
+their confused clamour, I could merely ascertain that the gendarmes who
+had escaped in the original _mêlée_, had obtained assistance, and returned
+on their steps. The farm-house had been surrounded, and the Marquis was
+indebted only to the vigilance of his peasantry for a second escape with
+his daughter. The _gardes-de-chasse_ had kept the gendarmes at bay until
+their retreat was secure; and the post-chaise which had brought M. Gilet
+and his coadjutors, was, by this time, some leagues off, at full speed,
+beyond the fangs of Republicanism.
+
+This at least was comfort, though I was left behind. But it was clear that
+the gallant old noble was blameless in the matter, and that nothing was to
+be blamed but my habitual ill luck. "_En route_ for Paris," was the last
+order which I heard; and with a gendarme, in the strange kind of
+post-waggon which was rolled out from the farmer's stable, I was
+dispatched, before daybreak, on my startling journey.
+
+I found my gendarme a facetious fellow; though his merriment might not be
+well adapted to cheer his prisoner. He whistled, he sang, he screamed, he
+stamped, to get rid of the ennui of travelling with so silent a companion.
+He told stories of his own prowess; libeled M. Gilet, who had got him
+beaten on this service in the first instance, and who seemed to be in the
+worst possible odour with man and woman; and abused all, mayors,
+deputy-mayors, and authorities, with the tongue of a leveler. But my
+facetious friend had his especial _chagrins_.
+
+"I have all my life," said he, "been longing to see Paris, and have never
+been able to stir a step beyond this stupid province. Yet I have had my
+chances too. I was once valet to a German count, and we were on the way to
+Paris together when the post-chaise was stopped, the baron was arrested as
+a swindler, and I was charged as his accomplice. He was sent to the
+galleys; I got off. I then had a second chance. I enlisted in a regiment
+of dragoons which was to be quartered in Versailles. But such was my fate,
+I had no sooner passed the first drill, when we were ordered off to
+Lorraine to watch old King Stanislaus, the Pole, who lived there like one
+of his own bears, frozen and fat. Still I was determined to see Paris. I
+asked leave of absence; the adjutant laughed at me, the colonel turned on
+his heel, and the provost-marshal gave me a week of the black-hole. But a
+week is but seven days after all, and on my seeing the parade again--I--"
+
+"You deserted?"
+
+"Not quite that," was the reply. "I took leave, and, as I had seen enough
+of the black hole already, I took good care to give the provost-marshal no
+notice on the subject. A fortnight's march brought me within sight of the
+towers of Notre-Dame. But as I was resting myself on the roadside, our
+adjutant, as ill luck would have it, came by in the _coupe_ of the
+diligence. He jumped out. I was seized, given up to the next guard-house,
+and after fitting me with a pair of fetters, by way of boots, I was
+ordered to take my passage with a condemned regiment for the West Indies.
+There I served ten years; I saw the regiment reduced to a skeleton by
+short rations and new rum; and returned the tenth representative of
+fifteen hundred felons. At last I have a chance; the gendarme of the
+village was so desperately mauled by the foresters in the attempt to carry
+you prisoner, that he has been forced to take to his bed, and let me take
+his place. The thing is certain now. _You_ will be guillotined, but I
+shall see Paris."
+
+Yet what is certain in this most changeful of possible worlds?
+
+  "Fate granted half the prayer,
+  The rest the gods dispersed in empty air."
+
+We had toiled through our long journey, rendered doubly long by the
+dreariest and deepest roads on earth, and were winding round the spur of
+Montmartre, when a troop of citizen heroes, coming forth to sweep the
+country of the retreating Prussians, and whose courage had risen to the
+boiling point by the news of the retreat, surrounded the carriage. My
+Prussian uniform was proof enough for the brains of the patriots; and the
+quick discovery of Parisian ears, that I had not learned my French in
+their capital, settled the question of my being a traitor. The gendarme
+joined in the charge with his natural volubility; but rather insisted
+rashly on his right to take his prisoner into Paris on his own behalf. I
+saw a cloud gathering on the brow of the _chef_, a short, stout, and
+grim-looking fellow, with the true Faubourg St Antoine physiognomy. The
+prize was evidently too valuable not to be turned to good account with the
+authorities; and he resolved on returning at the head of his brother
+patriots to present me as the first-fruits of his martial career. The
+dispute grew hot; my escort was foolish enough to clap his hand on the
+hilt of his sabre--an affront intolerable to a citizen, at the head of
+fifty or sixty _braves_ from the counter or the shambles; the result was,
+a succession of blows from the whole troop, which closed in my seeing him
+stripped of every thing, and flung into the _cachot_ of the _corps de
+garde_, from which his only view of his beloved Paris must have been
+through an iron _grille_.
+
+My captor, determined to enter the capital for once with eclat, seated
+himself beside me in the _chaise de poste_, and, surrounded by his
+pike-bearers, we began our march down the descent of the hill.
+
+My new friend was communicative. He gave his history in a breath. He had
+been a clerk in the office of one of the small tribunals in the south;
+inflamed with patriotism, and indignant at the idea of selling his talents
+at the rate of ten sous a-day, "in a rat-hole called a bureau," he had
+resolved on being known in the world, and to Paris he came. Paris was the
+true place for talent. His _civisme_ had become conspicuous; he had
+"assisted" at the birth of liberty. He had carried a musket on the 10th of
+August, and had "been appointed by the Republic to the command of the
+civic force," which now moved, before and behind me. He was a "_grand
+homme_" already. Danton had told him so within the last fortnight, and
+France and Europe would no sooner read his last pamphlet on the "Crimes of
+Kings," than his fame would be fixed with posterity.
+
+I believe that few men have passed through life without experiencing times
+when it would cost them little to lay it down. At least such times have
+occurred to me, and this was among them. Yet this feeling, whether it is
+to be called nonchalance or despair, has its advantages for the moment; it
+renders the individual considerably careless of the worst that man can do
+to him; and I began to question my oratorical judge's clerk on the events
+in the "city of cities." No man could take fuller advantage of having a
+listener at his command.
+
+"We have cut down the throne," said he, clapping his hands with exultation,
+"and now you may buy it for firewood. But you are an aristocrat, and of
+course a slave; while we have got liberty, equality, and a triumvirate
+that shears off the heads of traitors at a sign. Suspicion of being
+suspected is quite sufficient. Away goes the culprit; a true patriot is
+ordered to take possession of his house until the national pleasure is
+known; and thus every thing goes on well. Of course, you have heard of the
+clearance of the prisons. A magnificent work. Five thousand aristocrats,
+rich, noble, and enemies to their country, sent headless to the shades of
+tyrants. _Vive la Republique_! But a grand idea strikes me. You shall see
+Danton himself, the genius of liberty, the hero of human nature, the
+terror of kings." The thought was new, and a new thought is enough to turn
+the brain of the Gaul at any time. He thrust his head out of the window,
+ordered a general halt; and, instead of taking me to the quarters of the
+National, resolved to have the merit of delivering up an "agent of Pitt
+and English guineas" to the master of the Republic alone. "_A l'Abbaye_!"
+was his cry. But a new obstacle now arose in his troop; they had reckoned
+on a civic supper with their comrades of the guard; and the notion of
+bivouacking in front of the Abbaye, under the chilling wind and fierce
+showers which now swept down the dismal streets, was too much for their
+sense of discipline. The dispute grew angry. At length one of them, a huge
+and savage-looking fellow, who, by way of illustration, thrust his pike
+close to the little commandant's shrinking visage, bellowed out--
+
+"The people are not to be insulted. The people order, and all must obey!"
+Nothing could be more unanswerable, and no attempt was made to answer. The
+captain dropped back into the chaise, the troop took their own way, and my
+next glance showed the street empty. But the Frenchman finds comfort under
+all calamities. After venting his wrath in no measured terms on "rabble
+insolence," and declaring that laws were of no use when "_gueux_" like
+these could take them into their hands, he consoled himself by observing
+that, stripped as he was of his honours, the loss might be compensated by
+his profits; that the "vagabonds" might have expected to share the reward
+which the "grand Danton would infallibly be rejoiced to give for my
+capture, and that both the purse and the praise would be his own." "_A
+l'Abbaye_!" was the cry once more.
+
+We now were in motion again; and, after threading a labyrinth of streets,
+so dreary and so dilapidated as almost to give me the conception that I
+had never been in Paris before, we drove up to the grim entrance of the
+Abbaye. My companion left me in charge of the sentinel, and rushed in.
+"And is this," thought I, as I looked round the narrow space of the four
+walls, "the spot where so many hundreds were butchered; this the scene of
+the first desperate triumph of massacre; this miserable court the last
+field of so many gallant lives; these stones the last resting-place of so
+many whose tread had been on cloth of gold; these old and crumbling walls
+giving the last echo to the voices of statesmen and nobles, the splendid
+courtiers, the brilliant orators, and the hoary ecclesiastics, of the most
+superb kingdom of Europe!" Even by the feeble lamp-light, that rather
+showed the darkness than the forms of the surrounding buildings, it seemed
+to me that I could discover the colour of the slaughter on the ground; and
+there were still heaps in corners, which looked to me like clay suddenly
+flung over the remnants of the murdered.
+
+But my reveries were suddenly broken up by the return of the little
+captain, more angry than ever. He had missed the opportunity of seeing the
+"great man," who had gone to the Salpetrière. And some of the small men
+who performed as his jackals, having discovered that the captain was
+looking for a share in their plunder, had thought proper to treat him, his
+commission, and even his civism, with extreme contempt. In short, as he
+avowed to me, the very first use which he was determined to make of that
+supreme power to which his ascent was inevitable, would be to clear the
+_bureaux_ of France, beginning with Paris, of all those insolent and idle
+hangers-on, who lived only to purloin the profits, and libel the services,
+of "good citizens."
+
+"_A la Salpetrière_." There again disappointment met us. The great man had
+been there "but a few minutes before," and we dragged our slow way through
+mire and ruts that would have been formidable to an artillery waggon with
+all its team. My heart, buoyant as it had been, sank within me as I looked
+up at the frowning battlements, the huge towers, more resembling those of
+a fortress than of even a prison, the gloomy gates, and the general grim
+aspect of the whole vast circumference, giving so emphatic a resemblance
+of the dreariness and the despair within.
+
+"_Aux Carmes_!" was now the direction; for my conductor's resolve to earn
+his reward before daybreak, was rendered more pungent by this interview
+with the _gens de bureau_ at the Abbaye. He was sure that they would be
+instantly on the scent; and if they once took me out of his hands, adieu
+to dreams, of which Alnaschar, the glassman's, were only a type. He grew
+nervous with the thought, and poured out his whole vision of hopes and
+fears with a volubility which I should have set down for frenzy, if in any
+man but a wretch in the fever of a time when gold and blood were the
+universal and combined idolatries of the land.
+
+"You may think yourself fortunate," he exclaimed, "in having been in my
+charge! That brute of a country gendarme could have shown you nothing. Now,
+_I_ know every jail in Paris. I have studied them. They form the true
+knowledge of a citizen. To crush tyrants, to extinguish nobles, to avenge
+the cause of reason on priests, and to raise the people to a knowledge of
+their rights--these are the triumphs of a patriot. Yet, what teacher is
+equal to the jail for them all? _Mais voilà les Carmes_!"
+
+I saw a low range of blank wall, beyond which rose an ancient tower.
+
+"Here," said he, "liberty had a splendid triumph. A hundred and fifty
+tonsured apostles of incivism here fell in one day beneath the two-handed
+sword of freedom. A cardinal, two archbishops, dignitaries, monks, hoary
+with prejudices, antiquated with abuses, extinguishers of the new light of
+liberty, here were offered on the national shrine! _Chantons la
+Carmagnole_."
+
+But he was destined to be disappointed once more. Danton had been there,
+but was suddenly called away by a messenger from the Jacobins. Our
+direction was now changed again. "Now we shall be disappointed no longer.
+Once engaged in debate, he will be fixed for the night. _Allons_, you
+shall see the 'grand patriote,' 'the regenerator,' 'the first man in the
+world.' _Aux Jacobins_!"
+
+Our unfortunate postilion falling with fatigue on his horses' neck,
+attempted to propose going to an inn, and renewing our search in the
+morning; but the captain had made up his mind for the night, and, drawing
+a pistol from his breast, exhibited this significant sign pointed at his
+head. The horses, as tired as their driver, were lashed on. I had for some
+time been considering, as we passed through the deserted streets, whether
+it was altogether consistent with the feelings of my country, to suffer
+myself to be dragged round the capital at the mercy of this lover of lucre;
+but an apathy had come over my whole frame, which made me contemptuous of
+life. The sight of his pistol rather excited me to make the attempt, from
+the very insolence of his carrying it. But we still rolled on. At length,
+in one of the streets, which seemed darker and more miserable than all the
+rest, we were brought to a full stop by the march of a strong body of the
+National Guard, which halted in front of an enormous old building,
+furnished with battlement and bartizan. "_Le Temple_!" exclaimed my
+companion, with almost a shriek of exultation. I glanced upward, and saw a
+light with the pale glimmer which, in my boyish days, I had heard always
+attributed to spectres passing along the dim casements of a gallery. I
+cannot express how deeply this image sank upon me. I saw there only a huge
+tomb--the tomb of living royalty, of a line of monarchs, of all the
+feelings that still bound the heart of man to the cause of France. All now
+spectral. But, whatever might be the work of my imagination, there was
+terrible truth; enough before me to depress, and sting, and wring the mind.
+Within a step of the spot where I sat, were the noblest and the most
+unhappy beings in existence--the whole family of the throne caught in the
+snare of treason. Father, mother, sister, children! Not one rescued, not
+one safe, to relieve the wretchedness of their ruin by the hope that there
+was an individual of their circle beyond their prison bars--all consigned
+to the grave together--all alike conscious that every day which sent its
+light through their melancholy casements, only brought them nearer to a
+death of misery! But I must say no more of this. My heart withered within
+me as I looked at the towers of the Temple. It almost withers within me,
+at this moment, when I think of them. They are leveled long since; but
+while I write I see them before me again, a sepulchre; I see the mustering
+of that crowd of more than savages before the grim gate; and I see the
+pale glimmer of that floating lamp, which was then, perhaps, lighting the
+steps of Marie Antoinette to her solitary cell.
+
+Of all the sights of that melancholy traverse, this the most disheartened
+me, whatever had been my carelessness of life before. It was now almost
+scorn. The thoughts fell heavy on my mind. What was I, when such victims
+were prepared for sacrifice? What was the crush of my obscure hopes, when
+the sitters on thrones were thus leveled with the earth? If I perished in
+the next moment, no chasm would be left in society; perhaps but one or two
+human beings, if even they, would give a recollection to my grave. But
+here the objects of national homage and gallant loyalty, beings whose
+rising radiance had filled the eye of nations, and whose sudden fall was
+felt as an eclipse of European light, were exposed to the deepest
+sufferings of the captive. What, then, was I, that I should murmur; or,
+still more, that I should resist; or, most of all, that I should desire to
+protract an existence which, to this hour, had been one of a vexed spirit,
+and which, to the last hour of my career, looked but cloud on cloud?
+
+Some of this depression may have been the physical result of fatigue, for
+I had been now four-and-twenty hours without rest; and the dismal streets,
+the dashing rain, and the utter absence of human movement as we dragged
+our dreary way along, would have made even the floor of a dungeon welcome.
+I was as cold as its stone.
+
+At length our postilion, after nearly relieving us of all the troubles of
+this world, by running on the verge of the moat which once surrounded the
+Bastile, and where nothing but the screams of my companion prevented him
+from plunging in, wholly lost his way. The few lamps in this intricate and
+miserable quarter of the city had been blown out by the tempest, and our
+only resource appeared to be patience, until the tardy break of winter's
+morn should guide us through the labyrinth of the Faubourg St Antoine.
+However, this my companion's patriotism would not suffer. "The Club would
+be adjourned! Danton would be gone!" In short, he should not hear the
+Jacobin lion roar, nor have the reward on which he reckoned for flinging
+me into his jaws. The postilion was again ordered to move, and the turn of
+a street showing a light at a distance, he lashed his unfortunate horses
+towards it. Utterly indifferent as to where I was to be deposited, I saw
+and heard nothing, until I was roused by the postilion's cry of "Place de
+Grève."
+
+A large fire was burning in the midst of the gloomy square, round which a
+party of the National Guard were standing, with their muskets piled, and
+wrapped in their cloaks, against the inclemency of the night. Further off,
+and in the centre, feebly seen by the low blaze, was a wooden structure,
+on whose corners torches were flaring in the wind. "_Voilà, la
+guillotine_!" exclaimed my captor with the sort of ecstasy which might
+issue from the lips of a worshipper. As I raised my eyes, an accidental
+flash of the fire showed the whole outline of the horrid machine. I saw
+the glitter of the very axe that was to drop upon my head. My first
+sensation was that of deadly faintless. Ghastly as was the purpose of that
+axe, my imagination saw even new ghastliness in the shape of its huge
+awkward scythe-like steel; it seemed made for massacre. The faintness went
+off in the next moment, and I was another man. In the whole course of a
+life of excitement, I have never experienced so total a change. All my
+apathy was gone. The horrors of public execution stood in a visible shape
+before me at once. I might have fallen in the field with fortitude; I
+might have submitted to the deathbed, as the course of nature; I might
+have even died with exultation in some great public cause. But to perish
+by the frightful thing which shot up its spectral height before me; to be
+dragged as a spectacle to scoffing and scorning crowds--dragged, perhaps,
+in the feebleness and squalid helplessness of a confinement which might
+have exhibited me to the world in imbecility or cowardice; to be grasped
+by the ruffian executioner, and flung, stigmatized as a felon, into the
+common grave of felons--the thought darted through my mind like a jet of
+fire; but it gave me the strength of fire. I determined to die by the
+bayonets of the guard, or by any other death than this. My captor
+perceived my agitation, and my eye glanced on his withered and malignant
+visage, as with a smile he was cocking his pistol. I sprang on him like a
+tiger. In our struggle the pistol went off, and a gush of blood from his
+cheek showed that it had inflicted a severe wound. I was now his master,
+and, grasping him by the throat with one hand, with the other I threw open
+the door and leaped upon the pavement. For the moment, I looked round
+bewildered; but the report of the pistol had caught the ears of the guard,
+whom I saw hurrying to unpile their muskets. But this was a work of
+confusion, and, before they could snatch up their arms, I had made my
+choice of the darkest and narrowest of the wretched lanes which issue into
+the square. A shot or two fired after me sent me at my full speed, and I
+darted forward, leaving them as they might, to follow.
+
+How long I scrambled, or how often I felt sinking from mere weariness in
+that flight, I knew not. In the fever of my mind, I only knew that I
+twined my way through numberless streets, most of which have been since
+swept away; but, on turning the corner of a street which led into the
+Boulevard, and when I had some hope of taking refuge in my old hotel, I
+found that I had plunged into the heart of a considerable crowd of persons
+hurrying along, apparently on some business which strongly excited them.
+Some carried lanterns, some pikes, and there was a general appearance of
+more than republican enthusiasm, even savage ferocity, among them, that
+gave sufficient evidence of my having fallen into no good company. I
+attempted to draw back, but this would not be permitted; the words, "Spy,
+traitor, slave of the Monarchiques!" and, apparently as the blackest
+charge of all, "Cordelier!" were heaped upon me, and I ran the closest
+possible chance of being put to death on the spot. It may naturally be
+supposed that I made all kinds of protestations to escape being piked or
+pistoled. But they had no time to wait for apologies. The cry of "Death to
+the traitor!" was followed by the brandishing of half a dozen knives in
+the circle round me. At that moment, when I must have fallen helplessly, a
+figure stepped forward, and opening the slide of his dark lantern directly
+on his own face, whispered the word Mordecai. I recognised, I shall not
+say with what feelings, the police agent who had formerly conveyed me out
+of the city. He was dressed, like the majority of the crowd, in the
+republican costume; and certainly there never was a more extraordinary
+costume. He wore a red cap, like the cap of the butchers of the Faubourgs;
+an enormous beard covered his breast, a short Spanish mantle hung from his
+shoulders, a short leathern doublet, with a belt like an armoury, stuck
+with knives and pistols, a sabre, and huge trousers striped with red, in
+imitation of streams of gore, completed the patriot uniform. Some wore
+broad bands of linen round their waists, inscribed, "2d, 3d and 4th
+September,"--the days of massacre. These were its heros. I was in the
+midst of the _élite_ of murder.
+
+"Citizens," exclaimed the Jew in a voice of thunder, driving back the
+foremost, "hold your hands up; are you about to destroy a friend of
+freedom? Your knives have drunk the blood of aristocrats; but they are the
+defence of liberty. This citizen, against whom they are now unsheathed, is
+one of ourselves. He has returned from the frontier, to join the brave men
+of Paris, in their march to the downfall of tyrants. But out friends await
+us in the glorious club of the Jacobins. This is the hour of victory.
+Advance, regenerated sons of freedom! Forward, Frenchmen!"
+
+His speech had the effect. The rapid executors of public vengeance fell
+back; and the Jew, whispering to me, "You must follow us, or be
+killed,"--I chose the easier alternative at once, and stepped forward like
+a good citizen. As my protector pushed the crowd before him, in which he
+seemed to be a leader, he said to me from time to time, "Show no
+resistance. A word from you would be the signal for your death--we are
+going to the hall of the Jacobins. This is a great night among them, and
+the heads of the party will either be ruined to-night, or by morning will
+be masters of every thing. I pledge myself, if not for your safety, at
+least for doing all that I can to save you." I remained silent, as I was
+ordered; and we hurried on, until there was a halt in front of a huge old
+building. "The hall of the Jacobins," whispered the Jew, and again
+cautioned me against saying or doing any thing in the shape of reluctance.
+
+We now plunged into the darkness of a vast pile, evidently once a convent,
+and where the chill of the massive walls struck to the marrow. I felt as
+if walking through a charnel-house. We hurried on; a trembling light,
+towards the end of an immense and lofty aisle, was our guide; and the
+crowd, long familiar with the way, rushed through the intricacies where so
+many feet of monks had trod before them, and where, perhaps, many a deed
+that shunned the day had been perpetrated. At length a spiral stair
+brought us to a large gallery, where our entrance was marked with a shout
+of congratulation; and tumbling over the benches and each other, we at
+length took our seats in the highest part, which, in both the club and the
+National Assembly, was called, from its height, the Mountain, and from the
+characters which generally held it, was a mountain of flame. In the area
+below, once the nave of the church, sat the Jacobin club. I now, for the
+first time, saw that memorable and terrible assemblage. And nothing could
+be more suited than its aspect to its deeds. The hall was of such extent
+that a large portion of it was scarcely visible, and few lights which hung
+from the walls scarcely displayed even the remainder. The French love of
+decoration had no place here; neither statues nor pictures, neither
+gilding nor sculpture, relieved the heaviness of the building. Nothing of
+the arts was visible but their rudest specimens; the grim effigies of
+monks and martyrs, or the coarse and blackened carvings of a barbarous age.
+The hall was full; for the club contained nearly two thousand members, and
+on this night all were present. Yet, except for the occasional cries of
+approval or anger when any speaker had concluded, and the habitual murmur
+of every huge assembly, they might have been taken for a host of spectres;
+the area had so entirely the aspect of a huge vault, the air felt so thick,
+and the gloom was so feebly dispersed by the chandeliers. All was
+sepulchral. The chair of the president even stood on a tomb, an antique
+structure of black marble. The elevated stand, from which the speakers
+generally addressed the assembly, had the strongest resemblance to a
+scaffold, and behind it, covering the wall, were suspended chains, and
+instruments of torture of every horrid kind, used in the dungeons of old
+times; and though placed there for the sake of contrast with the mercies
+of a more enlightened age, yet enhancing the general idea of a scene of
+death. It required no addition to render the hall of the Jacobins fearful;
+but the meetings were always held at night, often prolonged through the
+whole night. Always stormy, and often sanguinary, daggers were drawn and
+pistols fired--assassination in the streets sometimes followed bitter
+attacks on the benches; and at this period, the mutual wrath and terror of
+the factions had risen to such height, that every meeting might be only a
+prelude to exile or the axe; and the deliberation of this especial night
+must settle the question, whether the Monarchy or the Jacobin club was to
+ascend the scaffold. It was the debate on the execution of the unhappy
+Louis XVI.
+
+The arrival of the crowd, among whom I had taken my unwilling seat,
+evidently gave new spirits to the regicides; the moment was critical. Even
+in Jacobinism all were not equally black, and the fear of the national
+revulsion at so desperate a deed startled many, who might not have been
+withheld by feelings of humanity. The leaders had held a secret
+consultation while the debate was drawing on its slow length, and Danton's
+old expedient of "terror" was resolved on. His emissaries had been sent
+round Paris to summon all his banditti; and the low _cafés_, the Faubourg
+taverns, and every haunt of violence, and the very drunkenness of crime,
+had poured forth. The remnant of the Marseillois--a gang of actual
+galley-slaves, who had led the late massacres--the paid assassins of the
+Marais, and the _sabreurs_ of the Royal Guard, who after treason to their
+king, had found profitable trade in living on the robbery and blood of the
+nobles and priests, formed this reinforcement; and their entrance into the
+gallery was recognised by a clapping of hands from below, which they
+answered by a roar, accompanied with the significant sign of clashing
+their knives and sabres.
+
+Danton immediately rushed into the Tribune. I had seen him before, on the
+fearful night which prepared the attack on the palace; but he was then in
+the haste and affected savageness of the rabble. He now played the part of
+leader of a political sect; and the commencement of his address adopted
+something of the decorum of public council. In this there was an artifice;
+for, resistless as the club was, it still retained a jealousy of the
+superior legislative rank of the assembly of national representatives, the
+Convention. The forms of the Convention were strictly imitated; and even
+those Jacobins who usually led the debate, scrupulously wore the dress of
+the better orders. Robespierre was elaborately dressed whenever he
+appeared in the Tribune, and even Danton abandoned the _canaille_ costume
+for the time. I was struck with his showy stature, his bold forehead, and
+his commanding attitude, as he stood waving his hand over the multitude
+below, as if he waved a sceptre. His appearance was received with a
+general shout from the gallery, which he returned by one profound bow, and
+then stood erect, till all sounds had sunk. His powerful voice then rang
+through the extent of the hall. He began with congratulating the people on
+their having relieved the Republic from its external dangers. His language
+at first was moderate, and his recapitulation of the perils which must
+have befallen a conquered country, was sufficiently true and even touching;
+but his tone soon changed, and I saw the true democrat. "What!" he cried,
+"are those perils to the horrors of domestic perfidy? What are the ravages
+on the frontier to poison and the dagger at our firesides? What is the
+gallant death in the field to assassination in cold blood? Listen,
+fellow-citizens, there is at this hour a plot deeper laid for your
+destruction than ever existed in the shallow heads of, or could ever be
+executed by the coward hearts of, their soldiery. Where is that plot? In
+the streets? No. The courage of our brave patriots is as proof against
+corruption as against fear." This was followed by a shout from the gallery.
+"Is it in the Tuileries? No; there the national sabre has cut down the
+tree which cast its deadly fruits among the nation. Where then is the
+focus of the plot--where the gathering of the storm that is to shake the
+battlements of the Republic--where that terrible deposit of combustibles
+which the noble has gathered, the priest has piled, and the king has
+prepared to kindle? Brave citizens, that spot is ----," he paused, looking
+mysteriously round, while a silence deep as death pervaded the multitude;
+then, as if suddenly recovering himself, he thundered out--"The Temple!"
+No language can describe the shout or the scene that followed. The daring
+word was now spoken which all anticipated; but which Danton alone had the
+desperate audacity to utter. The gallery screamed, howled, roared,
+embraced each other, danced, flourished their weapons, and sang the
+Marseillaise and the Carmagnole. The club below were scarcely less violent
+in their demonstrations of furious joy. Danton had now accomplished his
+task; but his vanity thirsted for additional applause, and he entered into
+a catalogue of his services to Republicanism. In the midst of the detail,
+a low but singularly clear voice was heard, from the extremity of the hall.
+
+"Descend, man of massacre!"
+
+I saw Danton start back as if he had been shot. At length, recovering his
+breath, he said feebly--
+
+"Citizens, of what am I accused?"
+
+"Of the three days of September," uttered the voice again, in a tone so
+strongly sepulchral, that it palpably awed the whole assemblage.
+
+"Who is it that insults me? who dares to malign me? What spy of the
+Girondists, what traitor of the Bourbons, what hireling of the gold of
+Pitt, is among us?" exclaimed the bold ruffian, yet with a visage which,
+even at the distance, I could observe had lost its usual fiery hue, and
+turned clay-colour. "Who accuses me?"
+
+"I!" replied the voice, and I saw a thin tall figure stalk up the length
+of the hall, and stand at the foot of the tribune. "Descend!" was the only
+word which he spoke; and Danton, as if under a spell, to my astonishment,
+obeyed without a word, and came down. The stranger took his place, none
+knew his name; and the rapidity and boldness of his assault suspended all
+in wonder like my own. I can give but a most incomplete conception of the
+extraordinary eloquence of this mysterious intruder. He openly charged
+Danton with having constructed the whole conspiracy against the
+unfortunate prisoners of September; with having deceived the people by
+imaginary alarms of the approach of the enemy; with having plundered the
+national treasury to pay the assassins; and, last and most deadly charge
+of all, with having formed a plan for a National Dictatorship, of which he
+himself was to be the first possessor. The charge was sufficiently
+probable, and was not now heard for the first time. But the keenness and
+fiery promptitude with which the speaker poured the charge upon him, gave
+it a new aspect; and I could see in the changing physiognomies round me,
+that the great democrat was already in danger. He obviously felt this
+himself; for starting up from the bench to which he had returned, he cried
+out, or rather yelled--
+
+"Citizens, this man thirsts for my blood. Am I to be sacrificed? Am I to
+be exposed to the daggers of assassins!" But no answering shout now arose;
+a dead silence reigned: all eyes were still turned on the tribune. I saw
+Danton, after a gaze of total helplessness on all sides, throw up his
+hands like a drowning man, and stagger back to his seat. Nothing could be
+more unfortunate than his interruption; for the speaker now poured the
+renewed invective, like a stream of molten iron, full on his personal
+character and career.
+
+"Born a beggar, your only hope of bread was crime. Adopting the profession
+of an advocate, your only conception of law was chicanery. Coming to Paris,
+you took up patriotism as a trade, and turned the trade into an imposture.
+Trained to dependence, you always hung on some one till he spurned you.
+You licked the dust before Mirabeau; you betrayed him, and he trampled on
+you; you took refuge in the cavern of Marat, until he found you too base
+even for his base companionship, and he, too, spurned you; you then clung
+to the skirts of Robespierre, and clung only to ruin. Viper! known only by
+your coils and your poison; like the original serpent, degraded even from
+the brute into the reptile, you already feel your sentence. I pronounce it
+before all. The man to whom you now cling will crush you. Maximilien
+Robespierre, is not your heel already lifted up to tread out the life of
+this traitor? Maximilien Robespierre," he repeated with a still more
+piercing sound, "do I not speak the truth?" "Have I not stripped the veil
+from your thoughts? Am I not looking on your heart?" He then addressed
+each of the Jacobin leaders in a brief appeal. "Billaud Varennes, stand
+forth--do you not long to drive your dagger into the bosom of this new
+tyrant? Collot d'Herbois, are you not sworn to destroy him? Couthon, have
+you not pronounced him perjured, perfidious, and unfit to live? St Just,
+have you not in your bosom the list of those who have pledged themselves
+that Danton shall never be Dictator; that his grave shall be dug before he
+shall tread on the first step of the throne; that his ashes shall be
+scattered to the four winds of heaven; that he shall never gorge on
+France?"
+
+A hollow murmur, like an echo of the vaults beneath, repeated the
+concluding words. The murmur had scarcely subsided when this extraordinary
+apparition, flinging round him a long white cloak, which he had hitherto
+carried on his arm, and which, in the dim light, gave him the look of one
+covered with a shroud, cried out in a voice of still deeper solemnity,
+"George Jacques Danton, you have this night pronounced the death of your
+king--I now pronounce your own. By the victims of the 20th of June--by the
+victims of the 10th of August--by the victims of the 2d of September--by
+the thousands whom your thirst of blood has slain--by the tens of
+thousands whom your treachery has sent to perish in a foreign grave--by
+the millions whom the war which you have kindled will lay in the field of
+slaughter--I cite you to appear before a tribunal, where sits a judge whom
+none can elude and none can defy. Within a year and a month, I cite you to
+meet the spirits of your victims before the throne of the Eternal."
+
+He stopped; not a voice was heard. He descended the steps of the Tribune,
+and stalked slowly through the hall; not a hand was raised against him. He
+pursued his way with as much calmness and security as if he had been a
+supernatural visitant, until he vanished in the darkness.
+
+This singular occurrence threw a complete damp on the regicidal ardour;
+and, as no one seemed inclined to mount the Tribune, the club would
+probably have broken up for the night, when a loud knocking at one of the
+gates, and the beating of drums, aroused the drowsy sitters on the benches.
+The gallery was as much awake as ever; but seemed occupied with evident
+expectation of either a new revolt, or a spectacle; pistols were taken out
+to be new primed, and the points and edges of knives duly examined. The
+doors at length were thrown open, and a crowd, one half of whom appeared
+to be in the last stage of intoxication, and the other half not far from
+insanity, came dancing and chorusing into the body of the building. In the
+midst of their troop they carried two busts covered with laurels--the
+busts of the regicides Ravaillac and Clement, with flags before them,
+inscribed, "They were glorious; for they slew kings!" The busts were
+presented to the president, and their bearers, a pair of _poissardes_,
+insisted on giving him the republican embrace, in sign of fraternization.
+The president, in return, invited them to the "honours of a sitting;" and
+thus reinforced, the discussion on the death of the unhappy monarch
+commenced once more, and the vote was carried by acclamation. The National
+Convention was still to be applied to for the completion of the sentence;
+but the decree of the Jacobins was the law of the land.
+
+I had often looked towards the gallery door, during the night, for the
+means of escape; but my police friend had forbade my moving before his
+return. I therefore remained until the club were breaking up, and the
+gallery began to clear. Cautious as I had been, I could not help
+exhibiting, from time to time, some disturbance at the atrocities of the
+night, and especially at the condemnation of the helpless king. In all
+this I had found a sympathizing neighbour, who had exhibited marked
+civility in explaining the peculiarities of the place, and giving me brief
+sketches of the speakers as they rose in succession. He had especially
+agreed with me in deprecating the cruelty of the regicidal sentence. I now
+rose to bid my gentlemanlike _cicerone_ good-night; but, to my surprise, I
+saw him make a sign to two loiterers near the door, who instantly pinioned
+me.
+
+"We cannot part quite so soon, Monsieur l'Aristocrat," said he; "and,
+though I much regret that I cannot have the honour of accommodating you in
+the Temple, near your friend Monsieur Louis Capet, yet you may rely on my
+services in procuring a lodging for you in one of the most agreeable
+prisons in Paris."
+
+I had been entrapped in the most established style, and I had nothing to
+thank for it but fortune. Resistance was in vain, for they pointed to the
+pistols within their coats; and with a vexed heart, and making many an
+angry remark on the treachery of the villain who had ensnared me--matters
+which fell on his ear probably with about the same effect as water on the
+pavement at my feet--I was put into a close carriage, and, with ny captors,
+carried off to the nearest barrier, and consigned to the governor of the
+well-known and hideous St Lazare.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+The Olympic Jupiter.
+
+  Calm the Olympian God sat in his marble fane,
+  High and complete in beauty too pure and vast to wane;
+  Full in his ample form, Nature appear'd to spread;
+  Thought and sovran Rule beam'd in his earnest head;
+  From the lofty foliaged brow, and the mightily bearded chin,
+  Down over all his frame was the strength of a life within.
+
+  Lovely a maid in twilight before the vision knelt,
+  Looking with upturn'd gaze the awe that her spirit felt.
+  Hung like the skies above her was bow'd the monarch mild,
+  Hearing the whisper'd words of the fair and panting child.
+  --Could she be dear to him as dews to ocean are,
+  Be in his wreath a leaf, on his robes a golden star!
+  Could she as incense float around his eternal throne,
+  Sound as the note of a hymn to his deep ear alone!
+
+  Lo! while her heart adoring still to the God exhales,
+  Speech from his glimmering lips on the silent air prevails:
+  --"Child of this earth, bewilder'd in thine aërial dream,
+  Turn thee to Powers that are, and not to those that seem.
+  All of fairest and noblest filling my graven form
+  First in a human spirit was breathing alive and warm.
+  Seek thou in him all else that he can evoke from nought,
+  Seek the creative master, the king of beautiful thought."
+
+  --Down the eyes of the maiden sank from the Thunderer's look,
+  Pale in her shame and terror, and yet with delight she shook
+  Swift on her brow she felt a crown by the God bestow'd,
+  Shading her face that now with a hope too lively glow'd.
+  Bending the Sculptor stood who wrought the work divine,
+  Godlike in voice he spake--Ever, oh, maid be mine!
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+A ROMAN IDYL.
+
+
+  Oh! blame not, friend, with scoff unfeeling,
+    The gentle tale of grief and wrong,
+  Which, all the pain of life revealing,
+    Yet teaches peace by thoughtful song.
+
+  The landscape round us wide expanded
+    As ere was heard the name of Rome;
+  And Rome, though fallen, our souls commanded,
+    In this her empire's earliest home.
+
+  Her brightness beam'd on each far mountain,
+    Her life made green the grass we trode,
+  Her memory haunted still the fountain,
+    And spread her shadows o'er the sod.
+
+  Her ruins told their tale of glory,
+    Decreed to that eternal sky;
+  And through that ancient grove, her story
+    With sibyl whisper seem'd to sigh.
+
+  The pile her wealthiest mourner builded,
+    In glimpse we caught through ilex gloom--
+  Metella's Tower, by sunshine gilded,
+    That beams alike on feast or tomb.
+
+  And on this plain, not yet benighted,
+    'Mid awful ages mouldering there,
+  Young hands in new-bloom flowers delighted,
+    Young eyes look'd bright in sunniest air.
+
+  Till we, Viterbo's wine-cup quaffing,
+    Which fairer lips refused to grace,
+  Could win by jest those lips to laughing,
+    And veil'd in folly wisdom's face.
+
+  But say, my friend, thou sage mysterious,
+    What Nymph, what Muse disown'd the strain
+  Which bade our heedless mirth be serious,
+    And woke our ears to nobler pain?
+
+  That region grave of plain and highland,
+    With Rome's grey ruin strewn around,
+  Is not a soft Calypso's island,
+    Nor fades at Truth's evoking sound.
+
+  High thoughts in words of quiet beauty
+    Accord with visions grand as these,
+  And song's imperishable duty
+    Has holier aims than but to please.
+
+  By word and image deeply wedded,
+    By cadence apt and varied rhyme,
+  To rouse the soul in sloth imbedded,
+    And tune its powers to life sublime.
+
+  By loftier shows of man's large being
+    Than man's dim actual hour displays,
+  To clear our eyes for purer seeing,
+    And nerve the flagging spirit's gaze.
+
+  By strains of bold heroic pleasure,
+    And action strong as thought conceives,
+  By many a doom-resounding measure
+    That best our selfish woes relieves;
+
+  By these to stir, by these to brighten,
+    By these to lift the soul from earth,
+  The Poet dares our joys to frighten,
+    And thrills the dirge of lazy mirth.
+
+  Ye Ruins, dust of empires vanish'd,
+    Ye mountains, clad with countless years,
+  From your great presence ne'er be banish'd
+    Sad songs that live in earnest ears:
+
+  Sad songs, the music of all sorrow,
+    Profound and calm as night's blue deep:
+  Accurst the dreams of any morrow
+    When man will feel he cannot weep.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+GOETHE
+
+
+  Alas! on earth his marvels done,
+    The noble German bosom lies,
+  His fatherland's Athenian son,
+    Amid the sage must largely rise!
+
+  Amid the sage the generous race
+    Of soaring thought and steadfast glow,
+  He breathes no more who gave a grace
+    To all our daily lot below.
+
+  He gave to man's encumber'd hours
+    The tuneful joys of truth serene,
+  And twined our life's neglected flowers
+    With nature's holiest evergreen.
+
+  Alas! for him the soul of fire,
+    For him of fancy's golden rays,
+  For him whose aims ascended higher
+    Than all that won a nation's praise!
+
+  We pause and ask--Why gloom'd the grave
+    For one of light so broadly mild?
+  And wonder beauty could not save
+    From death's deep night her eager child.
+
+  But could the lyre be heard again,
+    Its widow'd notes would seem to cry--
+  In all was he a man of men,
+    For them to live, like them to die.
+
+  What life inspires 'twas his to feel,
+    With ampler soul than all beside;
+  What earth's bright shows to few reveal,
+    His art for all expanded wide.
+
+  With earnest heed from hour to hour,
+    Through all his years of striving hope,
+  He fed his lamp, its light to shower
+    On paths where myriads dimly grope.
+
+  He taught nankind by toil, by love,
+    To cheer the world that must be theirs;
+  And ne'er to look for peace above,
+    By scorning earthly joys and cares.
+
+  Ah! pages full of grief and fear,
+    But all attuned to melody,
+  Vesuvio's flame reflected clear
+    In glassy seas of Napoli.
+
+  And on that sea we seem to float
+    In amber light, and catch from far,
+  'Mid ocean's boundless Voice, the note
+    Of girl who hymns the evening-star.
+
+  The sweetest word, the melting tone,
+    The pictured wisdom bright as day,
+  And Faust's remorse, and Tasso's groan,
+    And Dorothea's morning lay,
+
+  Glad Egmont, light of Clara's eyes,
+    Free Goetz, the warmth of manhood's noon,
+  And Mignon, all a tune of sighs,
+    And lorn Ottilia crush'd so soon.
+
+  Ah! tale that tells the life of all
+    To lovelier truth by fancy wrought,
+  And songs that e'en to us recall
+    The bliss a poet's vision caught!
+
+  All these are ours, yes, all--but he.
+    And who that lives can find a strain
+  Of worth like his the soul to free
+    From bonds of sublunary pain?
+
+  A strain like his we vainly seek
+    To sound above the singer's grave,
+  A voice empower'd like his to speak
+    The word our aching bosoms crave.
+
+  That word is not--Oh! not, farewell!
+    To thee whom all thy lays restore;
+  But deeply longs the heart to tell
+    A love thy smile accepts no more.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+HYMN OF A HERMIT.
+
+
+  Long the day, the task is longer;
+  Earth the strong by heaven the stronger.
+  Still is call'd to rise and brighten,
+    But, alas! how weak the soul;
+  While its inbred phantoms frighten,
+    While the past obscures the whole.
+
+  Shadows of the wise departed,
+  Be the brave, the loving-hearted;
+  Deathless dead, resounding, rushing,
+    From the morning-land of hope
+  Come, with viewless footsteps, crushing
+    Dreams that make the wing'd ones grope.
+
+  Socrates, the keen, the truthful,
+  In thy hoary wisdom youthful;
+  Smiling, fear-defying spirit,
+    From beside thy Grecian waves,
+  Teach us Norsemen to inherit
+    Thoughts whose dawn is life to graves.
+
+  Rome's Aurelius, thou the holy
+  King of earth, in goodness lowly,
+  From thy ruins by the Tiber,
+    Look with tearless aspect mild,
+  Till each agonizing fibre
+    Like thine own is reconciled.
+
+  Augustinus, bright and torrid,
+  Isles of green in deserts horrid
+  Once thy home, thy likeness ever!
+    We with sword no less divine
+  Would the good and evil sever,
+    In a larger world than thine.
+
+  Soft Petrarca, sweet and subtle,
+  Weaving still, with silver shuttle,
+  Moony veils for human feeling--
+    Thine the radiance from above,
+  Half-transfiguring, half-concealing,
+    Wounds and tears of earthly love.
+
+  Saxon rude, of thundering stammer,
+  Iron heart, by sin's dread hammer
+  Ground to better dust than golden,
+    May thy prophecy be true.
+  Melt the stern, the weak embolden;
+    Teach what Luther never knew.
+
+  Pale Spinosa, nursed in fable,
+  Painted hopes and portent sable,
+  Then an opener wisdom finding,
+    Let thy round and wintry sun
+  Chase the lurid vapour, blinding
+    Souls that seek the Holy One.
+
+  Thou from green Helvetia roaming,
+  Meteor pale in misty gloaming,
+  With a breast too fiercely burning;
+    Generous, tuneful, frail Rousseau!
+  Would that all to truth returning,
+    Gave, like thee, a tear to woe!
+
+  Eye of clear and diamond sparkle,
+  Where the Baltic waters darkle,
+  Lonely German seer of Reason,
+    Great and calm as Atlas old;
+  Through our formless foggy season,
+    Short thine adamantine cold.
+
+  Shelley, born of faith and passion,
+  Nobler far than gain and fashion;
+  Daring eaglet arm'd with lightning,
+    Firing soon thy native nest,
+  Still the eternal blaze is brightening
+    Ocean where thy pinions rest.
+
+  Heroes, prophets, bards, and sages,
+  Gods and men of climes and ages,
+  Conquerors of lifelong sorrow,
+    Torment that ye made your throne,
+  Help, Oh! help in us the morrow,
+  Full of triumph like your own.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE LUCKLESS LOVER
+
+
+    "If aught on earth assault may bide
+  Of ceaseless time and shifting tide,
+    Beloved! I swear to thee
+  It is the truth of hearts that love,
+  United in a world above
+    The moment's misty sea.
+
+    "Oh! sweeter than the light of dawn,
+  Than music in the woods withdrawn
+    From clamours of the crowd,
+  A new creation all our own,
+  Unvisited by scoff or groan,
+    Is faith in silence vow'd.
+
+    "Two hearts by reason nobly sad,
+  Nor rashly blind, nor lightly glad,
+    Possess they not a bliss
+  In their communion, felt and full,
+  Beyond all custom's deadly rule?
+    For life is only this.
+
+    "In sighs we met, in sighs and sobs,
+  Such grief as from the wretched robs
+    The hope to heaven allied:
+  Great calm was ours, a strength severe,
+  Though wet with many a scalding tear,
+    When soul to soul replied.
+
+  "Of thy dark eyes and gentle speech,
+  The memory has a power to teach
+    What know not many wise.
+  New stars may rise, the ancient fade,
+  But not for us, my own pale maid,
+    Be lost that pure surprise--
+
+  "The pure delight, the awful change,
+  Chief miracle in wonder's range,
+    That binds the twain in one;
+  While fear, foes, friends, and angry Fate,
+  And all that wreck our mortal state
+    Shall pass, like motes i' the sun.
+
+  "In his fine frame the throstle feels
+  The music that his note reveals;
+    And spite of shafts and nets,
+  How better is the dying bird
+  Than some dumb stone that ne'er was heard,
+    That arrow never threats?
+
+  "Disdaining man, the mountains rise;
+  Is love less kindred with the skies,
+    Or less their Maker's will?
+  The strains, without a human cause,
+  Flow on, unheeding lies and laws--
+    Will hearts for words be still?
+
+  "What cliffs oppose, what oceans roll,
+  What frowns o'ershade the weeping soul,
+    Alas! were long to tell.
+  But something is there more than these,
+  Than frowns and coldness, rocks and seas:
+    Until its hour--farewell!"
+
+  So sang the vassal bard by night,
+  Beneath his high-born lady's light
+    That from her turret shone.
+  Next morning in the forest glade
+  His corpse was found. Her brother's blade
+    Had cut his bosom's bone.
+
+  What reap'd Lord Wilfrid by the stroke?
+  Before another morning broke,
+    She, too, was with the blest:
+  And 'twas her last and only prayer,
+  That her sweet limbs might slumber where
+    The minstrel had his rest.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION
+
+THE CORN LAWS.
+
+
+It is remarkable that, while we hear so much of the advantages of free
+trade, the reciprocity of them is always in _prospect_ only. By throwing
+open our harbours to foreign nations, indeed, we give _them_ an immediate
+and obvious advantage over ourselves; but as to any corresponding
+advantages we are to gain in our intercourse with them, we are still
+waiting, in patient expectation of the anticipated benefit. Our patience
+is truly exemplary; it might furnish a model to Job himself. We resent
+nothing. No sooner do we receive a blow on one cheek, than we turn up the
+other to some new smiter. No sooner are we excluded, in return for our
+concessions, from the harbours of one state, than we begin making
+concessions to another. We are constantly in expectation of seeing the
+stream of human envy and jealousy run out:--
+
+  "Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis: at ille
+  Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum."
+
+We are imitating the man who made the experiment of constantly reducing
+the food on which his horse is to live. Let us take care that, just as he
+is learning to live on nothing, we do not find him dead in his stall.
+
+This, however, is no joking matter. The total failure of the free trade
+system to procure any, _even the smallest return_, coupled with the very
+serious injury it has inflicted on many of the staple branches of our
+industry, has now been completely demonstrated by experience, and is
+matter of universal notoriety. If any proof on the subject were required,
+it would be furnished by _Porter's Parliamentary Tables_, to which we
+earnestly request the attention of our readers. The first exhibits the
+effect of the reciprocity system, introduced by Mr Huskisson in Feb. 1823,
+in destroying our shipping with the Baltic powers, and quadrupling theirs
+with us. The second shows the trifling amount of our exports to these
+countries during the five last years, and thereby demonstrates the entire
+failure of the attempt to, extend our traffic with them by this gratuitous
+destruction of our shipping. The third shows the progress of our whole
+exports to Europe during the six years from 1814 to 1820, before the free
+trade began, and from 1833 to 1839, after it had been fifteen years in
+operation, and proves that it had _declined_ in the latter period as
+compared with the former, despite all our gratuitous sacrifices by free
+trade to augment our commerce.[12]
+
+    [12] See No. CCCXL, _Blackwood's Magazine_, p. 261.
+
+The free traders fully admit, and deeply deplore, as we have shown on a
+former occasion, these unfavourable results; but they say that it is to be
+hoped they will not continue: that foreign nations must, in the end, come
+to see that they are as much interested as we are in enlightened system of
+free trade; and that, meantime, it is for our interest to continue the
+system; or even though it totally fails in producing any augmentation in
+our exports, it is obviously for our advantage to continue it, as it
+brings in the immediate benefit of purchasing articles imported at a
+cheaper rate. Supposing, say they, we obtain no corresponding advantage
+from other states, there is an immense benefit accrues to ourselves from
+admitting foreign goods at a nominal duty, from the low price at which
+they may be purchased by the British consumer. To that point we shall
+advert in the sequel; in the mean time, it may be considered as
+demonstrated, that the free trade system has entirely failed in procuring
+for us the slightest extension of our foreign exports, or abating in the
+slightest degree the jealousy of foreign nations at our maritime and
+manufacturing superiority. Nor is there any difficulty in discovering to
+what this failure has been owing. It arises from laws inherent in the
+nature of things, and which will remain unabated as long as we continue a
+great and prosperous nation.
+
+It is related of the Lacedemonians, that while all the other citizens of
+Greece were careful to surround their towns with walls, they alone left a
+part open on all sides. Thus, superiority in the field rendered them
+indifferent to the adventitious protection of ramparts. It is for a
+similar reason that England is now willing to throw down the barriers of
+tariffs, and the impediments of custom-houses; and that all other nations
+are fain to raise them up. It is a secret sense of superiority on the one
+side, and of inferiority on the other, which is the cause of the
+difference. We advocate freedom of trade, because we are conscious that,
+in a fair unrestricted competition, we should succeed in beating them out
+of their own market. They resist it, and loudly clamour for protection,
+because they are aware that such a result would speedily take place, and
+that the superiority of the old commercial state is such, that on an open
+trial of strength, it must at once prove fatal to its younger rivals. As
+this effect is thus the result of permanent causes affecting both sides,
+it may fairly be presumed that it will be lasting; and that the more
+anxiously the old manufacturing state advocates or acts upon freedom of
+commercial intercourse, the more strenuously will the younger and rising
+ones advocate protection. Reciprocity, therefore, is out of the question
+between them: for it never could exist without the destruction of the
+manufactures of the younger state; and if that state has begun to enter on
+the path of manufacturing industry, it never will be permitted by its
+government.
+
+But this is not all. If free trade must of necessity prove fatal to the
+manufactures of the younger state, it as certainly leads to the
+destruction _of the agriculture of the older;_ and it is this double
+effect this RECIPROCITY OF EVIL, which renders it so disastrous and
+impracticable an experiment for both the older and the younger community.
+The reason of this has not hitherto been generally attended to; but when
+once it is stated, its force becomes obvious, and it furnishes the true
+answer on principle to the delusive doctrines of free trade.
+
+Nature has established, and, as it will immediately be shown, for very
+wise and important purposes, a permanent and indelible distinction between
+the effect of civilization and opulence on the production of food, and on
+the preparation of manufactures. In the latter, the discoveries of science,
+the exertions of skill, the application of capital, the introduction of
+machinery, are all-powerful, and give the older and more advanced state an
+immediate and decisive advantage over the younger and the ruder. In the
+former, the very reverse takes place: the additions made to productive
+power are comparatively inconsiderable, even by the most important
+discoveries; and as this capital and industry have in the end a powerful
+effect, and always enable the power of raising food for the human race to
+keep far a-head of the wants of mankind; yet this effect takes place very
+slowly, and the annual addition that can be made to the produce of the
+earth by such means is by no means considerable. The introduction of
+thorough draining will probably increase the productive power of the soil
+in Great Britain a third: scientific discovery may perhaps add another
+third; but at least ten years must elapse in the most favourable view
+before these effects generally take place--ere the judicious and
+well-directed labours of our husbandmen have formed rivulets for the
+superfluous wet of our fields, or overspread the soil with the now wasted
+animal remains of our cities. But our manufactures can in a few years
+quadruple their produce. So vast is the power which the steam-engine has
+made to the powers of production in commercial industry, that it is
+susceptible to almost indefinite and immediate extension; and the great
+difficulty always felt is, not to get hands to keep pace with the demand
+of the consumers, but to get a demand to keep pace with the hands employed
+in the production. Manchester and Glasgow could, in a few years, furnish
+muslin and cotton goods for the whole world.
+
+Nor is the difference less important and conspicuous in the _price_ at
+which manufacturing and agricultural produce can be raised in the old and
+the young state. This is the decisive circumstance which renders
+reciprocity between them impossible. The rich old state is as superior to
+the young one in the production of manufactures, as the poor young state
+is to the rich old one in that of subsistence. The steam-engine, capital,
+and machinery, have so enormously increased the power of manufacturing
+production, that they have rendered the old commercial state omnipotent in
+the foreign market in the supply of its articles. Nothing but fiscal
+regulations and heavy duties can protect the young state from ruin in
+those branches of industry. Heavy taxes, high wages, costly rents, dear
+rude produce, all are at once compensated, and more than compensated, by
+the gigantic powers of the steam-engine. Cotton goods are raised now in
+Great Britain at a fifth of the price which they were during the war. A
+gown, which formerly was cheap at £2, 10s., is now sold for ten shillings.
+Silks, muslins, and all other articles of female apparel, have been
+reduced in price in the same proportion. Colossal fortunes have been made
+by the master manufacturers, unbounded wealth diffused through the
+operative workmen in Lancashire and Lanarkshire, even at these extremely
+reduced prices. This is the real reason of the universal effort made by
+all nations which have the least pretensions to commercial industry, of
+late years to exclude, by fixed duties, our staple manufactures; of which
+the President of the Board of Trade so feelingly complains, and which the
+advocates of free trade consider as so inexplicable. A very clear
+principle has led to it, and will lead to it. It is the instinct of
+SELF-PRESERVATION.
+
+But there is no steam-engine in agriculture. The old state has no
+superiority over the young one in the price of producing food; on the
+contrary, it is decidedly its inferior. There, as in love, the apprentice
+is the master. The proof of this is decisive. Poland can raise wheat with
+ease at fifteen or twenty shillings a quarter, while England requires
+fifty. The serf of the Ukraine would make a fortune on the price at which
+the farmer of Kent or East Lothian would be rendered bankrupt. The Polish
+cultivators have no objection whatever to a free competition with the
+British; but the British anticipate, and with reason, total destruction
+from the free admission of Polish grain. These facts are so notorious,
+that they require no illustration; but nevertheless the conclusion to
+which they point is of the highest importance, and bears, with
+overwhelming force, on the theory of free trade as between an old and a
+young community. They demonstrate that that theory is not only practically
+pernicious, but on principle erroneous. It involves an oblivion of the
+fundamental law of nature as to the difference between the effect of
+wealth and civilization on the production of food and the raising of
+manufactures. It proceeds on insensibility to the difference in the age
+and advancement of nations, and the impossibility of a reciprocity being
+established between them without the ruin of an important branch of
+industry in each. It supposes nations to be of the same genus and age,
+like the trees in the larch plantation, not of all varieties and ages, as
+in the natural forest. If established in complete operation, it would only
+lead to the ruin of the manufactures of the younger state, and of the
+agriculture of the old one. The only reciprocity which it can ever
+introduce between such states is the reciprocity of evil.
+
+Illustrations from everyday life occur on all sides to elucidate the utter
+absurdity, and, in fact, total impracticapability of the system of free
+trade, as applied to nations who are, or are becoming, rivals of each
+other in manufacturing industry. Those who have the advantage, will always
+advocate free competition; those who are labouring under impediments, will
+always exclaim against them. In some cases the young have the advantage,
+in others the old; but in all the free system is applauded by those in the
+sunshine, and execrated by those in the shade. The fair _debutante_ of
+eighteen, basking in the bright light of youth, beauty, birth, and
+connections, has no sort of objection to the freedom of choice in the
+ball-room. If the mature spinster of forty would divulge her real opinion,
+what would it be on the same scene of competition? Experience proves that
+she is glad to retire, in the general case, from the unequal struggle, and
+finds the system of established precedence and fixed rank at dinner
+parties, much more rational. The leaders on the North Circuit--Sir James
+Scarlett or Lord Brongham--have no objections to the free choice, by
+solicitors and attorneys, for professional talent; but their younger
+brethren of the gown are fain to take shelter from such formidable rivals
+in the exclusive employment of the Crown, the East India Company, the Bank
+of England, or some of the numerous chartered companies in the country.
+England is the old lawyer on the Cirucuit in manufactures--but Poland is
+the young beauty of the ball-room in agriculture. We should like to see
+what sort of reciprocity could be established between them. Possibly the
+young belle may exchange her beauty for the old lawyer's guineas, but it
+will prove a bad reciprocity for both.
+
+It is usual for both philosophers and practical men to ascribe the
+superior cheapness with which subsistence can be raised in the young state
+to the old one, to the weight of taxes and of debt, public and private,
+with which the latter is burdened, from which the former is, in general,
+relieved. But, without disputing that these circumstances enter with
+considerable weight into the general result, it may safely be affirmed
+that the main cause of it is to be found in two laws of nature, of
+universal and permanent application. These are the low value of money in
+the rich state, in consequence of its plenty, compared with its high value
+in the poor one, in consequence of its poverty, and the experienced
+inapplicability of machinery or the division of labour to agricultural
+operations.
+
+Labour is cheap in the poor state, such as Poland, Prussia, and the
+Ukraine, becuase guineas are few.--"It is not," as Johnson said of the
+Highlands, "that eggs are many, but that pence are few." Commercial
+transactions being scanty, and the want of a circulating medium
+inconsiderable, it exists to a very limited extent in the country. People
+do not need a large circulating medium, therefore they do not buy it; they
+are poor, therefore they cannot. In the opulent and highly advanced
+community, on the other hand, the reverse of all this takes place.
+Transactions are so frequent, the necessities of commerce so extensive,
+that a large circulating medium is soon felt to be indispensable. In
+addition to a considerable amount of specie, the aid of bank-notes, public
+and private, of Government securities and exchequer bills, and of private
+bills to an immense ammount, bcomes necessary. McCulloch calculates the
+circulating medium of Great Britain, including paper and gold, at
+L.72,000,000. The bills in circulation are probably in amount nearly as
+much more. A hundred and forty, or a hundred and fifty millions, between
+specie, bank-notes, exchequer bills, Government securities, on which
+advances are made, and private bills, constitute the ordinary circulating
+medium of twenty-seven millions in the British empire. The total
+circulation of Russia, with sixty millions of inhabitants, is not forty
+millions sterling. The effect of this difference is prodigions. It is no
+wonder, whten it is taken into account, that wages are 5-1/2d. or 6d.
+a-day in Poland or the Ukraine, and 2s. or 2s. 6d. a-day in England.
+
+The clearest proof that this is the great cause of the superior cost of
+raising subsistence in the old than the young state, is afforded by the
+different value which money bears in different parts of the _same_
+community. Ask any housekeeper what is the difference between the expense
+of living in London, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and he will answer, that
+L.1500 a-year in Edingburgh, or L.750 in Aberdeen. Yet these different
+places are all situated in the same community, and their inhabitants pay
+the same public taxes, and very nearly the same of local ones. It is the
+vast results arising from the concentration of wealth and expediture in
+one place, compared with its abstraction from others, which occasions the
+difference. But if this effect is conspicuous, and matter of daily
+observation, in different parts of the same compact and moderately sized
+country, how much more must it obtain in regard to different countries,
+situated in different latitudes and politcal circumstances, and in
+different stages of wealth, civilization, and commercial opulence? Between
+England for example, and Poland or the Ukraine? The difference is there
+important and durable. Wheat can be raised with as good a profit to the
+cultivator for sixteen shillings per quarter in Poland, as for forty-eight
+shillings in England or Scotland.
+
+This superior weight of wages, rent and all the elements of cost, in the
+old, when compared with the young community, affects the manufacturer as
+well as the farmer; and in some branches of manufactures it does so with
+an overwhelming effect. But, generally speaking, the advantages of capital,
+machinery, and the division of labour, render the old state altogether
+predominant over the young one in these particulars. It would seem to be a
+fixed law of nature, that the progress of society adds almost nothing to
+the application of machinery to agriculture, but indefinitely to its
+importance in manufactures. Observe an old man digging his garden with a
+spade--that is the most productive species of cultivation; it is the last
+stage of agricultural progress to return to it. No steam engines or steam
+ploughs will ever rival it. But what is the old weaver toiling with his
+hands, to the large steam-power mill, turning at once ten thousand
+spindles? As dust in the balance. Man, by a beneficent law of his Maker,
+is permanently secured in his first and best pursuit. It is in those which
+demoralize and degrade, that machinery progressively encroaches on the
+labour of his hands.  England can undersell India in muslins and printed
+goods, manufactured in Lancashire or Lanarkshire, out of cotton which grew
+on the banks of the Ganges; for England though younger in years compared
+to India, is old in civilization, wealth, and power. We should like to see
+what profit would be made by exporting wheat from England, raised on land
+paying thirty shillings an acre of rent, by labourers paid at two
+shillings a-day, to Hindostan, where rice is raised twice a-year, on land
+paying five shillings an acre rent, by labourers receiving twopence a-day
+each.
+
+It is the constant operation of this law of nature which ensures the
+equalization of empires, the happiness of society, and the dispersion of
+mankind. To be convinced of this, we have only to reflect on the results
+which would ensue if this were not the case; if no unvarying law gave man
+in remote situations an advantage in raising subsistence over what they
+enjoy in the centres of opulence; and agriculture, in the aged and wealthy
+community, was able to acquire the same decisive superiority over distant
+and comparatively poor ones, which we see daily examplified in the
+production of manufactures. Suppose, for example, that in consequence of
+the application of the steam-engine, capital, and machinery to the raising
+of subsistence, Great Britian could undersell the cultivatiors of Poland
+and the Ukraine as effectually as she does their manufacturers in the
+production of cotton goods; that she could sell in the Polish market wheat
+at five shillings a quarter, when they require fifteen shillings to
+remunerate the cost of production. Would not the result be, that commerce
+between them would be entirely destroyed; that subsistence would be
+exclusively raised in the old opulent community; that mankind would
+congregate in fearful multitudes round the great commercial emporium of
+the world; and that the industry and progress of the more distant nations
+would be irrevocably blighted? Whereas, by the operation of the present
+law of nature, that the rich state can always undersell the poor one in
+maufactures, and the poor one always undersell the rich one in subsistence,
+those dangers are removed, a check is provided to the undue multiplication
+of the species in particular situations, and the dispersion of mankind
+over the globe--a vital object in the system of nature--is secured, from
+the very necessities and difficulties in which, in the progress of society,
+the old and wealthy community becomes involved.
+
+These considerations point out an important limitation to which, on
+principle, the doctrines of free trade must be subjected. Perfectly just
+in reference to a single community, or a compact empire of reasonable
+extent, they wholly fail when applied to separate nations in different
+degrees of civilization, or even to different provinces of the same empire,
+when it is of such an extent as to bring such different nations, in
+various degrees of progress, under one common dominion. They were
+suggested, in the first instance, to philosophers, by the absurd
+restrictions on the commerce of grain which existed in France under the
+old monarchy, and which Turgot and the Economists laboured so assiduously
+to abolish. There can be no doubt that they were perfectly right in doing
+so; for France is a compact, homogeneous country, in which the cost of
+producing subsistence is not materially different in one part from another,
+and the interests of the whole community are closely identified. The same
+holds with the interchange of grain between the different provinces of
+Spain, or for the various parts of the British islands. But the case is
+widely different with an empire so extensive as, like the British in
+modern or the Roman in ancient times, to embrace separate kingdoms, in
+wholly different circumstances of climate, progress, and social condition.
+Free trade, in such circumstances, must lead to a destruction of important
+interests, and a total subversion of the balance of society in both the
+kingdoms subjected to it. To be conviced of this, we have only to look at
+the present condition of the British, or the past fate of the Roman empire.
+
+It is the boast of our manufacturers--and such a marvel may well afford a
+subject for exultation--that with cotton which grew on the banks of the
+Ganges, they can, by the aid of British capital, machinery, and enterprise,
+undersell, in the production of muslin and cotton goods, the native Indian
+manufacturers, who work up their fabrics in the close vicinity of the
+original cotton-fields. The constant and increasing export of Britsh goods
+to India, two-thirds of which are cotton, demonstrates that this
+superiority really exists; and that the muslin manufacturers in Hindostan,
+who work for 3d. a-day on their own cotton, cannot stand the competition
+of the British operatives, who receive 3s. 6d. a-day, aided as they are by
+the almost miraculous powers of the steam-engine. Free trade, therefore,
+is ruinous to the manufacturing interests of India; and accordingly the
+Parliamentary proceedings are filled with evidence of the extreme misery
+which has been brought on the native manufacturers of Hindostan by that
+free importation of British goods, in which our political economists so
+much and so fully exult.
+
+The great distance of India from the British islands, the vast expense of
+transporting bulky articles eight thousand miles accross the ocean, have
+prevented the counterpart of this effect taking place; and the British
+farmers feeling the depressing influence of the Indian plough, in like
+manner as the Indian manufacturers have the ruinous competition of the
+British steam-engine. But it is clear that, if India had been nearer, the
+former effect would have taken place as well as the latter. If the shores
+of Hindostan were within a few days sail of London and Liverpool, and the
+Indian cultivators, labouring at 2d. or 3d. a-day, had been brought into
+direct competition with the British farmers, employing labourers who
+received two or three shillings, can there be a doubt that the British
+farmers would have been totally destroyed in the struggle? The English
+farmers would have been prostrated by the same cause which has ruined the
+Indian muslin manufacturers. Cheap grain, the fruit of free trade, would
+have demolished British agriculture as completely as cheap cotton goods,
+the fruits of unlimited importation, has ruined Indian manufacturing
+industry.
+
+Is, then, commercial intercourse impossible, on terms of mutual benefit,
+between states in widely different circumstatnces of commercial or
+agricultural advancement; and is the only reciprocity which can exist
+between them and reciprocity of evil? It is by no means necessary to rest
+in so unsatisfatory a conclusion. A most advantageous commercial
+intercourse to both parties may be carried on, but it must not be on the
+footing of free trade. The foundation of such an intercourse should be,
+that each should take, on the most favourable terms, the articles which
+_it wants and does not produce_, and impose restrictions on those which
+_it wants and does produce_. On this priciple, trade would be conducted so
+as to benefit both countries, and injure neither. Thus England may take
+from India to the utmost extent, and with perfect safety, sugar, indigo,
+cotton, tea, spices, cinnamon, and the more costly species of shawls;
+while India might take from England some species of cotton manufacture in
+which they have no fabrics of their own, cutlery, hardware, and all of the
+various luxuries of European manufacture. But a paternal and just
+government, equally alive to the interests of all its provinces, how far
+removed soever from the seat of power, would impose restrictions to
+prevent India being deluged with British cottons, to the ruin of its
+native manufactures, and to prevent Britian--if the distance did not
+operate, which it certainly would, as a sufficient protection--from being
+flooded with Indian grain. The varieties of climate, productions, and
+wants, in different countries, are such, that commerce, regulated on these
+principles, might be carried to the greatest extent consistent with the
+paramount duty of providing in each state for the preservation of its
+staple articles of industry.
+
+The Roman empire in ancient times afforded the clearest demonstration of
+the truth of these principles; and the fate of their vast dominion shows,
+in the most decisive manner, what is the inevitable consequence to which
+the free trade principles, now so strongly contended for by a party in
+this country, must lead. Alison is the first modern author with whom we
+are acquainted, who has traced the decline of the Roman empire in great
+part to this source. In the tenth volume of his "History of Europe,"
+p. 752, we find the following passage:--
+
+  "No nation can pretend to independence which rests for any sensible
+  protion of its subsistence in ordinary seasons on foreign, who may
+  become hostile, nations. And if we would see a memorable example of
+  the manner in which the greatest and most powerful nation may, in the
+  course of ages, come to be paralysed by this cause, we have only to
+  cast our eyes on imperial Rome, when the vast extent of the empire
+  had practically established a free trade in grain with the whole
+  civilized world; and the result was, that cultivation disappeared
+  from the Italian plains, that the race of Roman agriculturists, the
+  strength of the empire, became extinct, that the fields were laboured
+  only by slaves and cattle. The legions could no longer be recruited
+  but from foreign bands, vast tracts of pasturage overspread even the
+  fields of Lombardy and the Compagna of Naples, and it was the
+  plaintive confession of the Roman annalist, that the mistress of the
+  world had come to depend for her subsistence on the floods of the
+  Nile."
+
+This observation has excited, as well it might, the vehement indignation
+of the free trade journals. The example of the greates and most powerful
+nation that ever existed being weakened, and at length ruined by a free
+trade in corn, afforded too cogent an argument, and was too striking a
+warning, not to excite the wrath of those who would precipitate Great
+Britain into a similar course of policy. They have attacked the author,
+accordingly, with unwonted asperity; and, while they admint the ruin of
+Italian agriculture in the later stages of the Roman empire, endeavour to
+ascribe it to the gratuitous distribution of grain to the Roman populace,
+not the effect of a free importation of grain from its Egyptian and
+African provinces. The vast importance of the subject has induced us to
+look into the original authorities to whom Alison refers in support of his
+observation, and from among them we select three--Tacitus, Gibbon, and
+Michelet. Tacitus says,
+
+  "At Hercule _olim ex Itaila_ legionibus longinquas in provincias
+  commeatus portabantur, _nec nunc infecunditate laboratur_; sed Africam
+  _potius et Egyptum exercemus_, navibusque et casibus vita populi
+  Romani permissa est."--TACITUS, _Annal_. xii. 43.
+
+Antiquity does not contain a more pregnant and important passage, or one
+more directly bearing on the present policy of the Britsh emprire, than
+this. It demonstrates: 1, That in former times Italy had been an exporting
+country: "_olim_ ex Italia commeatus in longinquas provincias portabantur."
+2, That at the time when Tacitus wrote, in the days of the Emperor Trajan,
+it had ceased to be so, and had come to import largely from Africa and
+Lybia, "sed _nunc_ Africam potius et Egyptum exercemus." 3, That this was
+not the result of any supervening sterility or unfruitfulness, "nec nunc
+infecunditate laboratur," but was from causes which made it more
+profitable to purchase grain in the Egyptian or Lybian markets, "sed
+Africam POTIUS et Egyptum exercemus."
+
+Of the extent to which this decay of agriculture in the central
+provinces of the Roman empire went, in the latter stages of its history,
+we have the following striking account in the authentic pages of
+Gibbon:--
+
+
+  "Since the age of Tiberius _the decay of agriculture had been felt in
+  Italy_; and it was a just subject of complaint that the life of the
+  Roman people depended on the accidents of the winds and the waves. In
+  the division and decline of the empire, _the tributary harvests of
+  Egypt and Africa_ were withdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants
+  continually diminished with the means of subsistence; and the country
+  was exhausted by the irretrievable losses of war, pestilence, and
+  famine. Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer, and he affirms, with
+  strong exaggeration, that, in Emilia, Tuscany, and the adjacent
+  provinces, the human species was almost extirpated."--GIBBON, vol. vi.
+  c. xxxvi. p. 235.
+
+Of the progress and extent of this decay, Gibbon gives the following
+account in another part of his great work:--
+
+  "The agriculture of the Roman provinces _was insensibly ruined_; and
+  in the progress of despotism, which tends to disappoint its own
+  purpose, the emperors were obliged to derive some merit from the
+  forgiveness of debts, or the remission of tributes, which their
+  subjects were utterly incapable of paying. According to the new
+  division of Italy, the fertile and happy province of Campania, the
+  scene of the early victories and of the delicious retirements of the
+  citizens of Rome, extended between the sea and the Apennines, from
+  the Tiber to the Silarius. Within sixty years after the death of
+  Constantine, and on the evidence of an actual survey, an exemption
+  was granted in favour of 330,000 English acres _of desert and
+  uncultivated land, which amounted to one-eighth of the whole surface
+  of the province_. As the footsteps of the barbarians had not yet been
+  seen in Italy, the cause of this amazing desolation, which is
+  recorded in the laws, (Cod. Theod. lxi. t. 38, l. 2,) can be ascribed
+  only to the administration of the Roman emperors."--GIBBON, vol. iii.
+  c. xviii. p. 87. Edition in 12 volumes.
+
+Michelet observes, in his late profound and able History of France--
+
+  "The Christian emperors could not remedy the growing depopulation of
+  the country any more than their heathen predecessors. All their
+  efforts only showed the impotence of government to arrest that
+  dreadful evil. Sometimes, alarmed at the depopulation, they tried to
+  mitigate the lot of the farmer, to shield him against the landlord;
+  upon this the proprietor exclaimed he could no longer pay the taxes.
+  At other times they abandoned the farmer, surrendered him to the
+  landlord, and strove to chain him to the soil; but the unhappy
+  cultivators perished or fled, _and the land became deserted_. Even in
+  the time of Augustus, efforts were made to arrest the depopulation at
+  the expense of morals, by encouraging concubinage. Pertinax granted
+  an immunity from taxes to those who could occupy the desert lands of
+  Italy, _to the cultivators of the distant provinces, and the allied
+  kings_. Aurelian did the same. Probus was obliged to transport from
+  Germany men and oxen to cultivate Gaul.[13] Maximian and Constantius
+  transported the Franks and Germans from Picardy and Hainault into
+  Italy: but the depopulation in the towns and the country alike
+  continued. The people surrendered themselves in the fields to despair,
+  as a beast of burden lies down beneath his load and refuses to rise.
+  In vain the emperor strove, by offers of immunities and exemptions,
+  to recall the cultivator to his deserted fields. Nothing could do so.
+  The desert extended daily. At the commencement of the fifth century
+  there was, in the _happy_ Campania, the most fertile province of the
+  empire, 520,000 _jugera_ in a state of nature."--MICHELET, _Histoire
+  de France_, i. 104-108.
+
+    [13] "Arantur Gallicana rura _barbaris bobus_, et juga Germanica
+    captiva praebent colla nostris cultoribus."--_Probi Epist. ad
+    Senatum in Vopesio_.
+
+Pursued to its very grave by the same deep-rooted cause of evil, the
+strength of Italy, even in the last stages of its decay, was still
+prostrated by the importation of grain from Egypt and Lybia. "The Campagna
+of Rome," says Gibbon, "about the close of the sixth century, was reduced
+to the state of _a dreary wilderness_, in which the land was barren, the
+waters impure, and the air infectious. Yet the number of citizens _still
+exceeded the measure of subsistence; their precarious food was supplied
+from the harvests of Egypt and Lybia_; and the frequent repetitions of
+famine betray the inattention of the emperors to a distant
+provice."--GIBBON, vil. viii. c. xlv. 162.
+
+Nor was this desolating scourge of foreign importation confined to Italy;
+it obtained also in Greece equally with the Ausonian fields, the abode of
+early riches, opulence, and prosperity. "In the later stages of the
+empire," says Michelet, "Greece was almost entirely _supported by corn
+raised in the fields of Podolia_," (Poland.)--MICHELET, i. 277.
+
+Now let it be recollected that this continual and astonishing decline of
+agriculture, and disappearance of the rural cultivators in the latter
+stages of the Roman empire, took place in an empire which contained, as
+Gibbon tells us, 120,000,000 of inhabitants, and 1600 great cities, was
+3000 miles long and 2000 miles broad, contained 1,600,000 square miles,
+chiefly fertile and well cultivated land, which embraced the fairest and
+most fertile portions of the earth, and which had been governed for eighty
+yers under the successive sway of Nerva, Adrian, Trajan, and the two
+Antonines, with consummate wisdon and the most paternal spirit.[14] The
+scourge of foreign war, the devastation of foreign armies, were alike
+unknown; profound tranquillity pervaded every part of the empire; and a
+vast inland lake, spreading its ample waters through the heart of the
+dominion, afforded to all its provinces the most perfect facility of
+intercourse with the metropolis and the central parts of the empire. Yet
+this period--the period which Mr Hume has told us the philosophers would
+select as the happiest the human race had ever known--was precisely that
+during which agriculture so rapidly declined in the Italian and Grecian
+fields, during which the sturdy race of free cultivators disappeared, and
+the plains of Italy were entirely absorbed by pasturage, and maintained
+only vast herds of cattle tended by slaves.
+
+    [14] "Quingena viginti octo millia quadringinta duo jugera, quae
+    Campania provincia, juxta inspectorum relationem, in desertis et
+    squalidis locis habero dignoscitur, iisdem provincialibus
+    concessum."--_Cod. Theod_. lxi. i. 2382.
+
+What was it, then, which in an empire containing so immense a population,
+and such boundless resources, drawn forth and developed under so wise and
+beneficent a race of emperors, occasioned this constant and uninterrupted
+decay of agriculture, and at length the total destruction of the rural
+population in the heart of the empire? How did it happen that Italian
+cultivation receded, as Tacitus and Gibbon tell us it did, _from the time
+of Tiberius_; and equally under the wisdom of the Antonines, as the
+tyranny of Nero, or the civil wars of Vitellius? Some general and durable
+cause must have been in operation during all this period, which at firest
+depressed, and at length totally destroyed, the numerous body of free
+Italian cultivators who so long had constituted the strength of the
+legions, and had borne the Roman eagles, conquering and to conquer, to the
+very extremities of the habitable earth. The cause is apparent. It was the
+free importation of Egyptian and Lybian grain, consequent on the extension
+of the Roman dominion over their fertile fields, which effected the result.
+Were England to extend its conquering arms over Poland and the Ukraine,
+and, as a necessary consequence, expose the British farmer to the
+unrestrained competition of Polish and Russian wheat, precisely the same
+result would ensue. If the shores of Hindostan were within three or four
+days' sail of the Tiber, this result would long ago have taken place. Let
+Polish and Russian grain be admitted without a protecting duty into the
+British harbours, as Lybian and Egyptian were into those of Italy, and we
+shall soon see the race of cultivators disappear from the fields of
+England as they did from those of old Rome, and the words of Tacitus will,
+by a mere change of proper names, become a picture of our condition; three
+hundred thousand acres will soon be reduced to a state of nature in Kent
+and Norfolk, as they were in the Campania Felix. "Nec nunc infecunditate
+laboramur, _Podoliam_ potius et _Scythiam_ exercemus, navibusque et
+casibus vita populi _Anglici_ permissa est."
+
+The free traders allege that the decay of agriculture in the central
+provinces of the Roman empire, to which, by the concurring testimony of
+all historians, the ruin of the dominion of the Caesars was chiefly owing,
+is to be ascribed, not to the free importation of grain from Egypt,
+Podolia, and Lybia, but to the tyranny of the emperors, the gratuitous
+distribution of grain to the Roman populace, and the dreadful evils of
+domestic slavery. A very slight consideration, however, must be sufficient
+to show that these causes, how powerful soever in producing _general_
+evils over the empire, could not have been instrumental in occasioning
+those _peculiar_ and separate causes of depression, which so early began
+to check, and at length totally destroyed, the agriculture of its central
+provinces.
+
+The tyranny of the Caesars, the oppression of the Proconsuls, the avarice
+of the Patricians, were general evils, affecting alike every part of the
+empire; or rather they were felt with more severity in the remote
+provinces than the districts nearer home, in consequence of the superior
+opportunities of escape which distance from the central government
+afforded to iniquity, and the lesser chance of success which the
+insurrection of a remote province held forth to the "wild revenge" of
+rebellion. Muscovite oppression, accordingly, is more severely felt at
+Odessa or Taganrog than St Petersburg; and British rule is far from being
+restrained by the same considerations of justice on the banks of the
+Ganges or the Indus, as on those of the Thames. The gratuitous
+distribution of grain by the emperors to the populace of Rome, could never
+have occasioned the ruin of the Italian _cultivators_. Supposing that the
+two or three hundred thousand lazy and turbulent plebeians, who were
+nourished by the bounty or fed by the terrors of the Caesars, were the
+most useless, worthless, and dangerous set of men that ever existed,
+(which they probably were,) that circumstance could never have uprooted
+the race of cultivators from the plains of Lombardy, Umbria, or the
+Campania Felix. The greatest possible good to a nation, according to the
+free trader, is cheap grain, and never more so than when it is purchased
+or imported from foreign growers. If this be true, the importation of the
+harvests of Egypt and Africa into the Italian harbours, either by the
+voluntary purchase of the Roman emperors, or the forced tribute in grain
+which they exacted from those provinces, must have been the greatest
+possible benefit to the Italian people. How then, if there be no mischief
+in such foreign importations, is it possible to ascribe the ruin of
+Italian cultivation, and with it of the Roman empire, to these forced
+contributions? If the free traders have recourse to such an argument, they
+concede the very point in dispute, and admit that the introduction of
+foreign grain is injurious, and may in the end prove fatal, to the
+agriculture and existence of a state.
+
+Slavery, though a great evil, will as little explain the peculiar and
+extraordinary decline of Italian and Grecian cultivation in the later
+stages of the Roman empire. The greater part of the labour of the ancient
+world, as every one knows, was conducted by means of slaves. They were
+slaves who held the plough, and tilled the land, and tended the flocks,
+equally in Lybia, in Campania, in Egypt, as in Umbria. Nay, the number of
+freemen, at least in the days of the Roman Republic, and the earlier
+periods of the empire, was incomparably _greater_ in Italy and Greece, the
+abode of celebrated, powerful, and immortal republics, than in Lybia and
+Egypt, which from the earliest times had been subject to the despotic sway
+of satraps, kings, and tyrants. So numerous were the free citizens of Rome
+in the early days of the empire, that, by the census of Claudius, we are
+told by Gibbon they amounted to 6,945,000 men,[15] the greater proportion
+of whom, of course, were residents in Italy, the seat of government, and
+the centre of wealth, power, and enjoyment. While so great was the
+multitude of free citizens which the Republic bequeathed to the empire,
+resident and exercising unfettered industry in Italy, the cultivators of
+Africa and Egypt were all serfs and slaves, toiling, like the West Indian
+negroes, beneath the lash of a master. How, then, did it happen that the
+labour of the Italian freeman was disused, and at length extinguished,
+while that of the African and Egyptian slaves continued to furnish grain
+for Italy down to the very latest period of the empire? We are told that
+the labour of freemen is cheaper than that of slaves; and the free traders
+will probably not dispute that proposition. It could not, therefore, have
+been the slavery of antiquity which ruined Italian agriculture, carried on,
+in part at least, by freemen; since African agriculture, the fruits
+entirely of slavery, continued to flourish down to the very last days of
+the Roman world.
+
+    [15] GIBBON, chap. i. 68.
+
+The severe taxation of the emperors is justly stated by Gibbon and
+Sismondi, as well as Michelet, as a principal cause of the decline of
+Italian agriculture: but very little consideration is required to show,
+that this cause is inadequate to explain this ruin of cultivation in the
+Italian plains, when it continued to flourish and maintain the chief
+cities of the empire with food, in Egypt and Lybia. Heavy as it was, and
+oppressive as it ultimately became, _it was equal_; it was the same every
+where; it might, therefore, satisfactorily explain the _general_ decline
+of rural industry through the empire, and doubtless had a large share in
+contributing to its downfall; but it cannot explain the _particular_ ruin
+of it, in the central provinces of this vast dominion, while it continued,
+down to the very last moment, to flourish in its remote dependencies.
+
+But the taxation of the empire, _when coupled with the free importation of
+grain_ from these distant dependencies, does afford a most satisfactory,
+and, in truth, the true explanation of the ruin of Italian and Grecian
+cultivation. It was a fixed principle of Roman taxation, that the duties
+allotted on a particular district should remain fixed, how much lower the
+inhabitants or industry of the province might decline. When, therefore, by
+the constant importation of Egyptian and African grain, raised at half the
+cost at which they could produce it, the Italian cultivators were deprived
+of a remunerating return, and the taxes exacted from each district
+underwent no diminution, it is not surprising that the small farmers and
+proprietors were ruined; that they took refuge in the industry and crowds
+of cities, and that the race of freemen disappeared from the country. A
+similar process is now going on in the Turkish provinces. But without
+undervaluing--on the contrary, attaching full weight to this
+circumstance--nothing can be clearer than that it was the ruinous
+competition of foreign grain, raised cheaper than they could produce it,
+which rendered the same taxation crushing on the Italian farmers, which
+was borne with comparative facility in the remoter provinces, where land
+was more fertile, and labour less expensive. An example, _à fortiori_,
+applied to the British empire, where the free traders wish us to admit a
+free importation of grain from Poland and the Ukraine, where not only is
+labour cheap but taxation trifling, into the British islands, where not
+only is labour dear but taxation is five times more burdensome.
+
+And for a decisive proof that it was the superior advantages which Egypt
+and Lybia enjoyed in the production of grain, and not any other causes,
+which occasioned the ruin of Italian agriculture, and with it the fall of
+the Roman empire, we have only to look to the condition of the Italian
+fields in the last stages of the government of the Caesars. Already, in
+the time of the elder Pliny, it had become a subject of complaint that the
+_great properties_ were ruining Italy[16]--a sure proof, when the great
+division of estates in the days of the Republic--when, literally speaking,
+"every rood had its man"--that some general and irresistible cause,
+affecting the remuneration of their industry, was exterminating the small
+proprietors. Erelong, cultivators ceased entirely in the country, and
+the huge estates of the nobles were cultivated exclusively in pasturage,
+and by means of slaves. "La classe," says Michelet, "_des petits
+cultivateurs peu à pee a disparu_; les grands proprietaires qui leur
+succedèrent y suppleèrent par des esclaves."[17] It is recorded by Ammianus
+Marcellinus, that when Rome was taken by the Goths, it contained 1,200,000
+inhabitants, and was mainly supported by 1780 great families, who
+cultivated their ample estates in Italy in pasturage, by means of
+slaves.[18] For centuries before, the threat of blockading the Tiber had
+been found to be the most effectual way of coercing the Roman populace;
+and whenever it took place, famine ensued, not only in Rome, but the
+Italian provinces. The diminution of its agricultural produce had, long
+before, been stated by Columella at _nine-tenths_, and by Varro at
+_three-fourths_, of what at one period had been raised. Yet such was the
+wealth of the Roman nobles, derived from pasturage, that some of them had
+L.160, 000 a-year.[19] Agriculture, therefore, was destroyed; grain was no
+longer raised in Italy; Rome was wholly dependent on foreign supplies--but
+pasturage was undecayed; and colossal fortunes were enjoyed by a wealthy
+race of great proprietors, who managed their vast estates by means of
+slaves, and had bought up and absorbed the properties of the whole free
+cultivators in the country. Such was the effect--such was the result--of a
+free trade in grain in ancient times.
+
+    [16] "Verumque confitentibus _latifundia perdidere Italiam_."--PLINY,
+    _Hist. Nat_.xviii. 7.
+
+    [17] MICHELET, i. 96.
+
+    [18] AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, c. xvi.--See also GIBBON, vi. 264.
+
+    [19] GIBBON, vi. 262.
+
+The free traders seem not insensible to these inevitable results of their
+favourite principles; but they meet them by describing such consequences
+as rather advantageous than injurious. If England, say they, can raise
+iron and cotton goods cheaper than Poland, and Poland and Russia grain
+cheaper than England, then the interest of each require that they should
+follow out these branches of industry, and it is impolitic to strive
+against it. Let, then, England admit foreign grain on a nominal duty, and
+this will in the end induce Russia and Prussia to admit English
+manufactured goods on equally favourable terms; and thus the real
+interests of both countries will in the end be promoted.
+
+There are two objections to this system. In the first place, it is
+impracticable if it were expedient. In the second, it is inexpedient if it
+were practicable.
+
+It is impracticable if it were expedient. Theoretical writers may coolly
+discuss in their closets the total destruction of various important
+branches of industry, the "absorption" of the persons engaged in them in
+other pursuits, and the transference of national capital and industry from
+agriculture to manufactures, and _vice versà_; but it is impossible to
+effect such changes by the voluntary act of government, even in the most
+despotic country. We say by the voluntary act of government; because there
+is no doubt that it may be effected, though at an enormous sacrifice of
+life, wealth, and happiness, by the silent and unobserved operation of the
+laws of nature, which are irresistible; as was the case with the
+transference of industry from agriculture to pasturage, under the effect
+of free trade in grain in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, in
+the later stages of the Roman empire; or from manufactures to agriculture,
+from the consequences of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in the
+Italian republics in modern times. But no government, not even that of the
+Czar Peter or Sultaun Mahmoud, could succeed in destroying or nipping in
+the bud brances of national industry, by simple acts of the legislature or
+sovereign authority, not imposed by external and irresistible authority.
+The Emperor Paul tried it, and got a sash twisted about his neck,
+according to the established fashion of that country, for his pains. The
+Whigs tried it, and were turned out of office in consequence. All the
+governments of Europe, despotic, constitutional, and democratic, meet our
+concessions, in favour of free trade, by increased protection to their
+manufacturers. They dare not destroy their rising commercial wealth any
+more than we dare destroy our old colossal agricultural investments. The
+republicans of America even exceed them in the race of tariffs and
+protection. Sixty-two per cent has lately been laid on our British iron
+goods in return for Sir Robert Peel's tariff; a similar duty on iron and
+cotton goods, it is well known, is contemplated in the Prussian leagues in
+Germany. The British government has at length, through its prime minister,
+spoken out firmly in support of the existing corn-laws. The feeling of the
+agricultural counties, as evinced at the late meetings, left them no
+alternative. All nations, under all varieties of government, situation,
+race, and political circumstances, concur in rising up to resist the
+doctrines of free trade. Necessity has enlightened, experience has taught
+them: a very clear motive urges them on, which is not likely to decline in
+strength with the progress of time--it is the instinct of
+self-preservation.
+
+Such a system as the free traders advocate, if practicable, would be to
+the last degree inexpedient.
+
+What would be the result? Why, that one country would become wholly, or in
+great part, agricultural, and the other wholly, or in great part,
+manufacturing. Is this a result desirable to either? Admitting that a city
+or small state, which has no territory which can furnish any considerable
+proportion of the subsistence which it requires, like Holland, may do well
+to attend exclusively to manufactures and commerce; or a country which, by
+the rigour of nature, or the remoteness of its situation, cannot attain to
+commercial or manufacturing greatness, would do well to attend exclusively
+to the cultivation or productions of the earth; the question which here
+occurs--Is such a system advisable or expedient for a nation which has
+received from the bounty of nature the means of rising to greatness in
+_both_--such as Great Britain, Russia, or Prussia? The free traders would
+have England sacrifice its agriculture to its manufactures, and Russia
+sacrifice its manufactures to its agriculture. Would such a system benefit
+either? Would England be happier or richer, more stable or more moral, if
+the already colossal amount of its manufactures were trebled; or Russia,
+if its rising iron and woolen fabrics were destroyed, and its industry
+confined exclusively to the slow return of agricultural labour? Is it
+desirable that the zone of tall chimneys, sickly faces, brick houses, and
+crowded jails, which at present spans across the whole of England and part
+of Scotland, should be doubled and trebled in breadth; and the fertile
+fields of Kent, Norfolk, and East Lothian, be reduced to vast unenclosed
+pastures, such as overspread Italy in the later stages of the Roman
+empire? Or is it desirable to Russia and Prussia that they should be for
+ever chained to the labour of boors, serfs, and shepherds, and all the
+vivifying and unimportant effects of commercial wealth be denied to their
+exertions? Nature has designed, experience recommends, a very different
+system. History tells us in all parts of the world, that it is in the
+_intermixture_ of commerce and agriculture that the best security is to be
+found for social happiness and advancement, and the most effectual
+antidote provided to the evils with which either, when existing alone, is
+so prone. Mr McCulloch has told us, that the commerce and manufactures of
+Great Britain have now risen to such a prodigious height, that any further
+extension of them is undesirable, and that no real patriot would have
+desired them to have become so extensive as they already are. Is it
+desirable, in such a state of matters, to go on increasing the same
+splendid but perilous system, and to do so at the expense of the great
+pillar of national wealth, security, and independence--the land of the
+state?
+
+Further, the proposed system is pernicious even with reference to the
+national wealth and interests of the manufacturers themselves, as tending
+to undermine the main branches of our national resources, and substitute
+encouragement to an inferior, to upholding of the superior market for our
+manufacturing industry.
+
+Although in the meetings where they address the agricultural
+constituencies, the free traders hold out that their measures would
+benefit the manufacturers, and _not injure the agriculturists_; yet
+nothing can be clearer than that this is a mere shallow pretext, put forth
+to conceal their real objects and the effect of their measures, and that
+the result they _really_ anticipate is as different from that as the poles
+are asunder. What is the benefit they hold out to the community as an
+inducement to go into their measures? Cheap grain. What is the motive
+which stimulates all their efforts, and which, among themselves and in
+private conversation with all men of sense, they at once admit is their
+ruling object? _Reduced wages_; the hope of extending our export in
+foreign countries by taking an additional quantity of their rude produce;
+and diminishing the cost of production to our manufacturers by lowering
+the price of food, and with it the wages of labour. The whole strength of
+their case rests in these propositions. Their influence over the urban
+multitudes arises solely from the continual reiteration of these alluring
+hopes. If these effects are not to follow free trade and the efforts of
+the League, in the name of Heaven, what good are they to do, and why do
+they agitate the country and subscribe to the League fund? Sensible men do
+not throw away £100,000 for nothing, for no benefit to themselves or
+others. But these prospects are as fallacious as they are alluring, and so
+a very few observations will demonstrate.
+
+Considered in a _national_ point of view, if the matter is brought to this
+issue, the great question is--Whether agriculture or manufactures are the
+superior interests in the production of national wealth. Admitting that
+the true policy for government is to protect _all_ the branches of
+national industry, and stoutly contending, as we do, and ever shall do,
+that the real and ultimate interests of all is the same, and cannot be
+separated--the question comes to be, if one fiercely demands the sacrifice
+of the other, and insists that its interests are so weighty and momentous
+that all others must be sacrificed to them, which of the two thus placed
+in jeopardy is the most momentous? which brings in most to the national
+treasury? Now, on this point the facts are as adverse to the arguments of
+the League, as on all other branches of their case.
+
+Take the sum total of manufactures in Great Britain and Ireland,
+accompanied with the sum total of agricultural production, in order to
+discover which of the two is the more valuable interest--in order that it
+may be discovered, if matters are brought to that issue that one or other
+must be abandoned, which is to be sacrificed. The choice of a wise
+government could not be doubtful, if it were necessary to make the
+selection. The agricultural productions of the British islands amount to
+L.300,000,000 a-year, while the sum total of manufactures of every
+description is only L.180,000,000. Nor can it be said, with any degree of
+truth, that the agriculture of the country is dependent for its existence
+on its manufactures, and would decline if they were materially injured;
+for the example of modern Italy and Flanders proves, that three centuries
+_after_ a country has ceased to be the chief in manufacturing or
+commercial industry, it may advance with undiminished vigour and success
+in the production of agricultural riches.
+
+But this is not all. The statistical documents which have now been
+prepared with so much care by Parliament, and published by the accurate
+and indefatigable Mr Porter, himself a decided free trader, demonstrate
+that, of the manufacturing productions, nearly three-fourths are taken off
+by the home market, and _four-fifths_ by the home and colonial market
+taken together, leaving only ONE-FIFTH for _the whole foreign markets of
+the world put together_--
+
+  "The total amount of British manufactures annually produced is about
+  £180,000,000 worth, of which only £47,000,000 is taken off by the
+  whole external trade of the world put together, while no less than
+  £133,000, 000 is consumed in the home market; and of the foreign
+  consumption, fully a third is absorbed by the British Colonies, in
+  different parts of the world. So that the home and colonial trade is
+  to the whole foreign put together as 5 to 1. And, whle the total
+  produce of manufactures is £180,000,000 annually, and of mines and
+  minerals £13,776,000, the amount of agricultural produce annually
+  extracted from the soil is not less than £300,000,000; or a half more
+  than the whole manufactures and mines put together."
+
+Further, if we compare the proportion purchased of our manufactures, which
+is taken off by foreign nations, for the export to whom we are required to
+make the sacrifice of our domestic agriculture, with what is consumed by
+our own native population, whether in the British islands or in our
+colonies of British descent, the difference is prodigious, and such as
+might well, even for their own sake, make the Anti-corn-law League pause
+in their career of violence. From the tables compiled from Porter's
+_Parliamentary Tables_, and the population of the different states to whom
+we export, taken from Malte Brun and Balbi, it appears, that while the
+British population, whether at home or abroad, consume from £3 to £5
+a-head worth of our manufactures, the foreign nations to whom we are
+willing to sacrifice the British agriculturists, take off per head ONLY AS
+MANY PENCE. In preferring the one to the other, therefore, we are,
+literally speaking, penny wise and pound foolish.
+
+We have shown how agriculture was ruined in the Roman empire in Italy, by
+the free importation of grain from the Lybian and Egyptian provinces of
+the empire. As a contrast to that woful progress, the main cause of the
+destruction of the empire of the Caesars, we request the attention of our
+readers to the progress of British exports in official value, which
+indicates their amount from 1790 to 1840, premising that the _whole_ of
+that period was one of protection to the British agriculturist; during the
+first twenty years of the period, by the effects of the war--during the
+last twenty-five, by the operation of the corn law and sliding scale,
+introduced in 1814. We recommend the advocates of free trade to search the
+annals of the world for a similar instance of progress and prosperity
+flowing from, or co-existent with, the practical adoption of their
+principles.
+
+These facts, which, in truth, are altogether decisive of the present
+question, point to the great source from which the errors of the free
+trade party are derived, and which appears, in an especial manner, their
+favourite position, that cheap prices is an unmitigated blessing, and that
+the great thing to attend to is to increase our imports. Cheap prices of
+grain are like the Amreeta cap in Kehama; the greatest of all blessings is
+the greatest of all curses, _according as they arise from magnitude of
+domestic production, or magnitude of foreign importation_. Of the first we
+had an example during the five fine years in succession, from 1830 to 1835,
+during which the foreign importation was practically abolished by the
+abundant harvests, and consequent high duty on grain under the sliding
+scale. This was a period, as all the world knows, of universal and
+unexampled commercial prosperity. Of the second we had a memorable example
+during the five bad years in succession, which elapsed fiom 1836 to 1840,
+in the course of which the corn laws, from the effect of the same sliding
+scale, and the continued low prices, were practically abolished; and
+importations, at the close of the period, amounted to 2,500,000 quarters,
+and, on an average of the whole, was little short of 2,000,000 of quarters.
+And what was the result? The exportation of 6,000,000 of sovereigns in a
+single year to buy grain; an unexampled pressure on the money market;
+commercial embarrassments, long-continued, and severe beyond all former
+precedent; the contraction of ten millions of additional debt in four
+years, and the creation of a deficit which at length rose to the
+formidable amount, in 1842, of L.4,000,000 sterling! And what first
+dispelled this distress, and arrested this downward and disastrous
+progress? The fine harvests of 1842--the blessed sun of its long summer,
+followed by the more checkered, but also fine summer of 1843, which again
+gave us plenty, derived from domestic production, and consequent general
+and increasing manufacturing as well as rural prosperity.
+
+It is in vain, therefore, to say, cheap prices are a blessing in
+themselves, and the consumers at least are ever benefited by a fall in the
+cost of grain. Cheap prices are a real blessing if that effect consists
+with prosperity to the producer, as by improved methods of cultivation or
+manufacture, or the benignity of nature in giving fine seasons. But cheap
+prices are the greatest of all evils, and to none more shall the consumers,
+if they are the result, not of the magnitude of domestic production, but
+of the magnitude of foreign importation. It was that sort of cheap prices
+which ruined the Roman empire, from the destruction of the agriculture of
+Italy; it is that sort of cheap prices which has ruined the Indian weavers,
+from the disastrous competition of the British steam-engine; it is that
+sort of low prices which has so grievously depressed British shipping,
+from the disastrous competition of the Baltic vessels under the
+reciprocity system. It is in vain for the consumers to say, we will
+separate our case from that of the producers, and care not, so as we get
+low prices, what comes of them. Where will the consumers be, and that
+erelong, if the producers are destroyed? What will be the condition of the
+landlords if their farmers are ruined? or of bondholders if their debtors
+are bankrupt? or of railway proprietors if traffic ceases? or of owners of
+bank stock if bills are no longer presented for discount? or of the 3 per
+cents if Government, by the failure of the productive industry of the
+country, is rendered bankrupt? The consumers all rest on the producers,
+and must sink or swim with them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+341, March, 1844, Vol. 55, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14778 ***
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+    <title>Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 55, No.
+    341.</title>
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+<body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14778 ***</div>
+
+    <h1>BLACKWOOD'S</h1>
+
+    <h1>Edinburgh</h1>
+
+    <h1>MAGAZINE.</h1>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>NO. CCCXLI.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; MARCH,
+    1844.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; VOL. LV.</h3>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+    <ul>
+        <li><a href="#bw341s1">ETHIOPIA,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s2">A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE
+        CLASSES. BY LORGNON,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s3">THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. A TALE OF
+        VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. PART I.,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s4">COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN
+        INDIA,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s5">BELFRONT CASTLE. A RETROSPECTIVE
+        REVIEW,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s6">DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s7">MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A
+        STATESMAN. PART IX.,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s8">THE OLYMPIC JUPITER,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s9">A ROMAN IDYL,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s10">GOETHE,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s11">HYMN OF A HERMIT,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s12">THE LUCKLESS LOVER,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s13">FREE TRADE AND PROTECTIONTHE CORN
+        LAWS,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341-footnotes">[FOOTNOTES]</a></li>
+    </ul><br>
+    <br>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>EDINBURGH:</h2>
+
+    <h4>WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;</h4>
+
+    <h4>AND 22, PALL-MALL, LONDON.</h4>
+
+    <h4><i>To whom all Communications (post paid) must be
+    addressed.</i></h4>
+
+    <h4>SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS THE UNITED KINGDOM.</h4>
+
+    <h4>PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.</h4>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <a name="bw341s1"
+          id="bw341s1"></a>
+
+    <h2>ETHIOPIA<a id="footnotetag1"
+       name="footnotetag1"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></h2>
+
+    <p>From the various circumstances of our day, the impression is
+    powerfully made upon intelligent men in Europe, that some
+    extraordinary change is about to take place in the general
+    condition of mankind. A new ardour of human intercourse seems
+    to be spreading through all nations. Europe has laid aside her
+    perpetual wars, and seems to be assuming a <i>habit</i> of
+    peace. Even France, hitherto the most belligerent of European
+    nations, is evidently abandoning the passion for conqest, and
+    begining to exert her fine powers in the cultivation of
+    commerce. All the nations of Europe are either following her
+    example, or sending out colonies of greater or less magnitude,
+    to fill the wild portions of the world. Regions hitherto
+    utterly neglected, and even scarcely known, are becoming
+    objects of enlightened regard; and mankind, in every quarter,
+    is approaching, with greater or less speed, to that combined
+    interest and mutual intercourse, which are the first steps to
+    the true possession of the globe.</p>
+
+    <p>But, we say it with the gratification of Englishmen, proud
+    of their country's fame, and still prouder of its
+    principles&mdash;that the lead in this noblest of all human
+    victories, has been clearly taken by England. It is she who
+    pre-eminently stimulates the voyage, and plants the colony, and
+    establishes the commerce, and civilizes the people. And all
+    this has been done in a manner so little due to popular caprice
+    or national ambition, to the mere will of a sovereign, or the
+    popular thirst of possession, that it invests the whole process
+    with a sense of unequaled security. Resembling the work of
+    nature in the simplicity of its growth, it will probably also
+    resemble the work of nature in the permanence of its existence.
+    It is not an exotic, fixed in an unsuitable soil by capricions
+    planting; but a seed self-sown, nurtured by the common air and
+    dews, assimilated to the climate, and strikig its roots deep in
+    the ground which it has thus, by its own instincts, chosen. The
+    necessities of British commerce, the urgency of English
+    protection, and the overflow of British population, have been
+    the great acting causes of our national efforts; and as those
+    are causes which regulate themselves, their results are as
+    regular and unshaken, as they are natural and extensive. But
+    England has also had a higher motive. She has unquestionably
+    mingled a spirit of benevolence largely with her general
+    exertions. She has laboured to communicate freedom, law, a
+    feeling of property, and a consciousness of the moral debt due
+    by man to the Great Disposer of all, wherever she has had the
+    power in her hands. No people <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page270"
+       name="page270"></a>[pg 270]</span> have ever been the worse
+       for her, and all have been the better, in proportion to
+       their following her example. Wherever she goes, oppression
+       decays, the safety of person and property begins to be felt,
+       the sword is sheathed, the pen and the ploughshare commence
+       alike to reclaim the mental and the physical soil, and
+       civilization comes, like the dawn, however slowly advancing,
+       to prepare the heart of the barbarian for the burst of
+       light, in the rising of Christianity upon his eyes.</p>
+
+    <p>The formation of a new route between India and Europe by the
+    Red Sea&mdash;a route, though well known to the ancient world,
+    yet wholly incapable of adoption by any but an Arab horseman,
+    from the perpetual tumults of the country&mdash;compelled
+    England to look for a resting-place and depot for her
+    steam-ships at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden, a desolated
+    port, was the spot fixed on; and the steam-vessels touching
+    there were enabled to prepare themselves for the continuance of
+    their voyage. We shall subsequently see how strikingly British
+    protection has changed the desolateness of this corner of the
+    Arab wilderness, how extensively it has become a place of
+    commerce, and how effectually it will yet furnish the means of
+    increasing our knowledge of the interior of the great Arabian
+    peninsula.</p>
+
+    <p>It is remarkable that Africa, one of the largest and most
+    fertile portions of the globe, remains one of the least known.
+    Furnishing materials of commerce which have been objects of
+    universal desire since the deluge&mdash;gold, gems, ivory,
+    fragrant gums, and spices&mdash;it has still remained almost
+    untraversed by the European foot, except along its coast. It
+    has been circumnavigated by the ships of every European nation,
+    its slave-trade has divided its profits and its pollutions
+    among the chief nations of the eastern and western worlds; and
+    yet, to this hour, there are regions of Africa, probably
+    amounting to half its bulk, and possessing kingdoms of the size
+    of France and Spain, of which Europe has no more heard than of
+    the kingdoms of the planet Jupiter. The extent of Africa is
+    enormous:&mdash;5000 miles in length, 4600 in breadth, it forms
+    nearly a square of 13,430,000 square miles! the chief part
+    solid ground; for we know of no Mediterranean to break its
+    continuity&mdash;no mighty reservoir for the waters of its
+    hills&mdash;and scarcely more than the Niger and the Nile for
+    the means of penetrating any large portion of this huge
+    continent.</p>
+
+    <p>The population naturally divides itself into two portions,
+    connected with the character of its surface&mdash;the countries
+    to the north and the south of the mountains of Kong and the
+    Jebel-al-Komr. To the north of this line of demarcation, are
+    the kingdoms of the foreign conquerors, who have driven the
+    original natives to the mountains, or have subjected them as
+    slaves. This is the Mahometan land. To the south of this line
+    dwells the Negro, in a region a large portion of which is too
+    fiery for European life. This is Central Africa; distinguished
+    from all the earth by the unspeakable mixture of squalidness
+    and magnificence, simplicity of life yet fury of passion,
+    savage ignorance of its religious notions yet fearful worship
+    of evil powers, its homage to magic, and desperate belief in
+    spells, incantations and the <i>fetish</i>. The configuration
+    of the country, so far as it can be conjectured, assists this
+    primeval barbarism. Divided by natural barriers of hill, chasm,
+    or river, into isolated states, they act under a general
+    impulse of hostility and disunion. If they make peace, it is
+    only for purposes of plunder; and, if they plunder, it is only
+    to make slaves. The very fertility of the soil, at once
+    rendering them indolent and luxurious, excites their passions,
+    and the land is a scene alike of profligacy and profusion. To
+    the south of this vast region lies a third&mdash;the land of
+    the Caffre, occupying the eastern coast, and, with the
+    Betjouana and the Hottentot, forming the population of the most
+    promising portion of the continent. But here another and more
+    enterprising race have fixed themselves; and the great English
+    colony of the Cape, with its dependent settlements, has begun
+    the first real conquest of African barbarism. Whether Aden may
+    not act on the opposite coasts of the Red Sea, and Abyssinia
+    become once more a Christian land; or whether even some impulse
+    may not divinely come from Africa itself, are questions
+    belonging <span class="pagenum"><a id="page271"
+       name="page271"></a>[pg 271]</span> to the future. But there
+       can scarcely be a doubt, that the existence of a great
+       English viceroyalty in the most prominent position of South
+       Africa, the advantages of its government, the intelligence
+       of its people, their advancement in the arts essential to
+       comfort, and the interest of their protection, their
+       industry, and their example, must, year by year, operate in
+       awaking even the negro to a feeling of his own powers, of
+       the enjoyment of his natural faculties, and of that rivalry
+       which stimulates the skill of man to reach perfection.</p>
+
+    <p>The name of Africa, which, in the Punic tongue, signifies
+    "ears of corn," was originally applied only to the northern
+    portion, lying between the Great Desert and the shore, and now
+    held by the pashalics of Tunis and Tripoli. They were then the
+    granary of Rome. The name Lybia was derived from the Hebrew
+    <i>Leb</i>, (heat,) and was sometimes partially extended to the
+    continent, but was geographically limited to the provinces
+    between the Great Syrtis and Egypt. The name Ethiopia is
+    evidently Greek, (burning, or black, visage.)</p>
+
+    <p>There is strong reason to believe that the Portuguese boast
+    of the sixteenth century&mdash;the circumnavigation of
+    Africa&mdash;was anticipated by the Phoenician sailors two
+    thousand years and more. We have the testimony of Herodotus,
+    that Necho, king of Egypt, having failed in an attempt to
+    connect the Nile with the Red Sea by a canal, determine to try
+    whether another route might not be within his reach, and sent
+    Phoenician vessels from the Red Sea, with orders to sail round
+    Africa, and return by the Mediterranean. It is not improbable
+    that, from being unacquainted with the depth to which it
+    penetrates the south, he had expected the voyage to be a brief
+    one. It seems evident that the navigators themselves did not
+    conceive that it could extend beyond the equator, from their
+    surprise at seeing the sun rise on their <i>right hand</i>. The
+    narrative tells us&mdash;"The Phoenicians, taking their course
+    from the Red Sea, entered into the Southern Ocean on the
+    approach of autumn; they landed in Lybia, planted corn, and
+    remained till the harvest. They then sailed again. After having
+    thus spent two years, they passed the Columns of Hercules in
+    the third, and returned to Egypt." Herodotus doubted their
+    story&mdash;"Their relation," says the honest old Greek, "may
+    obtain belief from others, but to me it seems incredible; for
+    they affirmed, that, having sailed round Africa, they <i>had
+    the sun on their right hand</i>. Thus was Africa for the first
+    time known."</p>
+
+    <p>Thus the very circumstance which the old historian regarded
+    as throwing doubt on the discovery, is now one of the strongest
+    corroborations of its truth.<a id="footnotetag2"
+       name="footnotetag2"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> There appear to have been
+       several attempts to sail along the west coast, by ancient
+       expeditions; but to the Portuguese is due the modern honour
+       of having first sailed round the Cape. From 1412, the
+       Portuguese, under a race of adventurous princes, had
+       extended their discoveries; but it occupied them sixty years
+       to reach the Line, and nearly thirty years more to reach the
+       Cape, which they first called Cabo Tormentoso, (Stormy
+       Cape.) But the king gave it the more lucky, though the less
+       poetical, title which it now bears.</p>
+
+    <p>The triumph of Columbus, in his discovery of the New World
+    in 1493, raised the emulation of the Portuguese, then regarded
+    as the first navigators in the world; yet it was not until four
+    years after, that their expedition was sent, to equalize the
+    stupendous accession to the Spanish domains, by the possession
+    of the East. In July 1497, Gama sailed, reached Calicut May 2,
+    1498, and returned to Portugal, covered with well-earned
+    renown, after a voyage of upwards of two years.</p>
+
+    <p>Having given this brief outline of the divisions and
+    character of the mighty continent, which seemed important to
+    the better understanding of the immediate subject, we revert to
+    the intelligent and animated volumes of Captain (now Major)
+    Harris.</p>
+
+    <p>A letter from the Bombay government, 29th April 1841, gave
+    him this distinguished credential:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page272"
+           name="page272"></a>[pg 272]</span> "SIR&mdash;I am
+           directed to inform you that the Honourable the Governor
+           in Council, having formed a very high estimate of your
+           talents and acquirements, and of the spirit of
+           enterprise and decision, united with prudence and
+           discretion, exhibited in your recently published travels
+           through the territories of the Maselakatze to the Tropic
+           of Capricorn, has been pleased to select you to conduct
+           the mission which the British Government has resolved to
+           send to Sahela Selasse, the king of Shoa, in Southern
+           Abyssinia, whose capital, Ankober, is supposed to be
+           about four hundred miles inland from the port of Tajura,
+           on the African coast."</p>
+
+        <p>[Then followed the mention of the vessels appointed to
+        carry the mission.]</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>(Signed) "J.P. WILLOUGHBY,"</p>
+
+            <p>"Secretary to Government."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The persons comprising the mission were Major W.C. Harris,
+    Bombay Engineers, Captain Douglas Graham, Bombay army,
+    principal assistant, with others, naturalists, draftsmen,
+    &amp;c., and an escort of two sergeants and fifteen rank and
+    file, volunteers from H.M. 6th foot and the Bombay
+    Artillery.</p>
+
+    <p>On the afternoon of a sultry day in April, Major Harris,
+    with his gallant and scientific associates, embarked on board
+    the East India Company's steam ship Auckland, in the harbour of
+    Bombay, on their voyage to the kingdom of Shoa in Southern
+    Abyssinia, in the year 1841. The steam frigate pursued her way
+    prosperously through the waters, and on the ninth day was
+    within sight of Cape Aden, after a voyage of 1680 miles. The
+    Cape, named by the natives, Jebel Shemshan, rises nearly 1800
+    feet above the ocean, is frequently capped with clouds, a wild
+    and fissured mass of rock, and evidently intended by nature for
+    one of those great beacons which announce the approach to an
+    inland sea. On rounding the Cape, the British eye was delighted
+    with the sight of the Red Sea squadron, riding at anchor within
+    the noble bay. The arrival of the frigate also caused a
+    sensation on the shore; and Major Harris happily describes the
+    feelings with which a new arrival is hailed by the British
+    garrison on that dreary spot, their only excitement being the
+    periodical visits of the packets between Suez and Bombay. In
+    the dead of the night a blue light shoots up in the offing. It
+    is answered by the illumination of the block ship, then the
+    thunder of her guns is heard, then, as she nears the shore, the
+    flapping of her paddles is heard through the silence, then the
+    spectral lantern appears at the mast-head, and then she rushes
+    to her anchorage, leaving in her wake a long phosphoric
+    train.</p>
+
+    <p>Wherever England drops an anchor a new scene of existence
+    has begun. At Aden, the supply of coals for the steam-ships has
+    introduced a new trade; gangs of brawny Seedies, negroes from
+    the Zanzibar coast, but fortunately enfranchised, make a
+    livelihood by transferring the coal from the depots on shore to
+    the steamers. Though the most unmusical race in the world, they
+    can do nothing without music, but it is music of their
+    own&mdash;a tambourine beaten with the thigh-bone of a calf;
+    but their giant frames go through prodigious labour, carry
+    immense sacks, and drink prodigious draughts to wash the
+    coal-dust down. Such is the furious excitement with which they
+    rush into this repulsive operation, that Major Harris thinks
+    that for every hundred tons of coal thus embarked, at least one
+    life is sacrificed; those strong savages, at once inflamed by
+    drink, and overcome with toil, throwing themselves down on the
+    dust or the sand, to rise no more. This shows the advantage of
+    English philosophy: our coal-heavers in the Thames toil as
+    much, are nearly as naked, nearly as black, and probably drink
+    more; but we never hear of their dying in a fit of rapture in
+    the embrace of a coal-sack. When the day is done, drunk or
+    sober, washed or unwashed, they go home to their wives, sleep
+    untroubled by the cares of kings, and return to fresh dust,
+    drink, and dirt, next morning.</p>
+
+    <p>The coast of Arabia has no claims to the picturesque: all
+    its charms, like those of the oyster, lie within the roughest
+    of possible shells. Its first aspect resembles heaps of the
+    cinders of a glass-house&mdash;a building whose heat seems to
+    be fully realized by the temperature of this fearful place.
+    England has a resident there, <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page273"
+       name="page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> Captain Haynes,named as
+       political agent. That any human being, who could exist in
+       any other place, would remain in Aden, is one of the wonders
+       of human nature. An officer, of course, must go wherever he
+       is sent; but such is the innate love for a post, that if
+       this gallant and intelligent person were roasted to death,
+       as might happen in one of the coolest days of the Ethiopian
+       summer, there would be a thousand applications before a
+       month was over, to the Foreign Office, for the honour of
+       being carbonaded on the rocks of Aden.</p>
+
+    <p>The promontory has all the marks of volcanic eruption, and
+    is actually recorded, by an Arab historian of the tenth
+    century, to have been thrown up about that period. "Its sound,
+    like the rumbling of thunder, might then be heard many miles,
+    and from its entrails vomited forth redhot stones, with a flood
+    of liquid fire." The crater of the extinguished volcano is
+    still visible, though shattered and powdered down by the tread
+    under which Alps and Appennines themselves crumble
+    away&mdash;that of Time. The only point on which we are
+    sceptical is the late origin of the promontory. Nothing beyond
+    a sandhill or a heap of ashes has been produced on the face of
+    nature since the memory of man. That a rock, or rather a
+    mountain chain, with a peak 1800 feet high, should have been
+    produced at any time time within the last four thousand years,
+    altogether tasks our credulity. The powers of nature are now
+    otherwise employed than in rough-hewing the surface of the
+    globe. She has been long since, like the sculptor, employed in
+    polishing and finishing&mdash;the features were hewn out long
+    ago. Her master-hand has ever since been employed in smoothing
+    them.</p>
+
+    <p>Aden's reputation for barrenness is an old one&mdash;"Aden,"
+    says Ben Batuta of Tangiers, "is situate upon the sea-shore; a
+    large city without either seed, water, or tree." This was
+    written five hundred years ago; yet the ruins of fortifications
+    and watch-towers along the rocks, show that even this human
+    oven was the object of cupidity in earlier times; and the
+    British guns, bristling among the precipices, show that the
+    desire is undecayed even in our philosophic age.</p>
+
+    <p>Yet the Arab imagination has created its wonders even in
+    this repulsive scene; and the generation of monkeys which
+    tenant the higher portion of the rocks, are declared by Arab
+    tradition to be the remnant of the once powerful tribe of Ad,
+    changed into apes by the displeasure of Heaven, when "the King
+    of the World," Sheddad, renowned in eastern story,
+    presumptuously dared to form a garden which should rival
+    Paradise. The prophet Hud remonstrated; but his remonstrances
+    went for nothing, and the indignant monarch and his courtiers
+    suddenly found their visages simious, their tongues chattering,
+    and their lower portions furnished with tails&mdash;a species
+    of transformation, which, so far as regards visage and tongue,
+    is supposed to be not unfrequent among courtiers to this day.
+    But this showy tradition goes further still. The Bostan al Irem
+    (Garden of Paradise) is believed still to exist in the deserts
+    of Aden; though geographers differ on its position. It still
+    retains its domes and bowers&mdash;both of indescribable
+    beauty; its crystal fountains, and its walks strewed with
+    pearls for sand. It is true, that no living man can absolutely
+    aver that he has seen this place of wonders; but that is a mere
+    result of our very wicked age. This has not been always the
+    case; for Abdallah Ibn Aboo Kelaba passed a night in its palace
+    in the reign of Moowiych, the prince of the Faithful. Lucky the
+    man who shall next find it, but unlucky the world when he does;
+    for then the day of the general conflagration will be at hand.
+    In the mean time, it remains, like the top of Mount Meru,
+    covered with clouds, or, like the inside of a Chinese puzzle, a
+    work of unrivaled art, conceivable but intangible by man.</p>
+
+    <p>In this pleasant mingling of fact, visible to his shrewd
+    eye, and fiction drawn from ancient fancy, Major Harris leads
+    us on. But Aden is not yet exhausted of wonders&mdash;an island
+    in its bay, Seerah, (the fortified black isle,) is pronounced
+    to have been the refuge of Cain on the murder of Abel; and its
+    volcanic and barren chaos is no unequal competitor for the
+    honour with the rocks of the Caucasus.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page274"
+       name="page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> But England, which
+       changes every thing, is changing all this. Within the next
+       generation, the railway will run down the romances of
+       Nutrib; a cotton manufactory will send up its smokes to blot
+       out the celestial blue by day, and shoot forth its sullen
+       illumination by night, over the anointed soil; the minstrel
+       will turn policeman, and the sheik be a justice of peace;
+       political economy will have its itinerant lecturers,
+       enlightening the Bedouins on the principles of rent and
+       taxes; the city will have a lord mayor and corporation of
+       the deepest black; the volcano will be planted with villas;
+       turnpikes will measure out the sands; a hotel will flourish
+       on the summit of Jebel Shemshan; and Aden will differ from
+       Liverpool in nothing but being two thousand miles further
+       from the smoke and multitudes of London.</p>
+
+    <p>The Arab is still the prominent person among the native
+    population of this territory. Major Harris describes him well.
+    The bronzed and sunburnt visage, surrounded by long matted
+    locks of raven hair; the slender but wiry and active frame, and
+    the energetic gait and manner, proclaimed the untamable
+    descendant of Ishmael. He nimbly mounts the crupper of his now
+    unladen dromedary, and at a trot moves down the bazar. A
+    checked kerchief round his brows, and a kilt of dark blue
+    calico round his frame, comprise his slender costume. His arms
+    have been deposited outside the Turkish wall; and as he looks
+    back, his meagre, ferocious aspect, flanked by that tangled web
+    of hair, stamps him the roving tenant of the desert. It is
+    curious to find in this remote country a custom similar to that
+    of the fiery cross, which in old times summoned the Celtic
+    tribes to arms. On the alarm of invasion, a branch, torn by the
+    priest from the <i>nebek</i>, (a tree bearing a fruit like the
+    Siberian crab,) is lighted in the fire, the flame is then
+    quenched in the blood of a newly slaughtered ram. It is then
+    sent forth with a messenger to the nearest clan. Thus, great
+    numbers are assembled with remarkable promptitude. In the
+    invasion under Ibrahim Pasha, sixteen thousand of these wild
+    warriors were assembled from one tribe. They crept into the
+    Egyptian camp by night, and, using only their daggers, made
+    such formidable slaughter, that the Pasha was glad to escape by
+    a precipitate retreat.</p>
+
+    <p>The Jews form an important part of the population, as
+    artizans and manufacturers. Feeling the natural veneration for
+    the Chosen People in all their misfortunes, and convinced that
+    the time will come when those misfortunes will be obliterated,
+    it is highly gratifying to find, that even in this place of
+    their ancient sufferings, they are beginning to feel the
+    benefit of British protection. Hitherto, through their
+    indefatigable industry, having acquired opulence in Arabia as
+    elsewhere, they were afraid either to display or to enjoy it;
+    but now, under the protection of the British flag, they not
+    merely enjoy their wealth, but they publicly practise the
+    rights of their religion. Stone slabs with Hebrew inscriptions
+    mark the place of their dead. They have schools for the
+    education of their children; and their men and women, arrayed
+    in their holiday apparel, sit fearlessly in the synagogue, and
+    listen to the reading of the law and the prophets, as of old.
+    It is a great source of gratification to the philanthropist to
+    find, that wherever England extends her power, industry,
+    commerce, and peace are the natural result. Aden, barren as the
+    soil is, is evidently approaching to a prosperity which it
+    never possessed even in its most flourishing days. Emigrants
+    from Yemen and from both shores of the Red Sea, are daily
+    crowding within the walls, through the security which they
+    offer against native oppression. In the short space of three
+    years, the population has risen to twenty thousand souls.
+    Substantial dwellings are rising up in every quarter, and at
+    all the adjacent ports hundreds of native merchants are only
+    waiting the erection of permanent fortifications, in token of
+    our intending to remain, to flock under the guns with their
+    families and wealth. The opinion of this intelligent writer is,
+    that Aden, as a free port, whilst she pours wealth into a now
+    impoverished land, must erelong become the queen of the
+    adjacent seas, and rank amongst the most useful dependencies of
+    the British crown.</p>
+
+    <p>The mission having remained some <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page275"
+       name="page275"></a>[pg 275]</span> time at Aden, to purchase
+       horses and stores, sailed on the 15th May; and, on losing
+       sight of Aden, the members of the mission characteristically
+       took the "Pilgrims' vow" not to shave until their return. On
+       the 17th they opened the town of Tajura, on the verge of a
+       broad expanse of blue water, over which a gossamerlike fleet
+       of fishing catamarans already plied their craft. Their
+       pilot, an old Arab, was a man of fun, and the specimens of
+       his tongue are good. In some reference to the anchorage, he
+       said, "Now if we only had two-fathom Ali here, you would not
+       have all these difficulties. When they want to lay out an
+       anchor, they have nothing to do but to hand it over to Ali,
+       and he walks away with it into six or eight feet without any
+       ado. I went once upon a time in the dark to grope for a
+       berth on board of his buggalow, and, stumbling over some
+       one's toes, enquired to whom they belonged. 'To Ali,' was
+       the reply. 'And whose knees are these?' said I, after
+       walking half across the deck. 'Ali's.' 'And this head in the
+       scuppers, pray whose is it?' 'Ali's; what do you want with
+       it?' 'Ali again!' I exclaimed; 'then I must even look for
+       stowage elsewhere.'"</p>
+
+    <p>The sight of a shark in the harbour let loose the old jester
+    again. "A friend of mine," said he, "pilot of a vessel almost
+    as fast a sailer as my own, which is acknowledged to be the
+    best in these seas, was bound to Mocha with camels on board.
+    When off the high table-land betwixt the Bay of Tajura and the
+    Red Sea, one of the beasts dying, was hove overboard. Up came a
+    shark ten times the size of that fellow there, and swallowed
+    the camel, leaving only his hinder legs sticking out of his
+    jaws; but before he had time to think where he was to find
+    stowage for it, up came another tremendous fellow and bolted
+    the shark, camel, legs, and all."</p>
+
+    <p>In return for this anecdote, the major gave him the story of
+    the two Kilkenny cats in the saw-pit, which fought, until
+    nothing remained of either but the tail and a bit of the flue.
+    The old pilot doubted. "How can that be?" said he, revolving
+    the business seriously in his mind. "As for the story I have
+    told you, it is as true as the Koran."</p>
+
+    <p>After a short stay and presentation to the Sultan of Tajura,
+    a slave-port, with a miserable old man for its master, the
+    mission once more set forth for Shoa; yet even here we glean a
+    specimen of Arab speech. "Trees attain not to their growth in a
+    single day," said an Arab, when remonstrating with the sultan
+    on his inordinate love of lucre. "Take the tree as your text,
+    and learn that property is to be gathered only by slow
+    degrees." "True," said the old miser; "but, sheik, you must
+    have lost sight of the fact, that my leaves are already
+    withered, and that, if I would be rich, I have not a moment to
+    lose."</p>
+
+    <p>The packing up for the journey was a new source of trouble;
+    every camel-driver found fault with his load. However, at
+    length every article was stowed, except a hand-organ and a few
+    stand of arms. At length, a great hulking savage offered to
+    take the arms, provided they were cut in two to suit the back
+    of his animals. We have then another instance of Arab drollery.
+    "You are a tall man," said the old pilot; "suppose we shorten
+    you by the legs." "No, no," said the barbarian, "I am flesh and
+    blood, and shall be spoiled." "So will the contents of these
+    cases, you offspring of an ass," said the old man, "if you
+    divide them."</p>
+
+    <p>The progress to the interior from the port of Tajura, led
+    them over immense ranges of basaltic cliffs, where the heat of
+    the sun was felt with an intensity scarcely conceivable by
+    European feelings. In this land of fire, the road skirting the
+    base of a barren range covered with heaps of lava blocks, and
+    its foot marked by piles of stones, the memorials of deeds of
+    blood, the lofty conical peak of Jebel Seearo rose in sight,
+    and not long afterwards the far-famed Lake Assad, surrounded by
+    its dancing mirage, was seen sparkling at its base.</p>
+
+    <p>The first glimpse of this phenomenon, "though curious, was
+    far from pleasing"&mdash;"an elliptical basin, seven miles in
+    its transverse axis, filled half with smooth water of the
+    deepest cerulean hue, and half with a sheet of glittering
+    snow-white salt, girded on three sides by huge hot-looking
+    mountains, that dip their basins into its very bowl, and on the
+    fourth by crude, half-formed rocks of lava, broken and divided
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page276"
+       name="page276"></a>[pg 276]</span> by chasms. No sound broke
+       on the ear, not a ripple played on the water. The molten
+       surface of the lake lay like burnished steel, the fierce sky
+       was without a cloud, and the angry sun, like a ball of metal
+       at a white heat, rode in full blaze."</p>
+
+    <p>It is scarcely wonderful, that among a people devoted to
+    superstition, those terrible passes and sultry hollows should
+    be marked as the haunts of the powers of evil. Adyli, a deep
+    mysterious cavern at the extremity of one of those melancholy
+    plains, is believed to be the especial abode of gins and
+    <i>afreets</i>, whose voices are heard in the night, and who
+    carry off the traveller to devour him without remorse. A late
+    instance was mentioned of a man who was compelled by the
+    weariness of his camel to fall behind the caravan, and who left
+    no remnants behind him but his spear and shield. Major Harris
+    well describes this spot as one which, from its desolate
+    position, might be believed to be the last stage of the
+    habitable world. "A close mephitic stench, impeding
+    respiration, arose from the saline exhalations of the stagnant
+    lake. A frightful glare from the white salt and limestone
+    hillocks threatened extinction to the vision, and a sickening
+    heaviness in the loaded atmosphere was enhanced rather than
+    alleviated by the fiery breath of the north-westerly wind,
+    which blew without interruption during the day. The air was
+    inflamed, the sky sparkled, and columns of burning sand, which
+    at quick intervals towered high into the atmosphere, became so
+    illumined as to appear like tall pillars of fire. Crowds of
+    horses, mules, and camels, tormented to madness by the
+    poisonous gad-fly, flocked to share the only bush; and,
+    disputing with their heels the slender shelter it afforded,
+    compelled several of the party to seek refuge in caves formed
+    below by fallen masses of volcanic rock, heated to the
+    temperature of a potter's kiln, and fairly baking up the marrow
+    in the bones." The heat in this place, with the thermometer
+    under the shade of cloaks and umbrellas, was at 126&deg;. It is
+    only surprising how any of the party survived. Certainly if
+    Abyssinia is to be approached only by this road, the prospect
+    of an intercourse with it from the east, appears among the most
+    improbable things of this world.</p>
+
+    <p>One of the advantages of continental travel has been long
+    since said to be, its teaching us how many comfortable things
+    we enjoy at home; and it appears that no Englishman can
+    comprehend the value of that despised fluid, fresh water, until
+    he has left the precincts of his own fortunate land: but it is
+    in Africa, and peculiarly on this Abyssinian high-road, that
+    the value of a draught of spring water is to be especially
+    estimated. "Since leaving the shores of India," says Major
+    Harris, "the party had gradually been in training towards a
+    disregard of dirty water. On board a ship of any description,
+    the fluid is seldom very clear or very plentiful. At Cape Aden,
+    there was little perceptible difference between the sea water
+    and the land water. At Tajura, the beverage obtainable was far
+    from being improved in quality by the taint of the new skins in
+    which it was transferred from the only well; and now, in the
+    very heart of the scorching Tehama, where a copious draught of
+    pure water seemed absolutely indispensable every five minutes,
+    the mixture was the very acme of abomination. Fresh hides
+    stript from the he-goat, besmeared inside as well as out with
+    old tallow and strong bark tan, filled from an impure well at
+    Sagallo, tossed and tumbled during two days and nights under a
+    distilling heat," formed a drink which we should conclude to be
+    little short of poison. However, the human throat learns to
+    accommodate itself to every thing in time, and the time came
+    when even this abomination was longed for.</p>
+
+    <p>But the worst was not yet come. It was midnight when the
+    party commenced the steep ascent of the south-eastern boundary
+    of the lake, a ridge of volcanic rocks. "The north-east wind
+    had scarcely diminished its parching fierceness, and in hot
+    suffocating gusts swept over the glittering expanse of water
+    and salt, where the moon shone brightly; each deadly puff
+    succeeded by the stillness that foretells a tropical hurricane.
+    The prospect around was wild&mdash;beetling, basaltic cones,
+    and jagged slabs of shattered lava."</p>
+
+    <p>The path itself was formidable, <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page277"
+       name="page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> winding along the crest
+       of the ridge over sheets of broken lava, with scarcely more
+       than sufficient width to admit of the progress in single
+       file. "The horrors of this dismal night set all description
+       at defiance." The hope of water, though at the distance of
+       sixteen miles, excited them for a while; but at length even
+       this excitement failed. And "owing to the heat, fasting, and
+       privation, the limbs of the weaker refused the task, and
+       after the first two miles they dropped fast into the rear.
+       Under the fiery blast of the midnight sirocco the cry for
+       water, uttered feebly and with difficulty by numbers of
+       parched throats, now became incessant; and the supply for
+       the whole party falling short of a gallon and a half, it was
+       not long to be answered. A tiny sip of diluted vinegar for a
+       moment assuaged the burning thirst which raged in the
+       vitals; but its effects were transient, and, after
+       struggling a few steps, they sank again, declaring their
+       days to be numbered, and their resolution to rise up no
+       more. Dogs incontinently expired upon the road, horses and
+       mules that once lay down were abandoned to their fate; while
+       the lion-hearted soldier, who had braved death at the
+       cannon's mouth, subdued and unmanned by thirst, lay gasping
+       by the wayside, hailing approaching dissolution with
+       delight, as the termination of tortures which were no longer
+       to be endured. As another day dawned, and the "round red
+       sun" again rose over the lake of salt, the courage even of
+       those who had borne up against this fiery trial began to
+       flag: "a dimness came before the drowsy eyes, giddiness
+       seized the brain, and the hope held out by the guides, of
+       water in advance, seemed like the delusion of a dream."</p>
+
+    <p>In this crisis, at which our chief wonder is, that Major
+    Harris and his explorers were ever heard of again, or had left
+    any memorials of themselves but their bones, a wild Bedouin was
+    seen, "like a delivering angel," hurrying forward with a large
+    skin, filled with muddy water. This well-timed supply was
+    divided among the fainting people: a quantity was poured over
+    the face and down the throat of each; and at a late hour,
+    "ghastly, haggard, and exhausted, like men who had escaped from
+    the jaws of death, the whole had contrived to straggle into a
+    camp, which, but for the foresight and firmness of the son of
+    Ali Abi,(who had sent the water,) few individuals would have
+    reached alive."</p>
+
+    <p>After traversing this terrible desert of fifty miles&mdash;a
+    barrier to all general and commercial intercourse, which we
+    should think impassable, however it might be overcome by a
+    small party of bold and hardy men, well led, furnished with
+    every supply, water excepted, which could sustain them through
+    its horrors, (and which yet, through that single want, had
+    nearly perished)&mdash;they persued a long and dlifficult march
+    through a dreary country, scantily peopled, dotted with robber
+    clans, and exhibiting impediments of all kinds in the knavery
+    and villany of the native authorities; until they reached the
+    borders of Abyssinia. We had by no means been aware that
+    volcanoes had made so large a share of this portion of Africa.
+    The whole border seems to be volcanic, and to retain in its
+    blasted and broken surface, evidence of its having been, in
+    remote ages, perhaps in the earliest, the scene of most intense
+    and general volcanic action.</p>
+
+    <p>In Major Harris's animated description&mdash;"singular and
+    interesting indeed is the wild scenery in the vicinity of the
+    treacherous oasis of Sultelli. A field of extinct volcanic
+    cones, vomited out of the entrails of the earth, and each
+    encircled by a black belt of vitrified lava, environs it on
+    three sides; and of these Mount Abida, three thousand feet in
+    height, whose cup, enveloped in clouds, stretches some two and
+    a half miles in <i>diameter</i>, would seem to be the parent.
+    Beyond, the still loftier crater of Aiulloo, the ancient
+    landmark of the now-decayed empire of Ethiopia, is visible in
+    dim perspective; and, looming hazily in the extreme distance,
+    is the great blue Abyssinian range."</p>
+
+    <p>In any part of Africa a river of tolerable magnitude is an
+    object of the most anxious interest; and the approach to the
+    Hawash, the boundary river of the kingdom of Shoa, was looked
+    to with eager speculation. At length the height was reached
+    from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page278"
+       name="page278"></a>[pg 278]</span> which was obtained "an
+       exhilarating prospect over the dark, lone valley of the long
+       looked-for Hawash. The course of the river was marked by a
+       dense belt of trees and verdure, stretching towards the base
+       of the great mountain range, of which the cloud-capped cone,
+       which frowns over the capital of Shoa, forms the most
+       conspicuous feature." The mission now began to
+       exalt:&mdash;"Though still far distant, the ultimate
+       destination of the embassy appeared almost to have been
+       gained, and none had an idea of the length of time that must
+       elapse before his foot should press the soil of Ankober." A
+       day of intense heat was as usual followed by a heavy fall of
+       rain, which, owing to the unaccommodating arrangement of
+       striking the tents at sunset, thoroughly drenched the whole
+       party.</p>
+
+    <p>The new difficulty was, how to cross the Hawash, "second of
+    the rivers of Abyssinia, and rising in the very heart of
+    Ethipoia, at an elevation of 8000 feet above the sea. It is fed
+    by niggardly tributaries from the high bulwarks of Shoa and
+    Efat, and flows, like a great artery, through the arid plains
+    of the Adaiel, green and wooded throughout its long course, and
+    finally absorbed in the lagoons of Aussa. The canopy of fleecy
+    clouds, which, as mid-day dawned, hung thick and heavy over the
+    lofty blue peaks beyond, gave sad presage of the deluge that
+    was pouring between its verdant banks from the higher regions
+    of the source."</p>
+
+    <p>The party now descended to enjoy the real luxuries of shade
+    and water, in a region where they had hitherto seen nothing but
+    salt and lava. At first thinly wooded, they found the soil
+    covered with tall rank grass, from which, however, the
+    perpetual incursions of the robber tribes scare the flocks and
+    herds. Deeper down, they entered among gum-bearing acacias and
+    fruit-trees. "Guinea-fowl rose before them, groves of tamarisk,
+    ringing to the voice of the bell-bird, flanked every open
+    glade, and the fractured branches of the nobletrees gave proof
+    of the presence of the most ponderous of the mammalia."</p>
+
+    <p>Forcing their way, with some difficulty, through this
+    jungle, they obtained their first near view of the river, a
+    "deep volume of turbid water," covered with drift wood, and
+    rolling, at the rate of three miles an hour, between clayey
+    walls twenty-five feet in height. The breadth fell short of
+    sixty yards, but the flood was not yet at its maximum. Willows,
+    drooping over the stream, were festooned with recent drift,
+    hanging many feet above the level of the banks; and it was
+    evident that the waters had lately been out, to the overflowing
+    of the country for many miles. The river, now upwards of 2200
+    feet above the level of the ocean forms, in this quarter, the
+    nominal boundary of the kingdom of Shoa.</p>
+
+    <p>They were now on "the spot which exhibited the forest life
+    of Africa." In a lake adjoining the river, the hippopotamus
+    "rolled his unwieldy carcass to the surface, and floating
+    crocodiles, protruding his snout to blow a snort that might be
+    heard at the distance of a mile." An unfortunate donkey, which
+    had been partly drowned and partly strangled, was thrown out of
+    the camp. No sooner had night fallen, than this prey roused the
+    appetites of the whole forest, the howl and growl of wild
+    beasts was heard at their banquet on the donkey throughout the
+    night. Lightening played over the woods; the "violent snapping
+    of the branches proclaimed the nocturnal movements of the
+    elephant and hippopotamus;" the loud roar and startling snort
+    were constantly heard; and by morning every vestige of the dead
+    animal, even to the skull, had disappeared.</p>
+
+    <p>Africa, in all its provinces, is the scene of the boldest
+    field sports in the world&mdash;India and its tigers, perhaps,
+    excepted. But Africa excels even India in the variety and
+    multitude of its mighty savages&mdash;lions, elephants,
+    panthers, and hippopotami; the sands, the forests, the jungles,
+    the rivers, the marshes, every thing and place abounds with
+    brute life, on the largest, the boldest, and the fiercest
+    scale. Africa, with the human race on the lowest grade, has the
+    brute on the highest, and its true name is the great kingdom of
+    savage nature.</p>
+
+    <p>A two-ounce ball had been lodged in the forehead of
+    hippopotamus on the evening of reaching the Hawash;
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page279"
+       name="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> but the animal having
+       dived, the natives, in some jealousy of the skill of the
+       British rifle, declared that it had not been mortally
+       struck. The next dawn, however, decided the question, for
+       the "freckled pink sides of a dead hippopotamus were to be
+       seen high above the surface, as the distended carcass
+       floated like a monstrous buoy at anchor." Hawsers were
+       carried out with all diligence, and the "colossus" was towed
+       ashore amidst the acclamations of the whole caravan. Then
+       came a native scene. A tribe of savages, who had waited,
+       squatting, to see the arrival of the monster, threw aside
+       their bows and arrows, and, stripping its thick hide from
+       the ribs, attacked it with the vigour of an African horde.
+       Donkeys and women were laden with incredible despatch, and,
+       "staggering under huge flaps of meat," the savages went
+       their way.</p>
+
+    <p>The soil now became swampy, yet only the more filled with
+    animal existence. LE ADO, (the White Water,) a lake which they
+    skirted, of two miles' diameter, was the haunt of countless
+    wild-fowl, geese, mallards, teal, herons, flamingoes. A party
+    of Bedouin women deposed to having seen another "party" of
+    elephants taking a bath in the spot half an hour before, and
+    the prints of their huge feet in the moist sands corroborated
+    the testimony. Hideously withered women followed the march of
+    the mission, carrying curds, and covered over with marsh-flies.
+    Above, vast flights of locusts, which had stripped the coast,
+    were pouring in towards Abyssinia. "They quite darkened the
+    air" where the caravan halted; and above them again were a host
+    of adjutant birds, sometimes bursting down through the mass,
+    and then stooping to the ground, and stalking along to devour
+    the killed and wounded. This is the land, too, of the
+    hurricane. Nature is queen or tyrant here; the thunder tears
+    the sensorium; the lightning burns out the eyes; the rain is a
+    cataract; the hall is a continued volley of ice; the clouds
+    stoop to earth, and bury the daylight like a shroud; the rivers
+    become torrents; the dry plain becomes first a swamp, and then
+    a sea. Tents and tarpaulins are useless to keep out the deluge
+    from above, or are beaten down by its weight on the heads of
+    the unfortunates who trust to them for shelter, until at length
+    the caravan, stripped of all covering, has no resource but to
+    bide the pelting of the pitiless storm, and, shivering and
+    shelterless, wait until the hurricane has howled itself
+    away.</p>
+
+    <p>At length they reached the city of Furri, loaded, for the
+    thirty-fifth time, with the baggage of the British embassy. The
+    caravan, escorted by a detachment of three hundred matchlock
+    men, with flutes playing, and muskets echoing, and the heads of
+    the warriors decorated with white plumes, on the 16th July
+    entered the frontier town of the kingdom of Efat. Clusters of
+    conical-roofed houses, covering the sides of twin hills, here
+    presented the first permanent habitations that had greeted the
+    eye since leaving the sea-coast&mdash;rude and ungainly, but
+    right welcome signs of transition from depopulated waste to the
+    abodes of man. The African seems a robber by nature, and the
+    sight of the bales and boxes excited the national propensity in
+    a most violent degree. Even the royal ministers and courtiers
+    seem to have felt a passion for looking into those prohibited
+    treasures, which evidently tempted their virtue in a most
+    perilous degree. Meanwhile a special messenger arrived, bearing
+    reiterated compliments from the Negoos, (king,) with a horse
+    and a mule from the royal stud, attired in the peculiar
+    trappings which belong to majesty. Those animals awoke all the
+    loyal curiosity of the people. At the sight women and girls,
+    enveloped in blood-red shifts, who had thronged to stare at the
+    strangers, burst into a scream of acclamation. A group of
+    hooded widows thrust their fingers into their ears and joined
+    in the clamour. The escort and camel-drivers placed no bounds
+    to their hilarity. A fat ox, that had been promised, was turned
+    loose among the spectators, pursued by fifty savages with their
+    gleaming <i>creeses</i>, and hamstrung by a dexterous blow,
+    which threw it bellowing to the earth in the height of its mad
+    career, and tribes of lean curs commenced an indiscriminate
+    engagement over the garbage.</p>
+
+    <p>The neighbouring nations look upon the population of this
+    province with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page280"
+       name="page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> great contempt. They say
+       that their tongues are long for lying, their arms are long
+       for stealing, and their legs are long for running away.</p>
+
+    <p>The mission now approached another region, perhaps the
+    finest in Africa. Every change in the climate and soil in
+    Africa is in extremes, and barreness and unbounded fertility
+    lie side by side.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"As if by the touch of the magician's wand, the scene
+        now passes, in an instant, from parched wastes to the geen,
+        and lovely islands of Abyssinia, presenting one scene of
+        rich and thriving cultivation. The baggage having at length
+        been consigned to the shoulders of six hundred grumbling
+        Moslem porters&mdash;for here the camel, from the steepness
+        of the hills, was useless&mdash;and forming a line, which
+        extended upwards of a mile, the embassy, on the morning of
+        the 17th, comnenced the ascent of the Abyssinian Alps; the
+        flutes again played, the wild warriors of the escort again
+        chanted their songs. It was a cool and lovely morning, and
+        an invigorating breeze played over the mountains' side, on
+        which, now less than ten degrees from the equator,
+        flourished the vegetation of northern climes. The rough and
+        stony road wound on, by a steep ascent, over hill and dale,
+        now skirting some precipitous ascent, now dipping into the
+        basin of some verdant hollow, where it suddenly emerged
+        into a succession of shady lanes, bounded by flowering
+        hedgerows."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>All this is so like England, and so unlike Africa, that we
+    should suspect the major's memory to have been as active at
+    least as his observation. But the work contains so much
+    internal evidence of accuracy, independently of the confidence
+    attached to the character of the intelligent writer himself,
+    that we must believe the heart of Ethiopa to possess secnes
+    that would be worthy of the heart of our own fresh and
+    flower-bearing island. The scene which follows is quite
+    Arcadian.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The wild rose, the fern, the lantana, and the
+        honeysuckle, smiled round a succession of highly cultivated
+        terraces, and on every eminence, stood a cluster of
+        conically thatched houses, environed by green hedges, and
+        partially embowered amid dark trees As the troop passed on,
+        the peasant abandoned his occupation to gaze at the novel
+        procession; while merry groups of hooded women, decked in
+        scarlet and crimson left their avocations in the hut to
+        welcome the king's guests with a shrill <i>ziroleet</i>,
+        which ran from every hand. Birds warbled among the groves.
+        At various turns of the road the prospect was rugged, wild,
+        and beautiful. The first Christian village was soon
+        revealed on the summit of a height. Three principal ranges
+        of hills were next crossed in succession. Lastly, the view
+        opened upon the wooded site of Ankober occupying a central
+        position in a horseshoe crescent of mountains, still high
+        above which enclose a magnificent amphitheatre of ten miles
+        in diameter. This is clothed throughout with a splendid
+        vigorous, and varied vegetation."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The embassy now halted, waiting for permission to enter the
+    capital, and taking up their quarters in a town three thousand
+    feet above Furri, on the frontier. The escort of the troop
+    fired a salute on entering, and, as they marched along,
+    performed the war dance. A veteran capered before the ranks
+    with a drawn sword between his teeth, and the martial song was
+    chorused by three hundred Christian throats. The prospect from
+    this elevated point naturally struck the travellers with
+    astonishment and admiration. The site of the town is only one
+    of the thousand cones into which the mountain side is broken as
+    it approaches the plain. The prospect over the plain was
+    boundless, and countless villages met the eye upon the mountain
+    slope. Wherever the plough could go, all was cultivated. Wheat,
+    barley, Indian corn, beans, peas, cotton, and oil plant, throve
+    luxuriantly round every hamlet. The regularly marked fields
+    mounted in terraces to the height of three or four thousand
+    feet, becoming, in their boundaries, more and more indistinct,
+    until totally lost in the shadowy green side of Mamrat (the
+    Mother of Grace.)</p>
+
+    <p>This mountain is a wonder, shrouded in clouds whilst all was
+    sunshine below. It is clothed with a dense forest, and ascends
+    to an elevation of 13,000 feet above the sea. Here are
+    collected, for security, the treasures of the monarch which
+    have been amassing since the re-establishment of the kingdom,
+    one hundred and fifty years since.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page281"
+       name="page281"></a>[pg 281]</span> After remaining some time
+       in the market-place, the governor of the town appeared, and
+       conducted the mission to the house of an old Moslem woman,
+       where they were to lodge for the night. The names of the
+       three daughters, Major Harris observes, were worthy of the
+       days of Prince Cherry and Fair Star. They were Eve, Sweet
+       Limes, and Sunbeam. The ladies vacated the house with great
+       good-humour; but it was low, intolerably filthy, and without
+       bedding or food. The unfortunate mission had thus to spend a
+       night, probably unequaled by their sufferings in the open
+       field. Though so near the equator, they felt the cold
+       severely; rain set in with great violence, pouring through
+       the roof, and entering into the threshold. A fire was
+       indispensable, yet they were nearly suffocated with smoke;
+       they were devoured with insects, and in this torment and
+       fever tossed till dawn. At the arrival of morning they
+       received the disappointing message, that the king could not
+       yet visit his capital, but that they might either seek him
+       among the mountains, or wait for him where they were.</p>
+
+    <p>Major Harris imputes this disappointment to the accidental
+    opening of one of the boxes of presents. Royal cupidity had
+    been so strongly excited by the conjectures of their contents,
+    that the king had evidently been anxious, in the first
+    instance, to hasten their delivery as much as possible. Gold
+    and jewels were probably uppermost in the royal conceptions;
+    but the box happening to contain only the leathern buckets
+    belonging to the "galloper guns," the spectators were loud in
+    their derision. "These," they exclaimed, "are but a poor
+    people! What is their nation compared with the Amhara? for
+    behold, in this trash, specimens of the offerings brought from
+    their boasted land to the footstool of the mightiest of
+    monarchs."</p>
+
+    <p>The rainy season was now setting in, and the situation of
+    the embassy became more comfortless from day to day. Notes were
+    written, and answers received from the monarch, but the royal
+    interview was still postponed, partly by the artifice of the
+    knavish governors, who kept a longing eye on the presents, and
+    partly by the barbarian etiquette of showing the natives the
+    scorn with which their king was entitled to treat all the
+    nations of the world.</p>
+
+    <p>The residence of the mission in this comfortless place,
+    however, gave a opportunity of acquiring considerable knowledge
+    of the habits and commerce of the interior. The chief traffic
+    is in slaves, but coffee is exported extensively from Hurrna,
+    and large caravans three times in the year visit the ports,
+    Zeyla and Barbara, laden with ivory, ostrich feathers, ghee,
+    saffrons, gums, and myrrh. In return are brought blue and white
+    calicoes, Indian piece goods, Indian prints, silks, and shawls,
+    red cotton yarn, silk threads, beads, frankincense, copper
+    wire, and zinc.</p>
+
+    <p>A fortnight rolled away painfully in this detestable place,
+    which was named Alio Amba, when a summons came from the monarch
+    in these formal words:&mdash;"Tarry not by day, neither stay ye
+    by night; for the heart of the father longeth to see his
+    children, and let him not be disappointed."</p>
+
+    <p>They now ascended through a country of romantic beauty, to
+    Machalwan, the place appointed for the interview. The
+    Abyssinian in charge of the embassy, was now sent forward to
+    obtain permission to fire a salute of twenty-one guns on the
+    arrival of the troop at the royal residence. This request
+    seemed to have alarmed his majesty in no slight degree. The
+    most romantic reports of the ordnance had gone before them. It
+    was currently believed that their discharge was sufficient to
+    set fire to the ground, to shiver rocks, and to dismantle
+    mountain fastnesses. Men were said to have arrived, with
+    "copper legs," who served those tremendous engines; and in
+    alarm for the safety of his palace, capital, and treasures, the
+    suspicious monarch still peremptorily insisted on withholding
+    the desired license, until he should have seen the battery
+    "with his own eyes." It rained incessantly during the night
+    which preceded the day of presentation, and until the morning
+    broke; when a great volume of white mist rose from the deep
+    valleys, and drifted like a scene-curtain across the summit of
+    the giant Mamrat. The whole troop now began to ascend the
+    mountain; and, as they approached within sight of the stockaded
+    palace, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page282"
+       name="page282"></a>[pg 282]</span> the escort commenced to
+       fire their matchlocks. The view here is described as very
+       lovely, and giving some conception of European variety of
+       vegetation, with tropical luxuriance. Farm-houses, rich
+       fields, foaming cascades, and bright green meadows covered
+       with flowers, met the eye on every side; and above all
+       towered the great Abyssinian range, some thousand feet
+       perpendicularly overhead, with its summits crested with
+       clouds. The crowd of spectators was immense, and were
+       repelled only by strokes of the bamboo. At length a large
+       tent was pitched for the reception of the embassy, the floor
+       was strewed with heath, myrtles, and other aromatic shrubs;
+       and the weather having cleared up, "the mission, radiant
+       with plumes and gold embroidery, moved on." As they reached
+       the precincts of the palace, the artillery fired a salute,
+       which equally awed and astonished the multitude, the
+       discharge being followed by universal shouts in the native
+       tongue of&mdash;"Wonderful English! Well done, well
+       done!"</p>
+
+    <p>After several further stoppages, they entered the reception
+    hall. It was circular, and showy. The lofty walls glittered
+    with a profusion of silver ornaments, emblazoned shields,
+    matchlocks, and double-barreled guns. Persian carpets and rugs
+    of all sizes, colours, and patterns, covered the floors; and
+    crowds of governors, chiefs, and officers of the court, in
+    their holiday attire, stood in a posture of respect, uncovered
+    to the girdle. Two wide alcoves receded on either side, in one
+    of which blazed a cheerful wood fire, engrossed by indolent
+    cats; while in the other, on a flowered satin ottoman,
+    surrounded by withered slaves and juvenile pages, and supported
+    by gay velvet cushions, lay "His most Christian majesty, Sahela
+    Selasse!" The Dech Agulari (state doorkeeper,) as master of the
+    ceremonies, stood with a rod of green rushes to preserve the
+    exact distance of approach to royalty; and as the British
+    entered and made their bows, pointed them to chairs, which
+    done, it was commanded that all should be covered.</p>
+
+    <p>The monarch was not unworthy of figuring in this pomp. Forty
+    summers, of which eight-and-twenty had been passed on the
+    throne, had slightly furrowed his forehead, and grizzled a full
+    bushy head of hair, arranged in elaborate curls. But, though
+    wanting the left eye, "the expression of his manly features,
+    open, pleasing, and commanding, did not belie the character for
+    impartial justice which he had obtained far and wide; even the
+    robber tribes of the low country calling him a fine balance of
+    gold."</p>
+
+    <p>After the delivery of the ambassadorial letters, the
+    exhibition commenced, which had so long been the envy of the
+    courtiers, and probably the conversation of the kingdom. The
+    presents were displayed. A rich Brussels carpet, which
+    completely covered the hall, Cashmere shawls, and embroidered
+    Delhi scarfs of resplendent hues, excited universal admiration.
+    The finer specimens were handed to the king. As the various
+    presents succeeded, the delight increased. A group of Chinese
+    dancing figures, produced bursts of merriment; and when the
+    European escort, in full uniform, with the sergeant at their
+    head, marched into the hall, paced in front of the throne, and
+    performed the manual and platoon exercises, amid ornamented
+    clocks chiming, and musical boxes playing "God save the Queen,"
+    his majesty appeared quite entranced. "But many and bright were
+    the smiles that lighted up the royal features, as three hundred
+    muskets, with bayonets fixed, were piled in front of the royal
+    footstool. A buzz of mingled wonder and applause arose from the
+    crowded courtiers; and the monarch's satisfaction now filled to
+    overflowing. 'God will reward you,' he exclaimed&mdash;'for I
+    cannot!'"</p>
+
+    <p>But a more serious and a more striking display was still to
+    follow. The artillery were to exhibit their powers; and the
+    crowd rushed out, and scattered over the hill to see its
+    practice. A sheet was attached to the opposite face of the
+    ravine, the valley rang to the roar of the guns; and as the
+    white cloth flew in shreds to the wind, under a rapid discharge
+    of round shot, canister, and grape, amid the crumbling of the
+    rock, and the rush of falling stones, shouts of admiration rang
+    from hill to hill. This eventful evening was closed by
+    testimonies of the king's satisfaction, in the shape of a huge
+    pepper pie from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page283"
+       name="page283"></a>[pg 283]</span> the royal kitchen, with
+       his commands that his children might feast; and a visit from
+       the royal confessor, a dwarf enveloped in robes and turbans,
+       and armed with silver cross and crosier. Seating himself in
+       a chair, he delivered a speech, which affords as good a
+       specimen of court oratory as any thing that we remember; and
+       also shows the powerful effect of the presents on the
+       courtly sensibilities. The speech was as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"Forty years have rolled away since Asfa Woosen, on
+        whose memory be peace! grandsire to our beloved monarch,
+        saw in a dream that the red men were bringing into his
+        kingdom, curious and beautiful commodities from countries
+        beyond the great sea. The astrologers, on being commanded
+        to give an interpretation thereof, predicted with one
+        accord, that foreigners from the land of Egypt would come
+        into Abysinia during his majesty's most illustrious reign;
+        and that yet more and wealthier would follow in that of his
+        son, and of his son's son, who should sit next upon the
+        throne. Praise be unto God, that the dream and its
+        interpretation have now been fulfilled! Our eyes, though
+        they be old, have never beheld wonders until this day; and
+        during the reign over Shoa of seven successive kings, no
+        such miracles as these have been wrought in Ethiopia!!"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The embassy were now fixed under the protection of the
+    monarch; and they were invited to join in the various displays
+    and festivals of the new year, which the Abyssinians begin on
+    the 10th of September. Of these, the cavalry review was by far
+    the most showy, as well as the most suited to the gratification
+    of the British officers. Some parts of this display seemed to
+    have been borrowed from the days of European knighthood. The
+    king's master of the horse advanced at the head of his
+    squadrons of picked household cavalry, "the flower of the
+    Christian lances." Ayto Melkoo, their leader, was arrayed in a
+    party-coloured vest, surmounted by a crimson Arab fleece,
+    handsomely studded with silver jets. A gilt embossed gauntlet
+    encircled his right arm, from the wrist to the elbow; his targe
+    and horse trappings glittered with a profusion of silver
+    crosses and devices, and he looked a stately and martial
+    figure, curveting at the head of his well-appointed
+    lancers.</p>
+
+    <p>This warrior, advancing with his line, galloped up in front,
+    and made a speech in the manner of old heroic times, vaunting
+    his past prowess and his present loyalty, his troopers
+    accompanying the more succcessful parts of his speech by
+    striking the lance upon the targe. At the close, he threw his
+    spears upon the ground, unsheathed his two-edged falchion, gave
+    a howl, which was answered by a roar from his horsemen, and a
+    discharge of fire-arms; and the whole made a dash, and charged
+    across the parade.</p>
+
+    <p>At the royal command, the British now fired a salute of
+    twenty-one guns, to the great wonder and astonishment of the
+    wild Galla and the multitude of spectators. Thirteen governors,
+    (of provinces, we presume,) clothed in the skins of lions and
+    leopards and covered with silver chains, cuirasses, and
+    gauntlets, emblems of their gallantry in the field, next passed
+    before the king, each at the head of his troop, and each making
+    a harangue. Abyssinia must be a very oratorical country. Last
+    of all, came the tall, martial figure of Abegoz Moreteh, chief
+    of the tributary Galla of the south, at the head of his legion,
+    three thousand in number: this "sea of wild horsemen" moved in
+    advance, to the sound of kettle-drums, their arms and
+    decorations flashing in the sun, and their ample white robes
+    and long sable hair streaming in the breeze. At the war-hoop of
+    their leader, "with the rush of a hurricane the moving forest
+    of lances disappeared under a cloud of dust." From <i>eight to
+    ten thousand</i> cavalry were in the field; and the spectacle,
+    which lasted from nine in the morning until five in the
+    afternoon, was "exceedingly wild and impressive." But the most
+    impressive display of all was to be supplied by the British.
+    With fire-arms the people were acquainted already. The "brass
+    galloper," though viewed with "wonderful respect," was still
+    only an engine on a larger scale than those to which they were
+    familiarized. But the rocket was a formidable and splendid
+    novelty. Night had now thrown her mantle round the field, and,
+    by the king's command, the rocket practice began; the first
+    brilliant <span class="pagenum"><a id="page284"
+       name="page284"></a>[pg 284]</span> rush into the air was
+       matter of amazement to all. When the rocket started with a
+       roar from its bed, men, women, and children fell on their
+       faces&mdash;horses and mules broke from their
+       tethers&mdash;and the warriors who had any heart remaining
+       shouted aloud. The Galla tribes, who witnessed the
+       explosion, ascribed the phenomenon to "potent medicines,"
+       and declared, that since the Gyptzis (British) could, at
+       pleasure, produce comets in the sky and rain fire down
+       heaven, there was nothing for them but submission to the
+       king's command.</p>
+
+    <p>The review was followed, at some interval of time, by a more
+    substantial display. Thrice in the year the king summons his
+    rude militia for an inroad into some of the neighbouring lands;
+    and, as he was particularly anxious to have the presence of the
+    embassy on this occasion, and as they conceived it to offer the
+    best opportunity of seeing the country, they accordingly
+    accepted the invitation. As it is to be presumed that they had
+    no intention of taking any personal part in this marauding
+    expedition, we are not disposed to criticise their
+    acquiescence; otherwise there could be no doubt whatever, that
+    they had no right to assist the king of Shoa in his foray on
+    his neighbours, more than they would have had a right to assist
+    his neighbours in their attacks upon the king of Shoa.</p>
+
+    <p>The march was peculiar, and even pompous, in its kind. It
+    was extraordinary to see it preceded by a copy of the Holy
+    Scriptures, under a canopy of scarlet cloth, and borne on a
+    mule; but, it must be owned, accompanied by the "Ark of the
+    cathedral of St Michael," which works miracles, and is regarded
+    as a pledge of victory. Then came the king on a specially
+    caparisoned mule, surrounded by his guard of shield-bearers,
+    and flanked by matchlock-men; then came forty damsels, royal
+    cooks, painted with ochre, and muffled in crimson-striped robes
+    of cotton&mdash;a troop rigorously guarded by attendants with
+    long white wands. Beyond these, as far as the eye could
+    penetrate the clouds of dust, every hill and valley teemed with
+    horsemen, camp-followers, sumpter-mules, and men carrying
+    sheaves of spears, and leading caparisoned horses, all mixed in
+    the most picturesque confusion. After a march of fifteen miles,
+    the female cooks halted, like a flight of flamingoes, in a
+    pretty, secluded valley. It was evident that the day's march
+    was now at an end, and the army halted to bivouac for the
+    night. In the centre of this straggling camp, which could not
+    be less than five miles in diameter, was raised a suite of
+    royal tents, consisting of a gay party-coloured marquee of
+    Turkish manufacture, surrounded by twelve ample awnings of
+    black serge, over which floated five crimson pennons,
+    surmounted respectively by silver globes. There was something
+    of African, or perhaps European, pomp in this proceeding. Until
+    the royal tents were enclosed from the vulgar eye, the Negoos,
+    ascending an adjacent eminence with his chiefs and an escort of
+    picked warriors, remained seated on cushioned <i>alga</i>, and
+    under the crimson canopy of the state umbrella.</p>
+
+    <p>When night fell, rockets were fired by the royal command,
+    "to instil terror into the breasts of the Galla hordes;" and
+    the peak which ran near the headquarters, was chosen as the
+    most central spot for the display. The effect, brilliant every
+    where, was here all that even Majesty could have desired. The
+    "fire-rainers" (the picturesqe name which, we presune, Major
+    Harris has adopted from the natives) produced delight, wonder,
+    and terror, in all their degrees; and if the Galla nation were
+    present, they must, to a man, have solicited chains, rather
+    than be roasted alive by those flying monsters, which the
+    people seem to have taken for the works of magic, if not
+    magicians themselves. The display was followed by a repast in
+    the old heroic style, and which will not be forgotten, should
+    Abyssinia ever give the world a sable Homer.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The chiefs and nobles sat down to their feast in the
+        royal pavilion, where hydromel, beer, and <i>raw</i> flesh
+        were in regal profusion!! After supper, speeches were made
+        in the Homeric style, boasting of what the warriors had
+        done, and intended to do. A fragment of one of the
+        speeches; addressed to the English as the party broke up,
+        gives a fair idea of Abyssinian table eloquence,
+        <span class="pagenum"><a id="page285"
+           name="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> 'You are the
+           adorners,' (the orator had been decorated with a scarlet
+           cloak;) 'you have given me scarlet broadcloth, and
+           behold I have reserved the gift for this day. This
+           garment will bring me success; for the Pagan who sees a
+           crimson cloak on the shoulders of the Amhara,'
+           (Abyssinian,) 'believing him to be a warrior of
+           distinguished valour, will take, like an ass, to his
+           heels, and be speared without the smallest danger.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The march, and the foray into the country of one of the
+    Galla tribes, are admirably told, and perhaps are among the
+    best descriptions in the volumes&mdash;exact without being
+    tedious, and deeply coloured without exaggeration. But we must
+    hasten to other things. This was the monarch's eighty-fourth
+    foray; and on this we may conceive something of the horrors of
+    barbarian life, and of the tremendous evils which nations have
+    escaped whose laws and principles tame down the original evil
+    of man.</p>
+
+    <p>We are glad to find that the embassy refused to take any
+    share in this horrible work, though they fell into some
+    disrepute with the troops, and even with the monarch, for their
+    remissness. The king had even reserved an unlucky Galla in a
+    tree, to be shot by his guests. But this they declined, first,
+    on the pretext of its being the Sabbath, and next, more
+    distinctly on the ground, that&mdash;"no public body was
+    authorized by the law of nations, to draw a sword offensively
+    in any country not at war with its own." They then offered the
+    compromise, "that an elephant was esteemed equivalent to forty
+    Gallas, and a wild buffalo to five, and that they were ready to
+    shoot as many of both as his Majesty pleased." But the embassy
+    did more effectual things; the sick and wounded received relief
+    from them to the extent of their means, and they even prevailed
+    on the king to liberate all his prisoners. The troops in the
+    foray amounted to about 20,000.</p>
+
+    <p>On the return of this destroying expedition, which seems to
+    have turned a very fine country into a desert, the king made a
+    kind of triumphal entry into his capital. His costume was
+    splendidly savage. A lion's skin over his shoulders, richly
+    ornamented, and half concealing beneath its folds an
+    embroidered green mantle of Indian manufacture; on his right
+    shoulder were three chains of gold, as emblems of the Holy
+    Trinity,(!) and the fresh-plucked bough of asparagus, which
+    denoted his recent exploit, rose from the centre of an embossed
+    coronet of silver on his brow. His dappled war-horse, in
+    housings of blue and yellow, was led beside him; and in front
+    his "champion" rode a coal-black charger, bearing the royal
+    shield of massive silver, with the cross upon it, and dressed
+    in a panther's hide. The two chief officers of his army rode
+    either side of the crimson umbrella; at the palace gates, a
+    deputation of priests in white robes received the conqueror
+    with a benediction and a volley of musketry announced his
+    arrival. The leader of the royal matchlock-men performed a war
+    dance before the Ark as it was borne along, and in the inner
+    court the principal warriors, each carring some human fragment
+    on his lance, flung then on the ground before the royal
+    footstool, and shouted their war praise.</p>
+
+    <p>The embassy at length attained personal distinction by the
+    death of an elephant, which one of the party brought to the
+    ground by a two-ounce ball. The "warriors" were all in
+    astonishment at this feat, to which all had predicted the most
+    disastrous termiration; and "Boroo, the brave chief of the
+    Soopa," exclaimed in his delight, "The world was made for you,
+    and no one else has any business in it!"</p>
+
+    <p>The chief object of the embassy was still to be
+    accomplished&mdash;the formation of something that approached
+    to a treaty of commerce. Beads, cutlery, and trinkets, had been
+    received from the coast; but the beggary of the nobles for
+    those things was perpetual and intolerable. They called those
+    ornanents pleasing things, and the cry was constant, "show me
+    pleasing things," "give me delighting things," "adorn me from
+    head to foot." It is scarcely surprising that the natives
+    should be enamoured of European conmodities; for, though an old
+    commerce had subsisted with Arabia, the supplies brought by the
+    English were of the most exciting kind. Detonating caps were in
+    great request; treble strong canister powder was also
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286"
+       name="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span> much in demand. Yet there
+       was some ingenuity amongst themselves; for a young fellow
+       was taken up for making dollars of pewter. Every spot and
+       letter had been closely represented with punch and file.
+       "Tell me," said the king, on the case of this culprit being
+       mentioned to him, "how is that machine made which in your
+       country pours out the silver crowns like a shower of rain?"
+       The hand corn-mills, presented by the British Government,
+       had been erected within the palace walls, and slaves were
+       turning the wheels with unceasing diligence. "Demetrius, the
+       Armenian, made a machine to grind corn," exclaimed his
+       majesty in a transport of delight, as the flour streamed
+       upon the floor; "and though it cost the people a year of
+       hard labour to construct, it was useless when finished,
+       because the priest declared it to be the devil's work, and
+       cursed the bread. But, may the Sahela Selasse
+       die&mdash;these engines are the work of clever hands."</p>
+
+    <p>The monarch, elated with his knowledge, now determined to
+    build a bridge, which in three days was completed; and, as was
+    predicted by the quiet English spectators, in three hours fell
+    down on the very first fresh produced by the annual rains.</p>
+
+    <p>Weaving excepted, the people manufactured nothing; but
+    British commerce has long been known, though evidently of the
+    coarsest kind. At length, on his majesty's being told that five
+    thousand looms would bring him more wealth than ten thousand
+    soldiers, he gradually consented to form a commercial treaty.
+    The crown had hitherto appropriated the property of strangers
+    dying in the country. The purchase or display of costly goods
+    by the subject had been interdicted, and a maxim exhibiting the
+    whole jealousy of savage life had been established, that the
+    stranger who once entered was never to depart from Abyssinia.
+    By the articles of the commercial treaty, all those barbarous
+    prohibitions have been abolished.</p>
+
+    <p>As the monarch returned the deed, he made a short speech
+    sufficiently able and appropriate: "You have loaded me with
+    costly presents, the rainment that I wear, the throne on which
+    I sit, the curiosities in my store-houses, and the muskets
+    which hang round my great hall&mdash;all are from your country.
+    What have I to give in return for such wealth? My kingdom is as
+    nothing."</p>
+
+    <p>The hereditary provinces at this day subject to the King of
+    Shoa, are comprised in a rectangular domain of 150 by 90 miles;
+    an area traversed by five systems of mountains, of which the
+    culminating point divides the basin of the Nile from that of
+    the Hawash. The Christian population of Shoa and Efat are
+    estimated at a million; and the Moslem and Pagan population at
+    a million and a half. The royal revenues are said to amount to
+    80,000 or 90,000 German crowns, arising chiefly from import
+    duties in slaves, merchandise, and salt. As the annual expenses
+    of the state do not exceed 10,000 dollars; it is presumed that
+    the king, during his thirty years' reign, has amassed much
+    treasure, which is regularly deposited under ground.</p>
+
+    <p>We recommend the enquirers into the truth of Herodotus, to
+    examine the curious illustrations stated in these volumes; and,
+    among the rest, the kingdom of pigmies. The geographer will
+    find ample interest in tracing the course of the Gochob, a sort
+    of central Nile; and the naturalist, botanist, and
+    entomologist, will find abundant information in the very
+    interesting and complete appendices on those subjects. The
+    history of the Christian missions of early ages is an excellent
+    chapter, and the general statistics of religion.</p>
+
+    <p>The practical religion of the Abyssinian Christian is of the
+    very lowest degree of formality. Fasts, penances, and
+    excommunications, form the chief discipline; but the penitent
+    can always provide a substitute for the two former, and the
+    latter is always to be averted by money. Spiritual offences,
+    however, are rare; for murder and sacrilege alone give umbrage
+    to the easy conscience of the natives of Shoa. Abstinence and
+    largesses of money are equivalent to wiping away every sin.
+    Their creed advises the invocation of saints, confession to the
+    priest, and faith in charms and amulets. Prayers for the dead,
+    and absolution, are indispensable; and, as a more summary
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page287"
+       name="page287"></a>[pg 287]</span> mode of relieving the
+       burdens of the flesh, it is pronounced, that all sins are
+       forgiven from the moment that the kiss of the pilgrim is
+       imprinted on the stones of Jerusalem, and that even kissing
+       the hand of a priest purifies the body from all sin. A creed
+       of this order, which makes spiritual safety dependent, not
+       upon personal purification of mind and divine mercy, but
+       upon forms which are unconnected with either, and which even
+       can be executed by a substitute, of course excludes the
+       necessity for morals of any kind. All is
+       corruption&mdash;"Born amid falsehood and deceit, cradled in
+       bloodshed, and nursed in the arms of idleness and
+       debauchery, the national character almost defies the
+       missionary."</p>
+
+    <p>There are some strange remnants of Judaism still lingering
+    amongst the tribes of these highland regions. The Galla have a
+    tradition, that their whole nation will one day be called on to
+    march, <i>en masse</i>, and reconquer Palestine for the return
+    of the Jews. The king of Shoa regards himself as a direct
+    descendant of the house of Solomon, calls himself king of
+    Israel, and the national standard bears the motto, "The Lion of
+    the tribe of Judah hath prevailed." They believe the 45th Psalm
+    to be a prophecy of Queen Magueda's visit to Jerusalem; whither
+    she was attended by a daughter of Hiram, king of Tyre. The
+    Jewish prohibitions against the flesh of unclean animals, are
+    observed by the Abyssinians. The sinew which shrank, and the
+    eating of which was prohibited to the Israelite, is also
+    prohibited in Shoa. The Jewish Sabbath is strictly observed.
+    The Abyssinians are said, by Ludolf, to be the greatest fasters
+    in the world. The Wednesdays and Fridays are fasts; the forty
+    days before Easter are rigidly observed as a fast; and from the
+    Thursday preceding Easter till the Sunday, no morsel of meat is
+    to enter the lips, and the prohibition against drink is equally
+    rigorous. St Michael and the Virgin Mary are venerated in the
+    highest degree; St Michael as the leader of the hosts of
+    heaven, and the latter as the chief of all saints, and queen of
+    heaven and earth, and both as the great intercessors of
+    mankind.</p>
+
+    <p>Like the Jews of old, the Abyssinians weep and lament on all
+    occasions of death; and the shriek ascends to the sky, as if
+    the soul could be recalled from the world of spirits. As with
+    the Jews, the most inferior garments are employed as the weeds
+    of woe; and the skin torn from the temples, and scarified on
+    the cheeks and breast, proclaims the last extremity of grief.
+    As the Rabbins believe that angels were the governors of all
+    sublunary things, the Abyssinians adopt this belief: carrying
+    it even further, they confidently implore their assistance in
+    all concerns, and invoke and adore them in a higher degree than
+    the Creator. The clergy enjoy the price of deathbed confession;
+    and the churchyard is sternly denied to all who die without the
+    rite, or whose relations refuse the fee and the funeral feast.
+    Eight pieces of salt are the price of wafting a poor man's soul
+    to the place of rest, and the feast for the dead places him in
+    a state of happiness, according to the cost of the
+    entertainment. For the rich, money procures the attendance of
+    priests, who absolve, and pray continually day and night. The
+    anniversaries of the deaths of the six kings of Shoa are held
+    with great ceremony in the capital; and once every twelvemonth,
+    before a splendid feast, their souls are absolved from all
+    sin.</p>
+
+    <p>Major Harris expresses himself ardently and eloquently on
+    the hopes of commerce which might be maintained by Great
+    Britain with this little-known but productive part of the
+    world. It is notorious that gold and gold dust, ivory, ostrich
+    feathers, peltries, spices, wax, and precious gums, form a part
+    of the lading of every slave caravan; notwithstanding that the
+    tediousness of the transport, and the penuriousness of the
+    Indian and Arab merchant, offer but a small compensation for
+    their labour. No quarter of the globe abounds to a greater
+    extent in vegetable and mineral productions than tropical
+    Africa; and in the populous, fertile, and salubrious portions
+    lying immediately north of the equator, the very highest
+    capabilities are presented for the employment of British
+    capital. Coal has already been found; cotton, of a quality
+    unrivaled in the whole world, is every where a
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page288"
+       name="page288"></a>[pg 288]</span> weed, and might be
+       cultivated to any extent. The coffee which is sold in Arabia
+       as the produce of Mocha, is chiefly of wild African growth;
+       and that species of the tea plant which is used by the lower
+       orders of the Chinese, flourishes so widely, and with so
+       little care, that the climate would doubtless be found well
+       adapted for the higher-flavoured and more delicate species.
+       If, at a very moderate calculation, a sum falling very
+       little short of a hundred thousand pounds sterling, can be
+       annually invested in European goods, to supply the wants of
+       some of the poorer tribes adjacent to Abyssinia, what
+       important results might not be anticipated from
+       well-directed efforts, adopting the natural neans of
+       communication in Africa?</p>
+
+    <p>Another winter passed&mdash;a dreary time for the mission in
+    Ankober. Torrents rushed down the mountains, every footpath had
+    been converted into a stream, and every valley into a morass.
+    The season was peculiarly tempestuous; the heavy white clouds
+    constantly hung on the mountain pinnacles, and the torrents
+    swelled the Hawash to such an extent, that the land for many
+    miles on both sides was inundated. There must have been some
+    difficulty in spending the time of this solitary confinement
+    among the hills; but the author was well employed in writing
+    his volumes, and engineers were employed in erecting a Gothic
+    hall, to the great delight of his Abyssinian majesty. He would
+    allow them to do every thing except paint his
+    portrait&mdash;the national idea being, that whoever takes a
+    likeness, immediately becomes invested with power over the
+    original. "You are writing a book," he said. "I know this,
+    because I never enquire what you are doing that they do not
+    tell me you are using a pen, or gazing at the heavens. That is
+    a good thing, and it pleases me. You will speak favourably of
+    myself; but you shall not insert my portrait, as you have done
+    that of the King of Zingero."</p>
+
+    <p>The English had new wonders for him; they shaped planks out
+    of trees in a fashion new to the Abyssinians, who waste a tree
+    on every plank. "You English are indeed a strange people," said
+    the king, as he saw the first plank formed in this economical
+    style. "I do not understand your stories of the roads dug under
+    rivers, nor of the carriages that gallop without horses; but
+    you are a strong people, and employ wonderful inventions."</p>
+
+    <p>At length the Gothic hall was complete. It may be presumed
+    that nothing like it was ever seen in Abyssinia before; for the
+    mission not merely built, but furnished it with couches,
+    ottomans, chairs, tables, and curtains; doubtless a very showy
+    affair, though we camot exactly comprehend the author's
+    expression of its being furnished after the manner of an
+    English cottage ornee. The king, however, was delighted with
+    it. "I shall turn it into a chapel," said his majesty, patting
+    his chief ecclesiastic on the back. "What say you to that plan,
+    my father?" As a last finishing touch, were suspended in the
+    centre hall a series of large coloured engravings, representing
+    the chase of the tiger in all its various phases. The
+    domestication of the elephant, and its employment in war or in
+    the pageant, had ever proved a stumbling block to the king; but
+    the appearance of the hugest of beasts in his hunting harness
+    struck the chord of a new idea. "I will have a nunber caught on
+    the Roby," he exclaimed, "that you may tame then, and that I
+    too may ride on an elephant before I die!"</p>
+
+    <p>Another of those fearful displays of barbarian plunder and
+    havoc took place at the end of September. Twenty thousand
+    warriors, headed by the king, made an inroad on the Galla.
+    Those unfortunate people were so little prepared, that they
+    seem to have been slaughtered without resistance. Between four
+    and five thousand were butchered, and forty-three thousand head
+    of cattle were driven off. A thousand captives, chiefly women
+    and children, were marched in triumph to the capital; but they
+    were soon liberated, apparently on the remonstrance of the
+    British mission.</p>
+
+    <p>But a terrible disaster was to befall the palace and the
+    people. The dweller amongst mountains must be always exposed to
+    their dilapidation; and a season of unusual rain, continuing to
+    a much later period than usual, produced an
+    earth-avalanche.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page289"
+           name="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> "As the evening of an
+           eventful night (Dec. 6th) closed in, not a single breath
+           of wind disturbed the thick fog which brooded over the
+           mountain. A sensible difference was perceptible in the
+           atmosphere; but the rain again began to descend, and for
+           hours pelted like the dischage of a waterspout. Towards
+           morning, a violent thunder storm careered along the
+           crest of the range, and every rock and cranny re-echoed
+           from the crash of the thunder. Deep darkness again
+           settled on the mountains, and a heavy rumbling noise,
+           like the passage of artillery wheels, as followed by the
+           shrill cry of despair. The earth, saturated with
+           moisture, had slidden from their steep slopes, houses
+           and cottages were engulfed in the debris, or shattered
+           to fragments by the descending masses, and daylight
+           presented a strange scene of ruin. Perched on the apex
+           of the conical peak, the palace buildings were now
+           stripped of their palisades, or overwhelmed: the roads
+           along the hill were completely obliterated. The
+           desolation had spread for miles along the great range:
+           houses, with their inmates, had been hurried away."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Before the mission took its departure, it did honour to the
+    character of its country by one act which alone would have been
+    worth its time and trouble. The horrid policy of African
+    despotism condemns all the brothers of the throne to the
+    dungeon, from the moment of the royal accession. The king had
+    exhibited qualities of a very unexpected order in an African
+    despot, and, under the guidance of the mission, had made some
+    advances to justice, and even to clemency. At this period, he
+    was suddenly seized with an alarming spasmodic disorder, and he
+    apprehended that his constitution, enfeebled by the habits of
+    his life, was likely to give way. On his recovery being
+    despaired of by both priests and physicians, he suddenly sent
+    for the British mission.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'My children,' said his majesty in a sepulchral voice,
+        as he extended his burning hand towards them, 'behold I am
+        sore stricken. Last night they believed me dead, and the
+        voice of mourning had arisen within the palace walls; but
+        God hath spared me until now.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>It seems to be the custom for the king's physician to taste
+    the draught prescribed for him, and an attenpt being made to do
+    this by the British, the sick monarch generously forbade
+    it.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'What need is there now of this?' he exclaimed
+        reproachfully. 'Do I not know that you would administer to
+        Sahela Selasse nothing that could do him mischief?'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The reader will probably remember an almost similar act of
+    confidence of Alexander the Great in his physician. An
+    opportunity was now taken of urging him to an act of humanity,
+    however strongly opposed to the habits of the country, and to
+    the interests of the man. It was represented to him that his
+    uncles and brothers had been immured in a dungeon during the
+    thirty years of his reign, and that no act could be more
+    honourable to himself, or acceptable to Heaven, than the
+    extinction of this barbarous custom.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'And I will release them,' returned the monarch, after
+        a moment's debate within himself. 'By the Holy Eucharist I
+        swear, and by the Church of the Holy Trinity in Koora
+        Gadel, that if Sahela Selasse arise from this bed of
+        sickness, all of whom you speak shall be restored to the
+        enjoyment of liberty.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Fortunately he did arise from that bed of sickness, and he
+    honourably determined to keep his promise. The royal captives
+    were seven, and the British mission were summoned to see their
+    introduction into the presence. They had been so exhausted by
+    long captivity, that at first they seemed scarcely to
+    comprehend freedom. They had been manacled, and spent their
+    time in the fabrication of harps and combs, of which they
+    brought specimens to lay at the feet of their monarch. This
+    touching interview concluded with a speech of the king to the
+    embassy&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'My children, you will write all that you have seen to
+        your country, and will say to the British Queen, that,
+        though far behind the nations of the White Men, from whom
+        Ethiopia first received her religion, there yet remains a
+        spark of Christian love in the breast of the King of
+        Shoa.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>We have thus given a rapid and bird's-eye view of a work,
+    which we regard as rivaling in interest and importance any
+    "book of travels" of this <span class="pagenum"><a id="page290"
+       name="page290"></a>[pg 290]</span> century. The name of
+       Abyssinia was scarcely more than a recollection, connected
+       with the adventurous ramblings of Bruce, for the romantic
+       purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. His narrative
+       had also been wholly profitless&mdash;attracting public
+       curiosity in a remarkable degree at he time, no direct
+       foundation of European intercourse was laid, and no movement
+       of European traffic followed. But giving Bruce all the
+       credit, which was so long denied him, for fidelity to fact,
+       and for the spirit of bold adventure which he exhibited in
+       penetrating a land of violence and barbarism, the mission of
+       Major Harris at once establishes its object on more
+       substantial grounds. It is not a private adventure, but a
+       public act, rendered natural by the circumstances of British
+       neighbourhood, and important for the opening of Abyssinia
+       and central Africa to the greatest civilizer which the world
+       has ever seen&mdash;the commerce of England. There are still
+       obvious difficulties of transit, between the coast and the
+       capital, by the ordinary route. But if the navigation of the
+       Gochob, or the route from Tajura, should once be secured,
+       the trade will have commenced, which in the course of a few
+       years will change the face of Abyssinia; limit, if not
+       extinguish, that disgrace of human nature&mdash;the slave
+       trade; and, if not reform, at least enlighten, the clouded
+       Christianity of the people.</p>
+
+    <p>As the author was commissioned, not merely as a discoverer,
+    but a diplomatist, it is to be presumed that on many
+    interesting points he writes under the restraints of diplomatic
+    reserve. But he has told us enough to excite our strong
+    interest in the beauty, the fertility, and the capabilities of
+    the country which he describes; and more than enough to show,
+    that it is almost a British duty to give the aid of our
+    science, our inventions, and our principles, to a monarch and a
+    people evidently prepared for rising in the scale of
+    nations.</p>
+
+    <p>We have a kind of impression, that some general improvement
+    is about to take place in the more neglected portions of the
+    world, and that England is honoured to be the chief agent in
+    the great work. Africa, which has been under a <i>ban</i> for
+    so many thousand years, may be on the eve of relief from the
+    misery, lawlessness, and impurity of barbarism; and we are
+    strongly inclined to look upon this establishment of British
+    feeling, and intercourse in Abyssinia, as the commencement of
+    that proud and fortunate change. All attempts to enter Africa
+    by the western coast have failed. The heat, the swamps, the
+    rank vegetation, and the unhealthy atmosphere, have proved
+    insurmountable barriers. The north is fenced by a line of
+    burning wilderness. But the east is open, free, fertile, and
+    beautiful. A British factory in Abyssinia would be not merely a
+    source of infinite comfort to the people, by the communication
+    of European conveniences and manufactures, but a source of
+    light. British example would teach obedience and loyalty to the
+    laws, subordination on the part of the people, and mercy on
+    that of the sovereign.</p>
+
+    <p>But we have also another object, sufficiently important to
+    determine our Government in looking to the increase of our
+    connexion with Eastern Africa. It is certainly a minor one, but
+    one which no rational Government can undervalue. The policy of
+    the present French King is directed eminently to the extension
+    of commercial influence in all countries. To this policy, none
+    can make objection. It is the duty of a monarch to develop all
+    the resources of his country; and while France exerts herself
+    only in the rivalry of peace, her advance is an advance of all
+    nations. But her extreme attention, of late years, to Africa,
+    ought to open our eyes to the necessity of exertion in that
+    boundless quarter. On the western coast, she had long fixed a
+    lazy grasp; but that grasp is now becoming vigorous, and
+    extending hour by hour. Her flag flies at Golam, 250 miles up
+    the Senegal. She has a settlement at Gori; she has lately
+    established a settlement at the mouth of the Assinee, another
+    at the mouth of the Gaboon, and is on the point of establishing
+    another in the Bight of Benin; when she will command all
+    Western Africa.</p>
+
+    <p>She is not less active on the eastern shore. At Massawah, on
+    the coast of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page291"
+       name="page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> Abyssinia, she is fast
+       monopolizing the trade in gold and spices. She has purchased
+       Edh, and is endeavouring to purchase Brava. Her attention to
+       <i>Northern</i> Abyssinia is matter of notoriety, and we
+       must regard this system, not so much with regard to
+       advantages which such possessions might give to ourselves,
+       as to their prejudice to us in falling into rival hands. The
+       possession of Algeria should direct the eye of Europe to the
+       ulterior objects of France; the first change of masters in
+       Egypt, must be looked to with national anxiety; and the
+       transmission of the great routes of Africa into her hands,
+       must be guarded against with a vigilance worthy of the
+       interests of England and Europe.</p>
+
+    <p>If the river shall be found navigable to any extent, what an
+    opening is thus presented to both the Merchant and the
+    philanthropist; a soil surpassed by none in the world, a
+    climate varying only 1&ordm; in the mean temperature of summer
+    and winter, and presenting an average of 55-1/2&ordm;, and a
+    population who could hardly fail to feel the advantages of
+    commerce and civilization. From such a point as Aden offers,
+    access is promised to the very heart of Africa, and thence to
+    the sources of the mighty rivers which find an outlet on the
+    western side of the continent; thus not merely benefiting the
+    British merchant in a remarkable degree, but rapidly abolishing
+    the slave trade, by giving employment to the people, wealth to
+    the native trader, and a new direction to the powers of the
+    country and the mind of its unhappy population.</p>
+
+    <p>On the whole consideration of the subject, we feel
+    convinced, that Eastern Africa is the safe and the natural
+    point for British enterprise; that it is the most direct and
+    effective point for the extinction of the cruel traffic in
+    human flesh; and that it is the most promising and productive
+    point for the establishment of that substantial connexion with
+    the governments of the interior, which alone can be regarded as
+    worth the attention of the statesman.</p>
+
+    <p>Insignificant stations on the coast, to carry on a peddling
+    traffic, are beneath a manly and comprehensive policy. We must
+    penetrate the mountains, ascend the rivers, and reach the seats
+    of sovereignty. We must, by a large and generous self-interest,
+    combine the good, the knowledge, and the virtue of the
+    population with our own; and we must lay the foundation of our
+    permanent influence over this fourth of the globe, by showing
+    that we are the fittest to communicate the benefits, and
+    establish the example of civilized society.</p>
+
+    <p>To those who desire to go into more minute details, we
+    recommend an accompanying volume by the missionaries Isenberg
+    and Krapf&mdash;the latter of whom acted as interpreter to the
+    embassy. A capital geographical memoir is also given by Mr
+    M'Queen, the well-known African geographer.</p>
+
+    <p>On the whole, it is highly gratifying to our respect for
+    British soldiership; to see works of this rank proceeding from
+    our military men. They have great opportunities, and may thus
+    render national services in peace, not less important than
+    their enterprise in war. The East India Company offers
+    inducements of the most important order, to the accomplishment
+    and scientific activity of its officers; and Major Harris must
+    feel the distinction of having been selected for a mission of
+    such interest, as well as the high gratification of having
+    conducted it to so benevolent, solid, and satisfactory a
+    close.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page292"
+       name="page292"></a>[pg 292]</span> <a name="bw341s2"
+          id="bw341s2"></a>
+
+    <h2>A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES.</h2>
+
+    <h3>BY LORGNON.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i6">"Vai, ch'avete gl'intelletti sani,</p>
+
+            <p>Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde,</p>
+
+            <p>Sotto queste coperte, alte e
+            profonde!"&mdash;BERNI.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>In the course of social transition, professions, like dogs,
+    have their day. A calling honourable in one century, becomes
+    infamous in the next; and vocations grow obsolete, like the
+    fashioning of our garments or figures of speech. In barbarous
+    communities, the strong man is king:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Le premier roi fut un soldat heureux."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Where human statute is beginning to prize the general weal,
+    the legist is of high account, and the priest paramount. Higher
+    civilization engenders the influence of the man of letters, the
+    artist, the dramatist, the wit, the poet, and the orator. Or
+    when, with a wisdom surpassing the philosophy of the schools,
+    we tumble down to prose, and assume the leathern apron of the
+    utilitarian&mdash;the civil engineer, or operative chemist,
+    starts up into a colossus. Sir Humphrey Davy, and Sir Isambert
+    Brunel, are the true knights of modern chivalry; and Sir
+    Walter&mdash;our Sir Walter&mdash;never showed himself more
+    shrewd than in his exclamation to Moore&mdash;"Ah,
+    Tam!&mdash;it's lucky, man, we cam' sae soon!" Great as was his
+    influence, equaling that of the other two great Sir Walters,
+    Manny and Raleigh, in their several epochs of valour and
+    enterprise, it is likely enough, that, if born a century later,
+    the MSS. of the Scotch novels would have been chiefly valuable
+    to light the furnace of some factory!</p>
+
+    <p>So much in exposition of the fact, that, so long as the
+    world possessed only three of what we choose to call quarters,
+    an executioner was an officer of state; and that, now it
+    possesses five, the female of highest renown, and greatest
+    power of self-enrichment, is the <i>danseuse</i>, or
+    opera-dancer!</p>
+
+    <p>Many intermediary callings have disappeared. The domestic
+    chaplain of a lordly household is now nearly as superfluous as
+    its archers or falconers; and the court calendars of former
+    reigns record a variety of places and perquisites, which, did
+    they still exist, would be unpalatable to modern courtiers,
+    though compelled to earn their daily cakes, however dirty. Just
+    as the last golden pippin of the house of Crenie was preserved
+    in wax for the edification of posterity, a watchman has been
+    deposited, with his staff and lantern, in the Royal Arsenal at
+    Woolwich, or the Museum of the Zoological, or United Service
+    Club, or some other of your grand national collections, as a
+    specimen of the extinct Dogberry or Charley of the eighteenth
+    century; and in process of time, as much and more also will
+    probably be done to a parish beadle, a theatrical manager, a
+    lord chamberlain&mdash;and other public functionaries whom it
+    might not be altogether safe to enumerate.</p>
+
+    <p>Among them, however, there is really some satisfaction in
+    hinting at the hangman!&mdash;For, hear it, ye sanguinary
+    <i>manes</i> of our ancestors:&mdash;"<i>Les bourreaux s'en
+    vont!</i>" Executioners are departing! We shall shortly have to
+    commemorate in our obituaries, and signalize by the hands of
+    our novelists&mdash;"the last of the Jack Ketches." In these
+    days of ultra-philanthropy, the hangman scarcely finds salt to
+    his porridge, or porridge to salt.</p>
+
+    <p><i>Exempli gratia</i>. In the course of last year, a patient
+    of the lower class was admitted into the lunatic ward of the
+    public hospital at Marseilles, whose malady seemed the result
+    of religious depression. In that supposition, the usual means
+    of relief were resorted to, and he was at length discharged as
+    convalescent; when, to attest the perfectness of his cure, he
+    went and hanged himself! A <i>proc&egrave;s verbal</i> was, as
+    usual, made out, and the supposed fanatic proved to be the
+    ex-executioner of Lyons! Tender-hearted people instantly
+    ascribed his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293"
+       name="page293"></a>[pg 293]</span> melancholy to qualms of
+       conscience. But it appeared in evidence, that, since the
+       accession of the citizen king, the trade of the hangman had
+       become a dead failure; and the disconsolate bankrupt was
+       accordingly forced to take French leave of a world wherein
+       <i>bourreaux</i> can no longer turn an honest penny!</p>
+
+    <p>Yet, less than three centuries ago, his predecessors were
+    men of mark and consideration. Our own King Hal took more heed
+    of his executioner than of half the counties over whose necks
+    his axe was suspended; while Louis XI., a <i>legitimate</i>
+    sovereign of France, used to dip in the dish with Tristan
+    Hermite and Olivier le Dain. A few reigns later, and the
+    hangman of the French metropolis (who shares with its diocesan
+    the honour of being styled "Monsieur de Paris") was respected
+    as the most accomplished in Europe. The treasons of its civil
+    wars had created so many executions, that a Gascon, wishing to
+    prove that his father had been beheaded as a nobleman, instead
+    of hanged like a dog or a citizen, asserted the decollation to
+    have been so expertly executed <i>en Gr&egrave;ve</i>, that the
+    sufferer was unconscious of his end. "Shake yourself,"
+    exclaimed the executioner; and, on his lordship's making the
+    attempt, his head rolled into the dust.</p>
+
+    <p>This adroitness was the result of competition. In that day
+    there were degrees of hangmen, and promotion might be
+    accomplished. Not only had the king his executioner, and the
+    Lorraines theirs&mdash;the court and the city&mdash;the abbot
+    of St Germain des Pr&egrave;s&mdash;the abbot of this, and the
+    abbot of that&mdash;but various communities and Signories,
+    having right of life and death over their vassals, kept an
+    executioner for purposes of domestic torture, as they kept a
+    seneschal to carve their meats; or as people now keep a
+    <i>chef</i> or a <i>ma&icirc;tre d'h&ocirc;tel</i>. In those
+    excellent olden times of Europe, hangmen, doubtless, carried
+    about written characters from lord to lord, certifying their
+    experience with rope and axe&mdash;branding-iron and thong. So
+    long as the Inquisition afforded constant work for able hands,
+    a good hangman out of place must have been a treasure! Had
+    there been register-offices or newspaper advertisements, there
+    probably would have appeared&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"WANTS A SITUATION&mdash;An able-bodied, middle-aged man,
+    without encumbrance, who can have an undeniable character from
+    his last situation, as headsman, hangman, and general
+    executioner. He is accustomed to the use of thumbikins and the
+    most approved and fashionable modes of torture; and officiated
+    for many years as superintendent of the wheel of a foreign
+    prince, renowned for the neatness of his rack. Drawing and
+    quartering in all their branches. Pressing to death performed
+    in the most economical style. Impalement in the Turkish manner;
+    and the pile, as practised by the best Smithfield hands,
+    &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c."</p>
+
+    <p>Independent, indeed, of the high prosperity and vast
+    perquisites of such posts as executioner of the Tower of London
+    or the Gr&egrave;ve of Paris, there was honour and satisfaction
+    in the office. A royal master knew when he was well served.
+    Henry III. stood by, in his chateau of Blois, to see, not only
+    the heads severed from the dead bodies of the Duke and Cardinal
+    de Guise, but their <i>flesh cut into small pieces</i>,
+    preparatory to being burned, and the ashes scattered to the
+    winds. "His majesty," says an eyewitness, "stood in a pool of
+    blood to witness the hacking of the bodies."</p>
+
+    <p>This Italian <i>gusto</i> for the smell of blood, appears to
+    have been introduced into the palaces of France from those of
+    Italy by alliance with the Medici&mdash;those ennobled
+    pawnbrokers of the middle ages, whose <i>parvenu</i> taste
+    engendered the fantastic gilding of the <i>renaissance</i>,
+    which they naturalized in the Tuileries and at Fontainbleau, in
+    common with the stiletto and acqua tofana of their poisoners,
+    and the fatalism of their judicial astrology.</p>
+
+    <p>But enough of Catharine de Medicis and her sanguinary
+    son&mdash;enough of Henry Tudor and his savage
+    daughters&mdash;enough of the monstrous professions flourishing
+    in their age of monstrosities. And turn we for relief to the
+    exquisite vocation completing the antithesis&mdash;the vocation
+    whose execution is that of <i>pas de z&eacute;phyrs</i>, and
+    the tortures of whose <span class="pagenum"><a id="page294"
+       name="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span> infliction are the
+       tortures of the tender heart!</p>
+
+    <p>The calling of the <i>danseuse</i>, we repeat, is among the
+    most lucrative of modern times, and nearly the most
+    influential. The names of Taglioni and Elssler are as European,
+    nay, as universal, as those of Wellington and
+    Talleyrand-Metternich or Thiers; and modern statesmanship and
+    modern diplomacy show pale beside the Machiavelism of the
+    <i>coulisses</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>With what pomp of phraseology are the triumphs and movements
+    of these <i>danseuses</i> announced, by the self-same journal
+    which despatches, with a stroke of the pen, the submission of a
+    province or revolution of a kingdom! One poor halfpenny-worth,
+    or half a line, suffices for the death of a sultana; while
+    fiery columns precede the departure and arrival of the steamer
+    honoured by conveying across the Atlantic some ethereal being,
+    whose light fantastic toe is to give the law to the United
+    States. Her appearance in the Ecclesiastic States, on the other
+    hand, is announced in Roman capitals; and her triumphal entry
+    into St Petersburg received with regiments of notes of
+    admiration!!!</p>
+
+    <p>Were Taglioni, by the malediction of Providence, to break
+    her leg, what corner of the civilized earth but would
+    sympathize in the casualty? Or were Elssler epidemically
+    carried off, on the same day with the Pope, the Archbishop of
+    Dublin, a chancellor of an university, an historiographer, or
+    astronomer-royal&mdash;<i>which</i> would be most cared for by
+    society at large, or to which would the public journals
+    distribute the larger share of their dolefuls?</p>
+
+    <p>Nor is it alone the levities of Europe which have
+    encompassed with a gaseous atmosphere of enthusiasm these idols
+    of the day. We appeal to our sober, plodding, painstaking
+    brother Jonathan. We move for returns of the sums he has
+    expended on his beloved Fanny, and for notes of the honours
+    conferred upon her, not only on the boards of his theatres and
+    in the publicity of his causeways, but amid the august
+    nationalities of his senate! "Fanny Elssler in Congress" has
+    become as historical as the name of Washington! As if for the
+    purpose of proving that extremes meet, the democrats of the New
+    World were demonstrating the wildest infatuation in favour of
+    one dancer, while the great autocrat of the Old was exhibiting
+    a similar fervour in honour of another. La Gitana became all
+    but presidentess of the Transatlantic republic; La
+    Bayad&egrave;re depolarized the tyrant of the Poles! But, above
+    all, the Empress of Russia&mdash;albeit, the lightest of
+    sovereigns and coldest of women&mdash;was carried so far by her
+    enthusiasm as to fasten a bracelet of gems on the fair arm of
+    Taglioni; while the Queen-Dowager of England conferred a
+    similar honour on the Neapolitan dancer Cerito!</p>
+
+    <p>Now, what queen or princess, we should like to know, has
+    lavished necklace, or bracelet, or one poor pitiful brooch, on
+    Miss Edgeworth or Miss Aitkin, Mrs Somerville or Joanna
+    Baillie, or any other of the female illustrations of the age,
+    saving these aerial machines which have achieved such enviable
+    supremacy? Mrs Marcet, who has taught the young idea of our
+    three kingdoms how to shoot; Miss Martineau, who has engrafted
+    new ones on our oldest crab-stocks, might travel from Dan to
+    Beersheba without having a fatted calf or a fatted capon killed
+    for them, at the public expense. But let Taglioni take the
+    road, and what clapping of hands&mdash;what
+    gratulation&mdash;what curiosity&mdash;what expansion of
+    delight!</p>
+
+    <p>The only wonder of all this is, that we should wonder about
+    the matter. Dancing constitutes that desideratum of the learned
+    of all ages&mdash;an universal language. Music, which many
+    esteem much, is nearly as nationalized in its rhythm as dialect
+    in its words; whereas the organs of sight are cosmopolitan. The
+    eye of man and the foot of the dancer include between them all
+    nations and languages. The poetry of motion is interpreted by
+    the lexicon of instinct; and the unimpregnable grace of a
+    Taglioni becomes omnipotent and catholic as that of</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The statue that enchants the world!"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Who can doubt that the names of these sorceresses of our
+    time will reach posterity, as those of the Aspasias and Lauras
+    of antiquity have reached our own&mdash;as having held
+    philosophers by the beard, and trampled on the necks
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page295"
+       name="page295"></a>[pg 295]</span> of the conquerors of
+       mankind&mdash;as being those for whom Solon legislated, and
+       to whom Pericles succumbed?</p>
+
+    <p>Pausanius tells us of the stately tomb of the frail
+    Pythonice in the Vica Sacra; and we know that Phryne offered to
+    rebuild the walls of Thebes, by Alexander overthrown. And
+    surely, if modern guide-books instruct us to weep in the
+    cemetery of P&egrave;re la Chaise over the grave of Fanny Bias,
+    history will say a word or two in honour of Cerito, who
+    proposed through the newspapers, last season, an alliance
+    offensive and defensive with no less a man than Peter
+    Borthwick, Esq. M.P., (<i>Arcades ambo</i>!) to relieve the
+    distress of the manufacturing classes of Great Britain! It is
+    true such heroines can afford to be generous; for what lord
+    chancellor or archbishop of modern times commands a revenue
+    half as considerable?</p>
+
+    <p>Why, therefore&mdash;O Public! why, we beseech thee, seeing
+    that the influence of the operative class is fairly understood,
+    and undeniably established among us&mdash;why not at once
+    elevate choriography to the rank of one of the fine
+    arts?&mdash;Why not concentrate, define, and qualify the
+    calling, by a public academy?&mdash;since all hearts and eyes
+    are amenable to the charm of exquisite dancing, why vex
+    ourselves by the sight of what is bad, when better may be
+    achieved? Be wise, O Pubic, and consider! Establish a
+    professor's chair for the improvement of pirouetters. We have
+    hundreds of professor's chairs, quite as unavailable to the
+    advancement of the interests of humanity, and wholly
+    unavailable to its pleasures. Neither painters nor musicians
+    acquire as much popularity as dancers, or amass an equal
+    fortune. Why should they be more highly protected by the
+    state?</p>
+
+    <p>To disdain this exquisite art, is a proof of barbarism. The
+    nations of the East may cause their dances to be performed by
+    slaves; but two of the greatest kings of ancient and modern
+    times, the kings after God's own heart and man's own
+    heart&mdash;David and Louis le Grand&mdash;were excellent
+    dancers, the one before the ark, the other before his
+    subjects.</p>
+
+    <p>Never, perhaps, did the art of dancing attain such eminent
+    honours in the eyes of mankind, as during the <i>si&egrave;cle
+    dor&eacute;</i> of the latter monarch. At an epoch boasting of
+    Moli&egrave;re and Racine, Bossuet and F&eacute;n&eacute;lon,
+    Boileau and La Fontaine, Colbert and Perrault, (the fairy
+    talisman of politics and architecture,) the court of Versailles
+    could imagine no manifestation of regality more august, or more
+    exquisite, than that of getting up a royal ballet; and the
+    father of his people, Louis XIV., was, in his youth, its
+    <i>coulon</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>How amusing are the descriptions of these <i>entr&eacute;es
+    de ballet</i>, circumstantially bequeathed us by the memoirs of
+    the regency of Anne of Austria! The cardinal himself took part
+    in them; but the chief performers were the young King, his
+    brother Gaston d'Orleans, and the maids of honour, figuring as
+    Apollo and the Muses, or Hamadryads adoring some sylvan
+    divinity. Who has not sympathized in the joy of Madame de
+    Sevign&eacute;, at seeing her fair daughter exhibit among the
+    <i>coryph&eacute;es</i>! Who has not felt interested in the
+    <i>jet&eacute;es</i> and <i>pas de bourr&eacute;es</i> of the
+    <i>ancien r&eacute;gime</i>, when accomplished at court by
+    Cond&eacute;s, Contis, Montpensiers, Montmorencys, Rohans,
+    Guises! The Marquis de Dangeau first recommended himself to the
+    favour of the royal master whose courts he was destined to
+    journalize for posterity, by the skill of his <i>pas de
+    basques</i>; and long before the all but conjugal influence of
+    the lovely La Valli&egrave;re commenced over the heart of the
+    <i>grand monarque</i>, his early love, and more especially his
+    passion for the beautiful niece of the Cardinal, may be traced
+    to the rehearsals and <i>rondes de jambes</i> of Maitz and
+    Fontainbleau.</p>
+
+    <p>The reign of Madame de Maintenon (<i>la raison
+    m&ecirc;me</i>) over his affections, declared itself by the
+    sudden transfer of a ballet-opera, expressly composed by Rameau
+    and Quinault for the beauties of the court, to the public
+    theatre of the Palais Royal. No more noble figurantes at
+    Versailles! Louis le Pirouettiste's occupation was gone; and
+    the <i>ma&icirc;tre des ballets du roi</i> arrayed himself in
+    sackcloth and ashes. But, lo! the glories of his throne took
+    wing with the loves and graces; ballets and victories being
+    effaced on the same page from the annals of his reign.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page296"
+       name="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> During the minority of
+       Louis XV., the same royal dansomania was renewed. The
+       regent, Duke of Orleans, entertained the same notions of
+       kingly education, on this head, as his predecessor the
+       cardinal; and Louis <i>le Bien-aim&eacute;</i>, like his
+       great-grandfather before him, was the best dancer of his
+       realm. Such dancing as it was! such exquisite footing! In
+       the upper story of the grand gallery at Versailles, hang
+       several pictures representing these court ballets; Cupids in
+       coatees of pink lustring, with silver lace and tinsel wings,
+       wearing full-bottomed wigs and the riband of the St Esprit;
+       or Venuses in hoops and powder, whose <i>minauderies</i>
+       might afford a lesson to the divinities of our own day for
+       the benefit of the omnibus box.</p>
+
+    <p>Some of these groups, by Mignard, Boucher, and their
+    imitators, are charming studies as <i>tableaux de genre</i>.
+    But in nothing, by the way, are they more remarkable than in
+    their <i>decency</i>. The nudities of the present times appear
+    to have been undreamed of in the philosophy of Versailles. That
+    simple-hearted, though strong-minded American writer, Miss
+    Sedgwick, who has published an account of her consternation as
+    she sat with Mrs Jameson in the stalls of our Italian opera,
+    might have witnessed the royal performance unabashed. On being
+    told, as she gazed upon the intrepid self-exposure of Taglioni,
+    "<i>qu'il fallait &ecirc;tre sage pour danser comme
+    &ccedil;a</i>," Miss S. observes, that it requires to be more
+    or less than woman, and proposes to divide the human species
+    into men, women, and OPERA-DANCERS, little suspecting that half
+    her readers translate such a classification into "men, women,
+    and ANGELS;" or that they would see herself and her sister
+    moralist go down in the <i>President</i> without a pang,
+    provided Elssler and Taglioni were saved from the deep!</p>
+
+    <p>Natural enough! we repeat it&mdash;natural enough! To create
+    a good dancer, requires the rarest combination of physical and
+    mental endowments. Graceful as the forms transmitted to us by
+    the pottery of Etruria and the frescoes of Herculaneum, she
+    must unite with the strength of an athlete, the genius of a
+    first-rate actress. That even moderate dancing demands
+    immoderate abilities, is attested by the exhibition of human
+    ungainliness disfiguring all the court balls of Europe. There
+    may be seen the representatives of the highest nobility,
+    tutored by the highest education, shuffling over the polished
+    floor with stiffened arms and bewildered legs&mdash;often out
+    of time&mdash;always out of place&mdash;as if acting under the
+    influence of a galvanic battery. Not one in ten of them rises
+    even to mediocrity as a dancer. A few degrees lower in the
+    social scale, and it would be not one in twenty. Amid the
+    shoving, shouldering, shuffling mob of dancers in an ordinary
+    ball-room, the absence of all grace amounts even to the
+    ludicrous. Forty years long have people been dancing the
+    quadrilles now in vogue, which consist of six favourite
+    country-dances, fashionable in Paris at the close of the last
+    century, and then singly known by the names they still
+    retain&mdash;"La Poule, L'Et&eacute;, Le Pantalon, Le Trenis,"
+    &amp;c. &amp;c. To avoid the monotony of dancing each in
+    succession, for hours at a time, down a file of forty couple,
+    it was arranged that every eight couple should form a square,
+    and perform the favourite dances, in succession, with the same
+    partner&mdash;a considerable relief to the monotony of the
+    ball-room. Yet, after all this experience, if poor Monsieur le
+    Trenis (after whom one of the figures was named, and who,
+    during the consulate, died dancing-mad in a public lunatic
+    asylum) could rise, sane, from the dead, it would be enough to
+    drive him mad again to see how little had been acquired, in the
+    way of practice, since his decease. The processes and varieties
+    of the ball-room are just where he left then on his exit!</p>
+
+    <p>Previous to the introduction of quadrilles and country
+    dances or <i>contredanses</i>, the inaptitude of nine-tenths of
+    mankind for dancing was still more eminently demonstrated in
+    the murders of the minuet. For (as Morall, the dancing-master
+    of Marie Antoinette, used passionately to exclaim)&mdash;<i>que
+    de choses dans un minuet</i>! What worlds of modest
+    dignity&mdash;of alternate amenity and scorn! The minuet has
+    all the tender coquetry of the bolero, divested of its
+    licentious fervour. With the <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page297"
+       name="page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> minuet and the hoop,
+       indeed, disappeared that powerful circumvallation of female
+       virtue, rendering superfluous the annual publication of a
+       dozen codes of ethics, addressed to the "wives of England"
+       and their daughters. All was comprehended in the <i>pas
+       grave</i>. That noble and right Aulic dance was expressly
+       invented in deference to the precariousness of powdered
+       heads; and its calm sobrieties, once banished from the
+       ball-room, revolutionary <i>boulang&egrave;res</i>
+       succeeded&mdash;and chaos was come again! The stately
+       <i>pavon</i> had possession of the English court, with ruffs
+       and farthingales, in the reign of Elizabeth. With the
+       Stuarts came the wild courante or corante&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Hair loosely flowing, robes as free"&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>and if the House of Hanover, and minuets, reformed for a
+    time the irregularities of St James's&mdash;what are we to
+    expect now that waltzes, galops, and the eccentricities of the
+    cotillon have possession of the social stage? WHAT NEXT? as the
+    pamphlets say&mdash;"What will the lords do?"&mdash;what the
+    ladies?</p>
+
+    <p>Thus much in proof, that the boss of pirouettiveness is
+    strangely wanting in human conformation, and that there is
+    consequently all the excuse of ignorance for the wild
+    enthusiasm lavished by London on the operative class. Ten
+    guineas per night&mdash;five hundred for the season&mdash;is
+    the price exacted for a first-rate opera-box; and as the
+    exclusives usually arrive at the close of the opera, or, if
+    earlier, keep up a perpetual babble during its performance,
+    they clearly come for the dancing.&mdash;"<i>On voit
+    l'op&eacute;ra, et l'on &eacute;coute le ballet</i>," used to
+    be said of the Acad&eacute;mie de Musique. But it might be
+    asserted now, with fully as much truth, of the Queen's Theatre,
+    where the evolutions of Carlotta Grisi, Elssler, and Cerito,
+    keep the audience in a state of breathless attention denied to
+    Shakspeare.</p>
+
+    <p>In two out of these instances, it may be advanced that they
+    are consummate actresses as well as graceful and active
+    dancers. Elssler's comedy is almost as piquant as that of
+    Mademoiselle Mars. Nor is the ballet unsusceptible of a still
+    higher order of histrionic display. We never remember to have
+    seen a stronger <i>lev&eacute;e en masse</i> of cambric
+    handkerchiefs in honour of O'Neill's <i>Mrs Haller</i>, or
+    Siddons's <i>Isabella</i>, than of the ballet of "Nina;" while
+    the affecting death-dance in "Masaniello" is still fresh in the
+    memory of the admirers of Pauline Leroux. We have heard of
+    swoons and hysterics along the more impressionable audiences of
+    La Scala, during the performance of the ballet of "La Vestale;"
+    and have witnessed with admiration the striking effect of the
+    fascinative scene in "Faust."</p>
+
+    <p>Of late years, the union of Italian blood and a French
+    education has been found indispensable to create a
+    <i>danseuse</i>&mdash;"Sangue Napolitano in scuola
+    Parigiana;"&mdash;and Vesuvius is the Olympus of all our recent
+    divinities. Formerly, a Spanish origin was the most successful.
+    The first dancer who possessed herself of European notoriety
+    was La Camargo, whose portraits, at the close of a century, are
+    still popular in France, where she has been made the heroine of
+    several recent dramas. To her reign, succeeded that of the
+    Gruinards and Duth&eacute;s&mdash;in honour of whose bright
+    eyes, a variety of noblemen saw the inside both of Fort St
+    Ev&ecirc;que and St Pelagie; the opera being at that time a
+    fertile source of <i>lettres de cachet</i>. To obtain
+    admittance to the private theatricals of the former dancer, in
+    her magnificent hotel in the Chauss&eacute;e d'Antin, the
+    ladies of fashion and of the court had recourse to the meanest
+    artifices; while the latter has obtained historical renown, by
+    having excited the jealousy, or rather envy, of Marie
+    Antoinette. Mademoiselle Duth&eacute; appeared at the
+    f&ecirc;tes of Longchamps, in the Bois de Boulogne, in a
+    gorgeous chariot drawn by six milk-white steeds, with red
+    morocco harness, richly ornamented with cut steel; and thus
+    accomplished the object of incurring the resentment of the
+    court, from the prodigality of one of whose married princes
+    these splendours were supposed to emanate&mdash;splendours
+    exceeding those of the Rhodopes of old.</p>
+
+    <p>But the greatest triumph ever achieved by <i>danseuse</i>,
+    was that of Bigottini! The Allied sovereigns, after vanquishing
+    the victor of modern Europe, were by <i>her</i> vanquished in
+    their turn. At <span class="pagenum"><a id="page298"
+       name="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span> her feet, fresh trembling
+       from an <i>entre-chat</i>, did</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Fiery French and furious Hun"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>lay down their arms! The Allied armies appeared to have
+    entered Paris only to become the slaves of Bigottini!</p>
+
+    <p>In our own country, devotees of the <i>danseuse</i> have
+    done more, by promoting her to the decencies of the domestic
+    fireside. In our own country, also, even Punch was once
+    purchased by an eccentric nobleman for the diversion of his
+    private life. But as Demosthenes observed of the cost of such a
+    pleasure, "that is buying repentance too dear!"</p>
+
+    <p>We are perhaps offending the gravity of certain of our
+    readers by the extent of this notice; albeit, we have striven
+    to propitiate their prejudices by the peculiar combination and
+    juxtaposition of professions, selected for consideration. But
+    we are not acting unadvisedly. Close its eyes as it may, the
+    public cannot but perceive, that the legitimate drama is
+    banished by want of encouragement from the national theatres,
+    and that the ballet is brandishing her cap and bells
+    triumphantly in its room.</p>
+
+    <p>Such changes are never the result of accident. The supply is
+    created by the demand. It is because we prefer the Sylphide to
+    Juliet, that the Sylphide figures before us. Shakspeare was
+    played to empty benches; the Peri and Gisele fill the
+    houses.</p>
+
+    <p>We repeat, therefore, since such is the bent of public
+    appetite, let it be gratified in the least objectionable way.
+    Let us have a royal academy of dancing. We shall easily find
+    some Earl of Westmoreland to compose its ballets, and lady
+    patronesses to give an annual ball for the benefit of the
+    institution. Do not let some eighty thousand a-year be lost to
+    the country. An idol is as easily carved out of one block of
+    wood as another. Let us make unto ourselves goddesses out of
+    the haberdashers' shops of Oxford Street; and qualify the
+    youthful caprices of Whitechapel to command the homage of
+    Congress, and of the great autocrat of all the Russias.
+    Properly instructed, little Sukey Smith may still obtain an
+    enameled brooch or bracelet from her Majesty the Queen-Dowager!
+    Let us "people this whole isle with sylphs!" Let Drury-Lane and
+    Covent-Garden flourish; but&mdash;thanks to Great Britain
+    pirouettes!&mdash;the art of giving ten guineas for a couple of
+    hours spent in an opera-box, will then become less criminal;
+    and we shall have no fear of the influence of some Herodias's
+    daughter in our domestic life, when we see the Cracovienne
+    announced in the bills "by Miss Mary Thomson." The charm will
+    be destroyed. The unfrequented <i>coulisses</i>, like Dodona,
+    will cease to give forth oracles.</p>
+
+    <p>Under the influence of an "establishment," we shall have to
+    record of opera-dancers as of other professions, that "the
+    goddesses are departing!" The <i>danse &agrave; roulades</i> of
+    Fanny Elssler will be voted vulgar, when attempted by a
+    Buggins. Let Mr Bunn look to himself. He may yet survive his
+    immortality. We foresee a day in which he will be no longer
+    styled Alfred the Great. With the aid of George Robins, and
+    other illustrious persons interested in the destinies of
+    theatrical property, we do not despond of hearing attached to
+    "a bill for the legalization of the Royal and National Academy
+    of Dancing of the United Kingdom," the satisfactory decree of
+    "LA REINE LE VEUT!"</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page299"
+       name="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> <a name="bw341s3"
+          id="bw341s3"></a>
+
+    <h2>THE PIRATES OF SEGNA.</h2>
+
+    <h3>A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. IN TWO PARTS.</h3>
+
+    <h3>PART I.</h3>
+
+    <h4>CHAPTER I.&mdash;THE STUDIO.</h4>
+
+    <p>It was on a bright afternoon in spring, and very near the
+    close of the sixteenth century, that a handsome youth, of
+    slender form and patrician aspect, was seated and drawing
+    before an easel in the studio of the aged cavaliere Giovanni
+    Contarini&mdash;the last able and distinguished painter of the
+    long-declining school of Titian. The studio was a spacious and
+    lofty saloon, commanding a cheerful view over the grand canal.
+    Full curtains of crimson damask partially shrouded the lofty
+    windows, intercepting the superabundant light, and diffusing
+    tints resembling the ruddy, soft, and melancholy hues of
+    autumnal foliage; while these hues were further deepened by a
+    richly carved ceiling of ebony, which, not reflecting but
+    absorbing light, allayed the sunny radiance beneath, and
+    imparted a sombre yet brilliant effect to the pictured walls,
+    and glossy draperies, of the spacious apartment. Above the rich
+    and lofty mantelpiece hung one of the last portraits of himself
+    painted by the venerable Titian, and on the dark pannels around
+    were suspended portraits of great men and lovely women by the
+    gifted hands of Giorgione, Paul Veronese, Paris Bordone, and
+    Tintoretto. Regardless, however, of all around him, and almost
+    breathless with eagerness and impatience, the student pursued
+    his object, and with rapid and vigorous strokes had half
+    completed his sketch&mdash;totally unconcious the while that
+    some one had opened the folding-doors, crossed the saloon, and
+    now stood behind his chair.</p>
+
+    <p>"But tell me, Antonello mio!" exclaimed old Contarini, after
+    gazing awhile in mute astonishment at the sketch before him;
+    "tell me, in the name of wonder, what kind of face do you mean
+    to draw around that lean and withered nose and that horribly
+    wrinkled mouth?"</p>
+
+    <p>Antonio, however, was so unconcious of the "world without,"
+    that he started not at this sudden interruption of the previous
+    stillness. Regardless, too, of the serious and indeed reproving
+    tone of the old man's voice, he hastily replied without
+    averting his gaze from the canvass. "Hush, maestro! I beseech
+    you. Question me not, for Heaven's sake! I cannot spare a word
+    in reply. The original," continued he, after a brief interval
+    of close attention to his object, and drawing as he spoke; "the
+    original is still firmly fixed in my memory. I see its sharp
+    outlines clear within me, and, as you well know and oft have
+    told me, a feature lost is lost for ever. Alas! alas! those
+    lines and angles around the mouth are already fading into
+    shadow."</p>
+
+    <p>After he had thrown out these words, from time to time, like
+    interjections, and with Venetian rapidity of utterance, nothing
+    was audible in the saloon for some minutes but the young
+    artist's sharp and rapid strokes upon the canvass.</p>
+
+    <p>"No more of this, Antonio!" at length exclaimed the old
+    painter with energy, after gazing for some time at the gradual
+    appearance of an old woman's lean and winkled features, dried
+    up and yellow as if one of the dead, and yet lighted up by a
+    pair of dark deep-set eyes, which seemed to blaze with
+    supernatural life and lustre. At each touch of the artist, this
+    mummy-like and unearthly visage was brought out into sharper
+    and more disgusting relief, when Contarini, no longer able to
+    control his indignation, dashed the charcoal from his pupil's
+    hand. "Apage, Satanas!" he shouted, "thy talent hath a devil in
+    it. I see his very hoof-print in that horrible design."</p>
+
+    <p>Startled by this unexpected violence, the young artist
+    turned round, and beheld with amazement the usually benign
+    featutes of his venerable <span class="pagenum"><a id="page300"
+       name="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> teacher flashing upon him
+       with irrepressible anger, which was the more impressive
+       because the Cavaliere had just returned from a visit to the
+       Doge, and was richly attired in the imposing patrician
+       costume of the period. Around his neck was the golden chain
+       hung there by the imperial hands of Rodolph the Second, and
+       he wore the richly enameled barret, and lofty heron's plume,
+       which the same picture-loving emperor had placed upon his
+       head when he knighted him as a reward for the noble pictures
+       he had painted in Germany. There was a true and fine air of
+       nobility in his lofty form and well-marked features&mdash;a
+       character of matured thought and intellectual power in the
+       expansive brow, and in the firm gaze of his large dark eyes,
+       as yet undimmed by age&mdash;with evidence of decision and
+       self-respect, and habitual composure in the finely formed
+       mouth and chin. Thus splendidly arrayed, and thus dignified
+       in form, features, and expression, this distinguished man
+       recalled so powerfully to the memory of his imaginative
+       pupil the high-minded doges of the heroic period of Venice,
+       and the imposing portraits of Titian's senators, that, with
+       a deep sense of his own moral inferiority, he obeyed in
+       silence, and with starting tears removed the offending
+       sketch. Then placing before him a small picture of a weeping
+       and lovely Magdalen by Contarini, which he had undertaken to
+       copy, he began the sketch, patiently awaiting a voluntary
+       explanation of this unwonted vehemence in his beloved
+       teacher, who, seated in his armchair, leaned his head upon
+       his hand and seemed lost in thought.</p>
+
+    <p>And now again for some time was the deep stillness of the
+    studio interrupted only by the strokes of Antonio's charcoal,
+    which, unlike his rapid and feverish efforts when sketching the
+    old woman, were now subdued and tranquil. As he gazed into the
+    upraised and pleading eyes of the beautiful Magdalen, his
+    excitement gradually yielded to the pacifying influence of her
+    mute and eloquent sorrow. This salutary change escaped not the
+    observation of Contarini, whose benevolent features softened as
+    he gazed upon these tokens of a better spirit in his pupil.</p>
+
+    <p>"I rejoice to see, Antonio," he began, "that you already
+    feel, how ever imperfectly, the soothing and hallowed influence
+    of the Beautiful in Art and Nature, and the peril to soul and
+    body of delighting in imaginary forms of horror. If you indulge
+    these cravings of a distempered fancy, you will sink to the
+    base level of those Flemish artists who delight in painting
+    witches and demons, and in all fabulous and monstrous forms.
+    You, who are nobly born, devoted to poetry and fine art, and
+    possess manifest power in portraiture, should aim at the Heroic
+    in painting. Make this your first and steadfast purpose. Devote
+    to it your life and soul; and, should the power to reach this
+    elevation be wanting, you may still achieve the Beautiful, and
+    paint lovely women in lovely attitudes. But tell me,
+    Antonello!" continued he, resuming his wonted kindness, "how
+    came that horrid visage across thy path, or rather across thy
+    fancy? for surely no such original exists. Say, didst thou see
+    it living, or was it the growth of those distempered dreams to
+    which painters, more than other men, are subject?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, padre mio! it was no dream," eagerly answered his
+    pupil. "Yesterday I went in our gondola, as is my wont on
+    festivals, to the beautiful church of San Moyses, which I love
+    for its oriental and singular architecture. When near the
+    church I heard a melodious voice calling to Jacopo, my
+    gondolier, the only boatman in sight, and begging a conveyance
+    across the canal. Issuing from the cabin, I saw a tall figure,
+    closely veiled, standing on the steps of the palace facing the
+    church and occupied by the Archduke's ambassador. Approaching
+    the steps, Jacopo placed a plank for the stranger; but, as she
+    stepped out to reach it, a sudden gust caught her large loose
+    mantle, which, clinging to her shape, displayed for a moment a
+    form of such majestic and luxuriant fulness&mdash;such perfect
+    and glorious symmetry, as no man, still less an artist, could
+    look on unmoved. In trembling and indescribable impatience, I
+    awaited the raising of her veil. Another gust, and a slight
+    stumble as she bounded rather than stepped into the boat,
+    befriended <span class="pagenum"><a id="page301"
+       name="page301"></a>[pg 301]</span> me; the partial shifting
+       of her veil, which she hastily replaced, permitted a glimpse
+       of her features&mdash;brief, indeed, but never to be
+       forgotten. Yes, father! the face which surmounted that
+       goddess-like and splendid person, was the horrid visage I
+       have sketched, lean and yellow, drawn up into innumerable
+       wrinkles, and with black eyes of intolerable brightness,
+       blazing out of deep and faded sockets. Staggered by this
+       unearthly contrast, I fell back upon the bench of the
+       gondola, and gazed in silent horror at the stranger, who
+       answered not the blunt questions of Jacopo; and, as if
+       ashamed of her astounding ugliness, sat motionless and
+       shrouded from head to foot in her capacious mantle. I
+       followed her into the church; but, unable to hold out during
+       the mass, I left her there and hastily returned to sketch
+       this sublime example of the hideous before any of its points
+       had faded from my memory. Forgive me, father, for yielding
+       to an impulse so strong as to overwhelm all power of
+       resistance. Yet why should I abandon this rare opportunity
+       of displaying any skill I may have gained from so gifted a
+       teacher? Pictures of Madonnas and of lovely women so abound
+       in all our palaces, that a young artist can only rise above
+       the common level by representing something extraordinary,
+       something rarely or never seen in life."</p>
+
+    <p>Contarini gazed with sorrowing and affectionate interest
+    upon the flushed features of his pupil, again excited as before
+    by his own description of the mysterious stranger. One less
+    acquainted with human nature, would have mistaken the flashing
+    eyes and animated features of the youthful artist for the sure
+    tokens of conscious and advancing talent; but the aged painter,
+    whose practised eye was not dazzled by the soft harmony of
+    features which gave a character of feminine beauty to Antonio,
+    saw in the excitement which failed to give a more intellectual
+    character to his countenance, sad evidence of a soul too feeble
+    and infirm of purpose to achieve eminence in any thing, and
+    with growing alarm he inferred a predisposition to mental
+    disease from those morbid and uncontrolled impulses, which
+    delighted in portraying objects revolting to all men of sound
+    and healthy feelings.</p>
+
+    <p>He arose in evident emotion, and after pacing the studio
+    some time in silence, he approached Antonio, who, yielding to
+    his eccentric longings, had seized the sketch of the old
+    woman's head, and was gazing on it with evident delight. "Give
+    me the sketch, Antonio!" resumed the painter in his kindest
+    tone, "'Tis finished, and the hunter cares not for the hunted
+    beast when stricken. What wouldst thou with it?" "What would I,
+    maestro?" exclaimed the alarmed youth, hastily removing his
+    sketch from the extended hand of the painter, "Finish the
+    subject of course, and place this wonderful old head upon the
+    magnificent form to which it belongs."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, saidst thou not, Antonio, that the poor creature in
+    the gondola hastily concealed her features when accident
+    revealed them, as if ashamed of her unnatural ugliness? And
+    canst thou be so heartless as to publish to the world that
+    strange deformity she is doomed to bear through life, and which
+    she is evidently anxious to conceal? Wouldst thou add another
+    pang to the existence of one to whom life is worse than death,
+    and whose eternal veil is but a foretaste of the winding-sheet
+    and the grave? Thou wilt not, canst not, my Antonio, make such
+    unheard-of misery thy stepping-stone to fame and fortune." This
+    impassioned appeal to all his better feelings at length reached
+    the heart of Antonio. For a short time he continued to withhold
+    the drawing; but his kindly nature triumphed. Tearing his
+    sketch into fragments, he threw himself into the extended arms
+    of his beloved teacher, who with deep emotion placed his
+    trembling hand on the curling locks of his pupil, and implored
+    the blessing of Heaven on his better feelings and purposes.</p>
+
+    <p>With a view to improve the impression he had made, the
+    painter led Antonio round the studio, and sought to fix his
+    attention upon several portraits of lovely women which adorned
+    it. "Here," said he, "are heads worthy to crown that striking
+    figure in the gondola. Behold that all-surpassing portrait by
+    Giorgione, of such beauty as painters and poets may dream of
+    but never find, and yet not superhuman in its type. Too
+    impassioned for an angel; too brilliant <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page302"
+       name="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> for a Madonna; and with
+       too much of thought and character for a Venus&mdash;she is
+       merely <i>woman</i>. Belonging to no special rank or class
+       in society, and neither classical nor ideal, she personifies
+       all that is most lovely in her sex; and, whether found in a
+       palace or a cottage, would delight and astonish all
+       beholders. This rarely gifted woman was the daughter of
+       Palma Vecchio, and the beloved of Giorgione, one of the
+       handsomest men of his time; but her sympathies were not for
+       him, and he died of grief and despair in his prime. She was
+       the favourite model of Titian and his school, and the type
+       that more or less prevails in many celebrated pictures.</p>
+
+    <p>"How different and yet how beautiful of its kind, is that
+    portrait of a Doge's daughter, by Paris Bordone! Less dazzling
+    and luxuriant in her beauty than Palma's daughter, she is in
+    all respects intensely aristocratic. In complexion not rich and
+    glowing, but of a transparent and pearly lustre, through which
+    the course of each blue vein is visible. In shape and features
+    not full and beautifully rounded, but somewhat taller and of
+    more delicate symmetry. In look and attitude not open, frank,
+    and natural; but astute, refined, courteous, and winning to a
+    degree attainable only by aristocratic training and the habits
+    of high society. In apparel, neither national nor picturesque,
+    but attired with studied elegance. Rich rows of pearls wind
+    through her braided hair, in colour gold, in texture soft as
+    silk. A band of gold forms the girdle of her ruby-coloured
+    velvet robe, which descends to the wrist, and there reveals the
+    small white hand and tapering fingers of patrician beauty. All
+    this may captivate the fastidious noble; but, to men less
+    artificial in their tastes and habits, could such a woman be
+    better than a statue&mdash;and could love, the strongest of
+    human passions, be ever more to her than a short-lived and
+    amusing pastime?</p>
+
+    <p>"From these immortal portraits, my Antonio, you may learn
+    that <i>colour</i> was the grand secret of the great Venetian
+    painters. <i>Their</i> pale forms are never white, nor their
+    blooming cheeks rose-colour, but the true colour of
+    life&mdash;mellow, rich, and glowing; both men and women
+    strictly true to nature, and looking as if they could turn pale
+    with anger or blush with tender passion. From these great men
+    can best be learned how much charm may be conveyed by
+    <i>colour</i>, and what life and glow, what passion, grace, and
+    beauty it gives to <i>form</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>"But I weary thee, Antonio; and after such excitement thou
+    hast need of repose. To-morrow, let me see thee early."</p>
+
+    <p>The exhausted youth gladly departed from a scene of so much
+    trial; and, hastening to his gondola, sought refreshment in an
+    excursion to the Lido. Returning after nightfall, he landed on
+    the Place of St Mark's, and wandered through its cool arcades
+    until they were deserted. In vain, however, did he strive to
+    banish the graceful form and grisly features of the stranger.
+    The strong impression he had received became so vivid and
+    absorbing, that at every turn he thought he saw her gazing at
+    him as if in mockery, and lighting up the deep shadows beneath
+    the arches with her glowing orbs, which seemed to his
+    disordered fancy to emit sparks and flashes of fire. No longer
+    able to resist the impulse, forgetting alike the paternal
+    admonitions of the old painter, and the promises so sincerely
+    given, he quitted the piazza and hastened to the palace of his
+    father, the Proveditore Marcello, then absent on state affairs
+    in the Levant.</p>
+
+    <p>Retiring to his own apartment, he fixed an easel with
+    impetuous haste, and by lamplight again began to sketch the
+    Medusa head of the old woman. Yielding himself up to this new
+    frenzy, he succeeded beyond his hopes; a supernatural power
+    seemed to guide his hand, and soon after midnight he had drawn
+    to the life not only the appalling head, but the commanding and
+    beautiful person, of the mysterious personage in the gondola.
+    After gazing awhile upon his work with triumphant delight, he
+    retired to bed; but slept not until long after sunrise, and
+    then the extraordinary incidents of the past day haunted his
+    feverish dreams. A female form, youthful and of surpassing
+    beauty, hovered around his couch, but ever changing in
+    appearance. At first her head was invisible and veiled in mist,
+    from which, at intervals, flashed features of
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303"
+       name="page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> resplendent loveliness,
+       and eyes of heavenly blue, which beamed upon him with
+       thrilling tenderness; and then the mist dispersed, and the
+       beauteous phantom stooped down to kiss his cheek, when
+       suddenly her blooming face darkened and withered into the
+       death-like visage of that fearful stranger, and her long
+       bright hair was converted into hissing sepents. Starting
+       with a scream of horror from his troubled and exhausting
+       slumbers, he again sought refuge in his gondola, but
+       returned, alas! to make his sketch into a picture, which the
+       hues of life made still more hideous and repulsive. After
+       several days thus occupied, he sketched in various attitudes
+       the imposing figure of the old woman, and endeavoured to fit
+       this beautiful Torso with a head not unworthy of it. But
+       herein, after many attempts, he failed. His excitement, so
+       long indulged, had risen into fever. His diseased fancy
+       controlled his pencil, and blended with features of the
+       highest order of beauty so many touches of the old woman's
+       ghastly visage, that he threw down his pencil, and abandoned
+       all further efforts in despair.</p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+    <h4>THE CAVERN.</h4>
+
+    <p>The shores of Austrian Dalmatia south of the port of Fiume,
+    are of so rugged and dangerous a nature, that although broken
+    into numerous creeks and bays, there are but few places where
+    vessels, even of small dimensions, dare to approach them, or
+    indeed where it is possible to effect a landing. A long
+    experience of the coast, and of the adjacent labyrinth of
+    islands which block up the gulf of Carnero, is necessary in
+    order to accomplish in safety the navigation of the shallow
+    rocky sea; and even when the mariner succeeds in setting foot
+    on land, he not unfrequently finds his progress into the
+    interior barred by precipices steep as walls, roaring torrents,
+    and yawning ravines.</p>
+
+    <p>It was on a mild evening of early spring, and a few days
+    after the incidents recorded in the preceding chapter, that a
+    group of wild-looking figures was assembled on the Dalmatian
+    shore, opposite the island of Veglia. The sun was setting, and
+    the beach was so overshadowed by the beetling summits of the
+    high chalky cliffs, that it would have been difficult to
+    discover much of the appearance of the persons in question, but
+    for an occasional streak of light that shot out of a narrow
+    ravine opening among the rocks in rear of the party, and lit up
+    some dark-bearded visage, or flashed on the bright barrel of a
+    long musket. High above the ravine, and standing out against
+    the red stormy-looking sky behind it, the outline of a fortress
+    was visible, and in the hollow beneath might be distinguished
+    the small closely-built mass of houses known as the town of
+    Segna.</p>
+
+    <p>This castle, which, by natural even more than artificial
+    defences, was deemed impregnable, especially on its sea face,
+    was the stronghold of a handful of hardy and desperate
+    adventurers, who, although their numbers never exceeded seven
+    hundred men, had yet, for many years preceding the date of this
+    narrative, made themselves a name dreaded throughout the whole
+    Adriatic. The inhabitants of the innumerable Dalmatian islands,
+    the subjects of the Grand Turk, the people of Ancona&mdash;all,
+    in short, who inhabited the shores of the Adriatic, and were
+    interested in its commerce, or in the countless merchant
+    vessels that skimmed over its waters&mdash;trembled and turned
+    pale when the name of these daring freebooters was mentioned in
+    their hearing. In vain was it that the Sultan, who in his
+    sublimity scarcely deigned to know the names of some of the
+    great European powers, had caused his pachas to take the field
+    with strong armaments for the extermination of this nest of
+    pirates. These expeditions were certainly not disadvantageous
+    to the Porte, which seized the opportunity of annexing to its
+    dominions some large slices of Hungarian and Venetian
+    territory; but their ostensible object remained unaccomplished,
+    and the proverbial salutation <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page304"
+       name="page304"></a>[pg 304]</span> of the time, "God save
+       you from the Uzcoques!" was still on the lips of every
+       one.</p>
+
+    <p>The word "Uzcoque," by which this dreaded people was known,
+    had grown into a sound of mourning and panic to the inhabitants
+    of the shores and islands of the Adriatic. At the utterance of
+    that fearful name, young girls crowded together like frightened
+    doves; the child hid its terrified face in its mother's lap;
+    the eyes of the matron overflowed with tears as the images of
+    murdered sons and outraged daughters passed before her mind's
+    eye, and, like Banquo's ghost, filled the vacant seats at the
+    table; while the men gazed anxiously out, expecting to see
+    their granaries and store-houses in flames. Nor were the
+    seaman's apprehensions less lively, when night surprised him
+    with some valuable cargo in the neighbourhood of the pirates'
+    haunts. Every rock, each tree, and bush became an object of
+    dread; the very ripple of the waves on the shingle a sound of
+    alarm. To his terrified fancy, a few leafless and projecting
+    branches assumed the appearance of muskets, a point of rock
+    became the prow of one of those light, sharp-built boats in
+    which the Uzcoques were wont to dart like seabirds upon their
+    prey; and, invoking his patron saint, the frightened sailor
+    crossed himself, and with a turn of the rudder brought his
+    vessel yet nearer to the Venetian galleys that escorted the
+    convoy.</p>
+
+    <p>At the cry "Uzcoque" the slender active Albanian grasped his
+    fire-lock, with rage and hatred expressed on his bearded
+    countenance: the phlegmatic Turk sprang in unwonted haste from
+    his carpet; his pipe and coffee were neglected, his women and
+    treasures secured in the harem, while he shouted for the
+    Martellossi,<a id="footnotetag3"
+       name="footnotetag3"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> and slipping them like dogs
+       from a leash, sent them to the encounter of their foes on
+       the devastated plains of Cardavia. In the despatches from
+       Madrid, from the ministers of that monarch on whose
+       dominions the sun never set, to his ambassadors, the name of
+       these seven hundred outlaws occupied a frequent and
+       prominent place. But by none were the Uzcoques more feared
+       and detested than by the greyheaded doge and senators of the
+       Ocean Queen, the sea-born city, before whose cathedral the
+       colours of three kingdoms fluttered from their crimson
+       flagstaffs; and the few young Venetians in whose breasts the
+       remembrance of their heroic ancestors yet lived, blushed for
+       their country's degradation when they beheld her rulers
+       braved and insulted by a band of sea-robbers.</p>
+
+    <p>To this band belonged the wild figures, whose appearance on
+    the shore has been noticed, and who were busily employed in
+    rummaging a number of sacks and packages which lay scattered on
+    the ground. They pursued their occupation in profound silence,
+    except when the discovery of some object of unusual value
+    elicited an exclamation of delight, or a disappointment brought
+    a grumbling curse to their lips. They seemed carefully to avoid
+    noise, lest it should draw down upon them the observation of
+    the castle that frowned above their heads, and at the
+    embrasures and windows of which they cast frequent and
+    frightened glances, although the darkness of the ravine, at the
+    entrance of which they had stationed themselves, and the
+    rapidly deepening twilight, rendered it almost impossible to
+    discover them.</p>
+
+    <p>"By the beard of the prophet, Hassan!" exclaimed in a
+    suppressed tone a young Turk, who lay bound hand and foot at a
+    short distance from the pirates, "why do these mangy curs keep
+    us lying so long on the wet grass? Why do they not seek their
+    kennel up yonder?"</p>
+
+    <p>The person addressed was a little, <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page305"
+       name="page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> round, oily-looking Turk,
+       a Levant merchant, whose traffic had called him to one of
+       the neighbouring islands, and who had been laid hold of on
+       his passage by the Uzcoques. He was sitting up, being less
+       strictly manacled than his more youthful and
+       energetic-looking companion; and his comical countenance
+       wore a most desponding expression, as, in reply to the
+       question put to him, he shook his head slowly from side to
+       side, at the same time gravely stroking his beard.</p>
+
+    <p>"By Allah!" exclaimed the young man impatiently, as he saw
+    the pirates rummaging more eagerly than ever, and now and then
+    concealing something of value under their cloaks, "could not
+    the greedy knaves wait till they got home before they shared
+    the plunder? May their fathers' souls burn!"</p>
+
+    <p>"What saith the sage Oghuz?" quoth old Hassan slowly, "'As
+    people grow rich their maw widens.'"</p>
+
+    <p>"Silence, unbelieving hound!" exclaimed a harsh voice behind
+    him, and a thump between the shoulders warned the old Turk to
+    keep his proverbs for a more fitting season. The pirate was
+    about to repeat the blow, when suddenly his hand fell, and the
+    curses died away upon his lips.</p>
+
+    <p>The clouds that had hitherto veiled the setting sun had
+    suddenly broken, and a broad stream of golden light poured down
+    the ravine, flashing upon the roofs and gables of the town, and
+    making the castle appear like a huge and magnificent lantern.
+    The ravine was lighted up as though by enchantment, and the
+    unexpected illumination caused an alarm among the group of
+    pirates, not unlike that of an owl into whose gloomy
+    roosting-place a torch is suddenly intruded. Terror was
+    depicted upon their countenances as they gazed up at the
+    castle. For a moment all was still and hushed as the grave, and
+    the Uzcoques scarcely seemed to breathe as they drew their
+    greedy hands in silent haste out of the sacks; then, suddenly
+    recovering from their stupefaction, they snatched up their
+    muskets and crowded into a dark cavern in the rock, which the
+    beams of the setting sun had now for the first time rendered
+    visible, without, however, lighting up its deep and dark
+    recesses. In their haste and alarm, more than one of the
+    freebooters had his tattered mantle caught by the thorny arms
+    of some of the bushes scattered over the shore, and turned in
+    terror, thinking himself in the grasp of a foe. A few only had
+    the presence of mind to throw their cloaks over the varied and
+    glittering plunder that lay scattered about on the ground; and
+    strange was the contrast of the sparkling jewellery, the rich
+    stuffs, and embroidered robes, strewed on the beach, with the
+    mean and filthy garments that partially concealed them, and the
+    wild and squalid figures of their present possessors.</p>
+
+    <p>A number of the Uzcoques now threw themselves with brutal
+    violence upon the two prisoners, muffled their heads in cloaks
+    to prevent their crying out, and carried them with the speed of
+    light into the cave, in the innermost recess of which they
+    bestowed them. They then rejoined their companions, who were
+    grouped together at the entrance of the cavern like a herd of
+    frightened deer, and gazing anxiously up at the castle. After
+    the lapse of a very few minutes, the bright glow again faded
+    away, the fortress reassumed its black and frowning aspect, the
+    roofs of Segna relapsed into their dull grey hue, and shadows,
+    deeper than before, covered the ravine.</p>
+
+    <p>Reviving under the influence of the darkness, so congenial
+    to their habits and occupations, the Uzcoques began to recover
+    from their alarm, and the murmur of voices was again heard as
+    they seized the sacks, and hastily filled them with the various
+    objects lying on the beach. Every thing being collected, the
+    pirates commenced toiling their way up the steep mountain path
+    leading to the castle, with the exception of a few who still
+    lingered at the entrance of the cavern, and whom the prisoners
+    could hear disputing about some point on which there seemed to
+    exist much difference of opinion.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hell and the devil!" at last exclaimed an impatient voice,
+    in a louder tone than had yet been employed. "There's little
+    chance that we have not been seen from the castle; for the
+    warder would expect us back about this time, and doubtless was
+    on the look-out. These Turkish hounds have <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page306"
+       name="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> seen every thing, and
+       might easily betray us. Let us leave them here till
+       to-morrow, till I have spoken to the warder, and arranged
+       that they be sent on at once to Gradiska without coming to
+       speech of the captain. I will join the escort myself to make
+       it still surer."</p>
+
+    <p>After some slight opposition on the part of the others, this
+    proposal was adopted, and the remaining pirates took their
+    departure. The sound of their footsteps along the rocky path
+    had scarcely died away on the ears of the anxiously listening
+    captives, when loud acclamations and cries of joy announced the
+    arrival of the first detachment at the castle. The heavy gates
+    of the fortress were opened with much din and rattle; after a
+    short space they were again slammed to, the portcullis fell,
+    and then no further sound broke the deep silence that reigned
+    in the ravine.</p>
+
+    <p>The collection of the plunder, the discussion among the
+    pirates, and their departure, had passed so rapidly, that the
+    young Turk had scarcely had time to recover from the giddy,
+    half-stunned state into which the rough usage he had received
+    had thrown him, when he found himself alone with his old
+    fellow-captive.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, Hassan," said he at last, in a voice of suppressed
+    fury, "what think you of all this?"</p>
+
+    <p>The old man made no verbal reply, but merely stroked his
+    beard, shrugged his shoulders, and opened his eyes wider than
+    before, as much as to say, "I don't think at all; what do you
+    think?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It is not the prospect of passing the night in this damp
+    hole, bound hand and foot, that chafes me to madness, and makes
+    my very blood boil in my veins," resumed the young man after a
+    pause. "That is a small matter, but"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"A small matter!" interrupted Hassan with unusual vivacity.
+    "That is, because you have forgotten the most dreadful part of
+    our position. Bound hand and foot as we are, we can expect
+    nothing less than to fall, ere cock-crow, into the power of
+    Satan."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of Satan!" repeated the other. "Has terror turned thy
+    brain?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of a truth, the Evil One has already tied the three fatal
+    nooses which he hangs over the head of the sleeping believer,"
+    replied the old Mahometan in a lachrymose tone. "He who awakes
+    and forthwith invokes the holy name of Allah, is thereby
+    delivered from the first noose; by performing his ablutions,
+    the second becomes loosened; and by fervent prayer he unties
+    the third. Our bonds render it impossible for us to wash, and
+    the second noose, therefore, will remain suspended over our
+    devoted heads."</p>
+
+    <p>"Runs it so in the Koran, old man?" asked the youth.</p>
+
+    <p>"In the Koran! What Mussulman are you? It is the hundred and
+    forty-ninth passage of the Suna."</p>
+
+    <p>"The Suna!" repeated the other, in a tone of indifference.
+    "If that is all, it will not break my slumbers."</p>
+
+    <p>"Allah protect me!" exclaimed the old man, as he made an
+    attempt to pluck out his beard, which the shackles on his
+    wrists rendered ineffectual. "Allah protect me! Is it not
+    enough that I have fallen into captivity? Am I also doomed to
+    pass the night under the same roof with an unbeliever, even as
+    the Nazarenes are?"</p>
+
+    <p>"May the bolt of Heaven fall on thy lying tongue!" exclaimed
+    the youth in great wrath. "I an unbeliever! I, Ibrahim, the
+    adopted son of Hassan, pacha of Bosnia!"</p>
+
+    <p>In deepest humility did the old merchant bow his head, and
+    endeavour to lay hold of the hem of the young man's crimson
+    caftan, in order to carry it to his lips.</p>
+
+    <p>"Enough! enough!" said Ibrahim, whose good temper had
+    returned. "You spoke in haste and ignorance. I am well pleased
+    when I break no commandment of the Koran; and trouble my head
+    little about the sayings of those babbling greybeards, the
+    twelve holy Imaums."</p>
+
+    <p>"But the nooses," expostulated Hassan, not a little
+    scandalized by his companion's words.</p>
+
+    <p>"You have nothing to do but to sleep all night without
+    awaking," replied the young Turk laughing. "Then you will have
+    no need either to wash or pray."</p>
+
+    <p>The superstitious old man turned his face to the wall in
+    consternation and anguish of spirit.</p>
+
+    <p>"This night have I seen with my own eyes what we have
+    hitherto <span class="pagenum"><a id="page307"
+       name="page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> refused to believe,"
+       resumed Ibrahim after a pause, and in a tone of indignation
+       that echoed through the cavern. "I am now convinced that the
+       shameless scoundrels do not rob on their own account, since
+       they are obliged to pilfer and conceal a part of their
+       plunder in order to get a profit from their misdeeds. Marked
+       you not, Hassan, how they trembled when the sun lit up the
+       ravine, lest their tricks should be espied by some sentry on
+       the battlements; and how their panic fear made them carry
+       every thing up to the castle?"</p>
+
+    <p>The old Turk bowed his head assentingly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Glory be to God and the Sultan!" continued the youth.
+    "Before the bright countenance of the prophet's vicegerent, who
+    reigneth in Stamboul, no misdeed can remain hidden that occurs
+    in the remotest corner of his vast dominions. Nay, much of what
+    happens in the land of the Giaour is also manifest to his
+    penetrating vision. Witness the veil of turpitude and cunning
+    which has long been seen through by the clear eyes of our holy
+    mollahs, and of the council at the Seraglio, and which has just
+    now been torn away from before me, like a mist dispersing in
+    the sunshine of truth. Truly spoke the Christian maiden, whom
+    but a few weeks back I took captive in a fight with the
+    Uzcoques, but who was shortly after rescued by another band of
+    those raging fiends."</p>
+
+    <p>"Saw you the maiden," exclaimed Hassan, "the good maiden
+    that accompanies the pirates, like an angel walking among
+    demons?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What know you of the Houri?" eagerly demanded the youth, in
+    vain endeavouring to raise his head from the damp stones.</p>
+
+    <p>"That it was the hand of Allah that rescued her from you,"
+    replied the other. He chastiseth his creatures with rods, but
+    even in his chastisemcnt is mercy. "How many more had not the
+    dogs and the ravens devoured, had the Christian maiden been
+    taken from among the Uzcoques? She belongs to them, she is the
+    daughter of their leader, the terrible Dansowich, beside whom
+    she is ever to be found, instilling the musk and amber of
+    mildness into his fierce soul, and pouring healing into the
+    wounds he makes. I know her not, but often have I heard the
+    Christians, with whom my traffic brought me acquainted, include
+    her in the prayers they addressed to their God."</p>
+
+    <p>"Her eyes were as brilliant stars, and they blinded my very
+    soul," exclaimed Ibrahim impetuously; "the honey of her words
+    dropped like balm into my heart! As the sound of bubbling
+    fountains, and the rustle of flowery groves to the parched
+    wanderer in the desert, fell her sweet voice upon my ear. So
+    gentle and musical were its tones, that I thought not of their
+    meaning, and it is only to-day that I understand them."</p>
+
+    <p>"I know not," quoth Hassan, "what you may have seen; but
+    doubtless, Satan, who wished to inspire you with an unholy
+    desire for a Nazarene woman, began by blinding you. According
+    to all I have heard, the Uzcoque maiden is good and
+    compassionate, but as ugly as night."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ugly!" cried Ibrahim, "Then there must be two of them; for
+    the one I saw was blooming as the spring, her eyes like the
+    morning star, and her cheeks of velvet. Oh, that I could again
+    behold her! In that hope it was that I pressed so rashly
+    forward in the fight, and was made prisoner; but yet have I not
+    beheld the pearl of mine eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>"She cannot be amongst them," said Hassan; "and thence comes
+    it that the pirates have this year committed greater cruelties
+    than ever, and done deeds that cry out to Allah for
+    vengeance."</p>
+
+    <p>"Instead of her silver tones," continued Ibrahim, "I hear
+    the shrieks of the tortured; instead of her words of peace and
+    blessing, the curses of the murderer."</p>
+
+    <p>"But what did the maiden tell you?" enquired Hassan, who was
+    getting impatient at the transports of the enamoured youth.</p>
+
+    <p>"Her words flowed like a clear stream out of the well of
+    truth. It is not the Uzcoques alone," said she, "who are to
+    blame for the horrors that"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Hark!" interrupted the old Turk.</p>
+
+    <p>A clamour of voices and splashing of oars became audible, a
+    keel grated on the beach, and then hurried footsteps were heard
+    in the ravine.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page308"
+       name="page308"></a>[pg 308]</span> "It is another vessel
+       with Uzcoques!" exclaimed Ibrahim; "but these are not laden
+       with plunder, their movements are too rapid."</p>
+
+    <p>As he spoke, the tumult and murmur of voices and trampling
+    of feet increased, and above all a noise like distant musketry
+    was heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"Holy Virgin!" suddenly exclaimed a clear and feminine
+    voice, apparently close to the mouth of the cavern. "They are
+    already at the castle&mdash;the gates, no doubt, are shut, the
+    drawbridge raised. Before they could come down it would be too
+    late."</p>
+
+    <p>The young Turk started.</p>
+
+    <p>"It is she, Hassan!" he exclaimed. "It is Strasolda, the
+    Christian maiden!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, my father!" cried the same voice in tones of
+    heart-rending anguish. "How shall we deliver thee? Alas! alas!
+    who can tell the tortures they will make thee suffer in their
+    dreadful dungeons?"</p>
+
+    <p>The noise of the musketry became more and more distinct.
+    Some of the newly arrived Uzcoques who had hurried up the
+    winding path, were soon heard clamouring furiously for
+    admittance at the castle gates.</p>
+
+    <p>"They will be too late!" exclaimed the maiden, wringing her
+    hands in despair. The next moment a sudden thought seemed to
+    flash across her mind, lending her fresh hope and energy.</p>
+
+    <p>"Gracious Heaven!" she exclaimed in joyful tones. "Have we
+    not here the cave, from which, invoked by fire, the storm and
+    the hurricane, the north wind and the tempest, come forth and
+    shatter the most stately vessels against our iron-bound
+    coast.<a id="footnotetag4"
+       name="footnotetag4"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> Up, Uzcoques, and fire the
+       cavern! Let the elements do battle for us. Perchance by
+       their aid the bark of your leader Dansowich may yet escape
+       its foes and reach the haven."</p>
+
+    <p>Immediately after these words, which made the two Moslems
+    quail, the pirate's daughter hastily entered the cavern with a
+    blazing torch, the flashes of which awakened from slumber into
+    life and glow the various tints of mosses, lichens, and
+    stalactites innumerable that studded the ample vault. In this
+    flitting and singular illumination, the appearance of the
+    Uzcoque maiden was awful. Above the common stature of woman,
+    and finely formed, she was attired in a white woollen garment,
+    carelessly adjusted and confined at the waist by broad red
+    girdle, from which it fell in long and graceful folds to her
+    feet. Her face was a perfect oval; her features of regular and
+    striking beauty; her complexion, naturally of that clear rich
+    brown, which lends more lustre to the eyes than the purest red
+    and white, was now ghastly with intense alarm; and this
+    death-like paleness imparted a more prominent and commanding
+    character to her well-defined, jet-black brows, and the full,
+    dark, humid eyes, which gleamed like brilliants through their
+    long lashes. Heavy tresses of raven hair, escaping beneath her
+    turban-like head-dress, streamed out like a sable banner as she
+    rushed into the cavern, then fell and flowed in waving
+    luxuriance over neck and shoulders to her girdle. The Turks in
+    the interior of the cavern, gazed in speechless wonder at this
+    beautiful apparition standing erect in the strong red light.
+    Waving her torch with energetic and graceful action, she
+    appeared like an antique sybil at the moment of inspiration, or
+    some Arabian enchantress preparing for an incantation. Their
+    admiration, however, yielded to alarm, when they beheld her
+    dash the torch <span class="pagenum"><a id="page309"
+       name="page309"></a>[pg 309]</span> upon the ground, and her
+       attendants pile upon it straw and fagots, which blazed up
+       instantly to the cavern roof, emitting volumes of smoke that
+       made the captives invisible, and by its suffocating
+       influence deprived them erelong of all power of
+       utterance.</p>
+
+    <p>The evening was serene and still, with scarcely a breath of
+    wind stirring, and the flames blazed upward to the cavern roof;
+    only now and then a light breeze from the sea wafted them on
+    one side, and, at the sane time, dispersing the smoke, gave the
+    Turks a momentary glimpse of the maiden, standing with uplifted
+    hands, expectation, anxiety, and grief, depicted on her
+    speaking countenance, as she invoked the spirit of the storm,
+    while around her stood the few remaining Uzcoques, with
+    sorrowing and downcast faces.</p>
+
+    <p>"They come not!" she exclaimed after a pause, during which
+    the fire began to burn low for lack of fuel, and the noise of
+    the musketry diminished and finally ceased. "Uzcoques!" she
+    cried in a louder voice, and with inspiration in her thrilling
+    tones&mdash;"Take heed and warning, for your hour is come. Your
+    crags and caverns, your rocky shores and howling storms, refuse
+    you further service!"</p>
+
+    <p>She paused, and at that moment was heard the rush of a
+    rapidly approaching boat.</p>
+
+    <p>"Speak not, ye messengers of evil!" exclaimed Strasolda in
+    piercing accents. "Utter not a word. You have left Dansowich in
+    the hands of the Venetians."</p>
+
+    <p>There was no reply to her half frantic exclamation, and the
+    deep silence was only broken by the footsteps of the
+    new-comers, as with dejected looks they joined their
+    companions. Just then some damp branches that had lain
+    smouldering and smoking on the fire, burned brightly up, and by
+    their light Ibrahim and Hassan beheld the maiden kneeling in
+    the midst of the pirates, her tearful face covered by her fair
+    and slender fingers. The next moment she raised her head and
+    gazed into the cavern.</p>
+
+    <p>As she did so, the sorrowful expression of her features
+    changed, and her countenance was lighted up with a look of
+    rapture, while a loud cry burst from her lips. Through the
+    opening in the smoke, the prisoners became visible to her as
+    they lay motionless in the interior of the cave, the light from
+    the flames glowing on their red garments, and giving them the
+    appearance of two statues of fire. In the handsome countenance
+    of one of the figures thus suddenly revealed to her, Strasolda
+    recognized the young Moslem, whose prisoner she had been, and
+    whose noble person and bearing, courteous manners, and gentle
+    treatment, had more than once since the day of her captivity,
+    occupied the thoughts and fancy of the Uzcoque maiden. Unaware
+    of Ibrahim's capture, Strasolda did not for an instant suppose
+    that she beheld him in flesh and blood before her. To her
+    excited and superstitious imagination, the figures of the Turks
+    appeared formed out of fire itself, and she doubted not that
+    the spirits of the cave had chosen this means of presenting to
+    her, as in a prophetic mirror, a shadowy fore-knowledge of
+    future and more favourable events.</p>
+
+    <p>While she yet gazed eagerly on what she deemed a
+    supernatural appearance, the rent in the veil of smoke suddenly
+    closed, the flame sank down, and again all was gloom and
+    darkness in the cavern. The thick stifling vapour of the damp
+    wood, augmenting as the flame diminished, was now so
+    overpowering that the Turks were in imminent danger of
+    suffocation. In their extremity, making a violent effort, their
+    pent up voices found vent in a cry of such startling wildness,
+    that the Uzcoques, struck with terror, sprang back from the
+    mouth of the cave, hurrying the maiden with them. The cry was
+    not repeated, for the Turks had lost all consciousness from the
+    stifling effects of the smoke.</p>
+
+    <p>"Banish your fears, Uzcoques!" exclaimed Strasolda, staying
+    the fugitives. "The voice that to you is a sound of dismay,
+    gives me hope and confidence. I see the golden crescent rising
+    in irresistible might, and shedding its rays over all the lands
+    of the earth. Happy they on whom it casts its mild and
+    favouring beams, and truer far the safeguard it affords to
+    those who serve it, than that which is found beneath the shadow
+    of the cross. Better the sharp cimeter and <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page310"
+       name="page310"></a>[pg 310]</span> plighted word of the
+       Moslem, than the fair promises of the lying Christian, who,
+       in the hour of peril, abandons those by whose courage he has
+       profited. But enough!" cried she in an altered tone. "Our
+       first duty is to rescue my father from the hands of the
+       Venetians. Go not into Segna. There are traitors there who
+       might reveal what we most wish kept secret. The Venetians
+       know not the person of Dansowich, and that may save him if
+       no time be lost in plotting his deliverance. Let none even
+       of our own people hear of his captivity. Now to the
+       castle!"</p>
+
+    <p>She led the way, and in silence and sadness the pirates
+    followed the daughter of their captive chief.</p>
+
+    <p>The fire was quite out, the smoke had cleared away, the moon
+    poured its silvery light into the cavern, and the stillness was
+    unbroken, save by the ripple of the waves on the beach, when
+    Ibrahim recovered from the state of insensibility into which he
+    had been thrown by the suffocating influence of the smoke, and
+    heard his companion snoring at his side. For some time the
+    young Turk lay, revolving in his mind the eventful scene he had
+    witnessed, and the strange and startling circumstances that had
+    come to his knowledge during the few preceding hours. The
+    capture of Dansowich was an event of much importance; nor was
+    there less weight in the discovery Ibrahim had made of the
+    dependence of the Uzcoques upon a higher power, which, in
+    secret, aided and profited by their depredations. Although
+    Austria had been frequently accused of abetting the piracies of
+    the Uzcoques, the charge had never been clearly proved, and to
+    many appeared too improbable to obtain credence. Ibrahim had
+    hitherto been among the incredulous; but what he had this day
+    seen and heard, removed every doubt, and fully convinced him of
+    the justice of those imputations.</p>
+
+    <p>Turning in disgust from the contemplation of the labyrinth
+    of crime and treachery to which he had seized the clue; the
+    young Moslem sought and found a far pleasanter subject of
+    reflection in the remembrance of the maiden, whose transcendent
+    beauty and touching devotion to her captive parent, shone out
+    the more brightly from their contrast with the vice and
+    degradation by which she was surrounded. With much interest did
+    he endeavour to solve the problem, and explain what appeared
+    almost miraculous, how so fair a creature&mdash;such a
+    masterpiece of Heaven's handiwork&mdash;could have passed her
+    childhood and youth amongst the refuse of humanity assembled on
+    the island, and yet have retained the spotless purity which was
+    apparent in every look and gesture. But, however interesting
+    these reflections were to the enamoured Ibrahim, his recent
+    fatigues had been too great for nature not to assert her
+    claims, and the wearied body finished by triumphing over the
+    rebellious restlessness of the excited spirit. The graceful
+    form of Strasolda, and the wild figures of the Uzcoques, swam
+    more and more indistinctly before his closing eyes, until he
+    sank at last into a deep and refreshing slumber.</p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+    <h4>THE JEWELS.</h4>
+
+    <p>The tribe of the Uzcoques, or Scochi, derived their name
+    from <i>scoco</i>, a refugee or fugitive, a word bearing
+    reference to their origin. Towards the commencement of the
+    sixteenth century, a band of hardy and warlike men abandoned
+    the the provinces of Southern Hungary, Bulgaria, and Servia,
+    and took refuge in Dalmatia from the tyranny and ill usage of
+    the Turks, who had overrun the first-named provinces.
+    Accompanied by their wives and families, and recruiting their
+    numbers as they went along, they at last reached the fortress
+    of Clissa, situated in the mountains, a few miles from the old
+    Roman town of Spalatro. There, with the permission of its
+    owner, Pietro Crosichio, they established themselves, forming
+    one of the outposts of Christendom, and thence carried on a war
+    of extermination against the Turks, to whom they did a degree
+    of injury that would appear <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page311"
+       name="page311"></a>[pg 311]</span> quite incommensurate with
+       the smallness of their numbers. The name of Uzcoque soon
+       became known throughout the Adriatic as the synonyme of a
+       gallant warrior, till at length the Turks, driven nearly
+       frantic by the exploits of this handful of brave men, fitted
+       out a strong expedition and laid siege to Clissa, with the
+       double object of getting rid of a troublesome foe, and of
+       advancing another step into Christian Europe.</p>
+
+    <p>The different powers who had benefited greatly, although
+    indirectly, by the enterprising valour of the Uzcoques,
+    neglected to give them the smallest assistance in their hour of
+    peril. After an heroic defence, Clissa fell into the hands of
+    the Turks, and a scanty and disheartened remnant of its brave
+    defenders fled northward to seek some new place of refuge. This
+    they found in the fortress of Segna, then belonging to a Count
+    Frangipani, who allowed them to occupy it; and, at the same
+    time, Ferdinand the First of Austria bethought himself,
+    although somewhat tardily, that the Uzcoques had deserved
+    better at his hands, and at those of other Christian princes,
+    than to be left to their own resources when assailed by the
+    overwhelming power of the Porte. As a sort of atonement, he
+    took them formally into his pay, to assist him in his wars
+    against the infidel. But from this day forward the Uzcoques
+    gradually declined in valour and in moral worth. From a race of
+    heroes they degenerated into a horde of mercenary adventurers,
+    and finally, of cruel and cowardly pirates. Their primitive
+    customs and simple virtues were exchanged for the vices of
+    refugees and criminals from Venice and other neighbouring
+    states, who came in crowds to fill up the frequent vacancies
+    occurring in their ranks.</p>
+
+    <p>At length the military value of the Uzcoques being much
+    impaired, and their services also less required, Austria became
+    irregular in her payments, and at last entirely discontinued
+    them. The barren mountains round Segna produced nothing, and
+    the unfortunate Uzcoques were in danger of dying of hunger.
+    This they felt by no means inclined to do, and erelong
+    complaints began to be made of piracies and depredations
+    committed by the Segnarese on the vessels and territory of
+    Venice. For some time no application on the subject was made to
+    Austria, and when made it was found to be of little avail.</p>
+
+    <p>At the period to which this narrative refers, Austria had
+    already formed those designs upon her southern neighbour, which
+    in more modern times she has carried out with complete success.
+    The fertile plains of Northern Italy, the convenient ports on
+    the Adriatic, the rich commerce with the Levant, were tempting
+    baits to what was then the most ambitious power in Europe; and
+    with an undeviating steadiness did she follow up the policy
+    which promised to place such desirable acquisitions within her
+    grasp. Venice, whose power and importance were already on the
+    decline, was the state against which her most strenuous efforts
+    were directed; and nothing that could injure the trade, or
+    lower the dignity and importance of the republic, was omitted
+    by the Austrian Machiavels of the day. Insignificant as such a
+    means of annoyance may appear, the band of Uzcoques was one of
+    the prime engines employed to undermine the bulwarks of
+    Venetian independence. Through her commerce had Venice achieved
+    her greatness, and through her commerce was she to be assailed
+    and overthrown. Whilst the Venetians, for the sake of their
+    trade, had formed alliances with the Turks, the Austrians,
+    professing great religious zeal, and hatred of the infidels, as
+    well as a dread of further encroachments upon European
+    territory, did all in their power to ruin the traffic and break
+    the connexion between the republic and the Porte. The Uzcoques,
+    who, although asserting a sort of independence, still dwelt on
+    Austrian territory, and were reckoned as Austrian subjects,
+    were secretly encouraged in the piracies which they committed
+    indiscriminately against Turkish and Venetian vessels. These
+    acts of piracy usually took place in the night, and could
+    rarely be brought home to their perpetrators, although there
+    could be no moral doubt as to the identity of the latter; but,
+    even when proved, it was found impossible to obtain any
+    substantial redress. At the time now referred to, the evil was
+    at its height. Nominally <span class="pagenum"><a id="page312"
+       name="page312"></a>[pg 312]</span> peace both with Venice
+       and the Porte, Austria, nevertheless, stimulated the
+       Uzcoques to aggressions upon the subjects of both. The
+       Archduke Ferdinand, a well-intentioned and virtuous prince,
+       but young and inexperienced, was completely led and deceived
+       by the wily and unprincipled politicians who governed in his
+       name. He was kept entirely in the dark as to the real
+       character of the Segnarese, and thus prevented from giving
+       credence to the frequent complaints made against them by
+       neighbouring states. His corrupt ministers, moreover, not
+       content with making the pirates instrumental in this
+       tortuous policy, were not ashamed to squeeze from them a
+       portion of their illicit gains; and a lion's share of the
+       spoil found its way into the coffers of the archducal
+       counsellors, who welcomed the golden Pactolus, utterly
+       regardless of the foul channel through which it flowed. The
+       Uzcoques, on their part, who were no longer the race of
+       brave and hardy soldiers they had been some half century
+       before, clung to the protection of Austria, conscious that,
+       in their degenerate state, and with their diminished
+       numbers, they must soon fall a prey to their numerous foes,
+       should that protection be withdrawn. Thus, although inwardly
+       chafing at being compelled to disgorge a large part of the
+       hard-won booty for which they frequently periled their
+       lives, they did not dare to withhold the tribute, nor to
+       omit the rich presents which they were in the habit of
+       making to certain influential persons about the archducal
+       court. In return, the ports of Austria on the Adriatic, were
+       open to them to build and repair vessels, or obtain supplies
+       of provisions; every species of indirect assistance was
+       afforded them, and more than once, when some of their number
+       had fallen into the hands of the Venetians, their release,
+       as subjects of Austria, had been demanded and obtained by
+       the authorities at Gradiska. On the other hand, the claims
+       of Venice for satisfaction, when some of her richly laden
+       merchant-ships had been captured or pillaged, were slightly
+       attended to, the applicants put off from day to day, and
+       from year to year, with promises and excuses, until the weak
+       and cowardly republic, seeing that no satisfaction was to be
+       obtained by peaceable means, and being in no state to
+       declare war against her powerful neighbour, usually ended
+       the matter by ceasing to advance claims, the prosecution of
+       which only tended to her further humiliation.</p>
+
+    <p>It was Easter Sunday in the town of Gradiska. The strict
+    religious ceremonies with which the Passion week was
+    commemorated at the court of the youthful but pious Archduke
+    Ferdinand were at an end; the black hangings disappeared from
+    the church walls, and the bells rang out a merry peal in joyful
+    commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. The nobles and
+    ladies of the court, wearied with the vigils and fasting which
+    the religious zeal of the time rendered imperative, betook
+    themselves with lightened hearts to their apartments, the elder
+    portion to repose, the younger ones to prepare for the
+    brilliant festival and ball which the following day was to
+    witness.</p>
+
+    <p>In a richly furnished apartment of the castle, the young and
+    handsome wife of one of the archducal counsellors was pacing up
+    and down, her full and voluptuous form reflected on every side
+    by the tall Venetian mirrors that covered the walls of the
+    apartment. The lady was apparently in no gentle mood; her step
+    was hurried and impatient, her face flushed, her lips peevishly
+    compressed, and her irritation seemed to increase each time
+    that she passed before a table on which were displayed a number
+    of jewel-boxes and caskets, all open, and nearly all empty.
+    Since the Easter festival of the preceding year, the caprices
+    and necessities of this spendthrift beauty had abstracted one
+    by one the rich kernels from these now worthless husks, and the
+    recollection of the follies, or worse, in which their value had
+    been squandered, now came to aggravate the vexation which the
+    want of the jewels occasioned her. So absorbed was she in the
+    consideration of her annoyances and perplexities, that for some
+    time she took no notice of the presence of a young and graceful
+    female in plain attire, who stood apparently in deep thought in
+    the embrasure of one of the windows. The maiden had her back
+    turned to the room; but the admirable contours of
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page313"
+       name="page313"></a>[pg 313]</span> her fine figure, and the
+       rich luxuriance of the jet-black locks that flowed over her
+       shoulders, gave promise of a perfection that was not belied,
+       when, on an exclamation of impatience from her mistress, she
+       suddenly turned round, and revealed the beauteous features
+       of Dansowich's daughter. She it was who formed the usual
+       medium of communication between the pirates and their
+       archducal allies; and during her frequent sojourns at
+       Gradiska, she assumed the character of attendant on the
+       counsellor's lady.</p>
+
+    <p>"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the court dame, stamping her foot
+    violently on the polished floor. "What can detain the knaves?
+    Say, girl! where can they be lingering?"</p>
+
+    <p>Strasolda made no reply to this impetuous enquiry. She was
+    no longer the excited and impetuous Uzcoque heroine, invoking
+    the spirit of the storm amidst the precipices and caverns of
+    her native shores. A total change had come over her. Her look
+    was subdued, her cheek pale, her eyes red and swollen with
+    weeping. She cast an humble and sorrowful glance at the lady,
+    and a tear trembled on her long dark lashes.</p>
+
+    <p>"Why come they not?" repeated the angry dame in a voice
+    half-choked with passion. "By all the saints!" she continued,
+    with a furious look at Strasolda, "I believe thy father,
+    Dansowich, to be the cause of this delay; for well I know it is
+    with small good-will he pays the tribute. But if the thieving
+    knaves thus play me false, if the Easter gift is wanting, and
+    for lack of jewels I am compelled to plead sickness, and pass
+    to-morrow in my apartment, instead of, as heretofore, eclipsing
+    every rival by the splendour of my jewels, rest assured,
+    maiden, that thy robber friends shall pay dearly for their
+    neglect. A word from me, and thy father, brethren, and kinsmen
+    grace the gallows, and their foul eyrie is leveled with
+    dust."</p>
+
+    <p>Strasolda pressed her hands upon her heart, and burst into a
+    flood of tears. Then throwing herself at the lady's
+    feet&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"That word you will never have the cruelty to utter," cried
+    she. "Bethink you, noble lady, of the perils to which they are
+    exposed. The bravest cannot command success, and you know not
+    yet whether their last expedition may not have been
+    unprosperous."</p>
+
+    <p>"I!" replied her irritated mistress. "How should I be privy
+    to their proceedings? But <i>you</i> ought to be able to give
+    some tidings: Wherefore did you not accompany your father this
+    last voyage?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I told you, lady," answered Strasolda, "that I was busied
+    with plans for the deliverance of the Uzcoques now held captive
+    in Venice. I have brothers amongst those unfortunate prisoners,
+    and it is the uncertainty of their fate which thus afflicts
+    me."</p>
+
+    <p>The maiden gazed tearfully and imploringly at the angry
+    lady. It was not without good reason that she concealed from
+    her the fact of her father's captivity. The stern and
+    inflexible Dansowich had ever viewed with an eye of disapproval
+    the connexion between his people and the counsellors at
+    Gradiska; and the latter, aware of this, would not have been
+    likely to take much pains for the release of one who was
+    unfavourable to their interests. It was only, therefore, by
+    representing the captive Uzcoques as less nearly connected with
+    her, that Strasolda could hope for aid to rescue them from the
+    hands of the Venetians.</p>
+
+    <p>"So much the more should you desire the arrival of the
+    tribute!" exclaimed the lady. "Did I not, at your request, make
+    interest with our ambassador at Venice, that he should insist
+    upon the surrender of the Uzcoques as Austrian subjects?
+    Assuredly the feeble signoria will not venture to refuse
+    compliance. A casket of jewels is but a paltry guerdon for such
+    service, and yet even that is not forthcoming. But it is not
+    too late to alter what has been done. If I say the word, the
+    prisoners linger in the damp and fetid dungeons of the
+    republic, until they welcome death as a blessing."</p>
+
+    <p>"Alas, alas!" sobbed Strasolda; "have you the heart thus to
+    add to my sorrow? Is it not enough to know those I love in
+    captivity, to behold my people, once so noble and heroic,
+    degraded to the very refuse of humanity despised and detested
+    of all men, having their dwelling on a barren rock, and earning
+    by crime and bloodshed a precarious existence
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page314"
+       name="page314"></a>[pg 314]</span> and doubtful freedom? Is
+       it not enough"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Hush!" interrupted the lady in a quick sharp whisper,
+    raising her finger, and glancing towards the door of the
+    apartment. There was a noise as of stealthy footsteps in the
+    corridor. Strasolda sprang from the kneeing posture which she
+    had maintained during her conversation with her mistress, and
+    resumed her station in the recess of a window, while the
+    counsellor's lady snatched up a rich shawl from a damask
+    covered ottoman, and threw it over the caskets spread out upon
+    the table. Scarcely were these arrangements completed, when the
+    door was partially opened, and a wild sunburnt and bearded
+    countenance showed itself at the aperture.</p>
+
+    <p>"Heaven and the saints be praised!" exclaimed the lady.
+    "They are come at last. In with you, Jurissa Caiduch: there is
+    no one but Strasolda here."</p>
+
+    <p>The person thus addressed, was a strongly built and active
+    man, rather under the middle size, muffled in a coarse brown
+    cloak, which was drawn over the lower part of his face,
+    apparently with a view to concealment. A broad-brimmed felt hat
+    was slouched over his small black eyes, which glittered through
+    its shadow like those of a snake, never fixing themselves on an
+    object, but casting restless and suspicious glances, as though
+    apprehensive of danger or treachery. Gliding into the room, and
+    closing the door noiselessly behind him, he approached the
+    table, and placed upon it a tolerably large casket, which he
+    produced from under his cloak; then retreating a step or two,
+    he removed his hat, and stood in an attitude of silent respect,
+    his eyes still gleaming, however, with their habitual
+    expression of mistrust and cunning.</p>
+
+    <p>Without uttering a word, the lady seized the casket, and
+    impatiently forced open its delicate silver lock. A cry of
+    joyful surprise burst from her lips on beholding the rich
+    contents of the jewel-case. Diamond chains, golden girdles and
+    bracelets, combs and hair ornaments studded with orient pearls,
+    passed in rapid succession through the white and eager fingers
+    of the gratified dame, who seemed to lack words to express her
+    pleasure and astonishment at the sight of such costly gems. At
+    last she turned to the bearer.</p>
+
+    <p>"Of a truth, Jurissa" cried she, "you are unusually liberal
+    this time, and you must have great need of the good offices of
+    myself and Father Cipriano, to be willing to purchase our
+    influence with the archduke at so high a price."</p>
+
+    <p>"Our last expedition was a successful one, noble lady,"
+    replied the Uzcoque. "The tender-hearted Strasolda," added he
+    with a spiteful glance at the maiden, who still kept her
+    station by the window, "that guardian angel, who so often steps
+    between us and our prey, was absent, and we had no need to stay
+    our hands."</p>
+
+    <p>As he spoke, the door was again hastily opened as softly as
+    before, but somewhat wider, and the burly figure of a monk
+    entered the room. This was no other than the Father Cipriano
+    Guido Lucchese, whom the lady had alluded to, and who, by his
+    pleadings at the papal court, in favour of the Uzcoques, had
+    earned himself the honourable cognomen of Ambassador de Ladri,
+    or the Thieves' Envoy. He had expiated his discreditable
+    intercession by a sojourn in the prisons of the Inquisition,
+    which did not, however, present his being in high favour with
+    the Archduke Ferdinand, at whose court he filled the triple
+    office of theologian, confessor, and privy counsellor.</p>
+
+    <p>The sleek and unctuous physiognomy of the monk wore an
+    expression of unusual care and anxiety. Without bestowing a
+    salutation or a look upon the lady whose apartment he thus
+    unceremoniously entered, he addressed himself at once to the
+    Uzcoque Jurissa.</p>
+
+    <p>"Away with you!" cried he. "Out of the palace; and quietly,
+    too, as your own shadow. Thumbscrews are waiting for you if you
+    linger."</p>
+
+    <p>Strasolda gazed in alarm at Father Cipriano. Jurissa thrust
+    his right hand under his cloak, and seemed to clutch some
+    weapon. Even the counsellor's dame for a moment turned her eyes
+    from the jewels she was admiring to the anxious countenance of
+    the padre.</p>
+
+    <p>"Your last exploit will bring you into trouble," continued
+    the latter to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page315"
+       name="page315"></a>[pg 315]</span> Jurissa. "You have gone
+       beyond all bounds; and a special ambassador has arrived here
+       from Venice."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well!" replied the Uzcoque surlily, "was not the sack of
+    doubloons sufficient fee to keep you at your post?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I have but just left it," answered the monk, "and you may
+    thank me if the storm is averted for the moment, although it
+    must burst erelong. Before the ambassador could obtain his
+    audience, I hurried to the archduke, and chanted the old ditty;
+    told him you were the Maccabees of the century&mdash;the
+    bulwarks of Christendom: that without you the Turks would long
+    since have been in Gradiska&mdash;that the Venetians, through
+    fear and lust of gain, were hand and glove with the followers
+    of Mahomet&mdash;and that it was their own fault if you had to
+    strike through them to get at the infidel: that they cared
+    little about religion, so long as the convenience of their
+    traffic was not interfered with&mdash;and that it would be a
+    sin and a shame to deprive himself of such valiant defenders
+    for the sake of obliging the republic. This, and much more, did
+    I say to his highness, Signor Jurissa," concluded the fat
+    priest, wiping away the perspiration which his eagerness and
+    volubility had caused to start out on his brow; "and, in good
+    truth, I think your paltry bag of doubloons but poor reward for
+    the pains I took, and the zeal I have shown in your
+    defence."</p>
+
+    <p>"And wherein consists the danger, then," interrupted
+    Jurissa, "since your eloquence has sped so well on our
+    behalf?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You do not hear me out, my son," replied the priest. "The
+    greybeards at Venice have chosen an envoy who is right well
+    informed of your small numbers, bad equipment, and cowardice in
+    broad daylight. Nay, man, never grind your teeth. I do but
+    repeat the ambassador's words; for I had stationed myself in an
+    adjoining room, and heard all that passed between him and the
+    archduke. He said, moreover, that, far from being of use as a
+    bulwark against Turkish encroachments, it was you who had
+    afforded to the infidels a pretext to wrest more than one rich
+    province from Christian potentates. All this seemed to make
+    some impression upon the archduke, and to plant suspicions in
+    his mind which bode no good to you and your race. For the
+    present, the capture of those two Turks, one of whom is a
+    person of rank, is testimony in your favour with his highness,
+    to whom the crescent is an abomination. Could he follow his own
+    inclinations, he would, I fully believe, start a new crusade
+    against the followers of Mahoun. But come, Jurissa, this is no
+    time for gossip. You must not be seen in Gradiska. Away with
+    you!"</p>
+
+    <p>"And the Venetian," cried Jurissa, "what is his name?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It is the Proveditore Marcello, who has lately returned
+    from a long absence in the East."</p>
+
+    <p>The Uzcoque started. The name seemed to have some potent and
+    mysterious effect upon him, and he stood for a few moments with
+    his eyes fixed upon the ground, apparently forgetful of the
+    necessity for his immediate departure. The priest took him by
+    the arm, and drew him towards the door, which he was about to
+    open, when Jurissa shook off his grasp and hastily approached
+    the counsellor's wife, who had thrown herself into a large
+    gilded chair before one of the pier-glasses, and was busily
+    engaged in trying on the ornaments that had just been brought
+    her.</p>
+
+    <p>"Have a care, noble lady!" cried the Uzcoque. "You will do
+    well to let a couple of weeks elapse before you appear in
+    public with those pretty gauds. At any rate, wear them not at
+    to-morrow's ball, lest, perchance, they find an owner. Beware,
+    lady, of the Proveditore Marcello!"</p>
+
+    <p>With a look of peculiar meaning he left the room,
+    accompanied by Father Cipriano. But his warning fell faintly
+    upon the lady's ear, who, though she heard the words, was far
+    too much engrossed in arranging and admiring the costly gems so
+    lately become her own, to give much heed to their import. She
+    remained before her mirror, loading her white neck and arms
+    with chains and jewels, and interweaving diamonds and pearls in
+    her tresses, regardless of the grief of Strasolda who sat in
+    tears and sadness, deploring her father's increasing peril, and
+    the cloud that menaced the future fortunes of her people.</p>
+    <hr />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page316"
+       name="page316"></a>[pg 316]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+    <h4>THE BALL.</h4>
+
+    <p>The ancient burg, or castle, of Gradiska had been originally
+    on a larger scale, but, at this period, consisted only of a
+    centre, flanked at right angles by two wings ending in square
+    towers, large, grey, and massive, and embattled, with
+    overhanging galleries for sentinels to pace along, while
+    similar galleries, on a smaller scale, extended along the
+    entire front and wings of the castle. The central edifice
+    contained, on the ground-floor, numerous apartments and offices
+    for menials; above which arose a spacious saloon and other
+    lofty apartments, lighted by windows high above the flooring,
+    and terminating in the round-headed arches so commonly seen in
+    the castellated mansions of northern Italy. In this palatial
+    hall preparation had been busy for the ball, to which the wife
+    of the archducal counsellor so impatiently looked forward, as
+    an opportunity to eclipse all rivals by the splendour of her
+    jewels. The hour of reception by the archduke had arrived. The
+    exterior of the spacious edifice was illuminated from end to
+    end by nunerous torches, and the capacious staircase was
+    lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers, in splendid apparel.
+    In the interior of the vast apartment huge waxen tapers were
+    fixed above the <i>chevron</i>, or zig-zag moulding, which ran
+    round the walls, and connected the casement of each window.
+    Large crystal lamps, pendant from the point of each inverted
+    pinnacle on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant
+    light, and imparted life and colour to the rich tapestries,
+    portraying stirring scenes from the Crusades, which covered the
+    walls from floor to window. Complete suits of armour,
+    exhibiting every known device of harness, and numerous weapons,
+    fancifully arranged, decorated the spaces between the windows.
+    And now began to appear, in this scene of splendour, groups of
+    knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and cloth of gold, and
+    attending upon fair dames, sparkling with jewels, and bearing
+    nodding plumes upon their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst
+    these, and towering above all in stature, appeared the haughty
+    mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of dark green velvet,
+    which well relieved the fairness of her complexion, and
+    displaying upon her finely moulded neck and arms a collar and
+    bracelets of large and lustrous oriental pearls. Her firlgers
+    were bedecked with costly rings, and upon her head she wore an
+    ornament of singular device, which soon attracted universal
+    attention. Above the rim of a golden comb, richly chased and
+    studded with brilliants, arose a peacock with expanded tail.
+    The body was of chased gold in imitation of feathers, the
+    arching neck was mosaic work of precious stones, the eyes were
+    sparkling diamonds of the purest water, and the feathers of the
+    tail glittered with emeralds, rubies, and sapphires of singular
+    beauty and lustre. So great was the curiosity excited by the
+    dazzling splendour of these jewels, that the fair wearer was
+    followed round the room by a train of ladies, anxious to
+    observe at leisure a display of ornaments so extraordinary, and
+    whispering to sympathizing ears conjectures not over charitable
+    to the counsellor's wife. When, at length, she had seated
+    herself upon one of the sofas which lined the walls, a circle
+    of admiring gazers was formed, whose numbers were rapidly
+    increased by the attendant cavaliers. While the lady was
+    enjoying her triumph, a bustle at the entrance of the hall
+    turned every head in that direction, when the cause appeared in
+    the person of the young archduke, who entered in full costume,
+    followed by a group of courtiers, and accompanied by a Venetian
+    cavalier, of tall and commanding person, with whom he appeared
+    to be in earnest discourse. The stranger was a large-boned,
+    spare, and powerful man, of middle age, and attired in a black
+    vest and pantaloons of woven silk, with a short cloak, of the
+    same hue. The golden hilt of his rapier, and a gold chain and
+    medallion round his neck, were his only ornaments. His
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page317"
+       name="page317"></a>[pg 317]</span> features were large,
+       regular, and grand, and the gaze of his full dark eyes
+       serene, yet firm and potent; his complexion pale, and
+       contrasting strongly with a dark beard which circled his
+       visage like a frame. His high and massive forehead, and well
+       closed lips, had a character of thought and decision, while
+       his mien and tread were those of one long accustomed to
+       authority. He seemed a man born after his time, and worthy
+       to have lived and acted in the high and palmy days of
+       Venice. After attending the archduke to the steps of the
+       dais at the upper end of the hall, he made his bow, and
+       began to pace the floor in seeming abstraction from the gay
+       scene around him. Arrested in his progress by the numerous
+       groups which, after saluting the archduke, had again
+       collected around the counsellor's lady, he paused in
+       returning conciousness; and, looking for the cause of such
+       unwonted attraction, was enabled, by his lofty stature, to
+       obtain a glimpse of the jewelled lady within the circle. Her
+       features were unknown to him; but when his careless gaze
+       fell upon the rare ornament which crowned her redundant
+       tresses, his countenance became suddenly darkened by some
+       strong emotion. Again, he looked more earnestly, and with
+       increasing wonder and curiosity. Controlling, by a sudden
+       effort, all outward evidence of feeling, he watched his
+       opportunity, and at length penetrating within the crowd,
+       stood for some moments before the object of attraction, and
+       gazed, as if admiringly, upon her various adornments in
+       succession; then, bowing gracefully, he addressed to her
+       some words of compliment upon the splendour and value of the
+       dazzling bird upon her head. "Fair lady," he continued, "I
+       have a daughter whom I fondly love, and fain would I bestow
+       upon her youthful beauty such ornaments as yours. But say, I
+       pray you, where can the cunning hand be found which fashions
+       such glorious birds? Was it in Venice or Vienna that you
+       bought this materpiece of art?" Unsuspicious of evil, and
+       bridling at gratified vanity at this attention from a
+       stranger of such distinguished mien, the spoil-bedecked fair
+       one replied to him as she had done to others.</p>
+
+    <p>"I bought this ornament, some weeks back, in Venice, at the
+    store of a Greek trader from the Levant."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ha!" exclaimed the stranger; "and where dwelt this Greek,
+    that I may see and ask him for another such?"</p>
+
+    <p>The concious lady, embarrassed by such close questioning,
+    and somewhat alarmed by the kindling glances of the questioner,
+    replied in haste&mdash;"Nay, signor, now I remember better, it
+    was not a Greek I bought these gauds, but of a trading Jew, who
+    walks the Merceria with a box of jewellry."</p>
+
+    <p>"Just now, methinks, you said a Greek, fair lady; and now
+    you say a Jew. What next? Why not a Moslem, or perchance <i>an
+    Uzcoque?</i>"</p>
+
+    <p>At this ominous conclusion, which the stranger muttered in
+    tones of marked significance, the alarmed culprit started to
+    her feet; and her fierce temper getting the better of her
+    prudence, she boldly faced the cavalier, exclaiming, in a
+    louder key than beseemed a courtier's wife&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"And who are you, signor, that dare thus question the lady
+    of an archducal counsellor?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Lady!" he sternly answered, "here I am known to none save
+    your husband's master; but in Venice men call me the
+    Proveditore Marcello."</p>
+
+    <p>And now flashed upon the indignant signora a fearful
+    reminiscence of Jurissa's unheeded and forgotten warning, to
+    hide her jewels for a time, and to beware of the Proveditore
+    Marcello. In utter dismay, and nearly fainting with alarm, she
+    sank upon the sofa, and her eyes expanded into the wide stare
+    of terror as she gazed at the menacing visage of the Venetian
+    noble. Unwilling to expose the conscience-striken woman before
+    so numerous an assemblage, he seated himself beside her, and in
+    tones inaudible to others thus whispered in her
+    ear&mdash;"Lady! but eight days back the jewels that you wear
+    were mine. That peacock was my own design, and made for my
+    daughter by a cunning artificer in Candia. Its like exists not
+    in the world; for the mould was made by my order, and broken as
+    soon as used. 'Twas mine until the base Uzcoques plundered my
+    baggage. How thus quickly it passed <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page318"
+       name="page318"></a>[pg 318]</span> from them to you, is as
+       well known to me as to yourself. But mark me, lady! if all
+       these jewels are not delivered at my apartments in the west
+       wing of the castle ere midnight, I will denounce your
+       husband and his colleagues as long-suspected and now-proved
+       partakers with the Pirates of Segna. And, should redress be
+       denied me here, the ambassador of Venice shall report this
+       infamous collusion before a higher tribunal in Vienna."</p>
+
+    <p>Struck dumb by this terrible denunciation, the fair culprit
+    gasped for breath, and her evident distress having been watched
+    in growing wonder by the assembled ladies and cavaliers, the
+    latter began to mutter threats of vengeance. One of them now
+    stepped forward, and, grasping the hilt of his rapier, accused
+    the Venetian of having insulted the wife of a nobleman high in
+    the councils of the archduke, when the Proveditore, looking
+    down upon the courtier with that riveted and intensely piercing
+    gaze which staggers the beholder like a sudden blow, and may
+    still be noted in many of Titian's portraits, answered with
+    brief and startling emphasis&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Signor! you do me grievous wrong. 'Tis I, and not the lady,
+    who am the injured party."</p>
+
+    <p>Awed by his gathering brow, and the settled, stern,
+    unsparing resolution which flashed from every feature, and
+    indicated a man confident in his own resources, the courtiers
+    did involuntary homage to his loftier spirit, and gave way. The
+    proud Venetian strode through the yielding circle and quitted
+    the hall, while the counsellor's wife, pleading illness and
+    fatigue in reply to the pointed and numerous questions of
+    surrounding friends and enemies, summoned her husband to attend
+    her, and retired to her apartments.</p>
+
+    <p>Meanwhile the young Moslem and his companion in misfortune,
+    who had been brought prisoners to Gradiska, were confined in
+    one of the massive towers which flanked the castle. They had
+    arrived not long before the comencement of the festival, and
+    when going under guard along a corridor in the east wing,
+    Ibrahim passed the open door of an apartment in which Strasolda
+    was adjusting the rich jewels of the counsellor's lady before
+    her appearance in the ball-room. Startled by the approaching
+    tramp of armed men, the Uzcoque maiden raised her eyes, and
+    beheld the noble and well-remembered features of the young
+    Turk, whose captive she had been, and whose image had so
+    strangely reappeared to her through the flitting cloud of smoke
+    in the cavern. "Mother of Heaven!" she exclaimed, covering her
+    eyes with her hands; "do I again behold that Moslem youth, ever
+    appearing when least expected?" Again she gazed; but the
+    prisoners, hurried onward by their guards, had proceeded to the
+    end of the corridor, where a narrow winding staircase,
+    fashioned in the immense thickness of the tower wall, led to
+    their appointed prison, a large square apartment, the sides of
+    which were panneled to a considerable height, and imperfectly
+    lighted by small windows, or rather embrasures, perforating a
+    wall many feet in thickness. Here they were left to their
+    reflections, and to what comfort they could derive fron a lamp
+    and a supply of provisions. Hassan, wearied with his journey,
+    hastily swallowed his supper, and, stretching himself upon a
+    paillasse, soon forgot his calamities in sound repose. Ibrahim,
+    more vigilant and less apprehensive of future evil, as the
+    Turks and Austrians were then at peace, paced awhile along the
+    floor of his spacious prison, musing on the peerless charms of
+    the Uzcoque maiden. From time to time he gazed upon the walls
+    and windows as if calculating the chances of escape, when
+    gradually the peculiar and regular design of the panneling
+    caught and fixed his attention. It was divided by prominent
+    mouldings into oblong squares, from the centres of which
+    projected large diamond-shaped bosses of carved oak. This
+    peculiarity at length roused into action some reminiscences of
+    the early life and adventures of his beloved patron, the pacha
+    of Bosnia, to the recital of which he had often, in his
+    boyhood, listened with eager delight. These recollections, at
+    first shadowy and indistinct, became gradually more vivid and
+    accurate, until finally the full conviction flashed upon him
+    that his benefactor, when taken prisoner in his youth by the
+    Austrians, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page319"
+       name="page319"></a>[pg 319]</span> had been confined in this
+       very tower and room, and, by a singular discovery, had been
+       enabled to liberate himself and his fellow-prisoners. The
+       pacha, then a subordinate in rank, in endeavouring to reach
+       the level of one of the embrasures, had mounted upon the
+       shoulders of a comrade, and was supporting himself by a firm
+       grasp of the large boss in the centre of the pannel, when
+       suddenly he felt it turning round in his hand. Surprised to
+       find it not a fixture, he pulled it towards him, and found
+       that it slowly yielded to the impulse. Drawing it out of the
+       socket, he saw it followed by an iron chain, which for a
+       time resisted all his efforts, but at length gave way, and
+       he heard a grating sound like the drawing of a rusty bolt.
+       Suddenly the entire pannel shook, and then the lower end
+       started back sufficiently to betray a recess in the wall.
+       Hastily descending on his comrade's shoulders, and pushing
+       back the pannel, he discovered that it was supported by
+       hinges, and was doubtless intended to conceal a secret issue
+       from the castle, which he soon ascertained, and effected his
+       escape. These facts were all that the memory of Ibrahim
+       could supply; but they were enough to guide him in his
+       search, and he immediately proceeded to sound the pannels in
+       succession with his fist. Commencing with the southern or
+       outer wall, which he supposed more massive and more likely
+       to contain a secret passage, he sounded each pannel, and
+       perceiving in the corner one more reverberation than in the
+       others, he roused Hassan from his slumbers. "Hassan!
+       Hassan!" he exclaimed, "Arouse thee, man! and listen to good
+       tidings." The awakened sleeper gazed with half-opened eyes
+       upon his excited companion, and would have dropped to sleep
+       again had not a few words of explanation and the hope of
+       escape fully roused him. Having with some difficulty perched
+       his rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibrahim, he
+       followed his directions and grasped the wooden boss, which,
+       to the inexpressible delight of both, yielded, as it had
+       done forty years before to the captive Turk, and displayed
+       the iron chain. Bidding Hassan replace the boss, Ibrahim
+       determined to postpone his attempt until the festival had
+       collected all the guards and menials into the central
+       edifice and its approaches. An hour before midnight, when
+       the young Moslem expected the revelry would be at its
+       height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders, and after
+       many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded in drawing up
+       the bolt. The pannel receded some inches, and Ibrahim
+       raising it still further, seized the lamp and entered a
+       small oblong recess in the wall, which was not less than ten
+       or twelve feet in thickness. Perceiving no outlet, he
+       examined the wooden flooring, and soon discovered a trap,
+       which, when raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a
+       steep and narrow descending staircase, leading apparently to
+       some sally-port beyond the castle ditch. After carefully
+       trimming his lamp, he was about to lead the way into this
+       dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and sudden, as of something
+       falling in the adjacent prison, caught his ear. Retracing
+       his steps, he re-entered the apartment, where, after a brief
+       search, he found beneath one of the embrasures a paper
+       folded round a large pebble. Hastily opening it, the
+       following lines, written in the <i>lingua Franca</i> so
+       common in the Levant, were visible.</p>
+
+    <p>"Moslem! If thy soul belie not thy noble form and features,
+    thou wilt not withhold thine aid from a bereaved and sorrowing
+    daughter. Before to-morrow's sunset thou wilt be free, for
+    Austria wars not with the Turk. Then straight repair to Venice,
+    and there await the Battle of the Bridge. Take thy stand
+    beneath the portal of St Barbara, and follow the man who
+    whispers in thine ear,</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"STRASOLDA."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Mashallah!" shouted the enraptured youth, "these lines are
+    from the Uzcoque maiden; and by the gates of Paradise I'll do
+    her bidding, though it perils life."</p>
+
+    <p>For a time he was tempted to follow her guidance implicitly,
+    and await the promised release from the authorities of
+    Gradiska; recollecting, however, the proverbial slowness of
+    Austrian counsellors, and too restless and ardent to endure
+    suspense, he resumed his purpose of exploring the secret
+    passage. After he had secured the <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page320"
+       name="page320"></a>[pg 320]</span> pannel and replaced the
+       boss, he bade Hassan follow him and began to descend. The
+       staircase ended in a small passage round an angle, beyond
+       which he discovered a similar descent, followed by another
+       angle and staircase, proving that this secret issue from the
+       castle penetrated through each of the four massive walls
+       which formed the tower. At length their further progress was
+       stopped by a door, originally strong and plated with iron,
+       but now so much decayed, that although fastened by bolts
+       without, the joint strength of the two captives forced it
+       from its hinges. They now entered a vaulted passage of hewn
+       stone, low and narrow, and with no visible termination. As
+       they advanced, the long pent-up and dank unwholesome vapours
+       made it difficult to breathe, and compelled Ibrahim to pause
+       repeatedly and trim his lamp, which burned so dimly in this
+       oppressive atmosphere as to be nearly extinguished. After a
+       while the path began to slope upwards, and erelong they
+       distinguished moonlight faintly streaming through a tangled
+       mass of ivy which concealed the remains of an iron grating,
+       broken probably in his patron's successful attempt to escape
+       by this secret passage from the prison above. Gazing through
+       the aperture, they perceived not many feet below what had
+       once been the castle ditch, now dry, and forming a portion
+       of the archduke's gardens. With a joyous heart and an
+       elastic bound, Ibrahim reached the soft turf beneath. The
+       more timid and helpless Hassan lowered himself by clinging
+       to a remaining iron bar, and with the aid of his companion
+       was soon on his feet, enjoying, with many thanks to Allah,
+       the fresh air of heaven and the consciousness of escape from
+       captivity. The gates of the palace gardens being unguarded
+       during the festival, the liberated prisoners reached the
+       coast without an obstacle, compelled a fisherman to take
+       them in his bark across the Adriatic, and land them on the
+       Lido, which forms the outward limit of the port of Venice.
+       Then making free with an unwatched gondola, they sped across
+       the bay, and were soon in safety, beneath the roof of a
+       Turkish trader and correspondent of Hassan.</p>
+
+    <p>Before their escape was discovered on the following morning,
+    the indignant Proveditore had departed for Venice, and
+    Strasolda had disappeared.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page321"
+       name="page321"></a>[pg 321]</span> <a name="bw341s4"
+          id="bw341s4"></a>
+
+    <h2>COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.<a id="footnotetag5"
+       name="footnotetag5"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></h2>
+
+    <p>The appearance of this work was heralded some three months
+    since, as divers of our readers may possibly remember, by a
+    species of puff-preliminary, for which even the annals of Great
+    Marlborough Street afforded no precedent&mdash;being nothing
+    less than the appearance of Mr Colburn, <i>in propri&acirc;
+    person&acirc;</i>, at the bar of the police-office adjoining
+    his premises, to answer the complaint of the gallant and irate
+    author for what he was pleased to consider the unwarrantable
+    detention of the MS. from which his narrative had been printed.
+    It was alleged, in extenuation, that "the gallant colonel's MS.
+    was so nearly undecipherable, that Mr Colburn had been put to
+    considerable expense in revising the press;"&mdash;and a
+    mysterious and curiosity-provoking hint was further thrown out,
+    that "it was the custom of the trade, that, until a work was
+    published, the MS. should not be parted with by the publisher,
+    as it might turn out that some part of it was libellous, and in
+    such case the publisher must produce the MS." In the end the
+    gallant colonel (whom the newspaper reports described as "very
+    much excited,") took nothing by his motion in regard to the
+    recovery of the MS.; but though in this respect he may have
+    been somewhat scurvily treated, we cannot equally sympathize
+    with his complaints of the work not having been duly
+    <i>advertised</i>; for surely all the little "neatly turned
+    paragraphs" that ever proceeded from Mr Colburn's laboratory,
+    could not have been so effectual as the method struck out by
+    the impromptu genius of the colonel himself, in intimating to
+    the public that something quite out of the common way might be
+    expected from the forthcoming production thus brought before
+    its notice.</p>
+
+    <p>And verily those who have been prepared for a queer volume,
+    will not be disappointed in the diary of our choleric and
+    corpulent colonel. If ever the assurance, which seems to be
+    regarded as indispensable in the preface to works of this
+    class, that the author "wrote the following pages purely for
+    his own amusement," bore the stamp of unequivocal truth, it is
+    in the present instance; and, notwithstanding the asseverations
+    of Mr Colburn and his literary employ&eacute;s, it is difficult
+    to conceive that any revision whatever can have been bestowed
+    on the rough notes of the writer, since they were first hastily
+    committed to paper amidst the scenes which they describe. The
+    style is as rambling and unconnected as the incidents to which
+    it refers; but wherever the author's devious footsteps lead us,
+    from the jungles of Bundelcund to the holy gh&acirc;ts of
+    Hurdwar, the principal figure is always that of the colonel
+    himself, who, in the portly magnificence of twenty stone minus
+    two pounds, fills up the whole foreground with himself and his
+    accessories of servants, elephant, stud, Nagoree cows, and
+    other component parts of the <i>suwarree</i> or suite of a
+    <i>Qui-hye</i>, who can afford to make himself comfortable
+    after the fashion of the country. The quantity (sometimes not
+    trifling) and quality of his meals, the consequent state of his
+    digestion, and his endless rows on the score of accommodations
+    and forage with thannadars, darogahs, kutwals, and all the
+    other designations for Hindoo and Hindoostani jacks-in-office,
+    (for to Feringhi society he appears to have been not very
+    partial,) may doubtless have been points of peculiar interest
+    to the colonel himself, but are not likely to engage the
+    attention of the world in general, and had better have been
+    omitted in the revision of the diary, instead of being
+    chronicled, as they are on all occasions, with wearisome
+    minuteness of detail. But with <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page322"
+       name="page322"></a>[pg 322]</span> all these drawbacks, a
+       man who, as he says of himself, "has dwelt in India
+       twenty-five years, and traversed it from the snowy range to
+       Bombay on the west, must have seen something of the country,
+       and may be supposed to know something of the
+       natives"&mdash;among whom, by the way, he seems to have
+       mingled more familiarly than most Feringhis; and in spite of
+       all the egotism and rigmarole with which his pages abound,
+       the rambles of this "stout gentleman" through Upper India,
+       and some other parts of the country not much visited by
+       Europeans, present us with a good deal of plain sense and
+       sterling matter, viewed, it is true, with the eccentric eye
+       of a humorist, and frequently couched in very odd
+       phraseology; but not the less true on that account. His
+       opinions on all men and all things are expressed with the
+       same honesty and candour with which he narrates the various
+       scrapes in which he was involved, while pushing right a-head
+       like an elephant through a jungle;&mdash;and though laughing
+       at him quite as often as with him, we have found the
+       colonel, on the whole, far from an unpleasant travelling
+       companion.</p>
+
+    <p>Bareilly, on the fronters of Oude and Rohilcund, was the
+    colonel's starting-point;&mdash;and thence on St Patrick's
+    day<a id="footnotetag6"
+       name="footnotetag6"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> he set forward for Hurdwar, at
+       the head of a retinue, the members of which, both quadruped
+       and biped, he enumerates seriatim, giving the <i>pas</i> to
+       the former&mdash;a precedence perhaps well merited by steeds
+       up to such a welter weight under the climate of India, over
+       such a set of unredeemed and thriftless knaves as he
+       describes his native attendants. Accordingly, he gives the
+       names and pedigrees of the whole stud, from "the buggy mare
+       Maiden-head and my wicked little favourite Fish-Guts," up to
+       "my favourite brood-mare Fair Amelia, purchased at a prize
+       sale on the frontier, and bred by the king of Bokhara, with
+       his royal stamp on her near flank&mdash;stands nearly
+       fifteen and a half hands high, with magnificent action and
+       great show of blood&mdash;had, when taken, four gold rings
+       in her nostrils, now removed and replaced by silver, which
+       will be stolen by her groom one by one." His first day's
+       march was to Futtehgunge, ("the mart of victory," being the
+       scene of the memorable battle in 1774, in which the English,
+       as the bought allies of the Nawab Shoojah-ed-dowlah,
+       defeated and slew the gallant Rohilla chief, Hafez-Rehmut;)
+       and here he oracularly announced a discovery in gastronomy,
+       of which it would be unpardonable not to give our readers
+       the benefit. "I used my farourite condiment, tomata sauce,
+       with my beef; and <i>to all who are ignorant</i> of this
+       delicious vegetable I may venture to recommend its sauce, as
+       at once both wholesome and savoury, if eaten with anything
+       but cranberry tart or apple pie!" It is melancholy to
+       reflect how often the best efforts of genius are anticipated
+       and rendered of no avail. The colonel, when he penned this
+       sentence with a heart overflowing with Epicurean
+       philanthropy, was evidently unconscious that "chops and
+       tomata sauce" were already familiar to the British public
+       from the immortal researches of Mr Pickwick!</p>
+
+    <p>Rampore, in the territory of which the colonel now found
+    himself, is still a semi-independent state, the Nawab of which
+    has a revenue of sixteen lacs of rupees, (&pound;160,000,)
+    while the city, being without the pale of English law, is "a
+    city of refuge, a very Goshen of robbers, ... the streets are
+    crowded with a mob of very handsome, idle, lounging fellows,
+    having generally the fullest and finest jet-black beards and
+    black mustaches in the world. Many of these were handsomely
+    dressed, and many (which struck me as a very curious fact)
+    appeared clean!" These were the Pathans and Rohillas, partly
+    descended from the original Moslem conquerors of India, and
+    partly from those who have more recently migrated from
+    Affghanistan and the adjoining countries. The most athletic and
+    warlike race among the Indian <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page323"
+       name="page323"></a>[pg 323]</span> Mahommedans, and too
+       proud of their blood to exercise any profession but that of
+       arms, they are found in every town throughout Upper India,
+       swaggering about with sword, shield, and matchlock, in the
+       retinues of the native princes, and ready to join any
+       enterprise, or flock to the standard of any invader, through
+       whose means any prospect is afforded of shaking off the
+       Feringhi yoke, and resuming their ancient predominance in
+       the country which their forefathers won by their swords from
+       the idolaters. "They hate us with the most intense
+       bitterness, and can any one be surprised at it? We have
+       taken their broad lands foot by foot." Few if any of these
+       turbulent spirits are found in our European regular native
+       army; their dislike to the cumbrous accoutrements and
+       awkward European saddles operating equally, perhaps, with
+       the severity of the drill and discipline to deter them; but
+       they form the strength of the various corps of irregular
+       horse&mdash;a force which, of late years, has most
+       judiciously been greatly increased in numbers, and the
+       uniform dashing bravery of which in the field, strongly
+       contrasts with the misconduct of one at least of the regular
+       native cavalry regiments in the late Affghan war. "I have
+       seen," (says the colonel,) "a lineal descendant of Pathan
+       Nawab's serving in the ranks of Hearsay's horse, as a common
+       trooper on twenty rupees a-month, out of which he had merely
+       to buy and feed his horse, procure clothes, arms, and
+       harness, and sustain his hereditary dignity! By his
+       commander and his fellow-soldiers he was always addressed by
+       his title of Nawab Sahib!"</p>
+
+    <p>The small-pox was committing dreadful ravages in Rampore and
+    its neighbourhood; and though vaccination was performed gratis
+    at Bareilly, the fatalist prejudices of the natives, even of
+    those of rank and education, prevented them from availing
+    themselves of the boon. All the instances of the colonel, in
+    behalf of a charming little girl, four years old, whose mother
+    and sister had already taken the infection, could get from her
+    father nothing more than a promise "to think of it! If it's her
+    fate&mdash;&mdash;" said he. "'You fool!' said I, in my civil
+    way," (and the colonel's <i>brusquerie</i> was here, at least,
+    not misplaced,) "'if a man throws himself into the fire or a
+    well, or in the path of a tiger, is he without blame?'" Such
+    apathy seems almost unaccountable to English minds; but it may
+    find a parallel in Lady Chatterton's story of the Irish
+    parents, <a id="footnotetag7"
+       name="footnotetag7"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> who, after refusing to spend
+       fourpence in nourishment for a dying child, came in deep
+       grief after its death to their employer, to solicit an
+       advance of thirty shillings to <i>wake the corpse</i>!
+       Perhaps some ingenious systematists might hence deduce a
+       fresh argument in favour of the alleged oriental origin of
+       the Irish.</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's next stage was to Moradabad, another Pathan
+    city, but under the <i>raj</i> of the Company, where, in a
+    visit to a native original, named Meer Mahommed, he was greatly
+    delighted by his new friend's introduction of the English word
+    <i>swap</i> into a sentence of Hindoostani. And on the 25th he
+    reached Dhampore, where the welcome proclamation, "that the new
+    moon had been seen," terminated the fast of the Ramazan, to the
+    uncontrollable joy of the Mussulmans, who would have been
+    subjected to another day's abstinence if it had not been
+    perceived till the succeeding evening. The colonel, however,
+    slyly remarks, that "it was very odd that the <i>Hindoos</i>
+    could not see the new moon," and hints that their imperfection
+    of vision was shared by himself, but it was otherwise decided
+    by the Faithful; and he proceeded, amid the noisy rejoicings of
+    the Moslem feast of <i>Bukra-Eed</i>, (called by the Turks
+    Bairam,) by Najeena, the Birmingham of Upper India, to
+    Nujeebabad. Here resided, on a pension of 60,000 rupees
+    (&pound;6000) a-year from the English government, the Nawab
+    Gholam-ed-deen, better known by the nickname of Bumbo Khan, a
+    brother of the once famous Rohilla chief Gholam-Khadir. Though
+    past eighty years of age, and weighing upwards of twenty stone,
+    he had not lost, any more than the equiponderant colonel, his
+    taste for the good things of this world; and our
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page324"
+       name="page324"></a>[pg 324]</span> traveller, on partaking
+       of the Nawab's hospitality, records with infinite zest the
+       glories of a peculiar preparation of lamb, called
+       <i>nargus</i>, or the narcissus. But, alas! the
+       reminiscences of the nargus were less grateful than the
+       fruition, and the remorse of the colonel's guilty stomach
+       (as poor Theodore Hooke, or some one else, used to call
+       indigestion) continued to afflict him all the way to
+       Hurdwar; and may probably account, by the consequent
+       irritation of his temper, for various squabbles in which he
+       was involved on the route.</p>
+
+    <p>The great fair of Hurdwar was in full swing at the colonel's
+    arrival, with its vast concourse of Hindoo devotees from all
+    parts of India, to whom it is in itself a spot of peculiar
+    sanctity, besides lying in the way to the shrine of Gungotree,
+    (the source of the Ganges,) in the Himmalaya&mdash;its crowds
+    of merchants and adventurers of all sorts, even from Uzbek
+    Tartary and the remote regions of Central Asia&mdash;Seiks by
+    thousands from the Punjab, with their families&mdash;Affghan
+    and Persian horse-dealers&mdash;and numerous grandees, both of
+    the Hindoo and Moslem faith, who repair hither as to a scene of
+    gaiety and general resort. The colonel found quarters in the
+    tent of a friend employed in the purchase of horses for
+    government, and seems to have entered with all his heart into
+    the humours of the scene; his description of which, and of the
+    varied characteristics of the motley groups composing the half
+    million of human beings present, is one of the most graphic and
+    picturesque sketches in his work. "Huge heaps of assafoetida,
+    in bags, from the mountains beyond Cabool&mdash;tons of raisins
+    of various sorts&mdash;almonds, pistachio nuts, sheep with four
+    or five horns&mdash;Balkh<a id="footnotetag8"
+       name="footnotetag8"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> cats, with long silken hair;
+       of singular beauty&mdash;faqueers begging, and abusing the
+       uncharitable with the grossest and most filthy
+       language&mdash;long strings of elderly ladies, proceeding in
+       a chant to the priests of the Lingam, to bargain for bodily
+       issue&mdash;Gh&acirc;t priests presenting their books for
+       the presents and signatures of the European
+       visitors&mdash;groups of Hindoos surrounding a Bramin, who
+       gives each of them a certificate of his having performed the
+       pilgrimage"&mdash;such are a few of the component parts of
+       the scene; but the colonel's attention seems to have been
+       principally fixed upon the horses, and the tricks of the
+       <i>dulals</i> or brokers, to whom the purchase is generally
+       confided, it being almost hopeless for an European to make a
+       personal bargain with a native dealer. But among the
+       greatest curiosities in this way were some
+       <i>tortoiseshell</i> ponies&mdash;for we can call them
+       nothing else&mdash;a peculiar race from Uzbek Tartary, which
+       we never remember to have heard of before. "They were under
+       thirteen hands high, and the most curious compound of
+       colours and marks that can be imagined. Suppose the animal
+       pure, snowy white; cover the white with large, irregular,
+       light bay spots through which the white is visible; in the
+       middle of these light bay let there be dark bay marbled
+       spots; at every six or eight inches plant rhomboidal patches
+       of a very dark iron-grey; then sprinkle the whole with dark
+       flea-bites! There's a <i>phooldar</i>, ( flower-market,) as
+       they call them;" and we agree with the colonel that such an
+       animal would be a fortune at Bartlemy fair.</p>
+
+    <p>Among the distinguished visitors to Hurdwar at this season
+    of festivity was the noted Begum Sombre, or Sumroo, whose face
+    the colonel compares to that of an old Scotch highlander, and
+    her person to a sackful of shawls, and who declared "that the
+    Duke of Wellington <i>must</i> be at heart a Catholic,
+    <i>because</i> he emancipated the Catholics!" He also renewed
+    his gastronomic friendship with his friend Bumbo Khan, with
+    whom the recollections of past indigestion did not prevent him
+    from feasting on <i>mahaseer</i>, a delicious fish found in
+    this part of the Ganges; and on this occasion his Apician
+    ecstasies are not alloyed by subsequent regrets&mdash;"even now
+    the recollection soothes me"&mdash;and he recommends
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page325"
+       name="page325"></a>[pg 325]</span> such of his readers as
+       are yet ignorant of this luxury to start forthwith for
+       Hurdwar and repair the omission. The fair ended April 13;
+       and the colonel having previously succeeded in disposing of
+       his buggy to a potentate whom he calls "the Kheerea
+       Thunnasir Rajah," (we believe, the ruler of one of the Seik
+       protected states,) and buying a stout Turcomani pony for the
+       hills, started the same day on the road to Suharunpoor. He
+       favours his readers, <i>en passant</i>, with some
+       exceedingly original speculations touching the Mosaic
+       deluge, in reference to the hills about Hurdwar, which do
+       not speak very highly for his attainments in geology, though
+       in some other branches of natural history, and particularly
+       in botany, he appears to be no mean proficient. The journey
+       was disturbed by attempts to steal the colonel's new
+       purchase, (which was not, like the rest of the stud,
+       distinguished from the horses of the country by having its
+       tail cut,) and by a quarrel at Secunderpore with a
+       thannadar, or native police magistrate, whose European
+       superior's neglect of the colonel's complaint he charitably
+       attributes to "some (I hope slight) derangement of the
+       stomach." At Suharunpore he visited the well-known botanist
+       Dr Royle, the curator of the Company's botanic garden there,
+       then engaged in those labours on the Flora of the Himmalayas
+       which have been since given to the world; and at Boorea,
+       leaving the British territory, he entered that of the
+       protected Seik states, whose petty chieftains are secured in
+       their semi-independence by the treaty with Runjeet in 1809,
+       which confined the ruler of Lahore to the right bank of the
+       Sutlej. But their reception of the colonel did not appear to
+       indicate any great degree of gratitude for these favours to
+       the British nation, as represented in his person; for not
+       one of the five Seik chiefs, "each of whom has his own snug
+       little fort close to the city," would supply him with a
+       lodging; and it was only by perseverance and ingenuity that
+       he secured a place to lay his head, after long wrangling
+       with the subordinate functionaries. Matters improved,
+       however, as he advanced further into the country; and, at
+       the little mountain-city of Nahun, he was most hospitably
+       received and entertained by the young rajah, Futteh Pur
+       Grass Sing, "who had been educated almost entirely under the
+       kind and fatherly superintendence of Captain Murray," the
+       commissioner of the Seik states, and whose frank and
+       gentlemanlike manners, "so unlike those of the ghee-fed
+       wretches of the plains," did honour to his guardian's
+       precepts. The town of Nahun, which is 3600 feet above the
+       level of the sea, is described as clean and well paved; and
+       the rajah, whose revenue had been increased under the
+       management of Captain Murray from 37,000 to 53,000 rupees,
+       was highly popular, and by the colonel's account deservedly
+       so, with his subjects. He earnestly pressed "the fat
+       gentleman" (whose caution in mounting an elephant, while two
+       men on the other side of the howdah balanced his weight,
+       vehemently excited his risibility) to return to the plains
+       through Nahun, and have a month's shooting with him in the
+       valley; but whether the invitation was accepted or not
+       remains untold, as&mdash;"Alas for the literature of the
+       age! when I was ordered to Bundelcund, a vile thief entered
+       my tents at night, and robbed me of my second volume; and
+       thus did I lose my carefully written account of the
+       sub-Himmalayan range, which cost me fully eight months'
+       labour."</p>
+
+    <p>Thus abruptly terminates the first part of the colonel's
+    travels, and at the commencement of the second we find him
+    crossing the Jumna to Calpee, the frontier town of Bundelcund,
+    a wild and unsettled province, prolific in Thugs and bad
+    characters of all sorts, and principally inhabited by a
+    peculiar race called Bundelas, who have never been perfectly
+    reconciled to the British supremacy, and who, at this present
+    writing, are kept quiet only by the presence of a force of
+    15,000 men. Calpee is said to be the hottest place in India,
+    the thermometer in June, according to the colonel, standing
+    even on a cloudy day at 145 degrees&mdash;a degree of heat
+    almost incredible; and it is also the principal mart for the
+    cotton, which the rich black soil of Bundelcund produces of
+    finer quality than any other part of Hindostan. But,
+    notwithstanding its commercial inportance, the town was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page326"
+       name="page326"></a>[pg 326]</span> at this time left to the
+       government of a native Darogah or chief of police, the
+       nearest European courts being at Hameerpore, thirty miles
+       distant, and the state of society seems to have been
+       somewhat singular. Among its most conspicuous members is
+       "Gopal, the celebrated robber, murderer, and smuggler, a
+       tall athletic man about forty-two years of age, with a most
+       hideous muddy eye, having the glare of hell itself. It is
+       said that he has always fifteen servants in stated pay, and
+       can in a few hours command the services of three hundred
+       armed and desperate men; and the strength and vigour of the
+       Calpee police may be estimated by the fact, that he has been
+       known to walk into the house of a rich merchant in the
+       centre of the town, when he was surrounded by his servants
+       and family; he has very coolly selected the gold bangles of
+       his children, and silenced the trembling remonstrances of
+       the Mahajun by threats of vengeance; nor is this a solitary
+       instance. When he murders, he is equally above all
+       concealment; as in the recent case of a sepahee returning
+       home with his savings, who was waylaid and murdered by our
+       hero in open day. He very coolly gave himself up,
+       acknowledging that he had killed the sepahee, who had first
+       assaulted him. It was proved on the trial, that the sepahee
+       was wholly unarmed, and he was condemned to be hung by the
+       court of Hameerpore on his own confession, but released,
+       <i>from want of evidence</i>, by the Sudder Court at
+       Calcutta. Their objection was excellent, though curious;
+       that if his confession was taken, it must be taken
+       altogether, and not that part only which could lead to his
+       conviction. He was released, and now walks about in his
+       Sunday clothes, a living evidence of British
+       tenderness."</p>
+
+    <p>Gopal was not the only amiable character with whom the
+    colonel became acquainted at Calpee, as he sought and obtained
+    an interview with a famous Thug approver, who had retired from
+    the active exercise of his profession, and was travelling the
+    country in company with a party of police, denouncing his
+    former associates to justice. We cannot help suspecting, both
+    from the traits recorded of him, and from the vicinity of
+    Calpee to his former residence at Jalone, that this personage
+    was no other than the celebrated Ameer Ali, whose adventures
+    formed the ground of Captain Meadows Taylor's well-known
+    "Confessions of a Thug;" and as a pendant to the already
+    published descriptions of him, we here quote the impression he
+    made upon the colonel. "I expected to see a great man, but at
+    the first glance I saw that I was in the presence of a master.
+    The Thug was tall, active, and slenderly formed; his head was
+    nearly oval; his eye most strongly resembled that of a cobra di
+    capello; its dart was perfectly wild and maniacal, restless,
+    brilliant, metallic, and concentrated." The colonel had a
+    narrow escape from irretrievably affronting this eminent
+    professor of murder, by unguardedly enquiring whether he was in
+    any way cognizant of a trifling robbery by which the colonel
+    himself had been a sufferer. "No, sir!" he exclaimed with a
+    look which might have frozen a less innocent querist; "murder,
+    not robbery, is my profession ... and none but the merest
+    novices would descend so low as to rob a tent or a
+    dwelling-house." The colonel, however, expresses a shrewd
+    suspicion, from circumstances which had come to his knowledge,
+    that his distinguished visitor's <i>esprit de corps</i> led him
+    to deviate from truth in this particular&mdash;a belief in
+    which Captain Taylor's pages fully bear him out.</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's movements, after quitting Calpee and its
+    attractive circles, appear to have been somewhat desultory. We
+    find him, successively, at Murgaon or Murgong, Julalpore,
+    Keitah, &amp;c., without being told what decided his route; but
+    from some subsequent remarks, it appears probable that he was
+    engaged on engineering service by order of Government. Between
+    Julalpore and Keitah he fell in with a gang of <i>nutts</i>
+    <a id="footnotetag9"
+       name="footnotetag9"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> or <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page327"
+       name="page327"></a>[pg 327]</span> gipsies, whom the beauty
+       of their women (a point to which the colonel is always
+       alive) did not prevent him from suspecting of an intention
+       to practise <i>thuggee</i> on his own portly person&mdash;a
+       belief in which he was confirmed by hearing them speak <i>in
+       another tongue</i> among themselves&mdash;no doubt the
+       <i>Ramasee</i>, or cant language of the Thugs, subsequently
+       made known to the world at large by the investigations of
+       Major Sleeman. At Goraree he purchased some small cups,
+       carved from the variegated serpentine of the rock on which
+       the town is built; but, on proposing to employ the artist in
+       making some larger vases, "he told me that he was a very
+       poor man, and his efforts had never been directed to larger
+       patterns; meaning to infer that it was impossible he could
+       either try or succeed!" Such is Hindoo nature!</p>
+
+    <p>Churkaree, the capital of Ruttun Sing Buhadoor, one of the
+    principal of the numerous rajahs among whom Bundelcund is
+    divided, is described as "prettily situated on the side of the
+    hill, over a lake covered with the white lotus flower, and
+    having a very fine appearance from a distance, as most of the
+    houses have their upper stories whitewashed, and are seen
+    peeping through the dark-green leafy trees of the country, but
+    the town, which contains perhaps 15,000 souls, of whom 1000 may
+    be Mussulmen, is very straggling, irregular, and dirty." The
+    male population were all fiercely mustached, and loaded with
+    arms; but their repulsive exterior was more than compensated by
+    the charms of the other sex, all of whom wore immense hollow
+    ankle bangles of zinc, filled with bits of gravel, which
+    tinkled as they walked. "I have never seen so many well-formed
+    and handsome women together as I did at the wells outside the
+    town, drawing water <i>&agrave; la Rebecca</i>. Some of their
+    faces were strikingly intelligent, and their figures eminently
+    graceful. The population is almost purely Hindoo; and I think
+    the Hindoo females are more delicate in their forms than the
+    Mussulmanees." The Rajah was, however, absent on a sporting
+    excursion, and the darogah refused to provide the colonel with
+    lodgings, alleging his master's orders that no Feringhis should
+    be allowed in the town; and it was not till after a long
+    altercation, of which the colonel gives himself greatly the
+    best, that he succeeded in finding quarters in the house of a
+    <i>bunneea</i> or grocer. But the next day's march (for
+    Bundelcund is almost as thickly set with sovereign princes as
+    Saxony itself) carried him out of the realm of this
+    inhospitable potentate into the territories of the Rajah of
+    Jalone, the once noted patron and protector of Thuggee, by
+    whose agent he was most politely received at Mahoba, a once
+    splendid but now ruined city, celebrated for its artificial
+    lakes, which in long-past times were formed by a famous Rajpoot
+    prince named Purmal, by damming up the narrow gorges of the
+    hills. "Never had I seen, in the plains of India, a prospect
+    more enchanting! Conceive a beautiful sheet of calm, clear,
+    silvery water, of several miles in circumference, occasionally
+    agitated by the splashing leaps of large fishes, or the gradual
+    alighting of noble swan-like aquatic birds: its margin broken
+    as if by the most skilful artist; now running into the centre,
+    and ending in most romantic low rocky hills, covered with trees
+    and embellished with black, antique Jain temples, deserted
+    probably for hundreds of years, and at present the retreat of
+    the elegant peafowl; in other places embanked with huge blocks
+    of cut granite, embrowned by the shade of magnificent trees,
+    under which small bright Hindoo temples, carefully whitewashed,
+    might be seen in the shade; or bounded by abrupt rocky
+    promontories, surmounted by many-pillared temples in ruins,
+    hanging in the sky. A fine rich sunset gave an exquisite
+    richness and classic magnificence to the scene. Many little
+    boys with rod and line were ensnaring the sweet little
+    <i>singhee</i>, or the golden <i>rohoo</i> or
+    carp&mdash;bringing back to my heart the days, when, stealing
+    from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page328"
+       name="page328"></a>[pg 328]</span> school, I was wont to sit
+       on the rocks of the Dee, at Craglug, near Aberdeen, watching
+       the motion of a float that was not under water once in the
+       twenty-four hours."</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's laudable habit of associating freely, whenever
+    opportunity occurred, with the natives, gave him considerable
+    insight into the state of the country, where the caprices of
+    the native princes were not then much interfered with, and
+    which consequently, as he says, "was pretty much in the
+    situation of the Emerald Isle;" and verily if the tale told him
+    by the Hindoo <i>gosain</i> or priest at Jour&acirc;ho&ocirc;,
+    of the murder of his predecessor in the temple, and the
+    impunity of the robbers, were correctly related, the Bundelas
+    have not much to learn in the arts of bloodshed and
+    depredation. "This village being a sort of corner to the
+    territories of several Rajahs, robberies, murders, and all
+    other diversions, are of daily occurrence; and when enquiries
+    are made; each territory throws the blame on its neighbour."
+    The maxim of government most current in Bundelcund, both with
+    rulers and ruled, seems indeed to have been&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The good old rule, the simple plan,</p>
+
+            <p>That those should take who have the power,</p>
+
+            <p>And those should keep who can;"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>for while this strange confusion of <i>meum</i> and
+    <i>tuum</i> prevailed among the peasantry, the country was
+    ruined by the oppressive and irregular exactions of the rajahs,
+    both zemindars and cultivators flying from their habitations to
+    escape the levying of the rents, which were often demanded more
+    than once by different collectors. At Chundla, the colonel was
+    lodged in the house of an opulent zemindar, who had absconded
+    for the reason just given; "and one of the thanna servants told
+    me, that, by those means, Bundelcund was depopulated"&mdash;a
+    statement corroborated by the numerous ruined brick houses
+    remaining in the towns among the miserable hovels of the
+    present day. The rajahs of Bundelcund are, almost without
+    exception, of Rajpoot lineage, and thus of a different race
+    from their Bundela subjects; but the condition of the country
+    is much the same wherever it is left under the sway of the
+    Hindoo princes, who are exempt even from the partial restraint
+    which the Koran imposes on the despotism of Mahommedan rulers.
+    The only effectual cure for the evils reigning in Bundelcund
+    will be its formal incorporation with the dominions of the
+    Company&mdash;a consummation which, from the refractory spirit
+    shown in the province after our losses in Affghanistan, is
+    probably not far distant.</p>
+
+    <p>The remainder of the colonel's notes on Bundelcund relate
+    principally to his visits to the ancient hill-fortresses of
+    Ajeegur and Kalingur, both formerly occupied in force by the
+    British, but now&mdash;with the exception of a havildar's
+    (sergeant's) party of sepoys posted at the former, and a single
+    company at the latter&mdash;garrisoned solely by the
+    <i>lungoors</i>, or large black monkeys, whom the colonel found
+    holding solemn assembly in the Jain temples and the hall of
+    audience, built by the famous Rajah Purmal at Ajeegur. While
+    exploring his way along the ruined and overgrown ramparts, he
+    had a narrow escape from the fangs of a large venomous serpent,
+    ("the <i>Katula Rekula Poda</i>, No. 7 of Russell,") on which
+    he was on the point of treading, and which, in commendable
+    gratitude for its forbearance; he allowed to glide off unharmed
+    by his fowling-piece; "but he was the first reptile that ever
+    escaped without the chance of losing his life at my hands." On
+    the road to Kalingur he had an interview with a petitioner, who
+    offered him 400 rupees in cash, or a large diamond, for his
+    interest in a certain case then pending before the judge at
+    Bandah; "but I explained to my client that I was not in that
+    line of business, and as I saw he had no intention of insulting
+    me, we parted friends." Kalingur, which was taken by the
+    British after a long siege in 1812, stands on a rock towering
+    "upwards of 850 feet above the plain below, and probably about
+    3000 feet above the level of the sea;" but its strength as a
+    fortress is as nothing in comparison to its sanctity, which
+    entitles every one, who resides there only as long as it takes
+    to milk a cow, to especial beatitude&mdash;the object of
+    veneration being a <i>lingam</i> of black stone enshrined in a
+    temple, the guardianship of which is <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page329"
+       name="page329"></a>[pg 329]</span> jointly vested in five
+       resident families of Bramins. "At this time," says the
+       colonel, "the place is not worth keeping, the country being
+       so thoroughly impoverished and desolate;" and he
+       accordingly, after viewing the marvels of the locality,
+       pursued his way to Banda, and thence <i>laid a d&acirc;k</i>
+       (or travelled by palanquin with relays of bearers) to
+       Calpee, "there to sit from nine to four, writing filthy
+       accounts of bricks and mortar, square feet, cubic feet, and
+       running feet, rupees, annas, and pie; squabbling with
+       wrinkled unromantic villains, whose cool-tempered and
+       overwhelming patience amply deserve their unlawful
+       gains&mdash;I mean as labourers in the vineyard of
+       villany."</p>
+
+    <p>"A sporting excursion in Oude," in the spring of 1836, comes
+    next in order of time; and in regular order we accordingly take
+    it, though it has pleased either Mr Colburn or the colonel to
+    place it after the voyage down the Ganges. The colonel left
+    Lucknow, March 2; and three days later the whole party
+    rendezvoused at Khyrabad, consisting of "Mrs, Miss, and
+    Brigadier Churchill, Colonel Arnold, Major Cureton, Lieut.
+    Waugh, Dr Ross of her Majesty's 16th Lancers, and the writer of
+    these amiable records;" to whom was soon after added, in the
+    capacity of guide and hanger-on, "Sam Lall, by birth a Chuttree
+    or Rajpoot, by profession a zemindar, and by inclination a
+    sycophant and shikarree, (hunter.)" Indian field sports, with
+    their concomitants of hogs, hogdeer, jungles, elephants,
+    tigers, and nullahs, have been of late years rendered so
+    familiar to stay-at-home travellers, that we shall but
+    concisely notice the colonel's exploits in this forest
+    campaign, which present no remarkable novelty, though detailed
+    <i>con amore</i>, and with the two-fold zest of a sportsman and
+    an epicure. With all deference, indeed, to the colonel, we have
+    shrewd doubts whether the latter feeling was not the
+    predominant one; for the death of a tiger, nine of which fell
+    during the three weeks' foray before the rifles of himself and
+    his companions, is evidently chronicled with less of heart-felt
+    enthusiasm than characterises his encomiums on the hogdeer
+    soup, the delicate floricans and black partridges, (in the
+    preparation of bread sauce, for which, with his own hands, he
+    earned immortal renown,) and the other materials for good
+    living poured forth from the cornucopia of an Indian game-bag.
+    His gastronomic fervour during this jaunt reaches at times an
+    ecstatic pitch, which, as old Weller says, "werges on the
+    poetical." "For him (the gastronomist) the dark rocks and arid
+    plains of the dry Dekkan produce their purple grapes, and
+    cunning but goodly bustard; for him burning Bundelcund its
+    wonderful rock pigeon and ortolan inimitable; the Jumna, most
+    ancient of rivers, its large rich Kala banse, and tasty crabs;
+    for him yields the low and marshy Terace her elegant florican;
+    the mighty Gunga its melting mahaseer; the Goomtee its
+    exquisite mullet. And shall he not eat and delight in her
+    fruits? ... Let the ass eat its thistles, and the swallow its
+    flies <i>au naturel</i>; you and I, reader, know better!"</p>
+
+    <p>One day, while wading on their elephants through a deep
+    marsh in pursuit of a tiger, the chasseurs suddenly stumbled
+    upon a pleasant family party&mdash;"a labyrinth of huge
+    boa-constrictors or pythons, sound asleep, floating on a bed of
+    crushed <i>nurkool</i>, (a gigantic species of reed,) the least
+    of them twenty feet long, and two feet in circumference. A more
+    beautiful natural mosaic cannot be imagined: they appeared,
+    from being wet, as if recently varnished. Perhaps they were
+    from twenty to thirty in number, and occupied a spot of about
+    twenty feet square. No sooner did the dreadful glistening
+    reptiles hear the click of my rifle, and feel its ball, than
+    they shot forth with all their vigour, and diving, disappeared
+    in an instant under the matted roots of the tall nurkool, and,
+    although I tried, I could not get another glimpse." One of
+    these giant serpents, seventeen feet long, and eighteen inches
+    in circumference, which the colonel calls a small one, was shot
+    a few days afterwards by Colonel Arnold. The marsh and jungle
+    swarmed with peacocks, jungle-fowl, and wild-fowl of all sorts,
+    affording glorious sport; and, besides the smaller kinds of
+    deer, several specimens occurred of a magnificent species of
+    stag with twelve-tyned horns, called
+    <i>baru-singa</i>&mdash;apparently allied to <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page330"
+       name="page330"></a>[pg 330]</span> the <i>sambur</i> and
+       <i>rusa</i> of the Dekkan. The comparatively small number of
+       tigers killed was, however, a source of disappointment;
+       since the utility of these battues, in which the superior
+       fire-arms and appliances of the English are brought into
+       action for the destruction of these ferocious animals, may
+       be estimated from the damage done by them in the wilder
+       parts of India, "which is beyond the belief even of
+       Indo-European residents, and must, consequently, appear an
+       exaggeration to distant Englishmen. General (then Captain)
+       Briggs, when resident at Dhoolia in Candeish, in 1821, where
+       his potails, or head men, were obliged to keep a register of
+       the oxen (exclusive of sheep and goats) destroyed in their
+       villages, reported that no less than 21,000 had been killed
+       in three years! As no register is kept in Oude, it is
+       impossible to register the number."</p>
+
+    <p>On the banks of the Mohun-nuddee the party was joined by
+    Rajah Ruttun Sing, a chief holding a considerable tract of
+    country under the suzeraint&eacute; of Oude, who favoured them
+    with his company while they remained in his district&mdash;a
+    compliment which he expected to be acknowledged, as he
+    distinctly intimated on taking leave, by the gift of a valuable
+    fowling-piece; but this modest request was parried by the
+    rejoinder, that none of their guns were good enough for his
+    highness! During one of the halts, an incident occurred which
+    strongly illustrates the inhuman apathy of the Hindoos towards
+    any one not connected with them by the ties of caste. A man was
+    found sitting under a tree near the camp, uttering strange
+    cries, and the servants were desired to order him to withdraw;
+    "they returned, saying carelessly that he was a <i>nutt</i>, or
+    gipsy, who had been robbed." A robbery <i>from</i> a gipsy was
+    such a strange contradiction of terms, that the colonel went
+    personally to enquire into the matter, when he was
+    horror-struck by finding, that the man had been, not only
+    plundered of his earnings by a band of Bunjarras, but
+    frightfully mutilated and wounded, a trifle which the Hindoo
+    servants had not thought worth mentioning. The poor wretch's
+    arm was amputated by Dr Ross; and, being carried with the camp
+    and carefully tended, he was at last dismissed, with a fair
+    prospect of recovery, and with a gift of sixty rupees
+    subscribed among the party; but not even the example of the
+    <i>sahibs</i> could teach the Hindoos humanity, and only the
+    peremptory commands of Dr Ross could prevail upon his bearer to
+    place a mattress under the sufferer! On their return march, the
+    party were further honoured by visits from several rajahs and
+    zemindars, all of whom were "loud in complaint against the
+    extortions of the aumils, who constantly attempted to gather
+    more, and sometimes twice and a half as much, as the stipulated
+    rent, in consequence of which the zemindars were compelled to
+    rebel;" a view of the political condition of Oude which
+    naturally results from its anomalous position, under a
+    sovereign nominally independent, who is at once too weak to
+    control his own subjects, and fearful of diminishing the shadow
+    of authority left to him by calling in the only available aid.
+    On the 29th of March the party again reached Khyrabad, the
+    appointed place of their separation, as it had been of their
+    meeting; and here the narrative, as before, breaks off
+    abruptly.</p>
+
+    <p>The concluding part, in order of time, of the colonel's
+    lucubrations, contains his narrative of a voyage on the Ganges,
+    from Allahabad, by Dhacca, to Calcutta; but the features and
+    incidents of this navigation have been so frequently described
+    by travellers of all sorts and kinds, from Bishop Heber and
+    Captain Bellew to our own much-esteemed Kerim Khan, that we
+    shall devote but brief space to it. He quitted Allahabad, as he
+    informs us, December 5, 1839, so deeply regretted by the native
+    population, that they determined to perpetuate his memory by
+    the erection of a new gh&acirc;t or landing-place, every brick
+    of which was to be stamped with the letter D&mdash;a
+    distinction which he had, no doubt, deserved by the
+    <i>bonhommie</i> towards both Hindoo and Moslem, which forms
+    one of the most favourable traits in the jovial colonel's
+    character. The Tribeenee Gh&acirc;t, immediately below
+    Allahabad, where the streams of the Jumna and the Ganges unite,
+    is one of the holiest spots in India; to which pilgrims
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page331"
+       name="page331"></a>[pg 331]</span> resort from all quarters,
+       in the hope of securing paradise by dying at the junction of
+       the sacred waters. The spirit of religious exclusiveness
+       prevails here as well as in other places; and the colonel
+       mentions his having been once an eyewitness of some rough
+       treatment received by a <i>chumar</i>, or leather-dresser,
+       (one of the lowest castes,) at the hands of some high caste
+       sepoys, who were highly indignant that so mean a carcass
+       should presume to defile the holy ground! Leaving the
+       gh&acirc;ts and devotees behind him, however, and floating
+       down the stream in his capacious three-roomed budgerow, he
+       passed Mirzapoor, Chunar, and even the holy city of Benares,
+       (which he perversely spells Bunarus,) without halting; and
+       reached without adventure or mishap the mouth of the
+       Goomtee, where his attention was attracted by a party of
+       eighteen young elephants, the property of the king of Oude,
+       bathing in the river. "Of all animals, saving the Bundela
+       goat, there is none that suffers more from change of climate
+       than the elephant: of the numbers caught on the eastern
+       frontier, probably not one in four survives a journey to
+       Delhi. Bred in the darkest and most gloomy forests, they are
+       in a great measure sheltered from heat by the eternal
+       moisture of the cool shady bower under which they rove; and
+       are then expected to bear all on a sudden the most intense
+       heat, acting directly on their jet-black skins, when brought
+       into the plains of Upper India. A very clever native told me
+       he could make money by any thing but young elephants."
+       Another curious fact relative to the elephant, mentioned in
+       a subsequent chapter on the authority of Captain Broadfoot
+       of the Madras commissariat, is, that both wild and tame
+       elephants are extremely subject to a pulmonary disease,
+       which proved on dissection to be tubercular&mdash;in fact,
+       consumption! It was found to yield, however, to copious
+       bleedings, if taken in its early stages.</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's pages, at this point, are filled with
+    digressions and dissertations on subjects somewhat
+    miscellaneous&mdash;Aberdeen pale ale&mdash;the enormities of
+    Warren Hastings' government&mdash;the late James Prinsep and
+    the moral precepts of the Rajah Piy&acirc;d&acirc;see&mdash;and
+    a most incomprehensible rhapsody about "a red mustached member
+    of the Bengal civil service," of which we profess ourselves
+    utterly incompetent to make either head or tail, and strongly
+    recommend the colonel to expunge it if the work reaches another
+    edition. The voyage presents no incidents but the usual ones of
+    pelicans, alligators, and porpoises: and on January 15, he
+    arrived at Dhacca, "the once famous city of muslins." But the
+    muslin trade has now almost wholly disappeared; and with it
+    "the thousands of families of muslin weavers, who, from the
+    extreme delicacy of their manufacture, were obliged to work in
+    pits, sheltered from the heat of the sun and changes of the
+    weather; and even after that precaution, only while the dew lay
+    on the ground, as the increasing heat destroyed the extremely
+    delicate thread." The jungle is in consequence advancing close
+    upon the city, which is thus rendered almost uninhabitable from
+    malaria&mdash;the only manufacturers which continue to flourish
+    being those of violins, bracelets, made from a peculiar shell
+    resembling the <i>Murex tulipa</i>, and&mdash;idols for Hindoo
+    worship!</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel remained at Dhacca till February 4, awaiting
+    ulterior orders from headquarters, and had, consequently,
+    abundance of leisure for making himself acquainted with the
+    place and its people. These researches, however, were not
+    always unattended with danger; for on one occasion, while
+    viewing the city from an elevated building, a piece of plaster
+    was struck from the cornice near where he stood by a matchlock
+    ball&mdash;a delicate hint that the Mussulmans disliked being
+    overlooked. The Nawab, apparently the son of Bishop Heber's
+    acquaintance, Shumseddowlah, still resides in the palace of his
+    ancestors, but is described as an extravagant, uneducated
+    youth, who has mortgaged away his income from 5000 to 200
+    rupees per mensem&mdash;that is, from L.6000 to L.240 per
+    annum. The inhabitants were a mixture of almost all the creeds
+    and nations of Asia&mdash;Chinese, Thibetans, Mugs from
+    Arracan, Burmese, Malays, etc.; but the great majority are
+    Hindoos, whose sanguinary goddess Kalee is adored
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page332"
+       name="page332"></a>[pg 332]</span> in not less than fifty
+       temples. The Greeks and Armenians also have each a church,
+       the services of which, as described by the colonel, are
+       conducted in much the same form as at
+       Constantinople:&mdash;"But among the (Armenian) matrons only
+       was any appearance of devotion visible; one of them, most
+       gorgeously appareled in the Armenian fashion, with a
+       magnificent tiara of jewels on her brow, and wearing a
+       superb shawl, threw herself on the ground, with her head
+       sunk between her arms, towards the altar, and remained in
+       that position nearly five minutes. The others, being dressed
+       <i>&agrave; l'Anglaise</i>, with stiff stays and fashionable
+       bonnets, could not afford to indulge in such a position."
+       The Armenians were formerly numerous in Dhacca, and are
+       still an influential and wealthy body; the Greeks are now
+       "few and far between," but in the palmy days of Dhacca they
+       were a flourishing community.</p>
+
+    <p>Dhacca was a place abounding in strange characters from all
+    parts of the world; and among others whom the colonel
+    encountered, was a singular specimen of a cosmopolite, a native
+    of Fez, who called himself a Moslem, but whom our friend
+    vehemently suspected of being a Jew. He had been almost as
+    great a traveller as his countryman the famous Sheikh Ebn
+    Batuta, whose wanderings are immortalized in the pages of
+    Maga,<a id="footnotetag10"
+       name="footnotetag10"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a> and came last from Moulmein,
+       with a cargo of black pepper and rubies. He had resided
+       seventeen years in India, and proposed to the colonel, whom
+       he claimed as a brother, "since from his own home he could
+       reach England in ten days," that they should jointly freight
+       a vessel with valuables, and go <i>home</i> together! And,
+       among other scattered facts, a casual encounter with some
+       Chinese in the employ of the Assam Tea Company, whom the
+       colonel considerably astonished by addressing them in their
+       own language, introduces "the very curious fact," that at
+       Tipperah, a civil station not more than fifty or sixty miles
+       from Dhacca, the natives have from time immemorial used the
+       tea which grows there abundantly, and is prepared after a
+       fashion of their own. "And yet" (continues the
+       colonel&mdash;and we fear there is too much truth in his
+       remarks) "the existence of the tea-plant is but a recent
+       discovery! Any other nation would have established a
+       tea-manufactory at Tipperah, immediately after the first
+       settlement, and the Yankees would have 'progressed'
+       railroads and steam-boats for its success. India is at this
+       moment a mine of unexplored wealth. No sooner had
+       steam-boats appeared than coal has been discovered in every
+       direction!" The manufacture of native iron in Bengal, which
+       had been pressed upon Lord Hastings, as the colonel seems to
+       imply, by himself, and at first warmly adopted by him, was
+       objected to in the council, and ultimately abandoned, "on
+       the grounds that it would militate against the commercial
+       interests of Great Britain&mdash;that is, against the
+       profits of those India stockholders, possessing votes, who
+       followed the trade of ironmongers!" There is many a true
+       word spoken in jest; and this and other side-cuts of the
+       colonel at the shortsighted proceedings of the Bahadurs at
+       Calcutta, though sometimes queerly worded, contain now and
+       then some unpalatable facts. The administration of the
+       present Governor-General has shown at least some
+       <i>promise</i> of a better state of things&mdash;and if the
+       impulse now given to the development of the resources of
+       India be steadily followed up, this reproach will erelong be
+       taken away. The receipt of his final orders, however, which
+       pointed out China as his destination, put an end to the
+       colonel's speculations; and re-embarking on the stream of
+       the Booree Gunga, he passed, with little incident worth
+       noticing, through the numerous branches of the river, and
+       the picturesque jungles of the Soonderbunds, and arrived
+       safely, after an absence of twenty-one years, at the city of
+       palaces&mdash;and there we leave him.</p>
+
+    <p>The subject of the manufactures and products of India, is
+    not, however, the only point connected with the internal
+    administration, respecting <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page333"
+       name="page333"></a>[pg 333]</span> which some inconvenient
+       facts find their way to light in the colonel's
+       pages&mdash;and with one or two of these revelations, we
+       shall conclude our extracts. The majority of those
+       Anglo-Indian employ&eacute;s, who have favoured the world
+       with "Reminiscences" and "Narratives," are singularly free
+       from the charge of what is familiarly termed "telling tales
+       out of school." According to their account, nowhere is
+       justice so efficiently administered, or its functionaries so
+       accessible, as in our Indian empire; but here, whether from
+       the native frankness of the colonel's disposition, or from
+       his having nothing more to hope or fear from the old Begum
+       in Leadenhall Street, we find this important subject placed,
+       on several occasions, in rather a different light from that
+       in which it is usually represented. It is well known that
+       Sir David Ochterlony, a short time before his death,
+       discovered by mere accident that he was enrolled as a
+       pensioner to a large amount on the civil list of almost
+       every native prince in Upper India, from the emperor of
+       Delhi downwards&mdash;his principal moonshee, or native
+       secretary, having thrown out intelligible hints, as though
+       from his master, that such douceurs would not be without
+       their use in securing his powerful interest at
+       Calcutta&mdash;the moonshee himself quietly pocketing the
+       proceeds. This was certainly an outrageous instance; but it
+       is the direct interest of every native subordinate to screen
+       his own misdeeds and extortions, by promoting to the utmost,
+       in his European superior, that inaccessibility to which he
+       is naturally but too much inclined&mdash;and the extent to
+       which this system of exclusion is carried, may be inferred
+       from the following anecdote. The colonel had been requested
+       by a native landholder of high respectability, to introduce
+       him to the house of a civilian; and on asking why he could
+       not go by himself, was told, "I dare not approach the very
+       compound of the house he lives in! If his head man should
+       hear that I ventured to present myself before the gentleman
+       without his permission, he would immediately harass me by
+       some false complaint, or even by instituting an enquiry into
+       the very title-deeds of my estate, which might, however
+       falsely, terminate in my ruin. It is not long since I paid
+       eleven hundred rupees to &mdash;&mdash; to suppress false
+       claims, which, if they had actually gone into court, would
+       have cost me ten times the sum."</p>
+
+    <p>Of the practical effects of criminal punishments, the
+    colonel does not speak more highly. "In the real Hindoostanee
+    view of the subject, a convict in chains is nearly a native
+    gentleman&mdash;a little rou&eacute;, perhaps&mdash;employed on
+    especial duties in the Company's service, for which he is well
+    fed, and has little labour. A jail-bird can easily be
+    distinguished after the first six months, by his superior
+    bodily condition. On his head maybe seen either a kinkh&acirc;b
+    (brocade) or embroidered cap, or one of English flowered
+    muslin, enriched with a border of gold or silver lace. Gros de
+    Naples is coming into fashion, but slowly.... Was he
+    low-spirited, he could, for a trifling present, send to the
+    bazar, and enjoy a nautah from the hour the judge went to sleep
+    till daybreak next morning&mdash;nay, under proper management,
+    he might be gratified by the society of his wife and family....
+    See him at work, the burkandauze (policeman) is smoking
+    <i>his</i> chillum, while he and his friends are sound asleep,
+    <i>sub tegmine fagi</i>. All of a sudden there is an
+    alarm&mdash;the judge is coming! up they all start, and work
+    like devils for ten or fifteen seconds, and then again to
+    repose. This is working in chains on the roads! In fact, after
+    a man is once used to the comforts of an Indian prison, there's
+    no keeping him out!"</p>
+
+    <p>All this, no doubt, is broad caricature&mdash;but "ridentem
+    dicere verum quid vetat?" a motto which the colonel could not
+    do better than adopt for any future edition of his eccentric
+    lucubrations. And so Rookhsut! Colonel Sahib! may your
+    favourite tomata sauce never pall upon your palate; and though
+    perhaps you would hardly thank us for the usual oriental good
+    wish, that your shadow may continue to increase, may it at
+    least never be diminished by that worst of all fiends,
+    indigestion!</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page334"
+       name="page334"></a>[pg 334]</span> <a name="bw341s5"
+          id="bw341s5"></a>
+
+    <h2>BELFRONT CASTLE.</h2>
+
+    <h3>A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.</h3>
+
+    <p>One half of the world was surprised that Reginald Belfront
+    married Jane Holford&mdash;and the other half was equally
+    surprised that Jane Holford married Reginald Belfront; for,
+    considering the experience that both halves of the world must
+    have had, it is amazing how subject they still are to surprise.
+    To us, who have not the pleasure to belong to either half,
+    there is very little surprising in the matter. Reginald had
+    been for some time on a visit at the house of a distant
+    relation&mdash;old Sir Hugh de Mawley. He had wandered through
+    the great woods of the estate, and found them very tiresome;
+    had strolled in the immense park, and found it dull; and, in
+    the long evenings, had sat in the stately hall, and listened to
+    the endless, whispered anecdotes of his host, and found them
+    both intolerable. No wonder he started with joyful surprise
+    when, one day in the drawing-room, he heard the rustle of a
+    silk gown; caught the glancing of some beautiful real flowers
+    on the top of a bright-green bonnet; and, more wonderful than
+    all, the smile of the prettiest lips, and the glances of the
+    clearest eyes he had ever seen in his life. The gown, the
+    bonnet, the smiles, and eyes, all belonged to Jane Holford; and
+    Reginald, who had, up to this time, made no great progress in
+    the study of comparative physiology, now made such rapid
+    strides, that he could have told you every point in which the
+    possessor of the above-named attributes differed from the stiff
+    and prim Miss de Mawley, who had hitherto been the sole
+    representative of the female sex in Mawley Court. The neck and
+    shoulders&mdash;the chin&mdash;nose&mdash;arms&mdash;
+    ankles&mdash;feet&mdash;not to mention the hair and
+    eyebrows&mdash;of the new specimen, were minutely studied; and,
+    in spite of the usual antipathy he entertained against all
+    scientific pursuits, he felt a strong inclination to be the
+    owner of it himself, in order to pursue his investigations at
+    full leisure. He was no genius&mdash;hated books&mdash;disliked
+    clever people&mdash;but prided himself on his horsemanship, his
+    play at quarterstaff, his personal strength, and, above all, in
+    his fine old castle in a somewhat inaccessible part of
+    Yorkshire, which had remained in the possession of his family
+    ever since the Conquest. Jane, on the other hand, had no castle
+    to boast of; and probably had no ancestor whatever at any
+    period preceding the year 1750, when her grandfather had bought
+    an estate near Mawley Court&mdash;which had gone on improving
+    with the improvement of the times, till her father found
+    himself the possessor of a rent-roll of fifteen hundred a year,
+    four sons, and six grown-up daughters. It will easily be
+    believed that no objections to the match were raised on the
+    part of a middle-aged gentleman, with so many reasons for
+    agreeing to the marriage settlement proposed by Reginald
+    Belfront; consisting, as it did, of a jointure to the widow,
+    and the use of Belfront Castle for life, without the remotest
+    allusion to any portion or other contingent advantage on the
+    other side; and as Jane herself was, if possible, still more
+    satisfied on the subject than her father, all the arrangements
+    were rapidly made, and in less than three months after the
+    apparition of the silk gown and other etceteras in the
+    drawing-room, the indissoluble knot was tied, and Miss Cecilia,
+    the second daughter, was advanced to the dignity of Miss
+    Holford, vice Jane&mdash;promoted.</p>
+
+    <p>The church was all decked out with roses and other pleasing
+    emblems of the unfading nature of connubial bliss; wreaths of
+    sunflowers, with the same comfortable moral, were hung up over
+    the great gate of Mawley Court; while Miss de Mawley,
+    representing in her own person the evergreens omitted in the
+    garlands, received the happy couple on their return from the
+    ceremony at the head of all the female domestics, from the
+    housekeeper down to the kitchenmaid, and led the bride and
+    bridegroom to the table in the great hall, where old Sir Hugh
+    was sitting in great state. They kneeled down before his chair;
+    and, laying his hand on their heads, he began blessing;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page335"
+       name="page335"></a>[pg 335]</span> but not having practised
+       that style of oratory so much as he ought, it rapidly
+       degenerated into a grace&mdash;and, as lunch in the mean
+       time was brought in, and the Holford family, and one or two
+       of the neighbours who had been present at the ceremony, had
+       now arrived, the eloquence of Sir Hugh was not altogether
+       thrown away. There were several speeches and toasts, and
+       sundry attempts at jocularity; and Sir Hugh began the story
+       of the French countess and the waterfall at Fountainbleau;
+       and Reginald availed himself of the somnolency of the rest
+       of the party to slip out with his bride without being
+       observed, just as the royal family began to suspect the
+       secret&mdash;and, long before the incensed husband sent the
+       challenge, the happy pair were careering onward as fast as
+       the postboy could drive, on the first stage of their wedding
+       tour.</p>
+
+    <p>A month afterwards they were in a country inn in Wales. The
+    window at which they sat commanded a view of the beautiful vale
+    of Cwmcwyllchly&mdash;a small river glided down in winding
+    mazes, hiding itself behind wooded knolls, and brawling over
+    rocks in the most playful and picturesque manner imaginable.
+    The sun had begun to set, and was taking a last look at the
+    prospect, with his vast chin rested on the top of Penchymcrwm,
+    presenting to the poetical mind an image of a redfaced farmer
+    looking over a five-barred gate&mdash;every thing, in short,
+    that is generally met with in Tourists' Guides, as constituting
+    a splendid view, was assembled on this favoured spot; and yet
+    Jane heaved a deep sigh, and appeared to take no notice of the
+    landscape.</p>
+
+    <p>"You're tired, my love," said Reginald; "you have walked too
+    far up these Welsh mountains."</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope to get used to climbing," answered Jane; "there are
+    plenty of hills at Belfront&mdash;aren't there?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, we have plenty of hills; but why don't you call it
+    home, Jane?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I have never lived there," she replied; "and a
+    place can scarcely be called home that one has never seen."</p>
+
+    <p>"But you have never said you wished to see it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, but I have wished it all the same&mdash;may
+    we&mdash;may we go&mdash;home?"</p>
+
+    <p>She said the word at last, and Reginald was delighted.</p>
+
+    <p>"Home! to be sure&mdash;to-morrow, at daybreak; for, to tell
+    you the truth, I don't care sixpence for fine views&mdash;in
+    fact, I don't think there is any difference between any two
+    landscapes&mdash;except that there may be hills in one, and
+    none in another, or woods, or a river&mdash;but they are all
+    exactly the same in reality. So, let us go home, my love, as
+    fast as we can, or I'm very much afraid Mr Peeper won't like
+    it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr Peeper?" enquired Jane. "Who is Mr Peeper?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You will know him in good time," said Reginald; "and I hope
+    he will like you."</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope he will&mdash;I hope all your friends will like
+    me&mdash;I will do every thing in my power to please them."</p>
+
+    <p>"You're a very good girl, Jane; and Mr Peeper can't help but
+    be pleased, and I am glad of it; for it ought to be our first
+    study to make ourselves agreeable to <i>him</i>."</p>
+
+    <p>"Agreeable to Mr Peeper!" thought Jane. "How strange that I
+    never was told about him before this moment! Does he live in
+    the castle, Reginald?" she asked.</p>
+
+    <p>"Certainly. One of his family has lived there ever since one
+    of mine did; so there is a connexion between us of a few
+    hundred years."</p>
+
+    <p>"Have you any other friends who live in the castle?"
+    enquired the bride.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't know whether Phil Lorimer is there just now or not;
+    he has a room whenever he comes; and a knife and fork at
+    table."</p>
+
+    <p>"Who is he?"</p>
+
+    <p>"A capital fellow&mdash;full of wit&mdash;and makes funnier
+    faces and better songs than any man in Yorkshire. You will like
+    Phil Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"And I hope he will like me!"</p>
+
+    <p>"If he don't, I'll break every bone in his body."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I beg you won't," said the bride with a smile, and
+    looking up in Reginald's face to assure herself he spoke in
+    joke. It was as earnest a face as if it had been of cast-iron;
+    and she saw that Mr Lorimer's only chance of preserving a whole
+    skin was to like her with all his might.</p>
+
+    <p>"Is there any one else?"</p>
+
+    <p>"There's Mr Peeper's assistant, <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page336"
+       name="page336"></a>[pg 336]</span> Mark Lutter&mdash;a
+       clever man, and a great scholar. I hate scholars, so he
+       dines in the servants' hall, or far down the
+       table&mdash;below the salt."</p>
+
+    <p>"Are you serious?" enquired Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you not like scholars?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the use of them? I never could see what they were
+    good for&mdash;and, besides, Mr Peeper hates them too."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then why does he keep this man as his assistant?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because if he didn't, the fellow would rebel."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, you could turn him off."</p>
+
+    <p>"We never turn any body off at Belfront Castle. If they go
+    of their own accord, we punish them for it if we can&mdash;if
+    they stay, they are welcome. Mr Peeper must look to it, or
+    Lutter will make a disturbance."</p>
+
+    <p>"What a curious place this castle must be," thought Jane,
+    "and what odd people they are that live in it!" She asked no
+    more questions, but determined to restrain her curiosity till
+    she could satisfy it on the spot; and, luckily, she had not
+    long to wait. Next day they started on their homeward way. As
+    they drew nearer their destination, Jane's anxiety to gain the
+    first glimpse of her future home increased with every mile. She
+    had, of course, formed many fancy pictures of it in her own
+    mind; and, as love lent the brush and most obligingly
+    compounded the colours, there can be no doubt they made out a
+    very captivating landscape of it between them.</p>
+
+    <p>"At the top of the next hill," said Reginald, "you will see
+    the keep."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane stretched her head forward, and looked through the
+    front window as if she could pierce the hill that lay between
+    her and home. On went the horses; but the next hill seemed an
+    incredible way off; it was now getting late, and the shadows of
+    evening, like a flock of tired black sheep, began to lie down
+    and rest thenselves on the vast dreary moor they were
+    travelling over. At last Jane felt that they were beginning an
+    ascent; and a sickly moon, that seemed to have undergone a
+    severe operation, and lost nearly all her limbs, lifted up her
+    pale face in the sky. The wind, too, began to whistle in long
+    low gusts, and Reginald, who was not of a poetical temperament,
+    as we have already observed, was nearly asleep. They reached
+    the hill top at last, and a great expanse of rugged and broken
+    country lay before them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where is it?&mdash;on which hand?" said Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Straight before you," replied the husband; "it is only
+    three miles off; the high-road turns off to the left, but we go
+    through fields right on."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane looked with almost feverish anxiety. At a good distance
+    in front, rose a tall black structure, like the chimney of a
+    shot manufactory&mdash;a single, square, gigantic
+    tower&mdash;throwing a darker mass against the darkened sky,
+    and sicklied o'er on one of the faces with the yellow-green
+    moonlight. There were no lights in it, nor any sign of
+    habitation; and Jane would have indulged in various enquiries
+    and exclamations, if the carriage had allowed her; but it had
+    by this time left the main road, and sank up to the axles in
+    the ruts; it bounded against stones, and wallowed in mire
+    alternately; and all that she could do, was to hold on by one
+    of the arm rests, as if she had been in the cabin of a
+    storm-toss'd ship.</p>
+
+    <p>"For mercy's sake, Reginald, will this last long?" she said,
+    out of breath with her exertions.</p>
+
+    <p>"We are about a mile from the drawbridge. I hope they have
+    not drawn it up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Could we not get into the castle if they have?"</p>
+
+    <p>"We might fall into the moat if we tried the postern."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, gracious!&mdash;is there a moat?"&mdash;and
+    instinctively she put her hand to her throat, for her mother
+    had brought her up with a salutary dread of colds, and she felt
+    a sensation of choking at the very name.</p>
+
+    <p>At this moment, the agonized carriage, after several groans
+    that would have moved the heart of a highway commissioner, gave
+    a rush downward, and committed suicide in the most determined
+    manner, by dashing its axle on the ground&mdash;the wheels
+    endeavouring in vain to fathom the profundity of the ruts, and
+    the horses totally unable to move the stranded equipage. The
+    sudden jerk knocked Reginald's hat over his eyes against the
+    roof of the carriage, and Jane screamed when she felt the top
+    of her bonnet squeezed as flat as a pancake by the same
+    process, but neither of them, luckily, was hurt.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page337"
+       name="page337"></a>[pg 337]</span> "We must get out and
+       walk," said the husband; "it isn't more than half a mile,
+       and we will send Phil Lorimer, or some of them, for the
+       trunks."</p>
+
+    <p>He put his arm round Jane's waist, and helped her over the
+    almost impassable track.</p>
+
+    <p>"We must try to get the road mended," said Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"It has never been mended in our time," was the reply; and
+    it was said in a tone which showed that the fact so announced
+    was an unanswerable argument against the proposition of the
+    bride.</p>
+
+    <p>"A few stones well broken would do it all," she urged.</p>
+
+    <p>"We never break stones at Belfront," was the rejoinder; and
+    in silence, and with some difficulty, they groped their
+    unsteady way. At last they emerged from a thick overgrown
+    copse, in which the accident had happened, and, after sundry
+    narrow escapes from sprained ankles and broken arms, they
+    reached the gate. It was an immense wooden barrier, supported
+    at each end by little round buildings&mdash;like a slice of
+    toast laid lengthways between two half pounds of butter. It was
+    thickly studded with iron nails, and the round piers were of
+    massive stone, partly overgrown with ivy, and as solid as if
+    they had been formed of one mass.</p>
+
+    <p>"Does any body live in those lodges?" enquired Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"There is a warder in the inner court," said Reginald.
+    "These are merely the supporters of the outer gate."</p>
+
+    <p>"And how are we to get in?"</p>
+
+    <p>"We must blow, I suppose." And so saying, Reginald lifted up
+    a horn that was hung by an iron chain from one of the piers,
+    and executed a flourish that made Jane put her fingers to her
+    ears.</p>
+
+    <p>In a short time the creaking of an iron chain&mdash;whose
+    recollection of oil must have been of the most traditionary
+    nature&mdash;gave intimation that its intentions were decidedly
+    hospitable; and with many squeaks and grunts the enormous
+    portal turned at last on its hinges, and exposed to view a
+    narrow winding road between two walls, which, in a short time,
+    conducted the visitors to a long wooden bridge over a piece of
+    stagnant water&mdash;the said bridge having only that moment
+    been let down from the lofty position in which its two halves
+    were kept by an immense wooden erection, which bore an awful
+    resemblance to a scaffold. When they got over the bridge,
+    Reginald turned round, and, imprinting a kiss on the pale cheek
+    of the astonished bride, said&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Welcome home, dear Jane. This is Belfront Castle!"</p>
+
+    <p>Jane looked round a spacious courtyard, and saw a square of
+    low dark-looking buildings, with the enormous tower she had
+    seen from the top of the hill rearing its thick head above all
+    at one corner. They proceeded across the roughly-paved
+    quadrangle, and entered a low door; ascended three steps, and
+    opened another door. They then found themselves in a large and
+    lofty hall, with fitful flashes of red light flickering on the
+    walls, as the flame of the wood fire on the hearth rose or fell
+    beneath the efforts of a half distinguishable figure, extended
+    at full length on the floor, and puffing the enormous log with
+    a pair of gigantic bellows. In the palpable obscure, Jane could
+    scarcely make out the persons of the occupants of the
+    apartment; but when the flame burnt up a little more powerfully
+    than usual, she observed the figure of a tall man dressed in
+    black, who shook hands with Reginald, and bowed very coldly and
+    formally to her, when he was introduced as Mr Peeper. He seemed
+    about fifty or sixty years of age, but very much enfeebled. He
+    stooped and coughed, and was very infirm in his motions; but
+    when the red glare from the hearth fell upon his eyes, they
+    fixed themselves on Jane with such a piercing expression, that
+    she turned away her face almost in fear. His hair was
+    snow-white, and yet it was impossible to decide whether he was
+    a man of the years we have stated, with the premature
+    appearance of age, or a person of extraordinary longevity,
+    retaining the vigorous eyes and active spirit of youth. However
+    it was, Mr Peeper was too harsh and haughty in his approaches,
+    and exacted too much deference from the youthful bride, to be
+    very captivating at first. He said no welcome to the new-comer,
+    and was stiff and unkind even to the owner of the castle.
+    Candles were soon brought in, and Jane took the opportunity of
+    looking round. The individual <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page338"
+       name="page338"></a>[pg 338]</span> who had been busy blowing
+       the fire now rose from his humble position, and was
+       presented to the lady as Phil Lorimer. He bowed and smiled,
+       and was proceeding with a compliment, in which, however, he
+       advanced no further than the summer sun bringing out the
+       roses, when Reginald pushed him out of the hall, with orders
+       to get the luggage brought in from the carriage, and to be
+       back in time for supper. Phil Lorimer seemed a man of
+       thirty, strongly built, with a sweet voice and friendly
+       smile; but what station he filled in the
+       household&mdash;whether a servant, a visitor, a poor
+       relation, or what he could be, Jane could not make out,
+       either from his manner or the way he was treated.</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr Lorimer is very good-natured&mdash;very obliging, to
+    take care of the luggage, I am sure," said Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better that than talking nonsense about roses," replied
+    Reginald. "Did you expect us this evening, Mr Peeper?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I did, Mr Reginald, and have invited a few of the
+    neighbours to meet you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Who are coming?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sir Bryan De Barreilles, Hasket of Norland, Maulerer of
+    Phascald, and old Dr Howlet. They will be here soon, so you had
+    better make haste."</p>
+
+    <p>"I had better not appear, love," said Jane; "no ladies are
+    coming, and among so many gentlemen my presence might be
+    awkward."</p>
+
+    <p>"By no means," replied the husband. "It wouldn't be right,
+    Mr Peeper, for my wife to be absent from the supper-table?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Certainly not. It is to see <i>her</i> the neighbours are
+    coming."</p>
+
+    <p>Is this Mr Peeper to have the control of all my actions?
+    thought Jane. Who can he be?</p>
+
+    <p>She took another glance at the object of her thoughts, but
+    caught his eye fixed on her with the same penetrating
+    brightness as before; and she cast her looks on the ground;
+    and, whether from anger or fear, she felt her cheeks glowing
+    with blushes.</p>
+
+    <p>"You will not be long gone, if you please," he said to Jane
+    as she retired to change her dress.</p>
+
+    <p>"You don't seem pleased to see us, Mr Peeper," said
+    Reginald, when Jane had gone to her room under the guidance of
+    a very tall old woman, who walked before her, holding out a
+    tremendously long candle, as if it were a sword, and she was at
+    the head of a military procession.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir," replied Mr Peeper; "I am not pleased with the
+    person you have brought here. You have gone too far from home
+    for a wife. None of the Belfronts have ever married out of
+    Yorkshire, and it may give rise to troubles."</p>
+
+    <p>"I am very sorry my wife's relations would not allow me to
+    send for you to perform the ceremony."</p>
+
+    <p>"It is a bad omen," said the old man; "my predecessors have
+    married your predecessors without a break since the conquest.
+    It bodes no good."</p>
+
+    <p>"I trust no harm will happen, and that you will soon forget
+    the disappointment."</p>
+
+    <p>"None of my family forget, but we will not <i>talk</i> of
+    it." So saying, he turned away, and arranged a goodly array of
+    bottles on the sideboard. Reginald sat down on an oak chair
+    beside the fire, and gazed attentively into the log.</p>
+
+    <p>In the mean time, Jane had followed her gigantic conductor
+    through half a mile of passages, and reached a small room at
+    one end of the quadrangle, and through the window (of which
+    half the panes were broken, as if on purpose) she caught the
+    melodious murmur of a rapid river, that chafed against the
+    foundation walls of the castle. On looking round, the prospect
+    was not very encouraging. Tattered tapestries hung down the
+    walls, and waved in a most melancholy and ghost-like fashion in
+    the wind; the floor was thinly littered over with some plaited
+    rushes, to supply the place of a carpet; and a few long
+    high-backed oak chairs kept guard against the wall. The fire
+    had died an infant in its iron cradle, the grate; and the
+    curtain of the bed waved to and fro in mournful sympathy with
+    the tapestry round the room. Jane was so cold that she could
+    hardly go through her toilette, simple as it was; but having at
+    last achieved a very slight alteration in her dress, and left
+    her bonnet on the head of an owl, which formed the ornament of
+    one of the high-backed chairs, she endeavoured to retrace her
+    steps; and after a few pauses and mistakes, she found her way
+    once more into the hall.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page339"
+       name="page339"></a>[pg 339]</span> The guests in the mean
+       time were assembled and had seated themselves at table. On
+       Jane's entrance they all rose, and on being respectively
+       named by their host, bowed with cold and stately courtesy,
+       and sat down again. The four strangers seemed all of the
+       same ages, fifty or thereabouts&mdash;tall, hale, and
+       dignified in their manners. Sir Bryan de Barreilles had a
+       patch on his right eye; Hasket of Norland a deep scar on his
+       forehead, that cut his left eyebrow into two parts, and gave
+       a very extraordinary expression to his rigid countenance;
+       Maulerer of Phascald had the general effect of very handsome
+       features, marred by the want of his nose; not that there was
+       actually no nose, but that it did not occupy the prominent
+       position it usually holds on the human face divine, but was
+       inserted deep between the cheeks&mdash;in fact, was a nose
+       not set on after the fashion of a knocker, but a fine
+       specimen of <i>basso-relievo</i>, indented after the manner
+       of Socrates's head on a seal, and would probably have made a
+       very fine impression. Dr Howlet was perfectly blind, and
+       from the tone in which he was addressed by the other
+       gentlemen, Jane concluded he was also very nearly deaf.
+       Besides these, there were present Mr Peeper, at the foot of
+       the table next to Reginald, and on the other side of him a
+       thick square-built man, with a fine hilarious open
+       countenance, who was perhaps of too low a rank to be
+       introduced to the lady of the castle&mdash;no other in fact
+       than the redoubtable Mr Lutter, of whom Jane had heard on
+       her journey home.</p>
+
+    <p>After the serving men, with some difficulty, had brought in
+    the supper, consisting of enormous joints of meat, hot and
+    cold, and deposited on the sideboard vast tankards of strong
+    ale and other potent beverages, Mr Peeper rose, and folding his
+    hands across his breast, and bending forward his head with
+    every appearance of devotion, muttered some words evidently
+    intended to represent a grace; but so indistinct that it was
+    utterly impossible to make the slightest guess at their
+    meaning, whereupon they all fell to with prodigious activity,
+    and cut and slashed the enormous dishes as if they had been
+    famished for a year. Mr Lutter, after making an observation
+    that true thankfulness was as much shown by moderate enjoyment
+    of good gifts as by long prayers said over them, made a most
+    powerful assault on the cold sirloin, and, of all the party,
+    was the only one who had the politeness to send a helping to
+    Jane. She was tired and hungry, and felt really obliged by the
+    attention, but could scarcely do justice to the viands from
+    surprise at the conversation of the guests.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ho, ho!" said Sir Bryan de Barreilles, "I once knew a
+    thing&mdash;such a thing it was too&mdash;ho! ho!" And partly
+    the vividness of the recollection, and principally an enormous
+    mouthful of beef, produced a long fit of coughing&mdash;"'twill
+    make you laugh," he continued&mdash;"'twas a rare
+    feat&mdash;ho! ho!&mdash;even this lady will be pleased to hear
+    it."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane bowed in expectation of an amusing anecdote.</p>
+
+    <p>"One of my tenants was going to be married; his bride was a
+    very young creature, not more than eighteen, and on the
+    wedding-day, as I always was ready for a joke in those
+    days&mdash;ah! 'tis thirty years ago, or more&mdash;I asked the
+    bridal party to the Tower. Ho! ho! such laughing we
+    had!&mdash;Giles Mallet and Robin Henslow fought with redhot
+    brands out of the fire, till I thought we should all have died;
+    and Giles&mdash;the cleverest fellow and the wittiest, ho!
+    ho!&mdash;such a fellow was Giles!&mdash;he took up the poker
+    instead of the fir-log, and watched his opportunity, ho!
+    ho!&mdash;it was redhot too&mdash;a good stout poker as ever
+    you saw&mdash;and ran it clean through his cheek&mdash;you
+    heard the tongue fizz! as it licked the hot iron&mdash;'twas a
+    famous play. How Robin roared, to be sure, and couldn't speak
+    plain&mdash;ho! ho! Well, the games went on; and nothing would
+    please some of the young ones but we should see the Oubliette.
+    'Twas a dark hole where my forefathers imprisoned their
+    refractory vassals, and sad stories were told about
+    it&mdash;how that voices were heard from the bottom of it, and
+    groans, and sometimes gory heads were seen at the top of it,
+    looking up to the skylight, and struggling to escape, but ever
+    tumbling back into the deep dark hole, with screams and
+    smothered cries; a rare place for a man's enemies&mdash;but it
+    had not been used for many years. Well&mdash;nothing would do,
+    but when <span class="pagenum"><a id="page340"
+       name="page340"></a>[pg 340]</span> we were all merry with
+       ale, we should all go and see the Oubliette, and a kiss of
+       the bride was promised to the one who should go down the
+       furthest. Now, the stone steps were very narrow at best; and
+       were all worn away&mdash;and that was the best of
+       it&mdash;all along the passages we went, and past the
+       dungeon grating, till we came to the open mouth of the
+       Oubliette. Ho! ho! how you'll laugh. Down a step went
+       one&mdash;no kiss from the bride for him&mdash;two steps
+       went another&mdash;some went down six steps, and one bold
+       fellow went down so far that we lost sight of him in the
+       darkness. Then the bridegroom, a stout young
+       yeoman&mdash;thought it shame to let anyone beat him in
+       daring, for so rich a prize as a kiss from the rosy lips of
+       his bride, and down&mdash;down&mdash;he went&mdash;step
+       after step&mdash;till finally, far down in the gloom, we
+       heard a loud scream&mdash;such a scream&mdash;ho! ho! I
+       can't help laughing yet when I think of it&mdash;and in a
+       minute or two, whose voice should we hear but Giles
+       Mallet's! <i>There</i> was Giles, hollowing and roaring for
+       us to send down a rope but <i>how</i> he had got down, or
+       <i>when</i> he had gone down, nobody knew. However, a rope
+       was got, and merrily, stoutly, we all pulled, but no Giles
+       came up. Instead of him, we drew forth the bridegroom! but
+       such a changed man. His eyes were fixed, and his face as
+       white as silver&mdash;his mouth was wide open, and his great
+       tongue went lolling about from side to side&mdash;and he
+       shook his head, and mumbled and slavered&mdash;he was struck
+       all of a sudden into idiocy, and knew nobody; not even his
+       bride. She was sinking before him, but he never noticed her,
+       but went moaning, and muttering, and shaking his head. Ho!
+       ho! 'twas the comicalest thing I ever saw. And when Giles
+       came up he explained it all. Giles had gone down deeper than
+       any of them, and waited for the others on a ledge in the
+       cavern; and just when the bridegroom reached it, Giles
+       seized him by the leg, and said&mdash;'Your soul is
+       mine'&mdash;ho! ho! 'Your soul is mine,' said
+       Giles&mdash;and the bridegroom uttered only the loud, long
+       scream we had all heard, and stood and shook and trembled.
+       'Twas a rare feat; and if you had come down last
+       year"&mdash;he added, turning to Jane&mdash;"you would have
+       seen the bridegroom going from door to door, followed by all
+       the boys in the village&mdash;he never recovered. There he
+       went, shake, shaking his head&mdash;and gape gaping with his
+       mouth. "Twas good sport to teaze him. I've set my dogs on
+       him myself; but he never took the least notice. 'Twas a good
+       trick&mdash;I never knew better."</p>
+
+    <p>"And the bride?" enquired Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, she died in a week or two after the adventure! A silly
+    hussy&mdash;I wished to marry her, by the left hand, to my
+    forester, but she kept on moping and looking at the idiotical
+    bridegroom, and died&mdash;a poor fool."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ah! we've grown dull since those merry times," said Hasket
+    of Norland, looking, round the empty hall, and then towards
+    Reginald, as if reproaching him with the absence of the ancient
+    joviality. "There were three men killed at my marriage&mdash;in
+    fair give and take fight&mdash;in the hall, at the wedding
+    supper. There is the mark of blood on the floor yet."</p>
+
+    <p>"I lost my eye at the celebration of a christening," said
+    Sir Bryan de Barreilles. "My uncle of Malmescott pushed it in
+    with the handle of his dagger."</p>
+
+    <p>"I got this wound on my forehead at a feast after a
+    funeral," said Hasket of Norland. "I quarreled with Morley
+    Poyntz, and he cut my eyebrow with an axe. 'Twas a merry party
+    in spite of that."</p>
+
+    <p>"The Parson of Pynsent jumped on my face at a festival in
+    honour of the birth of Sir Ranulph Berlingcourt's heir," said
+    Maulerer of Phascald. "I had been knocked on the floor by the
+    Archdeacon of Warleileigh, and the Parson of Pynsent trode on
+    my nose. He was the biggest man in Yorkshire, and squeezed my
+    nose out of sight&mdash;a rare jovial companion, was the Parson
+    of Pynsent, and many is the joke we have had about the weight
+    of his foot. Ah! we have no fun now&mdash;no fighting, no
+    grinning through a horse-collar, no roasting before a fire, no
+    singing"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes," said Reginald, "we have Phil Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"Let him come&mdash;let us hear him," said some of the
+    party.</p>
+
+    <p>"I hate songs," said Dr Howlet; "and think all ballads
+    should be burned."</p>
+
+    <p>"And the writers of them, too," added Mr Peeper, with a
+    fierce glance <span class="pagenum"><a id="page341"
+       name="page341"></a>[pg 341]</span> towards the fireplace,
+       from which Phil Lorimer emerged.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh no! I think songs an innocent diversion," said Mr
+    Lutter, "and softening to the heart. Sit near me, Mr
+    Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"Make a face, Phil," cried the knight; "I would rather see a
+    grin than hear your ballad."</p>
+
+    <p>"Jump, Phil," said Hasket of Norland, applying his fork to
+    Phil's leg as he passed, "you are a better morris-dancer than a
+    poet."</p>
+
+    <p>Phil, who was imperturbably good-natured, did as he was
+    told. He opened his mouth to a preternatural size, turned one
+    eye to the ceiling, and the other down to the floor, till Sir
+    Bryan was in ecstasies at his achievement. He then sprang to an
+    incredible height in that air, and danced once or twice through
+    the hall, throwing himself into the most grotesque attitudes
+    imaginable, and the table was nearly shaken in pieces by the
+    thumpings with which the party showed their satisfaction.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now then, Phil; here's a cup of sherry-wine&mdash;drink it,
+    boy, and sing a sweet song to the lady," said Reginald.</p>
+
+    <p>"Songs are an invention of the devil," said Mr Peeper.</p>
+
+    <p>"Unless they are sung through the nose," said Mr Lutter,
+    with a sneer.</p>
+
+    <p>"You approve of songs then?" inquired Mr Peeper, with a
+    fierce look.</p>
+
+    <p>"Certainly," said Mr Lutter, "when their subject is good,
+    and the language modest."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then you are an atheist," retorted Mr Peeper.</p>
+
+    <p>"What has a ballad to do with atheism?" enquired Mr Lutter,
+    looking angry.</p>
+
+    <p>"You approve of wicked songs, and therefore are an
+    atheist."</p>
+
+    <p>"A man is more like an atheist," retorted Mr Lutter, "who is
+    ungrateful to God for the gift of song, and shuts up the
+    sweetest avenue by which the spirit approaches its Creator. I
+    admire poetry, and respect poets."</p>
+
+    <p>"Any one who holds such diabolic doctrines is not fit to
+    remain in Belfront Castle."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nay," replied Mr Lutter, "Belfront Castle would be
+    infinitely improved if such doctrines were adopted in it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Gentlemen," said Reginald, "you are both learned men; and I
+    know nothing about the questions you discuss."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your lady shall judge between us," said Mr Lutter.</p>
+
+    <p>"She shall not," said Mr Peeper; "I am the sole judge in
+    matters of the kind."</p>
+
+    <p>"Let us hear Phil's song in the mean time," said Reginald.
+    "Come, Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"What shall it be?" said Phil.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something comic," said Sir Bryan.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something bloody," said Hasket of Norland.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something loving," said Maulerer of Phascald.</p>
+
+    <p>"Will the lady decide for us?" said Phil, with a smile.
+    "Will you have the 'Silver Scarf,' madam; or 'the Knight and
+    the Soldan of Bagdad?' They are both done into my poor English
+    from the troubadours of Almeigne."</p>
+
+    <p>The lady fixed, at haphazard, on "the Knight and the Soldan
+    of Bagdad:" and Phil prepared to obey her commands. He took a
+    small harp in his hand, and sate down in the vacant chair next
+    to Sir Bryan de Bareilles. The rest of the company composed
+    themselves to listen; and, after a short prelude, Lorimer, in a
+    fine manly voice, began&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Oh, brightly bloom'd the orange flow'r,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And fair the roses round;</p>
+
+            <p>And the fountain, in its marble bed,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Leapt up with a happy sound;</p>
+
+            <p>And stately, stately was the hall,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And rich the feast outspread;</p>
+
+            <p>But the Soldan of Bagdad sigh'd full sore,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And never a word he said.</p>
+
+            <p>Never a word the Soldan said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But many a tear let fall;</p>
+
+            <p>He had tried all the joys that life could give,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And was weary of them all.</p>
+
+            <p>The Soldan lift up his heavy eye&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And to that garden fair,</p>
+
+            <p>A stranger enter'd with harp in hand,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And with a winsome air;</p>
+
+            <p>Long locks of yellow molten gold</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Hung over his cheek so brown,</p>
+
+            <p>And a red mantle of Venice silk</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Fell from his shoulders down.</p>
+
+            <p>A weary wanderer he did seem,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Come from a distant land;</p>
+
+            <p>And over the harpstrings thoughtfully,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">He moveth his cunning
+            hand.</p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page342"
+               name="page342"></a>[pg 342]</span>
+
+            <p>He opes his lips, and he poureth forth</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Such a sweet stream of sound,</p>
+
+            <p>That the Soldan's heart leaps up in his breast,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And his eye he casts around.</p>
+
+            <p>'Was never a voice,' the Soldan said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'So sweet&mdash;nor so blest a
+            song;&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>Sing on, kind minstrel,' the Soldan said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'I have been sad too long.'</p>
+
+            <p>The minstrel sang, and soft and sweet</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The Soldan's tears fell free;</p>
+
+            <p>'Oh, tell me, thou minstrel dear,' he said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'What boon shall I give to thee?</p>
+
+            <p>Oh, stay with me but a year and a day,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And sing sweet songs to me;</p>
+
+            <p>And whatever the boon, by Allah, I swear,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">I will freely give it to thee.'</p>
+
+            <p>The minstrel stay'd a year and a day,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And the Soldan loved him well;</p>
+
+            <p>'Now what is the boon thou askest of me&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">I prithee, dear minstrel, tell.'</p>
+
+            <p>'A Christian knight in thy dungeon pines,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And his hope is nearly o'er;</p>
+
+            <p>His freedom is the boon I ask&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Oh, open his prison door!'</p>
+
+            <p>The minstrel went&mdash;and no more was seen;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And the Christian knight, set free,</p>
+
+            <p>Found a stately ship, that bore him safe</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Home to his own countrie.</p>
+
+            <p>And his lady met him at the gate,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">His lady fair and young;</p>
+
+            <p>And with a scream of pride and joy,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">She in his bosom hung.</p>
+
+            <p>Oh, glad, glad was the Christian knight,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And glad was his lady fair,</p>
+
+            <p>And her pale cheek flush'd as he cast aside</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The locks of her raven hair,</p>
+
+            <p>And kiss'd her brow, and told the tale</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of his dungeon, deep and strong;</p>
+
+            <p>And of the minstrel, too, he told</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And of the power of song.</p>
+
+            <p>And they blest the minstrel, and blest his song,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And soon the feast was dight;</p>
+
+            <p>And prince and noble crowded in,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To welcome home the knight.</p>
+
+            <p>And when the brimming cup went round,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Spoke out an evil tongue,</p>
+
+            <p>And blamed that lady to her lord,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That lady fair and young;</p>
+
+            <p>And told, with many a bitter sneer,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">How that, for many a day,</p>
+
+            <p>When he was prison'd in Paynim land,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That dame was far away,</p>
+
+            <p>And none knew where; but all could guess&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Up rose the knight, and kept</p>
+
+            <p>His hand close clutch'd on his dagger heft,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And down the hall he stept;</p>
+
+            <p>And onwards with the dagger bared,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">He rush'd to the lady's bower&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>'Thou hast been false, and left thy home&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Thou diest this very hour!'</p>
+
+            <p>'Oh! it is true, I left my home;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But yet, before I die,</p>
+
+            <p>Oh! look not on me with face so changed,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Nor with so fierce an eye!</p>
+
+            <p>Oh! let me, but for a minute's space,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Into my chamber hie;</p>
+
+            <p>One prayer I would say for thee and me&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">One prayer&mdash;before I die!'</p>
+
+            <p>She left the bower; and as he stept</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To and fro in ireful mood,</p>
+
+            <p>A stranger from the chamber came,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And close behind him stood.</p>
+
+            <p>Long locks of molten yellow gold</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Hung over his cheek so brown,</p>
+
+            <p>And a red mantle of Venice silk,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Fell from his shoulder, down.</p>
+
+            <p>Dark frown'd the knight&mdash;'Vile churl!' he
+            said;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But ere he utter'd more,</p>
+
+            <p>The stranger let the mantle fall</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Unclasp'd upon the floor,&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>And off he cast the yellow locks&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And, lo! the lady fair,</p>
+
+            <p>Blushing and casting from her cheek</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Her glossy raven hair!</p>
+
+            <p>Down fell the dagger; down the knight</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Sank kneeling and opprest;</p>
+
+            <p>And the lady oped her snow white arms,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And wept upon his breast!"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"A foul song!&mdash;a wanton woman!"&mdash;exclaimed Sir
+    Bryan de Barreilles&mdash;"he should have stabbed her for
+    living so long with a Jew villain like the Soldan of
+    Bagdad."</p>
+
+    <p>"Was the villain a Jew?" enquired Dr Howlet, who had caught
+    the word. "I did not know Bagdad was in Jewry. Is a heathen the
+    same as a Jew, Mr Peeper?"</p>
+
+    <p>The gentleman thus appealed to, coughed as if to clear his
+    throat, and though he usually spoke with the utmost clearness,
+    he mumbled and muttered in the same unintelligible manner as he
+    had done when he was saying grace; and it was a very peculiar
+    habit of the learned individual, whenever he was applied to for
+    an explanation, to betake himself to a mode of
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page343"
+       name="page343"></a>[pg 343]</span> speech that would have
+       puzzled a far wiser head than Dr Howlet's, to make head or
+       tail of it.</p>
+
+    <p>Dr Howlett, however, appeared to be perfectly satisfied with
+    the information; and by the indignant manner in which he struck
+    his long gold-headed ebony walking-stick on the floor, seemed
+    entirely to agree with the worthy knight in his estimate of the
+    heroine of Phil Lorimer's ballad.</p>
+
+    <p>"I like the ballad about the jousting of Romulus the bold
+    Roman, with Judas Maccabaeus in the Camp at Ascalon far
+    better," said Hasket of Norland. "Sing it, Phil."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, no," cried Maulerer, who was far gone in intoxication.
+    "Sing us the song of the Feasting at Glaston, when Eneas the
+    Trojan married Arthur's daughter.&mdash;Sing the song, sirrah,
+    this moment, or I'll cut your tongue in two, to make your note
+    the sweeter.&mdash;Sing."</p>
+
+    <p>Thus adjured, Phil once more began:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"There was feasting high and revelry</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In Glaston's lofty hall;</p>
+
+            <p>And loud was the sound, as the cup went round,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of joyous whoop and call;</p>
+
+            <p>And Arthur the king, in that noble ring,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Was the merriest of them all.</p>
+
+            <p>No thought, no care, found entrance there,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But beauty's smiles were won;</p>
+
+            <p>No sour Jack Priest to spoil the feast"&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Ha!" cried Howlet, interrupting Mr Lorimer in a tremendous
+    passion, "what says the varlet? He is a heathen Turk, and no
+    Christian. How dares he talk so of the church?" The old man
+    rose as he spoke, and, suddenly catching hold of the enormous
+    ebony walking-stick, which generally reposed at the side of his
+    chair, he aimed a blow with all his force at the unfortunate
+    songster; but, being blind, and not calculating his distance,
+    his staff fell with tremendous effect on the left eye of Sir
+    Bryan de Barreilles.</p>
+
+    <p>"Is it so?" cried the Knight, stunned; but resisting the
+    tendency to prostration produced by the stroke, and flinging a
+    large silver flagon across the table, which missed Dr Howlet,
+    and made a deep indentation in the skull of Maulerer of
+    Phascald&mdash;"Now, then!"</p>
+
+    <p>Hasket of Norland attempted to hold Sir Bryan, and prevent
+    his following up his attack; and Mr Maulerer recovered
+    sufficiently to fling the heavy candlestick at his assailant;
+    the branches of which hit the cheek of Hasket, while the
+    massive bottom ejected the three front teeth of Sir Bryan.</p>
+
+    <p>There was now no possibility of preventing the quarrel; and
+    while the four strangers were pounding each other with whatever
+    weapons came first to hand, and Mr Peeper crept under the table
+    for safety, and Reginald essayed to talk them into reason, Mr
+    Lutter politely handed Jane to the door of the hall.</p>
+
+    <p>"Permit me, madam, to rescue you from this dreadful
+    scene."</p>
+
+    <p>"Is it thus always?" enquired Jane, nearly weeping with
+    fright.</p>
+
+    <p>"There are many things that may be improved in the castle,"
+    said Mr Lutter. "I have seen the necessity of an alteration for
+    a long time, and, if you will favour me with your assistance,
+    much may be done."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I will help you to the utmost of my power."</p>
+
+    <p>"We must upset the influence of Mr Peeper," said Mr Lutter.
+    "May I speak to you on the subject to-morrow?"</p>
+
+    <p>A month had passed since Jane's arrival at Belfront Castle,
+    and she had had many private and confidential conversations
+    with Mr Lutter. The ominous eyes of Mr Peeper grew fiercer and
+    fiercer, and she many times thought of coming to an open
+    rupture with him at once; but was deterred from doing so, by
+    not yet having ascertained whether her influence over Reginald
+    was sufficiently established to stand a contest with the
+    authority of his ancient friend. She could not understand how
+    her husband could have remained hoodwinked so long; or how he
+    had submitted to the despotic proceedings of his former tutor,
+    who persisted in assembling the same airs of authority over
+    him, as he had exercised when he was a child. Such, however,
+    was evidently the case; and Reginald had never entertained a
+    thought of rescuing himself from the thraldom in which he had
+    grown up. A look from Mr Peeper; a solemn statement from him,
+    that such and such things had never been heard of before in
+    Belfront; and, above all, the use of the muttered and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page344"
+       name="page344"></a>[pg 344]</span> unintelligible jargon to
+       which Mr Peeper betook himself in matters of weight and
+       difficulty, were quite sufficient: Reginald immediately gave
+       up his own judgment, and felt in fact rather ashamed of
+       himself for having hinted that he had a judgement at all.
+       Under these circumstances, Mr Lutter had a very difficult
+       part to play; and all that Jane could do, was to second him
+       whenever she had the opportunity. One day, in the lovely
+       month of April, Phil Lorimer sat on a sunny part of the
+       enornous wall that guarded the castle, and leaning his back
+       against one of the little square towers that rose at
+       intervals in the circuit of the fortifications, sang song
+       after song, as if for the edification of a number of crows
+       that were perched on the trees on the other side of the
+       moat. The audience were grossly inattentive, and paid no
+       respect whatever to the performer, who still continued his
+       exertions, as highly satisfied as if he were applauded by
+       boxes, pit, and gallery of a crowded theatre:&mdash;Among
+       others, he sang the ballad of the "Silver Scarf."</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"It was a King's fair daughter,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With eyes of deepest blue,</p>
+
+            <p>She wove a scarf of silver</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The whole long summer through&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"A stately chair she sat on</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Before the castle door,</p>
+
+            <p>And ever in the calm moonlight</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">She work'd it o'er and o'er.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"And many a knight and noble</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Went daily out and in,</p>
+
+            <p>And each one marvell'd in his heart</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Which the fair scarf might win.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"She took no heed of questions,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From her work ne'er raised her head,</p>
+
+            <p>And on the snow-white border</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Sew'd her name in blackest thread.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Then came a tempest roaring,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From the high hills it came,</p>
+
+            <p>And bore the scarf far out to sea</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From forth its fragile frame:</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The maiden sate unstartled,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">As if it <i>must</i> be so&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>She stood up from her stately chair,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And to her bower did go.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"She took from forth her wardrobe</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Her dress of mourning hue&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>Whoever for a scarf before</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Such weight of sorrow knew?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"In robes of deepest mourning,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Three nights and days she sate;</p>
+
+            <p>On the third night, the warder's horn</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Was sounded at the gate&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"A messenger stands at the door,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And sad news bringeth he;</p>
+
+            <p>The king and all his gallant ships</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Are wreck'd upon the sea.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"And now the tide is rising,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And casts upon the shore</p>
+
+            <p>Full many a gallant hero's corse,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And many a golden store.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Then up rose the king's daughter,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Drew to her window near;</p>
+
+            <p>'What is it glitters on thine arm,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In the moonlight so clear?'</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"'It is a scarf of silver,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">I brought it from the strand;</p>
+
+            <p>I took it from the closed grasp</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of a strong warrior's hand.'</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"That feat thou ne'er shouldst boast of</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">If but alive were he;</p>
+
+            <p>Go take him back thy trophy</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To the blue rolling sea.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"And when that knight you've buried,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The scarf his grave shall grace;</p>
+
+            <p>And next to where you've laid him,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Oh, leave a vacant place!"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Here, you cursed old piper! leave off frightening the
+    crows, and open the gate this moment. Who the devil, do you
+    think, is to burst a bloodvessel by hollowing here all
+    day?"</p>
+
+    <p>Mr Lorimer, though used to considerable indignities, as we
+    have already seen, had still a little of the becoming poetical
+    pride about him, and looked rather angrily over the wall.
+    "Nobody wishes you to break bloodvessels, or have their own
+    ears disturbed by your screaming," he said. "What do you
+    want?"</p>
+
+    <p>"To get into your infernal house, to be sure. Where did you
+    get such unchristian roads? My bones are sore with the jolting.
+    Send somebody to open the gate."</p>
+
+    <p>"The drawbridge is up, and Mr Peeper must have his
+    twopence."</p>
+
+    <p>"Who the devil is Mr Peeper?" said the stranger. "I sha'n't
+    give him a fraction. Who made the drawbridge his? Is Mr
+    Belfront at home?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, he is in Mr Peeper's study."</p>
+
+    <p>"And Mrs Belfront?"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Pickling cod. It is Mr Peeper's favourite dish; so we all
+    live on it sometimes for weeks together."</p>
+
+    <p>"With such a trout-stream at your door? He'll be a cleverer
+    fellow than I think him if he gets me to eat <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page345"
+       name="page345"></a>[pg 345]</span> his salted carrion. Open
+       the door, I say, or you'll have the worst of it when my
+       stick gets near your head. Tell Mrs Belfront her uncle is
+       here&mdash;her Uncle Samson."</p>
+
+    <p>Phil Lorimer saw no great resemblance to the Jewish Hercules
+    in the little, dapper, bustling-mannered man in a blue coat
+    with bright brass buttons, pepper-and-salt knee-breeches, and
+    long gaiters, who thus proclaimed his relationship to the lady
+    of the castle. He hurried down from the wall to make the
+    required announcement.</p>
+
+    <p>"My uncle Samson, the manufacturer, from Leeds! Oh, let him
+    in, by all means!" exclaimed Jane; "he was always so kind to me
+    when I was a child!"</p>
+
+    <p>"He can't get in, madam, unless Mr Peeper orders the
+    drawbridge to be lowered; and he is now busy with Mr
+    Belfront."</p>
+
+    <p>"Go for Mr Lutter; he will be glad to hear of uncle Samson's
+    arrival."</p>
+
+    <p>Mr Lorimer discovered Mr Lutter comfortably regaling himself
+    in the buttery; but on hearing in what respect his services
+    were required, he left unfinished a large tankard of ale, with
+    which he was washing down an enormous quantity of bread and
+    cheese, and proceeded to the moat.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't disturb Mr Peeper," he said, "but help me to launch
+    the little punt."</p>
+
+    <p>By dint of a little labour, the small vessel was got into
+    the water, and Mr Lutter, taking a scull in his hand, paddled
+    over to the other side, and embarked the gentleman in the blue
+    coat. Paddling towards an undefended part of the castle, he
+    taught him how to clamber up the wall; and Mr Samson, wiping
+    the stains of his climbing from the knees of his nether
+    habiliments, looked round the castle-yard. "Well! who'd have
+    thought that such a monstrous strong-looking place should be
+    stormed by a middle-aged gentleman in a punt!"</p>
+
+    <p>"You've a friend in the garrison, you'll remember, sir, and
+    the battlements have never been repaired."</p>
+
+    <p>"They ain't worth repairing. It's a regular waste of
+    building materials to make such thick walls and pinnacles.
+    Blowed, if them stones wouldn't build a mill; and a precious
+    water-power, too," he added, as he saw the river sparkling
+    downward at the northern side. "Oho! I must have a talk with
+    Jane. Will you take me to Mrs Belfront? I haven't seen her for
+    five years. She must be much changed since then, and I must
+    prepare her for the arrival of her cousins."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane was sitting in the great hall, feeling disconsolate
+    enough. Often, in her father's comfortable parlour, she had
+    read accounts of baronial residences of the olden time; and one
+    of the greatest pleasures she had felt in becoming Mrs
+    Belfront, was to be the possessor of a real <i>bona fide</i>
+    castle that had been actually a fortress in the days of
+    knighthood. She had studied long ago the adventures of
+    high-born dames and stately nobles, till she was nearly as far
+    gone in romance as Don Quixote; and many questions she had
+    asked about Belfront, and donjon-towers, and keeps, and
+    tiltyards, and laboured very hard to acquire a correct idea of
+    the mode of life and manners of the days of chivalry. Her
+    imagination, we have seen, was too lively to be restrained by
+    the more matter-of-fact nature of her husband; and she now felt
+    with great bitterness the difference between presiding at a
+    tournament, or being present at the Vow of the Peacock, and the
+    slavish submission in which she, with the whole household, was
+    held by Mr Pepper. Deeply she now regretted the feelings of
+    superiority she had experienced over her own relations by her
+    marriage into such an ancient race as the Belfronts. She felt
+    ashamed of the contempt she had felt for the industrious
+    founders of her own family's wealth, and at that moment would
+    have preferred the blue coat and brass buttons of her uncle
+    Samson, to all the escutcheons and shields of the Norman
+    conquest; and at that moment, luckily, the identical coat and
+    buttons made their appearance.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, niece, here's a go!" exclaimed the angry uncle. "Is
+    this a way to receive a near relation after such a
+    journey?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, uncle!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, did ye never hear tell of such a place as
+    Kidderminster?&mdash;have you no carpets?"</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page346"
+       name="page346"></a>[pg 346]</span> "Mr Belfront says there
+       were no carpets in his ancestor's time"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"And no railroads, nor postchaises, nor books, nor nothing;
+    and is that any reason why we shouldn't have lots of every
+    thing now? By dad, before I've been here a week I'll have a
+    reg'lar French Revolution! No Bastille! says I; let's have a
+    Turkey carpet, and a telescope dining-table, good roads, and no
+    infernal punts&mdash;and, above all, let's get quit of the
+    villain Peeper."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! if Reginald would only consent!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why not? by dad, I'll make his fortune. I'll give him a
+    thousand a-year for the water-power that's now all thrown away.
+    I'll have a nice village built down in the valley. I'll get him
+    two guineas an acre for his land that's now lying waste. I'll
+    dig for coal. We'll build a nice comfortable house, and leave
+    this old ruin to the crows."</p>
+
+    <p>"And the neighbours, uncle Samson?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, we'll build a church, and the parson will be a good
+    companion. When the roads are made, you'll give a jolly dinner
+    once a-week to every squire within ten miles. You'll have a
+    book club. You'll help in the Sunday school. You'll go to the
+    county balls. Your husband will join the agricultural society,
+    and act as a magistrate. He'll subscribe to the hounds. He'll
+    attend to the registrations. He'll have shooting-parties in
+    September. And as to any old-world, wretched talks about
+    chivalry and antiquity, we'll show him that there never was a
+    time like the present&mdash;commerce, land, property, and
+    intelligence, all in the very best condition. We'll make Lutter
+    superintendent of the whole estate, and send old Peeper about
+    his business. And in all this you must help; for there's
+    nothing to be done without the help of the ladies: so give me
+    your hand, dear niece, and don't cry."</p>
+
+    <p>"It would make me so happy! I would never look into Amadis
+    de Gaul again!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hang Amadis de Gall and Amadi de Spurzheim, too! Where is
+    your husband?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I seldom see him now. He is always in the oratory with Mr
+    Peeper."</p>
+
+    <p>"The deuce he is!" said the uncle. "And how do you get on in
+    other respects? Are you
+    comfortable&mdash;happy&mdash;contented?" Jane told him all she
+    had encountered since she had come to the castle, and the uncle
+    seemed thunderstruck at the recital.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well! bold measures are always the best," he said at last;
+    "I'll kick Peeper into the moat!" and before his niece could
+    interfere, the uncle had rushed across the quadrangle, guided,
+    we are sorry to say, by Mr Lutter, and, grasping the venerable
+    Peeper, whom he met near the drawbridge, he dragged him towards
+    the water.</p>
+
+    <p>Jane ran to get assistance for the unfortunate victim; and
+    crying "Help! help!" as she saw the wretched man forced over
+    the walls, she looked in a state of distraction towards her
+    husband. "Dear Jane," said that individual, smiling blandly, "I
+    told you you had overtired yourself with walking." Jane gazed
+    round; there was Reginald sitting beside her, with her head
+    reclining on his shoulder, at the open window of the inn in
+    Wales. The vale of Cwmcwyllchly was spread in a beautiful
+    landscape below. They were still on their wedding tour.</p>
+
+    <p>"You have been asleep, Jane," said Reginald.</p>
+
+    <p>"And have had such dreadful dreams. Oh, Reginald! I have had
+    such visions of horrid things and people. I shall never be
+    romantic again about chivalry. Such coarseness!&mdash;such
+    slavery!&mdash;such ignorance! Ah, how happy we ought to be
+    that we are born in a civilized time, with no Mr Peepers for
+    father confessors, nor fighting with firebrands for
+    amusement!"</p>
+
+    <p>"You have been reading <i>Hallam's Middle Ages</i>&mdash;a
+    present from your uncle Samson&mdash;till you have become a
+    right-down Utilitarian. Come, let us ring for tea; and
+    to-morrow we must start for Yorkshire! The Quarter-sessions are
+    coming on."</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page347"
+       name="page347"></a>[pg 347]</span> <a name="bw341s6"
+          id="bw341s6"></a>
+
+    <h2>DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE.</h2>
+
+    <p>We left M. Dumas at Marseilles: we find him again at Naples.
+    Three volumes are the result of his visit to the last named
+    city&mdash;volumes in which he manages to put a little of every
+    thing, and a good deal of some things. Antiquarian, historian,
+    virtuoso, novelist, he touches upon all subjects, flying from
+    one to the other with a lightness and a facility of transition
+    peculiarly his own, and peculiarly agreeable. English
+    travellers and Italian composers, St Januarius and the opera,
+    Masaniello and the <i>gettatura</i>, Pompeii, princes, police
+    spies, Vesuvius, all have their turn&mdash;M. Dumas, with his
+    usual tact, merely glancing at those subjects which are known
+    and written about by every tourist, but giving himself full
+    scope when he gets off the beaten track. His book is literally
+    crammed with tales and anecdotes, to such a degree indeed, and
+    most of them so good, that our principal difficulty in
+    commencing a notice of it, is to know where to pick and choose
+    our extracts; <i>l'embarras des richesses</i>, in short. The
+    best way will probably be to begin at the beginning, and go as
+    far as our limits allow us, referring our readers to the
+    original for the many good things that want of space will
+    compel us to exclude.</p>
+
+    <p>M. Dumas calls his book the <i>Corricolo</i>, and devotes a
+    short and characteristic preface to an explanation of the
+    title. This explanation we must give in his own words. It is so
+    highly graphic, that, after reading it, we fancied we had seen
+    a picture of what it describes.</p>
+
+    <p>"A <i>corricolo</i> is a sort of tilbury or gig, originally
+    intended to hold one person, and be drawn by one horse. At
+    Naples they harness two horses to it; and it conveys twelve or
+    fifteen individuals, not at a walk nor at a trot, but at full
+    gallop, and this, notwithstanding that only one of the horses
+    does any work. The shaft horse draws, but the other, which is
+    harnessed abreast of him, and called the <i>bilancino</i>,
+    prances and curvets about, animates his companion, but does
+    nothing else.</p>
+
+    <p>"Having said that the gig built to carry one is made to
+    carry fifteen, I am, of course, expected to explain how this is
+    accomplished. There is an old French proverb, according to
+    which, when there is enough for one there is enough for two;
+    but I am not aware of any proverb in any language which says,
+    that when there is enough for one, there is enough for fifteen.
+    Nevertheless, it is the case with the <i>corricolo</i>. In the
+    present advanced state of civilization, every thing is diverted
+    from its primitive destination. As it is impossible to say at
+    what period, or in how long a time, the capacity of the vehicle
+    in question was extended in the ratio of one to fifteen, I must
+    content myself with describing the way of packing the
+    passengers.</p>
+
+    <p>"In the first place, there is almost invariably a fat greasy
+    monk seated in the middle, forming the centre of a sort of coil
+    of human creatures. On one of his knees is some robust
+    rosy-cheeked nurse from Aversa or Nettuno; on the other, a
+    handsome peasant woman from Bauci or Procida. On either side of
+    him, between the wheels and the body of the vehicle, stand the
+    husbands of these two ladies. Standing on tiptoe behind the
+    monk is the driver, holding in his left hand the reins, and in
+    his right the long whip with which he keeps his horses at an
+    equal rate of speed. Behind <i>him</i> are two or three
+    lazzaroni, who get up and down, go away, and are succeeded by
+    others, without any body taking notice of them, or expecting
+    them to pay for their ride. On the shafts are seated two boys,
+    picked up on the road from Torre del Greco or Pouzzoles,
+    probably supernumerary <i>ciceroni</i> of the antiquities of
+    Herculaneum and Pompeii. Finally, suspended under the carriage,
+    in a sort of coarse rope network with large meshes, which
+    swings backwards and forwards at every movement of the vehicle,
+    is a shapeless and incomprehensible mass, which cries, laughs,
+    sings, screams, shouts, and bellows, all by turns and none for
+    long together, and the nature of which it is impossible to
+    distinguish, dimly seen as it is through the clouds of dust
+    raised by the horses' feet. This mass consists of three or four
+    children, who belong to Heaven knows who, are going Heaven
+    knows where, live Heaven knows how, and are there Heaven knows
+    wherefore.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page348"
+       name="page348"></a>[pg 348]</span> "Now then, put down, one
+       above the other, monk, women, husbands, driver, lazzaroni,
+       boys and children; add them up, include the infant in arms,
+       which has been forgotten, and the total will be fifteen.</p>
+
+    <p>"It sometimes happens that the <i>coricolo</i> passes over a
+    big stone, and upsets, pitching out its occupants to a greater
+    or less distance, according to their respective gravity. But,
+    on such occasions, nobody thinks of himself; the attention of
+    every one is immediately turned to the monk. If he is hurt, the
+    journey is over for the day; they carry him to the nearest
+    house; the horses are put into the stable, and he is put to
+    bed; the women nurse him, make much of him, cry and pray over
+    him. If, on the other hand, the monk is safe and sound, nobody
+    has a right to complain; he resumes his seat, the nurse and the
+    peasant woman resume theirs, the others climb up into their
+    respective places&mdash;a crack of the long whip, and a shout
+    from the driver, and the <i>corricolo</i> is off again full
+    speed."</p>
+
+    <p>From this we learn what a <i>corricolo</i> is, but we have
+    not yet been told why M. Dumas should christen his book after
+    the degenerate descendant of the Roman curriculum.
+    Patience&mdash;we shall get to it in time. Materials crowd upon
+    our traveller, and it is only in the second chapter that the
+    desired explanation is given. In the first we are informed of
+    M. Dumas's installation at the Hotel Vittoria, kept by M.
+    Martin Zill, who, besides being an innkeeper, is a man of much
+    taste in art, a distinguished antiquary, an amateur of
+    pictures, a collector of autographs and curiosities. Apropos of
+    the hotel we have an anecdote of the ex-dey of Algiers, who, on
+    being dispossessed of his dominions by the French, took refuge
+    at Naples, and established himself under M. Zill's hospitable
+    roof. The third floor was entirely occupied by his suite and
+    attendants, the fourth was for himself and his treasures, the
+    fifth, or the garrets, he converted into his harem. The curious
+    arms, costumes, and jewels which Hussein Pacha had brought with
+    him, were a godsend to the virtuoso weary of examining and
+    admiring them; and, before the African had been a week in the
+    house, he and his host were sworn friends. Unfortunately this
+    harmony was not destined to last very long.</p>
+
+    <p>"One morning Hussein Pacha's cook (a Nubian as black as ink,
+    and as shining as if he had been polished with a shoe-brush)
+    entered the kitchen of the hotel, and asked for the largest
+    knife they had. The head-cook gave him a sort of carving-knife,
+    some eighteen inches long, sharp as a razor, and pliant as a
+    foil. The negro looked at it, shook his head as if in doubt
+    whether it would do, but nevertheless took it up stairs with
+    him. Presently he brought it down again, and asked for a larger
+    one. The cook opened all his drawers, and at last found a sort
+    of cutlass, which he hardly ever used on account of its
+    enormous size. With this the Nubian appeared more satisfied,
+    and again went up stairs. Five minutes afterwards he came down
+    for the third time, and returned the knife, asking for a bigger
+    one still. The cook's curiosity was excited, and he enquired
+    who wanted the knife, and for what purpose.</p>
+
+    <p>"The African told him very coolly that the dey, having left
+    his dominions rather in a hurry, had forgotten to bring an
+    executioner with him, and had consequently ordered his cook to
+    get a large knife and cut off the head of Osmin, chief of the
+    eunuchs, who was convicted of having kept such negligent watch
+    and ward over his highness's seraglio, that some presumptuous
+    Giaour had made a hole in the wall, and established a
+    communication with Zaida, the dey's favourite <i>odalisque</i>.
+    Accordingly Osmin was to be decapitated; and as to the
+    offending lady, the next time the dey took an airing in the bay
+    of Naples, she would be put into the boat in a sack, and
+    consigned to the keeping of the kelpies. Thunderstruck at such
+    summary proceedings, the cook desired his Nubian brother to
+    wait while he went for a larger knife; then hastening to M.
+    Martin Zill, he told him what he had just heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"M. Martin Zill ran to the minister of police, and laid the
+    matter before him. His excellency got into his carriage
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page349"
+       name="page349"></a>[pg 349]</span> and went to call upon the
+       dey.</p>
+
+    <p>He found his highness reclining upon a divan, his back
+    supported by cushions, smoking latakia in a chibouque, while an
+    icoglan scratched the soles of his feet, and two slaves fanned
+    him. The minister made his three salaams; the dey nodded his
+    head.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your highness,' said his excellency, 'I am the minister of
+    police.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I know you are,' answered the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then your highness probably conjectures the motive of my
+    visit.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No. But you are welcome all the same.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I come to prevent your highness from committing a
+    crime.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A crime! And what crime?' said the dey, taking the pipe
+    from his mouth, and gazing at his interlocutor in the most
+    profound astonishment.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I wonder your highness should ask the question,' replied
+    the minister. 'Is it not your intention to cut off Osmin's
+    head?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That is no crime,' answered the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Does not your highness purpose throwing Zaida into the
+    sea?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That is no crime,' repeated the dey. 'I bought Osmin for
+    five hundred piasters, and Zaida for a thousand sequins, just
+    as I bought this pipe for a hundred ducats.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Well,' said the minister, 'what does your highness deduce
+    from that?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That as this pipe belongs to me, as I have bought it and
+    paid for it, I may break it to atoms if I choose, and nobody
+    has a right to object.' So saying, the pacha broke his pipe,
+    and threw the fragments into the middle of the room.</p>
+
+    <p>"'All very well, as far as a pipe goes,' said the minister;
+    'but Osmin, but Zaida?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Less than a pipe,' said the dey gravely.</p>
+
+    <p>"'How! less than a pipe! A man less than a pipe! A woman
+    less than a pipe!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Osmin is not a man, and Zaida is not a woman: they are
+    slaves. I will cut off Osmin's head, and throw Zaida into the
+    sea.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No!' said the magistrate. 'Not at Naples at least.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Dog of a Christian!' shouted the dey, 'do you know who I
+    am?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You are the ex-dey of Algiers, and I am the Neapolitan
+    minister of police; and, if your deyship is impertinent, I
+    shall send him to prison,' added the minister very coolly.</p>
+
+    <p>"'To prison!' repeated the dey, falling back upon his
+    divan.</p>
+
+    <p>"'To prison,' replied the minister.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Very well,' said Hussein. 'I leave Naples to-night.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your highness is as free as air to go and to come.
+    Nevertheless, I must make one condition. Before your departure,
+    you will swear by the Prophet, that no harm shall be done to
+    Osmin or Zaida.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Osmin and Zaida belong to me, and I shall do what I please
+    with them.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then your highness will be pleased to deliver them over to
+    me, to be punished according to the laws of the country; and,
+    until you do so, you will not be allowed to leave Naples.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Who will prevent me?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The pacha laid his hand on his dagger. The minister stepped
+    to the window and made a sign. The next moment the tramp of
+    heavy boots and jingle of spurs were heard upon the stairs; the
+    door opened, and a gigantic corporal of gendarmes made his
+    appearance, his right hand raised to his cocked hat, his left
+    upon the seam of his trouser.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Gennaro,' said the minister of police, 'if I gave you an
+    order to arrest this gentleman, would you see any difficulty in
+    executing it?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'None, your excellency.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You are aware that this gentleman's name is Hussein
+    Pacha.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I was not, your excellency.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And that he is dey of Algiers.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'May it please your excellency, I don't know what that
+    is.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You see?' said the minister, turning to the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'The devil! exclaimed Hussein.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Shall I?' said Gennaro, taking a pair of handcuffs from
+    his pocket, and advancing a pace towards the dey, who, on his
+    part, took a step backwards.</p>
+
+    <p>"'No,' replied the minister, 'it will not be necessary. His
+    highness <span class="pagenum"><a id="page350"
+       name="page350"></a>[pg 350]</span> will do as he is bid. Go
+       and search the hotel for a man named Osmin, and a woman
+       named Zaida, and take them both to the prefecture.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What!' cried the dey; 'this man is to enter my harem?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'He is not a man,' replied the minister; 'he is a corporal
+    of gendarmes. But if you do not wish him to go, send for Osmin
+    and Zaida yourself.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Will you promise to have them punished?' enquired the
+    dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Certainly; according to the utmost rigour of the law.'</p>
+
+    <p>"Hussein Pacha clapped his hands. A door concealed behind a
+    tapestry was opened, and a slave entered the room.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Bring down Osmin and Zaida,' said the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"The slave crossed his hands on his breast, bowed his head,
+    and disappeared without uttering a word. The next instant he
+    came back with the two culprits.</p>
+
+    <p>"The eunuch was a little round fat fellow, with beardless
+    face, and small hands and feet. Zaida was a beautiful
+    Circassian, her eyelids painted with kool, her teeth blackened
+    with betel, her nails reddened with henna. On perceiving
+    Hussein Pacha, the eunuch fell upon his knees; Zaida raised her
+    head. The dey's eyes flashed, and he clutched the hilt of his
+    kangiar. Osmin grew pale; Zaida smiled. The minister of police
+    made a sign to the gendarme, who stepped up to the two
+    captives, handcuffed them, and led them out of the room. As the
+    door closed behind them, the dey uttered a sound between a sigh
+    and a roar.</p>
+
+    <p>"The magistrate looked out of the window, till he saw the
+    prisoners and their escort disappear at the corner of the
+    Strada Chiatamone. Then turning to the dey&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your highness is now at liberty to leave Naples, if he
+    wishes so to do,' said the imperturbable functionary with a low
+    bow.</p>
+
+    <p>"'This very instant!' cried Hussein. 'I will not remain
+    another moment in such a barbarous country as yours.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A pleasant journey to your highness,' said the
+    minister.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Go to the devil!' retorted Hussein.</p>
+
+    <p>"Before an hour had elapsed, the dey had chartered a small
+    vessel, on board of which he embarked the same evening with his
+    suite, his wives, and his treasures; and at midnight he set
+    sail; cursing the tyranny that prevented a man from drowning
+    his wife and cutting off the heads of his slaves. The next day
+    the minister of police had the culprits brought before him and
+    examined. Osmin was found guilty of having slept when he ought
+    to have watched, and Zaida of having watched when she ought to
+    have slept. But, by some strange omission, the Neapolitan code
+    allots no punishment to such offences; and, consequently, Osmin
+    and Zaida, to their infinite astonishment, were immediately set
+    at liberty. Osmin took to selling pastilles for a livelihood,
+    and the lady got employment as <i>dame de comptoir</i> in a
+    coffeehouse. As to the dey, he had left Naples with the
+    intention of going to England, in which country, as he had been
+    informed, a man is at liberty to sell his wife, if he may not
+    drown her. He was taken ill, however, on the road, and obliged
+    to stop at Leghorn, where he died."</p>
+
+    <p>M. Dumas, not being in good odour with the Neapolitan
+    authorities, on account of some supposed republican tendencies
+    of his, is at Naples under an assumed name; and, as it is
+    uncertain how long he may be able to preserve his incognito, he
+    is desirous of seeing all that is to be seen in as short a time
+    as possible. He finds that Naples, independently of its
+    suburbs, consists of three streets where every body goes, and
+    five hundred streets where nobody goes. The three streets are,
+    the Chiaja, the Toledo, and the Forcella; the five hundred
+    others are nameless&mdash;a labyrinth of houses, which might be
+    compared to that of Crete, deducting the Minotaur, and adding
+    the Lazzaroni. There are three ways of seeing Naples&mdash;on
+    foot, in a <i>corricolo</i> or in a carriage. On foot, one goes
+    every where, but one sees too much; in a carriage, one only
+    goes through the three principal streets, and one sees too
+    little&mdash;the <i>corricolo</i> is the happy medium, the
+    <i>juste milieu</i>, to which M. Dumas for <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page351"
+       name="page351"></a>[pg 351]</span> once determines to
+       adhere. Having made up his mind, he sends for his host, and
+       enquires where he can hire a <i>corricolo</i> by the week or
+       month. His host tells him he had better buy one, horse and
+       all. To this plan M. Dumas objects the expense.</p>
+
+    <p>"'It will cost you,' said M. Martin, after a momentary
+    calculation in his head, 'it will cost you&mdash;the
+    <i>corricolo</i> ten ducats, each horse thirty carlini, the
+    harness a pistole; in all, eighty French francs.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What! for ten ducats I shall have a <i>corricolo</i>?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A magnificent one.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'New?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh! you are asking too much. There are no such things as
+    new <i>corricoli</i>. There is a standing order of the police
+    forbidding coachmakers to build them.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Indeed! How long has that order been in force?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Fifty years, perhaps.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'How comes it, then, that there is such a thing as a
+    <i>corricolo</i> in existence?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Nothing easier. You know the story of Jeannot's
+    knife?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'To be sure I do; it is one of our national chronicles. The
+    blade had been changed fifteen times, and the handle fifteen
+    times, but it was still the same knife.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The case of the <i>corricolo</i> is exactly similar. It is
+    forbidden to build new ones, but it is not forbidden to put new
+    wheels to old bodies, and new bodies on old wheels. By these
+    means the <i>corricolo</i> becomes immortal.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I understand. An old body and new wheels for me, if you
+    please. But the horses? Do you mean to say that for thirty
+    francs I shall have a pair of horses?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A superb pair, that will go like the wind.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What sort of horses?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh, dead ones, of course!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Dead ones!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Certainly. At that price you could hardly expect any thing
+    better.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'My dear M. Martin, be kind enough to explain. I am
+    travelling for my improvement, and information of all kinds is
+    highly acceptable.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You are acquainted with the history of the horse, I
+    suppose?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The natural history? Buffon's? Certainly. The horse is,
+    after the lion, the noblest of all the beasts.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No, no; the philosophical history. The different stages
+    and vicissitudes in the existence of those noble
+    quadrupeds.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh yes! first the saddle, then a carriage or gig, thence
+    to a stage-coach or omnibus, hackney-coach or cab, and
+    finally&mdash;to the knacker's.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And from the knacker's?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'To the Elysian fields, I suppose.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No. Not here, at least. From the knacker's they go to the
+    <i>corricoli</i>.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'How so?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will tell you. At the Ponte della Maddalena, where
+    horses are taken to be killed, there are always persons
+    waiting, who, when a horse is brought, buy the hide and hoofs
+    for thirty carlini, which is the price regulated by law.
+    Instead of killing the horse and skinning him, these persons
+    take him with the skin on, and make the most of the time he yet
+    has to live. They are sure of getting the skin sooner or later.
+    And these are what I mean by dead horses.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But what can they possibly do with the unfortunate
+    brutes?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'They harness them to the <i>corricoli</i>.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What! those with which I came from Salerno to
+    Naples'&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"'Were the ghosts of horses; spectre steeds, in short.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But they galloped the whole way.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why not? <i>Les morts vont vite.</i>'"</p>
+
+    <p><i>Et cetera, et cetera</i>. For the price stated by his
+    host, M. Dumas finds himself possessor of a magnificent
+    <i>corricolo</i> of a bright red colour, with green trees and
+    animals painted thereon. Two most fiery and impatient steeds,
+    half concealed by harness, bells, and ribands, are included in
+    his purchase. After a vain attempt to drive himself, the
+    phantom coursers having apparently a supreme contempt for
+    whipcord, he gives up the reins to a professional charioteer,
+    and commences his perambulations. His first visit is to the
+    Chiaja, the favourite promenade of the aristocracy and of
+    foreigners; his second to the Toledo, the street of shops and
+    loungers; his third <span class="pagenum"><a id="page352"
+       name="page352"></a>[pg 352]</span> to the Forcella,
+       frequented by lawyers and their clients. He makes a chapter,
+       and a long one too, out of each street; but not in the way
+       usually adopted by those pitiless tour-writers who overwhelm
+       their readers with dry architectural details, filling a page
+       with a portico, and a chapter with a chapel&mdash;not
+       letting one off a pane of a painted window or line of
+       worm-eaten inscription however often those things may have
+       been described already by previous travellers. M. Dumas
+       prefers men to things as subjects for his pen; and the three
+       chapters above named are filled with curious illustrations
+       of Neapolitan manners, customs, and character. Apropos of
+       the Toledo, we are introduced to the well-known
+       <i>impresario</i>, Domenico Barbaja, who had his palazzo in
+       that street, and who, from being waiter in a coffeehouse at
+       Milan, became the manager of three theatres at one time,
+       namely, San Carlo, La Scala, and the Vienna opera. He
+       appears to have been a man of great energy and originality
+       of character, concealing an excellent heart under the
+       roughest manners and most choleric of tempers.</p>
+
+    <p>"It would be impossible," says M. Dumas, "to translate into
+    any language the abuse with which Barbaja used to overwhelm the
+    singers and musicians at his theatres when they displeased him.
+    Yet not one of them bore him malice for it, knowing that, if
+    they had the least triumph, Barbaja would be the first to
+    embrace and congratulate them: if they were unsuccessful, he
+    would console them with the utmost delicacy: if they were ill,
+    he would watch over them with the tenderness of a father or
+    brother. The fortune which he had amassed, little by little,
+    and by strenuous exertions, he spent in the most generous and
+    princely manner. His palace, his villa, and his table, were
+    open to all.</p>
+
+    <p>"His genius was of a peculiar and extraordinary kind.
+    Education he had none: he was unable to write the commonest
+    letter, and did not know a note of music; yet he would give his
+    composers the most valuable hints, and dictate with admirable
+    skill the plan of a libretto. His own voice was of the harshest
+    and most inharmonious texture; but by his advice and
+    instructions he formed some of the first singers in Italy. His
+    language was a Milanese patois; but he found means to make
+    himself excellently understood by the kings and emperors, with
+    whom he carried on negotiations upon a footing of perfect
+    equality. It was a great treat to see him seated in his box at
+    San Carlo, opposite that of the King of Naples, on the evening
+    of a new opera; with grave and impartial aspect, now turning
+    his face to the actors, then to the audience. If a singer went
+    wrong, Barbaja was the first to crush him with a severity
+    worthy of Brutus. His '<i>Can de Dio</i>!' was shouted out in a
+    voice that made the theatre shake and the poor actor tremble.
+    If, on the other hand, the public disapproved without reason,
+    Barbaja would start up in his box and address the audience.
+    '<i>Figli d'una racca</i>!' 'Will you hold your tongues? You
+    don't deserve good singers.' If by chance the King himself
+    omitted to applaud at the right time, Barbaja would shrug his
+    shoulders and go grumbling out of his box.</p>
+
+    <p>"With all his peculiarities, he it was who formed and
+    brought forward Lablache, Tamburini, Rubini, Donzelli, Colbran,
+    Pasta, Fodor, Donizetti, Bellini, and the great Rossini
+    himself, whose masterpieces were composed for Barbaja. It is
+    impossible to form an idea of the amount of entreaties,
+    stratagems, and even violence, expended by the
+    <i>impresario</i> to make Rossini work. I will give an example
+    of it, which is highly characteristic both of the manager and
+    of the greatest and happiest, but most <i>insouciant</i> and
+    idle, musical genius that ever drew breath under the bright sky
+    of Italy."</p>
+
+    <p>We are sorry to tantalize our readers, but we have not space
+    for the story that follows. It relates to the opera of
+    <i>Othello</i>, which was composed by Rossini in an incredibly
+    short time, whilst a prisoner in an apartment of Barbaja's
+    house. For nearly six months had the composer been living vith
+    the manager, entertaining his friends at his well-spread table,
+    drinking his choicest wines, and occupying his best
+    rooms&mdash;all this under promise of producing a new opera
+    within the half-year, a promise which <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page353"
+       name="page353"></a>[pg 353]</span> he showed little
+       disposition to fulfil. Barbaja was in a fever of anxiety,
+       and finding remonstrance unavailing, had recourse to
+       stratagem. One morning, when Rossini was about to start on a
+       party of pleasure, he found his doors secured outside; and,
+       on putting his head out of the window, was informed by
+       Barbaja that he must remain captive until his ransom was
+       paid. The ransom, of course, was the opera.</p>
+
+    <p>Rossini subsequently revenges himself on his tyrant in a
+    very piquant manner; and, finally, the morning after
+    <i>Othello</i> has been performed with triumphant success, he
+    starts for Bologna, taking with him, as travelling companion,
+    the <i>prima donna</i> of the San Carlo theatre, Signora
+    Colbran, whom he had privately married. All this is related
+    very amusingly by M. Dumas, but at too great length for our
+    limits.</p>
+
+    <p>We have a naval combat in the second volume, in which a
+    French frigate is attacked by two English line-of-battle ships,
+    one of which she sinks, and receives in return the entire
+    point-blank broadside of the other, a three-decker; which
+    broadside, we in our ignorance of nautical matters, should have
+    thought sufficient to blow her either out of the water or under
+    it. It has not that effect, however, and the frigate is
+    captured; the captain of her, when he has hauled down his flag
+    in order to save the lives of his men, stepping into his cabin
+    and blowing his brains out. All this is very pretty, whatever
+    may be said of its probability. But there are two subjects on
+    which the majority of Frenchmen indulge in most singular
+    delusions. These are, their invincibility upon the sea, and the
+    battle of Waterloo. M. Dumas has not escaped the national
+    monomania.</p>
+
+    <p>Our author is very hard upon the poor English in this book.
+    He attacks them on all sides and with all weapons. Nelson and
+    Lady Hamilton occupy a prominent position in his pages. The
+    execution of Admiral Carraciolo, an undoubted blot on the
+    character of our naval hero, is given in all its details, and
+    with some little decorations and embellishments, for which we
+    suspect that we have to thank our imaginative historian.
+    Nelson's weakness, the ascendency exercised over him by Lady
+    Hamilton, or Emma Lyonna, as M. Dumas prefers styling her, her
+    intimacy with the Queen of Naples, and subservient to the
+    wishes and interests of the Neapolitan court, are all set forth
+    in the most glowing colours. This is the heavy artillery, the
+    round-shot and shell; but M. Dumas is too skilful a general to
+    leave any part of his forces unemployed, and does not omit to
+    bring up his sharpshooters, and open a pretty little fire of
+    ridicule upon English travellers in Italy, who, as it is well
+    known, go thither to make the fortunes of innkeepers and
+    purchase antiquities manufactured in the nineteenth century.
+    Strange as it may appear, we should be heartily sorry if M.
+    Dumas were to exchange his evident dislike of us for a more
+    kindly feeling. We should then lose some of his best stories;
+    for he is never more rich and amusing than when he shows up the
+    sons and daughters of <i>le perfide Albion</i>. In support of
+    our assertion, take the following sketch:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"During my stay at Naples an Englishman arrived there, and
+    took up his quarters at the hotel at which I was stopping. He
+    was one of those phlegmatic, overbearing, obstinate Britons,
+    who consider money the engine with which every thing is to be
+    moved and all things accomplished, the argument in short which
+    nothing can resist. Money was every thing in his estimation of
+    mankind; talent, fame, titles, mere feathers that kicked the
+    beam the moment a long rent-roll or inscription of three per
+    cents were placed in the opposite scale. In proportion as men
+    were rich or poor, did he esteem them much or little. Being
+    very rich himself, he esteemed himself much.</p>
+
+    <p>"He had come direct to Naples by steam, and during the
+    voyage had made this calculation: With money I shall say every
+    thing, do every thing, and have every thing I please. He had
+    not long to wait to find out his mistake. The steamer cast
+    anchor in the port of Naples just half an hour too late for the
+    passengers to land. The Englishman, who had been very sea-sick,
+    and was particularly anxious to get on shore, sent to offer the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page354"
+       name="page354"></a>[pg 354]</span> captain of the port a
+       hundred guineas if he would let him land directly. The
+       quarantine laws of Naples are very strict; the captain of
+       the port thought the Englishman was mad, and only laughed at
+       his offer. He was therefore obliged to sleep on board in an
+       excessively bad humour, cursing alike those who made the
+       regulations and those who enforced them.</p>
+
+    <p>"The first thing he did when he got on shore, was to set off
+    to visit the ruins of Pompeii. There happened to be no regular
+    guide at hand, so he took a lazzarone instead. He had not
+    forgotten his disappointment of the night before, and all the
+    way to Pompeii he relieved his mind by abusing King Ferdinand
+    in the best Italian he could muster. The lazzarone, whom he had
+    taken into his carriage, took no notice of all this so long as
+    they were on the high-road. Lazzaroni, in general, meddle very
+    little in politics, and do not care how much you abuse king or
+    kaiser so long as nothing disrespectful is said of the Virgin
+    Mary, St Januarius, or Mount Vesuvius. On arriving, however, at
+    the <i>Via dei Sepolchri</i>, the ragged guide put his finger
+    on his lips as a signal to be silent. But his employer either
+    did not understand the gesture, or considered it beneath his
+    dignity to take notice of it, for he continued his invectives
+    against Ferdinand the Well-beloved.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone at last,
+    placing his hand upon the side of the barouche, and jumping out
+    as lightly as a harlequin. 'Pardon me, Eccellenza, but I must
+    return to Naples.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And why so?' inquired the other in his broken Italian.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Because I do not wish to be hung.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And who would dare to hang you?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The king.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Because you are speaking ill of him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'An Englishman has a right to say whatever he likes.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'It may be so, but a lazzarone has not.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But you have said nothing.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But I hear everything.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Who will tell what you hear?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The invalid soldier who accompanies us to visit
+    Pompeii.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I do not want an invalid soldier.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then you cannot visit Pompeii.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Not by paying?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But I will pay double, treble, four times, whatever they
+    ask.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No, no, no.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh!' said the Englishman, and he fell into a brown study,
+    during which the lazzarone amused himself by trying to jump
+    over his own shadow.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will take the invalid,' said the Englishman after a
+    little reflection.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Very good,' replied the lazzarone, 'we will take him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But I shall say just what I please before him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In that case I wish you a good morning.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No, no; you must remain.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Allow me to give you a piece of advice then. If you want
+    to say what you please before the invalid, take a deaf
+    one.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, delighted with the advice, 'by
+    all means a deaf one. Here is a piaster for you for having
+    thought of it.' The lazzarone ran to the guard-house, and soon
+    returned with an old soldier who was as deaf as a post.</p>
+
+    <p>"They began the usual round of the curiosities, during which
+    the Englishman continued calling King Ferdinand any thing but a
+    gentleman, of all which the invalid heard nothing, and the
+    lazzarone took no notice. They visited the Via dei Sepolchri,
+    the houses of Diomedes and Cicero. At last they came to
+    Sallust's house, in one of the rooms of which was a fresco that
+    hit the Englishman's fancy exceedingly. He immediately sat
+    down, took a pencil and a blank book from his pocket, and began
+    copying it. He had scarcely made a stroke, however, when the
+    soldier and the lazzarone approached him. The former was going
+    to speak, but the latter took the words out of his mouth.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Eccellenza,' said he, 'it is forbidden to copy the
+    fresco.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh!' said the Englishman, 'I must make this copy. I will
+    pay for it.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'It is not allowed, even if you pay.'</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page355"
+       name="page355"></a>[pg 355]</span> "'But I will pay ten
+       times its value if necessary; I must copy it, it is so
+       funny.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'If you do, the invalid will put you in the
+    guard-room.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pshaw! An Englishman has a right to draw any thing he
+    likes.' And he went on with his sketch. The invalid approached
+    him with an inexorable countenance.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone; 'but would you
+    like to copy not only this fresco, but as many more as you
+    please?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Certainly I should, and I will too.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then, let me give you a word of advice. Take a blind
+    invalid.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, still more enchanted with this
+    second hint than with the first. 'By all means, a blind
+    invalid. Here are two piasters for the idea.'</p>
+
+    <p>"They left Sallust's house, the deaf man was paid and
+    discharged, and the lazzarone went to the guard-room, and
+    brought back an invalid who was stone-blind and led by a black
+    poodle.</p>
+
+    <p>"The Englishman wished to return immediately to continue his
+    drawing, but the lazzarone persuaded him to delay it, in order
+    to avoid exciting suspicion. They continued their rambles,
+    therefore, guided by the invalid, or rather by his dog, who
+    displayed a knowledge of Pompeii that might have qualified him
+    to become a member of the antiquarian society. After visiting
+    the blacksmith's shop, Fortunata's house, and the public oven,
+    they returned to the abode of Sallust, where the Englishman
+    finished his sketch, while the lazzarone chatted with the blind
+    man, and kept him amused. Continuing their lounge, he made a
+    number of other drawings, and in a couple of hours his book was
+    half full.</p>
+
+    <p>"At last they arrived at a place where men were digging.
+    There had been discovered a number of small busts and statues,
+    bronzes, and curiosities of all kinds, which, as soon as they
+    were dug up, were carried into a neighbouring house, and had
+    his attention speedily attracted by a little statue of a satyr
+    about six inches high. 'Oh!' cried he, 'I shall buy this
+    figure.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The king of Naples does not wish to sell it,' replied the
+    lazzarone.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will give its weight in sovereigns&mdash;double its
+    weight even.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I tell you it is not to be sold,' persisted the lazzarone;
+    'but,' added he, changing his tone, 'I have already given your
+    excellence two pieces of advice which you liked, I will now
+    give you a third: Do not buy the statue&mdash;steal it.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh&mdash;oh! that will be very original, and we have a
+    blind invalid too. Capital!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Yes, but the invalid has a dog, who has two good eyes and
+    sixteen good teeth, and who will fly at you if you so much as
+    touch any thing with your little finger.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I'll buy the dog, and hang him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Do better still; take a lame invalid. Then, as you have
+    seen nearly every thing here, put the figure in your pocket and
+    run away. He may call out as much as he likes, he will not be
+    able to run after you.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, in convulsions of delight,
+    'here are three piasters for you. Fetch me a lame invalid.'</p>
+
+    <p>"And in order not to excite the suspicions of the blind man
+    and his dog, he left the house, and pretended to be examining a
+    fountain made of shell-work, while the lazzarone went for a
+    third guide. In a quarter of an hour he returned, accompanied
+    by an invalid with two wooden legs. They gave the blind man
+    three carlini, two for him and one for his dog, and sent him
+    away.</p>
+
+    <p>"The theatre and the temple of Isis were all that now
+    remained to be seen. After visiting them, the Englishman, in
+    the most careless tone he could assume, said he should like to
+    return to the house in which were deposited the produce of the
+    researches then making. The invalid, without the slightest
+    suspicion, conducted them thither, and they entered the
+    apartment in which the curiosities were arranged on shelves
+    nailed against the wall.</p>
+
+    <p>"While the Englishman lounged about, pretending to be
+    examining every thing with the greatest interest, the lazzarone
+    busied himself in fastening a stout string across the doorway,
+    at the height of a couple of feet from <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page356"
+       name="page356"></a>[pg 356]</span> the ground. When he had
+       done this, he made a sign to the Englishman, who seized the
+       little statue that he coveted from under the very nose of
+       the astounded invalid, put it into his pocket, and, jumping
+       over the string, ran off as hard as he could, accompanied by
+       the lazzarone. Darting through the Stabian gate, they found
+       themselves on the Salerno road&mdash;an empty hackney-coach
+       was passing, the Englishman jumped in, and had soon rejoined
+       his carriage, which was waiting for him in Via dei
+       Sepolchri. Two hours after he had left Pompeii he was at
+       Torre del Greco, and in another hour at Naples.</p>
+
+    <p>"As to the invalid, he at first tried to step over the cord
+    fastened across the door, but the height at which the lazzarone
+    had fixed it was too great for wooden legs to accomplish. He
+    then endeavoured to untie it, but with no better success; for
+    the lazzarone had fastened it in a knot compared to which the
+    one of Gordian celebrity would have appeared a mere slip-knot.
+    Finally, the old soldier, who had perhaps read of Alexander the
+    Great, determined to cut what he could not untie, and
+    accordingly drew his sword. But the sword in its best days had
+    never had much edge, and now it had none at all; so that the
+    Englishman was halfway to Naples whilst the invalid was still
+    sawing away at his cord.</p>
+
+    <p>"The same evening the Englishman left Naples on board a
+    steamboat, and the lazzarone was lost in the crowd of his
+    comrades; the six plasters he had got from his employer
+    enabling him to live in what a lazzarone considers luxury for
+    nearly as many months.</p>
+
+    <p>"The Englishman had been twelve hours at Naples, and had
+    done the three things that are most expressly forbidden to be
+    done there. He had abused the king, copied frescoes, and stolen
+    a statue, and all owing, not to his money, but to the ingenuity
+    of a lazzarone."</p>
+
+    <p>The lazzarone is a godsend for M. Dumas, an admirable peg
+    upon which to hang his quaint conceit and sly satire; and he is
+    accordingly frequently introduced in the course of the three
+    volumes. We must make room for one more extract, in which he
+    figures in conjunction with his friend the sbirro or gendarme,
+    who before being invested with a uniform, and armed with
+    carbine, pistols, and sabre, has frequently been a lazzarone
+    himself, and usually preserves the instincts and tastes of his
+    former station. The result of this is a coalition between the
+    lazzarone and the sbirro&mdash;law-breaker and law-preserver
+    uniting in a systematic attack upon the pockets of the
+    public.</p>
+
+    <p>"I was one day passing down the Toledo, when I saw a sbirro
+    arrested. Like La Fontaine's huntsman, he had been insatiable,
+    and his greediness brought its own punishment. This is what had
+    happened.</p>
+
+    <p>"A sbirro had caught a lazzarone in the fact.</p>
+
+    <p>"'What did you steal from that gentleman in black, who just
+    went by?' he demanded he.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Nothing, your excellency,' replied the lazzarone. A
+    lazzarone always addresses a sbirro as <i>eccellenza</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I saw your hand in his pocket.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'His pocket was empty.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What! Not a purse, a snuff-box, a handkerchief?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Nothing, please your excellency. It was an author.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why do you go to those sort of people?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I found out my mistake too late.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Come along with me to the police-office.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But, your excellency&mdash;since I have stolen
+    nothing?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Idiot, that's the very reason. If you <i>had</i> stolen
+    something, we might have arranged matters.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Only wait till next time. I shall not always be so
+    unfortunate. I promise you the contents of the pocket of the
+    next person who passes.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Very good; but I will select the individual, or else you
+    will be making a bad choice again.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'As your excellency pleases.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The sbirro folded his arms in a most dignified manner, and
+    leaned his back against a post; the lazzarone stretched himself
+    on the pavement at his feet. A priest came by, then a lawyer,
+    then a poet; but the sbirro made no sign. At last there
+    appeared a young officer, dressed in brilliant uniform, who
+    passed gaily along, humming <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page357"
+       name="page357"></a>[pg 357]</span> between his teeth a tune
+       out of the last opera. The sbirro gave the signal. Up sprang
+       the lazzarone and followed the officer. Both disappeared
+       round a corner. Presently the lazzarone returned with his
+       ransom in his hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"'What have you got there?' said the sbirro.</p>
+
+    <p>"'A handkerchief,' replied the other.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Is that all?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That all! It is of the finest cambric.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Had he only one?'<a id="footnotetag11"
+       name="footnotetag11"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a></p>
+
+    <p>"'Only one in that pocket.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And in the other?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In the other he had a silk handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why didn't you bring it?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I keep that for myself, excellency. It is fair that we
+    should divide the profits. One pocket for you, the other for
+    me.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I have a right to both, and I must have the silk
+    handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But, your excelleilcy'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"'I must have the silk handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'It is an injustice.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ha! Do you dare speak ill of his majesty's sbirri? Come
+    along to prison.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You shall have the silk handkerchief, your
+    excellency.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'How will you find the officer again?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'He is gone to pay a visit in the Strada de Foria. I will
+    go and wait for him at the door.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The lazzarone walked away, turned the corner of the street,
+    and established himself in the recess of a doorway. Presently
+    the young officer came out of a house opposite, and before he
+    had gone ten paces, put his hand in his pocket, and found he
+    was minus a handkerchief.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pardon me, excellency,' said the lazzarone, stepping up to
+    him; 'you have lost something, I think?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I have lost a cambric handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your excellency has not lost it; it has been stolen from
+    him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And who stole it?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What will your excellency give me if I find him the
+    thief?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will give you a piastre.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I must have two.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You shall. Hallo! What are you doing?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I am stealing your silk handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In order to find my cambric one?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Yes.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And where will both of them be?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In the same pocket. The person to whom I shall give this
+    handkerchief is the same to whom I have already given the
+    other. Follow me, and observe what I do.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The officer followed the lazzarone, who gave the
+    handkerchief to the sbirro, and walked away. The latter had
+    hardly put his prize in his pocket when the officer came up and
+    seized him by the collar. The sbirro fell on his knees, but the
+    officer was inexorable, and he was sent to prison. As the
+    sbirro had himself been a lazzarone, he saw at once the trick
+    that had been played him. He wanted to cheat his confederate,
+    and his confederate had cheated him; but far from bearing him
+    malice for having done so, the sbirro views the conduct of the
+    lazzarone in the light of an exploit, and feels an additional
+    respect for him in consequence. When he is released from
+    prison, he will seek him out, and they will be hand and glove
+    together. When that time comes, look to your pockets."</p>
+
+    <p>We are introduced to Ferdinand IV. of Naples, King Nasone,
+    as the lazzaroni nicknamed him; also to Padre Rocco, a popular
+    preacher, and the idol of the lower classes of Neapolitans; and
+    to Cardinal Perelli, remarkable for his simplicity, which
+    quality, as may be supposed, loses nothing in passing through
+    the hands of his present biographer. With his usual skill, M.
+    Dumas glides from a ticklish story of which the cardinal is the
+    hero, (a story that he does <i>not</i> tell, for which
+    forbearance we give him due credit, since he is evidently
+    sorely tempted thereto,) to an account of the
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page358"
+       name="page358"></a>[pg 358]</span> Vardarelli, a band of
+       outlaws which for some time infested Calabria and the
+       Capitanato.</p>
+
+    <p>"Gaetano Vardarelli was a native of Calabria, and one of the
+    earliest members of the revolutionary society of the Carbonari.
+    When Murat, after for some time favouring that society, began
+    to persecute it, Vardarelli fled to Sicily, and took service
+    under King Ferdinand. He was then twenty-six years of age,
+    possessing the muscles and courage of a lion, the agility of a
+    chamois, the eye of an eagle. Such a recruit was not to be
+    despised, and he was made sergeant in the Sicilian guards. On
+    Ferdinand's restoration in 1815, he followed him to Naples; but
+    finding that he was not likely ever to rise above a very
+    subordinate grade, he became disgusted with the service,
+    deserted, and took refuge in the mountains of Calabria. There
+    two of his brothers, and some thirty brigands and outlaws,
+    assembled around him and elected him their chief, with right of
+    life and death over them. He had been a slave in the town; he
+    found himself a king in the mountains.</p>
+
+    <p>"Proceeding according to the old formula observed by
+    banditti chiefs both in Calabria and in melodramas, Vardarelli
+    proclaimed himself redresser general of wrongs and grievances,
+    and acted up to his profession by robbing the rich and
+    assisting the poor. The consequence was, that he soon became
+    exceedingly dreaded by the former, and exceedingly popular
+    among the latter class; and at last his exploits reached the
+    ears of King Ferdinand himself, who was highly indignant at
+    such goings on, and gave orders that the bandit should
+    immediately be hung. But there are three things necessary to
+    hang a man&mdash;a rope, a gallows, and the man himself. In
+    this instance, the first two were easily found, but the third
+    was unfortunately wanting. Gendarmes and soldiers were sent
+    after Vardarelli, but the latter was too cunning for them all,
+    and slipped through their fingers at every turn. His success in
+    eluding pursuit increased his reputation, and recruits flocked
+    to his standard. His band soon doubled its numbers, and its
+    leader became a formidable and important person, which of
+    course was an additional reason for the authorities to wish to
+    capture him. A price was set on his head, large bodies of
+    troops sent in search of him, but all in vain. One day the
+    Prince of Leperano, Colonel Calcedonio, Major Delponte, with a
+    dozen other officers, and a score of attendants, were hunting
+    in a forest a few leagues from Bari, when the cry of
+    '<i>Vardarelli</i>!' was suddenly heard. The party took to
+    flight with the utmost precipitation, and all escaped except
+    Major Delponte, who was one of the bravest, but, at the same
+    time, one of the poorest, officers of the whole army. When he
+    was told that he must pay a thousand ducats for his ransom, he
+    only laughed, and asked where he was to get such a sum.
+    Vardarelli then threatened to shoot him if it was not
+    forthcoming by a certain day. The major replied that it was
+    losing time to wait; and that, if he had a piece of advice to
+    give his captor, it was to shoot him at once. The bandit at
+    first felt half inclined to do so; but he reflected that the
+    less Delponte cared about his life, the more ought Ferdinand to
+    value it. He was right in his calculation; for no sooner did
+    the king learn that his brave major was in the hands of the
+    banditti, than he ordered the ransom to be paid out of his
+    privy purse, and the major recovered his freedom.</p>
+
+    <p>"But Ferdinand had sworn the extermination of the banditti
+    with whom he was thus obliged to treat as from one potentate to
+    another. A certain colonel, whose name I forget, and who had
+    heard this vow, pledged himself, if a battalion were put under
+    his command, to bring in Vardarelli, his two brothers, and the
+    sixty men composing his troop, bound hand and foot, and to
+    place them in the dungeons of the Vicaria. The offer was too
+    good to be refused; the minister of war put five hundred men at
+    the disposal of the colonel, who started with them at once in
+    pursuit of the outlaw. The latter was soon informed by his
+    spies of this fresh expedition, and <i>he</i> also made a vow,
+    to the effect that he would cure his pursuer, once and for all,
+    of any disposition to interfere with the Vardarelli.</p>
+
+    <p>"He began by leading the poor colonel such a dance over hill
+    and dale, that the unfortunate officer and <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page359"
+       name="page359"></a>[pg 359]</span> his men were worn out
+       with fatigue; then, when he saw them in the state that he
+       wished, he caused some false intelligence to be conveyed to
+       them at two o'clock one morning. The colonel fell into the
+       snare, and started immediately to surprise Vardarelli, whom
+       he was assured was in a little village at the further
+       extremity of a narrow pass, through which only four men
+       could pass abreast. He made such haste that he marched four
+       leagues in two hours, and at daybreak found himself at the
+       entrance of the pass, which, however, seemed so peculiarly
+       well adapted for an ambuscade, that he halted his battalion,
+       and sent on twenty men to reconnoitre. In a quarter of an
+       hour the twenty men returned. They had not met a single
+       living thing. The colonel hesitated no longer, and entered
+       the defile; but, on reaching a spot about halfway through
+       it, where the road widened out into a sort of platform
+       surrounded by high rocks and steep precipices, a shout was
+       suddenly heard, proceeding apparently from the clouds, and
+       the poor colonel looking up, saw the summits of the rocks
+       covered with brigands, who levelled their rifles at him and
+       his soldiers. Nevertheless, he began forming up his men as
+       well as the nature of the ground would permit, when
+       Vardarelli himself appeared upon a projecting crag. 'Down
+       with your arms, or you are dead men!' he shouted in a voice
+       of thunder. The bandits repeated his summons, and the echoes
+       repeated their voices, so that the troops, who had not made
+       the same vow as their colonel, and who thought themselves
+       surrounded by greatly superior numbers, cried out for
+       quarter, in spite of the entreaties and menaces of their
+       unfortunate commander. Then Vardarelli, without leaving his
+       position, ordered them to pile their arms, and march to two
+       different places which he pointed out to them. They obeyed;
+       and Vardarelli, leaving twenty of his men in their ambush,
+       came down with the remainder, who immediately proceeded to
+       render the Neapolitan muskets useless (for the moment at
+       least) by the same process which Gulliver employed to
+       extinguish the conflagration of the palace at Lilliput.</p>
+
+    <p>"The news of this affair put the king in very bad humour for
+    the first twenty-four hours; after which time, however, the
+    love of a joke overcoming his anger, he laughed heartily, and
+    told the story to every one he saw; and as there are always
+    lots of listeners when a king narrates, three years elapsed
+    before the poor colonel ventured to show his face at Naples and
+    encounter the ridicule of the court."</p>
+
+    <p>The general commanding in Calabria takes the matter rather
+    more seriously, and vows the destruction of the banditti. By
+    offers of large pay and privileges, they are induced to enter
+    the Neapolitan service, and prove highly efficient as a troop
+    of gendarmes. But the general cannot forget his old grudge
+    against them; although, for lack of an opportunity, and on
+    account of the desperate character of the men, he is obliged to
+    defer his revenge for some time. At last he succeeds in having
+    their leaders assassinated, and by pretending great
+    indignation, and imprisoning the perpetrators of the deed, he
+    lulls the suspicions of the remaining bandits, who elect new
+    officers, and on an appointed day, proceed to the town of
+    Foggia to have their election confirmed. Only eight of them,
+    apprehensive of treachery, refuse to accompany their comrades.
+    The remaining thirty-one, and a woman who would not leave her
+    husband, obey the general's summons.</p>
+
+    <p>"It was a Sunday, the review had been publicly announced,
+    and the square was thronged with spectators. The Vardarelli
+    entered the town in perfect order, armed to the very teeth, but
+    giving no sign of hostility or mistrust. On reaching the
+    square, they raised their sabres, and with one voice
+    exclaimed&mdash;'<i>Viva il Re</i>!' The general appeared on
+    his balcony to acknowledge their salute. The aide-de-camp on
+    duty came down to receive them, and after complimenting them on
+    the beauty of their horses and good state of their arms,
+    desired them to file past under the general's window, which
+    they did with a precision worthy of regular troops. They then
+    formed up again in the middle of the square, and
+    dismounted.</p>
+
+    <p>"The aide-de-camp went into the house again with the list of
+    the three <span class="pagenum"><a id="page360"
+       name="page360"></a>[pg 360]</span> new officers; the
+       Vardarelli were standing by their horses, when suddenly
+       there was a great confusion and movement in the crowd, which
+       opened in various places, and down every street leading to
+       the square, a column of Neapolitan troops was seen
+       advancing. The Vardarelli were surrounded on all sides.
+       Perceiving at once that they were betrayed, they sprang upon
+       their horses and drew their sabres; but at the same moment
+       the general took off his hat, which was the signal agreed
+       upon; the command, '<i>Faccia in terra</i>,' was heard, and
+       the spectators, throwing themselves on their faces, the
+       soldiers fired over them, and nine of the brigands fell to
+       the ground, dead or mortally wounded. Those who were unhurt,
+       seeing that they had no quarter to expect, dismounted, and
+       forming a compact body, fought their way to an old castle in
+       which they took refuge. Two only, trusting to the speed of
+       their horses, charged the group of soldiers that appeared
+       the least numerous, shot down two of them, and succeeded in
+       breaking through the others and escaping. The woman owed her
+       life to a similar piece of daring, effected, however, on
+       another point of the enemy's line. She broke through, and
+       galloped off, after having discharged both her pistols with
+       fatal effect.</p>
+
+    <p>"The attention of all was now turned to the remaining twenty
+    Vardarelli, who had taken refuge in the ruined castle. The
+    soldiers advanced against them, encouraging one another, and
+    expecting to encounter an obstinate resistance; but, to their
+    surprise, they reached the gate of the castle without a shot
+    being fired at them. The gate was soon beaten in, and the
+    soldiers spread themselves through the halls and galleries of
+    the old building. But all was silence and solitude; the bandits
+    had disappeared.</p>
+
+    <p>"After an hour passed in rummaging every corner of the
+    place, the assailants were going away in despair, convinced
+    that their prey had escaped them; when a soldier, who was
+    stooping down to look through the air-hole of a cellar, fell,
+    shot through the body.</p>
+
+    <p>"The Vardarelli were discovered; but still it was no easy
+    matter to get at them. Instead of losing men by a direct
+    attack, the soldiers blocked up the air-hole with stones, set a
+    guard over it, and then going round to the door of the cellar,
+    which was barricadoed on the inner side, they heaped lighted
+    fagots and combustibles against it, so that the staircase was
+    soon one immense furnace. After a time the door gave way, and
+    the fire poured like a torrent into the retreat of the
+    unfortunate bandits. Still a profound silence reigned in the
+    vault. Presently two carbine shots were fired; two brothers,
+    determined not to fall alive into the hands of their enemies,
+    had shot each other to death. A moment afterwards an explosion
+    was heard; a bandit had thrown himself into the flames, and his
+    cartridge box had blown up. At last the remainder of the
+    unfortunate men being nearly suffocated, and seeing that escape
+    was impossible, surrendered at discretion, were dragged through
+    the air-hole, and immediately bound hand and foot, and conveyed
+    to prison.</p>
+
+    <p>"As to the eight who had refused to come to Foggia, and the
+    two who had escaped, they were hunted down like wild beasts,
+    tracked from cavern to cavern, and from forest to forest. Some
+    were shot, others betrayed by the peasantry, some gave
+    themselves up, so that, before the year was out, all the
+    Vardarelli were dead or prisoners. The woman who had displayed
+    such masculine courage, was the only one who finally escaped.
+    She was never heard of afterwards."</p>
+
+    <p>M. Dumas finds that the climate of Naples, delightful as it
+    is, has nevertheless its little drawbacks and disadvantages. He
+    returns one night from an excursion in the environs, and has
+    scarcely got into bed, when he is almost blown out of it again
+    by a tornado of tropical violence.</p>
+
+    <p>"At midnight, when we returned to Naples, the weather was
+    perfect, the sky cloudless, the sea without a ripple. At three
+    in the morning I was awakened by the windows of my room
+    bursting open, their eighteen panes of glass falling upon the
+    floor with a frightful clatter. I jumped out of bed, and felt
+    that the house was shaking. I thought of Pliny the Elder, and
+    having no desire for a similar fate, I hastily pulled on my
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page361"
+       name="page361"></a>[pg 361]</span> clothes and hurried out
+       into the corridor. My first impulse had apparently been that
+       of all the inmates of the hotel, who were all standing, more
+       or less dressed, at the doors of their apartments; amongst
+       others, Jadin, who made his appearance with a phosphorus box
+       in his hand, and his dog Milord at his heels. 'What a
+       terrible draught in the house!' said he to me. This same
+       draught, as he called it, had just carried off the roof of
+       the Prince of San Feodoro's palace, including the garrets
+       and several servants who were sleeping in them.</p>
+
+    <p>"My first thought had been of an eruption of Vesuvius, but
+    there was no such luck for us; it was merely a hurricane. A
+    hurricane at Naples, however, is rather different from the same
+    thing in any other European country.</p>
+
+    <p>"Out of the seventy windows of the hotel, three only had
+    escaped damage. The ceilings of seven or eight rooms were rent
+    across. There was a crack extending from top to bottom of the
+    house. Eight shutters had been carried away, and the servants
+    were running down the street after them, just as one runs after
+    one's hat on a windy day. The broken glass was swept away; as
+    for sending for glaziers to mend the windows, it was out of the
+    question. At Naples nobody thinks of disturbing himself at
+    three in the morning. Besides, even had new panes been put in,
+    they would soon have shared the fate of the old ones. We were
+    obliged, therefore, to manage as well as we could with the
+    shutters. I was tolerably lucky, for I had only lost one of
+    mine. I went to bed again, and tried to sleep; but a storm of
+    thunder and lightning soon rendered that impossible, and I took
+    refuge on the ground-floor, where the wind had done less
+    damage. Then began one of those storms of which we have no idea
+    in the more northern parts of Europe. It was accompanied by a
+    deluge such as I had never witnessed, except perhaps in
+    Calabria. In an instant the Villa Reale appeared to be a part
+    of the sea; the water came up to the windows of the
+    ground-floor, and flooded the parlours. A minute afterwards,
+    the servants came to tell M. Zill that his cellars were full,
+    and his casks of wine floating about and staving one another.
+    Presently we saw a jackass laden with vegetables come swimming
+    down the street, carried along by the current. He was swept
+    away into a large open drain, and disappeared. The peasant who
+    owned him, and who had also been carried away, only saved
+    himself from a like fate by clinging to a lamp-post. In one
+    hour there fell more water than there falls in Paris during the
+    two wettest months in the year.</p>
+
+    <p>"Two hours after the cessation of the rain, the water had
+    disappeared, and I then perceived the use of this kind of
+    deluge. The streets were clean; which they never are in Naples
+    except after a flood of this sort."</p>
+
+    <p>One short anecdote, and we have done. After a long account
+    of St Januarius, including the well-known miracle of the
+    liquefaction of his blood, and some amusing illustrations of
+    his immense popularity with the Neapolitans, M. Dumas, in two
+    pithy lines, gives us the length, breadth, and thickness of a
+    lazzarone's religion.</p>
+
+    <p>"I was one day in a church at Naples," he says, "and I heard
+    a lazzarone praying aloud. He entreated God to intercede with
+    St Januarius to make him win in the lottery."</p>
+
+    <p>On the whole, we think this one of the most amusing of M.
+    Dumas's works, very light and sketchy, as is evident from our
+    extracts; but at the same time giving a great deal of
+    information concerning Naples, its environs, inhabitants, and
+    customs, of much interest, and calculated to be highly useful
+    to the traveller. It is also very free from a fault with which
+    we taxed its author in a former paper, and we can scarcely call
+    to mind a single line which it would be necessary to expunge,
+    in order to render it fit reading for the most fastidious. As
+    far as we ourselves are concerned, we heartily wish M. Dumas
+    would travel over all the kingdoms of the earth, and write a
+    book about each of them; and if he is as good company in a
+    post-chaise as his books are at the chimney-corner, there are
+    few things we should like better than to accompany him on his
+    pilgrimage.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page362"
+       name="page362"></a>[pg 362]</span> <a name="bw341s7"
+          id="bw341s7"></a>
+
+    <h2>MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.</h2>
+
+    <h3>PART IX.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Have I not in my time heard lions roar?</p>
+
+            <p>Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,</p>
+
+            <p>Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?</p>
+
+            <p>Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,</p>
+
+            <p>And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?</p>
+
+            <p>Have I not in the pitched battle heard</p>
+
+            <p>Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets
+            clang?"</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">SHAKSPEARE.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The market-place was lighted up, and filled with dragoons.
+    Leaving my hulans under cover of a dark street, and riding
+    forward to reconnoitre, I saw with astonishment the utter
+    carelessness with which they abandoned themselves to their
+    indulgences in the midst of an irritated population. Some were
+    drinking on horseback; some had thrown themselves on the
+    benches of the market, and were evidently intoxicated. The
+    people stood at the corners of the streets looking on, palpably
+    in terror, yet as palpably indignant at the outrage of the
+    military. From the excessive blaze in some of the windows, and
+    the shrieks of females, I could perceive that plunder was going
+    on, and that the intention was, after having ransacked the
+    place, to set it on fire. Yet a strong body of cavalry mounted
+    in the middle of the square, and keeping guard round a waggon
+    on which a guillotine had been already erected, still made me
+    feel that an attack would be hopeless. I soon saw a rush of the
+    people from one of the side streets; a couple of dragoon
+    helmets were visible above the crowd; and three or four carts
+    followed, filled with young females in white robes and flowers,
+    as if dressed for a ball. I gazed intently, to ascertain the
+    meaning of this strange and melancholy spectacle. At this
+    moment I felt my horse's bridle pulled, and saw the old noble
+    at his head. "Now or never!" he cried, in a voice almost choked
+    with emotion. "Those are destined for the guillotine.
+    Barbarians! brigands!&mdash;they will murder my Amalia." He
+    sank before me. "What! is this an execution?" I exclaimed. His
+    answer was scarcely above a whisper, for he seemed fainting.
+    "The villains have been sent," said he, "to burn the town; they
+    have seized those children of our best families, compelled them
+    to dress as they were dressed for the Prussian ball, and are
+    now about to murder them by their accursed guillotine."
+    Pointing to one lovely girl, who, pale as death, stood in the
+    foremost of those vehicles of death, he exclaimed "Amalia! O,
+    my Amalia!" The cart was already within a few feet of the
+    scaffold when I gave the word to my troopers. The brave fellows
+    answered my "Forward!" with a shout, charged sabre in hand, and
+    in an instant had thrown themselves between the victims and the
+    scaffold. Their escort, taken completely by surprise, was
+    broken at the first shock; we dashed without loss of time on
+    the squadrons scattered round the market, and swept it clear of
+    them. Surprised, intoxicated, and unacquainted with our
+    force&mdash;which they probably thought to be the advance of
+    the whole Prussian cavalry&mdash;after having lost many men,
+    for the peasantry showed no mercy on the dismounted, the
+    regiment turned at full gallop to the open country. The
+    townspeople now performed their part. The victims were hurried
+    away by their families, among a storm of lamentations and
+    rejoicings, tears and kisses. The old noble's daughter, half
+    dead, was carried off in her father's arms, with a thousand
+    benedictions on me. The guillotine was hewn down with a hundred
+    axes, and I saw the fragments burning in the square. Its waggon
+    was made to serve its country as a portion of a barricade; and
+    with every vehicle, wheeled or unwheeled, which could be rolled
+    out, the entrance to the streets was fortified with the
+    national rapidity in any deed, good or ill, under the
+    stars.</p>
+
+    <p>After having appeased our hunger <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page363"
+       name="page363"></a>[pg 363]</span> and that of our famishing
+       horses, and being offered all the purses, which the French
+       dragoons, however, had lightened nearly to the last coin, we
+       finished the exploit by a general chant in honour of the
+       ladies, and marched on our route, followed by the prayers of
+       the whole community. This ended the only productive skirmish
+       of the retreat. It fed us, broke the monotony of the march,
+       and gave us something to talk of&mdash;and the soldier asks
+       but little more. A gallant action had certainly been done;
+       not the less gallant for its being a humane one; and even my
+       bold hulans gave me credit for being a "smart officer," a
+       title of no slight value in their dashing service.</p>
+
+    <p>Yet what, as the poet Saadi says, is fortune but a peacock
+    "a showy tail on a frightful pair of legs?" Our triumph was to
+    be followed by a reverse. The burgundy and champagne of the old
+    count's cellar had made us festive, and our voices were heard
+    along the road with a gaiety imprudent in a hostile land. The
+    sound of a trumpet in our front brought us to our senses and a
+    dead stand. But we were in a vein of heroism and instead of
+    taking to our old hussar habits, and slipping round the enemy's
+    flanks, we determined to cut our way through them, if they had
+    the whole cavalry of France as their <i>appui</i>. The word was
+    given, and the spur carried us through a strong line of cavalry
+    posted across the road. The moon had just risen enough to show
+    that there was a still stronger line a few hundred yards
+    beyond, which it would be folly to touch. There was now no
+    resource but to return as we went, which we did at full speed,
+    and again broke up our antagonists. But again we saw squadron
+    after squadron blocking up the road. All was now desperate. But
+    Frederick's law of arms was well known&mdash;"the officer of
+    cavalry who <i>waits to be charged</i>, must be broke." We made
+    a plunge at our living circumvallation; but the French dragoons
+    had now learned common sense&mdash;they opened for us&mdash;and
+    when we were once fairly in, enveloped us completely; it was
+    then a troop to a brigade; fifty jaded men and horses to
+    fifteen hundred fresh from camp. What happened further I know
+    not. I saw for a minute or two a great deal of pistol firing
+    and a great deal of sabre clashing; I felt my horse stagger
+    under me, at the moment when I aimed a blow at a gigantic
+    fellow covered all over with helmet and mustache; a pistol
+    exploded close at my ear as I was going down, and I heard no
+    more.</p>
+
+    <p>On opening my eyes again, I found the scene strangely
+    altered. I was lying in a little chamber hung round with
+    Parisian ornament&mdash;a sufficient contrast to a sky dark as
+    pitch, or only illumined by carbines and the sparkles of sabres
+    delving at each other. I was lying on an embroidered
+    sofa&mdash;an equally strong contrast to my position under the
+    bodies of fallen men and the heels of kicking horses. A showy
+    Turkish cloak, or <i>robe de chambre</i>, had superseded my
+    laced jacket, purple pantaloons, and hussar boots. I was
+    completely altered as a warrior; and, from a glimpse which I
+    cast on a mirror, surrounded with gilt nymphs and swains enough
+    to have furnished a ballet, I saw in my haggard countenance,
+    and a wound, which a riband but half concealed, across my
+    forehead, that I was not less altered as a man.</p>
+
+    <p>All round me looked so perfectly like the scenes with which
+    I had been familiar in my romance-reading days, that, bruised
+    and feeble as I was, I almost expected to find my pillow
+    attended by some of those slight figures in long white drapery
+    with blue eyes, which of old ministered to so many ill-used
+    knights and exhausted pilgrims. But my reveries were broken up
+    by a rough voice in the outer chamber insisting on an entrance
+    into mine, and replied to by a weak and garrulous female one,
+    refusing the admission. The dialogue was something of this
+    order&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Strong or weak, well or ill, able or not able, I must send
+    him, before twelve o'clock this night, to Paris."</p>
+
+    <p>"But the poor gentleman's wounds are still unhealed."</p>
+
+    <p>"Still he must set out. The '<i>malle poste</i>' will be at
+    the door; and, if he had fifty wounds on him, he must go. The
+    marquis is halfway to Paris by this time; perhaps more than
+    halfway to the guillotine."</p>
+
+    <p>This was followed by a burst of <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page364"
+       name="page364"></a>[pg 364]</span> sobs and broken
+       exclamtions from the female, whom I discovered, by her
+       sorrowing confessions, to have been a nurse in the
+       family.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well," was the ruffian's reply; "women of all ages are
+    fools: what is it to you whether this young fellow is shot or
+    hanged? He was taken in arms against the Republic&mdash;one and
+    indivisible. All the enemies of France must perish!"</p>
+
+    <p>The old woman now partially opened the door, to see whether
+    I slept; and I closed my eyes, for the purpose of hearing all
+    that was to be heard without interruption. The speaker, whom I
+    alternately took for the <i>gendarme</i> of the district, and
+    the executioner, gave went to his swelling soul in the national
+    style.</p>
+
+    <p>"What! leave <i>me</i>! leave Jean Jacques Louis Gilet in
+    charge of this wretched aristocrat, while I should be marching
+    with my battalion, and at its head too, if merit meets its
+    reward, to sweep the foes of the Republic from the face of the
+    earth. No; I shall not remain in this paltry place, solicitor
+    of a village, when I ought to be on the highest seat of
+    justice&mdash;or playing the part of arresting aristocrats,
+    when I might be commandant of a brigade, marching over the
+    bodies of the crowned tyrants of the earth to glory!"</p>
+
+    <p>As his harangue glowed, his pace quickened, and his voice
+    grew more vehement; at length, probably impatient of the time
+    which lay between him and the first offices of the Republic, he
+    overpowered the resistance of the nurse, and rushed into the
+    chamber. Throwng himself into a theatrical attitude before a
+    mirror&mdash;for what Frenchman ever passes one without a
+    glance of happy recognition?&mdash;"Rise, aristocrat!" he
+    cried, in the tone of Talma calling up the shade of Caesar.
+    "Rise, and account to the world for your crimes against the
+    liberty of man!"</p>
+
+    <p>I looked with such surprise on this champion of the sons of
+    Adam&mdash;a little meagre creature, who seemed to be shaped on
+    the model of one of his own pens, stripped, withered, and
+    ink-dried&mdash;that I actually burst into laughter. His
+    indignation rose, and, pulling out a pistol with one hand, and
+    a roll of paper from his bosom with the other, he presented
+    them together. I perceived, as I lay on my pillow, that the
+    pistol was without a lock, and thus was comforted; but the
+    paper was of a more formidable description. It was the famous
+    decree of "Fraternization," by which France pronounced the fall
+    of her own monarchy, declared "that she would grant succour to
+    every people who wished to recover their liberty," and
+    commanded her generals "to aid all such, and to defend all
+    citizens who might be troubled in the cause of freedom."</p>
+
+    <p>This paper indeed startled me; it was the consummation which
+    I had dreaded so long. I saw at once that France, in those wild
+    words, had declared war against every throne in Europe, and
+    that we were now beginning the era of struggle and suffering
+    which Mordecai's strong sense had predicted, and of which no
+    human sagacity could foresee the end. My countenance probably
+    showed the impression which this European anathema had made
+    upon me; for Monsieur Gilet became more heroic than ever, tore
+    his grizzled curls, throwing aside his pistol, which he had at
+    length discovered to be <i>hors de combat</i>, and drawing the
+    falchion which clattered at his heels, and was nearly as long
+    as himself, flourished it in quick march backward and forward
+    before the mirror&mdash;that mirror never forgotten!&mdash;in
+    all the whirlwind of his rage, and panted for the conquest of
+    "perfidious Albion," the "traitor" Pitt, and the whole brood of
+    hoary power. I was too feeble to turn him out of the room, and
+    too contemptuous to reply. But his overthrow was not the
+    further off. The old nurse, who, old as she was, still retained
+    some of the sinews and all the irritability of a stout
+    Champenoise peasant, roused by his insults to the aristocracy,
+    one of whom she probably regarded herself, from having lived so
+    long under their roof, watched her opportunity, made a spring
+    at him like a wild-cat, wrested the sabre from his hand, and,
+    grasping the struggling and screaming little functionary in her
+    strong arms, carried him like a child out of the room.</p>
+
+    <p>She then returned, and having locked the door to prevent his
+    second inroad, sat down by the side of my couch, and, with the
+    usual passion of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page365"
+       name="page365"></a>[pg 365]</span> women after strong
+       excitement, burst into exclamations and tears. What I could
+       collect from her broken narrative, was little more than the
+       commonplace of national misery in that fearful time. She had
+       been a servant in the family of the nobleman whose daughter
+       I had saved from death. She had been the nurse of the young
+       countess; and all the blessings that sorrow and gratitude
+       ever gathered together, could not be exceeded by the praises
+       which she poured upon my head. It had been rumoured in the
+       town that I was attacked and killed by a body of cavalry
+       sent to revenge the rout of their comrades. And the Marquis
+       Lanfranc&mdash;I now first learned the name of my noble
+       entertainer&mdash;had gone forth to look for my remains in
+       the field. I was found still breathing, and to avoid further
+       danger was carried to this dwelling, a hunting-lodge in the
+       heart of the forest; there I had been attended by the family
+       physician only, and, after a week of insensibility, had
+       given signs of recovery. The marquis's humanity had brought
+       evil on himself. His visits to the lodge had been remarked,
+       and on this very morning he had been arrested, and conveyed
+       with his daughter, in a carriage escorted by
+       <i>gendarmes</i> to the capital. My detection followed of
+       course; papers found on my person had proved that I was an
+       agent of England; and the officious M. Gilet had spent the
+       morning in exhibiting to the peasantry of the neighbourhood
+       the order of the "Committee of Public Safety," a name which
+       froze the blood, to take me under his charge, and conduct me
+       forthwith to their tribunal. I tell all this in my own way;
+       for the dame's sighs, sobs, and vehement indignation, would
+       have defied all record.</p>
+
+    <p>My prospect was now black enough, for justice was a word
+    unheard of in the present condition of things; and my plea of
+    being an Englishman, and in the civil service of my country,
+    would have been a death-warrant. I must acknowledge, too, that
+    I had fairly thrown it away by my adoption of the Prussian
+    sabre. I might well be now in low spirits; for the guillotine
+    was crushing out life at that moment in every province of
+    France, and the thirst of public curiosity was to be fed by
+    nothing but blood. Yet, even in that moment, let me give myself
+    credit for the recollection, my first enquiry was for the fate
+    of my squadron. The old woman could tell me but little on the
+    subject; but that little was consolatory. The French troopers,
+    who had come back triumphing into the town, had not brought any
+    Prussian prisoners: two or three foreigners, who had lost their
+    horses, were sheltered in her master's stables until they could
+    make their escape; and of them she had heard no more. The truth
+    is, that nothing is more difficult in war than to catch a
+    hussar who understands his business; and the probability was,
+    that the chief part of them had slipped away, leaving the
+    French to sabre each other in the dark. The fall of my horse
+    had brought me down, otherwise I might have escaped the shot
+    which stunned me, and been at that hour galloping to
+    Berlin.</p>
+
+    <p>Monsieur Gilet, with some of the civic authorities, paid me
+    a second visit in the evening, to prepare me for my journey. To
+    me it was become indifferent whether I died in the carriage or
+    by the edge of the guillotine; the journey was short in either
+    case, and the shorter and sooner the better. I answered none of
+    their interrogatories; told them I was at their disposal;
+    directed the old woman to pack up whatever travelling matters
+    remained to me, and to remember me to her master and mistress,
+    if she ever should see them in this world; shook her strong old
+    hand, and bade God bless her. In return, she kissed me on both
+    cheeks, whispered a thousand benedictions, and left the room
+    violently sobbing; yet with a parting glance at Monsieur Gilet
+    and his <i>collaborateurs</i>, so mingled of wrath and
+    ridicule, that it was beyond all my deciphering.</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"Time and the hour run through the
+            longest day,"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>says the great poet; and, with the coming of midnight, a
+    <i>chaise de poste</i> drew up at the door. As I was a prisoner
+    of importance, M. Gilet was not suffered to take all the honour
+    of my introduction to the axe on himself; and the mayor and
+    deputy-mayor of the district insisted on this
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page366"
+       name="page366"></a>[pg 366]</span> opportunity of making
+       themselves known to the supreme Republic. They mounted the
+       box in front, a couple of gendarmes sat behind, M. Gilet
+       took his seat at my side, and, with an infinite cracking of
+       whips, we rushed out upon the causeway.</p>
+
+    <p>I soon discovered that my companion was by no means
+    satisfied with existing circumstances. The officiousness of the
+    pair of mayors prodigiously displeased him. He broke
+    forth&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"See these two beggars," he exclaimed, "pretending to
+    patriotism! They have no energy, no courage, no civism. Why,
+    <i>you</i> might have remained for a twelvemonth under their
+    very nostrils before they would have found you out. Gilet is
+    the man for the service of his country." Merely to stop the
+    torrent of his complainings, I asked him some vague questions
+    relative to the nobleman whom I was now following to Paris. But
+    the patriot was not to be moved from his topic.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hah! Citizen Lanfranc. All is over with him. He once held
+    his head high enough, but it will soon be as low as ever it was
+    high. Yet I could have forgiven his aristocracy, if he had not
+    put these two 'chiens' above me."</p>
+
+    <p>The position in which the mayor and his deputy sat, on the
+    box of the chaise, continually presenting them to the eye of my
+    companion, kept his choler peculiarly active.</p>
+
+    <p>"One of these fellows," he exclaimed, "was the Marquis's
+    cook, another his perruquier! <i>I</i> was his tailor. Every
+    man of taste and talent knows the superiority of <i>my</i>
+    profession; for what is the first of noblemen without elegance
+    of costume, or what indeed would man himself be without my art,
+    the noblest and the earliest art of mankind? And yet he made
+    these two 'brigands' mayor and deputy&mdash;<i>peste</i>! I did
+    my duty. I denounced him on the spot. I did more. The
+    aristocrat had a faction in the town. It was filled with his
+    dependents. In fact, it had been built on his grounds, and
+    tenanted by the old hangers-on of the family. So, to make a
+    clear stage, I denounced the town." He clapped his hands with
+    exultation at this civic triumph.</p>
+
+    <p>My recollection of the miseries which his malice had caused
+    roused me into wrath, and, rash as the act was, I grasped him
+    by the collar, with the full intent of throwing the little
+    writhing wretch out of the window; but, while I was lifting him
+    from the seat to which he clung screaming for help, and had
+    already forced him halfway outside, a shot whistled close by
+    the head of the postilion, which brought him to a full stop.
+    "Mon Dieu!&mdash;Brigands!" exclaimed Monsieur Gilet; and,
+    dropping back into the carriage, attempted to make a screen of
+    my body by slipping his adroitly behind me. Two or three more
+    discharges rattled through the trees, followed by a rush of
+    peasants, who unceremoniously knocked down the two officials in
+    front, and began a general scuffle with the gendarmes. The
+    night was so dark, that I could discover nothing of the
+    <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i> but by the blaze of the fusils. All,
+    however, was quiet in a few moments, by the disappearance of
+    the gendarmes, and the complete capture of the convoy&mdash;M.
+    Gilet, mayors, and all. Whether we had fallen into the hands of
+    highwaymen, or of stragglers from the French army, was doubtful
+    for a while, as not a syllable was spoken, nor a sound uttered,
+    except by the unhappy functionaries, who grumbled prodigiously
+    as they were dragged along through "rough and smooth, moss and
+    mire," and whose pace was evidently quickened by many a kick
+    and blow of the fusil. This was a rude march for me, too, with
+    my unhealed wound, and my week's sojourn in bed; but I was
+    treated, if not with tenderness, without incivility, while my
+    <i>compagnons de voyage</i> were insulted with every
+    contemptuous phrase in a vocabulary at least as rich in those
+    matters as any other in Europe. At length, after about an
+    hour's rapid movement, we reached an open ground, and the door
+    of one of the wide, old, staring, yet not uncomfortable
+    farmhouses which are to be found in the northern provinces of
+    France.</p>
+
+    <p>Signs of comfort within were visible even at a distance, and
+    the light of a huge wood fire had been seen for the last
+    quarter of an hour gleaming through the woods, and leaving us
+    in doubt whether we were approaching a horde of gipsies, or
+    about to realize the classic scenes of Gil Blas.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page367"
+       name="page367"></a>[pg 367]</span> But it was only a
+       farm-house after all. The good dame of the house, with an
+       enormous cap, enormous petticoats, enormous earrings, and
+       all the glaring good-humour of a countenance of domestic
+       plenty and power, came to meet us on the threshold; and her
+       reception of me was ardent, to the very verge of
+       stranglulation. Nothing could exceed her rapture at the
+       sight of me, or the fierceness of her embraces, except her
+       indignation at the sight of my traveling companions. Her
+       disgust at the mayor and his deputy&mdash;and certainly
+       after their night trip they were not figures to charm the
+       eye&mdash;was pitched in the highest key of scorn, so as to
+       be surpassed only by the torrent of contempt which her
+       well-practised elocution poured upon the "<i>tra&icirc;tre
+       tailleur.</i>" I really believe, that, if she could have
+       boiled him in the huge soup-kettle which bubbled upon the
+       fire, without spoiling our supper, she would have flung him
+       in upon the spot. The peasants who had captured
+       us&mdash;bold, tall fellows, well dressed and well armed
+       with cutlass and fusil, in the style of the
+       <i>gardes-de-chasse</i>&mdash;could scarcely be kept from
+       taking them out to the next tree, to make marks of them; and
+       it was probably by my intercession alone that they were
+       consigned to an outer house for the night. How the scene was
+       to end with me, I knew not; though the jovial visage of my
+       protectress showed me that I was secure. But the prisoners
+       had no sooner been flung out of the door than I was ushered
+       into an inner room, prepared with somewhat more of
+       attention; where, to my great surprise and delight, the
+       Marquis Lanfranc came forward to shake my hand, and, with a
+       thousand expressions of gratitude, made me known to his
+       daughter. The adventure was of the simplest order. The
+       arrest of the Marquis was, of course, known in an instant,
+       and a party of his foresters had immediately determined to
+       take the law into their own hands&mdash;had posted
+       themselves on the road by which his carriage was to pass,
+       and had released him without difficulty. My release was
+       merely a sequel to the drama. I had been left in the
+       hunting-lodge by its owner, under the impression that an
+       individual who could not be moved without hazard to life,
+       would escape the vengeance of village patriotism. But the
+       nurse, whom he had placed in charge of me, had no sooner
+       ascertained that I was arrested, than she sent an express to
+       the farm-house. The consequence naturally followed in my
+       liberty; and the night which I expected to have spent
+       freezing on my way to the dungeon, presented me with the
+       pleasant exchange of hospitable shelter, the society of a
+       most accomplished man, and his graceful handsome daughter;
+       and last, not least, a couple of kisses from my late nurse,
+       according to the custom of the country, as glowing and
+       remorseless as those of my portly landlady herself.</p>
+
+    <p>We sat for some hours, and scarcely felt them pass in the
+    anxious topics which engrossed us; the perils of France, the
+    prospects of the Allies, and the captivity of the unhappy
+    Bourbons. Now and then the conversation turned on their own
+    hair-breadth escapes, and those of their relatives and friends.
+    Among the rest, the hazards of the De Tourville family were
+    mentioned, and I heard the name of Clotilde pronounced with a
+    sensation indescribable. The name was connected with such
+    displays of fortitude, nobleness of spirit, and deep devotion
+    to the royal cause, that, if I had loved before, I now honoured
+    her. She had saved the lives of her household; she had, by an
+    act of extraordinary, but most perilous affection, saved the
+    life of her mother, at the moment when the first insurgency
+    broke out; and, young as she was, she had exhibited so noble a
+    union of generosity and strength of mind, that the Marquis's
+    eyes filled with tears as he told it, and Amalia buried her
+    forehead in her hands to conceal her convulsive emotions: what
+    must have been mine!</p>
+
+    <p>Our conversation was not unfrequently interrupted by bursts
+    of merriment from the outer room, where the peasants were at
+    supper provided by the Marquis for his bold rescuers&mdash;an
+    indulgence which they seemed to enjoy with the highest zest
+    imaginable. Songs were sung with very various kinds of merit in
+    the performer, but all well received. Healths were proposed, in
+    which the existing Government was certainly not much honoured;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page368"
+       name="page368"></a>[pg 368]</span> and, if the good wishes
+       of the party could have sent the "Committee of Public
+       Safety," the butcher cabinet of France, to the darkest spot
+       on earth, or under it, its time would have been brief. But
+       even this died away; the laugh subsided, the mirth grew
+       silent, and at length the <i>gardes-de-chasse</i> went away,
+       making the forest ring with their professional whoops and
+       holloas, the remnants of their honest revel. At length the
+       Marquis and his daughter, who were to be on the wing at
+       daybreak for the German frontier, and who had generously
+       offered to take charge of my invalid frame in the same
+       direction, retired; and wrapping myself up in a dark cloak,
+       furnished by my mistress and formed to her showy
+       proportions, I threw myself on the sofa, and was in the land
+       of dreams.</p>
+
+    <p>But though I slept, I did not rest. My fever, or my
+    lassitude, or probably some presentiment of the troubled career
+    into which I was to be plunged, made "tired nature's sweet
+    restorer" a stepmother to me. I can never endure hearing the
+    dreams of others, and thus I cannot suffer myself to inflict
+    them on my hearers; but on that night, Queen Mab, like Jehu,
+    drove her horses furiously. Every possible kind of
+    disappointment, vexation, and difficulty; every conceivable
+    shape of things, past and present, rushed through my brain; and
+    all pale, fierce, disastrous, and melancholy. I was beckoned
+    along dim shades by shapeless phantoms; I was trampled in
+    battle; I was brought before a tribunal; I was on board a ship
+    which blew up, and was flung strangling down an infinite depth
+    in a midnight ocean. But this exceeded the privilege even of
+    dreams. I made one desperate effort to rise, and awoke with a
+    bound on the floor. There I found a real obstacle&mdash;a
+    ruffian in a red cap. One strong hand was on my throat; and by
+    the glimmer of the dying lantern, which hung from the roof, I
+    saw the glitter of a pistol-barrel in the other. "Surrender in
+    the name of the Republic!" were the words which told me my
+    fate. Four or five wearers of the same ominous emblem, with
+    sabres and pistols, were round me at the moment, and after a
+    brief struggle I was secured. Cries were now heard outside the
+    door, and a wounded gendarme was carried in, borne in the arms
+    of his comrades. From their confused clamour, I could merely
+    ascertain that the gendarmes who had escaped in the original
+    <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i>, had obtained assistance, and
+    returned on their steps. The farm-house had been surrounded,
+    and the Marquis was indebted only to the vigilance of his
+    peasantry for a second escape with his daughter. The
+    <i>gardes-de-chasse</i> had kept the gendarmes at bay until
+    their retreat was secure; and the post-chaise which had brought
+    M. Gilet and his coadjutors, was, by this time, some leagues
+    off, at full speed, beyond the fangs of Republicanism.</p>
+
+    <p>This at least was comfort, though I was left behind. But it
+    was clear that the gallant old noble was blameless in the
+    matter, and that nothing was to be blamed but my habitual ill
+    luck. "<i>En route</i> for Paris," was the last order which I
+    heard; and with a gendarme, in the strange kind of post-waggon
+    which was rolled out from the farmer's stable, I was
+    dispatched, before daybreak, on my startling journey.</p>
+
+    <p>I found my gendarme a facetious fellow; though his merriment
+    might not be well adapted to cheer his prisoner. He whistled,
+    he sang, he screamed, he stamped, to get rid of the ennui of
+    travelling with so silent a companion. He told stories of his
+    own prowess; libeled M. Gilet, who had got him beaten on this
+    service in the first instance, and who seemed to be in the
+    worst possible odour with man and woman; and abused all,
+    mayors, deputy-mayors, and authorities, with the tongue of a
+    leveler. But my facetious friend had his especial
+    <i>chagrins</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>"I have all my life," said he, "been longing to see Paris,
+    and have never been able to stir a step beyond this stupid
+    province. Yet I have had my chances too. I was once valet to a
+    German count, and we were on the way to Paris together when the
+    post-chaise was stopped, the baron was arrested as a swindler,
+    and I was charged as his accomplice. He was sent to the
+    galleys; I got off. I then had a second chance. I enlisted in a
+    regiment of dragoons which was to be <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page369"
+       name="page369"></a>[pg 369]</span> quartered in Versailles.
+       But such was my fate, I had no sooner passed the first
+       drill, when we were ordered off to Lorraine to watch old
+       King Stanislaus, the Pole, who lived there like one of his
+       own bears, frozen and fat. Still I was determined to see
+       Paris. I asked leave of absence; the adjutant laughed at me,
+       the colonel turned on his heel, and the provost-marshal gave
+       me a week of the black-hole. But a week is but seven days
+       after all, and on my seeing the parade
+       again&mdash;I&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"You deserted?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not quite that," was the reply. "I took leave, and, as I
+    had seen enough of the black hole already, I took good care to
+    give the provost-marshal no notice on the subject. A
+    fortnight's march brought me within sight of the towers of
+    Notre-Dame. But as I was resting myself on the roadside, our
+    adjutant, as ill luck would have it, came by in the
+    <i>coupe</i> of the diligence. He jumped out. I was seized,
+    given up to the next guard-house, and after fitting me with a
+    pair of fetters, by way of boots, I was ordered to take my
+    passage with a condemned regiment for the West Indies. There I
+    served ten years; I saw the regiment reduced to a skeleton by
+    short rations and new rum; and returned the tenth
+    representative of fifteen hundred felons. At last I have a
+    chance; the gendarme of the village was so desperately mauled
+    by the foresters in the attempt to carry you prisoner, that he
+    has been forced to take to his bed, and let me take his place.
+    The thing is certain now. <i>You</i> will be guillotined, but I
+    shall see Paris."</p>
+
+    <p>Yet what is certain in this most changeful of possible
+    worlds?</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i6">"Fate granted half the prayer,</p>
+
+            <p>The rest the gods dispersed in empty air."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>We had toiled through our long journey, rendered doubly long
+    by the dreariest and deepest roads on earth, and were winding
+    round the spur of Montmartre, when a troop of citizen heroes,
+    coming forth to sweep the country of the retreating Prussians,
+    and whose courage had risen to the boiling point by the news of
+    the retreat, surrounded the carriage. My Prussian uniform was
+    proof enough for the brains of the patriots; and the quick
+    discovery of Parisian ears, that I had not learned my French in
+    their capital, settled the question of my being a traitor. The
+    gendarme joined in the charge with his natural volubility; but
+    rather insisted rashly on his right to take his prisoner into
+    Paris on his own behalf. I saw a cloud gathering on the brow of
+    the <i>chef</i>, a short, stout, and grim-looking fellow, with
+    the true Faubourg St Antoine physiognomy. The prize was
+    evidently too valuable not to be turned to good account with
+    the authorities; and he resolved on returning at the head of
+    his brother patriots to present me as the first-fruits of his
+    martial career. The dispute grew hot; my escort was foolish
+    enough to clap his hand on the hilt of his sabre&mdash;an
+    affront intolerable to a citizen, at the head of fifty or sixty
+    <i>braves</i> from the counter or the shambles; the result was,
+    a succession of blows from the whole troop, which closed in my
+    seeing him stripped of every thing, and flung into the
+    <i>cachot</i> of the <i>corps de garde</i>, from which his only
+    view of his beloved Paris must have been through an iron
+    <i>grille</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>My captor, determined to enter the capital for once with
+    eclat, seated himself beside me in the <i>chaise de poste</i>,
+    and, surrounded by his pike-bearers, we began our march down
+    the descent of the hill.</p>
+
+    <p>My new friend was communicative. He gave his history in a
+    breath. He had been a clerk in the office of one of the small
+    tribunals in the south; inflamed with patriotism, and indignant
+    at the idea of selling his talents at the rate of ten sous
+    a-day, "in a rat-hole called a bureau," he had resolved on
+    being known in the world, and to Paris he came. Paris was the
+    true place for talent. His <i>civisme</i> had become
+    conspicuous; he had "assisted" at the birth of liberty. He had
+    carried a musket on the 10th of August, and had "been appointed
+    by the Republic to the command of the civic force," which now
+    moved, before and behind me. He was a "<i>grand homme</i>"
+    already. Danton had told him so within the last fortnight, and
+    France and Europe would no sooner <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page370"
+       name="page370"></a>[pg 370]</span> read his last pamphlet on
+       the "Crimes of Kings," than his fame would be fixed with
+       posterity.</p>
+
+    <p>I believe that few men have passed through life without
+    experiencing times when it would cost them little to lay it
+    down. At least such times have occurred to me, and this was
+    among them. Yet this feeling, whether it is to be called
+    nonchalance or despair, has its advantages for the moment; it
+    renders the individual considerably careless of the worst that
+    man can do to him; and I began to question my oratorical
+    judge's clerk on the events in the "city of cities." No man
+    could take fuller advantage of having a listener at his
+    command.</p>
+
+    <p>"We have cut down the throne," said he, clapping his hands
+    with exultation, "and now you may buy it for firewood. But you
+    are an aristocrat, and of course a slave; while we have got
+    liberty, equality, and a triumvirate that shears off the heads
+    of traitors at a sign. Suspicion of being suspected is quite
+    sufficient. Away goes the culprit; a true patriot is ordered to
+    take possession of his house until the national pleasure is
+    known; and thus every thing goes on well. Of course, you have
+    heard of the clearance of the prisons. A magnificent work. Five
+    thousand aristocrats, rich, noble, and enemies to their
+    country, sent headless to the shades of tyrants. <i>Vive la
+    Republique</i>! But a grand idea strikes me. You shall see
+    Danton himself, the genius of liberty, the hero of human
+    nature, the terror of kings." The thought was new, and a new
+    thought is enough to turn the brain of the Gaul at any time. He
+    thrust his head out of the window, ordered a general halt; and,
+    instead of taking me to the quarters of the National, resolved
+    to have the merit of delivering up an "agent of Pitt and
+    English guineas" to the master of the Republic alone. "<i>A
+    l'Abbaye</i>!" was his cry. But a new obstacle now arose in his
+    troop; they had reckoned on a civic supper with their comrades
+    of the guard; and the notion of bivouacking in front of the
+    Abbaye, under the chilling wind and fierce showers which now
+    swept down the dismal streets, was too much for their sense of
+    discipline. The dispute grew angry. At length one of them, a
+    huge and savage-looking fellow, who, by way of illustration,
+    thrust his pike close to the little commandant's shrinking
+    visage, bellowed out&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"The people are not to be insulted. The people order, and
+    all must obey!" Nothing could be more unanswerable, and no
+    attempt was made to answer. The captain dropped back into the
+    chaise, the troop took their own way, and my next glance showed
+    the street empty. But the Frenchman finds comfort under all
+    calamities. After venting his wrath in no measured terms on
+    "rabble insolence," and declaring that laws were of no use when
+    "<i>gueux</i>" like these could take them into their hands, he
+    consoled himself by observing that, stripped as he was of his
+    honours, the loss might be compensated by his profits; that the
+    "vagabonds" might have expected to share the reward which the
+    "grand Danton would infallibly be rejoiced to give for my
+    capture, and that both the purse and the praise would be his
+    own." "<i>A l'Abbaye</i>!" was the cry once more.</p>
+
+    <p>We now were in motion again; and, after threading a
+    labyrinth of streets, so dreary and so dilapidated as almost to
+    give me the conception that I had never been in Paris before,
+    we drove up to the grim entrance of the Abbaye. My companion
+    left me in charge of the sentinel, and rushed in. "And is
+    this," thought I, as I looked round the narrow space of the
+    four walls, "the spot where so many hundreds were butchered;
+    this the scene of the first desperate triumph of massacre; this
+    miserable court the last field of so many gallant lives; these
+    stones the last resting-place of so many whose tread had been
+    on cloth of gold; these old and crumbling walls giving the last
+    echo to the voices of statesmen and nobles, the splendid
+    courtiers, the brilliant orators, and the hoary ecclesiastics,
+    of the most superb kingdom of Europe!" Even by the feeble
+    lamp-light, that rather showed the darkness than the forms of
+    the surrounding buildings, it seemed to me that I could
+    discover the colour of the slaughter on the ground; and there
+    were still heaps in corners, which looked to me like clay
+    suddenly flung over the remnants of the murdered.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page371"
+       name="page371"></a>[pg 371]</span> But my reveries were
+       suddenly broken up by the return of the little captain, more
+       angry than ever. He had missed the opportunity of seeing the
+       "great man," who had gone to the Salpetri&egrave;re. And
+       some of the small men who performed as his jackals, having
+       discovered that the captain was looking for a share in their
+       plunder, had thought proper to treat him, his commission,
+       and even his civism, with extreme contempt. In short, as he
+       avowed to me, the very first use which he was determined to
+       make of that supreme power to which his ascent was
+       inevitable, would be to clear the <i>bureaux</i> of France,
+       beginning with Paris, of all those insolent and idle
+       hangers-on, who lived only to purloin the profits, and libel
+       the services, of "good citizens."</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>A la Salpetri&egrave;re</i>." There again disappointment
+    met us. The great man had been there "but a few minutes
+    before," and we dragged our slow way through mire and ruts that
+    would have been formidable to an artillery waggon with all its
+    team. My heart, buoyant as it had been, sank within me as I
+    looked up at the frowning battlements, the huge towers, more
+    resembling those of a fortress than of even a prison, the
+    gloomy gates, and the general grim aspect of the whole vast
+    circumference, giving so emphatic a resemblance of the
+    dreariness and the despair within.</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Aux Carmes</i>!" was now the direction; for my
+    conductor's resolve to earn his reward before daybreak, was
+    rendered more pungent by this interview with the <i>gens de
+    bureau</i> at the Abbaye. He was sure that they would be
+    instantly on the scent; and if they once took me out of his
+    hands, adieu to dreams, of which Alnaschar, the glassman's,
+    were only a type. He grew nervous with the thought, and poured
+    out his whole vision of hopes and fears with a volubility which
+    I should have set down for frenzy, if in any man but a wretch
+    in the fever of a time when gold and blood were the universal
+    and combined idolatries of the land.</p>
+
+    <p>"You may think yourself fortunate," he exclaimed, "in having
+    been in my charge! That brute of a country gendarme could have
+    shown you nothing. Now, <i>I</i> know every jail in Paris. I
+    have studied them. They form the true knowledge of a citizen.
+    To crush tyrants, to extinguish nobles, to avenge the cause of
+    reason on priests, and to raise the people to a knowledge of
+    their rights&mdash;these are the triumphs of a patriot. Yet,
+    what teacher is equal to the jail for them all? <i>Mais
+    voil&agrave; les Carmes</i>!"</p>
+
+    <p>I saw a low range of blank wall, beyond which rose an
+    ancient tower.</p>
+
+    <p>"Here," said he, "liberty had a splendid triumph. A hundred
+    and fifty tonsured apostles of incivism here fell in one day
+    beneath the two-handed sword of freedom. A cardinal, two
+    archbishops, dignitaries, monks, hoary with prejudices,
+    antiquated with abuses, extinguishers of the new light of
+    liberty, here were offered on the national shrine! <i>Chantons
+    la Carmagnole</i>."</p>
+
+    <p>But he was destined to be disappointed once more. Danton had
+    been there, but was suddenly called away by a messenger from
+    the Jacobins. Our direction was now changed again. "Now we
+    shall be disappointed no longer. Once engaged in debate, he
+    will be fixed for the night. <i>Allons</i>, you shall see the
+    'grand patriote,' 'the regenerator,' 'the first man in the
+    world.' <i>Aux Jacobins</i>!"</p>
+
+    <p>Our unfortunate postilion falling with fatigue on his
+    horses' neck, attempted to propose going to an inn, and
+    renewing our search in the morning; but the captain had made up
+    his mind for the night, and, drawing a pistol from his breast,
+    exhibited this significant sign pointed at his head. The
+    horses, as tired as their driver, were lashed on. I had for
+    some time been considering, as we passed through the deserted
+    streets, whether it was altogether consistent with the feelings
+    of my country, to suffer myself to be dragged round the capital
+    at the mercy of this lover of lucre; but an apathy had come
+    over my whole frame, which made me contemptuous of life. The
+    sight of his pistol rather excited me to make the attempt, from
+    the very insolence of his carrying it. But we still rolled on.
+    At length, in one of the streets, which seemed darker and more
+    miserable than all the rest, we were brought to a full stop by
+    the march of a strong body of the National Guard, which halted
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page372"
+       name="page372"></a>[pg 372]</span> in front of an enormous
+       old building, furnished with battlement and bartizan. "<i>Le
+       Temple</i>!" exclaimed my companion, with almost a shriek of
+       exultation. I glanced upward, and saw a light with the pale
+       glimmer which, in my boyish days, I had heard always
+       attributed to spectres passing along the dim casements of a
+       gallery. I cannot express how deeply this image sank upon
+       me. I saw there only a huge tomb&mdash;the tomb of living
+       royalty, of a line of monarchs, of all the feelings that
+       still bound the heart of man to the cause of France. All now
+       spectral. But, whatever might be the work of my imagination,
+       there was terrible truth; enough before me to depress, and
+       sting, and wring the mind. Within a step of the spot where I
+       sat, were the noblest and the most unhappy beings in
+       existence&mdash;the whole family of the throne caught in the
+       snare of treason. Father, mother, sister, children! Not one
+       rescued, not one safe, to relieve the wretchedness of their
+       ruin by the hope that there was an individual of their
+       circle beyond their prison bars&mdash;all consigned to the
+       grave together&mdash;all alike conscious that every day
+       which sent its light through their melancholy casements,
+       only brought them nearer to a death of misery! But I must
+       say no more of this. My heart withered within me as I looked
+       at the towers of the Temple. It almost withers within me, at
+       this moment, when I think of them. They are leveled long
+       since; but while I write I see them before me again, a
+       sepulchre; I see the mustering of that crowd of more than
+       savages before the grim gate; and I see the pale glimmer of
+       that floating lamp, which was then, perhaps, lighting the
+       steps of Marie Antoinette to her solitary cell.</p>
+
+    <p>Of all the sights of that melancholy traverse, this the most
+    disheartened me, whatever had been my carelessness of life
+    before. It was now almost scorn. The thoughts fell heavy on my
+    mind. What was I, when such victims were prepared for
+    sacrifice? What was the crush of my obscure hopes, when the
+    sitters on thrones were thus leveled with the earth? If I
+    perished in the next moment, no chasm would be left in society;
+    perhaps but one or two human beings, if even they, would give a
+    recollection to my grave. But here the objects of national
+    homage and gallant loyalty, beings whose rising radiance had
+    filled the eye of nations, and whose sudden fall was felt as an
+    eclipse of European light, were exposed to the deepest
+    sufferings of the captive. What, then, was I, that I should
+    murmur; or, still more, that I should resist; or, most of all,
+    that I should desire to protract an existence which, to this
+    hour, had been one of a vexed spirit, and which, to the last
+    hour of my career, looked but cloud on cloud?</p>
+
+    <p>Some of this depression may have been the physical result of
+    fatigue, for I had been now four-and-twenty hours without rest;
+    and the dismal streets, the dashing rain, and the utter absence
+    of human movement as we dragged our dreary way along, would
+    have made even the floor of a dungeon welcome. I was as cold as
+    its stone.</p>
+
+    <p>At length our postilion, after nearly relieving us of all
+    the troubles of this world, by running on the verge of the moat
+    which once surrounded the Bastile, and where nothing but the
+    screams of my companion prevented him from plunging in, wholly
+    lost his way. The few lamps in this intricate and miserable
+    quarter of the city had been blown out by the tempest, and our
+    only resource appeared to be patience, until the tardy break of
+    winter's morn should guide us through the labyrinth of the
+    Faubourg St Antoine. However, this my companion's patriotism
+    would not suffer. "The Club would be adjourned! Danton would be
+    gone!" In short, he should not hear the Jacobin lion roar, nor
+    have the reward on which he reckoned for flinging me into his
+    jaws. The postilion was again ordered to move, and the turn of
+    a street showing a light at a distance, he lashed his
+    unfortunate horses towards it. Utterly indifferent as to where
+    I was to be deposited, I saw and heard nothing, until I was
+    roused by the postilion's cry of "Place de Gr&egrave;ve."</p>
+
+    <p>A large fire was burning in the midst of the gloomy square,
+    round which a party of the National Guard were standing, with
+    their muskets piled, and wrapped in their cloaks, against the
+    inclemency of the night. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page373"
+       name="page373"></a>[pg 373]</span> Further off, and in the
+       centre, feebly seen by the low blaze, was a wooden
+       structure, on whose corners torches were flaring in the
+       wind. "<i>Voil&agrave;, la guillotine</i>!" exclaimed my
+       captor with the sort of ecstasy which might issue from the
+       lips of a worshipper. As I raised my eyes, an accidental
+       flash of the fire showed the whole outline of the horrid
+       machine. I saw the glitter of the very axe that was to drop
+       upon my head. My first sensation was that of deadly
+       faintless. Ghastly as was the purpose of that axe, my
+       imagination saw even new ghastliness in the shape of its
+       huge awkward scythe-like steel; it seemed made for massacre.
+       The faintness went off in the next moment, and I was another
+       man. In the whole course of a life of excitement, I have
+       never experienced so total a change. All my apathy was gone.
+       The horrors of public execution stood in a visible shape
+       before me at once. I might have fallen in the field with
+       fortitude; I might have submitted to the deathbed, as the
+       course of nature; I might have even died with exultation in
+       some great public cause. But to perish by the frightful
+       thing which shot up its spectral height before me; to be
+       dragged as a spectacle to scoffing and scorning
+       crowds&mdash;dragged, perhaps, in the feebleness and squalid
+       helplessness of a confinement which might have exhibited me
+       to the world in imbecility or cowardice; to be grasped by
+       the ruffian executioner, and flung, stigmatized as a felon,
+       into the common grave of felons&mdash;the thought darted
+       through my mind like a jet of fire; but it gave me the
+       strength of fire. I determined to die by the bayonets of the
+       guard, or by any other death than this. My captor perceived
+       my agitation, and my eye glanced on his withered and
+       malignant visage, as with a smile he was cocking his pistol.
+       I sprang on him like a tiger. In our struggle the pistol
+       went off, and a gush of blood from his cheek showed that it
+       had inflicted a severe wound. I was now his master, and,
+       grasping him by the throat with one hand, with the other I
+       threw open the door and leaped upon the pavement. For the
+       moment, I looked round bewildered; but the report of the
+       pistol had caught the ears of the guard, whom I saw hurrying
+       to unpile their muskets. But this was a work of confusion,
+       and, before they could snatch up their arms, I had made my
+       choice of the darkest and narrowest of the wretched lanes
+       which issue into the square. A shot or two fired after me
+       sent me at my full speed, and I darted forward, leaving them
+       as they might, to follow.</p>
+
+    <p>How long I scrambled, or how often I felt sinking from mere
+    weariness in that flight, I knew not. In the fever of my mind,
+    I only knew that I twined my way through numberless streets,
+    most of which have been since swept away; but, on turning the
+    corner of a street which led into the Boulevard, and when I had
+    some hope of taking refuge in my old hotel, I found that I had
+    plunged into the heart of a considerable crowd of persons
+    hurrying along, apparently on some business which strongly
+    excited them. Some carried lanterns, some pikes, and there was
+    a general appearance of more than republican enthusiasm, even
+    savage ferocity, among them, that gave sufficient evidence of
+    my having fallen into no good company. I attempted to draw
+    back, but this would not be permitted; the words, "Spy,
+    traitor, slave of the Monarchiques!" and, apparently as the
+    blackest charge of all, "Cordelier!" were heaped upon me, and I
+    ran the closest possible chance of being put to death on the
+    spot. It may naturally be supposed that I made all kinds of
+    protestations to escape being piked or pistoled. But they had
+    no time to wait for apologies. The cry of "Death to the
+    traitor!" was followed by the brandishing of half a dozen
+    knives in the circle round me. At that moment, when I must have
+    fallen helplessly, a figure stepped forward, and opening the
+    slide of his dark lantern directly on his own face, whispered
+    the word Mordecai. I recognised, I shall not say with what
+    feelings, the police agent who had formerly conveyed me out of
+    the city. He was dressed, like the majority of the crowd, in
+    the republican costume; and certainly there never was a more
+    extraordinary costume. He wore a red cap, like the cap of the
+    butchers of the Faubourgs; an enormous beard covered his
+    breast, a short Spanish mantle hung from his shoulders, a short
+    leathern doublet, with a belt <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page374"
+       name="page374"></a>[pg 374]</span> like an armoury, stuck
+       with knives and pistols, a sabre, and huge trousers striped
+       with red, in imitation of streams of gore, completed the
+       patriot uniform. Some wore broad bands of linen round their
+       waists, inscribed, "2d, 3d and 4th September,"&mdash;the
+       days of massacre. These were its heros. I was in the midst
+       of the <i>&eacute;lite</i> of murder.</p>
+
+    <p>"Citizens," exclaimed the Jew in a voice of thunder, driving
+    back the foremost, "hold your hands up; are you about to
+    destroy a friend of freedom? Your knives have drunk the blood
+    of aristocrats; but they are the defence of liberty. This
+    citizen, against whom they are now unsheathed, is one of
+    ourselves. He has returned from the frontier, to join the brave
+    men of Paris, in their march to the downfall of tyrants. But
+    out friends await us in the glorious club of the Jacobins. This
+    is the hour of victory. Advance, regenerated sons of freedom!
+    Forward, Frenchmen!"</p>
+
+    <p>His speech had the effect. The rapid executors of public
+    vengeance fell back; and the Jew, whispering to me, "You must
+    follow us, or be killed,"&mdash;I chose the easier alternative
+    at once, and stepped forward like a good citizen. As my
+    protector pushed the crowd before him, in which he seemed to be
+    a leader, he said to me from time to time, "Show no resistance.
+    A word from you would be the signal for your death&mdash;we are
+    going to the hall of the Jacobins. This is a great night among
+    them, and the heads of the party will either be ruined
+    to-night, or by morning will be masters of every thing. I
+    pledge myself, if not for your safety, at least for doing all
+    that I can to save you." I remained silent, as I was ordered;
+    and we hurried on, until there was a halt in front of a huge
+    old building. "The hall of the Jacobins," whispered the Jew,
+    and again cautioned me against saying or doing any thing in the
+    shape of reluctance.</p>
+
+    <p>We now plunged into the darkness of a vast pile, evidently
+    once a convent, and where the chill of the massive walls struck
+    to the marrow. I felt as if walking through a charnel-house. We
+    hurried on; a trembling light, towards the end of an immense
+    and lofty aisle, was our guide; and the crowd, long familiar
+    with the way, rushed through the intricacies where so many feet
+    of monks had trod before them, and where, perhaps, many a deed
+    that shunned the day had been perpetrated. At length a spiral
+    stair brought us to a large gallery, where our entrance was
+    marked with a shout of congratulation; and tumbling over the
+    benches and each other, we at length took our seats in the
+    highest part, which, in both the club and the National
+    Assembly, was called, from its height, the Mountain, and from
+    the characters which generally held it, was a mountain of
+    flame. In the area below, once the nave of the church, sat the
+    Jacobin club. I now, for the first time, saw that memorable and
+    terrible assemblage. And nothing could be more suited than its
+    aspect to its deeds. The hall was of such extent that a large
+    portion of it was scarcely visible, and few lights which hung
+    from the walls scarcely displayed even the remainder. The
+    French love of decoration had no place here; neither statues
+    nor pictures, neither gilding nor sculpture, relieved the
+    heaviness of the building. Nothing of the arts was visible but
+    their rudest specimens; the grim effigies of monks and martyrs,
+    or the coarse and blackened carvings of a barbarous age. The
+    hall was full; for the club contained nearly two thousand
+    members, and on this night all were present. Yet, except for
+    the occasional cries of approval or anger when any speaker had
+    concluded, and the habitual murmur of every huge assembly, they
+    might have been taken for a host of spectres; the area had so
+    entirely the aspect of a huge vault, the air felt so thick, and
+    the gloom was so feebly dispersed by the chandeliers. All was
+    sepulchral. The chair of the president even stood on a tomb, an
+    antique structure of black marble. The elevated stand, from
+    which the speakers generally addressed the assembly, had the
+    strongest resemblance to a scaffold, and behind it, covering
+    the wall, were suspended chains, and instruments of torture of
+    every horrid kind, used in the dungeons of old times; and
+    though placed there for the sake of contrast with the mercies
+    of a more enlightened age, yet <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page375"
+       name="page375"></a>[pg 375]</span> enhancing the general
+       idea of a scene of death. It required no addition to render
+       the hall of the Jacobins fearful; but the meetings were
+       always held at night, often prolonged through the whole
+       night. Always stormy, and often sanguinary, daggers were
+       drawn and pistols fired&mdash;assassination in the streets
+       sometimes followed bitter attacks on the benches; and at
+       this period, the mutual wrath and terror of the factions had
+       risen to such height, that every meeting might be only a
+       prelude to exile or the axe; and the deliberation of this
+       especial night must settle the question, whether the
+       Monarchy or the Jacobin club was to ascend the scaffold. It
+       was the debate on the execution of the unhappy Louis
+       XVI.</p>
+
+    <p>The arrival of the crowd, among whom I had taken my
+    unwilling seat, evidently gave new spirits to the regicides;
+    the moment was critical. Even in Jacobinism all were not
+    equally black, and the fear of the national revulsion at so
+    desperate a deed startled many, who might not have been
+    withheld by feelings of humanity. The leaders had held a secret
+    consultation while the debate was drawing on its slow length,
+    and Danton's old expedient of "terror" was resolved on. His
+    emissaries had been sent round Paris to summon all his
+    banditti; and the low <i>caf&eacute;s</i>, the Faubourg
+    taverns, and every haunt of violence, and the very drunkenness
+    of crime, had poured forth. The remnant of the
+    Marseillois&mdash;a gang of actual galley-slaves, who had led
+    the late massacres&mdash;the paid assassins of the Marais, and
+    the <i>sabreurs</i> of the Royal Guard, who after treason to
+    their king, had found profitable trade in living on the robbery
+    and blood of the nobles and priests, formed this reinforcement;
+    and their entrance into the gallery was recognised by a
+    clapping of hands from below, which they answered by a roar,
+    accompanied with the significant sign of clashing their knives
+    and sabres.</p>
+
+    <p>Danton immediately rushed into the Tribune. I had seen him
+    before, on the fearful night which prepared the attack on the
+    palace; but he was then in the haste and affected savageness of
+    the rabble. He now played the part of leader of a political
+    sect; and the commencement of his address adopted something of
+    the decorum of public council. In this there was an artifice;
+    for, resistless as the club was, it still retained a jealousy
+    of the superior legislative rank of the assembly of national
+    representatives, the Convention. The forms of the Convention
+    were strictly imitated; and even those Jacobins who usually led
+    the debate, scrupulously wore the dress of the better orders.
+    Robespierre was elaborately dressed whenever he appeared in the
+    Tribune, and even Danton abandoned the <i>canaille</i> costume
+    for the time. I was struck with his showy stature, his bold
+    forehead, and his commanding attitude, as he stood waving his
+    hand over the multitude below, as if he waved a sceptre. His
+    appearance was received with a general shout from the gallery,
+    which he returned by one profound bow, and then stood erect,
+    till all sounds had sunk. His powerful voice then rang through
+    the extent of the hall. He began with congratulating the people
+    on their having relieved the Republic from its external
+    dangers. His language at first was moderate, and his
+    recapitulation of the perils which must have befallen a
+    conquered country, was sufficiently true and even touching; but
+    his tone soon changed, and I saw the true democrat. "What!" he
+    cried, "are those perils to the horrors of domestic perfidy?
+    What are the ravages on the frontier to poison and the dagger
+    at our firesides? What is the gallant death in the field to
+    assassination in cold blood? Listen, fellow-citizens, there is
+    at this hour a plot deeper laid for your destruction than ever
+    existed in the shallow heads of, or could ever be executed by
+    the coward hearts of, their soldiery. Where is that plot? In
+    the streets? No. The courage of our brave patriots is as proof
+    against corruption as against fear." This was followed by a
+    shout from the gallery. "Is it in the Tuileries? No; there the
+    national sabre has cut down the tree which cast its deadly
+    fruits among the nation. Where then is the focus of the
+    plot&mdash;where the gathering of the storm that is to shake
+    the battlements of the Republic&mdash;where that terrible
+    deposit of combustibles which the noble <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page376"
+       name="page376"></a>[pg 376]</span> has gathered, the priest
+       has piled, and the king has prepared to kindle? Brave
+       citizens, that spot is &mdash;&mdash;," he paused, looking
+       mysteriously round, while a silence deep as death pervaded
+       the multitude; then, as if suddenly recovering himself, he
+       thundered out&mdash;"The Temple!" No language can describe
+       the shout or the scene that followed. The daring word was
+       now spoken which all anticipated; but which Danton alone had
+       the desperate audacity to utter. The gallery screamed,
+       howled, roared, embraced each other, danced, flourished
+       their weapons, and sang the Marseillaise and the Carmagnole.
+       The club below were scarcely less violent in their
+       demonstrations of furious joy. Danton had now accomplished
+       his task; but his vanity thirsted for additional applause,
+       and he entered into a catalogue of his services to
+       Republicanism. In the midst of the detail, a low but
+       singularly clear voice was heard, from the extremity of the
+       hall.</p>
+
+    <p>"Descend, man of massacre!"</p>
+
+    <p>I saw Danton start back as if he had been shot. At length,
+    recovering his breath, he said feebly&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Citizens, of what am I accused?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of the three days of September," uttered the voice again,
+    in a tone so strongly sepulchral, that it palpably awed the
+    whole assemblage.</p>
+
+    <p>"Who is it that insults me? who dares to malign me? What spy
+    of the Girondists, what traitor of the Bourbons, what hireling
+    of the gold of Pitt, is among us?" exclaimed the bold ruffian,
+    yet with a visage which, even at the distance, I could observe
+    had lost its usual fiery hue, and turned clay-colour. "Who
+    accuses me?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I!" replied the voice, and I saw a thin tall figure stalk
+    up the length of the hall, and stand at the foot of the
+    tribune. "Descend!" was the only word which he spoke; and
+    Danton, as if under a spell, to my astonishment, obeyed without
+    a word, and came down. The stranger took his place, none knew
+    his name; and the rapidity and boldness of his assault
+    suspended all in wonder like my own. I can give but a most
+    incomplete conception of the extraordinary eloquence of this
+    mysterious intruder. He openly charged Danton with having
+    constructed the whole conspiracy against the unfortunate
+    prisoners of September; with having deceived the people by
+    imaginary alarms of the approach of the enemy; with having
+    plundered the national treasury to pay the assassins; and, last
+    and most deadly charge of all, with having formed a plan for a
+    National Dictatorship, of which he himself was to be the first
+    possessor. The charge was sufficiently probable, and was not
+    now heard for the first time. But the keenness and fiery
+    promptitude with which the speaker poured the charge upon him,
+    gave it a new aspect; and I could see in the changing
+    physiognomies round me, that the great democrat was already in
+    danger. He obviously felt this himself; for starting up from
+    the bench to which he had returned, he cried out, or rather
+    yelled&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Citizens, this man thirsts for my blood. Am I to be
+    sacrificed? Am I to be exposed to the daggers of assassins!"
+    But no answering shout now arose; a dead silence reigned: all
+    eyes were still turned on the tribune. I saw Danton, after a
+    gaze of total helplessness on all sides, throw up his hands
+    like a drowning man, and stagger back to his seat. Nothing
+    could be more unfortunate than his interruption; for the
+    speaker now poured the renewed invective, like a stream of
+    molten iron, full on his personal character and career.</p>
+
+    <p>"Born a beggar, your only hope of bread was crime. Adopting
+    the profession of an advocate, your only conception of law was
+    chicanery. Coming to Paris, you took up patriotism as a trade,
+    and turned the trade into an imposture. Trained to dependence,
+    you always hung on some one till he spurned you. You licked the
+    dust before Mirabeau; you betrayed him, and he trampled on you;
+    you took refuge in the cavern of Marat, until he found you too
+    base even for his base companionship, and he, too, spurned you;
+    you then clung to the skirts of Robespierre, and clung only to
+    ruin. Viper! known only by your coils and your poison; like the
+    original serpent, degraded even from the brute into the
+    reptile, you already feel your sentence. I pronounce it before
+    all. The man to whom you now cling will crush you. Maximilien
+    Robespierre, is not your heel already <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page377"
+       name="page377"></a>[pg 377]</span> lifted up to tread out
+       the life of this traitor? Maximilien Robespierre," he
+       repeated with a still more piercing sound, "do I not speak
+       the truth?" "Have I not stripped the veil from your
+       thoughts? Am I not looking on your heart?" He then addressed
+       each of the Jacobin leaders in a brief appeal. "Billaud
+       Varennes, stand forth&mdash;do you not long to drive your
+       dagger into the bosom of this new tyrant? Collot d'Herbois,
+       are you not sworn to destroy him? Couthon, have you not
+       pronounced him perjured, perfidious, and unfit to live? St
+       Just, have you not in your bosom the list of those who have
+       pledged themselves that Danton shall never be Dictator; that
+       his grave shall be dug before he shall tread on the first
+       step of the throne; that his ashes shall be scattered to the
+       four winds of heaven; that he shall never gorge on
+       France?"</p>
+
+    <p>A hollow murmur, like an echo of the vaults beneath,
+    repeated the concluding words. The murmur had scarcely subsided
+    when this extraordinary apparition, flinging round him a long
+    white cloak, which he had hitherto carried on his arm, and
+    which, in the dim light, gave him the look of one covered with
+    a shroud, cried out in a voice of still deeper solemnity,
+    "George Jacques Danton, you have this night pronounced the
+    death of your king&mdash;I now pronounce your own. By the
+    victims of the 20th of June&mdash;by the victims of the 10th of
+    August&mdash;by the victims of the 2d of September&mdash;by the
+    thousands whom your thirst of blood has slain&mdash;by the tens
+    of thousands whom your treachery has sent to perish in a
+    foreign grave&mdash;by the millions whom the war which you have
+    kindled will lay in the field of slaughter&mdash;I cite you to
+    appear before a tribunal, where sits a judge whom none can
+    elude and none can defy. Within a year and a month, I cite you
+    to meet the spirits of your victims before the throne of the
+    Eternal."</p>
+
+    <p>He stopped; not a voice was heard. He descended the steps of
+    the Tribune, and stalked slowly through the hall; not a hand
+    was raised against him. He pursued his way with as much
+    calmness and security as if he had been a supernatural
+    visitant, until he vanished in the darkness.</p>
+
+    <p>This singular occurrence threw a complete damp on the
+    regicidal ardour; and, as no one seemed inclined to mount the
+    Tribune, the club would probably have broken up for the night,
+    when a loud knocking at one of the gates, and the beating of
+    drums, aroused the drowsy sitters on the benches. The gallery
+    was as much awake as ever; but seemed occupied with evident
+    expectation of either a new revolt, or a spectacle; pistols
+    were taken out to be new primed, and the points and edges of
+    knives duly examined. The doors at length were thrown open, and
+    a crowd, one half of whom appeared to be in the last stage of
+    intoxication, and the other half not far from insanity, came
+    dancing and chorusing into the body of the building. In the
+    midst of their troop they carried two busts covered with
+    laurels&mdash;the busts of the regicides Ravaillac and Clement,
+    with flags before them, inscribed, "They were glorious; for
+    they slew kings!" The busts were presented to the president,
+    and their bearers, a pair of <i>poissardes</i>, insisted on
+    giving him the republican embrace, in sign of fraternization.
+    The president, in return, invited them to the "honours of a
+    sitting;" and thus reinforced, the discussion on the death of
+    the unhappy monarch commenced once more, and the vote was
+    carried by acclamation. The National Convention was still to be
+    applied to for the completion of the sentence; but the decree
+    of the Jacobins was the law of the land.</p>
+
+    <p>I had often looked towards the gallery door, during the
+    night, for the means of escape; but my police friend had
+    forbade my moving before his return. I therefore remained until
+    the club were breaking up, and the gallery began to clear.
+    Cautious as I had been, I could not help exhibiting, from time
+    to time, some disturbance at the atrocities of the night, and
+    especially at the condemnation of the helpless king. In all
+    this I had found a sympathizing neighbour, who had exhibited
+    marked civility in explaining the peculiarities of the place,
+    and giving me brief sketches of the speakers as they rose in
+    succession. He had especially agreed with me in deprecating the
+    cruelty of the regicidal sentence. I now rose to bid my
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page378"
+       name="page378"></a>[pg 378]</span> gentlemanlike
+       <i>cicerone</i> good-night; but, to my surprise, I saw him
+       make a sign to two loiterers near the door, who instantly
+       pinioned me.</p>
+
+    <p>"We cannot part quite so soon, Monsieur l'Aristocrat," said
+    he; "and, though I much regret that I cannot have the honour of
+    accommodating you in the Temple, near your friend Monsieur
+    Louis Capet, yet you may rely on my services in procuring a
+    lodging for you in one of the most agreeable prisons in
+    Paris."</p>
+
+    <p>I had been entrapped in the most established style, and I
+    had nothing to thank for it but fortune. Resistance was in
+    vain, for they pointed to the pistols within their coats; and
+    with a vexed heart, and making many an angry remark on the
+    treachery of the villain who had ensnared me&mdash;matters
+    which fell on his ear probably with about the same effect as
+    water on the pavement at my feet&mdash;I was put into a close
+    carriage, and, with ny captors, carried off to the nearest
+    barrier, and consigned to the governor of the well-known and
+    hideous St Lazare.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <a name="bw341s8"
+          id="bw341s8"></a>
+
+    <h3>THE OLYMPIC JUPITER.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Calm the Olympian God sat in his marble fane,</p>
+
+            <p>High and complete in beauty too pure and vast to
+            wane;</p>
+
+            <p>Full in his ample form, Nature appear'd to
+            spread;</p>
+
+            <p>Thought and sovran Rule beam'd in his earnest
+            head;</p>
+
+            <p>From the lofty foliaged brow, and the mightily
+            bearded chin,</p>
+
+            <p>Down over all his frame was the strength of a life
+            within.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Lovely a maid in twilight before the vision
+            knelt,</p>
+
+            <p>Looking with upturn'd gaze the awe that her spirit
+            felt.</p>
+
+            <p>Hung like the skies above her was bow'd the monarch
+            mild,</p>
+
+            <p>Hearing the whisper'd words of the fair and panting
+            child.</p>
+
+            <p>&mdash;Could she be dear to him as dews to ocean
+            are,</p>
+
+            <p>Be in his wreath a leaf, on his robes a golden
+            star!</p>
+
+            <p>Could she as incense float around his eternal
+            throne,</p>
+
+            <p>Sound as the note of a hymn to his deep ear
+            alone!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Lo! while her heart adoring still to the God
+            exhales,</p>
+
+            <p>Speech from his glimmering lips on the silent air
+            prevails:</p>
+
+            <p>&mdash;"Child of this earth, bewilder'd in thine
+            a&euml;rial dream,</p>
+
+            <p>Turn thee to Powers that are, and not to those that
+            seem.</p>
+
+            <p>All of fairest and noblest filling my graven
+            form</p>
+
+            <p>First in a human spirit was breathing alive and
+            warm.</p>
+
+            <p>Seek thou in him all else that he can evoke from
+            nought,</p>
+
+            <p>Seek the creative master, the king of beautiful
+            thought."</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>&mdash;Down the eyes of the maiden sank from the
+            Thunderer's look,</p>
+
+            <p>Pale in her shame and terror, and yet with delight
+            she shook</p>
+
+            <p>Swift on her brow she felt a crown by the God
+            bestow'd,</p>
+
+            <p>Shading her face that now with a hope too lively
+            glow'd.</p>
+
+            <p>Bending the Sculptor stood who wrought the work
+            divine,</p>
+
+            <p>Godlike in voice he spake&mdash;Ever, oh, maid be
+            mine!</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page379"
+       name="page379"></a>[pg 379]</span> <a name="bw341s9"
+          id="bw341s9"></a>
+
+    <h3>A ROMAN IDYL.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Oh! blame not, friend, with scoff unfeeling,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The gentle tale of grief and wrong,</p>
+
+            <p>Which, all the pain of life revealing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Yet teaches peace by thoughtful song.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>The landscape round us wide expanded</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">As ere was heard the name of Rome;</p>
+
+            <p>And Rome, though fallen, our souls commanded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In this her empire's earliest home.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Her brightness beam'd on each far mountain,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Her life made green the grass we
+            trode,</p>
+
+            <p>Her memory haunted still the fountain,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And spread her shadows o'er the sod.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Her ruins told their tale of glory,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Decreed to that eternal sky;</p>
+
+            <p>And through that ancient grove, her story</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With sibyl whisper seem'd to sigh.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>The pile her wealthiest mourner builded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In glimpse we caught through ilex
+            gloom&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>Metella's Tower, by sunshine gilded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That beams alike on feast or tomb.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>And on this plain, not yet benighted,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'Mid awful ages mouldering there,</p>
+
+            <p>Young hands in new-bloom flowers delighted,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Young eyes look'd bright in sunniest
+            air.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Till we, Viterbo's wine-cup quaffing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Which fairer lips refused to grace,</p>
+
+            <p>Could win by jest those lips to laughing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And veil'd in folly wisdom's face.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>But say, my friend, thou sage mysterious,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">What Nymph, what Muse disown'd the
+            strain</p>
+
+            <p>Which bade our heedless mirth be serious,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And woke our ears to nobler pain?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>That region grave of plain and highland,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With Rome's grey ruin strewn around,</p>
+
+            <p>Is not a soft Calypso's island,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Nor fades at Truth's evoking sound.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>High thoughts in words of quiet beauty</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Accord with visions grand as these,</p>
+
+            <p>And song's imperishable duty</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Has holier aims than but to please.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By word and image deeply wedded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">By cadence apt and varied rhyme,</p>
+
+            <p>To rouse the soul in sloth imbedded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And tune its powers to life sublime.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page380"
+           name="page380"></a>[pg 380]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By loftier shows of man's large being</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Than man's dim actual hour displays,</p>
+
+            <p>To clear our eyes for purer seeing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And nerve the flagging spirit's gaze.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By strains of bold heroic pleasure,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And action strong as thought
+            conceives,</p>
+
+            <p>By many a doom-resounding measure</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That best our selfish woes relieves;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By these to stir, by these to brighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">By these to lift the soul from earth,</p>
+
+            <p>The Poet dares our joys to frighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And thrills the dirge of lazy mirth.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Ye Ruins, dust of empires vanish'd,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Ye mountains, clad with countless
+            years,</p>
+
+            <p>From your great presence ne'er be banish'd</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Sad songs that live in earnest ears:</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Sad songs, the music of all sorrow,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Profound and calm as night's blue
+            deep:</p>
+
+            <p>Accurst the dreams of any morrow</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">When man will feel he cannot weep.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <a name="bw341s10"
+          id="bw341s10"></a>
+
+    <h3>GOETHE</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Alas! on earth his marvels done,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The noble German bosom lies,</p>
+
+            <p>His fatherland's Athenian son,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Amid the sage must largely rise!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Amid the sage the generous race</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of soaring thought and steadfast
+            glow,</p>
+
+            <p>He breathes no more who gave a grace</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To all our daily lot below.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>He gave to man's encumber'd hours</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The tuneful joys of truth serene,</p>
+
+            <p>And twined our life's neglected flowers</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With nature's holiest evergreen.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Alas! for him the soul of fire,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For him of fancy's golden rays,</p>
+
+            <p>For him whose aims ascended higher</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Than all that won a nation's praise!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>We pause and ask&mdash;Why gloom'd the grave</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For one of light so broadly mild?</p>
+
+            <p>And wonder beauty could not save</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From death's deep night her eager
+            child.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>But could the lyre be heard again,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Its widow'd notes would seem to
+            cry&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>In all was he a man of men,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For them to live, like them to die.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page381"
+           name="page381"></a>[pg 381]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>What life inspires 'twas his to feel,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With ampler soul than all beside;</p>
+
+            <p>What earth's bright shows to few reveal,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">His art for all expanded wide.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>With earnest heed from hour to hour,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Through all his years of striving
+            hope,</p>
+
+            <p>He fed his lamp, its light to shower</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">On paths where myriads dimly grope.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>He taught nankind by toil, by love,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To cheer the world that must be
+            theirs;</p>
+
+            <p>And ne'er to look for peace above,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">By scorning earthly joys and cares.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Ah! pages full of grief and fear,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But all attuned to melody,</p>
+
+            <p>Vesuvio's flame reflected clear</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In glassy seas of Napoli.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>And on that sea we seem to float</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In amber light, and catch from far,</p>
+
+            <p>'Mid ocean's boundless Voice, the note</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of girl who hymns the evening-star.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>The sweetest word, the melting tone,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The pictured wisdom bright as day,</p>
+
+            <p>And Faust's remorse, and Tasso's groan,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And Dorothea's morning lay,</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Glad Egmont, light of Clara's eyes,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Free Goetz, the warmth of manhood's
+            noon,</p>
+
+            <p>And Mignon, all a tune of sighs,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And lorn Ottilia crush'd so soon.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Ah! tale that tells the life of all</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To lovelier truth by fancy wrought,</p>
+
+            <p>And songs that e'en to us recall</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The bliss a poet's vision caught!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>All these are ours, yes, all&mdash;but he.</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And who that lives can find a strain</p>
+
+            <p>Of worth like his the soul to free</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From bonds of sublunary pain?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>A strain like his we vainly seek</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To sound above the singer's grave,</p>
+
+            <p>A voice empower'd like his to speak</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The word our aching bosoms crave.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>That word is not&mdash;Oh! not, farewell!</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To thee whom all thy lays restore;</p>
+
+            <p>But deeply longs the heart to tell</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">A love thy smile accepts no more.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page382"
+       name="page382"></a>[pg 382]</span> <a name="bw341s11"
+          id="bw341s11"></a>
+
+    <h3>HYMN OF A HERMIT.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Long the day, the task is longer;</p>
+
+            <p>Earth the strong by heaven the stronger.</p>
+
+            <p>Still is call'd to rise and brighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But, alas! how weak the soul;</p>
+
+            <p>While its inbred phantoms frighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">While the past obscures the whole.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Shadows of the wise departed,</p>
+
+            <p>Be the brave, the loving-hearted;</p>
+
+            <p>Deathless dead, resounding, rushing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From the morning-land of hope</p>
+
+            <p>Come, with viewless footsteps, crushing</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Dreams that make the wing'd ones
+            grope.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Socrates, the keen, the truthful,</p>
+
+            <p>In thy hoary wisdom youthful;</p>
+
+            <p>Smiling, fear-defying spirit,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From beside thy Grecian waves,</p>
+
+            <p>Teach us Norsemen to inherit</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Thoughts whose dawn is life to
+            graves.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Rome's Aurelius, thou the holy</p>
+
+            <p>King of earth, in goodness lowly,</p>
+
+            <p>From thy ruins by the Tiber,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Look with tearless aspect mild,</p>
+
+            <p>Till each agonizing fibre</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Like thine own is reconciled.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Augustinus, bright and torrid,</p>
+
+            <p>Isles of green in deserts horrid</p>
+
+            <p>Once thy home, thy likeness ever!</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">We with sword no less divine</p>
+
+            <p>Would the good and evil sever,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In a larger world than thine.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Soft Petrarca, sweet and subtle,</p>
+
+            <p>Weaving still, with silver shuttle,</p>
+
+            <p>Moony veils for human feeling&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Thine the radiance from above,</p>
+
+            <p>Half-transfiguring, half-concealing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Wounds and tears of earthly love.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Saxon rude, of thundering stammer,</p>
+
+            <p>Iron heart, by sin's dread hammer</p>
+
+            <p>Ground to better dust than golden,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">May thy prophecy be true.</p>
+
+            <p>Melt the stern, the weak embolden;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Teach what Luther never knew.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Pale Spinosa, nursed in fable,</p>
+
+            <p>Painted hopes and portent sable,</p>
+
+            <p>Then an opener wisdom finding,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Let thy round and wintry sun</p>
+
+            <p>Chase the lurid vapour, blinding</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Souls that seek the Holy One.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page383"
+           name="page383"></a>[pg 383]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Thou from green Helvetia roaming,</p>
+
+            <p>Meteor pale in misty gloaming,</p>
+
+            <p>With a breast too fiercely burning;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Generous, tuneful, frail Rousseau!</p>
+
+            <p>Would that all to truth returning,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Gave, like thee, a tear to woe!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Eye of clear and diamond sparkle,</p>
+
+            <p>Where the Baltic waters darkle,</p>
+
+            <p>Lonely German seer of Reason,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Great and calm as Atlas old;</p>
+
+            <p>Through our formless foggy season,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Short thine adamantine cold.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Shelley, born of faith and passion,</p>
+
+            <p>Nobler far than gain and fashion;</p>
+
+            <p>Daring eaglet arm'd with lightning,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Firing soon thy native nest,</p>
+
+            <p>Still the eternal blaze is brightening</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Ocean where thy pinions rest.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Heroes, prophets, bards, and sages,</p>
+
+            <p>Gods and men of climes and ages,</p>
+
+            <p>Conquerors of lifelong sorrow,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Torment that ye made your throne,</p>
+
+            <p>Help, Oh! help in us the morrow,</p>
+
+            <p>Full of triumph like your own.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <a name="bw341s12"
+          id="bw341s12"></a>
+
+    <h3>THE LUCKLESS LOVER</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"If aught on earth assault may bide</p>
+
+            <p>Of ceaseless time and shifting tide,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Beloved! I swear to thee</p>
+
+            <p>It is the truth of hearts that love,</p>
+
+            <p>United in a world above</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The moment's misty sea.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"Oh! sweeter than the light of dawn,</p>
+
+            <p>Than music in the woods withdrawn</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From clamours of the crowd,</p>
+
+            <p>A new creation all our own,</p>
+
+            <p>Unvisited by scoff or groan,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Is faith in silence vow'd.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"Two hearts by reason nobly sad,</p>
+
+            <p>Nor rashly blind, nor lightly glad,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Possess they not a bliss</p>
+
+            <p>In their communion, felt and full,</p>
+
+            <p>Beyond all custom's deadly rule?</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For life is only this.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"In sighs we met, in sighs and sobs,</p>
+
+            <p>Such grief as from the wretched robs</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The hope to heaven allied:</p>
+
+            <p>Great calm was ours, a strength severe,</p>
+
+            <p>Though wet with many a scalding tear,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">When soul to soul replied.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page384"
+           name="page384"></a>[pg 384]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Of thy dark eyes and gentle speech,</p>
+
+            <p>The memory has a power to teach</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">What know not many wise.</p>
+
+            <p>New stars may rise, the ancient fade,</p>
+
+            <p>But not for us, my own pale maid,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Be lost that pure surprise&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The pure delight, the awful change,</p>
+
+            <p>Chief miracle in wonder's range,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That binds the twain in one;</p>
+
+            <p>While fear, foes, friends, and angry Fate,</p>
+
+            <p>And all that wreck our mortal state</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Shall pass, like motes i' the sun.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"In his fine frame the throstle feels</p>
+
+            <p>The music that his note reveals;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And spite of shafts and nets,</p>
+
+            <p>How better is the dying bird</p>
+
+            <p>Than some dumb stone that ne'er was heard,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That arrow never threats?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Disdaining man, the mountains rise;</p>
+
+            <p>Is love less kindred with the skies,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Or less their Maker's will?</p>
+
+            <p>The strains, without a human cause,</p>
+
+            <p>Flow on, unheeding lies and laws&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Will hearts for words be still?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"What cliffs oppose, what oceans roll,</p>
+
+            <p>What frowns o'ershade the weeping soul,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Alas! were long to tell.</p>
+
+            <p>But something is there more than these,</p>
+
+            <p>Than frowns and coldness, rocks and seas:</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Until its hour&mdash;farewell!"</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>So sang the vassal bard by night,</p>
+
+            <p>Beneath his high-born lady's light</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That from her turret shone.</p>
+
+            <p>Next morning in the forest glade</p>
+
+            <p>His corpse was found. Her brother's blade</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Had cut his bosom's bone.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>What reap'd Lord Wilfrid by the stroke?</p>
+
+            <p>Before another morning broke,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">She, too, was with the blest:</p>
+
+            <p>And 'twas her last and only prayer,</p>
+
+            <p>That her sweet limbs might slumber where</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The minstrel had his rest.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page385"
+       name="page385"></a>[pg 385]</span> <a name="bw341s13"
+          id="bw341s13"></a>
+
+    <h2>FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION</h2>
+
+    <h3>THE CORN LAWS.</h3>
+
+    <p>It is remarkable that, while we hear so much of the
+    advantages of free trade, the reciprocity of them is always in
+    <i>prospect</i> only. By throwing open our harbours to foreign
+    nations, indeed, we give <i>them</i> an immediate and obvious
+    advantage over ourselves; but as to any corresponding
+    advantages we are to gain in our intercourse with them, we are
+    still waiting, in patient expectation of the anticipated
+    benefit. Our patience is truly exemplary; it might furnish a
+    model to Job himself. We resent nothing. No sooner do we
+    receive a blow on one cheek, than we turn up the other to some
+    new smiter. No sooner are we excluded, in return for our
+    concessions, from the harbours of one state, than we begin
+    making concessions to another. We are constantly in expectation
+    of seeing the stream of human envy and jealousy run
+    out:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis: at ille</p>
+
+            <p>Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>We are imitating the man who made the experiment of
+    constantly reducing the food on which his horse is to live. Let
+    us take care that, just as he is learning to live on nothing,
+    we do not find him dead in his stall.</p>
+
+    <p>This, however, is no joking matter. The total failure of the
+    free trade system to procure any, <i>even the smallest
+    return</i>, coupled with the very serious injury it has
+    inflicted on many of the staple branches of our industry, has
+    now been completely demonstrated by experience, and is matter
+    of universal notoriety. If any proof on the subject were
+    required, it would be furnished by <i>Porter's Parliamentary
+    Tables</i>, to which we earnestly request the attention of our
+    readers. The first exhibits the effect of the reciprocity
+    system, introduced by Mr Huskisson in Feb. 1823, in destroying
+    our shipping with the Baltic powers, and quadrupling theirs
+    with us. The second shows the trifling amount of our exports to
+    these countries during the five last years, and thereby
+    demonstrates the entire failure of the attempt to, extend our
+    traffic with them by this gratuitous destruction of our
+    shipping. The third shows the progress of our whole exports to
+    Europe during the six years from 1814 to 1820, before the free
+    trade began, and from 1833 to 1839, after it had been fifteen
+    years in operation, and proves that it had <i>declined</i> in
+    the latter period as compared with the former, despite all our
+    gratuitous sacrifices by free trade to augment our
+    commerce.<a id="footnotetag12"
+       name="footnotetag12"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote12"><sup>12</sup></a></p>
+
+    <p>The free traders fully admit, and deeply deplore, as we have
+    shown on a former occasion, these unfavourable results; but
+    they say that it is to be hoped they will not continue: that
+    foreign nations must, in the end, come to see that they are as
+    much interested as we are in enlightened system of free trade;
+    and that, meantime, it is for our interest to continue the
+    system; or even though it totally fails in producing any
+    augmentation in our exports, it is obviously for our advantage
+    to continue it, as it brings in the immediate benefit of
+    purchasing articles imported at a cheaper rate. Supposing, say
+    they, we obtain no corresponding advantage from other states,
+    there is an immense benefit accrues to ourselves from admitting
+    foreign goods at a nominal duty, from the low price at which
+    they may be purchased by the British consumer. To that point we
+    shall advert in the sequel; in the mean time, it may be
+    considered as demonstrated, that the free trade system has
+    entirely failed in procuring for us the slightest extension of
+    our foreign exports, or abating in the slightest degree the
+    jealousy of foreign nations at our maritime and manufacturing
+    superiority. Nor is there any difficulty in discovering to what
+    this failure has been owing. It arises <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page386"
+       name="page386"></a>[pg 386]</span> from laws inherent in the
+       nature of things, and which will remain unabated as long as
+       we continue a great and prosperous nation.</p>
+
+    <p>It is related of the Lacedemonians, that while all the other
+    citizens of Greece were careful to surround their towns with
+    walls, they alone left a part open on all sides. Thus,
+    superiority in the field rendered them indifferent to the
+    adventitious protection of ramparts. It is for a similar reason
+    that England is now willing to throw down the barriers of
+    tariffs, and the impediments of custom-houses; and that all
+    other nations are fain to raise them up. It is a secret sense
+    of superiority on the one side, and of inferiority on the
+    other, which is the cause of the difference. We advocate
+    freedom of trade, because we are conscious that, in a fair
+    unrestricted competition, we should succeed in beating them out
+    of their own market. They resist it, and loudly clamour for
+    protection, because they are aware that such a result would
+    speedily take place, and that the superiority of the old
+    commercial state is such, that on an open trial of strength, it
+    must at once prove fatal to its younger rivals. As this effect
+    is thus the result of permanent causes affecting both sides, it
+    may fairly be presumed that it will be lasting; and that the
+    more anxiously the old manufacturing state advocates or acts
+    upon freedom of commercial intercourse, the more strenuously
+    will the younger and rising ones advocate protection.
+    Reciprocity, therefore, is out of the question between them:
+    for it never could exist without the destruction of the
+    manufactures of the younger state; and if that state has begun
+    to enter on the path of manufacturing industry, it never will
+    be permitted by its government.</p>
+
+    <p>But this is not all. If free trade must of necessity prove
+    fatal to the manufactures of the younger state, it as certainly
+    leads to the destruction <i>of the agriculture of the
+    older;</i> and it is this double effect this RECIPROCITY OF
+    EVIL, which renders it so disastrous and impracticable an
+    experiment for both the older and the younger community. The
+    reason of this has not hitherto been generally attended to; but
+    when once it is stated, its force becomes obvious, and it
+    furnishes the true answer on principle to the delusive
+    doctrines of free trade.</p>
+
+    <p>Nature has established, and, as it will immediately be
+    shown, for very wise and important purposes, a permanent and
+    indelible distinction between the effect of civilization and
+    opulence on the production of food, and on the preparation of
+    manufactures. In the latter, the discoveries of science, the
+    exertions of skill, the application of capital, the
+    introduction of machinery, are all-powerful, and give the older
+    and more advanced state an immediate and decisive advantage
+    over the younger and the ruder. In the former, the very reverse
+    takes place: the additions made to productive power are
+    comparatively inconsiderable, even by the most important
+    discoveries; and as this capital and industry have in the end a
+    powerful effect, and always enable the power of raising food
+    for the human race to keep far a-head of the wants of mankind;
+    yet this effect takes place very slowly, and the annual
+    addition that can be made to the produce of the earth by such
+    means is by no means considerable. The introduction of thorough
+    draining will probably increase the productive power of the
+    soil in Great Britain a third: scientific discovery may perhaps
+    add another third; but at least ten years must elapse in the
+    most favourable view before these effects generally take
+    place&mdash;ere the judicious and well-directed labours of our
+    husbandmen have formed rivulets for the superfluous wet of our
+    fields, or overspread the soil with the now wasted animal
+    remains of our cities. But our manufactures can in a few years
+    quadruple their produce. So vast is the power which the
+    steam-engine has made to the powers of production in commercial
+    industry, that it is susceptible to almost indefinite and
+    immediate extension; and the great difficulty always felt is,
+    not to get hands to keep pace with the demand of the consumers,
+    but to get a demand to keep pace with the hands employed in the
+    production. Manchester and Glasgow could, in a few years,
+    furnish muslin and cotton goods for the whole world.</p>
+
+    <p>Nor is the difference less important and conspicuous in the
+    <i>price</i> at which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page387"
+       name="page387"></a>[pg 387]</span> manufacturing and
+       agricultural produce can be raised in the old and the young
+       state. This is the decisive circumstance which renders
+       reciprocity between them impossible. The rich old state is
+       as superior to the young one in the production of
+       manufactures, as the poor young state is to the rich old one
+       in that of subsistence. The steam-engine, capital, and
+       machinery, have so enormously increased the power of
+       manufacturing production, that they have rendered the old
+       commercial state omnipotent in the foreign market in the
+       supply of its articles. Nothing but fiscal regulations and
+       heavy duties can protect the young state from ruin in those
+       branches of industry. Heavy taxes, high wages, costly rents,
+       dear rude produce, all are at once compensated, and more
+       than compensated, by the gigantic powers of the
+       steam-engine. Cotton goods are raised now in Great Britain
+       at a fifth of the price which they were during the war. A
+       gown, which formerly was cheap at &pound;2, 10s., is now
+       sold for ten shillings. Silks, muslins, and all other
+       articles of female apparel, have been reduced in price in
+       the same proportion. Colossal fortunes have been made by the
+       master manufacturers, unbounded wealth diffused through the
+       operative workmen in Lancashire and Lanarkshire, even at
+       these extremely reduced prices. This is the real reason of
+       the universal effort made by all nations which have the
+       least pretensions to commercial industry, of late years to
+       exclude, by fixed duties, our staple manufactures; of which
+       the President of the Board of Trade so feelingly complains,
+       and which the advocates of free trade consider as so
+       inexplicable. A very clear principle has led to it, and will
+       lead to it. It is the instinct of SELF-PRESERVATION.</p>
+
+    <p>But there is no steam-engine in agriculture. The old state
+    has no superiority over the young one in the price of producing
+    food; on the contrary, it is decidedly its inferior. There, as
+    in love, the apprentice is the master. The proof of this is
+    decisive. Poland can raise wheat with ease at fifteen or twenty
+    shillings a quarter, while England requires fifty. The serf of
+    the Ukraine would make a fortune on the price at which the
+    farmer of Kent or East Lothian would be rendered bankrupt. The
+    Polish cultivators have no objection whatever to a free
+    competition with the British; but the British anticipate, and
+    with reason, total destruction from the free admission of
+    Polish grain. These facts are so notorious, that they require
+    no illustration; but nevertheless the conclusion to which they
+    point is of the highest importance, and bears, with
+    overwhelming force, on the theory of free trade as between an
+    old and a young community. They demonstrate that that theory is
+    not only practically pernicious, but on principle erroneous. It
+    involves an oblivion of the fundamental law of nature as to the
+    difference between the effect of wealth and civilization on the
+    production of food and the raising of manufactures. It proceeds
+    on insensibility to the difference in the age and advancement
+    of nations, and the impossibility of a reciprocity being
+    established between them without the ruin of an important
+    branch of industry in each. It supposes nations to be of the
+    same genus and age, like the trees in the larch plantation, not
+    of all varieties and ages, as in the natural forest. If
+    established in complete operation, it would only lead to the
+    ruin of the manufactures of the younger state, and of the
+    agriculture of the old one. The only reciprocity which it can
+    ever introduce between such states is the reciprocity of
+    evil.</p>
+
+    <p>Illustrations from everyday life occur on all sides to
+    elucidate the utter absurdity, and, in fact, total
+    impracticapability of the system of free trade, as applied to
+    nations who are, or are becoming, rivals of each other in
+    manufacturing industry. Those who have the advantage, will
+    always advocate free competition; those who are labouring under
+    impediments, will always exclaim against them. In some cases
+    the young have the advantage, in others the old; but in all the
+    free system is applauded by those in the sunshine, and
+    execrated by those in the shade. The fair <i>debutante</i> of
+    eighteen, basking in the bright light of youth, beauty, birth,
+    and connections, has no sort of objection to the freedom of
+    choice in the ball-room. If the mature spinster of forty would
+    divulge her real opinion, what would it be on the same scene of
+    competition? <span class="pagenum"><a id="page388"
+       name="page388"></a>[pg 388]</span> Experience proves that
+       she is glad to retire, in the general case, from the unequal
+       struggle, and finds the system of established precedence and
+       fixed rank at dinner parties, much more rational. The
+       leaders on the North Circuit&mdash;Sir James Scarlett or
+       Lord Brongham&mdash;have no objections to the free choice,
+       by solicitors and attorneys, for professional talent; but
+       their younger brethren of the gown are fain to take shelter
+       from such formidable rivals in the exclusive employment of
+       the Crown, the East India Company, the Bank of England, or
+       some of the numerous chartered companies in the country.
+       England is the old lawyer on the Cirucuit in
+       manufactures&mdash;but Poland is the young beauty of the
+       ball-room in agriculture. We should like to see what sort of
+       reciprocity could be established between them. Possibly the
+       young belle may exchange her beauty for the old lawyer's
+       guineas, but it will prove a bad reciprocity for both.</p>
+
+    <p>It is usual for both philosophers and practical men to
+    ascribe the superior cheapness with which subsistence can be
+    raised in the young state to the old one, to the weight of
+    taxes and of debt, public and private, with which the latter is
+    burdened, from which the former is, in general, relieved. But,
+    without disputing that these circumstances enter with
+    considerable weight into the general result, it may safely be
+    affirmed that the main cause of it is to be found in two laws
+    of nature, of universal and permanent application. These are
+    the low value of money in the rich state, in consequence of its
+    plenty, compared with its high value in the poor one, in
+    consequence of its poverty, and the experienced inapplicability
+    of machinery or the division of labour to agricultural
+    operations.</p>
+
+    <p>Labour is cheap in the poor state, such as Poland, Prussia,
+    and the Ukraine, becuase guineas are few.&mdash;"It is not," as
+    Johnson said of the Highlands, "that eggs are many, but that
+    pence are few." Commercial transactions being scanty, and the
+    want of a circulating medium inconsiderable, it exists to a
+    very limited extent in the country. People do not need a large
+    circulating medium, therefore they do not buy it; they are
+    poor, therefore they cannot. In the opulent and highly advanced
+    community, on the other hand, the reverse of all this takes
+    place. Transactions are so frequent, the necessities of
+    commerce so extensive, that a large circulating medium is soon
+    felt to be indispensable. In addition to a considerable amount
+    of specie, the aid of bank-notes, public and private, of
+    Government securities and exchequer bills, and of private bills
+    to an immense ammount, bcomes necessary. McCulloch calculates
+    the circulating medium of Great Britain, including paper and
+    gold, at L.72,000,000. The bills in circulation are probably in
+    amount nearly as much more. A hundred and forty, or a hundred
+    and fifty millions, between specie, bank-notes, exchequer
+    bills, Government securities, on which advances are made, and
+    private bills, constitute the ordinary circulating medium of
+    twenty-seven millions in the British empire. The total
+    circulation of Russia, with sixty millions of inhabitants, is
+    not forty millions sterling. The effect of this difference is
+    prodigions. It is no wonder, whten it is taken into account,
+    that wages are 5-1/2d. or 6d. a-day in Poland or the Ukraine,
+    and 2s. or 2s. 6d. a-day in England.</p>
+
+    <p>The clearest proof that this is the great cause of the
+    superior cost of raising subsistence in the old than the young
+    state, is afforded by the different value which money bears in
+    different parts of the <i>same</i> community. Ask any
+    housekeeper what is the difference between the expense of
+    living in London, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and he will answer,
+    that L.1500 a-year in Edingburgh, or L.750 in Aberdeen. Yet
+    these different places are all situated in the same community,
+    and their inhabitants pay the same public taxes, and very
+    nearly the same of local ones. It is the vast results arising
+    from the concentration of wealth and expediture in one place,
+    compared with its abstraction from others, which occasions the
+    difference. But if this effect is conspicuous, and matter of
+    daily observation, in different parts of the same compact and
+    moderately sized country, how much more must it obtain in
+    regard to different countries, situated in different latitudes
+    and politcal circumstances, and in different stages
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page389"
+       name="page389"></a>[pg 389]</span> of wealth, civilization,
+       and commercial opulence? Between England for example, and
+       Poland or the Ukraine? The difference is there important and
+       durable. Wheat can be raised with as good a profit to the
+       cultivator for sixteen shillings per quarter in Poland, as
+       for forty-eight shillings in England or Scotland.</p>
+
+    <p>This superior weight of wages, rent and all the elements of
+    cost, in the old, when compared with the young community,
+    affects the manufacturer as well as the farmer; and in some
+    branches of manufactures it does so with an overwhelming
+    effect. But, generally speaking, the advantages of capital,
+    machinery, and the division of labour, render the old state
+    altogether predominant over the young one in these particulars.
+    It would seem to be a fixed law of nature, that the progress of
+    society adds almost nothing to the application of machinery to
+    agriculture, but indefinitely to its importance in
+    manufactures. Observe an old man digging his garden with a
+    spade&mdash;that is the most productive species of cultivation;
+    it is the last stage of agricultural progress to return to it.
+    No steam engines or steam ploughs will ever rival it. But what
+    is the old weaver toiling with his hands, to the large
+    steam-power mill, turning at once ten thousand spindles? As
+    dust in the balance. Man, by a beneficent law of his Maker, is
+    permanently secured in his first and best pursuit. It is in
+    those which demoralize and degrade, that machinery
+    progressively encroaches on the labour of his hands. England
+    can undersell India in muslins and printed goods, manufactured
+    in Lancashire or Lanarkshire, out of cotton which grew on the
+    banks of the Ganges; for England though younger in years
+    compared to India, is old in civilization, wealth, and power.
+    We should like to see what profit would be made by exporting
+    wheat from England, raised on land paying thirty shillings an
+    acre of rent, by labourers paid at two shillings a-day, to
+    Hindostan, where rice is raised twice a-year, on land paying
+    five shillings an acre rent, by labourers receiving twopence
+    a-day each.</p>
+
+    <p>It is the constant operation of this law of nature which
+    ensures the equalization of empires, the happiness of society,
+    and the dispersion of mankind. To be convinced of this, we have
+    only to reflect on the results which would ensue if this were
+    not the case; if no unvarying law gave man in remote situations
+    an advantage in raising subsistence over what they enjoy in the
+    centres of opulence; and agriculture, in the aged and wealthy
+    community, was able to acquire the same decisive superiority
+    over distant and comparatively poor ones, which we see daily
+    examplified in the production of manufactures. Suppose, for
+    example, that in consequence of the application of the
+    steam-engine, capital, and machinery to the raising of
+    subsistence, Great Britian could undersell the cultivatiors of
+    Poland and the Ukraine as effectually as she does their
+    manufacturers in the production of cotton goods; that she could
+    sell in the Polish market wheat at five shillings a quarter,
+    when they require fifteen shillings to remunerate the cost of
+    production. Would not the result be, that commerce between them
+    would be entirely destroyed; that subsistence would be
+    exclusively raised in the old opulent community; that mankind
+    would congregate in fearful multitudes round the great
+    commercial emporium of the world; and that the industry and
+    progress of the more distant nations would be irrevocably
+    blighted? Whereas, by the operation of the present law of
+    nature, that the rich state can always undersell the poor one
+    in maufactures, and the poor one always undersell the rich one
+    in subsistence, those dangers are removed, a check is provided
+    to the undue multiplication of the species in particular
+    situations, and the dispersion of mankind over the
+    globe&mdash;a vital object in the system of nature&mdash;is
+    secured, from the very necessities and difficulties in which,
+    in the progress of society, the old and wealthy community
+    becomes involved.</p>
+
+    <p>These considerations point out an important limitation to
+    which, on principle, the doctrines of free trade must be
+    subjected. Perfectly just in reference to a single community,
+    or a compact empire of reasonable extent, they wholly fail when
+    applied to separate nations in different degrees of
+    civilization, or even to different provinces of the same
+    empire, when it is of such an extent as to bring such
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page390"
+       name="page390"></a>[pg 390]</span> different nations, in
+       various degrees of progress, under one common dominion. They
+       were suggested, in the first instance, to philosophers, by
+       the absurd restrictions on the commerce of grain which
+       existed in France under the old monarchy, and which Turgot
+       and the Economists laboured so assiduously to abolish. There
+       can be no doubt that they were perfectly right in doing so;
+       for France is a compact, homogeneous country, in which the
+       cost of producing subsistence is not materially different in
+       one part from another, and the interests of the whole
+       community are closely identified. The same holds with the
+       interchange of grain between the different provinces of
+       Spain, or for the various parts of the British islands. But
+       the case is widely different with an empire so extensive as,
+       like the British in modern or the Roman in ancient times, to
+       embrace separate kingdoms, in wholly different circumstances
+       of climate, progress, and social condition. Free trade, in
+       such circumstances, must lead to a destruction of important
+       interests, and a total subversion of the balance of society
+       in both the kingdoms subjected to it. To be conviced of
+       this, we have only to look at the present condition of the
+       British, or the past fate of the Roman empire.</p>
+
+    <p>It is the boast of our manufacturers&mdash;and such a marvel
+    may well afford a subject for exultation&mdash;that with cotton
+    which grew on the banks of the Ganges, they can, by the aid of
+    British capital, machinery, and enterprise, undersell, in the
+    production of muslin and cotton goods, the native Indian
+    manufacturers, who work up their fabrics in the close vicinity
+    of the original cotton-fields. The constant and increasing
+    export of Britsh goods to India, two-thirds of which are
+    cotton, demonstrates that this superiority really exists; and
+    that the muslin manufacturers in Hindostan, who work for 3d.
+    a-day on their own cotton, cannot stand the competition of the
+    British operatives, who receive 3s. 6d. a-day, aided as they
+    are by the almost miraculous powers of the steam-engine. Free
+    trade, therefore, is ruinous to the manufacturing interests of
+    India; and accordingly the Parliamentary proceedings are filled
+    with evidence of the extreme misery which has been brought on
+    the native manufacturers of Hindostan by that free importation
+    of British goods, in which our political economists so much and
+    so fully exult.</p>
+
+    <p>The great distance of India from the British islands, the
+    vast expense of transporting bulky articles eight thousand
+    miles accross the ocean, have prevented the counterpart of this
+    effect taking place; and the British farmers feeling the
+    depressing influence of the Indian plough, in like manner as
+    the Indian manufacturers have the ruinous competition of the
+    British steam-engine. But it is clear that, if India had been
+    nearer, the former effect would have taken place as well as the
+    latter. If the shores of Hindostan were within a few days sail
+    of London and Liverpool, and the Indian cultivators, labouring
+    at 2d. or 3d. a-day, had been brought into direct competition
+    with the British farmers, employing labourers who received two
+    or three shillings, can there be a doubt that the British
+    farmers would have been totally destroyed in the struggle? The
+    English farmers would have been prostrated by the same cause
+    which has ruined the Indian muslin manufacturers. Cheap grain,
+    the fruit of free trade, would have demolished British
+    agriculture as completely as cheap cotton goods, the fruits of
+    unlimited importation, has ruined Indian manufacturing
+    industry.</p>
+
+    <p>Is, then, commercial intercourse impossible, on terms of
+    mutual benefit, between states in widely different
+    circumstatnces of commercial or agricultural advancement; and
+    is the only reciprocity which can exist between them and
+    reciprocity of evil? It is by no means necessary to rest in so
+    unsatisfatory a conclusion. A most advantageous commercial
+    intercourse to both parties may be carried on, but it must not
+    be on the footing of free trade. The foundation of such an
+    intercourse should be, that each should take, on the most
+    favourable terms, the articles which <i>it wants and does not
+    produce</i>, and impose restrictions on those which <i>it wants
+    and does produce</i>. On this priciple, trade would be
+    conducted so as to benefit both countries, and injure neither.
+    Thus England may take from India to the utmost extent, and with
+    perfect safety, sugar, indigo, cotton, tea, spices, cinnamon,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page391"
+       name="page391"></a>[pg 391]</span> and the more costly
+       species of shawls; while India might take from England some
+       species of cotton manufacture in which they have no fabrics
+       of their own, cutlery, hardware, and all of the various
+       luxuries of European manufacture. But a paternal and just
+       government, equally alive to the interests of all its
+       provinces, how far removed soever from the seat of power,
+       would impose restrictions to prevent India being deluged
+       with British cottons, to the ruin of its native
+       manufactures, and to prevent Britian&mdash;if the distance
+       did not operate, which it certainly would, as a sufficient
+       protection&mdash;from being flooded with Indian grain. The
+       varieties of climate, productions, and wants, in different
+       countries, are such, that commerce, regulated on these
+       principles, might be carried to the greatest extent
+       consistent with the paramount duty of providing in each
+       state for the preservation of its staple articles of
+       industry.</p>
+
+    <p>The Roman empire in ancient times afforded the clearest
+    demonstration of the truth of these principles; and the fate of
+    their vast dominion shows, in the most decisive manner, what is
+    the inevitable consequence to which the free trade principles,
+    now so strongly contended for by a party in this country, must
+    lead. Alison is the first modern author with whom we are
+    acquainted, who has traced the decline of the Roman empire in
+    great part to this source. In the tenth volume of his "History
+    of Europe," p. 752, we find the following passage:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"No nation can pretend to independence which rests for
+        any sensible protion of its subsistence in ordinary seasons
+        on foreign, who may become hostile, nations. And if we
+        would see a memorable example of the manner in which the
+        greatest and most powerful nation may, in the course of
+        ages, come to be paralysed by this cause, we have only to
+        cast our eyes on imperial Rome, when the vast extent of the
+        empire had practically established a free trade in grain
+        with the whole civilized world; and the result was, that
+        cultivation disappeared from the Italian plains, that the
+        race of Roman agriculturists, the strength of the empire,
+        became extinct, that the fields were laboured only by
+        slaves and cattle. The legions could no longer be recruited
+        but from foreign bands, vast tracts of pasturage overspread
+        even the fields of Lombardy and the Compagna of Naples, and
+        it was the plaintive confession of the Roman annalist, that
+        the mistress of the world had come to depend for her
+        subsistence on the floods of the Nile."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>This observation has excited, as well it might, the vehement
+    indignation of the free trade journals. The example of the
+    greates and most powerful nation that ever existed being
+    weakened, and at length ruined by a free trade in corn,
+    afforded too cogent an argument, and was too striking a
+    warning, not to excite the wrath of those who would precipitate
+    Great Britain into a similar course of policy. They have
+    attacked the author, accordingly, with unwonted asperity; and,
+    while they admint the ruin of Italian agriculture in the later
+    stages of the Roman empire, endeavour to ascribe it to the
+    gratuitous distribution of grain to the Roman populace, not the
+    effect of a free importation of grain from its Egyptian and
+    African provinces. The vast importance of the subject has
+    induced us to look into the original authorities to whom Alison
+    refers in support of his observation, and from among them we
+    select three&mdash;Tacitus, Gibbon, and Michelet. Tacitus
+    says,</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"At Hercule <i>olim ex Itaila</i> legionibus longinquas
+        in provincias commeatus portabantur, <i>nec nunc
+        infecunditate laboratur</i>; sed Africam <i>potius et
+        Egyptum exercemus</i>, navibusque et casibus vita populi
+        Romani permissa est."&mdash;TACITUS, <i>Annal</i>. xii.
+        43.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Antiquity does not contain a more pregnant and important
+    passage, or one more directly bearing on the present policy of
+    the Britsh emprire, than this. It demonstrates: 1, That in
+    former times Italy had been an exporting country: "<i>olim</i>
+    ex Italia commeatus in longinquas provincias portabantur." 2,
+    That at the time when Tacitus wrote, in the days of the Emperor
+    Trajan, it had ceased to be so, and had come to import largely
+    from Africa and Lybia, "sed <i>nunc</i> Africam potius et
+    Egyptum exercemus." 3, That this was not the result of any
+    supervening sterility or unfruitfulness, "nec nunc
+    infecunditate laboratur," but was from causes which made it
+    more profitable to purchase grain in the Egyptian or Lybian
+    markets, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page392"
+       name="page392"></a>[pg 392]</span> "sed Africam POTIUS et
+       Egyptum exercemus."</p>
+
+    <p>Of the extent to which this decay of agriculture in the
+    central provinces of the Roman empire went, in the latter
+    stages of its history, we have the following striking account
+    in the authentic pages of Gibbon:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"Since the age of Tiberius <i>the decay of agriculture
+        had been felt in Italy</i>; and it was a just subject of
+        complaint that the life of the Roman people depended on the
+        accidents of the winds and the waves. In the division and
+        decline of the empire, <i>the tributary harvests of Egypt
+        and Africa</i> were withdrawn; the numbers of the
+        inhabitants continually diminished with the means of
+        subsistence; and the country was exhausted by the
+        irretrievable losses of war, pestilence, and famine. Pope
+        Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer, and he affirms, with
+        strong exaggeration, that, in Emilia, Tuscany, and the
+        adjacent provinces, the human species was almost
+        extirpated."&mdash;GIBBON, vol. vi. c. xxxvi. p. 235.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Of the progress and extent of this decay, Gibbon gives the
+    following account in another part of his great work:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The agriculture of the Roman provinces <i>was
+        insensibly ruined</i>; and in the progress of despotism,
+        which tends to disappoint its own purpose, the emperors
+        were obliged to derive some merit from the forgiveness of
+        debts, or the remission of tributes, which their subjects
+        were utterly incapable of paying. According to the new
+        division of Italy, the fertile and happy province of
+        Campania, the scene of the early victories and of the
+        delicious retirements of the citizens of Rome, extended
+        between the sea and the Apennines, from the Tiber to the
+        Silarius. Within sixty years after the death of
+        Constantine, and on the evidence of an actual survey, an
+        exemption was granted in favour of 330,000 English acres
+        <i>of desert and uncultivated land, which amounted to
+        one-eighth of the whole surface of the province</i>. As the
+        footsteps of the barbarians had not yet been seen in Italy,
+        the cause of this amazing desolation, which is recorded in
+        the laws, (Cod. Theod. lxi. t. 38, l. 2,) can be ascribed
+        only to the administration of the Roman
+        emperors."&mdash;GIBBON, vol. iii. c. xviii. p. 87. Edition
+        in 12 volumes.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Michelet observes, in his late profound and able History of
+    France&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The Christian emperors could not remedy the growing
+        depopulation of the country any more than their heathen
+        predecessors. All their efforts only showed the impotence
+        of government to arrest that dreadful evil. Sometimes,
+        alarmed at the depopulation, they tried to mitigate the lot
+        of the farmer, to shield him against the landlord; upon
+        this the proprietor exclaimed he could no longer pay the
+        taxes. At other times they abandoned the farmer,
+        surrendered him to the landlord, and strove to chain him to
+        the soil; but the unhappy cultivators perished or fled,
+        <i>and the land became deserted</i>. Even in the time of
+        Augustus, efforts were made to arrest the depopulation at
+        the expense of morals, by encouraging concubinage. Pertinax
+        granted an immunity from taxes to those who could occupy
+        the desert lands of Italy, <i>to the cultivators of the
+        distant provinces, and the allied kings</i>. Aurelian did
+        the same. Probus was obliged to transport from Germany men
+        and oxen to cultivate Gaul.<a id="footnotetag13"
+           name="footnotetag13"></a><a href=
+           "#footnote13"><sup>13</sup></a> Maximian and Constantius
+           transported the Franks and Germans from Picardy and
+           Hainault into Italy: but the depopulation in the towns
+           and the country alike continued. The people surrendered
+           themselves in the fields to despair, as a beast of
+           burden lies down beneath his load and refuses to rise.
+           In vain the emperor strove, by offers of immunities and
+           exemptions, to recall the cultivator to his deserted
+           fields. Nothing could do so. The desert extended daily.
+           At the commencement of the fifth century there was, in
+           the <i>happy</i> Campania, the most fertile province of
+           the empire, 520,000 <i>jugera</i> in a state of
+           nature."&mdash;MICHELET, <i>Histoire de France</i>, i.
+           104-108.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Pursued to its very grave by the same deep-rooted cause of
+    evil, the strength of Italy, even in the last stages of its
+    decay, was still prostrated by the importation of grain from
+    Egypt and Lybia. "The Campagna of Rome," says Gibbon, "about
+    the close of the sixth century, was reduced to the state of
+    <i>a dreary wilderness</i>, in which the land was barren,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page393"
+       name="page393"></a>[pg 393]</span> the waters impure, and
+       the air infectious. Yet the number of citizens <i>still
+       exceeded the measure of subsistence; their precarious food
+       was supplied from the harvests of Egypt and Lybia</i>; and
+       the frequent repetitions of famine betray the inattention of
+       the emperors to a distant provice."&mdash;GIBBON, vil. viii.
+       c. xlv. 162.</p>
+
+    <p>Nor was this desolating scourge of foreign importation
+    confined to Italy; it obtained also in Greece equally with the
+    Ausonian fields, the abode of early riches, opulence, and
+    prosperity. "In the later stages of the empire," says Michelet,
+    "Greece was almost entirely <i>supported by corn raised in the
+    fields of Podolia</i>," (Poland.)&mdash;MICHELET, i. 277.</p>
+
+    <p>Now let it be recollected that this continual and
+    astonishing decline of agriculture, and disappearance of the
+    rural cultivators in the latter stages of the Roman empire,
+    took place in an empire which contained, as Gibbon tells us,
+    120,000,000 of inhabitants, and 1600 great cities, was 3000
+    miles long and 2000 miles broad, contained 1,600,000 square
+    miles, chiefly fertile and well cultivated land, which embraced
+    the fairest and most fertile portions of the earth, and which
+    had been governed for eighty yers under the successive sway of
+    Nerva, Adrian, Trajan, and the two Antonines, with consummate
+    wisdon and the most paternal spirit. <a id="footnotetag14"
+       name="footnotetag14"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote14"><sup>14</sup></a> The scourge of foreign war,
+       the devastation of foreign armies, were alike unknown;
+       profound tranquillity pervaded every part of the empire; and
+       a vast inland lake, spreading its ample waters through the
+       heart of the dominion, afforded to all its provinces the
+       most perfect facility of intercourse with the metropolis and
+       the central parts of the empire. Yet this period&mdash;the
+       period which Mr Hume has told us the philosophers would
+       select as the happiest the human race had ever
+       known&mdash;was precisely that during which agriculture so
+       rapidly declined in the Italian and Grecian fields, during
+       which the sturdy race of free cultivators disappeared, and
+       the plains of Italy were entirely absorbed by pasturage, and
+       maintained only vast herds of cattle tended by slaves.</p>
+
+    <p>What was it, then, which in an empire containing so immense
+    a population, and such boundless resources, drawn forth and
+    developed under so wise and beneficent a race of emperors,
+    occasioned this constant and uninterrupted decay of
+    agriculture, and at length the total destruction of the rural
+    population in the heart of the empire? How did it happen that
+    Italian cultivation receded, as Tacitus and Gibbon tell us it
+    did, <i>from the time of Tiberius</i>; and equally under the
+    wisdom of the Antonines, as the tyranny of Nero, or the civil
+    wars of Vitellius? Some general and durable cause must have
+    been in operation during all this period, which at firest
+    depressed, and at length totally destroyed, the numerous body
+    of free Italian cultivators who so long had constituted the
+    strength of the legions, and had borne the Roman eagles,
+    conquering and to conquer, to the very extremities of the
+    habitable earth. The cause is apparent. It was the free
+    importation of Egyptian and Lybian grain, consequent on the
+    extension of the Roman dominion over their fertile fields,
+    which effected the result. Were England to extend its
+    conquering arms over Poland and the Ukraine, and, as a
+    necessary consequence, expose the British farmer to the
+    unrestrained competition of Polish and Russian wheat, precisely
+    the same result would ensue. If the shores of Hindostan were
+    within three or four days' sail of the Tiber, this result would
+    long ago have taken place. Let Polish and Russian grain be
+    admitted without a protecting duty into the British harbours,
+    as Lybian and Egyptian were into those of Italy, and we shall
+    soon see the race of cultivators disappear from the fields of
+    England as they did from those of old Rome, and the words of
+    Tacitus will, by a mere change of proper names, become a
+    picture of our condition; three hundred thousand acres will
+    soon be reduced to a state of nature in Kent <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page394"
+       name="page394"></a>[pg 394]</span> and Norfolk, as they were
+       in the Campania Felix. "Nec nunc infecunditate laboramur,
+       <i>Podoliam</i> potius et <i>Scythiam</i> exercemus,
+       navibusque et casibus vita populi <i>Anglici</i> permissa
+       est."</p>
+
+    <p>The free traders allege that the decay of agriculture in the
+    central provinces of the Roman empire, to which, by the
+    concurring testimony of all historians, the ruin of the
+    dominion of the Caesars was chiefly owing, is to be ascribed,
+    not to the free importation of grain from Egypt, Podolia, and
+    Lybia, but to the tyranny of the emperors, the gratuitous
+    distribution of grain to the Roman populace, and the dreadful
+    evils of domestic slavery. A very slight consideration,
+    however, must be sufficient to show that these causes, how
+    powerful soever in producing <i>general</i> evils over the
+    empire, could not have been instrumental in occasioning those
+    <i>peculiar</i> and separate causes of depression, which so
+    early began to check, and at length totally destroyed, the
+    agriculture of its central provinces.</p>
+
+    <p>The tyranny of the Caesars, the oppression of the
+    Proconsuls, the avarice of the Patricians, were general evils,
+    affecting alike every part of the empire; or rather they were
+    felt with more severity in the remote provinces than the
+    districts nearer home, in consequence of the superior
+    opportunities of escape which distance from the central
+    government afforded to iniquity, and the lesser chance of
+    success which the insurrection of a remote province held forth
+    to the "wild revenge" of rebellion. Muscovite oppression,
+    accordingly, is more severely felt at Odessa or Taganrog than
+    St Petersburg; and British rule is far from being restrained by
+    the same considerations of justice on the banks of the Ganges
+    or the Indus, as on those of the Thames. The gratuitous
+    distribution of grain by the emperors to the populace of Rome,
+    could never have occasioned the ruin of the Italian
+    <i>cultivators</i>. Supposing that the two or three hundred
+    thousand lazy and turbulent plebeians, who were nourished by
+    the bounty or fed by the terrors of the Caesars, were the most
+    useless, worthless, and dangerous set of men that ever existed,
+    (which they probably were,) that circumstance could never have
+    uprooted the race of cultivators from the plains of Lombardy,
+    Umbria, or the Campania Felix. The greatest possible good to a
+    nation, according to the free trader, is cheap grain, and never
+    more so than when it is purchased or imported from foreign
+    growers. If this be true, the importation of the harvests of
+    Egypt and Africa into the Italian harbours, either by the
+    voluntary purchase of the Roman emperors, or the forced tribute
+    in grain which they exacted from those provinces, must have
+    been the greatest possible benefit to the Italian people. How
+    then, if there be no mischief in such foreign importations, is
+    it possible to ascribe the ruin of Italian cultivation, and
+    with it of the Roman empire, to these forced contributions? If
+    the free traders have recourse to such an argument, they
+    concede the very point in dispute, and admit that the
+    introduction of foreign grain is injurious, and may in the end
+    prove fatal, to the agriculture and existence of a state.</p>
+
+    <p>Slavery, though a great evil, will as little explain the
+    peculiar and extraordinary decline of Italian and Grecian
+    cultivation in the later stages of the Roman empire. The
+    greater part of the labour of the ancient world, as every one
+    knows, was conducted by means of slaves. They were slaves who
+    held the plough, and tilled the land, and tended the flocks,
+    equally in Lybia, in Campania, in Egypt, as in Umbria. Nay, the
+    number of freemen, at least in the days of the Roman Republic,
+    and the earlier periods of the empire, was incomparably
+    <i>greater</i> in Italy and Greece, the abode of celebrated,
+    powerful, and immortal republics, than in Lybia and Egypt,
+    which from the earliest times had been subject to the despotic
+    sway of satraps, kings, and tyrants. So numerous were the free
+    citizens of Rome in the early days of the empire, that, by the
+    census of Claudius, we are told by Gibbon they amounted to
+    6,945,000 men,<a id="footnotetag15"
+       name="footnotetag15"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote15"><sup>15</sup></a> the greater proportion of
+       whom, of course, were residents in Italy, the seat of
+       <span class="pagenum"><a id="page395"
+       name="page395"></a>[pg 395]</span> government, and the
+       centre of wealth, power, and enjoyment. While so great was
+       the multitude of free citizens which the Republic bequeathed
+       to the empire, resident and exercising unfettered industry
+       in Italy, the cultivators of Africa and Egypt were all serfs
+       and slaves, toiling, like the West Indian negroes, beneath
+       the lash of a master. How, then, did it happen that the
+       labour of the Italian freeman was disused, and at length
+       extinguished, while that of the African and Egyptian slaves
+       continued to furnish grain for Italy down to the very latest
+       period of the empire? We are told that the labour of freemen
+       is cheaper than that of slaves; and the free traders will
+       probably not dispute that proposition. It could not,
+       therefore, have been the slavery of antiquity which ruined
+       Italian agriculture, carried on, in part at least, by
+       freemen; since African agriculture, the fruits entirely of
+       slavery, continued to flourish down to the very last days of
+       the Roman world.</p>
+
+    <p>The severe taxation of the emperors is justly stated by
+    Gibbon and Sismondi, as well as Michelet, as a principal cause
+    of the decline of Italian agriculture: but very little
+    consideration is required to show, that this cause is
+    inadequate to explain this ruin of cultivation in the Italian
+    plains, when it continued to flourish and maintain the chief
+    cities of the empire with food, in Egypt and Lybia. Heavy as it
+    was, and oppressive as it ultimately became, <i>it was
+    equal</i>; it was the same every where; it might, therefore,
+    satisfactorily explain the <i>general</i> decline of rural
+    industry through the empire, and doubtless had a large share in
+    contributing to its downfall; but it cannot explain the
+    <i>particular</i> ruin of it, in the central provinces of this
+    vast dominion, while it continued, down to the very last
+    moment, to flourish in its remote dependencies.</p>
+
+    <p>But the taxation of the empire, <i>when coupled with the
+    free importation of grain</i> from these distant dependencies,
+    does afford a most satisfactory, and, in truth, the true
+    explanation of the ruin of Italian and Grecian cultivation. It
+    was a fixed principle of Roman taxation, that the duties
+    allotted on a particular district should remain fixed, how much
+    lower the inhabitants or industry of the province might
+    decline. When, therefore, by the constant importation of
+    Egyptian and African grain, raised at half the cost at which
+    they could produce it, the Italian cultivators were deprived of
+    a remunerating return, and the taxes exacted from each district
+    underwent no diminution, it is not surprising that the small
+    farmers and proprietors were ruined; that they took refuge in
+    the industry and crowds of cities, and that the race of freemen
+    disappeared from the country. A similar process is now going on
+    in the Turkish provinces. But without undervaluing&mdash;on the
+    contrary, attaching full weight to this
+    circumstance&mdash;nothing can be clearer than that it was the
+    ruinous competition of foreign grain, raised cheaper than they
+    could produce it, which rendered the same taxation crushing on
+    the Italian farmers, which was borne with comparative facility
+    in the remoter provinces, where land was more fertile, and
+    labour less expensive. An example, <i>&agrave; fortiori</i>,
+    applied to the British empire, where the free traders wish us
+    to admit a free importation of grain from Poland and the
+    Ukraine, where not only is labour cheap but taxation trifling,
+    into the British islands, where not only is labour dear but
+    taxation is five times more burdensome.</p>
+
+    <p>And for a decisive proof that it was the superior advantages
+    which Egypt and Lybia enjoyed in the production of grain, and
+    not any other causes, which occasioned the ruin of Italian
+    agriculture, and with it the fall of the Roman empire, we have
+    only to look to the condition of the Italian fields in the last
+    stages of the government of the Caesars. Already, in the time
+    of the elder Pliny, it had become a subject of complaint that
+    the <i>great properties</i> were ruining Italy<a id=
+    "footnotetag16"
+       name="footnotetag16"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote16"><sup>16</sup></a>&mdash;a sure proof, when the
+       great division of estates in the days of the
+       Republic&mdash;when, literally speaking, "every rood had its
+       man"&mdash;that some general and <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page396"
+       name="page396"></a>[pg 396]</span> irresistible cause,
+       affecting the remuneration of their industry, was
+       exterminating the small proprietors. Erelong, cultivators
+       ceased entirely in the country, and the huge estates of the
+       nobles were cultivated exclusively in pasturage, and by
+       means of slaves. "La classe," says Michelet, "<i>des petits
+       cultivateurs peu &agrave; pee a disparu</i>; les grands
+       proprietaires qui leur succed&egrave;rent y
+       supple&egrave;rent par des esclaves."<a id="footnotetag17"
+       name="footnotetag17"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote17"><sup>17</sup></a>It is recorded by Ammianus
+       Marcellinus, that when Rome was taken by the Goths, it
+       contained 1,200,000 inhabitants, and was mainly supported by
+       1780 great families, who cultivated their ample estates in
+       Italy in pasturage, by means of slaves.<a id="footnotetag18"
+       name="footnotetag18"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote18"><sup>18</sup></a> For centuries before, the
+       threat of blockading the Tiber had been found to be the most
+       effectual way of coercing the Roman populace; and whenever
+       it took place, famine ensued, not only in Rome, but the
+       Italian provinces. The diminution of its agricultural
+       produce had, long before, been stated by Columella at
+       <i>nine-tenths</i>, and by Varro at <i>three-fourths</i>, of
+       what at one period had been raised. Yet such was the wealth
+       of the Roman nobles, derived from pasturage, that some of
+       them had L.160,000 a-year.<a id="footnotetag19"
+       name="footnotetag19"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote19"><sup>19</sup></a> Agriculture, therefore, was
+       destroyed; grain was no longer raised in Italy; Rome was
+       wholly dependent on foreign supplies&mdash;but pasturage was
+       undecayed; and colossal fortunes were enjoyed by a wealthy
+       race of great proprietors, who managed their vast estates by
+       means of slaves, and had bought up and absorbed the
+       properties of the whole free cultivators in the country.
+       Such was the effect&mdash;such was the result&mdash;of a
+       free trade in grain in ancient times.</p>
+
+    <p>The free traders seem not insensible to these inevitable
+    results of their favourite principles; but they meet them by
+    describing such consequences as rather advantageous than
+    injurious. If England, say they, can raise iron and cotton
+    goods cheaper than Poland, and Poland and Russia grain cheaper
+    than England, then the interest of each require tht they should
+    follow out these branches of industry, and it is impolitic to
+    strive against it. Let, then, England admit foreign grain on a
+    nominal duty, and this will in the end induce Russia and
+    Prussia to admit English manufactured goods on equally
+    favourable terms; and thus the real interests of both countries
+    will in the end be promoted.</p>
+
+    <p>There are two objections to this system. In the first place,
+    it is impracticable if it were expedient. In the second, it is
+    inexpedient if it were practicable.</p>
+
+    <p>It is impracticable if it were expedient. Theoretical
+    writers may coolly discuss in their closets the total
+    destruction of various important branches of industry, the
+    "absorption" of the persons engaged in them in other pursuits,
+    and the transference of national capital and industry from
+    agriculture to manufactures, and <i>vice vers&agrave;</i>; but
+    it is impossible to effect such changes by the voluntary act of
+    government, even in the most despotic country. We say by the
+    voluntary act of government; because there is no doubt that it
+    may be effected, though at an enormous sacrifice of life,
+    wealth, and happiness, by the silent and unobserved operation
+    of the laws of nature, which are irresistible; as was the case
+    with the transference of industry from agriculture to
+    pasturage, under the effect of free trade in grain in the
+    countries bordering on the Mediterranean, in the later stages
+    of the Roman empire; or from manufactures to agriculture, from
+    the consequences of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in
+    the Italian republics in modern times. But no government, not
+    even that of the Czar Peter or Sultaun Mahmoud, could succeed
+    in destroying or nipping in the bud brances of national
+    industry, by simple acts of the legislature or sovereign
+    authority, not imposed by external and irresistible authority.
+    The Emperor Paul tried it, and got a sash twisted about his
+    neck, according to the established fashion of that country, for
+    his pains. The Whigs tried it, and were turned out of office in
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page397"
+       name="page397"></a>[pg 397]</span> consequence. All the
+       governments of Europe, despotic, constitutional, and
+       democratic, meet our concessions, in favour of free trade,
+       by increased protection to their manufacturers. They dare
+       not destroy their rising commercial wealth any more than we
+       dare destroy our old colossal agricultural investments. The
+       republicans of America even exceed them in the race of
+       tariffs and protection. Sixty-two per cent has lately been
+       laid on our British iron goods in return for Sir Robert
+       Peel's tariff; a similar duty on iron and cotton goods, it
+       is well known, is contemplated in the Prussian leagues in
+       Germany. The British government has at length, through its
+       prime minister, spoken out firmly in support of the existing
+       corn-laws. The feeling of the agricultural counties, as
+       evinced at the late meetings, left them no alternative. All
+       nations, under all varieties of government, situation, race,
+       and political circumstances, concur in rising up to resist
+       the doctrines of free trade. Necessity has enlightened,
+       experience has taught them: a very clear motive urges them
+       on, which is not likely to decline in strength with the
+       progress of time&mdash;it is the instinct of
+       self-preservation.</p>
+
+    <p>Such a system as the free traders advocate, if practicable,
+    would be to the last degree inexpedient.</p>
+
+    <p>What would be the result? Why, that one country would become
+    wholly, or in great part, agricultural, and the other wholly,
+    or in great part, manufacturing. Is this a result desirable to
+    either? Admitting that a city or small state, which has no
+    territory which can furnish any considerable proportion of the
+    subsistence which it requires, like Holland, may do well to
+    attend exclusively to manufactures and commerce; or a country
+    which, by the rigour of nature, or the remoteness of its
+    situation, cannot attain to commercial or manufacturing
+    greatness, would do well to attend exclusively to the
+    cultivation or productions of the earth; the question which
+    here occurs&mdash;Is such a system advisable or expedient for a
+    nation which has received from the bounty of nature the means
+    of rising to greatness in <i>both</i>&mdash;such as Great
+    Britain, Russia, or Prussia? The free traders would have
+    England sacrifice its agriculture to its manufactures, and
+    Russia sacrifice its manufactures to its agriculture. Would
+    such a system benefit either? Would England be happier or
+    richer, more stable or more moral, if the already colossal
+    amount of its manufactures were trebled; or Russia, if its
+    rising iron and woolen fabrics were destroyed, and its industry
+    confined exclusively to the slow return of agricultural labour?
+    Is it desirable that the zone of tall chimneys, sickly faces,
+    brick houses, and crowded jails, which at present spans across
+    the whole of England and part of Scotland, should be doubled
+    and trebled in breadth; and the fertile fields of Kent,
+    Norfolk, and East Lothian, be reduced to vast unenclosed
+    pastures, such as overspread Italy in the later stages of the
+    Roman empire? Or is it desirable to Russia and Prussia that
+    they should be for ever chained to the labour of boors, serfs,
+    and shepherds, and all the vivifying and unimportant effects of
+    commercial wealth be denied to their exertions? Nature has
+    designed, experience recommends, a very different system.
+    History tells us in all parts of the world, that it is in the
+    <i>intermixture</i> of commerce and agriculture that the best
+    security is to be found for social happiness and advancement,
+    and the most effectual antidote provided to the evils with
+    which either, when existing alone, is so prone. Mr McCulloch
+    has told us, that the commerce and manufactures of Great
+    Britain have now risen to such a prodigious height, that any
+    further extension of them is undesirable, and that no real
+    patriot would have desired them to have become so extensive as
+    they already are. Is it desirable, in such a state of matters,
+    to go on increasing the same splendid but perilous system, and
+    to do so at the expense of the great pillar of national wealth,
+    security, and independence&mdash;the land of the state?</p>
+
+    <p>Further, the proposed system is pernicious even with
+    reference to the national wealth and interests of the
+    manufacturers themselves, as tending to undermine the main
+    branches of our national resources, and substitute
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page398"
+       name="page398"></a>[pg 398]</span> encouragement to an
+       inferior, to upholding of the superior market for our
+       manufacturing industry.</p>
+
+    <p>Although in the meetings where they address the agricultural
+    constituencies, the free traders hold out that their measures
+    would benefit the manufacturers, and <i>not injure the
+    agriculturists</i>; yet nothing can be clearer than that this
+    is a mere shallow pretext, put forth to conceal their real
+    objects and the effect of their measures, and that the result
+    they <i>really</i> anticipate is as different from that as the
+    poles are asunder. What is the benefit they hold out to the
+    community as an inducement to go into their measures? Cheap
+    grain. What is the motive which stimulates all their efforts,
+    and which, among themselves and in private conversation with
+    all men of sense, they at once admit is their ruling object?
+    <i>Reduced wages</i>; the hope of extending our export in
+    foreign countries by taking an additional quantity of their
+    rude produce; and diminishing the cost of production to our
+    manufacturers by lowering the price of food, and with it the
+    wages of labour. The whole strength of their case rests in
+    these propositions. Their influence over the urban multitudes
+    arises solely from the continual reiteration of these alluring
+    hopes. If these effects are not to follow free trade and the
+    efforts of the League, in the name of Heaven, what good are
+    they to do, and why do they agitate the country and subscribe
+    to the League fund? Sensible men do not throw away
+    &pound;100,000 for nothing, for no benefit to themselves or
+    others. But these prospects are as fallacious as they are
+    alluring, and so a very few observations will demonstrate.</p>
+
+    <p>Considered in a <i>national</i> point of view, if the matter
+    is brought to this issue, the great question is&mdash;Whether
+    agriculture or manufactures are the superior interests in the
+    production of national wealth. Admitting that the true policy
+    for government is to protect <i>all</i> the branches of
+    national industry, and stoutly contending, as we do, and ever
+    shall do, that the real and ultimate interests of all is the
+    same, and cannot be separated&mdash;the question comes to be,
+    if one fiercely demands the sacrifice of the other, and insists
+    that its interests are so weighty and momentous that all others
+    must be sacrificed to them, which of the two thus placed in
+    jeopardy is the most momentous? which brings in most to the
+    national treasury? Now, on this point the facts are as adverse
+    to the arguments of the League, as on all other branches of
+    their case.</p>
+
+    <p>Take the sum total of manufactures in Great Britain and
+    Ireland, accompanied with the sum total of agricultural
+    production, in order to discover which of the two is the more
+    valuable interest&mdash;in order that it may be discovered, if
+    matters are brought to that issue that one or other must be
+    abandoned, which is to be sacrificed. The choice of a wise
+    government could not be doubtful, if it were necessary to make
+    the selection. The agricultural productions of the British
+    islands amount to L.300,000,000 a-year, while the sum total of
+    manufactures of every description is only L.180,000,000. Nor
+    can it be said, with any degree of truth, that the agriculture
+    of the country is dependent for its existence on its
+    manufactures, and would decline if they were materially
+    injured; for the example of modern Italy and Flanders proves,
+    that three centuries <i>after</i> a country has ceased to be
+    the chief in manufacturing or commercial industry, it may
+    advance with undiminished vigour and success in the production
+    of agricultural riches.</p>
+
+    <p>But this is not all. The statistical documents which have
+    now been prepared with so much care by Parliament, and
+    published by the accurate and indefatigable Mr Porter, himself
+    a decided free trader, demonstrate that, of the manufacturing
+    productions, nearly three-fourths are taken off by the home
+    market, and <i>four-fifths</i> by the home and colonial market
+    taken together, leaving only ONE-FIFTH for <i>the whole foreign
+    markets of the world put together</i>&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The total amount of British manufactures annually
+        produced is about &pound;180,000,000 worth, of which only
+        &pound;47,000,000 is taken off by the whole external trade
+        of the world put together, while no less than
+        &pound;133,000, 000 is consumed in the home market; and of
+        the foreign consumption, fully a third is absorbed by the
+        British Colonies, in different parts of the world. So that
+        the home and colonial trade is to the <span class=
+        "pagenum"><a id="page399"
+           name="page399"></a>[pg 399]</span> whole foreign put
+           together as 5 to 1. And, whle the total produce of
+           manufactures is &pound;180,000,000 annually, and of
+           mines and minerals &pound;13,776,000, the amount of
+           agricultural produce annually extracted from the soil is
+           not less than &pound;300,000,000; or a half more than
+           the whole manufactures and mines put together."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Further, if we compare the proportion purchased of our
+    manufactures, which is taken off by foreign nations, for the
+    export to whom we are required to make the sacrifice of our
+    domestic agriculture, with what is consumed by our own native
+    population, whether in the British islands or in our colonies
+    of British descent, the difference is prodigious, and such as
+    might well, even for their own sake, make the Anti-corn-law
+    League pause in their career of violence. From the tables
+    compiled from Porter's <i>Parliamentary Tables</i>, and the
+    population of the different states to whom we export, taken
+    from Malte Brun and Balbi, it appears, that while the British
+    population, whether at home or abroad, consume from &pound;3 to
+    &pound;5 a-head worth of our manufactures, the foreign nations
+    to whom we are willing to sacrifice the British agriculturists,
+    take off per head ONLY AS MANY PENCE. In preferring the one to
+    the other, therefore, we are, literally speaking, penny wise
+    and pound foolish.</p>
+
+    <p>We have shown how agriculture was ruined in the Roman empire
+    in Italy, by the free importation of grain from the Lybian and
+    Egyptian provinces of the empire. As a contrast to that woful
+    progress, the main cause of the destruction of the empire of
+    the Caesars, we request the attention of our readers to the
+    progress of British exports in official value, which indicates
+    their amount from 1790 to 1840, premising that the <i>whole</i>
+    of that period was one of protection to the British
+    agriculturist; during the first twenty years of the period, by
+    the effects of the war&mdash;during the last twenty-five, by
+    the operation of the corn law and sliding scale, introduced in
+    1814. We recommend the advocates of free trade to search the
+    annals of the world for a similar instance of progress and
+    prosperity flowing from, or co-existent with, the practical
+    adoption of their principles.</p>
+
+    <p>These facts, which, in truth, are altogether decisive of the
+    present question, point to the great source from which the
+    errors of the free trade party are derived, and which appears,
+    in an especial manner, their favourite position, that cheap
+    prices is an unmitigated blessing, and that the great thing to
+    attend to is to increase our imports. Cheap prices of grain are
+    like the Amreeta cap in Kehama; the greatest of all blessings
+    is the greatest of all curses, <i>according as they arise from
+    magnitude of domestic production, or magnitude of foreign
+    importation</i>. Of the first we had an example during the five
+    fine years in succession, from 1830 to 1835, during which the
+    foreign importation was practically abolished by the abundant
+    harvests, and consequent high duty on grain under the sliding
+    scale. This was a period, as all the world knows, of universal
+    and unexampled commercial prosperity. Of the second we had a
+    memorable example during the five bad years in succession,
+    which elapsed fiom 1836 to 1840, in the course of which the
+    corn laws, from the effect of the same sliding scale, and the
+    continued low prices, were practically abolished; and
+    importations, at the close of the period, amounted to 2,500,000
+    quarters, and, on an average of the whole, was little short of
+    2,000,000 of quarters. And what was the result? The exportation
+    of 6,000,000 of sovereigns in a single year to buy grain; an
+    unexampled pressure on the money market; commercial
+    embarrassments, long-continued, and severe beyond all former
+    precedent; the contraction of ten millions of additional debt
+    in four years, and the creation of a deficit which at length
+    rose to the formidable amount, in 1842, of L.4,000,000
+    sterling! And what first dispelled this distress, and arrested
+    this downward and disastrous progress? The fine harvests of
+    1842&mdash;the blessed sun of its long summer, followed by the
+    more checkered, but also fine summer of 1843, which again gave
+    us plenty, derived from domestic production, and consequent
+    general and increasing manufacturing as well as rural
+    prosperity.</p>
+
+    <p>It is in vain, therefore, to say, cheap prices are a
+    blessing in themselves, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page400"
+       name="page400"></a>[pg 400]</span> and the consumers at
+       least are ever benefited by a fall in the cost of grain.
+       Cheap prices are a real blessing if that effect consists
+       with prosperity to the producer, as by improved methods of
+       cultivation or manufacture, or the benignity of nature in
+       giving fine seasons. But cheap prices are the greatest of
+       all evils, and to none more shall the consumers, if they are
+       the result, not of the magnitude of domestic production, but
+       of the magnitude of foreign importation. It was that sort of
+       cheap prices which ruined the Roman empire, from the
+       destruction of the agriculture of Italy; it is that sort of
+       cheap prices which has ruined the Indian weavers, from the
+       disastrous competition of the British steam-engine; it is
+       that sort of low prices which has so grievously depressed
+       British shipping, from the disastrous competition of the
+       Baltic vessels under the reciprocity system. It is in vain
+       for the consumers to say, we will separate our case from
+       that of the producers, and care not, so as we get low
+       prices, what comes of them. Where will the consumers be, and
+       that erelong, if the producers are destroyed? What will be
+       the condition of the landlords if their farmers are ruined?
+       or of bondholders if their debtors are bankrupt? or of
+       railway proprietors if traffic ceases? or of owners of bank
+       stock if bills are no longer presented for discount? or of
+       the 3 per cents if Government, by the failure of the
+       productive industry of the country, is rendered bankrupt?
+       The consumers all rest on the producers, and must sink or
+       swim with them.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <a name="bw341-footnotes"
+          id="bw341-footnotes"></a>
+
+    <h2>FOOTNOTES</h2>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote1"
+           name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag1">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p><i>The Highlands of Ethiopa.</i> by Major W. CORNWALLIS
+        HARRIS, H.E. I.C. Engineers. 3 vols.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote2"
+           name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag2">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>Reunell, p. 682.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote3"
+           name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag3">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>The Turks, finding their own troops not well adapted to
+        the irregular and desperate kind of warfare waged by the
+        Uzcoques, and also unable to compete with them in the
+        rapidity of their movements, formed a corps expressly for
+        the pursuit of the freebooters, which was composed of men
+        as wild and desperate as themselves. With these
+        <i>Martellossi</i>, as they were called, the Uzcoques had
+        frequent and sanguinary conflicts. Minucci says of the
+        Martellossi, in his <i>Historia degli Uscochi</i>, that
+        they were "Scelerati barbari anco 'ordine de' medesime
+        Scochi."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote4"
+           name="footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag4">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>In Minucci's History of the Uzcoques, continued by Paola
+        Sarpi, we find the following:&mdash;"Segna, through its
+        position on a cragged rock, was unapproachable by carts or
+        horses, and consequently by artillery. The harbour
+        appertaining to it, however, was tolerably good, but
+        exceedingly difficult of access on account of the north
+        wind, (vento di Buora,) which blew almost incessantly in
+        the channel leading to it. According to popular belief, the
+        Segnarese had the power of causing this wind to blow at
+        will, by merely kindling a fire in a certain hollow of the
+        cliffs. The mysterious operation of this fire was to heat
+        the veins of the earth, which then, through pain or fury,
+        sent out the raging hurricanes that rendered those narrow
+        seas in the highest degree dangerous, and indeed
+        untenable."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote5"
+           name="footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag5">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p><i>Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India</i>,
+        from Bareilly, in Rohilcund, to Hurdwar and Nahun, in the
+        Himalaya Mountains; with a Tour in Bundelcund, a Sporting
+        Excursion in the Kingdom of Oude, and a Voyage down the
+        Ganges. By C.J.C. DAVIDSON, Esq., late Lieut.-Col. of
+        Engineers, Bengal.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote6"
+           name="footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag6">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>The year is not specified; but as the Ramazan is
+        subsequently said to have ended March 25, it must have been
+        in the year of the Hejra 1245, ansering to A.D. 1830.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote7"
+           name="footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag7">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>Rambles in the South of Ireland; ii. 143.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote8"
+           name="footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag8">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>In the original "bulkh," which we have ventured to amend
+        as above. The Oriental words and phrases are, in several
+        instances, very incorrectly printed; but whether the fault
+        rests with the colonel's "undecipherable" MS., or the
+        correctors of the press, it is not for us to decide.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote9"
+           name="footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag9">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>The Indian gipsies are several times mentioned in the
+        journal of Bishop Heber, who says they are called Kunjas in
+        Bengal. Colonel Davidson also mentions a race in Bundelcund
+        called Kunjurs who were in the habit, as he was informed by
+        the Bramins, of "catching lizards, scorpions, snakes, and
+        foxes," which, if it is meant that they use them for food,
+        is analogous to the omnivorous propensities of the
+        gipsies.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote10"
+           name="footnote10"></a> <b>Footnote 10</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag10">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>May 1841.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote11"
+           name="footnote11"></a> <b>Footnote 11</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag11">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>At Naples, it is customary to carry two handkerchiefs,
+        one of silk, and the other of cambric; the latter being
+        used to wipe the forehead.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote12"
+           name="footnote12"></a> <b>Footnote 12</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag12">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>See No. CCCXL, <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i>, p. 261.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote13"
+           name="footnote13"></a> <b>Footnote 13</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag13">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>"Arantur Gallicana rura <i>barbaris bobus</i>, et juga
+        Germanica captiva praebent colla nostris
+        cultoribus."&mdash;<i>Probi Epist. ad Senatum in
+        Vopesio</i>.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote14"
+           name="footnote14"></a> <b>Footnote 14</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag14">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>"Quingena viginti octo millia quadringinta duo jugera,
+        quae Campania provincia, juxta inspectorum relationem, in
+        desertis et squalidis locis habero dignoscitur, iisdem
+        provincialibus concessum."&mdash;<i>Cod. Theod</i>. lxi. i.
+        2382.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote15"
+           name="footnote15"></a> <b>Footnote 15</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag15">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>GIBBON, chap. i. 68.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote16"
+           name="footnote16"></a> <b>Footnote 16</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag16">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>"Verumque confitentibus <i>latifundia perdidere
+        Italiam</i>."&mdash;PLINY, <i>Hist. Nat</i>.xviii. 7.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote17"
+           name="footnote17"></a> <b>Footnote 17</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag17">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>MICHELET, i. 96.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote18"
+           name="footnote18"></a> <b>Footnote 18</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag18">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, c. xvi.&mdash;See also GIBBON, vi.
+        264.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote19"
+           name="footnote19"></a> <b>Footnote 19</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag19">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>GIBBON, vi. 262.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <hr class="full" />
+
+    <h4><i>Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's
+    Work.</i></h4>
+    <hr class="full" />
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14778 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #14778 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14778)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 341,
+March, 1844, Vol. 55, 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. 341, March, 1844, Vol. 55
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2005 [EBook #14778]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jon Ingram, Internet Library of Early Journals, Allen
+Siddle and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+NO. CCCXLI. MARCH, 1844. VOL. LV.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+    ETHIOPIA,
+    A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES. BY LORGNON,
+    THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. PART I.,
+    COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA,
+    BELFRONT CASTLE. A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW,
+    DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE,
+    MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN. PART IX.,
+    THE OLYMPIC JUPITER,
+    A ROMAN IDYL,
+    GOETHE,
+    HYMN OF A HERMIT,
+    THE LUCKLESS LOVER,
+    FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION--THE CORN LAWS,
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ETHIOPIA[1]
+
+    [1] _The Highlands of Ethiopa._ by Major W. CORNWALLIS HARRIS, H.E.
+    I.C. Engineers. 3 vols.
+
+
+From the various circumstances of our day, the impression is powerfully
+made upon intelligent men in Europe, that some extraordinary change is
+about to take place in the general condition of mankind. A new ardour of
+human intercourse seems to be spreading through all nations. Europe has
+laid aside her perpetual wars, and seems to be assuming a _habit_ of peace.
+Even France, hitherto the most belligerent of European nations, is
+evidently abandoning the passion for conqest, and begining to exert her
+fine powers in the cultivation of commerce. All the nations of Europe are
+either following her example, or sending out colonies of greater or less
+magnitude, to fill the wild portions of the world. Regions hitherto
+utterly neglected, and even scarcely known, are becoming objects of
+enlightened regard; and mankind, in every quarter, is approaching, with
+greater or less speed, to that combined interest and mutual intercourse,
+which are the first steps to the true possession of the globe.
+
+But, we say it with the gratification of Englishmen, proud of their
+country's fame, and still prouder of its principles--that the lead in this
+noblest of all human victories, has been clearly taken by England. It is
+she who pre-eminently stimulates the voyage, and plants the colony, and
+establishes the commerce, and civilizes the people. And all this has been
+done in a manner so little due to popular caprice or national ambition, to
+the mere will of a sovereign, or the popular thirst of possession, that it
+invests the whole process with a sense of unequaled security. Resembling
+the work of nature in the simplicity of its growth, it will probably also
+resemble the work of nature in the permanence of its existence. It is not
+an exotic, fixed in an unsuitable soil by capricions planting; but a seed
+self-sown, nurtured by the common air and dews, assimilated to the climate,
+and strikig its roots deep in the ground which it has thus, by its own
+instincts, chosen. The necessities of British commerce, the urgency of
+English protection, and the overflow of British population, have been the
+great acting causes of our national efforts; and as those are causes which
+regulate themselves, their results are as regular and unshaken, as they
+are natural and extensive. But England has also had a higher motive. She
+has unquestionably mingled a spirit of benevolence largely with her
+general exertions. She has laboured to communicate freedom, law, a feeling
+of property, and a consciousness of the moral debt due by man to the Great
+Disposer of all, wherever she has had the power in her hands. No people
+have ever been the worse for her, and all have been the better, in
+proportion to their following her example. Wherever she goes, oppression
+decays, the safety of person and property begins to be felt, the sword is
+sheathed, the pen and the ploughshare commence alike to reclaim the mental
+and the physical soil, and civilization comes, like the dawn, however
+slowly advancing, to prepare the heart of the barbarian for the burst of
+light, in the rising of Christianity upon his eyes.
+
+The formation of a new route between India and Europe by the Red Sea--a
+route, though well known to the ancient world, yet wholly incapable of
+adoption by any but an Arab horseman, from the perpetual tumults of the
+country--compelled England to look for a resting-place and depot for her
+steam-ships at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden, a desolated port, was the
+spot fixed on; and the steam-vessels touching there were enabled to
+prepare themselves for the continuance of their voyage. We shall
+subsequently see how strikingly British protection has changed the
+desolateness of this corner of the Arab wilderness, how extensively it has
+become a place of commerce, and how effectually it will yet furnish the
+means of increasing our knowledge of the interior of the great Arabian
+peninsula.
+
+It is remarkable that Africa, one of the largest and most fertile portions
+of the globe, remains one of the least known. Furnishing materials of
+commerce which have been objects of universal desire since the
+deluge--gold, gems, ivory, fragrant gums, and spices--it has still
+remained almost untraversed by the European foot, except along its coast.
+It has been circumnavigated by the ships of every European nation, its
+slave-trade has divided its profits and its pollutions among the chief
+nations of the eastern and western worlds; and yet, to this hour, there
+are regions of Africa, probably amounting to half its bulk, and possessing
+kingdoms of the size of France and Spain, of which Europe has no more
+heard than of the kingdoms of the planet Jupiter. The extent of Africa is
+enormous:--5000 miles in length, 4600 in breadth, it forms nearly a
+square of 13,430,000 square miles! the chief part solid ground; for we
+know of no Mediterranean to break its continuity--no mighty reservoir for
+the waters of its hills--and scarcely more than the Niger and the Nile for
+the means of penetrating any large portion of this huge continent.
+
+The population naturally divides itself into two portions, connected with
+the character of its surface--the countries to the north and the south of
+the mountains of Kong and the Jebel-al-Komr. To the north of this line of
+demarcation, are the kingdoms of the foreign conquerors, who have driven
+the original natives to the mountains, or have subjected them as slaves.
+This is the Mahometan land. To the south of this line dwells the Negro, in
+a region a large portion of which is too fiery for European life. This is
+Central Africa; distinguished from all the earth by the unspeakable
+mixture of squalidness and magnificence, simplicity of life yet fury of
+passion, savage ignorance of its religious notions yet fearful worship of
+evil powers, its homage to magic, and desperate belief in spells,
+incantations and the _fetish_. The configuration of the country, so far as
+it can be conjectured, assists this primeval barbarism. Divided by natural
+barriers of hill, chasm, or river, into isolated states, they act under a
+general impulse of hostility and disunion. If they make peace, it is only
+for purposes of plunder; and, if they plunder, it is only to make slaves.
+The very fertility of the soil, at once rendering them indolent and
+luxurious, excites their passions, and the land is a scene alike of
+profligacy and profusion. To the south of this vast region lies a
+third--the land of the Caffre, occupying the eastern coast, and, with the
+Betjouana and the Hottentot, forming the population of the most promising
+portion of the continent. But here another and more enterprising race have
+fixed themselves; and the great English colony of the Cape, with its
+dependent settlements, has begun the first real conquest of African
+barbarism. Whether Aden may not act on the opposite coasts of the Red Sea,
+and Abyssinia become once more a Christian land; or whether even some
+impulse may not divinely come from Africa itself, are questions belonging
+to the future. But there can scarcely be a doubt, that the existence of a
+great English viceroyalty in the most prominent position of South Africa,
+the advantages of its government, the intelligence of its people, their
+advancement in the arts essential to comfort, and the interest of their
+protection, their industry, and their example, must, year by year, operate
+in awaking even the negro to a feeling of his own powers, of the enjoyment
+of his natural faculties, and of that rivalry which stimulates the skill
+of man to reach perfection.
+
+The name of Africa, which, in the Punic tongue, signifies "ears of corn,"
+was originally applied only to the northern portion, lying between the
+Great Desert and the shore, and now held by the pashalics of Tunis and
+Tripoli. They were then the granary of Rome. The name Lybia was derived
+from the Hebrew _Leb_, (heat,) and was sometimes partially extended to the
+continent, but was geographically limited to the provinces between the
+Great Syrtis and Egypt. The name Ethiopia is evidently Greek, (burning, or
+black, visage.)
+
+There is strong reason to believe that the Portuguese boast of the
+sixteenth century--the circumnavigation of Africa--was anticipated by the
+Phoenician sailors two thousand years and more. We have the testimony of
+Herodotus, that Necho, king of Egypt, having failed in an attempt to
+connect the Nile with the Red Sea by a canal, determine to try whether
+another route might not be within his reach, and sent Phoenician vessels
+from the Red Sea, with orders to sail round Africa, and return by the
+Mediterranean. It is not improbable that, from being unacquainted with the
+depth to which it penetrates the south, he had expected the voyage to be a
+brief one. It seems evident that the navigators themselves did not
+conceive that it could extend beyond the equator, from their surprise at
+seeing the sun rise on their _right hand_. The narrative tells us--"The
+Phoenicians, taking their course from the Red Sea, entered into the
+Southern Ocean on the approach of autumn; they landed in Lybia, planted
+corn, and remained till the harvest. They then sailed again. After having
+thus spent two years, they passed the Columns of Hercules in the third,
+and returned to Egypt." Herodotus doubted their story--"Their relation,"
+says the honest old Greek, "may obtain belief from others, but to me it
+seems incredible; for they affirmed, that, having sailed round Africa,
+they _had the sun on their right hand_. Thus was Africa for the first time
+known."
+
+Thus the very circumstance which the old historian regarded as throwing
+doubt on the discovery, is now one of the strongest corroborations of its
+truth.[2] There appear to have been several attempts to sail along the
+west coast, by ancient expeditions; but to the Portuguese is due the
+modern honour of having first sailed round the Cape. From 1412, the
+Portuguese, under a race of adventurous princes, had extended their
+discoveries; but it occupied them sixty years to reach the Line, and
+nearly thirty years more to reach the Cape, which they first called Cabo
+Tormentoso, (Stormy Cape.) But the king gave it the more lucky, though the
+less poetical, title which it now bears.
+
+    [2] Reunell, p. 682.
+
+The triumph of Columbus, in his discovery of the New World in 1493, raised
+the emulation of the Portuguese, then regarded as the first navigators in
+the world; yet it was not until four years after, that their expedition
+was sent, to equalize the stupendous accession to the Spanish domains, by
+the possession of the East. In July 1497, Gama sailed, reached Calicut May
+2, 1498, and returned to Portugal, covered with well-earned renown, after
+a voyage of upwards of two years.
+
+Having given this brief outline of the divisions and character of the
+mighty continent, which seemed important to the better understanding of
+the immediate subject, we revert to the intelligent and animated volumes
+of Captain (now Major) Harris.
+
+A letter from the Bombay government, 29th April 1841, gave him this
+distinguished credential:--
+
+"SIR--I am directed to inform you that the Honourable the Governor in
+Council, having formed a very high estimate of your talents and
+acquirements, and of the spirit of enterprise and decision, united with
+prudence and discretion, exhibited in your recently published travels
+through the territories of the Maselakatze to the Tropic of Capricorn, has
+been pleased to select you to conduct the mission which the British
+Government has resolved to send to Sahela Selasse, the king of Shoa, in
+Southern Abyssinia, whose capital, Ankober, is supposed to be about four
+hundred miles inland from the port of Tajura, on the African coast."
+
+[Then followed the mention of the vessels appointed to carry the mission.]
+
+    (Signed) "J.P. WILLOUGHBY,"
+
+    "Secretary to Government."
+
+The persons comprising the mission were Major W.C. Harris, Bombay
+Engineers, Captain Douglas Graham, Bombay army, principal assistant, with
+others, naturalists, draftsmen, &c., and an escort of two sergeants and
+fifteen rank and file, volunteers from H.M. 6th foot and the Bombay
+Artillery.
+
+On the afternoon of a sultry day in April, Major Harris, with his gallant
+and scientific associates, embarked on board the East India Company's
+steam ship Auckland, in the harbour of Bombay, on their voyage to the
+kingdom of Shoa in Southern Abyssinia, in the year 1841. The steam frigate
+pursued her way prosperously through the waters, and on the ninth day was
+within sight of Cape Aden, after a voyage of 1680 miles. The Cape, named
+by the natives, Jebel Shemshan, rises nearly 1800 feet above the ocean, is
+frequently capped with clouds, a wild and fissured mass of rock, and
+evidently intended by nature for one of those great beacons which announce
+the approach to an inland sea. On rounding the Cape, the British eye was
+delighted with the sight of the Red Sea squadron, riding at anchor within
+the noble bay. The arrival of the frigate also caused a sensation on the
+shore; and Major Harris happily describes the feelings with which a new
+arrival is hailed by the British garrison on that dreary spot, their only
+excitement being the periodical visits of the packets between Suez and
+Bombay. In the dead of the night a blue light shoots up in the offing. It
+is answered by the illumination of the block ship, then the thunder of her
+guns is heard, then, as she nears the shore, the flapping of her paddles
+is heard through the silence, then the spectral lantern appears at the
+mast-head, and then she rushes to her anchorage, leaving in her wake a
+long phosphoric train.
+
+Wherever England drops an anchor a new scene of existence has begun. At
+Aden, the supply of coals for the steam-ships has introduced a new trade;
+gangs of brawny Seedies, negroes from the Zanzibar coast, but fortunately
+enfranchised, make a livelihood by transferring the coal from the depots
+on shore to the steamers. Though the most unmusical race in the world,
+they can do nothing without music, but it is music of their own--a
+tambourine beaten with the thigh-bone of a calf; but their giant frames go
+through prodigious labour, carry immense sacks, and drink prodigious
+draughts to wash the coal-dust down. Such is the furious excitement with
+which they rush into this repulsive operation, that Major Harris thinks
+that for every hundred tons of coal thus embarked, at least one life is
+sacrificed; those strong savages, at once inflamed by drink, and overcome
+with toil, throwing themselves down on the dust or the sand, to rise no
+more. This shows the advantage of English philosophy: our coal-heavers in
+the Thames toil as much, are nearly as naked, nearly as black, and
+probably drink more; but we never hear of their dying in a fit of rapture
+in the embrace of a coal-sack. When the day is done, drunk or sober,
+washed or unwashed, they go home to their wives, sleep untroubled by the
+cares of kings, and return to fresh dust, drink, and dirt, next morning.
+
+The coast of Arabia has no claims to the picturesque: all its charms, like
+those of the oyster, lie within the roughest of possible shells. Its first
+aspect resembles heaps of the cinders of a glass-house--a building whose
+heat seems to be fully realized by the temperature of this fearful place.
+England has a resident there, Captain Haynes, named as political agent.
+That any human being, who could exist in any other place, would remain in
+Aden, is one of the wonders of human nature. An officer, of course, must
+go wherever he is sent; but such is the innate love for a post, that if
+this gallant and intelligent person were roasted to death, as might happen
+in one of the coolest days of the Ethiopian summer, there would be a
+thousand applications before a month was over, to the Foreign Office, for
+the honour of being carbonaded on the rocks of Aden.
+
+The promontory has all the marks of volcanic eruption, and is actually
+recorded, by an Arab historian of the tenth century, to have been thrown
+up about that period. "Its sound, like the rumbling of thunder, might then
+be heard many miles, and from its entrails vomited forth redhot stones,
+with a flood of liquid fire." The crater of the extinguished volcano is
+still visible, though shattered and powdered down by the tread under which
+Alps and Appennines themselves crumble away--that of Time. The only point
+on which we are sceptical is the late origin of the promontory. Nothing
+beyond a sandhill or a heap of ashes has been produced on the face of
+nature since the memory of man. That a rock, or rather a mountain chain,
+with a peak 1800 feet high, should have been produced at any time time
+within the last four thousand years, altogether tasks our credulity. The
+powers of nature are now otherwise employed than in rough-hewing the
+surface of the globe. She has been long since, like the sculptor, employed
+in polishing and finishing--the features were hewn out long ago. Her
+master-hand has ever since been employed in smoothing them.
+
+Aden's reputation for barrenness is an old one--"Aden," says Ben Batuta of
+Tangiers, "is situate upon the sea-shore; a large city without either seed,
+water, or tree." This was written five hundred years ago; yet the ruins of
+fortifications and watch-towers along the rocks, show that even this human
+oven was the object of cupidity in earlier times; and the British guns,
+bristling among the precipices, show that the desire is undecayed even in
+our philosophic age.
+
+Yet the Arab imagination has created its wonders even in this repulsive
+scene; and the generation of monkeys which tenant the higher portion of
+the rocks, are declared by Arab tradition to be the remnant of the once
+powerful tribe of Ad, changed into apes by the displeasure of Heaven, when
+"the King of the World," Sheddad, renowned in eastern story,
+presumptuously dared to form a garden which should rival Paradise. The
+prophet Hud remonstrated; but his remonstrances went for nothing, and the
+indignant monarch and his courtiers suddenly found their visages simious,
+their tongues chattering, and their lower portions furnished with tails--a
+species of transformation, which, so far as regards visage and tongue, is
+supposed to be not unfrequent among courtiers to this day. But this showy
+tradition goes further still. The Bostan al Irem (Garden of Paradise) is
+believed still to exist in the deserts of Aden; though geographers differ
+on its position. It still retains its domes and bowers--both of
+indescribable beauty; its crystal fountains, and its walks strewed with
+pearls for sand. It is true, that no living man can absolutely aver that
+he has seen this place of wonders; but that is a mere result of our very
+wicked age. This has not been always the case; for Abdallah Ibn Aboo
+Kelaba passed a night in its palace in the reign of Moowiych, the prince
+of the Faithful. Lucky the man who shall next find it, but unlucky the
+world when he does; for then the day of the general conflagration will be
+at hand. In the mean time, it remains, like the top of Mount Meru, covered
+with clouds, or, like the inside of a Chinese puzzle, a work of unrivaled
+art, conceivable but intangible by man.
+
+In this pleasant mingling of fact, visible to his shrewd eye, and fiction
+drawn from ancient fancy, Major Harris leads us on. But Aden is not yet
+exhausted of wonders--an island in its bay, Seerah, (the fortified black
+isle,) is pronounced to have been the refuge of Cain on the murder of Abel;
+and its volcanic and barren chaos is no unequal competitor for the honour
+with the rocks of the Caucasus.
+
+But England, which changes every thing, is changing all this. Within the
+next generation, the railway will run down the romances of Nutrib; a
+cotton manufactory will send up its smokes to blot out the celestial blue
+by day, and shoot forth its sullen illumination by night, over the
+anointed soil; the minstrel will turn policeman, and the sheik be a
+justice of peace; political economy will have its itinerant lecturers,
+enlightening the Bedouins on the principles of rent and taxes; the city
+will have a lord mayor and corporation of the deepest black; the volcano
+will be planted with villas; turnpikes will measure out the sands; a hotel
+will flourish on the summit of Jebel Shemshan; and Aden will differ from
+Liverpool in nothing but being two thousand miles further from the smoke
+and multitudes of London.
+
+The Arab is still the prominent person among the native population of this
+territory. Major Harris describes him well. The bronzed and sunburnt
+visage, surrounded by long matted locks of raven hair; the slender but
+wiry and active frame, and the energetic gait and manner, proclaimed the
+untamable descendant of Ishmael. He nimbly mounts the crupper of his now
+unladen dromedary, and at a trot moves down the bazar. A checked kerchief
+round his brows, and a kilt of dark blue calico round his frame, comprise
+his slender costume. His arms have been deposited outside the Turkish wall;
+and as he looks back, his meagre, ferocious aspect, flanked by that
+tangled web of hair, stamps him the roving tenant of the desert. It is
+curious to find in this remote country a custom similar to that of the
+fiery cross, which in old times summoned the Celtic tribes to arms. On the
+alarm of invasion, a branch, torn by the priest from the _nebek_, (a tree
+bearing a fruit like the Siberian crab,) is lighted in the fire, the flame
+is then quenched in the blood of a newly slaughtered ram. It is then sent
+forth with a messenger to the nearest clan. Thus, great numbers are
+assembled with remarkable promptitude. In the invasion under Ibrahim Pasha,
+sixteen thousand of these wild warriors were assembled from one tribe.
+They crept into the Egyptian camp by night, and, using only their daggers,
+made such formidable slaughter, that the Pasha was glad to escape by a
+precipitate retreat.
+
+The Jews form an important part of the population, as artizans and
+manufacturers. Feeling the natural veneration for the Chosen People in all
+their misfortunes, and convinced that the time will come when those
+misfortunes will be obliterated, it is highly gratifying to find, that
+even in this place of their ancient sufferings, they are beginning to feel
+the benefit of British protection. Hitherto, through their indefatigable
+industry, having acquired opulence in Arabia as elsewhere, they were
+afraid either to display or to enjoy it; but now, under the protection of
+the British flag, they not merely enjoy their wealth, but they publicly
+practise the rights of their religion. Stone slabs with Hebrew
+inscriptions mark the place of their dead. They have schools for the
+education of their children; and their men and women, arrayed in their
+holiday apparel, sit fearlessly in the synagogue, and listen to the
+reading of the law and the prophets, as of old. It is a great source of
+gratification to the philanthropist to find, that wherever England extends
+her power, industry, commerce, and peace are the natural result. Aden,
+barren as the soil is, is evidently approaching to a prosperity which it
+never possessed even in its most flourishing days. Emigrants from Yemen
+and from both shores of the Red Sea, are daily crowding within the walls,
+through the security which they offer against native oppression. In the
+short space of three years, the population has risen to twenty thousand
+souls. Substantial dwellings are rising up in every quarter, and at all
+the adjacent ports hundreds of native merchants are only waiting the
+erection of permanent fortifications, in token of our intending to remain,
+to flock under the guns with their families and wealth. The opinion of
+this intelligent writer is, that Aden, as a free port, whilst she pours
+wealth into a now impoverished land, must erelong become the queen of the
+adjacent seas, and rank amongst the most useful dependencies of the
+British crown.
+
+The mission having remained some time at Aden, to purchase horses and
+stores, sailed on the 15th May; and, on losing sight of Aden, the members
+of the mission characteristically took the "Pilgrims' vow" not to shave
+until their return. On the 17th they opened the town of Tajura, on the
+verge of a broad expanse of blue water, over which a gossamerlike fleet of
+fishing catamarans already plied their craft. Their pilot, an old Arab,
+was a man of fun, and the specimens of his tongue are good. In some
+reference to the anchorage, he said, "Now if we only had two-fathom Ali
+here, you would not have all these difficulties. When they want to lay out
+an anchor, they have nothing to do but to hand it over to Ali, and he
+walks away with it into six or eight feet without any ado. I went once
+upon a time in the dark to grope for a berth on board of his buggalow, and,
+stumbling over some one's toes, enquired to whom they belonged. 'To Ali,'
+was the reply. 'And whose knees are these?' said I, after walking half
+across the deck. 'Ali's.' 'And this head in the scuppers, pray whose is
+it?' 'Ali's; what do you want with it?' 'Ali again!' I exclaimed; 'then I
+must even look for stowage elsewhere.'"
+
+The sight of a shark in the harbour let loose the old jester again. "A
+friend of mine," said he, "pilot of a vessel almost as fast a sailer as my
+own, which is acknowledged to be the best in these seas, was bound to
+Mocha with camels on board. When off the high table-land betwixt the Bay
+of Tajura and the Red Sea, one of the beasts dying, was hove overboard. Up
+came a shark ten times the size of that fellow there, and swallowed the
+camel, leaving only his hinder legs sticking out of his jaws; but before
+he had time to think where he was to find stowage for it, up came another
+tremendous fellow and bolted the shark, camel, legs, and all."
+
+In return for this anecdote, the major gave him the story of the two
+Kilkenny cats in the saw-pit, which fought, until nothing remained of
+either but the tail and a bit of the flue. The old pilot doubted. "How can
+that be?" said he, revolving the business seriously in his mind. "As for
+the story I have told you, it is as true as the Koran."
+
+After a short stay and presentation to the Sultan of Tajura, a slave-port,
+with a miserable old man for its master, the mission once more set forth
+for Shoa; yet even here we glean a specimen of Arab speech. "Trees attain
+not to their growth in a single day," said an Arab, when remonstrating
+with the sultan on his inordinate love of lucre. "Take the tree as your
+text, and learn that property is to be gathered only by slow degrees."
+"True," said the old miser; "but, sheik, you must have lost sight of the
+fact, that my leaves are already withered, and that, if I would be rich, I
+have not a moment to lose."
+
+The packing up for the journey was a new source of trouble; every
+camel-driver found fault with his load. However, at length every article
+was stowed, except a hand-organ and a few stand of arms. At length, a
+great hulking savage offered to take the arms, provided they were cut in
+two to suit the back of his animals. We have then another instance of Arab
+drollery. "You are a tall man," said the old pilot; "suppose we shorten
+you by the legs." "No, no," said the barbarian, "I am flesh and blood, and
+shall be spoiled." "So will the contents of these cases, you offspring of
+an ass," said the old man, "if you divide them."
+
+The progress to the interior from the port of Tajura, led them over
+immense ranges of basaltic cliffs, where the heat of the sun was felt with
+an intensity scarcely conceivable by European feelings. In this land of
+fire, the road skirting the base of a barren range covered with heaps of
+lava blocks, and its foot marked by piles of stones, the memorials of
+deeds of blood, the lofty conical peak of Jebel Seearo rose in sight, and
+not long afterwards the far-famed Lake Assad, surrounded by its dancing
+mirage, was seen sparkling at its base.
+
+The first glimpse of this phenomenon, "though curious, was far from
+pleasing"--"an elliptical basin, seven miles in its transverse axis,
+filled half with smooth water of the deepest cerulean hue, and half with a
+sheet of glittering snow-white salt, girded on three sides by huge
+hot-looking mountains, that dip their basins into its very bowl, and on
+the fourth by crude, half-formed rocks of lava, broken and divided by
+chasms. No sound broke on the ear, not a ripple played on the water. The
+molten surface of the lake lay like burnished steel, the fierce sky was
+without a cloud, and the angry sun, like a ball of metal at a white heat,
+rode in full blaze."
+
+It is scarcely wonderful, that among a people devoted to superstition,
+those terrible passes and sultry hollows should be marked as the haunts of
+the powers of evil. Adyli, a deep mysterious cavern at the extremity of
+one of those melancholy plains, is believed to be the especial abode of
+gins and _afreets_, whose voices are heard in the night, and who carry off
+the traveller to devour him without remorse. A late instance was mentioned
+of a man who was compelled by the weariness of his camel to fall behind
+the caravan, and who left no remnants behind him but his spear and shield.
+Major Harris well describes this spot as one which, from its desolate
+position, might be believed to be the last stage of the habitable world.
+"A close mephitic stench, impeding respiration, arose from the saline
+exhalations of the stagnant lake. A frightful glare from the white salt
+and limestone hillocks threatened extinction to the vision, and a
+sickening heaviness in the loaded atmosphere was enhanced rather than
+alleviated by the fiery breath of the north-westerly wind, which blew
+without interruption during the day. The air was inflamed, the sky
+sparkled, and columns of burning sand, which at quick intervals towered
+high into the atmosphere, became so illumined as to appear like tall
+pillars of fire. Crowds of horses, mules, and camels, tormented to madness
+by the poisonous gad-fly, flocked to share the only bush; and, disputing
+with their heels the slender shelter it afforded, compelled several of the
+party to seek refuge in caves formed below by fallen masses of volcanic
+rock, heated to the temperature of a potter's kiln, and fairly baking up
+the marrow in the bones." The heat in this place, with the thermometer
+under the shade of cloaks and umbrellas, was at 126°. It is only
+surprising how any of the party survived. Certainly if Abyssinia is to be
+approached only by this road, the prospect of an intercourse with it from
+the east, appears among the most improbable things of this world.
+
+One of the advantages of continental travel has been long since said to be,
+its teaching us how many comfortable things we enjoy at home; and it
+appears that no Englishman can comprehend the value of that despised fluid,
+fresh water, until he has left the precincts of his own fortunate land:
+but it is in Africa, and peculiarly on this Abyssinian high-road, that the
+value of a draught of spring water is to be especially estimated. "Since
+leaving the shores of India," says Major Harris, "the party had gradually
+been in training towards a disregard of dirty water. On board a ship of
+any description, the fluid is seldom very clear or very plentiful. At Cape
+Aden, there was little perceptible difference between the sea water and
+the land water. At Tajura, the beverage obtainable was far from being
+improved in quality by the taint of the new skins in which it was
+transferred from the only well; and now, in the very heart of the
+scorching Tehama, where a copious draught of pure water seemed absolutely
+indispensable every five minutes, the mixture was the very acme of
+abomination. Fresh hides stript from the he-goat, besmeared inside as well
+as out with old tallow and strong bark tan, filled from an impure well at
+Sagallo, tossed and tumbled during two days and nights under a distilling
+heat," formed a drink which we should conclude to be little short of
+poison. However, the human throat learns to accommodate itself to every
+thing in time, and the time came when even this abomination was longed for.
+
+But the worst was not yet come. It was midnight when the party commenced
+the steep ascent of the south-eastern boundary of the lake, a ridge of
+volcanic rocks. "The north-east wind had scarcely diminished its parching
+fierceness, and in hot suffocating gusts swept over the glittering expanse
+of water and salt, where the moon shone brightly; each deadly puff
+succeeded by the stillness that foretells a tropical hurricane. The
+prospect around was wild--beetling, basaltic cones, and jagged slabs of
+shattered lava."
+
+The path itself was formidable, winding along the crest of the ridge over
+sheets of broken lava, with scarcely more than sufficient width to admit
+of the progress in single file. "The horrors of this dismal night set all
+description at defiance." The hope of water, though at the distance of
+sixteen miles, excited them for a while; but at length even this
+excitement failed. And "owing to the heat, fasting, and privation, the
+limbs of the weaker refused the task, and after the first two miles they
+dropped fast into the rear. Under the fiery blast of the midnight sirocco
+the cry for water, uttered feebly and with difficulty by numbers of
+parched throats, now became incessant; and the supply for the whole party
+falling short of a gallon and a half, it was not long to be answered. A
+tiny sip of diluted vinegar for a moment assuaged the burning thirst which
+raged in the vitals; but its effects were transient, and, after struggling
+a few steps, they sank again, declaring their days to be numbered, and
+their resolution to rise up no more. Dogs incontinently expired upon the
+road, horses and mules that once lay down were abandoned to their fate;
+while the lion-hearted soldier, who had braved death at the cannon's
+mouth, subdued and unmanned by thirst, lay gasping by the wayside, hailing
+approaching dissolution with delight, as the termination of tortures which
+were no longer to be endured. As another day dawned, and the "round red
+sun" again rose over the lake of salt, the courage even of those who had
+borne up against this fiery trial began to flag: "a dimness came before
+the drowsy eyes, giddiness seized the brain, and the hope held out by the
+guides, of water in advance, seemed like the delusion of a dream."
+
+In this crisis, at which our chief wonder is, that Major Harris and his
+explorers were ever heard of again, or had left any memorials of
+themselves but their bones, a wild Bedouin was seen, "like a delivering
+angel," hurrying forward with a large skin, filled with muddy water. This
+well-timed supply was divided among the fainting people: a quantity was
+poured over the face and down the throat of each; and at a late hour,
+"ghastly, haggard, and exhausted, like men who had escaped from the jaws
+of death, the whole had contrived to straggle into a camp, which, but for
+the foresight and firmness of the son of Ali Abi,(who had sent the water,)
+few individuals would have reached alive."
+
+After traversing this terrible desert of fifty miles--a barrier to all
+general and commercial intercourse, which we should think impassable,
+however it might be overcome by a small party of bold and hardy men, well
+led, furnished with every supply, water excepted, which could sustain them
+through its horrors, (and which yet, through that single want, had nearly
+perished)--they persued a long and dlifficult march through a dreary
+country, scantily peopled, dotted with robber clans, and exhibiting
+impediments of all kinds in the knavery and villany of the native
+authorities; until they reached the borders of Abyssinia. We had by no
+means been aware that volcanoes had made so large a share of this portion
+of Africa. The whole border seems to be volcanic, and to retain in its
+blasted and broken surface, evidence of its having been, in remote ages,
+perhaps in the earliest, the scene of most intense and general volcanic
+action.
+
+In Major Harris's animated description--"singular and interesting indeed
+is the wild scenery in the vicinity of the treacherous oasis of Sultelli.
+A field of extinct volcanic cones, vomited out of the entrails of the
+earth, and each encircled by a black belt of vitrified lava, environs it
+on three sides; and of these Mount Abida, three thousand feet in height,
+whose cup, enveloped in clouds, stretches some two and a half miles in
+_diameter_, would seem to be the parent. Beyond, the still loftier crater
+of Aiulloo, the ancient landmark of the now-decayed empire of Ethiopia, is
+visible in dim perspective; and, looming hazily in the extreme distance,
+is the great blue Abyssinian range."
+
+In any part of Africa a river of tolerable magnitude is an object of the
+most anxious interest; and the approach to the Hawash, the boundary river
+of the kingdom of Shoa, was looked to with eager speculation. At length
+the height was reached from which was obtained "an exhilarating prospect
+over the dark, lone valley of the long looked-for Hawash. The course of
+the river was marked by a dense belt of trees and verdure, stretching
+towards the base of the great mountain range, of which the cloud-capped
+cone, which frowns over the capital of Shoa, forms the most conspicuous
+feature." The mission now began to exalt:--"Though still far distant, the
+ultimate destination of the embassy appeared almost to have been gained,
+and none had an idea of the length of time that must elapse before his
+foot should press the soil of Ankober." A day of intense heat was as usual
+followed by a heavy fall of rain, which, owing to the unaccommodating
+arrangement of striking the tents at sunset, thoroughly drenched the whole
+party.
+
+The new difficulty was, how to cross the Hawash, "second of the rivers of
+Abyssinia, and rising in the very heart of Ethipoia, at an elevation of
+8000 feet above the sea. It is fed by niggardly tributaries from the high
+bulwarks of Shoa and Efat, and flows, like a great artery, through the
+arid plains of the Adaiel, green and wooded throughout its long course,
+and finally absorbed in the lagoons of Aussa. The canopy of fleecy clouds,
+which, as mid-day dawned, hung thick and heavy over the lofty blue peaks
+beyond, gave sad presage of the deluge that was pouring between its
+verdant banks from the higher regions of the source."
+
+The party now descended to enjoy the real luxuries of shade and water, in
+a region where they had hitherto seen nothing but salt and lava. At first
+thinly wooded, they found the soil covered with tall rank grass, from
+which, however, the perpetual incursions of the robber tribes scare the
+flocks and herds. Deeper down, they entered among gum-bearing acacias and
+fruit-trees. "Guinea-fowl rose before them, groves of tamarisk, ringing to
+the voice of the bell-bird, flanked every open glade, and the fractured
+branches of the nobletrees gave proof of the presence of the most
+ponderous of the mammalia."
+
+Forcing their way, with some difficulty, through this jungle, they
+obtained their first near view of the river, a "deep volume of turbid
+water," covered with drift wood, and rolling, at the rate of three miles
+an hour, between clayey walls twenty-five feet in height. The breadth fell
+short of sixty yards, but the flood was not yet at its maximum. Willows,
+drooping over the stream, were festooned with recent drift, hanging many
+feet above the level of the banks; and it was evident that the waters had
+lately been out, to the overflowing of the country for many miles. The
+river, now upwards of 2200 feet above the level of the ocean forms, in
+this quarter, the nominal boundary of the kingdom of Shoa.
+
+They were now on "the spot which exhibited the forest life of Africa." In
+a lake adjoining the river, the hippopotamus "rolled his unwieldy carcass
+to the surface, and floating crocodiles, protruding his snout to blow a
+snort that might be heard at the distance of a mile." An unfortunate
+donkey, which had been partly drowned and partly strangled, was thrown out
+of the camp. No sooner had night fallen, than this prey roused the
+appetites of the whole forest, the howl and growl of wild beasts was heard
+at their banquet on the donkey throughout the night. Lightening played
+over the woods; the "violent snapping of the branches proclaimed the
+nocturnal movements of the elephant and hippopotamus;" the loud roar and
+startling snort were constantly heard; and by morning every vestige of the
+dead animal, even to the skull, had disappeared.
+
+Africa, in all its provinces, is the scene of the boldest field sports in
+the world--India and its tigers, perhaps, excepted. But Africa excels even
+India in the variety and multitude of its mighty savages--lions, elephants,
+panthers, and hippopotami; the sands, the forests, the jungles, the rivers,
+the marshes, every thing and place abounds with brute life, on the largest,
+the boldest, and the fiercest scale. Africa, with the human race on the
+lowest grade, has the brute on the highest, and its true name is the great
+kingdom of savage nature.
+
+A two-ounce ball had been lodged in the forehead of hippopotamus on the
+evening of reaching the Hawash; but the animal having dived, the natives,
+in some jealousy of the skill of the British rifle, declared that it had
+not been mortally struck. The next dawn, however, decided the question,
+for the "freckled pink sides of a dead hippopotamus were to be seen high
+above the surface, as the distended carcass floated like a monstrous buoy
+at anchor." Hawsers were carried out with all diligence, and the "colossus"
+was towed ashore amidst the acclamations of the whole caravan. Then came a
+native scene. A tribe of savages, who had waited, squatting, to see the
+arrival of the monster, threw aside their bows and arrows, and, stripping
+its thick hide from the ribs, attacked it with the vigour of an African
+horde. Donkeys and women were laden with incredible despatch, and,
+"staggering under huge flaps of meat," the savages went their way.
+
+The soil now became swampy, yet only the more filled with animal existence.
+LE ADO, (the White Water,) a lake which they skirted, of two miles'
+diameter, was the haunt of countless wild-fowl, geese, mallards, teal,
+herons, flamingoes. A party of Bedouin women deposed to having seen
+another "party" of elephants taking a bath in the spot half an hour before,
+and the prints of their huge feet in the moist sands corroborated the
+testimony. Hideously withered women followed the march of the mission,
+carrying curds, and covered over with marsh-flies. Above, vast flights of
+locusts, which had stripped the coast, were pouring in towards Abyssinia.
+"They quite darkened the air" where the caravan halted; and above them
+again were a host of adjutant birds, sometimes bursting down through the
+mass, and then stooping to the ground, and stalking along to devour the
+killed and wounded. This is the land, too, of the hurricane. Nature is
+queen or tyrant here; the thunder tears the sensorium; the lightning burns
+out the eyes; the rain is a cataract; the hall is a continued volley of
+ice; the clouds stoop to earth, and bury the daylight like a shroud; the
+rivers become torrents; the dry plain becomes first a swamp, and then a
+sea. Tents and tarpaulins are useless to keep out the deluge from above,
+or are beaten down by its weight on the heads of the unfortunates who
+trust to them for shelter, until at length the caravan, stripped of all
+covering, has no resource but to bide the pelting of the pitiless storm,
+and, shivering and shelterless, wait until the hurricane has howled itself
+away.
+
+At length they reached the city of Furri, loaded, for the thirty-fifth
+time, with the baggage of the British embassy. The caravan, escorted by a
+detachment of three hundred matchlock men, with flutes playing, and
+muskets echoing, and the heads of the warriors decorated with white plumes,
+on the 16th July entered the frontier town of the kingdom of Efat.
+Clusters of conical-roofed houses, covering the sides of twin hills, here
+presented the first permanent habitations that had greeted the eye since
+leaving the sea-coast--rude and ungainly, but right welcome signs of
+transition from depopulated waste to the abodes of man. The African seems
+a robber by nature, and the sight of the bales and boxes excited the
+national propensity in a most violent degree. Even the royal ministers and
+courtiers seem to have felt a passion for looking into those prohibited
+treasures, which evidently tempted their virtue in a most perilous degree.
+Meanwhile a special messenger arrived, bearing reiterated compliments from
+the Negoos, (king,) with a horse and a mule from the royal stud, attired
+in the peculiar trappings which belong to majesty. Those animals awoke all
+the loyal curiosity of the people. At the sight women and girls, enveloped
+in blood-red shifts, who had thronged to stare at the strangers, burst
+into a scream of acclamation. A group of hooded widows thrust their
+fingers into their ears and joined in the clamour. The escort and
+camel-drivers placed no bounds to their hilarity. A fat ox, that had been
+promised, was turned loose among the spectators, pursued by fifty savages
+with their gleaming _creeses_, and hamstrung by a dexterous blow, which
+threw it bellowing to the earth in the height of its mad career, and
+tribes of lean curs commenced an indiscriminate engagement over the
+garbage.
+
+The neighbouring nations look upon the population of this province with
+great contempt. They say that their tongues are long for lying, their arms
+are long for stealing, and their legs are long for running away.
+
+The mission now approached another region, perhaps the finest in Africa.
+Every change in the climate and soil in Africa is in extremes, and
+barreness and unbounded fertility lie side by side.
+
+  "As if by the touch of the magician's wand, the scene now passes, in
+  an instant, from parched wastes to the geen, and lovely islands of
+  Abyssinia, presenting one scene of rich and thriving cultivation. The
+  baggage having at length been consigned to the shoulders of six
+  hundred grumbling Moslem porters--for here the camel, from the
+  steepness of the hills, was useless--and forming a line, which
+  extended upwards of a mile, the embassy, on the morning of the 17th,
+  comnenced the ascent of the Abyssinian Alps; the flutes again played,
+  the wild warriors of the escort again chanted their songs. It was a
+  cool and lovely morning, and an invigorating breeze played over the
+  mountains' side, on which, now less than ten degrees from the equator,
+  flourished the vegetation of northern climes. The rough and stony
+  road wound on, by a steep ascent, over hill and dale, now skirting
+  some precipitous ascent, now dipping into the basin of some verdant
+  hollow, where it suddenly emerged into a succession of shady lanes,
+  bounded by flowering hedgerows."
+
+All this is so like England, and so unlike Africa, that we should suspect
+the major's memory to have been as active at least as his observation. But
+the work contains so much internal evidence of accuracy, independently of
+the confidence attached to the character of the intelligent writer himself,
+that we must believe the heart of Ethiopa to possess secnes that would be
+worthy of the heart of our own fresh and flower-bearing island. The scene
+which follows is quite Arcadian.
+
+  "The wild rose, the fern, the lantana, and the honeysuckle, smiled
+  round a succession of highly cultivated terraces, and on every
+  eminence, stood a cluster of conically thatched houses, environed by
+  green hedges, and partially embowered amid dark trees As the troop
+  passed on, the peasant abandoned his occupation to gaze at the novel
+  procession; while merry groups of hooded women, decked in scarlet and
+  crimson left their avocations in the hut to welcome the king's guests
+  with a shrill _ziroleet_, which ran from every hand. Birds warbled
+  among the groves. At various turns of the road the prospect was
+  rugged, wild, and beautiful. The first Christian village was soon
+  revealed on the summit of a height. Three principal ranges of hills
+  were next crossed in succession. Lastly, the view opened upon the
+  wooded site of Ankober occupying a central position in a horseshoe
+  crescent of mountains, still high above which enclose a magnificent
+  amphitheatre of ten miles in diameter. This is clothed throughout
+  with a splendid vigorous, and varied vegetation."
+
+The embassy now halted, waiting for permission to enter the capital, and
+taking up their quarters in a town three thousand feet above Furri, on the
+frontier. The escort of the troop fired a salute on entering, and, as they
+marched along, performed the war dance. A veteran capered before the ranks
+with a drawn sword between his teeth, and the martial song was chorused by
+three hundred Christian throats. The prospect from this elevated point
+naturally struck the travellers with astonishment and admiration. The site
+of the town is only one of the thousand cones into which the mountain side
+is broken as it approaches the plain. The prospect over the plain was
+boundless, and countless villages met the eye upon the mountain slope.
+Wherever the plough could go, all was cultivated. Wheat, barley, Indian
+corn, beans, peas, cotton, and oil plant, throve luxuriantly round every
+hamlet. The regularly marked fields mounted in terraces to the height of
+three or four thousand feet, becoming, in their boundaries, more and more
+indistinct, until totally lost in the shadowy green side of Mamrat (the
+Mother of Grace.)
+
+This mountain is a wonder, shrouded in clouds whilst all was sunshine
+below. It is clothed with a dense forest, and ascends to an elevation of
+13,000 feet above the sea. Here are collected, for security, the treasures
+of the monarch which have been amassing since the re-establishment of the
+kingdom, one hundred and fifty years since.
+
+After remaining some time in the market-place, the governor of the town
+appeared, and conducted the mission to the house of an old Moslem woman,
+where they were to lodge for the night. The names of the three daughters,
+Major Harris observes, were worthy of the days of Prince Cherry and Fair
+Star. They were Eve, Sweet Limes, and Sunbeam. The ladies vacated the
+house with great good-humour; but it was low, intolerably filthy, and
+without bedding or food. The unfortunate mission had thus to spend a night,
+probably unequaled by their sufferings in the open field. Though so near
+the equator, they felt the cold severely; rain set in with great violence,
+pouring through the roof, and entering into the threshold. A fire was
+indispensable, yet they were nearly suffocated with smoke; they were
+devoured with insects, and in this torment and fever tossed till dawn. At
+the arrival of morning they received the disappointing message, that the
+king could not yet visit his capital, but that they might either seek him
+among the mountains, or wait for him  where they were.
+
+Major Harris imputes this disappointment to the accidental opening of one
+of the boxes of presents. Royal cupidity had been so strongly excited by
+the conjectures of their contents, that the king had evidently been
+anxious, in the first instance, to hasten their delivery as much as
+possible. Gold and jewels were probably uppermost in the royal conceptions;
+but the box happening to contain only the leathern buckets belonging to
+the "galloper guns," the spectators were loud in their derision. "These,"
+they exclaimed, "are but a poor people! What is their nation compared with
+the Amhara? for behold, in this trash, specimens of the offerings brought
+from their boasted land to the footstool of the mightiest of monarchs."
+
+The rainy season was now setting in, and the situation of the embassy
+became more comfortless from day to day. Notes were written, and answers
+received from the monarch, but the royal interview was still postponed,
+partly by the artifice of the knavish governors, who kept a longing eye on
+the presents, and partly by the barbarian etiquette of showing the natives
+the scorn with which their king was entitled to treat all the nations of
+the world.
+
+The residence of the mission in this comfortless place, however, gave a
+opportunity of acquiring considerable knowledge of the habits and commerce
+of the interior. The chief traffic is in slaves, but coffee is exported
+extensively from Hurrna, and large caravans three times in the year visit
+the ports, Zeyla and Barbara, laden with ivory, ostrich feathers, ghee,
+saffrons, gums, and myrrh. In return are brought blue and white calicoes,
+Indian piece goods, Indian prints, silks, and shawls, red cotton yarn,
+silk threads, beads, frankincense, copper wire, and zinc.
+
+A fortnight rolled away painfully in this detestable place, which was
+named Alio Amba, when a summons came from the monarch in these formal
+words:--"Tarry not by day, neither stay ye by night; for the heart of the
+father longeth to see his children, and let him not be disappointed."
+
+They now ascended through a country of romantic beauty, to Machalwan, the
+place appointed for the interview. The Abyssinian in charge of the embassy,
+was now sent forward to obtain permission to fire a salute of twenty-one
+guns on the arrival of the troop at the royal residence. This request
+seemed to have alarmed his majesty in no slight degree. The most romantic
+reports of the ordnance had gone before them. It was currently believed
+that their discharge was sufficient to set fire to the ground, to shiver
+rocks, and to dismantle mountain fastnesses. Men were said to have arrived,
+with "copper legs," who served those tremendous engines; and in alarm for
+the safety of his palace, capital, and treasures, the suspicious monarch
+still peremptorily insisted on withholding the desired license, until he
+should have seen the battery "with his own eyes." It rained incessantly
+during the night which preceded the day of presentation, and until the
+morning broke; when a great volume of white mist rose from the deep
+valleys, and drifted like a scene-curtain across the summit of the giant
+Mamrat. The whole troop now began to ascend the mountain; and, as they
+approached within sight of the stockaded palace, the escort commenced to
+fire their matchlocks. The view here is described as very lovely, and
+giving some conception of European variety of vegetation, with tropical
+luxuriance. Farm-houses, rich fields, foaming cascades, and bright green
+meadows covered with flowers, met the eye on every side; and above all
+towered the great Abyssinian range, some thousand feet perpendicularly
+overhead, with its summits crested with clouds. The crowd of spectators
+was immense, and were repelled only by strokes of the bamboo. At length a
+large tent was pitched for the reception of the embassy, the floor was
+strewed with heath, myrtles, and other aromatic shrubs; and the weather
+having cleared up, "the mission, radiant with plumes and gold embroidery,
+moved on." As they reached the precincts of the palace, the artillery
+fired a salute, which equally awed and astonished the multitude, the
+discharge being followed by universal shouts in the native tongue
+of--"Wonderful English! Well done, well done!"
+
+After several further stoppages, they entered the reception hall. It was
+circular, and showy. The lofty walls glittered with a profusion of silver
+ornaments, emblazoned shields, matchlocks, and double-barreled guns.
+Persian carpets and rugs of all sizes, colours, and patterns, covered the
+floors; and crowds of governors, chiefs, and officers of the court, in
+their holiday attire, stood in a posture of respect, uncovered to the
+girdle. Two wide alcoves receded on either side, in one of which blazed a
+cheerful wood fire, engrossed by indolent cats; while in the other, on a
+flowered satin ottoman, surrounded by withered slaves and juvenile pages,
+and supported by gay velvet cushions, lay "His most Christian majesty,
+Sahela Selasse!" The Dech Agulari (state doorkeeper,) as master of the
+ceremonies, stood with a rod of green rushes to preserve the exact
+distance of approach to royalty; and as the British entered and made their
+bows, pointed them to chairs, which done, it was commanded that all should
+be covered.
+
+The monarch was not unworthy of figuring in this pomp. Forty summers, of
+which eight-and-twenty had been passed on the throne, had slightly
+furrowed his forehead, and grizzled a full bushy head of hair, arranged in
+elaborate curls. But, though wanting the left eye, "the expression of his
+manly features, open, pleasing, and commanding, did not belie the
+character for impartial justice which he had obtained far and wide; even
+the robber tribes of the low country calling him a fine balance of gold."
+
+After the delivery of the ambassadorial letters, the exhibition commenced,
+which had so long been the envy of the courtiers, and probably the
+conversation of the kingdom. The presents were displayed. A rich Brussels
+carpet, which completely covered the hall, Cashmere shawls, and
+embroidered Delhi scarfs of resplendent hues, excited universal admiration.
+The finer specimens were handed to the king. As the various presents
+succeeded, the delight increased. A group of Chinese dancing figures,
+produced bursts of merriment; and when the European escort, in full
+uniform, with the sergeant at their head, marched into the hall, paced in
+front of the throne, and performed the manual and platoon exercises, amid
+ornamented clocks chiming, and musical boxes playing "God save the Queen,"
+his majesty appeared quite entranced. "But many and bright were the smiles
+that lighted up the royal features, as three hundred muskets, with
+bayonets fixed, were piled in front of the royal footstool. A buzz of
+mingled wonder and applause arose from the crowded courtiers; and the
+monarch's satisfaction now filled to overflowing. 'God will reward you,'
+he exclaimed--'for I cannot!'"
+
+But a more serious and a more striking display was still to follow. The
+artillery were to exhibit their powers; and the crowd rushed out, and
+scattered over the hill to see its practice. A sheet was attached to the
+opposite face of the ravine, the valley rang to the roar of the guns; and
+as the white cloth flew in shreds to the wind, under a rapid discharge of
+round shot, canister, and grape, amid the crumbling of the rock, and the
+rush of falling stones, shouts of admiration rang from hill to hill. This
+eventful evening was closed by testimonies of the king's satisfaction, in
+the shape of a huge pepper pie from the royal kitchen, with his commands
+that his children might feast; and a visit from the royal confessor, a
+dwarf enveloped in robes and turbans, and armed with silver cross and
+crosier. Seating himself in a chair, he delivered a speech, which affords
+as good a specimen of court oratory as any thing that we remember; and
+also shows the powerful effect of the presents on the courtly
+sensibilities. The speech was as follows:--
+
+  "Forty years have rolled away since Asfa Woosen, on whose memory be
+  peace! grandsire to our beloved monarch, saw in a dream that the red
+  men were bringing into his kingdom, curious and beautiful commodities
+  from countries beyond the great sea. The astrologers, on being
+  commanded to give an interpretation thereof, predicted with one
+  accord, that foreigners from the land of Egypt would come into
+  Abysinia during his majesty's most illustrious reign; and that yet
+  more and wealthier would follow in that of his son, and of his son's
+  son, who should sit next upon the throne. Praise be unto God, that
+  the dream and its interpretation have now been fulfilled! Our eyes,
+  though they be old, have never beheld wonders until this day; and
+  during the reign over Shoa of seven successive kings, no such
+  miracles as these have been wrought in Ethiopia!!"
+
+The embassy were now fixed under the protection of the monarch; and they
+were invited to join in the various displays and festivals of the new year,
+which the Abyssinians begin on the 10th of September. Of these, the
+cavalry review was by far the most showy, as well as the most suited to
+the gratification of the British officers. Some parts of this display
+seemed to have been borrowed from the days of European knighthood. The
+king's master of the horse advanced at the head of his squadrons of picked
+household cavalry, "the flower of the Christian lances." Ayto Melkoo,
+their leader, was arrayed in a party-coloured vest, surmounted by a
+crimson Arab fleece, handsomely studded with silver jets. A gilt embossed
+gauntlet encircled his right arm, from the wrist to the elbow; his targe
+and horse trappings glittered with a profusion of silver crosses and
+devices, and he looked a stately and martial figure, curveting at the head
+of his well-appointed lancers.
+
+This warrior, advancing with his line, galloped up in front, and made a
+speech in the manner of old heroic times, vaunting his past prowess and
+his present loyalty, his troopers accompanying the more succcessful parts
+of his speech by striking the lance upon the targe. At the close, he threw
+his spears upon the ground, unsheathed his two-edged falchion, gave a howl,
+which was answered by a roar from his horsemen, and a discharge of
+fire-arms; and the whole made a dash, and charged across the parade.
+
+At the royal command, the British now fired a salute of twenty-one guns,
+to the great wonder and astonishment of the wild Galla and the multitude
+of spectators. Thirteen governors, (of provinces, we presume,) clothed in
+the skins of lions and leopards and covered with silver chains, cuirasses,
+and gauntlets, emblems of their gallantry in the field, next passed before
+the king, each at the head of his troop, and each making a harangue.
+Abyssinia must be a very oratorical country. Last of all, came the tall,
+martial figure of Abegoz Moreteh, chief of the tributary Galla of the
+south, at the head of his legion, three thousand in number: this "sea of
+wild horsemen" moved in advance, to the sound of kettle-drums, their arms
+and decorations flashing in the sun, and their ample white robes and long
+sable hair streaming in the breeze. At the war-hoop of their leader, "with
+the rush of a hurricane the moving forest of lances disappeared under a
+cloud of dust." From _eight to ten thousand_ cavalry were in the field;
+and the spectacle, which lasted from nine in the morning until five in the
+afternoon, was "exceedingly wild and impressive." But the most impressive
+display of all was to be supplied by the British. With fire-arms the
+people were acquainted already. The "brass galloper," though viewed with
+"wonderful respect," was still only an engine on a larger scale than those
+to which they were familiarized. But the rocket was a formidable and
+splendid novelty. Night had now thrown her mantle round the field, and, by
+the king's command, the rocket practice began; the first brilliant rush
+into the air was matter of amazement to all. When the rocket started with
+a roar from its bed, men, women, and children fell on their faces--horses
+and mules broke from their tethers--and the warriors who had any heart
+remaining shouted aloud. The Galla tribes, who witnessed the explosion,
+ascribed the phenomenon to "potent medicines," and declared, that since
+the Gyptzis (British) could, at pleasure, produce comets in the sky and
+rain fire down heaven, there was nothing for them but submission to the
+king's command.
+
+The review was followed, at some interval of time, by a more substantial
+display. Thrice in the year the king summons his rude militia for an
+inroad into some of the neighbouring lands; and, as he was particularly
+anxious to have the presence of the embassy on this occasion, and as they
+conceived it to offer the best opportunity of seeing the country, they
+accordingly accepted the invitation. As it is to be presumed that they had
+no intention of taking any personal part in this marauding expedition, we
+are not disposed to criticise their acquiescence; otherwise there could be
+no doubt whatever, that they had no right to assist the king of Shoa in
+his foray on his neighbours, more than they would have had a right to
+assist his neighbours in their attacks upon the king of Shoa.
+
+The march was peculiar, and even pompous, in its kind. It was
+extraordinary to see it preceded by a copy of the Holy Scriptures, under a
+canopy of scarlet cloth, and borne on a mule; but, it must be owned,
+accompanied by the "Ark of the cathedral of St Michael," which works
+miracles, and is regarded as a pledge of victory. Then came the king on a
+specially caparisoned mule, surrounded by his guard of shield-bearers, and
+flanked by matchlock-men; then came forty damsels, royal cooks, painted
+with ochre, and muffled in crimson-striped robes of cotton--a troop
+rigorously guarded by attendants with long white wands. Beyond these, as
+far as the eye could penetrate the clouds of dust, every hill and valley
+teemed with horsemen, camp-followers, sumpter-mules, and men carrying
+sheaves of spears, and leading caparisoned horses, all mixed in the most
+picturesque confusion. After a march of fifteen miles, the female cooks
+halted, like a flight of flamingoes, in a pretty, secluded valley. It was
+evident that the day's march was now at an end, and the army halted to
+bivouac for the night. In the centre of this straggling camp, which could
+not be less than five miles in diameter, was raised a suite of royal tents,
+consisting of a gay party-coloured marquee of Turkish manufacture,
+surrounded by twelve ample awnings of black serge, over which floated five
+crimson pennons, surmounted respectively by silver globes. There was
+something of African, or perhaps European, pomp in this proceeding. Until
+the royal tents were enclosed from the vulgar eye, the Negoos, ascending
+an adjacent eminence with his chiefs and an escort of picked warriors,
+remained seated on cushioned _alga_, and under the crimson canopy of the
+state umbrella.
+
+When night fell, rockets were fired by the royal command, "to instil
+terror into the breasts of the Galla hordes;" and the peak which ran near
+the headquarters, was chosen as the most central spot for the display. The
+effect, brilliant every where, was here all that even Majesty could have
+desired. The "fire-rainers" (the picturesqe name which, we presune, Major
+Harris has adopted from the natives) produced delight, wonder, and terror,
+in all their degrees; and if the Galla nation were present, they must, to
+a man, have solicited chains, rather than be roasted alive by those flying
+monsters, which the people seem to have taken for the works of magic, if
+not magicians themselves. The display was followed by a repast in the old
+heroic style, and which will not be forgotten, should Abyssinia ever give
+the world a sable Homer.
+
+  "The chiefs and nobles sat down to their feast in the royal pavilion,
+  where hydromel, beer, and _raw_ flesh were in regal profusion!! After
+  supper, speeches were made in the Homeric style, boasting of what the
+  warriors had done, and intended to do. A fragment of one of the
+  speeches; addressed to the English as the party broke up, gives a
+  fair idea of Abyssinian table eloquence, 'You are the adorners,' (the
+  orator had been decorated with a scarlet cloak;) 'you have given me
+  scarlet broadcloth, and behold I have reserved the gift for this day.
+  This garment will bring me success; for the Pagan who sees a crimson
+  cloak on the shoulders of the Amhara,' (Abyssinian,) 'believing him
+  to be a warrior of distinguished valour, will take, like an ass, to
+  his heels, and be speared without the smallest danger.'"
+
+The march, and the foray into the country of one of the Galla tribes, are
+admirably told, and perhaps are among the best descriptions in the
+volumes--exact without being tedious, and deeply coloured without
+exaggeration. But we must hasten to other things. This was the monarch's
+eighty-fourth foray; and on this we may conceive something of the horrors
+of barbarian life, and of the tremendous evils which nations have escaped
+whose laws and principles tame down the original evil of man.
+
+We are glad to find that the embassy refused to take any share in this
+horrible work, though they fell into some disrepute with the troops, and
+even with the monarch, for their remissness. The king had even reserved an
+unlucky Galla in a tree, to be shot by his guests. But this they declined,
+first, on the pretext of its being the Sabbath, and next, more distinctly
+on the ground, that--"no public body was authorized by the law of nations,
+to draw a sword offensively in any country not at war with its own." They
+then offered the compromise, "that an elephant was esteemed equivalent to
+forty Gallas, and a wild buffalo to five, and that they were ready to
+shoot as many of both as his Majesty pleased." But the embassy did more
+effectual things; the sick and wounded received relief from them to the
+extent of their means, and they even prevailed on the king to liberate all
+his prisoners. The troops in the foray amounted to about 20,000.
+
+On the return of this destroying expedition, which seems to have turned a
+very fine country into a desert, the king made a kind of triumphal entry
+into his capital. His costume was splendidly savage. A lion's skin over
+his shoulders, richly ornamented, and half concealing beneath its folds an
+embroidered green mantle of Indian manufacture; on his right shoulder were
+three chains of gold, as emblems of the Holy Trinity,(!) and the
+fresh-plucked bough of asparagus, which denoted his recent exploit, rose
+from the centre of an embossed coronet of silver on his brow. His dappled
+war-horse, in housings of blue and yellow, was led beside him; and in
+front his "champion" rode a coal-black charger, bearing the royal shield
+of massive silver, with the cross upon it, and dressed in a panther's hide.
+The two chief officers of his army rode either side of the crimson
+umbrella; at the palace gates, a deputation of priests in white robes
+received the conqueror with a benediction and a volley of musketry
+announced his arrival. The leader of the royal matchlock-men performed a
+war dance before the Ark as it was borne along, and in the inner court the
+principal warriors, each carring some human fragment on his lance, flung
+then on the ground before the royal footstool, and shouted their war
+praise.
+
+The embassy at length attained personal distinction by the death of an
+elephant, which one of the party brought to the ground by a two-ounce ball.
+The "warriors" were all in astonishment at this feat, to which all had
+predicted the most disastrous termiration; and "Boroo, the brave chief of
+the Soopa," exclaimed in his delight, "The world was made for you, and no
+one else has any business in it!"
+
+The chief object of the embassy was still to be accomplished--the
+formation of something that approached to a treaty of commerce. Beads,
+cutlery, and trinkets, had been received from the coast; but the beggary
+of the nobles for those things was perpetual and intolerable. They called
+those ornanents pleasing things, and the cry was constant, "show me
+pleasing things," "give me delighting things," "adorn me from head to
+foot." It is scarcely surprising that the natives should be enamoured of
+European conmodities; for, though an old commerce had subsisted with
+Arabia, the supplies brought by the English were of the most exciting kind.
+Detonating caps were in great request; treble strong canister powder was
+also much in demand. Yet there was some ingenuity amongst themselves; for
+a young fellow was taken up for making dollars of pewter. Every spot and
+letter had been closely represented with punch and file. "Tell me," said
+the king, on the case of this culprit being mentioned to him, "how is that
+machine made which in your country pours out the silver crowns like a
+shower of rain?" The hand corn-mills, presented by the British Government,
+had been erected within the palace walls, and slaves were turning the
+wheels with unceasing diligence. "Demetrius, the Armenian, made a machine
+to grind corn," exclaimed his majesty in a transport of delight, as the
+flour streamed upon the floor; "and though it cost the people a year of
+hard labour to construct, it was useless when finished, because the priest
+declared it to be the devil's work, and cursed the bread. But, may the
+Sahela Selasse die--these engines are the work of clever hands."
+
+The monarch, elated with his knowledge, now determined to build a bridge,
+which in three days was completed; and, as was predicted by the quiet
+English spectators, in three hours fell down on the very first fresh
+produced by the annual rains.
+
+Weaving excepted, the people manufactured nothing; but British commerce
+has long been known, though evidently of the coarsest kind. At length, on
+his majesty's being told that five thousand looms would bring him more
+wealth than ten thousand soldiers, he gradually consented to form a
+commercial treaty. The crown had hitherto appropriated the property of
+strangers dying in the country. The purchase or display of costly goods by
+the subject had been interdicted, and a maxim exhibiting the whole
+jealousy of savage life had been established, that the stranger who once
+entered was never to depart from Abyssinia. By the articles of the
+commercial treaty, all those barbarous prohibitions have been abolished.
+
+As the monarch returned the deed, he made a short speech sufficiently able
+and appropriate: "You have loaded me with costly presents, the rainment
+that I  wear, the throne on which I sit, the curiosities in my
+store-houses, and the muskets which hang round my great hall--all are from
+your country. What have I to give in return for such wealth? My kingdom is
+as nothing."
+
+The hereditary provinces at this day subject to the King of Shoa, are
+comprised in a rectangular domain of 150 by 90 miles; an area traversed by
+five systems of mountains, of which the culminating point divides the
+basin of the Nile from that of the Hawash. The Christian population of
+Shoa and Efat are estimated at a million; and the Moslem and Pagan
+population at a million and a half. The royal revenues are said to amount
+to 80,000 or 90,000 German crowns, arising chiefly from import duties in
+slaves, merchandise, and salt. As the annual expenses of the state do not
+exceed 10,000 dollars; it is presumed that the king, during his thirty
+years' reign, has amassed much treasure, which is regularly deposited
+under ground.
+
+We recommend the enquirers into the truth of Herodotus, to examine the
+curious illustrations stated in these volumes; and, among the rest, the
+kingdom of pigmies. The geographer will find ample interest in tracing the
+course of the Gochob, a sort of central Nile; and the naturalist, botanist,
+and entomologist, will find abundant information in the very interesting
+and complete appendices on those subjects. The history of the Christian
+missions of early ages is an excellent chapter, and the general statistics
+of religion.
+
+The practical religion of the Abyssinian Christian is of the very lowest
+degree of formality. Fasts, penances, and excommunications, form the chief
+discipline; but the penitent can always provide a substitute for the two
+former, and the latter is always to be averted by money. Spiritual
+offences, however, are rare; for murder and sacrilege alone give umbrage
+to the easy conscience of the natives of Shoa. Abstinence and largesses of
+money are equivalent to wiping away every sin. Their creed advises the
+invocation of saints, confession to the priest, and faith in charms and
+amulets. Prayers for the dead, and absolution, are indispensable; and, as
+a more summary mode of relieving the burdens of the flesh, it is
+pronounced, that all sins are forgiven from the moment that the kiss of
+the pilgrim is imprinted on the stones of Jerusalem, and that even kissing
+the hand of a priest purifies the body from all sin. A creed of this order,
+which makes spiritual safety dependent, not upon personal purification of
+mind and divine mercy, but upon forms which are unconnected with either,
+and which even can be executed by a substitute, of course excludes the
+necessity for morals of any kind. All is corruption--"Born amid falsehood
+and deceit, cradled in bloodshed, and nursed in the arms of idleness and
+debauchery, the national character almost defies the missionary."
+
+There are some strange remnants of Judaism still lingering amongst the
+tribes of these highland regions. The Galla have a tradition, that their
+whole nation will one day be called on to march, _en masse_, and reconquer
+Palestine for the return of the Jews. The king of Shoa regards himself as
+a direct descendant of the house of Solomon, calls himself king of Israel,
+and the national standard bears the motto, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah
+hath prevailed." They believe the 45th Psalm to be a prophecy of Queen
+Magueda's visit to Jerusalem; whither she was attended by a daughter of
+Hiram, king of Tyre. The Jewish prohibitions against the flesh of unclean
+animals, are observed by the Abyssinians. The sinew which shrank, and the
+eating of which was prohibited to the Israelite, is also prohibited in
+Shoa. The Jewish Sabbath is strictly observed. The Abyssinians are said,
+by Ludolf, to be the greatest fasters in the world. The Wednesdays and
+Fridays are fasts; the forty days before Easter are rigidly observed as a
+fast; and from the Thursday preceding Easter till the Sunday, no morsel of
+meat is to enter the lips, and the prohibition against drink is equally
+rigorous. St Michael and the Virgin Mary are venerated in the highest
+degree; St Michael as the leader of the hosts of heaven, and the latter as
+the chief of all saints, and queen of heaven and earth, and both as the
+great intercessors of mankind.
+
+Like the Jews of old, the Abyssinians weep and lament on all occasions of
+death; and the shriek ascends to the sky, as if the soul could be recalled
+from the world of spirits. As with the Jews, the most inferior garments
+are employed as the weeds of woe; and the skin torn from the temples, and
+scarified on the cheeks and breast, proclaims the last extremity of grief.
+As the Rabbins believe that angels were the governors of all sublunary
+things, the Abyssinians adopt this belief: carrying it even further, they
+confidently implore their assistance in all concerns, and invoke and adore
+them in a higher degree than the Creator. The clergy enjoy the price of
+deathbed confession; and the churchyard is sternly denied to all who die
+without the rite, or whose relations refuse the fee and the funeral feast.
+Eight pieces of salt are the price of wafting a poor man's soul to the
+place of rest, and the feast for the dead places him in a state of
+happiness, according to the cost of the entertainment. For the rich, money
+procures the attendance of priests, who absolve, and pray continually day
+and night. The anniversaries of the deaths of the six kings of Shoa are
+held with great ceremony in the capital; and once every twelvemonth,
+before a splendid feast, their souls are absolved from all sin.
+
+Major Harris expresses himself ardently and eloquently on the hopes of
+commerce which might be maintained by Great Britain with this little-known
+but productive part of the world. It is notorious that gold and gold dust,
+ivory, ostrich feathers, peltries, spices, wax, and precious gums, form a
+part of the lading of every slave caravan; notwithstanding that the
+tediousness of the transport, and the penuriousness of the Indian and Arab
+merchant, offer but a small compensation for their labour. No quarter of
+the globe abounds to a greater extent in vegetable and mineral productions
+than tropical Africa; and in the populous, fertile, and salubrious
+portions lying immediately north of the equator, the very highest
+capabilities are presented for the employment of British capital. Coal has
+already been found; cotton, of a quality unrivaled in the whole world, is
+every where a weed, and might be cultivated to any extent. The coffee
+which is sold in Arabia as the produce of Mocha, is chiefly of wild
+African growth; and that species of the tea plant which is used by the
+lower orders of the Chinese, flourishes so widely, and with so little care,
+that the climate would doubtless be found well adapted for the
+higher-flavoured and more delicate species. If, at a very moderate
+calculation, a sum falling very little short of a hundred thousand pounds
+sterling, can be annually invested in European goods, to supply the wants
+of some of the poorer tribes adjacent to Abyssinia, what important results
+might not be anticipated from well-directed efforts, adopting the natural
+neans of communication in Africa?
+
+Another winter passed--a dreary time for the mission in Ankober. Torrents
+rushed down the mountains, every footpath had been converted into a stream,
+and every valley into a morass. The season was peculiarly tempestuous; the
+heavy white clouds constantly hung on the mountain pinnacles, and the
+torrents swelled the Hawash to such an extent, that the land for many
+miles on both sides was inundated. There must have been some difficulty in
+spending the time of this solitary confinement among the hills; but the
+author was well employed in writing his volumes, and engineers were
+employed in erecting a Gothic hall, to the great delight of his Abyssinian
+majesty. He would allow them to do every thing except paint his
+portrait--the national idea being, that whoever takes a likeness,
+immediately becomes invested with power over the original. "You are
+writing a book," he said. "I know this, because I never enquire what you
+are doing that they do not tell me you are using a pen, or gazing at the
+heavens. That is a good thing, and it pleases me. You will speak
+favourably of myself; but you shall not insert my portrait, as you have
+done that of the King of Zingero."
+
+The English had new wonders for him; they shaped planks out of trees in a
+fashion new to the Abyssinians, who waste a tree on every plank. "You
+English are indeed a strange people," said the king, as he saw the first
+plank formed in this economical style. "I do not understand your stories
+of the roads dug under rivers, nor of the carriages that gallop without
+horses; but you are a strong people, and employ wonderful inventions."
+
+At length the Gothic hall was complete. It may be presumed that nothing
+like it was ever seen in Abyssinia before; for the mission not merely
+built, but furnished it with couches, ottomans, chairs, tables, and
+curtains; doubtless a very showy affair, though we camot exactly
+comprehend the author's expression of its being furnished after the manner
+of an English cottage ornee. The king, however, was delighted with it. "I
+shall turn it into a chapel," said his majesty, patting his chief
+ecclesiastic on the back. "What say you to that plan, my father?"  As a
+last finishing touch, were suspended in the centre hall a series of large
+coloured engravings, representing the chase of the tiger in all its
+various phases. The domestication of the elephant, and its employment in
+war or in the pageant, had ever proved a stumbling block to the king; but
+the appearance of the hugest of beasts in his hunting harness struck the
+chord of a new idea. "I will have a nunber caught on the Roby," he
+exclaimed, "that you may tame then, and that I too may ride on an elephant
+before I die!"
+
+Another of those fearful displays of barbarian plunder and havoc took
+place at the end of September. Twenty thousand warriors, headed by the
+king, made an inroad on the Galla. Those unfortunate people were so little
+prepared, that they seem to have been slaughtered without resistance.
+Between four and five thousand were butchered, and forty-three thousand
+head of cattle were driven off. A thousand captives, chiefly women and
+children, were marched in triumph to the capital; but they were soon
+liberated, apparently on the remonstrance of the British mission.
+
+But a terrible disaster was to befall the palace and the people. The
+dweller amongst mountains must be always exposed to their dilapidation;
+and a season of unusual rain, continuing to a much later period than usual,
+produced an earth-avalanche.
+
+  "As the evening of an eventful night (Dec. 6th) closed in, not a
+  single breath of wind disturbed the thick fog which brooded over the
+  mountain. A sensible difference was perceptible in the atmosphere;
+  but the rain again began to descend, and for hours pelted like the
+  dischage of a waterspout. Towards morning, a violent thunder storm
+  careered along the crest of the range, and every rock and cranny
+  re-echoed from the crash of the thunder. Deep darkness again settled
+  on the mountains, and a heavy rumbling noise, like the passage of
+  artillery wheels, as followed by the shrill cry of despair. The earth,
+  saturated with moisture, had slidden from their steep slopes, houses
+  and cottages were engulfed in the debris, or shattered to fragments
+  by the descending masses, and daylight presented a strange scene of
+  ruin. Perched on the apex of the conical peak, the palace buildings
+  were now stripped of their palisades, or overwhelmed: the roads along
+  the hill were completely obliterated. The desolation had spread for
+  miles along the great range: houses, with their inmates, had been
+  hurried away."
+
+Before the mission took its departure, it did honour to the character of
+its country by one act which alone would have been worth its time and
+trouble. The horrid policy of African despotism condemns all the brothers
+of the throne to the dungeon, from the moment of the royal accession. The
+king had exhibited qualities of a very unexpected order in an African
+despot, and, under the guidance of the mission, had made some advances to
+justice, and even to clemency. At this period, he was suddenly seized with
+an alarming spasmodic disorder, and he apprehended that his constitution,
+enfeebled by the habits of his life, was likely to give way. On his
+recovery being despaired of by both priests and physicians, he suddenly
+sent for the British mission.
+
+  "'My children,' said his majesty in a sepulchral voice, as he
+  extended his burning hand towards them, 'behold I am sore stricken.
+  Last night they believed me dead, and the voice of mourning had
+  arisen within the palace walls; but God hath spared me until now.'"
+
+It seems to be the custom for the king's physician to taste the draught
+prescribed for him, and an attenpt being made to do this by the British,
+the sick monarch generously forbade it.
+
+  "'What need is there now of this?' he exclaimed reproachfully. 'Do I
+  not know that you would administer to Sahela Selasse nothing that
+  could do him mischief?'"
+
+The reader will probably remember an almost similar act of confidence of
+Alexander the Great in his physician. An opportunity was now taken of
+urging him to an act of humanity, however strongly opposed to the habits
+of the country, and to the interests of the man. It was represented to him
+that his uncles and brothers had been immured in a dungeon during the
+thirty years of his reign, and that no act could be more honourable to
+himself, or acceptable to Heaven, than the extinction of this barbarous
+custom.
+
+  "'And I will release them,' returned the monarch, after a moment's
+  debate within himself. 'By the Holy Eucharist I swear, and by the
+  Church of the Holy Trinity in Koora Gadel, that if Sahela Selasse
+  arise from this bed of sickness, all of whom you speak shall be
+  restored to the enjoyment of liberty.'"
+
+Fortunately he did arise from that bed of sickness, and he honourably
+determined to keep his promise. The royal captives were seven, and the
+British mission were summoned to see their introduction into the presence.
+They had been so exhausted by long captivity, that at first they seemed
+scarcely to comprehend freedom. They had been manacled, and spent their
+time in the fabrication of harps and combs, of which they brought
+specimens to lay at the feet of their monarch. This touching interview
+concluded with a speech of the king to the embassy--
+
+  "'My children, you will write all that you have seen to your country,
+  and will say to the British Queen, that, though far behind the
+  nations of the White Men, from whom Ethiopia first received her
+  religion, there yet remains a spark of Christian love in the breast
+  of the King of Shoa.'"
+
+We have thus given a rapid and bird's-eye view of a work, which we regard
+as rivaling in interest and importance any "book of travels" of this
+century.  The name of Abyssinia was scarcely more than a recollection,
+connected with the adventurous ramblings of Bruce, for the romantic
+purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. His narrative had also been
+wholly profitless--attracting public curiosity in a remarkable degree at
+he time, no direct foundation of European intercourse was laid, and no
+movement of European traffic followed. But giving Bruce all the credit,
+which was so long denied him, for fidelity to fact, and for the spirit of
+bold adventure which he exhibited in penetrating a land of violence and
+barbarism, the mission of Major Harris at once establishes its object on
+more substantial grounds. It is not a private adventure, but a public act,
+rendered natural by the circumstances of British neighbourhood, and
+important for the opening of Abyssinia and central Africa to the greatest
+civilizer which the world has ever seen--the commerce of England. There
+are still obvious difficulties of transit, between the coast and the
+capital, by the ordinary route. But if the navigation of the Gochob, or
+the route from Tajura, should once be secured, the trade will have
+commenced, which in the course of a few years will change the face of
+Abyssinia; limit, if not extinguish, that disgrace of human nature--the
+slave trade; and, if not reform, at least enlighten, the clouded
+Christianity of the people.
+
+As the author was commissioned, not merely as a discoverer, but a
+diplomatist, it is to be presumed that on many interesting points he
+writes under the restraints of diplomatic reserve. But he has told us
+enough to excite our strong interest in the beauty, the fertility, and the
+capabilities of the country which he describes; and more than enough to
+show, that it is almost a British duty to give the aid of our science, our
+inventions, and our principles, to a monarch and a people evidently
+prepared for rising in the scale of nations.
+
+We have a kind of impression, that some general improvement is about to
+take place in the more neglected portions of the world, and that England
+is honoured to be the chief agent in the great work. Africa, which has
+been under a _ban_ for so many thousand years, may be on the eve of relief
+from the misery, lawlessness, and impurity of barbarism; and we are
+strongly inclined to look upon this establishment of British feeling, and
+intercourse in Abyssinia, as the commencement of that proud and fortunate
+change. All attempts to enter Africa by the western coast have failed. The
+heat, the swamps, the rank vegetation, and the unhealthy atmosphere, have
+proved insurmountable barriers. The north is fenced by a line of burning
+wilderness. But the east is open, free, fertile, and beautiful. A British
+factory in Abyssinia would be not merely a source of infinite comfort to
+the people, by the communication of European conveniences and manufactures,
+but a source of light. British example would teach obedience and loyalty
+to the laws, subordination on the part of the people, and mercy on that of
+the sovereign.
+
+But we have also another object, sufficiently important to determine our
+Government in looking to the increase of our connexion with Eastern Africa.
+It is certainly a minor one, but one which no rational Government can
+undervalue. The policy of the present French King is directed eminently to
+the extension of commercial influence in all countries. To this policy,
+none can make objection. It is the duty of a monarch to develop all the
+resources of his country; and while France exerts herself only in the
+rivalry of peace, her advance is an advance of all nations. But her
+extreme attention, of late years, to Africa, ought to open our eyes to the
+necessity of exertion in that boundless quarter. On the western coast, she
+had long fixed a lazy grasp; but that grasp is now becoming vigorous, and
+extending hour by hour. Her flag flies at Golam, 250 miles up the Senegal.
+She has a settlement at Gori; she has lately established a settlement at
+the mouth of the Assinee, another at the mouth of the Gaboon, and is on
+the point of establishing another in the Bight of Benin; when she will
+command all Western Africa.
+
+She is not less active on the eastern shore. At Massawah, on the coast of
+Abyssinia, she is fast monopolizing the trade in gold and spices. She has
+purchased Edh, and is endeavouring to purchase Brava. Her attention to
+_Northern_ Abyssinia is matter of notoriety, and we must regard this
+system, not so much with regard to advantages which such possessions might
+give to ourselves, as to their prejudice to us in falling into rival hands.
+The possession of Algeria should direct the eye of Europe to the ulterior
+objects of France; the first change of masters in Egypt, must be looked to
+with national anxiety; and the transmission of the great routes of Africa
+into her hands, must be guarded against with a vigilance worthy of the
+interests of England and Europe.
+
+If the river shall be found navigable to any extent, what an opening is
+thus presented to both the Merchant and the philanthropist; a soil
+surpassed by none in the world, a climate varying only 1º in the mean
+temperature of summer and winter, and presenting an average of 55-1/2º,
+and a population who could hardly fail to feel the advantages of commerce
+and civilization. From such a point as Aden offers, access is promised to
+the very heart of Africa, and thence to the sources of the mighty rivers
+which find an outlet on the western side of the continent; thus not merely
+benefiting the British merchant in a remarkable degree, but rapidly
+abolishing the slave trade, by giving employment to the people, wealth to
+the native trader, and a new direction to the powers of the country and
+the mind of its unhappy population.
+
+On the whole consideration of the subject, we feel convinced, that Eastern
+Africa is the safe and the natural point for British enterprise; that it
+is the most direct and effective point for the extinction of the cruel
+traffic in human flesh; and that it is the most promising and productive
+point for the establishment of that substantial connexion with the
+governments of the interior, which alone can be regarded as worth the
+attention of the statesman.
+
+Insignificant stations on the coast, to carry on a peddling traffic, are
+beneath a manly and comprehensive policy. We must penetrate the mountains,
+ascend the rivers, and reach the seats of sovereignty. We must, by a large
+and generous self-interest, combine the good, the knowledge, and the
+virtue of the population with our own; and we must lay the foundation of
+our permanent influence over this fourth of the globe, by showing that we
+are the fittest to communicate the benefits, and establish the example of
+civilized society.
+
+To those who desire to go into more minute details, we recommend an
+accompanying volume by the missionaries Isenberg and Krapf--the latter of
+whom acted as interpreter to the embassy. A capital geographical memoir is
+also given by Mr M'Queen, the well-known African geographer.
+
+On the whole, it is highly gratifying to our respect for British
+soldiership; to see works of this rank proceeding from our military men.
+They have great opportunities, and may thus render national services in
+peace, not less important than their enterprise in war. The East India
+Company offers inducements of the most important order, to the
+accomplishment and scientific activity of its officers; and Major Harris
+must feel the distinction of having been selected for a mission of such
+interest, as well as the high gratification of having conducted it to so
+benevolent, solid, and satisfactory a close.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES.
+
+BY LORGNON.
+
+
+      "Vai, ch'avete gl'intelletti sani,
+  Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde,
+  Sotto queste coperte, alte e profonde!"--BERNI.
+
+In the course of social transition, professions, like dogs, have their day.
+A calling honourable in one century, becomes infamous in the next; and
+vocations grow obsolete, like the fashioning of our garments or figures of
+speech. In barbarous communities, the strong man is king:--
+
+  "Le premier roi fut un soldat heureux."
+
+Where human statute is beginning to prize the general weal, the legist is
+of high account, and the priest paramount. Higher civilization engenders
+the influence of the man of letters, the artist, the dramatist, the wit,
+the poet, and the orator. Or when, with a wisdom surpassing the philosophy
+of the schools, we tumble down to prose, and assume the leathern apron of
+the utilitarian--the civil engineer, or operative chemist, starts up into
+a colossus. Sir Humphrey Davy, and Sir Isambert Brunel, are the true
+knights of modern chivalry; and Sir Walter--our Sir Walter--never showed
+himself more shrewd than in his exclamation to Moore--"Ah, Tam!--it's
+lucky, man, we cam' sae soon!" Great as was his influence, equaling that
+of the other two great Sir Walters, Manny and Raleigh, in their several
+epochs of valour and enterprise, it is likely enough, that, if born a
+century later, the MSS. of the Scotch novels would have been chiefly
+valuable to light the furnace of some factory!
+
+So much in exposition of the fact, that, so long as the world possessed
+only three of what we choose to call quarters, an executioner was an
+officer of state; and that, now it possesses five, the female of highest
+renown, and greatest power of self-enrichment, is the _danseuse_, or
+opera-dancer!
+
+Many intermediary callings have disappeared. The domestic chaplain of a
+lordly household is now nearly as superfluous as its archers or falconers;
+and the court calendars of former reigns record a variety of places and
+perquisites, which, did they still exist, would be unpalatable to modern
+courtiers, though compelled to earn their daily cakes, however dirty. Just
+as the last golden pippin of the house of Crenie was preserved in wax for
+the edification of posterity, a watchman has been deposited, with his
+staff and lantern, in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, or the Museum of the
+Zoological, or United Service Club, or some other of your grand national
+collections, as a specimen of the extinct Dogberry or Charley of the
+eighteenth century; and in process of time, as much and more also will
+probably be done to a parish beadle, a theatrical manager, a lord
+chamberlain--and other public functionaries whom it might not be
+altogether safe to enumerate.
+
+Among them, however, there is really some satisfaction in hinting at the
+hangman!--For, hear it, ye sanguinary _manes_ of our ancestors:--"_Les
+bourreaux s'en vont!_" Executioners are departing! We shall shortly have
+to commemorate in our obituaries, and signalize by the hands of our
+novelists--"the last of the Jack Ketches." In these days of
+ultra-philanthropy, the hangman scarcely finds salt to his porridge, or
+porridge to salt.
+
+_Exempli gratia_. In the course of last year, a patient of the lower class
+was admitted into the lunatic ward of the public hospital at Marseilles,
+whose malady seemed the result of religious depression. In that
+supposition, the usual means of relief were resorted to, and he was at
+length discharged as convalescent; when, to attest the perfectness of his
+cure, he went and hanged himself! A _procès verbal_ was, as usual, made
+out, and the supposed fanatic proved to be the ex-executioner of Lyons!
+Tender-hearted people instantly ascribed his melancholy to qualms of
+conscience. But it appeared in evidence, that, since the accession of the
+citizen king, the trade of the hangman had become a dead failure; and the
+disconsolate bankrupt was accordingly forced to take French leave of a
+world wherein _bourreaux_ can no longer turn an honest penny!
+
+Yet, less than three centuries ago, his predecessors were men of mark and
+consideration. Our own King Hal took more heed of his executioner than of
+half the counties over whose necks his axe was suspended; while Louis XI.,
+a _legitimate_ sovereign of France, used to dip in the dish with Tristan
+Hermite and Olivier le Dain. A few reigns later, and the hangman of the
+French metropolis (who shares with its diocesan the honour of being styled
+"Monsieur de Paris") was respected as the most accomplished in Europe. The
+treasons of its civil wars had created so many executions, that a Gascon,
+wishing to prove that his father had been beheaded as a nobleman, instead
+of hanged like a dog or a citizen, asserted the decollation to have been
+so expertly executed _en Grève_, that the sufferer was unconscious of his
+end. "Shake yourself," exclaimed the executioner; and, on his lordship's
+making the attempt, his head rolled into the dust.
+
+This adroitness was the result of competition. In that day there were
+degrees of hangmen, and promotion might be accomplished. Not only had the
+king his executioner, and the Lorraines theirs--the court and the
+city--the abbot of St Germain des Près--the abbot of this, and the abbot
+of that--but various communities and Signories, having right of life and
+death over their vassals, kept an executioner for purposes of domestic
+torture, as they kept a seneschal to carve their meats; or as people now
+keep a _chef_ or a_ maître d'hôtel_. In those excellent olden times of
+Europe, hangmen, doubtless, carried about written characters from lord to
+lord, certifying their experience with rope and axe--branding-iron and
+thong. So long as the Inquisition afforded constant work for able hands, a
+good hangman out of place must have been a treasure! Had there been
+register-offices or newspaper advertisements, there probably would have
+appeared--
+
+"WANTS A SITUATION--An able-bodied, middle-aged man, without encumbrance,
+who can have an undeniable character from his last situation, as headsman,
+hangman, and general executioner. He is accustomed to the use of
+thumbikins and the most approved and fashionable modes of torture; and
+officiated for many years as superintendent of the wheel of a foreign
+prince, renowned for the neatness of his rack. Drawing and quartering in
+all their branches. Pressing to death performed in the most economical
+style. Impalement in the Turkish manner; and the pile, as practised by the
+best Smithfield hands, &c. &c. &c."
+
+Independent, indeed, of the high prosperity and vast perquisites of such
+posts as executioner of the Tower of London or the Grève of Paris, there
+was honour and satisfaction in the office. A royal master knew when he was
+well served. Henry III. stood by, in his chateau of Blois, to see, not
+only the heads severed from the dead bodies of the Duke and Cardinal de
+Guise, but their _flesh cut into small pieces_, preparatory to being
+burned, and the ashes scattered to the winds. "His majesty," says an
+eyewitness, "stood in a pool of blood to witness the hacking of the
+bodies."
+
+This Italian _gusto_ for the smell of blood, appears to have been
+introduced into the palaces of France from those of Italy by alliance with
+the Medici--those ennobled pawnbrokers of the middle ages, whose _parvenu_
+taste engendered the fantastic gilding of the _renaissance_, which they
+naturalized in the Tuileries and at Fontainbleau, in common with the
+stiletto and acqua tofana of their poisoners, and the fatalism of their
+judicial astrology.
+
+But enough of Catharine de Medicis and her sanguinary son--enough of Henry
+Tudor and his savage daughters--enough of the monstrous professions
+flourishing in their age of monstrosities. And turn we for relief to the
+exquisite vocation completing the antithesis--the vocation whose execution
+is that of _pas de zéphyrs_, and the tortures of whose infliction are the
+tortures of the tender heart!
+
+The calling of the _danseuse_, we repeat, is among the most lucrative of
+modern times, and nearly the most influential. The names of Taglioni and
+Elssler are as European, nay, as universal, as those of Wellington and
+Talleyrand-Metternich or Thiers; and modern statesmanship and modern
+diplomacy show pale beside the Machiavelism of the _coulisses_.
+
+With what pomp of phraseology are the triumphs and movements of these
+_danseuses_ announced, by the self-same journal which despatches, with a
+stroke of the pen, the submission of a province or revolution of a kingdom!
+One poor halfpenny-worth, or half a line, suffices for the death of a
+sultana; while fiery columns precede the departure and arrival of the
+steamer honoured by conveying across the Atlantic some ethereal being,
+whose light fantastic toe is to give the law to the United States. Her
+appearance in the Ecclesiastic States, on the other hand, is announced in
+Roman capitals; and her triumphal entry into St Petersburg received with
+regiments of notes of admiration!!!
+
+Were Taglioni, by the malediction of Providence, to break her leg, what
+corner of the civilized earth but would sympathize in the casualty? Or
+were Elssler epidemically carried off, on the same day with the Pope, the
+Archbishop of Dublin, a chancellor of an university, an historiographer,
+or astronomer-royal--_which_ would be most cared for by society at large,
+or to which would the public journals distribute the larger share of their
+dolefuls?
+
+Nor is it alone the levities of Europe which have encompassed with a
+gaseous atmosphere of enthusiasm these idols of the day. We appeal to our
+sober, plodding, painstaking brother Jonathan. We move for returns of the
+sums he has expended on his beloved Fanny, and for notes of the honours
+conferred upon her, not only on the boards of his theatres and in the
+publicity of his causeways, but amid the august nationalities of his
+senate! "Fanny Elssler in Congress" has become as historical as the name
+of Washington! As if for the purpose of proving that extremes meet, the
+democrats of the New World were demonstrating the wildest infatuation in
+favour of one dancer, while the great autocrat of the Old was exhibiting a
+similar fervour in honour of another. La Gitana became all but
+presidentess of the Transatlantic republic; La Bayadère depolarized the
+tyrant of the Poles! But, above all, the Empress of Russia--albeit, the
+lightest of sovereigns and coldest of women--was carried so far by her
+enthusiasm as to fasten a bracelet of gems on the fair arm of Taglioni;
+while the Queen-Dowager of England conferred a similar honour on the
+Neapolitan dancer Cerito!
+
+Now, what queen or princess, we should like to know, has lavished necklace,
+or bracelet, or one poor pitiful brooch, on Miss Edgeworth or Miss Aitkin,
+Mrs Somerville or Joanna Baillie, or any other of the female illustrations
+of the age, saving these aerial machines which have achieved such enviable
+supremacy? Mrs Marcet, who has taught the young idea of our three kingdoms
+how to shoot; Miss Martineau, who has engrafted new ones on our oldest
+crab-stocks, might travel from Dan to Beersheba without having a fatted
+calf or a fatted capon killed for them, at the public expense. But let
+Taglioni take the road, and what clapping of hands--what gratulation--what
+curiosity--what expansion of delight!
+
+The only wonder of all this is, that we should wonder about the matter.
+Dancing constitutes that desideratum of the learned of all ages--an
+universal language. Music, which many esteem much, is nearly as
+nationalized in its rhythm as dialect in its words; whereas the organs of
+sight are cosmopolitan. The eye of man and the foot of the dancer include
+between them all nations and languages. The poetry of motion is
+interpreted by the lexicon of instinct; and the unimpregnable grace of a
+Taglioni becomes omnipotent and catholic as that of
+
+  "The statue that enchants the world!"
+
+Who can doubt that the names of these sorceresses of our time will reach
+posterity, as those of the Aspasias and Lauras of antiquity have reached
+our own--as having held philosophers by the beard, and trampled on the
+necks of the conquerors of mankind--as being those for whom Solon
+legislated, and to whom Pericles succumbed?
+
+Pausanius tells us of the stately tomb of the frail Pythonice in the Vica
+Sacra; and we know that Phryne offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, by
+Alexander overthrown. And surely, if modern guide-books instruct us to
+weep in the cemetery of Père la Chaise over the grave of Fanny Bias,
+history will say a word or two in honour of Cerito, who proposed through
+the newspapers, last season, an alliance offensive and defensive with no
+less a man than Peter Borthwick, Esq. M.P., (_Arcades ambo_!) to relieve
+the distress of the manufacturing classes of Great Britain! It is true
+such heroines can afford to be generous; for what lord chancellor or
+archbishop of modern times commands a revenue half as considerable?
+
+Why, therefore--O Public! why, we beseech thee, seeing that the influence
+of the operative class is fairly understood, and undeniably established
+among us--why not at once elevate choriography to the rank of one of the
+fine arts?--Why not concentrate, define, and qualify the calling, by a
+public academy?--since all hearts and eyes are amenable to the charm of
+exquisite dancing, why vex ourselves by the sight of what is bad, when
+better may be achieved? Be wise, O Pubic, and consider! Establish a
+professor's chair for the improvement of pirouetters. We have hundreds of
+professor's chairs, quite as unavailable to the advancement of the
+interests of humanity, and wholly unavailable to its pleasures. Neither
+painters nor musicians acquire as much popularity as dancers, or amass an
+equal fortune. Why should they be more highly protected by the state?
+
+To disdain this exquisite art, is a proof of barbarism. The nations of the
+East may cause their dances to be performed by slaves; but two of the
+greatest kings of ancient and modern times, the kings after God's own
+heart and man's own heart--David and Louis le Grand--were excellent
+dancers, the one before the ark, the other before his subjects.
+
+Never, perhaps, did the art of dancing attain such eminent honours in the
+eyes of mankind, as during the _siècle doré_ of the latter monarch. At an
+epoch boasting of Molière and Racine, Bossuet and Fénélon, Boileau and La
+Fontaine, Colbert and Perrault, (the fairy talisman of politics and
+architecture,) the court of Versailles could imagine no manifestation of
+regality more august, or more exquisite, than that of getting up a royal
+ballet; and the father of his people, Louis XIV., was, in his youth, its
+_coulon_.
+
+How amusing are the descriptions of these _entrées de ballet_,
+circumstantially bequeathed us by the memoirs of the regency of Anne of
+Austria! The cardinal himself took part in them; but the chief performers
+were the young King, his brother Gaston d'Orleans, and the maids of honour,
+figuring as Apollo and the Muses, or Hamadryads adoring some sylvan
+divinity. Who has not sympathized in the joy of Madame de Sevigné, at
+seeing her fair daughter exhibit among the _coryphées_! Who has not felt
+interested in the _jetées_ and _pas de bourrées_ of the _ancien régime_,
+when accomplished at court by Condés, Contis, Montpensiers, Montmorencys,
+Rohans, Guises! The Marquis de Dangeau first recommended himself to the
+favour of the royal master whose courts he was destined to journalize for
+posterity, by the skill of his _pas de basques_; and long before the all
+but conjugal influence of the lovely La Vallière commenced over the heart
+of the _grand monarque_, his early love, and more especially his passion
+for the beautiful niece of the Cardinal, may be traced to the rehearsals
+and _rondes de jambes_ of Maitz and Fontainbleau.
+
+The reign of Madame de Maintenon (_la raison même_) over his affections,
+declared itself by the sudden transfer of a ballet-opera, expressly
+composed by Rameau and Quinault for the beauties of the court, to the
+public theatre of the Palais Royal. No more noble figurantes at Versailles!
+Louis le Pirouettiste's occupation was gone; and the _maître des ballets
+du roi_ arrayed himself in sackcloth and ashes. But, lo! the glories of
+his throne took wing with the loves and graces; ballets and victories
+being effaced on the same page from the annals of his reign.
+
+During the minority of Louis XV., the same royal dansomania was renewed.
+The regent, Duke of Orleans, entertained the same notions of kingly
+education, on this head, as his predecessor the cardinal; and Louis _le
+Bien-aimé_, like his great-grandfather before him, was the best dancer of
+his realm. Such dancing as it was! such exquisite footing! In the upper
+story of the grand gallery at Versailles, hang several pictures
+representing these court ballets; Cupids in coatees of pink lustring, with
+silver lace and tinsel wings, wearing full-bottomed wigs and the riband of
+the St Esprit; or Venuses in hoops and powder, whose _minauderies_ might
+afford a lesson to the divinities of our own day for the benefit of the
+omnibus box.
+
+Some of these groups, by Mignard, Boucher, and their imitators, are
+charming studies as _tableaux de genre_. But in nothing, by the way, are
+they more remarkable than in their _decency_. The nudities of the present
+times appear to have been undreamed of in the philosophy of Versailles.
+That simple-hearted, though strong-minded American writer, Miss Sedgwick,
+who has published an account of her consternation as she sat with Mrs
+Jameson in the stalls of our Italian opera, might have witnessed the royal
+performance unabashed. On being told, as she gazed upon the intrepid
+self-exposure of Taglioni, "_qu'il fallait être sage pour danser comme
+ça_," Miss S. observes, that it requires to be more or less than woman,
+and proposes to divide the human species into men, women, and
+OPERA-DANCERS, little suspecting that half her readers translate such a
+classification into "men, women, and ANGELS;" or that they would see
+herself and her sister moralist go down in the _President_ without a pang,
+provided Elssler and Taglioni were saved from the deep!
+
+Natural enough! we repeat it--natural enough! To create a good dancer,
+requires the rarest combination of physical and mental endowments.
+Graceful as the forms transmitted to us by the pottery of Etruria and the
+frescoes of Herculaneum, she must unite with the strength of an athlete,
+the genius of a first-rate actress. That even moderate dancing demands
+immoderate abilities, is attested by the exhibition of human ungainliness
+disfiguring all the court balls of Europe. There may be seen the
+representatives of the highest nobility, tutored by the highest education,
+shuffling over the polished floor with stiffened arms and bewildered
+legs--often out of time--always out of place--as if acting under the
+influence of a galvanic battery. Not one in ten of them rises even to
+mediocrity as a dancer. A few degrees lower in the social scale, and it
+would be not one in twenty. Amid the shoving, shouldering, shuffling mob
+of dancers in an ordinary ball-room, the absence of all grace amounts even
+to the ludicrous. Forty years long have people been dancing the quadrilles
+now in vogue, which consist of six favourite country-dances, fashionable
+in Paris at the close of the last century, and then singly known by the
+names they still retain--"La Poule, L'Eté, Le Pantalon, Le Trenis," &c. &c.
+To avoid the monotony of dancing each in succession, for hours at a time,
+down a file of forty couple, it was arranged that every eight couple
+should form a square, and perform the favourite dances, in succession,
+with the same partner--a considerable relief to the monotony of the
+ball-room. Yet, after all this experience, if poor Monsieur le Trenis
+(after whom one of the figures was named, and who, during the consulate,
+died dancing-mad in a public lunatic asylum) could rise, sane, from the
+dead, it would be enough to drive him mad again to see how little had been
+acquired, in the way of practice, since his decease. The processes and
+varieties of the ball-room are just where he left then on his exit!
+
+Previous to the introduction of quadrilles and country dances or
+_contredanses_, the inaptitude of nine-tenths of mankind for dancing was
+still more eminently demonstrated in the murders of the minuet. For (as
+Morall, the dancing-master of Marie Antoinette, used passionately to
+exclaim)--_que de choses dans un minuet_! What worlds of modest
+dignity--of alternate amenity and scorn! The minuet has all the tender
+coquetry of the bolero, divested of its licentious fervour. With the
+minuet and the hoop, indeed, disappeared that powerful circumvallation of
+female virtue, rendering superfluous the annual publication of a dozen
+codes of ethics, addressed to the "wives of England" and their daughters.
+All was comprehended in the _pas grave_. That noble and right Aulic dance
+was expressly invented in deference to the precariousness of powdered
+heads; and its calm sobrieties, once banished from the ball-room,
+revolutionary _boulangères_ succeeded--and chaos was come again! The
+stately _pavon_ had possession of the English court, with ruffs and
+farthingales, in the reign of Elizabeth. With the Stuarts came the wild
+courante or corante--
+
+  "Hair loosely flowing, robes as free"--
+
+and if the House of Hanover, and minuets, reformed for a time the
+irregularities of St James's--what are we to expect now that waltzes,
+galops, and the eccentricities of the cotillon have possession of the
+social stage? WHAT NEXT? as the pamphlets say--"What will the lords
+do?"--what the ladies?
+
+Thus much in proof, that the boss of pirouettiveness is strangely wanting
+in human conformation, and that there is consequently all the excuse of
+ignorance for the wild enthusiasm lavished by London on the operative
+class. Ten guineas per night--five hundred for the season--is the price
+exacted for a first-rate opera-box; and as the exclusives usually arrive
+at the close of the opera, or, if earlier, keep up a perpetual babble
+during its performance, they clearly come for the dancing.--"_On voit
+l'opéra, et l'on écoute le ballet_," used to be said of the Académie de
+Musique. But it might be asserted now, with fully as much truth, of the
+Queen's Theatre, where the evolutions of Carlotta Grisi, Elssler, and
+Cerito, keep the audience in a state of breathless attention denied to
+Shakspeare.
+
+In two out of these instances, it may be advanced that they are consummate
+actresses as well as graceful and active dancers. Elssler's comedy is
+almost as piquant as that of Mademoiselle Mars. Nor is the ballet
+unsusceptible of a still higher order of histrionic display. We never
+remember to have seen a stronger _levée en masse_ of cambric handkerchiefs
+in honour of O'Neill's _Mrs Haller_, or Siddons's _Isabella_, than of the
+ballet of "Nina;" while the affecting death-dance in "Masaniello" is still
+fresh in the memory of the admirers of Pauline Leroux. We have heard of
+swoons and hysterics along the more impressionable audiences of La Scala,
+during the performance of the ballet of "La Vestale;" and have witnessed
+with admiration the striking effect of the fascinative scene in "Faust."
+
+Of late years, the union of Italian blood and a French education has been
+found indispensable to create a _danseuse_--"Sangue Napolitano in scuola
+Parigiana;"--and Vesuvius is the Olympus of all our recent divinities.
+Formerly, a Spanish origin was the most successful. The first dancer who
+possessed herself of European notoriety was La Camargo, whose portraits,
+at the close of a century, are still popular in France, where she has been
+made the heroine of several recent dramas. To her reign, succeeded that of
+the Gruinards and Duthés--in honour of whose bright eyes, a variety of
+noblemen saw the inside both of Fort St Evêque and St Pelagie; the opera
+being at that time a fertile source of _lettres de cachet_. To obtain
+admittance to the private theatricals of the former dancer, in her
+magnificent hotel in the Chaussée d'Antin, the ladies of fashion and of
+the court had recourse to the meanest artifices; while the latter has
+obtained historical renown, by having excited the jealousy, or rather envy,
+of Marie Antoinette. Mademoiselle Duthé appeared at the fêtes of
+Longchamps, in the Bois de Boulogne, in a gorgeous chariot drawn by six
+milk-white steeds, with red morocco harness, richly ornamented with cut
+steel; and thus accomplished the object of incurring the resentment of the
+court, from the prodigality of one of whose married princes these
+splendours were supposed to emanate--splendours exceeding those of the
+Rhodopes of old.
+
+But the greatest triumph ever achieved by _danseuse_, was that of
+Bigottini! The Allied sovereigns, after vanquishing the victor of modern
+Europe, were by _her_ vanquished in their turn. At her feet, fresh
+trembling from an _entre-chat_, did
+
+  "Fiery French and furious Hun"
+
+lay down their arms! The Allied armies appeared to have entered Paris only
+to become the slaves of Bigottini!
+
+In our own country, devotees of the _danseuse_ have done more, by
+promoting her to the decencies of the domestic fireside. In our own
+country, also, even Punch was once purchased by an eccentric nobleman for
+the diversion of his private life. But as Demosthenes observed of the cost
+of such a pleasure, "that is buying repentance too dear!"
+
+We are perhaps offending the gravity of certain of our readers by the
+extent of this notice; albeit, we have striven to propitiate their
+prejudices by the peculiar combination and juxtaposition of professions,
+selected for consideration. But we are not acting unadvisedly. Close its
+eyes as it may, the public cannot but perceive, that the legitimate drama
+is banished by want of encouragement from the national theatres, and that
+the ballet is brandishing her cap and bells triumphantly in its room.
+
+Such changes are never the result of accident. The supply is created by
+the demand. It is because we prefer the Sylphide to Juliet, that the
+Sylphide figures before us. Shakspeare was played to empty benches; the
+Peri and Gisele fill the houses.
+
+We repeat, therefore, since such is the bent of public appetite, let it be
+gratified in the least objectionable way. Let us have a royal academy of
+dancing. We shall easily find some Earl of Westmoreland to compose its
+ballets, and lady patronesses to give an annual ball for the benefit of
+the institution. Do not let some eighty thousand a-year be lost to the
+country. An idol is as easily carved out of one block of wood as another.
+Let us make unto ourselves goddesses out of the haberdashers' shops of
+Oxford Street; and qualify the youthful caprices of Whitechapel to command
+the homage of Congress, and of the great autocrat of all the Russias.
+Properly instructed, little Sukey Smith may still obtain an enameled
+brooch or bracelet from her Majesty the Queen-Dowager! Let us "people this
+whole isle with sylphs!" Let Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden flourish;
+but--thanks to Great Britain pirouettes!--the art of giving ten guineas
+for a couple of hours spent in an opera-box, will then become less
+criminal; and we shall have no fear of the influence of some Herodias's
+daughter in our domestic life, when we see the Cracovienne announced in
+the bills "by Miss Mary Thomson." The charm will be destroyed. The
+unfrequented _coulisses_, like Dodona, will cease to give forth oracles.
+
+Under the influence of an "establishment," we shall have to record of
+opera-dancers as of other professions, that "the goddesses are departing!"
+The _danse à roulades_ of Fanny Elssler will be voted vulgar, when
+attempted by a Buggins. Let Mr Bunn look to himself. He may yet survive
+his immortality. We foresee a day in which he will be no longer styled
+Alfred the Great. With the aid of George Robins, and other illustrious
+persons interested in the destinies of theatrical property, we do not
+despond of hearing attached to "a bill for the legalization of the Royal
+and National Academy of Dancing of the United Kingdom," the satisfactory
+decree of "LA REINE LE VEUT!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE PIRATES OF SEGNA.
+
+A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. IN TWO PARTS.
+
+PART I.
+
+CHAPTER I.--THE STUDIO.
+
+
+It was on a bright afternoon in spring, and very near the close of the
+sixteenth century, that a handsome youth, of slender form and patrician
+aspect, was seated and drawing before an easel in the studio of the aged
+cavaliere Giovanni Contarini--the last able and distinguished painter of
+the long-declining school of Titian. The studio was a spacious and lofty
+saloon, commanding a cheerful view over the grand canal. Full curtains of
+crimson damask partially shrouded the lofty windows, intercepting the
+superabundant light, and diffusing tints resembling the ruddy, soft, and
+melancholy hues of autumnal foliage; while these hues were further
+deepened by a richly carved ceiling of ebony, which, not reflecting but
+absorbing light, allayed the sunny radiance beneath, and imparted a sombre
+yet brilliant effect to the pictured walls, and glossy draperies, of the
+spacious apartment. Above the rich and lofty mantelpiece hung one of the
+last portraits of himself painted by the venerable Titian, and on the dark
+pannels around were suspended portraits of great men and lovely women by
+the gifted hands of Giorgione, Paul Veronese, Paris Bordone, and
+Tintoretto. Regardless, however, of all around him, and almost breathless
+with eagerness and impatience, the student pursued his object, and with
+rapid and vigorous strokes had half completed his sketch--totally
+unconcious the while that some one had opened the folding-doors, crossed
+the saloon, and now stood behind his chair.
+
+"But tell me, Antonello mio!" exclaimed old Contarini, after gazing awhile
+in mute astonishment at the sketch before him; "tell me, in the name of
+wonder, what kind of face do you mean to draw around that lean and
+withered nose and that horribly wrinkled mouth?"
+
+Antonio, however, was so unconcious of the "world without," that he
+started not at this sudden interruption of the previous stillness.
+Regardless, too, of the serious and indeed reproving tone of the old man's
+voice, he hastily replied without averting his gaze from the canvass.
+"Hush, maestro! I beseech you. Question me not, for Heaven's sake! I
+cannot spare a word in reply. The original," continued he, after a brief
+interval of close attention to his object, and drawing as he spoke; "the
+original is still firmly fixed in my memory. I see its sharp outlines
+clear within me, and, as you well know and oft have told me, a feature
+lost is lost for ever. Alas! alas! those lines and angles around the mouth
+are already fading into shadow."
+
+After he had thrown out these words, from time to time, like interjections,
+and with Venetian rapidity of utterance, nothing was audible in the saloon
+for some minutes but the young artist's sharp and rapid strokes upon the
+canvass.
+
+"No more of this, Antonio!" at length exclaimed the old painter with
+energy, after gazing for some time at the gradual appearance of an old
+woman's lean and winkled features, dried up and yellow as if one of the
+dead, and yet lighted up by a pair of dark deep-set eyes, which seemed to
+blaze with supernatural life and lustre. At each touch of the artist, this
+mummy-like and unearthly visage was brought out into sharper and more
+disgusting relief, when Contarini, no longer able to control his
+indignation, dashed the charcoal from his pupil's hand. "Apage, Satanas!"
+he shouted, "thy talent hath a devil in it. I see his very hoof-print in
+that horrible design."
+
+Startled by this unexpected violence, the young artist turned round, and
+beheld with amazement the usually benign featutes of his venerable teacher
+flashing upon him with irrepressible anger, which was the more impressive
+because the Cavaliere had just returned from a visit to the Doge, and was
+richly attired in the imposing patrician costume of the period. Around his
+neck was the golden chain hung there by the imperial hands of Rodolph the
+Second, and he wore the richly enameled barret, and lofty heron's plume,
+which the same picture-loving emperor had placed upon his head when he
+knighted him as a reward for the noble pictures he had painted in Germany.
+There was a true and fine air of nobility in his lofty form and
+well-marked features--a character of matured thought and intellectual
+power in the expansive brow, and in the firm gaze of his large dark eyes,
+as yet undimmed by age--with evidence of decision and self-respect, and
+habitual composure in the finely formed mouth and chin. Thus splendidly
+arrayed, and thus dignified in form, features, and expression, this
+distinguished man recalled so powerfully to the memory of his imaginative
+pupil the high-minded doges of the heroic period of Venice, and the
+imposing portraits of Titian's senators, that, with a deep sense of his
+own moral inferiority, he obeyed in silence, and with starting tears
+removed the offending sketch. Then placing before him a small picture of a
+weeping and lovely Magdalen by Contarini, which he had undertaken to copy,
+he began the sketch, patiently awaiting a voluntary explanation of this
+unwonted vehemence in his beloved teacher, who, seated in his armchair,
+leaned his head upon his hand and seemed lost in thought.
+
+And now again for some time was the deep stillness of the studio
+interrupted only by the strokes of Antonio's charcoal, which, unlike his
+rapid and feverish efforts when sketching the old woman, were now subdued
+and tranquil. As he gazed into the upraised and pleading eyes of the
+beautiful Magdalen, his excitement gradually yielded to the pacifying
+influence of her mute and eloquent sorrow. This salutary change escaped
+not the observation of Contarini, whose benevolent features softened as he
+gazed upon these tokens of a better spirit in his pupil.
+
+"I rejoice to see, Antonio," he began, "that you already feel, how ever
+imperfectly, the soothing and hallowed influence of the Beautiful in Art
+and Nature, and the peril to soul and body of delighting in imaginary
+forms of horror. If you indulge these cravings of a distempered fancy, you
+will sink to the base level of those Flemish artists who delight in
+painting witches and demons, and in all fabulous and monstrous forms. You,
+who are nobly born, devoted to poetry and fine art, and possess manifest
+power in portraiture, should aim at the Heroic in painting. Make this your
+first and steadfast purpose. Devote to it your life and soul; and, should
+the power to reach this elevation be wanting, you may still achieve the
+Beautiful, and paint lovely women in lovely attitudes. But tell me,
+Antonello!" continued he, resuming his wonted kindness, "how came that
+horrid visage across thy path, or rather across thy fancy? for surely no
+such original exists. Say, didst thou see it living, or was it the growth
+of those distempered dreams to which painters, more than other men, are
+subject?"
+
+"No, padre mio! it was no dream," eagerly answered his pupil. "Yesterday I
+went in our gondola, as is my wont on festivals, to the beautiful church
+of San Moyses, which I love for its oriental and singular architecture.
+When near the church I heard a melodious voice calling to Jacopo, my
+gondolier, the only boatman in sight, and begging a conveyance across the
+canal. Issuing from the cabin, I saw a tall figure, closely veiled,
+standing on the steps of the palace facing the church and occupied by the
+Archduke's ambassador. Approaching the steps, Jacopo placed a plank for
+the stranger; but, as she stepped out to reach it, a sudden gust caught
+her large loose mantle, which, clinging to her shape, displayed for a
+moment a form of such majestic and luxuriant fulness--such perfect and
+glorious symmetry, as no man, still less an artist, could look on unmoved.
+In trembling and indescribable impatience, I awaited the raising of her
+veil. Another gust, and a slight stumble as she bounded rather than
+stepped into the boat, befriended me; the partial shifting of her veil,
+which she hastily replaced, permitted a glimpse of her features--brief,
+indeed, but never to be forgotten. Yes, father! the face which surmounted
+that goddess-like and splendid person, was the horrid visage I have
+sketched, lean and yellow, drawn up into innumerable wrinkles, and with
+black eyes of intolerable brightness, blazing out of deep and faded
+sockets. Staggered by this unearthly contrast, I fell back upon the bench
+of the gondola, and gazed in silent horror at the stranger, who answered
+not the blunt questions of Jacopo; and, as if ashamed of her astounding
+ugliness, sat motionless and shrouded from head to foot in her capacious
+mantle. I followed her into the church; but, unable to hold out during the
+mass, I left her there and hastily returned to sketch this sublime example
+of the hideous before any of its points had faded from my memory. Forgive
+me, father, for yielding to an impulse so strong as to overwhelm all power
+of resistance. Yet why should I abandon this rare opportunity of
+displaying any skill I may have gained from so gifted a teacher? Pictures
+of Madonnas and of lovely women so abound in all our palaces, that a young
+artist can only rise above the common level by representing something
+extraordinary, something rarely or never seen in life."
+
+Contarini gazed with sorrowing and affectionate interest upon the flushed
+features of his pupil, again excited as before by his own description of
+the mysterious stranger. One less acquainted with human nature, would have
+mistaken the flashing eyes and animated features of the youthful artist
+for the sure tokens of conscious and advancing talent; but the aged
+painter, whose practised eye was not dazzled by the soft harmony of
+features which gave a character of feminine beauty to Antonio, saw in the
+excitement which failed to give a more intellectual character to his
+countenance, sad evidence of a soul too feeble and infirm of purpose to
+achieve eminence in any thing, and with growing alarm he inferred a
+predisposition to mental disease from those morbid and uncontrolled
+impulses, which delighted in portraying objects revolting to all men of
+sound and healthy feelings.
+
+He arose in evident emotion, and after pacing the studio some time in
+silence, he approached Antonio, who, yielding to his eccentric longings,
+had seized the sketch of the old woman's head, and was gazing on it with
+evident delight. "Give me the sketch, Antonio!" resumed the painter in his
+kindest tone, "'Tis finished, and the hunter cares not for the hunted
+beast when stricken. What wouldst thou with it?" "What would I, maestro?"
+exclaimed the alarmed youth, hastily removing his sketch from the extended
+hand of the painter, "Finish the subject of course, and place this
+wonderful old head upon the magnificent form to which it belongs."
+
+"But, saidst thou not, Antonio, that the poor creature in the gondola
+hastily concealed her features when accident revealed them, as if ashamed
+of her unnatural ugliness? And canst thou be so heartless as to publish to
+the world that strange deformity she is doomed to bear through life, and
+which she is evidently anxious to conceal? Wouldst thou add another pang
+to the existence of one to whom life is worse than death, and whose
+eternal veil is but a foretaste of the winding-sheet and the grave? Thou
+wilt not, canst not, my Antonio, make such unheard-of misery thy
+stepping-stone to fame and fortune." This impassioned appeal to all his
+better feelings at length reached the heart of Antonio. For a short time
+he continued to withhold the drawing; but his kindly nature triumphed.
+Tearing his sketch into fragments, he threw himself into the extended arms
+of his beloved teacher, who with deep emotion placed his trembling hand on
+the curling locks of his pupil, and implored the blessing of Heaven on his
+better feelings and purposes.
+
+With a view to improve the impression he had made, the painter led Antonio
+round the studio, and sought to fix his attention upon several portraits
+of lovely women which adorned it. "Here," said he, "are heads worthy to
+crown that striking figure in the gondola. Behold that all-surpassing
+portrait by Giorgione, of such beauty as painters and poets may dream of
+but never find, and yet not superhuman in its type. Too impassioned for an
+angel; too brilliant for a Madonna; and with too much of thought and
+character for a Venus--she is merely _woman_. Belonging to no special rank
+or class in society, and neither classical nor ideal, she personifies all
+that is most lovely in her sex; and, whether found in a palace or a
+cottage, would delight and astonish all beholders. This rarely gifted
+woman was the daughter of Palma Vecchio, and the beloved of Giorgione, one
+of the handsomest men of his time; but her sympathies were not for him,
+and he died of grief and despair in his prime. She was the favourite model
+of Titian and his school, and the type that more or less prevails in many
+celebrated pictures.
+
+"How different and yet how beautiful of its kind, is that portrait of a
+Doge's daughter, by Paris Bordone! Less dazzling and luxuriant in her
+beauty than Palma's daughter, she is in all respects intensely
+aristocratic. In complexion not rich and glowing, but of a transparent and
+pearly lustre, through which the course of each blue vein is visible. In
+shape and features not full and beautifully rounded, but somewhat taller
+and of more delicate symmetry. In look and attitude not open, frank, and
+natural; but astute, refined, courteous, and winning to a degree
+attainable only by aristocratic training and the habits of high society.
+In apparel, neither national nor picturesque, but attired with studied
+elegance. Rich rows of pearls wind through her braided hair, in colour
+gold, in texture soft as silk. A band of gold forms the girdle of her
+ruby-coloured velvet robe, which descends to the wrist, and there reveals
+the small white hand and tapering fingers of patrician beauty. All this
+may captivate the fastidious noble; but, to men less artificial in their
+tastes and habits, could such a woman be better than a statue--and could
+love, the strongest of human passions, be ever more to her than a
+short-lived and amusing pastime?
+
+"From these immortal portraits, my Antonio, you may learn that _colour_
+was the grand secret of the great Venetian painters. _Their_ pale forms
+are never white, nor their blooming cheeks rose-colour, but the true
+colour of life--mellow, rich, and glowing; both men and women strictly
+true to nature, and looking as if they could turn pale with anger or blush
+with tender passion. From these great men can best be learned how much
+charm may be conveyed by _colour_, and what life and glow, what passion,
+grace, and beauty it gives to _form_.
+
+"But I weary thee, Antonio; and after such excitement thou hast need of
+repose. To-morrow, let me see thee early."
+
+The exhausted youth gladly departed from a scene of so much trial; and,
+hastening to his gondola, sought refreshment in an excursion to the Lido.
+Returning after nightfall, he landed on the Place of St Mark's, and
+wandered through its cool arcades until they were deserted. In vain,
+however, did he strive to banish the graceful form and grisly features of
+the stranger. The strong impression he had received became so vivid and
+absorbing, that at every turn he thought he saw her gazing at him as if in
+mockery, and lighting up the deep shadows beneath the arches with her
+glowing orbs, which seemed to his disordered fancy to emit sparks and
+flashes of fire. No longer able to resist the impulse, forgetting alike
+the paternal admonitions of the old painter, and the promises so sincerely
+given, he quitted the piazza and hastened to the palace of his father, the
+Proveditore Marcello, then absent on state affairs in the Levant.
+
+Retiring to his own apartment, he fixed an easel with impetuous haste, and
+by lamp-light again began to sketch the Medusa head of the old woman.
+Yielding himself up to this new frenzy, he succeeded beyond his hopes; a
+supernatural power seemed to guide his hand, and soon after midnight he
+had drawn to the life not only the appalling head, but the commanding and
+beautiful person, of the mysterious personage in the gondola. After gazing
+awhile upon his work with triumphant delight, he retired to bed; but slept
+not until long after sunrise, and then the extraordinary incidents of the
+past day haunted his feverish dreams. A female form, youthful and of
+surpassing beauty, hovered around his couch, but ever changing in
+appearance. At first her head was invisible and veiled in mist, from which,
+at intervals, flashed features of resplendent loveliness, and eyes of
+heavenly blue, which beamed upon him with thrilling tenderness; and then
+the mist dispersed, and the beauteous phantom stooped down to kiss his
+cheek, when suddenly her blooming face darkened and withered into the
+death-like visage of that fearful stranger, and her long bright hair was
+converted into hissing sepents. Starting with a scream of horror from his
+troubled and exhausting slumbers, he again sought refuge in his gondola,
+but returned, alas! to make his sketch into a picture, which the hues of
+life made still more hideous and repulsive. After several days thus
+occupied, he sketched in various attitudes the imposing figure of the old
+woman, and endeavoured to fit this beautiful Torso with a head not
+unworthy of it. But herein, after many attempts, he failed. His excitement,
+so long indulged, had risen into fever. His diseased fancy controlled his
+pencil, and blended with features of the highest order of beauty so many
+touches of the old woman's ghastly visage, that he threw down his pencil,
+and abandoned all further efforts in despair.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE CAVERN.
+
+
+The shores of Austrian Dalmatia south of the port of Fiume, are of so
+rugged and dangerous a nature, that although broken into numerous creeks
+and bays, there are but few places where vessels, even of small dimensions,
+dare to approach them, or indeed where it is possible to effect a landing.
+A long experience of the coast, and of the adjacent labyrinth of islands
+which block up the gulf of Carnero, is necessary in order to accomplish in
+safety the navigation of the shallow rocky sea; and even when the mariner
+succeeds in setting foot on land, he not unfrequently finds his progress
+into the interior barred by precipices steep as walls, roaring torrents,
+and yawning ravines.
+
+It was on a mild evening of early spring, and a few days after the
+incidents recorded in the preceding chapter, that a group of wild-looking
+figures was assembled on the Dalmatian shore, opposite the island of
+Veglia. The sun was setting, and the beach was so overshadowed by the
+beetling summits of the high chalky cliffs, that it would have been
+difficult to discover much of the appearance of the persons in question,
+but for an occasional streak of light that shot out of a narrow ravine
+opening among the rocks in rear of the party, and lit up some dark-bearded
+visage, or flashed on the bright barrel of a long musket. High above the
+ravine, and standing out against the red stormy-looking sky behind it, the
+outline of a fortress was visible, and in the hollow beneath might be
+distinguished the small closely-built mass of houses known as the town of
+Segna.
+
+This castle, which, by natural even more than artificial defences, was
+deemed impregnable, especially on its sea face, was the stronghold of a
+handful of hardy and desperate adventurers, who, although their numbers
+never exceeded seven hundred men, had yet, for many years preceding the
+date of this narrative, made themselves a name dreaded throughout the
+whole Adriatic. The inhabitants of the innumerable Dalmatian islands, the
+subjects of the Grand Turk, the people of Ancona--all, in short, who
+inhabited the shores of the Adriatic, and were interested in its commerce,
+or in the countless merchant vessels that skimmed over its
+waters--trembled and turned pale when the name of these daring freebooters
+was mentioned in their hearing. In vain was it that the Sultan, who in his
+sublimity scarcely deigned to know the names of some of the great European
+powers, had caused his pachas to take the field with strong armaments for
+the extermination of this nest of pirates. These expeditions were
+certainly not disadvantageous to the Porte, which seized the opportunity
+of annexing to its dominions some large slices of Hungarian and Venetian
+territory; but their ostensible object remained unaccomplished, and the
+proverbial salutation of the time, "God save you from the Uzcoques!" was
+still on the lips of every one.
+
+The word "Uzcoque," by which this dreaded people was known, had grown into
+a sound of mourning and panic to the inhabitants of the shores and islands
+of the Adriatic. At the utterance of that fearful name, young girls
+crowded together like frightened doves; the child hid its terrified face
+in its mother's lap; the eyes of the matron overflowed with tears as the
+images of murdered sons and outraged daughters passed before her mind's
+eye, and, like Banquo's ghost, filled the vacant seats at the table; while
+the men gazed anxiously out, expecting to see their granaries and
+store-houses in flames. Nor were the seaman's apprehensions less lively,
+when night surprised him with some valuable cargo in the neighbourhood of
+the pirates' haunts. Every rock, each tree, and bush became an object of
+dread; the very ripple of the waves on the shingle a sound of alarm. To
+his terrified fancy, a few leafless and projecting branches assumed the
+appearance of muskets, a point of rock became the prow of one of those
+light, sharp-built boats in which the Uzcoques were wont to dart like
+seabirds upon their prey; and, invoking his patron saint, the frightened
+sailor crossed himself, and with a turn of the rudder brought his vessel
+yet nearer to the Venetian galleys that escorted the convoy.
+
+At the cry "Uzcoque" the slender active Albanian grasped his fire-lock,
+with rage and hatred expressed on his bearded countenance: the phlegmatic
+Turk sprang in unwonted haste from his carpet; his pipe and coffee were
+neglected, his women and treasures secured in the harem, while he shouted
+for the Martellossi,[3] and slipping them like dogs from a leash, sent
+them to the encounter of their foes on the devastated plains of Cardavia.
+In the despatches from Madrid, from the ministers of that monarch on whose
+dominions the sun never set, to his ambassadors, the name of these seven
+hundred outlaws occupied a frequent and prominent place. But by none were
+the Uzcoques more feared and detested than by the greyheaded doge and
+senators of the Ocean Queen, the sea-born city, before whose cathedral the
+colours of three kingdoms fluttered from their crimson flagstaffs; and the
+few young Venetians in whose breasts the remembrance of their heroic
+ancestors yet lived, blushed for their country's degradation when they
+beheld her rulers braved and insulted by a band of sea-robbers.
+
+    [3] The Turks, finding their own troops not well adapted to the
+    irregular and desperate kind of warfare waged by the Uzcoques, and
+    also unable to compete with them in the rapidity of their movements,
+    formed a corps expressly for the pursuit of the freebooters, which
+    was composed of men as wild and desperate as themselves. With these
+    _Martellossi_, as they were called, the Uzcoques had frequent and
+    sanguinary conflicts. Minucci says of the Martellossi, in his
+    _Historia degli Uscochi_, that they were "Scelerati barbari anco
+    'ordine de' medesime Scochi."
+
+To this band belonged the wild figures, whose appearance on the shore has
+been noticed, and who were busily employed in rummaging a number of sacks
+and packages which lay scattered on the ground. They pursued their
+occupation in profound silence, except when the discovery of some object
+of unusual value elicited an exclamation of delight, or a disappointment
+brought a grumbling curse to their lips. They seemed carefully to avoid
+noise, lest it should draw down upon them the observation of the castle
+that frowned above their heads, and at the embrasures and windows of which
+they cast frequent and frightened glances, although the darkness of the
+ravine, at the entrance of which they had stationed themselves, and the
+rapidly deepening twilight, rendered it almost impossible to discover them.
+
+"By the beard of the prophet, Hassan!" exclaimed in a suppressed tone a
+young Turk, who lay bound hand and foot at a short distance from the
+pirates, "why do these mangy curs keep us lying so long on the wet grass?
+Why do they not seek their kennel up yonder?"
+
+The person addressed was a little, round, oily-looking Turk, a Levant
+merchant, whose traffic had called him to one of the neighbouring islands,
+and who had been laid hold of on his passage by the Uzcoques. He was
+sitting up, being less strictly manacled than his more youthful and
+energetic-looking companion; and his comical countenance wore a most
+desponding expression, as, in reply to the question put to him, he shook
+his head slowly from side to side, at the same time gravely stroking his
+beard.
+
+"By Allah!" exclaimed the young man impatiently, as he saw the pirates
+rummaging more eagerly than ever, and now and then concealing something of
+value under their cloaks, "could not the greedy knaves wait till they got
+home before they shared the plunder? May their fathers' souls burn!"
+
+"What saith the sage Oghuz?" quoth old Hassan slowly, "'As people grow
+rich their maw widens.'"
+
+"Silence, unbelieving hound!" exclaimed a harsh voice behind him, and a
+thump between the shoulders warned the old Turk to keep his proverbs for a
+more fitting season. The pirate was about to repeat the blow, when
+suddenly his hand fell, and the curses died away upon his lips.
+
+The clouds that had hitherto veiled the setting sun had suddenly broken,
+and a broad stream of golden light poured down the ravine, flashing upon
+the roofs and gables of the town, and making the castle appear like a huge
+and magnificent lantern. The ravine was lighted up as though by
+enchantment, and the unexpected illumination caused an alarm among the
+group of pirates, not unlike that of an owl into whose gloomy
+roosting-place a torch is suddenly intruded. Terror was depicted upon
+their countenances as they gazed up at the castle. For a moment all was
+still and hushed as the grave, and the Uzcoques scarcely seemed to breathe
+as they drew their greedy hands in silent haste out of the sacks; then,
+suddenly recovering from their stupefaction, they snatched up their
+muskets and crowded into a dark cavern in the rock, which the beams of the
+setting sun had now for the first time rendered visible, without, however,
+lighting up its deep and dark recesses. In their haste and alarm, more
+than one of the freebooters had his tattered mantle caught by the thorny
+arms of some of the bushes scattered over the shore, and turned in terror,
+thinking himself in the grasp of a foe. A few only had the presence of
+mind to throw their cloaks over the varied and glittering plunder that lay
+scattered about on the ground; and strange was the contrast of the
+sparkling jewellery, the rich stuffs, and embroidered robes, strewed on
+the beach, with the mean and filthy garments that partially concealed them,
+and the wild and squalid figures of their present possessors.
+
+A number of the Uzcoques now threw themselves with brutal violence upon
+the two prisoners, muffled their heads in cloaks to prevent their crying
+out, and carried them with the speed of light into the cave, in the
+innermost recess of which they bestowed them. They then rejoined their
+companions, who were grouped together at the entrance of the cavern like a
+herd of frightened deer, and gazing anxiously up at the castle. After the
+lapse of a very few minutes, the bright glow again faded away, the
+fortress reassumed its black and frowning aspect, the roofs of Segna
+relapsed into their dull grey hue, and shadows, deeper than before,
+covered the ravine.
+
+Reviving under the influence of the darkness, so congenial to their habits
+and occupations, the Uzcoques began to recover from their alarm, and the
+murmur of voices was again heard as they seized the sacks, and hastily
+filled them with the various objects lying on the beach. Every thing being
+collected, the pirates commenced toiling their way up the steep mountain
+path leading to the castle, with the exception of a few who still lingered
+at the entrance of the cavern, and whom the prisoners could hear disputing
+about some point on which there seemed to exist much difference of opinion.
+
+"Hell and the devil!" at last exclaimed an impatient voice, in a louder
+tone than had yet been employed. "There's little chance that we have not
+been seen from the castle; for the warder would expect us back about this
+time, and doubtless was on the look-out. These Turkish hounds have seen
+every thing, and might easily betray us. Let us leave them here till
+to-morrow, till I have spoken to the warder, and arranged that they be
+sent on at once to Gradiska without coming to speech of the captain. I
+will join the escort myself to make it still surer."
+
+After some slight opposition on the part of the others, this proposal was
+adopted, and the remaining pirates took their departure. The sound of
+their footsteps along the rocky path had scarcely died away on the ears of
+the anxiously listening captives, when loud acclamations and cries of joy
+announced the arrival of the first detachment at the castle. The heavy
+gates of the fortress were opened with much din and rattle; after a short
+space they were again slammed to, the portcullis fell, and then no further
+sound broke the deep silence that reigned in the ravine.
+
+The collection of the plunder, the discussion among the pirates, and their
+departure, had passed so rapidly, that the young Turk had scarcely had
+time to recover from the giddy, half-stunned state into which the rough
+usage he had received had thrown him, when he found himself alone with his
+old fellow-captive.
+
+"Well, Hassan," said he at last, in a voice of suppressed fury, "what
+think you of all this?"
+
+The old man made no verbal reply, but merely stroked his beard, shrugged
+his shoulders, and opened his eyes wider than before, as much as to say,
+"I don't think at all; what do you think?"
+
+"It is not the prospect of passing the night in this damp hole, bound hand
+and foot, that chafes me to madness, and makes my very blood boil in my
+veins," resumed the young man after a pause. "That is a small matter,
+ but"--
+
+"A small matter!" interrupted Hassan with unusual vivacity. "That is,
+because you have forgotten the most dreadful part of our position. Bound
+hand and foot as we are, we can expect nothing less than to fall, ere
+cock-crow, into the power of Satan."
+
+"Of Satan!" repeated the other. "Has terror turned thy brain?"
+
+"Of a truth, the Evil One has already tied the three fatal nooses which he
+hangs over the head of the sleeping believer," replied the old Mahometan
+in a lachrymose tone. "He who awakes and forthwith invokes the holy name
+of Allah, is thereby delivered from the first noose; by performing his
+ablutions, the second becomes loosened; and by fervent prayer he unties
+the third. Our bonds render it impossible for us to wash, and the second
+noose, therefore, will remain suspended over our devoted heads."
+
+"Runs it so in the Koran, old man?" asked the youth.
+
+"In the Koran! What Mussulman are you? It is the hundred and forty-ninth
+passage of the Suna."
+
+"The Suna!" repeated the other, in a tone of indifference. "If that is all,
+it will not break my slumbers."
+
+"Allah protect me!" exclaimed the old man, as he made an attempt to pluck
+out his beard, which the shackles on his wrists rendered ineffectual.
+"Allah protect me! Is it not enough that I have fallen into captivity? Am
+I also doomed to pass the night under the same roof with an unbeliever,
+even as the Nazarenes are?"
+
+"May the bolt of Heaven fall on thy lying tongue!" exclaimed the youth in
+great wrath. "I an unbeliever! I, Ibrahim, the adopted son of Hassan,
+pacha of Bosnia!"
+
+In deepest humility did the old merchant bow his head, and endeavour to
+lay hold of the hem of the young man's crimson caftan, in order to carry
+it to his lips.
+
+"Enough! enough!" said Ibrahim, whose good temper had returned. "You spoke
+in haste and ignorance. I am well pleased when I break no commandment of
+the Koran; and trouble my head little about the sayings of those babbling
+greybeards, the twelve holy Imaums."
+
+"But the nooses," expostulated Hassan, not a little scandalized by his
+companion's words.
+
+"You have nothing to do but to sleep all night without awaking," replied
+the young Turk laughing. "Then you will have no need either to wash or
+pray."
+
+The superstitious old man turned his face to the wall in consternation and
+anguish of spirit.
+
+"This night have I seen with my own eyes what we have hitherto refused to
+believe," resumed Ibrahim after a pause, and in a tone of indignation that
+echoed through the cavern. "I am now convinced that the shameless
+scoundrels do not rob on their own account, since they are obliged to
+pilfer and conceal a part of their plunder in order to get a profit from
+their misdeeds. Marked you not, Hassan, how they trembled when the sun lit
+up the ravine, lest their tricks should be espied by some sentry on the
+battlements; and how their panic fear made them carry every thing up to
+the castle?"
+
+The old Turk bowed his head assentingly.
+
+"Glory be to God and the Sultan!" continued the youth. "Before the bright
+countenance of the prophet's vicegerent, who reigneth in Stamboul, no
+misdeed can remain hidden that occurs in the remotest corner of his vast
+dominions. Nay, much of what happens in the land of the Giaour is also
+manifest to his penetrating vision. Witness the veil of turpitude and
+cunning which has long been seen through by the clear eyes of our holy
+mollahs, and of the council at the Seraglio, and which has just now been
+torn away from before me, like a mist dispersing in the sunshine of truth.
+Truly spoke the Christian maiden, whom but a few weeks back I took captive
+in a fight with the Uzcoques, but who was shortly after rescued by another
+band of those raging fiends."
+
+"Saw you the maiden," exclaimed Hassan, "the good maiden that accompanies
+the pirates, like an angel walking among demons?"
+
+"What know you of the Houri?" eagerly demanded the youth, in vain
+endeavouring to raise his head from the damp stones.
+
+"That it was the hand of Allah that rescued her from you," replied the
+other. He chastiseth his creatures with rods, but even in his chastisemcnt
+is mercy. "How many more had not the dogs and the ravens devoured, had the
+Christian maiden been taken from among the Uzcoques? She belongs to them,
+she is the daughter of their leader, the terrible Dansowich, beside whom
+she is ever to be found, instilling the musk and amber of mildness into
+his fierce soul, and pouring healing into the wounds he makes. I know her
+not, but often have I heard the Christians, with whom my traffic brought
+me acquainted, include her in the prayers they addressed to their God."
+
+"Her eyes were as brilliant stars, and they blinded my very soul,"
+exclaimed Ibrahim impetuously; "the honey of her words dropped like balm
+into my heart! As the sound of bubbling fountains, and the rustle of
+flowery groves to the parched wanderer in the desert, fell her sweet voice
+upon my ear. So gentle and musical were its tones, that I thought not of
+their meaning, and it is only to-day that I understand them."
+
+"I know not," quoth Hassan, "what you may have seen; but doubtless, Satan,
+who wished to inspire you with an unholy desire for a Nazarene woman,
+began by blinding you. According to all I have heard, the Uzcoque maiden
+is good and compassionate, but as ugly as night."
+
+"Ugly!" cried Ibrahim, "Then there must be two of them; for the one I saw
+was blooming as the spring, her eyes like the morning star, and her cheeks
+of velvet. Oh, that I could again behold her! In that hope it was that I
+pressed so rashly forward in the fight, and was made prisoner; but yet
+have I not beheld the pearl of mine eyes."
+
+"She cannot be amongst them," said Hassan; "and thence comes it that the
+pirates have this year committed greater cruelties than ever, and done
+deeds that cry out to Allah for vengeance."
+
+"Instead of her silver tones," continued Ibrahim, "I hear the shrieks of
+the tortured; instead of her words of peace and blessing, the curses of
+the murderer."
+
+"But what did the maiden tell you?" enquired Hassan, who was getting
+impatient at the transports of the enamoured youth.
+
+"Her words flowed like a clear stream out of the well of truth. It is not
+the Uzcoques alone," said she, "who are to blame for the horrors that"--
+
+"Hark!" interrupted the old Turk.
+
+A clamour of voices and splashing of oars became audible, a keel grated on
+the beach, and then hurried footsteps were heard in the ravine.
+
+"It is another vessel with Uzcoques!" exclaimed Ibrahim; "but these are
+not laden with plunder, their movements are too rapid."
+
+As he spoke, the tumult and murmur of voices and trampling of feet
+increased, and above all a noise like distant musketry was heard.
+
+"Holy Virgin!" suddenly exclaimed a clear and feminine voice, apparently
+close to the mouth of the cavern. "They are already at the castle--the
+gates, no doubt, are shut, the drawbridge raised. Before they could come
+down it would be too late."
+
+The young Turk started.
+
+"It is she, Hassan!" he exclaimed. "It is Strasolda, the Christian maiden!"
+
+"Oh, my father!" cried the same voice in tones of heart-rending anguish.
+"How shall we deliver thee? Alas! alas! who can tell the tortures they
+will make thee suffer in their dreadful dungeons?"
+
+The noise of the musketry became more and more distinct. Some of the newly
+arrived Uzcoques who had hurried up the winding path, were soon heard
+clamouring furiously for admittance at the castle gates.
+
+"They will be too late!" exclaimed the maiden, wringing her hands in
+despair. The next moment a sudden thought seemed to flash across her mind,
+lending her fresh hope and energy.
+
+"Gracious Heaven!" she exclaimed in joyful tones. "Have we not here the
+cave, from which, invoked by fire, the storm and the hurricane, the north
+wind and the tempest, come forth and shatter the most stately vessels
+against our iron-bound coast.[4] Up, Uzcoques, and fire the cavern! Let
+the elements do battle for us. Perchance by their aid the bark of your
+leader Dansowich may yet escape its foes and reach the haven."
+
+    [4] In Minucci's History of the Uzcoques, continued by Paola Sarpi,
+    we find the following:--"Segna, through its position on a cragged
+    rock, was unapproachable by carts or horses, and consequently by
+    artillery. The harbour appertaining to it, however, was tolerably
+    good, but exceedingly difficult of access on account of the north
+    wind, (vento di Buora,) which blew almost incessantly in the
+    channel leading to it. According to popular belief, the Segnarese
+    had the power of causing this wind to blow at will, by merely
+    kindling a fire in a certain hollow of the cliffs. The mysterious
+    operation of this fire was to heat the veins of the earth, which
+    then, through pain or fury, sent out the raging hurricanes that
+    rendered those narrow seas in the highest degree dangerous, and
+    indeed untenable."
+
+Immediately after these words, which made the two Moslems quail, the
+pirate's daughter hastily entered the cavern with a blazing torch, the
+flashes of which awakened from slumber into life and glow the various tints
+of mosses, lichens, and stalactites innumerable that studded the ample
+vault. In this flitting and singular illumination, the appearance of the
+Uzcoque maiden was awful. Above the common stature of woman, and finely
+formed, she was attired in a white woollen garment, carelessly adjusted
+and confined at the waist by broad red girdle, from which it fell in long
+and graceful folds to her feet. Her face was a perfect oval; her features
+of regular and striking beauty; her complexion, naturally of that clear
+rich brown, which lends more lustre to the eyes than the purest red and
+white, was now ghastly with intense alarm; and this death-like paleness
+imparted a more prominent and commanding character to her well-defined,
+jet-black brows, and the full, dark, humid eyes, which gleamed like
+brilliants through their long lashes. Heavy tresses of raven hair,
+escaping beneath her turban-like head-dress, streamed out like a sable
+banner as she rushed into the cavern, then fell and flowed in waving
+luxuriance over neck and shoulders to her girdle. The Turks in the
+interior of the cavern, gazed in speechless wonder at this beautiful
+apparition standing erect in the strong red light. Waving her torch with
+energetic and graceful action, she appeared like an antique sybil at the
+moment of inspiration, or some Arabian enchantress preparing for an
+incantation. Their admiration, however, yielded to alarm, when they beheld
+her dash the torch upon the ground, and her attendants pile upon it straw
+and fagots, which blazed up instantly to the cavern roof, emitting volumes
+of smoke that made the captives invisible, and by its suffocating
+influence deprived them erelong of all power of utterance.
+
+The evening was serene and still, with scarcely a breath of wind stirring,
+and the flames blazed upward to the cavern roof; only now and then a light
+breeze from the sea wafted them on one side, and, at the sane time,
+dispersing the smoke, gave the Turks a momentary glimpse of the maiden,
+standing with uplifted hands, expectation, anxiety, and grief, depicted on
+her speaking countenance, as she invoked the spirit of the storm, while
+around her stood the few remaining Uzcoques, with sorrowing and downcast
+faces.
+
+"They come not!" she exclaimed after a pause, during which the fire began
+to burn low for lack of fuel, and the noise of the musketry diminished and
+finally ceased. "Uzcoques!" she cried in a louder voice, and with
+inspiration in her thrilling tones--"Take heed and warning, for your hour
+is come. Your crags and caverns, your rocky shores and howling storms,
+refuse you further service!"
+
+She paused, and at that moment was heard the rush of a rapidly approaching
+boat.
+
+"Speak not, ye messengers of evil!" exclaimed Strasolda in piercing
+accents. "Utter not a word. You have left Dansowich in the hands of the
+Venetians."
+
+There was no reply to her half frantic exclamation, and the deep silence
+was only broken by the footsteps of the new-comers, as with dejected looks
+they joined their companions. Just then some damp branches that had lain
+smouldering and smoking on the fire, burned brightly up, and by their
+light Ibrahim and Hassan beheld the maiden kneeling in the midst of the
+pirates, her tearful face covered by her fair and slender fingers. The
+next moment she raised her head and gazed into the cavern.
+
+As she did so, the sorrowful expression of her features changed, and her
+countenance was lighted up with a look of rapture, while a loud cry burst
+from her lips. Through the opening in the smoke, the prisoners became
+visible to her as they lay motionless in the interior of the cave, the
+light from the flames glowing on their red garments, and giving them the
+appearance of two statues of fire. In the handsome countenance of one of
+the figures thus suddenly revealed to her, Strasolda recognized the young
+Moslem, whose prisoner she had been, and whose noble person and bearing,
+courteous manners, and gentle treatment, had more than once since the day
+of her captivity, occupied the thoughts and fancy of the Uzcoque maiden.
+Unaware of Ibrahim's capture, Strasolda did not for an instant suppose
+that she beheld him in flesh and blood before her. To her excited and
+superstitious imagination, the figures of the Turks appeared formed out of
+fire itself, and she doubted not that the spirits of the cave had chosen
+this means of presenting to her, as in a prophetic mirror, a shadowy
+fore-knowledge of future and more favourable events.
+
+While she yet gazed eagerly on what she deemed a supernatural appearance,
+the rent in the veil of smoke suddenly closed, the flame sank down, and
+again all was gloom and darkness in the cavern. The thick stifling vapour
+of the damp wood, augmenting as the flame diminished, was now so
+overpowering that the Turks were in imminent danger of suffocation. In
+their extremity, making a violent effort, their pent up voices found vent
+in a cry of such startling wildness, that the Uzcoques, struck with terror,
+sprang back from the mouth of the cave, hurrying the maiden with them. The
+cry was not repeated, for the Turks had lost all consciousness from the
+stifling effects of the smoke.
+
+"Banish your fears, Uzcoques!" exclaimed Strasolda, staying the fugitives.
+"The voice that to you is a sound of dismay, gives me hope and confidence.
+I see the golden crescent rising in irresistible might, and shedding its
+rays over all the lands of the earth. Happy they on whom it casts its mild
+and favouring beams, and truer far the safeguard it affords to those who
+serve it, than that which is found beneath the shadow of the cross. Better
+the sharp cimeter and plighted word of the Moslem, than the fair promises
+of the lying Christian, who, in the hour of peril, abandons those by whose
+courage he has profited. But enough!" cried she in an altered tone. "Our
+first duty is to rescue my father from the hands of the Venetians. Go not
+into Segna. There are traitors there who might reveal what we most wish
+kept secret. The Venetians know not the person of Dansowich, and that may
+save him if no time be lost in plotting his deliverance. Let none even of
+our own people hear of his captivity. Now to the castle!"
+
+She led the way, and in silence and sadness the pirates followed the
+daughter of their captive chief.
+
+The fire was quite out, the smoke had cleared away, the moon poured its
+silvery light into the cavern, and the stillness was unbroken, save by the
+ripple of the waves on the beach, when Ibrahim recovered from the state of
+insensibility into which he had been thrown by the suffocating influence
+of the smoke, and heard his companion snoring at his side. For some time
+the young Turk lay, revolving in his mind the eventful scene he had
+witnessed, and the strange and startling circumstances that had come to
+his knowledge during the few preceding hours. The capture of Dansowich was
+an event of much importance; nor was there less weight in the discovery
+Ibrahim had made of the dependence of the Uzcoques upon a higher power,
+which, in secret, aided and profited by their depredations. Although
+Austria had been frequently accused of abetting the piracies of the
+Uzcoques, the charge had never been clearly proved, and to many appeared
+too improbable to obtain credence. Ibrahim had hitherto been among the
+incredulous; but what he had this day seen and heard, removed every doubt,
+and fully convinced him of the justice of those imputations.
+
+Turning in disgust from the contemplation of the labyrinth of crime and
+treachery to which he had seized the clue; the young Moslem sought and
+found a far pleasanter subject of reflection in the remembrance of the
+maiden, whose transcendent beauty and touching devotion to her captive
+parent, shone out the more brightly from their contrast with the vice and
+degradation by which she was surrounded. With much interest did he
+endeavour to solve the problem, and explain what appeared almost
+miraculous, how so fair a creature--such a masterpiece of Heaven's
+handiwork--could have passed her childhood and youth amongst the refuse of
+humanity assembled on the island, and yet have retained the spotless
+purity which was apparent in every look and gesture. But, however
+interesting these reflections were to the enamoured Ibrahim, his recent
+fatigues had been too great for nature not to assert her claims, and the
+wearied body finished by triumphing over the rebellious restlessness of
+the excited spirit. The graceful form of Strasolda, and the wild figures
+of the Uzcoques, swam more and more indistinctly before his closing eyes,
+until he sank at last into a deep and refreshing slumber.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE JEWELS.
+
+
+The tribe of the Uzcoques, or Scochi, derived their name from _scoco_, a
+refugee or fugitive, a word bearing reference to their origin. Towards the
+commencement of the sixteenth century, a band of hardy and warlike men
+abandoned the the provinces of Southern Hungary, Bulgaria, and Servia, and
+took refuge in Dalmatia from the tyranny and ill usage of the Turks, who
+had overrun the first-named provinces. Accompanied by their wives and
+families, and recruiting their numbers as they went along, they at last
+reached the fortress of Clissa, situated in the mountains, a few miles
+from the old Roman town of Spalatro. There, with the permission of its
+owner, Pietro Crosichio, they established themselves, forming one of the
+outposts of Christendom, and thence carried on a war of extermination
+against the Turks, to whom they did a degree of injury that would appear
+quite incommensurate with the smallness of their numbers. The name of
+Uzcoque soon became known throughout the Adriatic as the synonyme of a
+gallant warrior, till at length the Turks, driven nearly frantic by the
+exploits of this handful of brave men, fitted out a strong expedition and
+laid siege to Clissa, with the double object of getting rid of a
+troublesome foe, and of advancing another step into Christian Europe.
+
+The different powers who had benefited greatly, although indirectly, by
+the enterprising valour of the Uzcoques, neglected to give them the
+smallest assistance in their hour of peril. After an heroic defence,
+Clissa fell into the hands of the Turks, and a scanty and disheartened
+remnant of its brave defenders fled northward to seek some new place of
+refuge. This they found in the fortress of Segna, then belonging to a
+Count Frangipani, who allowed them to occupy it; and, at the same time,
+Ferdinand the First of Austria bethought himself, although somewhat
+tardily, that the Uzcoques had deserved better at his hands, and at those
+of other Christian princes, than to be left to their own resources when
+assailed by the overwhelming power of the Porte. As a sort of atonement,
+he took them formally into his pay, to assist him in his wars against the
+infidel. But from this day forward the Uzcoques gradually declined in
+valour and in moral worth. From a race of heroes they degenerated into a
+horde of mercenary adventurers, and finally, of cruel and cowardly pirates.
+Their primitive customs and simple virtues were exchanged for the vices of
+refugees and criminals from Venice and other neighbouring states, who came
+in crowds to fill up the frequent vacancies occurring in their ranks.
+
+At length the military value of the Uzcoques being much impaired, and
+their services also less required, Austria became irregular in her
+payments, and at last entirely discontinued them. The barren mountains
+round Segna produced nothing, and the unfortunate Uzcoques were in danger
+of dying of hunger. This they felt by no means inclined to do, and erelong
+complaints began to be made of piracies and depredations committed by the
+Segnarese on the vessels and territory of Venice. For some time no
+application on the subject was made to Austria, and when made it was found
+to be of little avail.
+
+At the period to which this narrative refers, Austria had already formed
+those designs upon her southern neighbour, which in more modern times she
+has carried out with complete success. The fertile plains of Northern
+Italy, the convenient ports on the Adriatic, the rich commerce with the
+Levant, were tempting baits to what was then the most ambitious power in
+Europe; and with an undeviating steadiness did she follow up the policy
+which promised to place such desirable acquisitions within her grasp.
+Venice, whose power and importance were already on the decline, was the
+state against which her most strenuous efforts were directed; and nothing
+that could injure the trade, or lower the dignity and importance of the
+republic, was omitted by the Austrian Machiavels of the day. Insignificant
+as such a means of annoyance may appear, the band of Uzcoques was one of
+the prime engines employed to undermine the bulwarks of Venetian
+independence. Through her commerce had Venice achieved her greatness, and
+through her commerce was she to be assailed and overthrown. Whilst the
+Venetians, for the sake of their trade, had formed alliances with the
+Turks, the Austrians, professing great religious zeal, and hatred of the
+infidels, as well as a dread of further encroachments upon European
+territory, did all in their power to ruin the traffic and break the
+connexion between the republic and the Porte. The Uzcoques, who, although
+asserting a sort of independence, still dwelt on Austrian territory, and
+were reckoned as Austrian subjects, were secretly encouraged in the
+piracies which they committed indiscriminately against Turkish and
+Venetian vessels. These acts of piracy usually took place in the night,
+and could rarely be brought home to their perpetrators, although there
+could be no moral doubt as to the identity of the latter; but, even when
+proved, it was found impossible to obtain any substantial redress. At the
+time now referred to, the evil was at its height. Nominally peace both
+with Venice and the Porte, Austria, nevertheless, stimulated the Uzcoques
+to aggressions upon the subjects of both. The Archduke Ferdinand, a
+well-intentioned and virtuous prince, but young and inexperienced, was
+completely led and deceived by the wily and unprincipled politicians who
+governed in his name. He was kept entirely in the dark as to the real
+character of the Segnarese, and thus prevented from giving credence to the
+frequent complaints made against them by neighbouring states. His corrupt
+ministers, moreover, not content with making the pirates instrumental in
+this tortuous policy, were not ashamed to squeeze from them a portion of
+their illicit gains; and a lion's share of the spoil found its way into
+the coffers of the archducal counsellors, who welcomed the golden Pactolus,
+utterly regardless of the foul channel through which it flowed. The
+Uzcoques, on their part, who were no longer the race of brave and hardy
+soldiers they had been some half century before, clung to the protection
+of Austria, conscious that, in their degenerate state, and with their
+diminished numbers, they must soon fall a prey to their numerous foes,
+should that protection be withdrawn. Thus, although inwardly chafing at
+being compelled to disgorge a large part of the hard-won booty for which
+they frequently periled their lives, they did not dare to withhold the
+tribute, nor to omit the rich presents which they were in the habit of
+making to certain influential persons about the archducal court. In return,
+the ports of Austria on the Adriatic, were open to them to build and
+repair vessels, or obtain supplies of provisions; every species of
+indirect assistance was afforded them, and more than once, when some of
+their number had fallen into the hands of the Venetians, their release, as
+subjects of Austria, had been demanded and obtained by the authorities at
+Gradiska. On the other hand, the claims of Venice for satisfaction, when
+some of her richly laden merchant-ships had been captured or pillaged,
+were slightly attended to, the applicants put off from day to day, and
+from year to year, with promises and excuses, until the weak and cowardly
+republic, seeing that no satisfaction was to be obtained by peaceable
+means, and being in no state to declare war against her powerful neighbour,
+usually ended the matter by ceasing to advance claims, the prosecution of
+which only tended to her further humiliation.
+
+It was Easter Sunday in the town of Gradiska. The strict religious
+ceremonies with which the Passion week was commemorated at the court of
+the youthful but pious Archduke Ferdinand were at an end; the black
+hangings disappeared from the church walls, and the bells rang out a merry
+peal in joyful commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. The nobles and
+ladies of the court, wearied with the vigils and fasting which the
+religious zeal of the time rendered imperative, betook themselves with
+lightened hearts to their apartments, the elder portion to repose, the
+younger ones to prepare for the brilliant festival and ball which the
+following day was to witness.
+
+In a richly furnished apartment of the castle, the young and handsome wife
+of one of the archducal counsellors was pacing up and down, her full and
+voluptuous form reflected on every side by the tall Venetian mirrors that
+covered the walls of the apartment. The lady was apparently in no gentle
+mood; her step was hurried and impatient, her face flushed, her lips
+peevishly compressed, and her irritation seemed to increase each time that
+she passed before a table on which were displayed a number of jewel-boxes
+and caskets, all open, and nearly all empty. Since the Easter festival of
+the preceding year, the caprices and necessities of this spendthrift
+beauty had abstracted one by one the rich kernels from these now worthless
+husks, and the recollection of the follies, or worse, in which their value
+had been squandered, now came to aggravate the vexation which the want of
+the jewels occasioned her. So absorbed was she in the consideration of her
+annoyances and perplexities, that for some time she took no notice of the
+presence of a young and graceful female in plain attire, who stood
+apparently in deep thought in the embrasure of one of the windows. The
+maiden had her back turned to the room; but the admirable contours of her
+fine figure, and the rich luxuriance of the jet-black locks that flowed
+over her shoulders, gave promise of a perfection that was not belied, when,
+on an exclamation of impatience from her mistress, she suddenly turned
+round, and revealed the beauteous features of Dansowich's daughter. She it
+was who formed the usual medium of communication between the pirates and
+their archducal allies; and during her frequent sojourns at Gradiska, she
+assumed the character of attendant on the counsellor's lady.
+
+"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the court dame, stamping her foot violently on
+the polished floor. "What can detain the knaves? Say, girl! where can they
+be lingering?"
+
+Strasolda made no reply to this impetuous enquiry. She was no longer the
+excited and impetuous Uzcoque heroine, invoking the spirit of the storm
+amidst the precipices and caverns of her native shores. A total change had
+come over her. Her look was subdued, her cheek pale, her eyes red and
+swollen with weeping. She cast an humble and sorrowful glance at the lady,
+and a tear trembled on her long dark lashes.
+
+"Why come they not?" repeated the angry dame in a voice half-choked with
+passion. "By all the saints!" she continued, with a furious look at
+Strasolda, "I believe thy father, Dansowich, to be the cause of this delay;
+for well I know it is with small good-will he pays the tribute. But if the
+thieving knaves thus play me false, if the Easter gift is wanting, and for
+lack of jewels I am compelled to plead sickness, and pass to-morrow in my
+apartment, instead of, as heretofore, eclipsing every rival by the
+splendour of my jewels, rest assured, maiden, that thy robber friends
+shall pay dearly for their neglect. A word from me, and thy father,
+brethren, and kinsmen grace the gallows, and their foul eyrie is leveled
+with dust."
+
+Strasolda pressed her hands upon her heart, and burst into a flood of
+tears. Then throwing herself at the lady's feet--
+
+"That word you will never have the cruelty to utter," cried she. "Bethink
+you, noble lady, of the perils to which they are exposed. The bravest
+cannot command success, and you know not yet whether their last expedition
+may not have been unprosperous."
+
+"I!" replied her irritated mistress. "How should I be privy to their
+proceedings? But _you_ ought to be able to give some tidings: Wherefore
+did you not accompany your father this last voyage?"
+
+"I told you, lady," answered Strasolda, "that I was busied with plans for
+the deliverance of the Uzcoques now held captive in Venice. I have
+brothers amongst those unfortunate prisoners, and it is the uncertainty of
+their fate which thus afflicts me."
+
+The maiden gazed tearfully and imploringly at the angry lady. It was not
+without good reason that she concealed from her the fact of her father's
+captivity. The stern and inflexible Dansowich had ever viewed with an eye
+of disapproval the connexion between his people and the counsellors at
+Gradiska; and the latter, aware of this, would not have been likely to
+take much pains for the release of one who was unfavourable to their
+interests. It was only, therefore, by representing the captive Uzcoques as
+less nearly connected with her, that Strasolda could hope for aid to
+rescue them from the hands of the Venetians.
+
+"So much the more should you desire the arrival of the tribute!" exclaimed
+the lady. "Did I not, at your request, make interest with our ambassador
+at Venice, that he should insist upon the surrender of the Uzcoques as
+Austrian subjects? Assuredly the feeble signoria will not venture to
+refuse compliance. A casket of jewels is but a paltry guerdon for such
+service, and yet even that is not forthcoming. But it is not too late to
+alter what has been done. If I say the word, the prisoners linger in the
+damp and fetid dungeons of the republic, until they welcome death as a
+blessing."
+
+"Alas, alas!" sobbed Strasolda; "have you the heart thus to add to my
+sorrow? Is it not enough to know those I love in captivity, to behold my
+people, once so noble and heroic, degraded to the very refuse of humanity
+despised and detested of all men, having their dwelling on a barren rock,
+and earning by crime and bloodshed a precarious existence and doubtful
+freedom? Is it not enough"--
+
+"Hush!" interrupted the lady in a quick sharp whisper, raising her finger,
+and glancing towards the door of the apartment. There was a noise as of
+stealthy footsteps in the corridor. Strasolda sprang from the kneeing
+posture which she had maintained during her conversation with her mistress,
+and resumed her station in the recess of a window, while the counsellor's
+lady snatched up a rich shawl from a damask covered ottoman, and threw it
+over the caskets spread out upon the table. Scarcely were these
+arrangements completed, when the door was partially opened, and a wild
+sunburnt and bearded countenance showed itself at the aperture.
+
+"Heaven and the saints be praised!" exclaimed the lady. "They are come at
+last. In with you, Jurissa Caiduch: there is no one but Strasolda here."
+
+The person thus addressed, was a strongly built and active man, rather
+under the middle size, muffled in a coarse brown cloak, which was drawn
+over the lower part of his face, apparently with a view to concealment. A
+broad-brimmed felt hat was slouched over his small black eyes, which
+glittered through its shadow like those of a snake, never fixing
+themselves on an object, but casting restless and suspicious glances, as
+though apprehensive of danger or treachery. Gliding into the room, and
+closing the door noiselessly behind him, he approached the table, and
+placed upon it a tolerably large casket, which he produced from under his
+cloak; then retreating a step or two, he removed his hat, and stood in an
+attitude of silent respect, his eyes still gleaming, however, with their
+habitual expression of mistrust and cunning.
+
+Without uttering a word, the lady seized the casket, and impatiently
+forced open its delicate silver lock. A cry of joyful surprise burst from
+her lips on beholding the rich contents of the jewel-case. Diamond chains,
+golden girdles and bracelets, combs and hair ornaments studded with orient
+pearls, passed in rapid succession through the white and eager fingers of
+the gratified dame, who seemed to lack words to express her pleasure and
+astonishment at the sight of such costly gems. At last she turned to the
+bearer.
+
+"Of a truth, Jurissa" cried she, "you are unusually liberal this time, and
+you must have great need of the good offices of myself and Father Cipriano,
+to be willing to purchase our influence with the archduke at so high a
+price."
+
+"Our last expedition was a successful one, noble lady," replied the
+Uzcoque. "The tender-hearted Strasolda," added he with a spiteful glance
+at the maiden, who still kept her station by the window, "that guardian
+angel, who so often steps between us and our prey, was absent, and we had
+no need to stay our hands."
+
+As he spoke, the door was again hastily opened as softly as before, but
+somewhat wider, and the burly figure of a monk entered the room. This was
+no other than the Father Cipriano Guido Lucchese, whom the lady had
+alluded to, and who, by his pleadings at the papal court, in favour of the
+Uzcoques, had earned himself the honourable cognomen of Ambassador de
+Ladri, or the Thieves' Envoy. He had expiated his discreditable
+intercession by a sojourn in the prisons of the Inquisition, which did not,
+however, present his being in high favour with the Archduke Ferdinand, at
+whose court he filled the triple office of theologian, confessor, and
+privy counsellor.
+
+The sleek and unctuous physiognomy of the monk wore an expression of
+unusual care and anxiety. Without bestowing a salutation or a look upon
+the lady whose apartment he thus unceremoniously entered, he addressed
+himself at once to the Uzcoque Jurissa.
+
+"Away with you!" cried he. "Out of the palace; and quietly, too, as your
+own shadow. Thumbscrews are waiting for you if you linger."
+
+Strasolda gazed in alarm at Father Cipriano. Jurissa thrust his right hand
+under his cloak, and seemed to clutch some weapon. Even the counsellor's
+dame for a moment turned her eyes from the jewels she was admiring to the
+anxious countenance of the padre.
+
+"Your last exploit will bring you into trouble," continued the latter to
+Jurissa. "You have gone beyond all bounds; and a special ambassador has
+arrived here from Venice."
+
+"Well!" replied the Uzcoque surlily, "was not the sack of doubloons
+sufficient fee to keep you at your post?"
+
+"I have but just left it," answered the monk, "and you may thank me if the
+storm is averted for the moment, although it must burst erelong. Before
+the ambassador could obtain his audience, I hurried to the archduke, and
+chanted the old ditty; told him you were the Maccabees of the century--the
+bulwarks of Christendom: that without you the Turks would long since have
+been in Gradiska--that the Venetians, through fear and lust of gain, were
+hand and glove with the followers of Mahomet--and that it was their own
+fault if you had to strike through them to get at the infidel: that they
+cared little about religion, so long as the convenience of their traffic
+was not interfered with--and that it would be a sin and a shame to deprive
+himself of such valiant defenders for the sake of obliging the republic.
+This, and much more, did I say to his highness, Signor Jurissa," concluded
+the fat priest, wiping away the perspiration which his eagerness and
+volubility had caused to start out on his brow; "and, in good truth, I
+think your paltry bag of doubloons but poor reward for the pains I took,
+and the zeal I have shown in your defence."
+
+"And wherein consists the danger, then," interrupted Jurissa, "since your
+eloquence has sped so well on our behalf?"
+
+"You do not hear me out, my son," replied the priest. "The greybeards at
+Venice have chosen an envoy who is right well informed of your small
+numbers, bad equipment, and cowardice in broad daylight. Nay, man, never
+grind your teeth. I do but repeat the ambassador's words; for I had
+stationed myself in an adjoining room, and heard all that passed between
+him and the archduke. He said, moreover, that, far from being of use as a
+bulwark against Turkish encroachments, it was you who had afforded to the
+infidels a pretext to wrest more than one rich province from Christian
+potentates. All this seemed to make some impression upon the archduke, and
+to plant suspicions in his mind which bode no good to you and your race.
+For the present, the capture of those two Turks, one of whom is a person
+of rank, is testimony in your favour with his highness, to whom the
+crescent is an abomination. Could he follow his own inclinations, he would,
+I fully believe, start a new crusade against the followers of Mahoun. But
+come, Jurissa, this is no time for gossip. You must not be seen in
+Gradiska. Away with you!"
+
+"And the Venetian," cried Jurissa, "what is his name?"
+
+"It is the Proveditore Marcello, who has lately returned from a long
+absence in the East."
+
+The Uzcoque started. The name seemed to have some potent and mysterious
+effect upon him, and he stood for a few moments with his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, apparently forgetful of the necessity for his immediate
+departure. The priest took him by the arm, and drew him towards the door,
+which he was about to open, when Jurissa shook off his grasp and hastily
+approached the counsellor's wife, who had thrown herself into a large
+gilded chair before one of the pier-glasses, and was busily engaged in
+trying on the ornaments that had just been brought her.
+
+"Have a care, noble lady!" cried the Uzcoque. "You will do well to let a
+couple of weeks elapse before you appear in public with those pretty gauds.
+At any rate, wear them not at to-morrow's ball, lest, perchance, they find
+an owner. Beware, lady, of the Proveditore Marcello!"
+
+With a look of peculiar meaning he left the room, accompanied by Father
+Cipriano. But his warning fell faintly upon the lady's ear, who, though
+she heard the words, was far too much engrossed in arranging and admiring
+the costly gems so lately become her own, to give much heed to their
+import. She remained before her mirror, loading her white neck and arms
+with chains and jewels, and interweaving diamonds and pearls in her
+tresses, regardless of the grief of Strasolda who sat in tears and sadness,
+deploring her father's increasing peril, and the cloud that menaced the
+future fortunes of her people.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE BALL.
+
+
+The ancient burg, or castle, of Gradiska had been originally on a larger
+scale, but, at this period, consisted only of a centre, flanked at right
+angles by two wings ending in square towers, large, grey, and massive, and
+embattled, with overhanging galleries for sentinels to pace along, while
+similar galleries, on a smaller scale, extended along the entire front and
+wings of the castle. The central edifice contained, on the ground-floor,
+numerous apartments and offices for menials; above which arose a spacious
+saloon and other lofty apartments, lighted by windows high above the
+flooring, and terminating in the round-headed arches so commonly seen in
+the castellated mansions of northern Italy. In this palatial hall
+preparation had been busy for the ball, to which the wife of the archducal
+counsellor so impatiently looked forward, as an opportunity to eclipse all
+rivals by the splendour of her jewels. The hour of reception by the
+archduke had arrived. The exterior of the spacious edifice was illuminated
+from end to end by nunerous torches, and the capacious staircase was
+lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers, in splendid apparel. In the
+interior of the vast apartment huge waxen tapers were fixed above the
+_chevron_, or zig-zag moulding, which ran round the walls, and connected
+the casement of each window. Large crystal lamps, pendant from the point
+of each inverted pinnacle on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant
+light, and imparted life and colour to the rich tapestries, portraying
+stirring scenes from the Crusades, which covered the walls from floor to
+window. Complete suits of armour, exhibiting every known device of harness,
+and numerous weapons, fancifully arranged, decorated the spaces between
+the windows. And now began to appear, in this scene of splendour, groups
+of knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and cloth of gold, and attending
+upon fair dames, sparkling with jewels, and bearing nodding plumes upon
+their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst these, and towering above all in
+stature, appeared the haughty mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of
+dark green velvet, which well relieved the fairness of her complexion, and
+displaying upon her finely moulded neck and arms a collar and bracelets of
+large and lustrous oriental pearls. Her firlgers were bedecked with costly
+rings, and upon her head she wore an ornament of singular device, which
+soon attracted universal attention. Above the rim of a golden comb, richly
+chased and studded with brilliants, arose a peacock with expanded tail.
+The body was of chased gold in imitation of feathers, the arching neck was
+mosaic work of precious stones, the eyes were sparkling diamonds of the
+purest water, and the feathers of the tail glittered with emeralds, rubies,
+and sapphires of singular beauty and lustre. So great was the curiosity
+excited by the dazzling splendour of these jewels, that the fair wearer
+was followed round the room by a train of ladies, anxious to observe at
+leisure a display of ornaments so extraordinary, and whispering to
+sympathizing ears conjectures not over charitable to the counsellor's wife.
+When, at length, she had seated herself upon one of the sofas which lined
+the walls, a circle of admiring gazers was formed, whose numbers were
+rapidly increased by the attendant cavaliers. While the lady was enjoying
+her triumph, a bustle at the entrance of the hall turned every head in
+that direction, when the cause appeared in the person of the young
+archduke, who entered in full costume, followed by a group of courtiers,
+and accompanied by a Venetian cavalier, of tall and commanding person,
+with whom he appeared to be in earnest discourse. The stranger was a
+large-boned, spare, and powerful man, of middle age, and attired in a
+black vest and pantaloons of woven silk, with a short cloak, of the same
+hue. The golden hilt of his rapier, and a gold chain and medallion round
+his neck, were his only ornaments. His features were large, regular, and
+grand, and the gaze of his full dark eyes serene, yet firm and potent; his
+complexion pale, and contrasting strongly with a dark beard which circled
+his visage like a frame. His high and massive forehead, and well closed
+lips, had a character of thought and decision, while his mien and tread
+were those of one long accustomed to authority. He seemed a man born after
+his time, and worthy to have lived and acted in the high and palmy days of
+Venice. After attending the archduke to the steps of the dais at the upper
+end of the hall, he made his bow, and began to pace the floor in seeming
+abstraction from the gay scene around him. Arrested in his progress by the
+numerous groups which, after saluting the archduke, had again collected
+around the counsellor's lady, he paused in returning conciousness; and,
+looking for the cause of such unwonted attraction, was enabled, by his
+lofty stature, to obtain a glimpse of the jewelled lady within the circle.
+Her features were unknown to him; but when his careless gaze fell upon the
+rare ornament which crowned her redundant tresses, his countenance became
+suddenly darkened by some strong emotion. Again, he looked more earnestly,
+and with increasing wonder and curiosity. Controlling, by a sudden effort,
+all outward evidence of feeling, he watched his opportunity, and at length
+penetrating within the crowd, stood for some moments before the object of
+attraction, and gazed, as if admiringly, upon her various adornments in
+succession; then, bowing gracefully, he addressed to her some words of
+compliment upon the splendour and value of the dazzling bird upon her head.
+"Fair lady," he continued, "I have a daughter whom I fondly love, and fain
+would I bestow upon her youthful beauty such ornaments as yours. But say,
+I pray you, where can the cunning hand be found which fashions such
+glorious birds? Was it in Venice or Vienna that you bought this materpiece
+of art?" Unsuspicious of evil, and bridling at gratified vanity at this
+attention from a stranger of such distinguished mien, the spoil-bedecked
+fair one replied to him as she had done to others.
+
+"I bought this ornament, some weeks back, in Venice, at the store of a
+Greek trader from the Levant."
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed the stranger; "and where dwelt this Greek, that I may see
+and ask him for another such?"
+
+The concious lady, embarrassed by such close questioning, and somewhat
+alarmed by the kindling glances of the questioner, replied in haste--"Nay,
+signor, now I remember better, it was not a Greek I bought these gauds,
+but of a trading Jew, who walks the Merceria with a box of jewellry."
+
+"Just now, methinks, you said a Greek, fair lady; and now you say a Jew.
+What next? Why not a Moslem, or perchance _an Uzcoque?_"
+
+At this ominous conclusion, which the stranger muttered in tones of marked
+significance, the alarmed culprit started to her feet; and her fierce
+temper getting the better of her prudence, she boldly faced the cavalier,
+exclaiming, in a louder key than beseemed a courtier's wife--
+
+"And who are you, signor, that dare thus question the lady of an archducal
+counsellor?"
+
+"Lady!" he sternly answered, "here I am known to none save your husband's
+master; but in Venice men call me the Proveditore Marcello."
+
+And now flashed upon the indignant signora a fearful reminiscence of
+Jurissa's unheeded and forgotten warning, to hide her jewels for a time,
+and to beware of the Proveditore Marcello. In utter dismay, and nearly
+fainting with alarm, she sank upon the sofa, and her eyes expanded into
+the wide stare of terror as she gazed at the menacing visage of the
+Venetian noble. Unwilling to expose the conscience-striken woman before so
+numerous an assemblage, he seated himself beside her, and in tones
+inaudible to others thus whispered in her ear--"Lady! but eight days back
+the jewels that you wear were mine. That peacock was my own design, and
+made for my daughter by a cunning artificer in Candia. Its like exists not
+in the world; for the mould was made by my order, and broken as soon as
+used. 'Twas mine until the base Uzcoques plundered my baggage. How thus
+quickly it passed from them to you, is as well known to me as to yourself.
+But mark me, lady! if all these jewels are not delivered at my apartments
+in the west wing of the castle ere midnight, I will denounce your husband
+and his colleagues as long-suspected and now-proved partakers with the
+Pirates of Segna. And, should redress be denied me here, the ambassador of
+Venice shall report this infamous collusion before a higher tribunal in
+Vienna."
+
+Struck dumb by this terrible denunciation, the fair culprit gasped for
+breath, and her evident distress having been watched in growing wonder by
+the assembled ladies and cavaliers, the latter began to mutter threats of
+vengeance. One of them now stepped forward, and, grasping the hilt of his
+rapier, accused the Venetian of having insulted the wife of a nobleman
+high in the councils of the archduke, when the Proveditore, looking down
+upon the courtier with that riveted and intensely piercing gaze which
+staggers the beholder like a sudden blow, and may still be noted in many
+of Titian's portraits, answered with brief and startling emphasis--
+
+"Signor! you do me grievous wrong. 'Tis I, and not the lady, who am the
+injured party."
+
+Awed by his gathering brow, and the settled, stern, unsparing resolution
+which flashed from every feature, and indicated a man confident in his own
+resources, the courtiers did involuntary homage to his loftier spirit, and
+gave way. The proud Venetian strode through the yielding circle and
+quitted the hall, while the counsellor's wife, pleading illness and
+fatigue in reply to the pointed and numerous questions of surrounding
+friends and enemies, summoned her husband to attend her, and retired to
+her apartments.
+
+Meanwhile the young Moslem and his companion in misfortune, who had been
+brought prisoners to Gradiska, were confined in one of the massive towers
+which flanked the castle. They had arrived not long before the comencement
+of the festival, and when going under guard along a corridor in the east
+wing, Ibrahim passed the open door of an apartment in which Strasolda was
+adjusting the rich jewels of the counsellor's lady before her appearance
+in the ball-room. Startled by the approaching tramp of armed men, the
+Uzcoque maiden raised her eyes, and beheld the noble and well-remembered
+features of the young Turk, whose captive she had been, and whose image
+had so strangely reappeared to her through the flitting cloud of smoke in
+the cavern. "Mother of Heaven!" she exclaimed, covering her eyes with her
+hands; "do I again behold that Moslem youth, ever appearing when least
+expected?" Again she gazed; but the prisoners, hurried onward by their
+guards, had proceeded to the end of the corridor, where a narrow winding
+staircase, fashioned in the immense thickness of the tower wall, led to
+their appointed prison, a large square apartment, the sides of which were
+panneled to a considerable height, and imperfectly lighted by small
+windows, or rather embrasures, perforating a wall many feet in thickness.
+Here they were left to their reflections, and to what comfort they could
+derive fron a lamp and a supply of provisions. Hassan, wearied with his
+journey, hastily swallowed his supper, and, stretching himself upon a
+paillasse, soon forgot his calamities in sound repose. Ibrahim, more
+vigilant and less apprehensive of future evil, as the Turks and Austrians
+were then at peace, paced awhile along the floor of his spacious prison,
+musing on the peerless charms of the Uzcoque maiden. From time to time he
+gazed upon the walls and windows as if calculating the chances of escape,
+when gradually the peculiar and regular design of the panneling caught and
+fixed his attention. It was divided by prominent mouldings into oblong
+squares, from the centres of which projected large diamond-shaped bosses
+of carved oak. This peculiarity at length roused into action some
+reminiscences of the early life and adventures of his beloved patron, the
+pacha of Bosnia, to the recital of which he had often, in his boyhood,
+listened with eager delight. These recollections, at first shadowy and
+indistinct, became gradually more vivid and accurate, until finally the
+full conviction flashed upon him that his benefactor, when taken prisoner
+in his youth by the Austrians, had been confined in this very tower and
+room, and, by a singular discovery, had been enabled to liberate himself
+and his fellow-prisoners. The pacha, then a subordinate in rank, in
+endeavouring to reach the level of one of the embrasures, had mounted upon
+the shoulders of a comrade, and was supporting himself by a firm grasp of
+the large boss in the centre of the pannel, when suddenly he felt it
+turning round in his hand. Surprised to find it not a fixture, he pulled
+it towards him, and found that it slowly yielded to the impulse. Drawing
+it out of the socket, he saw it followed by an iron chain, which for a
+time resisted all his efforts, but at length gave way, and he heard a
+grating sound like the drawing of a rusty bolt. Suddenly the entire pannel
+shook, and then the lower end started back sufficiently to betray a recess
+in the wall. Hastily descending on his comrade's shoulders, and pushing
+back the pannel, he discovered that it was supported by hinges, and was
+doubtless intended to conceal a secret issue from the castle, which he
+soon ascertained, and effected his escape. These facts were all that the
+memory of Ibrahim could supply; but they were enough to guide him in his
+search, and he immediately proceeded to sound the pannels in succession
+with his fist. Commencing with the southern or outer wall, which he
+supposed more massive and more likely to contain a secret passage, he
+sounded each pannel, and perceiving in the corner one more reverberation
+than in the others, he roused Hassan from his slumbers. "Hassan! Hassan!"
+he exclaimed, "Arouse thee, man! and listen to good tidings." The awakened
+sleeper gazed with half-opened eyes upon his excited companion, and would
+have dropped to sleep again had not a few words of explanation and the
+hope of escape fully roused him. Having with some difficulty perched his
+rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibrahim, he followed his
+directions and grasped the wooden boss, which, to the inexpressible
+delight of both, yielded, as it had done forty years before to the captive
+Turk, and displayed the iron chain. Bidding Hassan replace the boss,
+Ibrahim determined to postpone his attempt until the festival had
+collected all the guards and menials into the central edifice and its
+approaches. An hour before midnight, when the young Moslem expected the
+revelry would be at its height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders,
+and after many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded in drawing up the
+bolt. The pannel receded some inches, and Ibrahim raising it still further,
+seized the lamp and entered a small oblong recess in the wall, which was
+not less than ten or twelve feet in thickness. Perceiving no outlet, he
+examined the wooden flooring, and soon discovered a trap, which, when
+raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a steep and narrow descending
+staircase, leading apparently to some sally-port beyond the castle ditch.
+After carefully trimming his lamp, he was about to lead the way into this
+dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and sudden, as of something falling in the
+adjacent prison, caught his ear. Retracing his steps, he re-entered the
+apartment, where, after a brief search, he found beneath one of the
+embrasures a paper folded round a large pebble. Hastily opening it, the
+following lines, written in the _lingua Franca_ so common in the Levant,
+were visible.
+
+"Moslem! If thy soul belie not thy noble form and features, thou wilt not
+withhold thine aid from a bereaved and sorrowing daughter. Before
+to-morrow's sunset thou wilt be free, for Austria wars not with the Turk.
+Then straight repair to Venice, and there await the Battle of the Bridge.
+Take thy stand beneath the portal of St Barbara, and follow the man who
+whispers in thine ear,
+
+    "STRASOLDA."
+
+"Mashallah!" shouted the enraptured youth, "these lines are from the
+Uzcoque maiden; and by the gates of Paradise I'll do her bidding, though
+it perils life."
+
+For a time he was tempted to follow her guidance implicitly, and await the
+promised release from the authorities of Gradiska; recollecting, however,
+the proverbial slowness of Austrian counsellors, and too restless and
+ardent to endure suspense, he resumed his purpose of exploring the secret
+passage. After he had secured the pannel and replaced the boss, he bade
+Hassan follow him and began to descend. The staircase ended in a small
+passage round an angle, beyond which he discovered a similar descent,
+followed by another angle and staircase, proving that this secret issue
+from the castle penetrated through each of the four massive walls which
+formed the tower. At length their further progress was stopped by a door,
+originally strong and plated with iron, but now so much decayed, that
+although fastened by bolts without, the joint strength of the two captives
+forced it from its hinges. They now entered a vaulted passage of hewn
+stone, low and narrow, and with no visible termination. As they advanced,
+the long pent-up and dank unwholesome vapours made it difficult to breathe,
+and compelled Ibrahim to pause repeatedly and trim his lamp, which burned
+so dimly in this oppressive atmosphere as to be nearly extinguished. After
+a while the path began to slope upwards, and erelong they distinguished
+moonlight faintly streaming through a tangled mass of ivy which concealed
+the remains of an iron grating, broken probably in his patron's successful
+attempt to escape by this secret passage from the prison above. Gazing
+through the aperture, they perceived not many feet below what had once
+been the castle ditch, now dry, and forming a portion of the archduke's
+gardens. With a joyous heart and an elastic bound, Ibrahim reached the
+soft turf beneath. The more timid and helpless Hassan lowered himself by
+clinging to a remaining iron bar, and with the aid of his companion was
+soon on his feet, enjoying, with many thanks to Allah, the fresh air of
+heaven and the consciousness of escape from captivity. The gates of the
+palace gardens being unguarded during the festival, the liberated
+prisoners reached the coast without an obstacle, compelled a fisherman to
+take them in his bark across the Adriatic, and land them on the Lido,
+which forms the outward limit of the port of Venice. Then making free with
+an unwatched gondola, they sped across the bay, and were soon in safety,
+beneath the roof of a Turkish trader and correspondent of Hassan.
+
+Before their escape was discovered on the following morning, the indignant
+Proveditore had departed for Venice, and Strasolda had disappeared.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.[5]
+
+
+    [5] _Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India_, from Bareilly,
+    in Rohilcund, to Hurdwar and Nahun, in the Himalaya Mountains;
+    with a Tour in Bundelcund, a Sporting Excursion in the Kingdom of
+    Oude, and a Voyage down the Ganges. By C.J.C. DAVIDSON, Esq.,
+    late Lieut.-Col. of Engineers, Bengal.
+
+The appearance of this work was heralded some three months since, as
+divers of our readers may possibly remember, by a species of
+puff-preliminary, for which even the annals of Great Marlborough Street
+afforded no precedent--being nothing less than the appearance of Mr
+Colburn, _in propriâ personâ_, at the bar of the police-office adjoining
+his premises, to answer the complaint of the gallant and irate author for
+what he was pleased to consider the unwarrantable detention of the MS.
+from which his narrative had been printed. It was alleged, in extenuation,
+that "the gallant colonel's MS. was so nearly undecipherable, that Mr
+Colburn had been put to considerable expense in revising the press;"--and
+a mysterious and curiosity-provoking hint was further thrown out, that "it
+was the custom of the trade, that, until a work was published, the MS.
+should not be parted with by the publisher, as it might turn out that some
+part of it was libellous, and in such case the publisher must produce the
+MS." In the end the gallant colonel (whom the newspaper reports described
+as "very much excited,") took nothing by his motion in regard to the
+recovery of the MS.; but though in this respect he may have been somewhat
+scurvily treated, we cannot equally sympathize with his complaints of the
+work not having been duly _advertised_; for surely all the little "neatly
+turned paragraphs" that ever proceeded from Mr Colburn's laboratory, could
+not have been so effectual as the method struck out by the impromptu
+genius of the colonel himself, in intimating to the public that something
+quite out of the common way might be expected from the forthcoming
+production thus brought before its notice.
+
+And verily those who have been prepared for a queer volume, will not be
+disappointed in the diary of our choleric and corpulent colonel. If ever
+the assurance, which seems to be regarded as indispensable in the preface
+to works of this class, that the author "wrote the following pages purely
+for his own amusement," bore the stamp of unequivocal truth, it is in the
+present instance; and, notwithstanding the asseverations of Mr Colburn and
+his literary employés, it is difficult to conceive that any revision
+whatever can have been bestowed on the rough notes of the writer, since
+they were first hastily committed to paper amidst the scenes which they
+describe. The style is as rambling and unconnected as the incidents to
+which it refers; but wherever the author's devious footsteps lead us, from
+the jungles of Bundelcund to the holy ghâts of Hurdwar, the principal
+figure is always that of the colonel himself, who, in the portly
+magnificence of twenty stone minus two pounds, fills up the whole
+foreground with himself and his accessories of servants, elephant, stud,
+Nagoree cows, and other component parts of the _suwarree_ or suite of a
+_Qui-hye_, who can afford to make himself comfortable after the fashion of
+the country. The quantity (sometimes not trifling) and quality of his
+meals, the consequent state of his digestion, and his endless rows on the
+score of accommodations and forage with thannadars, darogahs, kutwals, and
+all the other designations for Hindoo and Hindoostani jacks-in-office,
+(for to Feringhi society he appears to have been not very partial,) may
+doubtless have been points of peculiar interest to the colonel himself,
+but are not likely to engage the attention of the world in general, and
+had better have been omitted in the revision of the diary, instead of
+being chronicled, as they are on all occasions, with wearisome minuteness
+of detail. But with all these drawbacks, a man who, as he says of himself,
+"has dwelt in India twenty-five years, and traversed it from the snowy
+range to Bombay on the west, must have seen something of the country, and
+may be supposed to know something of the natives"--among whom, by the way,
+he seems to have mingled more familiarly than most Feringhis; and in spite
+of all the egotism and rigmarole with which his pages abound, the rambles
+of this "stout gentleman" through Upper India, and some other parts of the
+country not much visited by Europeans, present us with a good deal of
+plain sense and sterling matter, viewed, it is true, with the eccentric
+eye of a humorist, and frequently couched in very odd phraseology; but not
+the less true on that account. His opinions on all men and all things are
+expressed with the same honesty and candour with which he narrates the
+various scrapes in which he was involved, while pushing right a-head like
+an elephant through a jungle;--and though laughing at him quite as often
+as with him, we have found the colonel, on the whole, far from an
+unpleasant travelling companion.
+
+Bareilly, on the fronters of Oude and Rohilcund, was the colonel's
+starting-point;--and thence on St Patrick's day[6] he set forward for
+Hurdwar, at the head of a retinue, the members of which, both quadruped
+and biped, he enumerates seriatim, giving the _pas_ to the former--a
+precedence perhaps well merited by steeds up to such a welter weight under
+the climate of India, over such a set of unredeemed and thriftless knaves
+as he describes his native attendants. Accordingly, he gives the names and
+pedigrees of the whole stud, from "the buggy mare Maiden-head and my
+wicked little favourite Fish-Guts," up to "my favourite brood-mare Fair
+Amelia, purchased at a prize sale on the frontier, and bred by the king of
+Bokhara, with his royal stamp on her near flank--stands nearly fifteen and
+a half hands high, with magnificent action and great show of blood--had,
+when taken, four gold rings in her nostrils, now removed and replaced by
+silver, which will be stolen by her groom one by one." His first day's
+march was to Futtehgunge, ("the mart of victory," being the scene of the
+memorable battle in 1774, in which the English, as the bought allies of
+the Nawab Shoojah-ed-dowlah, defeated and slew the gallant Rohilla chief,
+Hafez-Rehmut;) and here he oracularly announced a discovery in gastronomy,
+of which it would be unpardonable not to give our readers the benefit. "I
+used my farourite condiment, tomata sauce, with my beef; and _to all who
+are ignorant_ of this delicious vegetable I may venture to recommend its
+sauce, as at once both wholesome and savoury, if eaten with anything but
+cranberry tart or apple pie!" It is melancholy to reflect how often the
+best efforts of genius are anticipated and rendered of no avail. The
+colonel, when he penned this sentence with a heart overflowing with
+Epicurean philanthropy, was evidently unconscious that "chops and tomata
+sauce" were already familiar to the British public from the immortal
+researches of Mr Pickwick!
+
+    [6] The year is not specified; but as the Ramazan is subsequently
+    said to have ended March 25, it must have been in the year of the
+    Hejra 1245, ansering to A.D. 1830.
+
+Rampore, in the territory of which the colonel now found himself, is still
+a semi-independent state, the Nawab of which has a revenue of sixteen lacs
+of rupees, (£160,000,) while the city, being without the pale of English
+law, is "a city of refuge, a very Goshen of robbers, ... the streets are
+crowded with a mob of very handsome, idle, lounging fellows, having
+generally the fullest and finest jet-black beards and black mustaches in
+the world. Many of these were handsomely dressed, and many (which struck
+me as a very curious fact) appeared clean!" These were the Pathans and
+Rohillas, partly descended from the original Moslem conquerors of India,
+and partly from those who have more recently migrated from Affghanistan
+and the adjoining countries. The most athletic and warlike race among the
+Indian Mahommedans, and too proud of their blood to exercise any
+profession but that of arms, they are found in every town throughout Upper
+India, swaggering about with sword, shield, and matchlock, in the retinues
+of the native princes, and ready to join any enterprise, or flock to the
+standard of any invader, through whose means any prospect is afforded of
+shaking off the Feringhi yoke, and resuming their ancient predominance in
+the country which their forefathers won by their swords from the idolaters.
+"They hate us with the most intense bitterness, and can any one be
+surprised at it? We have taken their broad lands foot by foot." Few if any
+of these turbulent spirits are found in our European regular native army;
+their dislike to the cumbrous accoutrements and awkward European saddles
+operating equally, perhaps, with the severity of the drill and discipline
+to deter them; but they form the strength of the various corps of
+irregular horse--a force which, of late years, has most judiciously been
+greatly increased in numbers, and the uniform dashing bravery of which in
+the field, strongly contrasts with the misconduct of one at least of the
+regular native cavalry regiments in the late Affghan war. "I have seen,"
+(says the colonel,) "a lineal descendant of Pathan Nawab's serving in the
+ranks of Hearsay's horse, as a common trooper on twenty rupees a-month,
+out of which he had merely to buy and feed his horse, procure clothes,
+arms, and harness, and sustain his hereditary dignity! By his commander
+and his fellow-soldiers he was always addressed by his title of Nawab
+Sahib!"
+
+The small-pox was committing dreadful ravages in Rampore and its
+neighbourhood; and though vaccination was performed gratis at Bareilly,
+the fatalist prejudices of the natives, even of those of rank and
+education, prevented them from availing themselves of the boon. All the
+instances of the colonel, in behalf of a charming little girl, four years
+old, whose mother and sister had already taken the infection, could get
+from her father nothing more than a promise "to think of it! If it's her
+fate----" said he. "'You fool!' said I, in my civil way," (and the
+colonel's _brusquerie_ was here, at least, not misplaced,) "'if a man
+throws himself into the fire or a well, or in the path of a tiger, is he
+without blame?'" Such apathy seems almost unaccountable to English minds;
+but it may find a parallel in Lady Chatterton's story of the Irish parents,
+[7] who, after refusing to spend fourpence in nourishment for a dying
+child, came in deep grief after its death to their employer, to solicit an
+advance of thirty shillings to _wake the corpse_! Perhaps some ingenious
+systematists might hence deduce a fresh argument in favour of the alleged
+oriental origin of the Irish.
+
+    [7] Rambles in the South of Ireland; ii. 143.
+
+The colonel's next stage was to Moradabad, another Pathan city, but under
+the _raj_ of the Company, where, in a visit to a native original, named
+Meer Mahommed, he was greatly delighted by his new friend's introduction
+of the English word _swap_ into a sentence of Hindoostani. And on the 25th
+he reached Dhampore, where the welcome proclamation, "that the new moon
+had been seen," terminated the fast of the Ramazan, to the uncontrollable
+joy of the Mussulmans, who would have been subjected to another day's
+abstinence if it had not been perceived till the succeeding evening. The
+colonel, however, slyly remarks, that "it was very odd that the _Hindoos_
+could not see the new moon," and hints that their imperfection of vision
+was shared by himself, but it was otherwise decided by the Faithful; and
+he proceeded, amid the noisy rejoicings of the Moslem feast of _Bukra-Eed_,
+(called by the Turks Bairam,) by Najeena, the Birmingham of Upper India,
+to Nujeebabad. Here resided, on a pension of 60,000 rupees (£6000) a-year
+from the English government, the Nawab Gholam-ed-deen, better known by the
+nickname of Bumbo Khan, a brother of the once famous Rohilla chief
+Gholam-Khadir. Though past eighty years of age, and weighing upwards of
+twenty stone, he had not lost, any more than the equiponderant colonel,
+his taste for the good things of this world; and our traveller, on
+partaking of the Nawab's hospitality, records with infinite zest the
+glories of a peculiar preparation of lamb, called _nargus_, or the
+narcissus. But, alas! the reminiscences of the nargus were less grateful
+than the fruition, and the remorse of the colonel's guilty stomach (as
+poor Theodore Hooke, or some one else, used to call indigestion) continued
+to afflict him all the way to Hurdwar; and may probably account, by the
+consequent irritation of his temper, for various squabbles in which he was
+involved on the route.
+
+The great fair of Hurdwar was in full swing at the colonel's arrival, with
+its vast concourse of Hindoo devotees from all parts of India, to whom it
+is in itself a spot of peculiar sanctity, besides lying in the way to the
+shrine of Gungotree, (the source of the Ganges,) in the Himmalaya--its
+crowds of merchants and adventurers of all sorts, even from Uzbek Tartary
+and the remote regions of Central Asia--Seiks by thousands from the Punjab,
+with their families--Affghan and Persian horse-dealers--and numerous
+grandees, both of the Hindoo and Moslem faith, who repair hither as to a
+scene of gaiety and general resort. The colonel found quarters in the tent
+of a friend employed in the purchase of horses for government, and seems
+to have entered with all his heart into the humours of the scene; his
+description of which, and of the varied characteristics of the motley
+groups composing the half million of human beings present, is one of the
+most graphic and picturesque sketches in his work. "Huge heaps of
+assafoetida, in bags, from the mountains beyond Cabool--tons of raisins of
+various sorts--almonds, pistachio nuts, sheep with four or five
+horns--Balkh[8] cats, with long silken hair; of singular beauty--faqueers
+begging, and abusing the uncharitable with the grossest and most filthy
+language--long strings of elderly ladies, proceeding in a chant to the
+priests of the Lingam, to bargain for bodily issue--Ghât priests
+presenting their books for the presents and signatures of the European
+visitors--groups of Hindoos surrounding a Bramin, who gives each of them a
+certificate of his having performed the pilgrimage"--such are a few of the
+component parts of the scene; but the colonel's attention seems to have
+been principally fixed upon the horses, and the tricks of the _dulals_ or
+brokers, to whom the purchase is generally confided, it being almost
+hopeless for an European to make a personal bargain with a native dealer.
+But among the greatest curiosities in this way were some _tortoiseshell_
+ponies--for we can call them nothing else--a peculiar race from Uzbek
+Tartary, which we never remember to have heard of before. "They were under
+thirteen hands high, and the most curious compound of colours and marks
+that can be imagined. Suppose the animal pure, snowy white; cover the
+white with large, irregular, light bay spots through which the white is
+visible; in the middle of these light bay let there be dark bay marbled
+spots; at every six or eight inches plant rhomboidal patches of a very
+dark iron-grey; then sprinkle the whole with dark flea-bites! There's a
+_phooldar_, ( flower-market,) as they call them;" and we agree with the
+colonel that such an animal would be a fortune at Bartlemy fair.
+
+    [8] In the original "bulkh," which we have ventured to amend as
+    above. The Oriental words and phrases are, in several instances,
+    very incorrectly printed; but whether the fault rests with the
+    colonel's "undecipherable" MS., or the correctors of the press, it
+    is not for us to decide.
+
+Among the distinguished visitors to Hurdwar at this season of festivity
+was the noted Begum Sombre, or Sumroo, whose face the colonel compares to
+that of an old Scotch highlander, and her person to a sackful of shawls,
+and who declared "that the Duke of Wellington _must_ be at heart a
+Catholic, _because_ he emancipated the Catholics!" He also renewed his
+gastronomic friendship with his friend Bumbo Khan, with whom the
+recollections of past indigestion did not prevent him from feasting on
+_mahaseer_, a delicious fish found in this part of the Ganges; and on this
+occasion his Apician ecstasies are not alloyed by subsequent
+regrets--"even now the recollection soothes me"--and he recommends such of
+his readers as are yet ignorant of this luxury to start forthwith for
+Hurdwar and repair the omission. The fair ended April 13; and the colonel
+having previously succeeded in disposing of his buggy to a potentate whom
+he calls "the Kheerea Thunnasir Rajah," (we believe, the ruler of one of
+the Seik protected states,) and buying a stout Turcomani pony for the
+hills, started the same day on the road to Suharunpoor. He favours his
+readers, _en passant_, with some exceedingly original speculations
+touching the Mosaic deluge, in reference to the hills about Hurdwar, which
+do not speak very highly for his attainments in geology, though in some
+other branches of natural history, and particularly in botany, he appears
+to be no mean proficient. The journey was disturbed by attempts to steal
+the colonel's new purchase, (which was not, like the rest of the stud,
+distinguished from the horses of the country by having its tail cut,) and
+by a quarrel at Secunderpore with a thannadar, or native police magistrate,
+whose European superior's neglect of the colonel's complaint he charitably
+attributes to "some (I hope slight) derangement of the stomach." At
+Suharunpore he visited the well-known botanist Dr Royle, the curator of
+the Company's botanic garden there, then engaged in those labours on the
+Flora of the Himmalayas which have been since given to the world; and at
+Boorea, leaving the British territory, he entered that of the protected
+Seik states, whose petty chieftains are secured in their semi-independence
+by the treaty with Runjeet in 1809, which confined the ruler of Lahore to
+the right bank of the Sutlej. But their reception of the colonel did not
+appear to indicate any great degree of gratitude for these favours to the
+British nation, as represented in his person; for not one of the five Seik
+chiefs, "each of whom has his own snug little fort close to the city,"
+would supply him with a lodging; and it was only by perseverance and
+ingenuity that he secured a place to lay his head, after long wrangling
+with the subordinate functionaries. Matters improved, however, as he
+advanced further into the country; and, at the little mountain-city of
+Nahun, he was most hospitably received and entertained by the young rajah,
+Futteh Pur Grass Sing, "who had been educated almost entirely under the
+kind and fatherly superintendence of Captain Murray," the commissioner of
+the Seik states, and whose frank and gentlemanlike manners, "so unlike
+those of the ghee-fed wretches of the plains," did honour to his guardian's
+precepts. The town of Nahun, which is 3600 feet above the level of the
+sea, is described as clean and well paved; and the rajah, whose revenue
+had been increased under the management of Captain Murray from 37,000 to
+53,000 rupees, was highly popular, and by the colonel's account deservedly
+so, with his subjects. He earnestly pressed "the fat gentleman" (whose
+caution in mounting an elephant, while two men on the other side of the
+howdah balanced his weight, vehemently excited his risibility) to return
+to the plains through Nahun, and have a month's shooting with him in the
+valley; but whether the invitation was accepted or not remains untold,
+as--"Alas for the literature of the age! when I was ordered to Bundelcund,
+a vile thief entered my tents at night, and robbed me of my second volume;
+and thus did I lose my carefully written account of the sub-Himmalayan
+range, which cost me fully eight months' labour."
+
+Thus abruptly terminates the first part of the colonel's travels, and at
+the commencement of the second we find him crossing the Jumna to Calpee,
+the frontier town of Bundelcund, a wild and unsettled province, prolific
+in Thugs and bad characters of all sorts, and principally inhabited by a
+peculiar race called Bundelas, who have never been perfectly reconciled to
+the British supremacy, and who, at this present writing, are kept quiet
+only by the presence of a force of 15,000 men. Calpee is said to be the
+hottest place in India, the thermometer in June, according to the colonel,
+standing even on a cloudy day at 145 degrees--a degree of heat almost
+incredible; and it is also the principal mart for the cotton, which the
+rich black soil of Bundelcund produces of finer quality than any other
+part of Hindostan. But, notwithstanding its commercial inportance, the
+town was at this time left to the government of a native Darogah or chief
+of police, the nearest European courts being at Hameerpore, thirty miles
+distant, and the state of society seems to have been somewhat singular.
+Among its most conspicuous members is "Gopal, the celebrated robber,
+murderer, and smuggler, a tall athletic man about forty-two years of age,
+with a most hideous muddy eye, having the glare of hell itself. It is said
+that he has always fifteen servants in stated pay, and can in a few hours
+command the services of three hundred armed and desperate men; and the
+strength and vigour of the Calpee police may be estimated by the fact,
+that he has been known to walk into the house of a rich merchant in the
+centre of the town, when he was surrounded by his servants and family; he
+has very coolly selected the gold bangles of his children, and silenced
+the trembling remonstrances of the Mahajun by threats of vengeance; nor is
+this a solitary instance. When he murders, he is equally above all
+concealment; as in the recent case of a sepahee returning home with his
+savings, who was waylaid and murdered by our hero in open day. He very
+coolly gave himself up, acknowledging that he had killed the sepahee, who
+had first assaulted him. It was proved on the trial, that the sepahee was
+wholly unarmed, and he was condemned to be hung by the court of Hameerpore
+on his own confession, but released, _from want of evidence_, by the
+Sudder Court at Calcutta. Their objection was excellent, though curious;
+that if his confession was taken, it must be taken altogether, and not
+that part only which could lead to his conviction. He was released, and
+now walks about in his Sunday clothes, a living evidence of British
+tenderness."
+
+Gopal was not the only amiable character with whom the colonel became
+acquainted at Calpee, as he sought and obtained an interview with a famous
+Thug approver, who had retired from the active exercise of his profession,
+and was travelling the country in company with a party of police,
+denouncing his former associates to justice. We cannot help suspecting,
+both from the traits recorded of him, and from the vicinity of Calpee to
+his former residence at Jalone, that this personage was no other than the
+celebrated Ameer Ali, whose adventures formed the ground of Captain
+Meadows Taylor's well-known "Confessions of a Thug;" and as a pendant to
+the already published descriptions of him, we here quote the impression he
+made upon the colonel. "I expected to see a great man, but at the first
+glance I saw that I was in the presence of a master. The Thug was tall,
+active, and slenderly formed; his head was nearly oval; his eye most
+strongly resembled that of a cobra di capello; its dart was perfectly wild
+and maniacal, restless, brilliant, metallic, and concentrated." The
+colonel had a narrow escape from irretrievably affronting this eminent
+professor of murder, by unguardedly enquiring whether he was in any way
+cognizant of a trifling robbery by which the colonel himself had been a
+sufferer. "No, sir!" he exclaimed with a look which might have frozen a
+less innocent querist; "murder, not robbery, is my profession ... and none
+but the merest novices would descend so low as to rob a tent or a
+dwelling-house." The colonel, however, expresses a shrewd suspicion, from
+circumstances which had come to his knowledge, that his distinguished
+visitor's _esprit de corps_ led him to deviate from truth in this
+particular--a belief in which Captain Taylor's pages fully bear him out.
+
+The colonel's movements, after quitting Calpee and its attractive circles,
+appear to have been somewhat desultory. We find him, successively, at
+Murgaon or Murgong, Julalpore, Keitah, &c., without being told what
+decided his route; but from some subsequent remarks, it appears probable
+that he was engaged on engineering service by order of Government. Between
+Julalpore and Keitah he fell in with a gang of _nutts_[9] or gipsies,
+whom the beauty of their women (a point to which the colonel is always
+alive) did not prevent him from suspecting of an intention to practise
+_thuggee_ on his own portly person--a belief in which he was confirmed by
+hearing them speak _in another tongue_ among themselves--no doubt the
+_Ramasee_, or cant language of the Thugs, subsequently made known to the
+world at large by the investigations of Major Sleeman. At Goraree he
+purchased some small cups, carved from the variegated serpentine of the
+rock on which the town is built; but, on proposing to employ the artist in
+making some larger vases, "he told me that he was a very poor man, and his
+efforts had never been directed to larger patterns; meaning to infer that
+it was impossible he could either try or succeed!" Such is Hindoo nature!
+
+    [9] The Indian gipsies are several times mentioned in the journal of
+    Bishop Heber, who says they are called Kunjas in Bengal. Colonel
+    Davidson also mentions a race in Bundelcund called Kunjurs who
+    were in the habit, as he was informed by the Bramins, of
+    "catching lizards, scorpions, snakes, and foxes," which, if it is
+    meant that they use them for food, is analogous to the omnivorous
+    propensities of the gipsies.
+
+Churkaree, the capital of Ruttun Sing Buhadoor, one of the principal of
+the numerous rajahs among whom Bundelcund is divided, is described as
+"prettily situated on the side of the hill, over a lake covered with the
+white lotus flower, and having a very fine appearance from a distance, as
+most of the houses have their upper stories whitewashed, and are seen
+peeping through the dark-green leafy trees of the country, but the town,
+which contains perhaps 15,000 souls, of whom 1000 may be Mussulmen, is
+very straggling, irregular, and dirty." The male population were all
+fiercely mustached, and loaded with arms; but their repulsive exterior was
+more than compensated by the charms of the other sex, all of whom wore
+immense hollow ankle bangles of zinc, filled with bits of gravel, which
+tinkled as they walked. "I have never seen so many well-formed and
+handsome women together as I did at the wells outside the town, drawing
+water _à la Rebecca_. Some of their faces were strikingly intelligent, and
+their figures eminently graceful. The population is almost purely Hindoo;
+and I think the Hindoo females are more delicate in their forms than the
+Mussulmanees." The Rajah was, however, absent on a sporting excursion, and
+the darogah refused to provide the colonel with lodgings, alleging his
+master's orders that no Feringhis should be allowed in the town; and it
+was not till after a long altercation, of which the colonel gives himself
+greatly the best, that he succeeded in finding quarters in the house of a
+_bunneea_ or grocer. But the next day's march (for Bundelcund is almost as
+thickly set with sovereign princes as Saxony itself) carried him out of
+the realm of this inhospitable potentate into the territories of the Rajah
+of Jalone, the once noted patron and protector of Thuggee, by whose agent
+he was most politely received at Mahoba, a once splendid but now ruined
+city, celebrated for its artificial lakes, which in long-past times were
+formed by a famous Rajpoot prince named Purmal, by damming up the narrow
+gorges of the hills. "Never had I seen, in the plains of India, a prospect
+more enchanting! Conceive a beautiful sheet of calm, clear, silvery water,
+of several miles in circumference, occasionally agitated by the splashing
+leaps of large fishes, or the gradual alighting of noble swan-like aquatic
+birds: its margin broken as if by the most skilful artist; now running
+into the centre, and ending in most romantic low rocky hills, covered with
+trees and embellished with black, antique Jain temples, deserted probably
+for hundreds of years, and at present the retreat of the elegant peafowl;
+in other places embanked with huge blocks of cut granite, embrowned by the
+shade of magnificent trees, under which small bright Hindoo temples,
+carefully whitewashed, might be seen in the shade; or bounded by abrupt
+rocky promontories, surmounted by many-pillared temples in ruins, hanging
+in the sky. A fine rich sunset gave an exquisite richness and classic
+magnificence to the scene. Many little boys with rod and line were
+ensnaring the sweet little _singhee_, or the golden _rohoo_ or
+carp--bringing back to my heart the days, when, stealing from school, I
+was wont to sit on the rocks of the Dee, at Craglug, near Aberdeen,
+watching the motion of a float that was not under water once in the
+twenty-four hours."
+
+The colonel's laudable habit of associating freely, whenever opportunity
+occurred, with the natives, gave him considerable insight into the state
+of the country, where the caprices of the native princes were not then
+much interfered with, and which consequently, as he says, "was pretty much
+in the situation of the Emerald Isle;" and verily if the tale told him by
+the Hindoo _gosain_ or priest at Jourâhoô, of the murder of his
+predecessor in the temple, and the impunity of the robbers, were correctly
+related, the Bundelas have not much to learn in the arts of bloodshed and
+depredation. "This village being a sort of corner to the territories of
+several Rajahs, robberies, murders, and all other diversions, are of daily
+occurrence; and when enquiries are made; each territory throws the blame
+on its neighbour." The maxim of government most current in Bundelcund,
+both with rulers and ruled, seems indeed to have been--
+
+  "The good old rule, the simple plan,
+  That those should take who have the power,
+  And those should keep who can;"
+
+for while this strange confusion of _meum_ and _tuum_ prevailed among the
+peasantry, the country was ruined by the oppressive and irregular
+exactions of the rajahs, both zemindars and cultivators flying from their
+habitations to escape the levying of the rents, which were often demanded
+more than once by different collectors. At Chundla, the colonel was lodged
+in the house of an opulent zemindar, who had absconded for the reason just
+given; "and one of the thanna servants told me, that, by those means,
+Bundelcund was depopulated"--a statement corroborated by the numerous
+ruined brick houses remaining in the towns among the miserable hovels of
+the present day. The rajahs of Bundelcund are, almost without exception,
+of Rajpoot lineage, and thus of a different race from their Bundela
+subjects; but the condition of the country is much the same wherever it is
+left under the sway of the Hindoo princes, who are exempt even from the
+partial restraint which the Koran imposes on the despotism of Mahommedan
+rulers. The only effectual cure for the evils reigning in Bundelcund will
+be its formal incorporation with the dominions of the Company--a
+consummation which, from the refractory spirit shown in the province after
+our losses in Affghanistan, is probably not far distant.
+
+The remainder of the colonel's notes on Bundelcund relate principally to
+his visits to the ancient hill-fortresses of Ajeegur and Kalingur, both
+formerly occupied in force by the British, but now--with the exception of
+a havildar's (sergeant's) party of sepoys posted at the former, and a
+single company at the latter--garrisoned solely by the _lungoors_, or
+large black monkeys, whom the colonel found holding solemn assembly in the
+Jain temples and the hall of audience, built by the famous Rajah Purmal at
+Ajeegur. While exploring his way along the ruined and overgrown ramparts,
+he had a narrow escape from the fangs of a large venomous serpent, ("the
+_Katula Rekula Poda_, No. 7 of Russell,") on which he was on the point of
+treading, and which, in commendable gratitude for its forbearance; he
+allowed to glide off unharmed by his fowling-piece; "but he was the first
+reptile that ever escaped without the chance of losing his life at my
+hands." On the road to Kalingur he had an interview with a petitioner, who
+offered him 400 rupees in cash, or a large diamond, for his interest in a
+certain case then pending before the judge at Bandah; "but I explained to
+my client that I was not in that line of business, and as I saw he had no
+intention of insulting me, we parted friends." Kalingur, which was taken
+by the British after a long siege in 1812, stands on a rock towering
+"upwards of 850 feet above the plain below, and probably about 3000 feet
+above the level of the sea;" but its strength as a fortress is as nothing
+in comparison to its sanctity, which entitles every one, who resides there
+only as long as it takes to milk a cow, to especial beatitude--the object
+of veneration being a _lingam_ of black stone enshrined in a temple, the
+guardianship of which is jointly vested in five resident families of
+Bramins. "At this time," says the colonel, "the place is not worth keeping,
+the country being so thoroughly impoverished and desolate;" and he
+accordingly, after viewing the marvels of the locality, pursued his way to
+Banda, and thence _laid a dâk_ (or travelled by palanquin with relays of
+bearers) to Calpee, "there to sit from nine to four, writing filthy
+accounts of bricks and mortar, square feet, cubic feet, and running feet,
+rupees, annas, and pie; squabbling with wrinkled unromantic villains,
+whose cool-tempered and overwhelming patience amply deserve their unlawful
+gains--I mean as labourers in the vineyard of villany."
+
+"A sporting excursion in Oude," in the spring of 1836, comes next in order
+of time; and in regular order we accordingly take it, though it has
+pleased either Mr Colburn or the colonel to place it after the voyage down
+the Ganges. The colonel left Lucknow, March 2; and three days later the
+whole party rendezvoused at Khyrabad, consisting of "Mrs, Miss, and
+Brigadier Churchill, Colonel Arnold, Major Cureton, Lieut. Waugh, Dr Ross
+of her Majesty's 16th Lancers, and the writer of these amiable records;"
+to whom was soon after added, in the capacity of guide and hanger-on, "Sam
+Lall, by birth a Chuttree or Rajpoot, by profession a zemindar, and by
+inclination a sycophant and shikarree, (hunter.)" Indian field sports,
+with their concomitants of hogs, hogdeer, jungles, elephants, tigers, and
+nullahs, have been of late years rendered so familiar to stay-at-home
+travellers, that we shall but concisely notice the colonel's exploits in
+this forest campaign, which present no remarkable novelty, though detailed
+_con amore_, and with the two-fold zest of a sportsman and an epicure.
+With all deference, indeed, to the colonel, we have shrewd doubts whether
+the latter feeling was not the predominant one; for the death of a tiger,
+nine of which fell during the three weeks' foray before the rifles of
+himself and his companions, is evidently chronicled with less of
+heart-felt enthusiasm than characterises his encomiums on the hogdeer soup,
+the delicate floricans and black partridges, (in the preparation of bread
+sauce, for which, with his own hands, he earned immortal renown,) and the
+other materials for good living poured forth from the cornucopia of an
+Indian game-bag. His gastronomic fervour during this jaunt reaches at
+times an ecstatic pitch, which, as old Weller says, "werges on the
+poetical." "For him (the gastronomist) the dark rocks and arid plains of
+the dry Dekkan produce their purple grapes, and cunning but goodly bustard;
+for him burning Bundelcund its wonderful rock pigeon and ortolan
+inimitable; the Jumna, most ancient of rivers, its large rich Kala banse,
+and tasty crabs; for him yields the low and marshy Terace her elegant
+florican; the mighty Gunga its melting mahaseer; the Goomtee its exquisite
+mullet. And shall he not eat and delight in her fruits? ... Let the ass eat
+its thistles, and the swallow its flies _au naturel_; you and I, reader,
+know better!"
+
+One day, while wading on their elephants through a deep marsh in pursuit
+of a tiger, the chasseurs suddenly stumbled upon a pleasant family
+party--"a labyrinth of huge boa-constrictors or pythons, sound asleep,
+floating on a bed of crushed _nurkool_, (a gigantic species of reed,) the
+least of them twenty feet long, and two feet in circumference. A more
+beautiful natural mosaic cannot be imagined: they appeared, from being wet,
+as if recently varnished. Perhaps they were from twenty to thirty in
+number, and occupied a spot of about twenty feet square. No sooner did the
+dreadful glistening reptiles hear the click of my rifle, and feel its ball,
+than they shot forth with all their vigour, and diving, disappeared in an
+instant under the matted roots of the tall nurkool, and, although I tried,
+I could not get another glimpse." One of these giant serpents, seventeen
+feet long, and eighteen inches in circumference, which the colonel calls a
+small one, was shot a few days afterwards by Colonel Arnold. The marsh and
+jungle swarmed with peacocks, jungle-fowl, and wild-fowl of all sorts,
+affording glorious sport; and, besides the smaller kinds of deer, several
+specimens occurred of a magnificent species of stag with twelve-tyned
+horns, called _baru-singa_--apparently allied to the _sambur_ and _rusa_
+of the Dekkan. The comparatively small number of tigers killed was,
+however, a source of disappointment; since the utility of these battues,
+in which the superior fire-arms and appliances of the English are brought
+into action for the destruction of these ferocious animals, may be
+estimated from the damage done by them in the wilder parts of India,
+"which is beyond the belief even of Indo-European residents, and must,
+consequently, appear an exaggeration to distant Englishmen. General (then
+Captain) Briggs, when resident at Dhoolia in Candeish, in 1821, where his
+potails, or head men, were obliged to keep a register of the oxen
+(exclusive of sheep and goats) destroyed in their villages, reported that
+no less than 21,000 had been killed in three years! As no register is kept
+in Oude, it is impossible to register the number."
+
+On the banks of the Mohun-nuddee the party was joined by Rajah Ruttun Sing,
+a chief holding a considerable tract of country under the suzerainté of
+Oude, who favoured them with his company while they remained in his
+district--a compliment which he expected to be acknowledged, as he
+distinctly intimated on taking leave, by the gift of a valuable
+fowling-piece; but this modest request was parried by the rejoinder, that
+none of their guns were good enough for his highness! During one of the
+halts, an incident occurred which strongly illustrates the inhuman apathy
+of the Hindoos towards any one not connected with them by the ties of
+caste. A man was found sitting under a tree near the camp, uttering
+strange cries, and the servants were desired to order him to withdraw;
+"they returned, saying carelessly that he was a _nutt_, or gipsy, who had
+been robbed." A robbery _from_ a gipsy was such a strange contradiction of
+terms, that the colonel went personally to enquire into the matter, when
+he was horror-struck by finding, that the man had been, not only plundered
+of his earnings by a band of Bunjarras, but frightfully mutilated and
+wounded, a trifle which the Hindoo servants had not thought worth
+mentioning. The poor wretch's arm was amputated by Dr Ross; and, being
+carried with the camp and carefully tended, he was at last dismissed, with
+a fair prospect of recovery, and with a gift of sixty rupees subscribed
+among the party; but not even the example of the _sahibs_ could teach the
+Hindoos humanity, and only the peremptory commands of Dr Ross could
+prevail upon his bearer to place a mattress under the sufferer! On their
+return march, the party were further honoured by visits from several
+rajahs and zemindars, all of whom were "loud in complaint against the
+extortions of the aumils, who constantly attempted to gather more, and
+sometimes twice and a half as much, as the stipulated rent, in consequence
+of which the zemindars were compelled to rebel;" a view of the political
+condition of Oude which naturally results from its anomalous position,
+under a sovereign nominally independent, who is at once too weak to
+control his own subjects, and fearful of diminishing the shadow of
+authority left to him by calling in the only available aid. On the 29th of
+March the party again reached Khyrabad, the appointed place of their
+separation, as it had been of their meeting; and here the narrative, as
+before, breaks off abruptly.
+
+The concluding part, in order of time, of the colonel's lucubrations,
+contains his narrative of a voyage on the Ganges, from Allahabad, by
+Dhacca, to Calcutta; but the features and incidents of this navigation
+have been so frequently described by travellers of all sorts and kinds,
+from Bishop Heber and Captain Bellew to our own much-esteemed Kerim Khan,
+that we shall devote but brief space to it. He quitted Allahabad, as he
+informs us, December 5, 1839, so deeply regretted by the native population,
+that they determined to perpetuate his memory by the erection of a new
+ghât or landing-place, every brick of which was to be stamped with the
+letter D--a distinction which he had, no doubt, deserved by the
+_bonhommie_ towards both Hindoo and Moslem, which forms one of the most
+favourable traits in the jovial colonel's character. The Tribeenee Ghât,
+immediately below Allahabad, where the streams of the Jumna and the Ganges
+unite, is one of the holiest spots in India; to which pilgrims resort from
+all quarters, in the hope of securing paradise by dying at the junction of
+the sacred waters. The spirit of religious exclusiveness prevails here as
+well as in other places; and the colonel mentions his having been once an
+eyewitness of some rough treatment received by a _chumar_, or
+leather-dresser, (one of the lowest castes,) at the hands of some high
+caste sepoys, who were highly indignant that so mean a carcass should
+presume to defile the holy ground! Leaving the ghâts and devotees behind
+him, however, and floating down the stream in his capacious three-roomed
+budgerow, he passed Mirzapoor, Chunar, and even the holy city of Benares,
+(which he perversely spells Bunarus,) without halting; and reached without
+adventure or mishap the mouth of the Goomtee, where his attention was
+attracted by a party of eighteen young elephants, the property of the king
+of Oude, bathing in the river. "Of all animals, saving the Bundela goat,
+there is none that suffers more from change of climate than the elephant:
+of the numbers caught on the eastern frontier, probably not one in four
+survives a journey to Delhi. Bred in the darkest and most gloomy forests,
+they are in a great measure sheltered from heat by the eternal moisture of
+the cool shady bower under which they rove; and are then expected to bear
+all on a sudden the most intense heat, acting directly on their jet-black
+skins, when brought into the plains of Upper India. A very clever native
+told me he could make money by any thing but young elephants." Another
+curious fact relative to the elephant, mentioned in a subsequent chapter
+on the authority of Captain Broadfoot of the Madras commissariat, is, that
+both wild and tame elephants are extremely subject to a pulmonary disease,
+which proved on dissection to be tubercular--in fact, consumption! It was
+found to yield, however, to copious bleedings, if taken in its early
+stages.
+
+The colonel's pages, at this point, are filled with digressions and
+dissertations on subjects somewhat miscellaneous--Aberdeen pale ale--the
+enormities of Warren Hastings' government--the late James Prinsep and the
+moral precepts of the Rajah Piyâdâsee--and a most incomprehensible
+rhapsody about "a red mustached member of the Bengal civil service," of
+which we profess ourselves utterly incompetent to make either head or tail,
+and strongly recommend the colonel to expunge it if the work reaches
+another edition. The voyage presents no incidents but the usual ones of
+pelicans, alligators, and porpoises: and on January 15, he arrived at
+Dhacca, "the once famous city of muslins." But the muslin trade has now
+almost wholly disappeared; and with it "the thousands of families of
+muslin weavers, who, from the extreme delicacy of their manufacture, were
+obliged to work in pits, sheltered from the heat of the sun and changes of
+the weather; and even after that precaution, only while the dew lay on the
+ground, as the increasing heat destroyed the extremely delicate thread."
+The jungle is in consequence advancing close upon the city, which is thus
+rendered almost uninhabitable from malaria--the only manufacturers which
+continue to flourish being those of violins, bracelets, made from a
+peculiar shell resembling the _Murex tulipa_, and--idols for Hindoo
+worship!
+
+The colonel remained at Dhacca till February 4, awaiting ulterior orders
+from headquarters, and had, consequently, abundance of leisure for making
+himself acquainted with the place and its people. These researches,
+however, were not always unattended with danger; for on one occasion,
+while viewing the city from an elevated building, a piece of plaster was
+struck from the cornice near where he stood by a matchlock ball--a
+delicate hint that the Mussulmans disliked being overlooked. The Nawab,
+apparently the son of Bishop Heber's acquaintance, Shumseddowlah, still
+resides in the palace of his ancestors, but is described as an extravagant,
+uneducated youth, who has mortgaged away his income from 5000 to 200
+rupees per mensem--that is, from L.6000 to L.240 per annum. The
+inhabitants were a mixture of almost all the creeds and nations of
+Asia--Chinese, Thibetans, Mugs from Arracan, Burmese, Malays, etc.; but
+the great majority are Hindoos, whose sanguinary goddess Kalee is adored
+in not less than fifty temples. The Greeks and Armenians also have each a
+church, the services of which, as described by the colonel, are conducted
+in much the same form as at Constantinople:--"But among the (Armenian)
+matrons only was any appearance of devotion visible; one of them, most
+gorgeously appareled in the Armenian fashion, with a magnificent tiara of
+jewels on her brow, and wearing a superb shawl, threw herself on the
+ground, with her head sunk between her arms, towards the altar, and
+remained in that position nearly five minutes. The others, being dressed
+_à l'Anglaise_, with stiff stays and fashionable bonnets, could not afford
+to indulge in such a position." The Armenians were formerly numerous in
+Dhacca, and are still an influential and wealthy body; the Greeks are now
+"few and far between," but in the palmy days of Dhacca they were a
+flourishing community.
+
+Dhacca was a place abounding in strange characters from all parts of the
+world; and among others whom the colonel encountered, was a singular
+specimen of a cosmopolite, a native of Fez, who called himself a Moslem,
+but whom our friend vehemently suspected of being a Jew. He had been
+almost as great a traveller as his countryman the famous Sheikh Ebn Batuta,
+whose wanderings are immortalized in the pages of Maga,[10] and came last
+from Moulmein, with a cargo of black pepper and rubies. He had resided
+seventeen years in India, and proposed to the colonel, whom he claimed as
+a brother, "since from his own home he could reach England in ten days,"
+that they should jointly freight a vessel with valuables, and go _home_
+together! And, among other scattered facts, a casual encounter with some
+Chinese in the employ of the Assam Tea Company, whom the colonel
+considerably astonished by addressing them in their own language,
+introduces "the very curious fact," that at Tipperah, a civil station not
+more than fifty or sixty miles from Dhacca, the natives have from time
+immemorial used the tea which grows there abundantly, and is prepared
+after a fashion of their own. "And yet" (continues the colonel--and we
+fear there is too much truth in his remarks) "the existence of the
+tea-plant is but a recent discovery! Any other nation would have
+established a tea-manufactory at Tipperah, immediately after the first
+settlement, and the Yankees would have 'progressed' railroads and
+steam-boats for its success. India is at this moment a mine of unexplored
+wealth. No sooner had steam-boats appeared than coal has been discovered
+in every direction!" The manufacture of native iron in Bengal, which had
+been pressed upon Lord Hastings, as the colonel seems to imply, by himself,
+and at first warmly adopted by him, was objected to in the council, and
+ultimately abandoned, "on the grounds that it would militate against the
+commercial interests of Great Britain--that is, against the profits of
+those India stockholders, possessing votes, who followed the trade of
+ironmongers!" There is many a true word spoken in jest; and this and other
+side-cuts of the colonel at the shortsighted proceedings of the Bahadurs
+at Calcutta, though sometimes queerly worded, contain now and then some
+unpalatable facts. The administration of the present Governor-General has
+shown at least some _promise_ of a better state of things--and if the
+impulse now given to the development of the resources of India be steadily
+followed up, this reproach will erelong be taken away. The receipt of his
+final orders, however, which pointed out China as his destination, put an
+end to the colonel's speculations; and re-embarking on the stream of the
+Booree Gunga, he passed, with little incident worth noticing, through the
+numerous branches of the river, and the picturesque jungles of the
+Soonderbunds, and arrived safely, after an absence of twenty-one years, at
+the city of palaces--and there we leave him.
+
+    [10] May 1841.
+
+The subject of the manufactures and products of India, is not, however,
+the only point connected with the internal administration, respecting
+which some inconvenient facts find their way to light in the colonel's
+pages--and with one or two of these revelations, we shall conclude our
+extracts. The majority of those Anglo-Indian employés, who have favoured
+the world with "Reminiscences" and "Narratives," are singularly free from
+the charge of what is familiarly termed "telling tales out of school."
+According to their account, nowhere is justice so efficiently administered,
+or its functionaries so accessible, as in our Indian empire; but here,
+whether from the native frankness of the colonel's disposition, or from
+his having nothing more to hope or fear from the old Begum in Leadenhall
+Street, we find this important subject placed, on several occasions, in
+rather a different light from that in which it is usually represented. It
+is well known that Sir David Ochterlony, a short time before his death,
+discovered by mere accident that he was enrolled as a pensioner to a large
+amount on the civil list of almost every native prince in Upper India,
+from the emperor of Delhi downwards--his principal moonshee, or native
+secretary, having thrown out intelligible hints, as though from his master,
+that such douceurs would not be without their use in securing his powerful
+interest at Calcutta--the moonshee himself quietly pocketing the proceeds.
+This was certainly an outrageous instance; but it is the direct interest
+of every native subordinate to screen his own misdeeds and extortions, by
+promoting to the utmost, in his European superior, that inaccessibility to
+which he is naturally but too much inclined--and the extent to which this
+system of exclusion is carried, may be inferred from the following
+anecdote. The colonel had been requested by a native landholder of high
+respectability, to introduce him to the house of a civilian; and on asking
+why he could not go by himself, was told, "I dare not approach the very
+compound of the house he lives in! If his head man should hear that I
+ventured to present myself before the gentleman without his permission, he
+would immediately harass me by some false complaint, or even by
+instituting an enquiry into the very title-deeds of my estate, which might,
+however falsely, terminate in my ruin. It is not long since I paid eleven
+hundred rupees to ---- to suppress false claims, which, if they had
+actually gone into court, would have cost me ten times the sum."
+
+Of the practical effects of criminal punishments, the colonel does not
+speak more highly. "In the real Hindoostanee view of the subject, a
+convict in chains is nearly a native gentleman--a little roué,
+perhaps--employed on especial duties in the Company's service, for which
+he is well fed, and has little labour. A jail-bird can easily be
+distinguished after the first six months, by his superior bodily condition.
+On his head maybe seen either a kinkhâb (brocade) or embroidered cap, or
+one of English flowered muslin, enriched with a border of gold or silver
+lace. Gros de Naples is coming into fashion, but slowly.... Was he
+low-spirited, he could, for a trifling present, send to the bazar, and
+enjoy a nautah from the hour the judge went to sleep till daybreak next
+morning--nay, under proper management, he might be gratified by the
+society of his wife and family.... See him at work, the burkandauze
+(policeman) is smoking _his_ chillum, while he and his friends are sound
+asleep, _sub tegmine fagi_. All of a sudden there is an alarm--the judge
+is coming! up they all start, and work like devils for ten or fifteen
+seconds, and then again to repose. This is working in chains on the roads!
+In fact, after a man is once used to the comforts of an Indian prison,
+there's no keeping him out!"
+
+All this, no doubt, is broad caricature--but "ridentem dicere verum quid
+vetat?" a motto which the colonel could not do better than adopt for any
+future edition of his eccentric lucubrations. And so Rookhsut! Colonel
+Sahib! may your favourite tomata sauce never pall upon your palate; and
+though perhaps you would hardly thank us for the usual oriental good wish,
+that your shadow may continue to increase, may it at least never be
+diminished by that worst of all fiends, indigestion!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+BELFRONT CASTLE.
+
+A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.
+
+
+One half of the world was surprised that Reginald Belfront married Jane
+Holford--and the other half was equally surprised that Jane Holford
+married Reginald Belfront; for, considering the experience that both
+halves of the world must have had, it is amazing how subject they still
+are to surprise. To us, who have not the pleasure to belong to either half,
+there is very little surprising in the matter. Reginald had been for some
+time on a visit at the house of a distant relation--old Sir Hugh de Mawley.
+He had wandered through the great woods of the estate, and found them very
+tiresome; had strolled in the immense park, and found it dull; and, in the
+long evenings, had sat in the stately hall, and listened to the endless,
+whispered anecdotes of his host, and found them both intolerable. No
+wonder he started with joyful surprise when, one day in the drawing-room,
+he heard the rustle of a silk gown; caught the glancing of some beautiful
+real flowers on the top of a bright-green bonnet; and, more wonderful than
+all, the smile of the prettiest lips, and the glances of the clearest eyes
+he had ever seen in his life. The gown, the bonnet, the smiles, and eyes,
+all belonged to Jane Holford; and Reginald, who had, up to this time, made
+no great progress in the study of comparative physiology, now made such
+rapid strides, that he could have told you every point in which the
+possessor of the above-named attributes differed from the stiff and prim
+Miss de Mawley, who had hitherto been the sole representative of the
+female sex in Mawley Court. The neck and shoulders--the chin--nose--arms--
+ankles--feet--not to mention the hair and eyebrows--of the new specimen,
+were minutely studied; and, in spite of the usual antipathy he entertained
+against all scientific pursuits, he felt a strong inclination to be the
+owner of it himself, in order to pursue his investigations at full leisure.
+He was no genius--hated books--disliked clever people--but prided himself
+on his horsemanship, his play at quarterstaff, his personal strength, and,
+above all, in his fine old castle in a somewhat inaccessible part of
+Yorkshire, which had remained in the possession of his family ever since
+the Conquest. Jane, on the other hand, had no castle to boast of; and
+probably had no ancestor whatever at any period preceding the year 1750,
+when her grandfather had bought an estate near Mawley Court--which had
+gone on improving with the improvement of the times, till her father found
+himself the possessor of a rent-roll of fifteen hundred a year, four sons,
+and six grown-up daughters. It will easily be believed that no objections
+to the match were raised on the part of a middle-aged gentleman, with so
+many reasons for agreeing to the marriage settlement proposed by Reginald
+Belfront; consisting, as it did, of a jointure to the widow, and the use
+of Belfront Castle for life, without the remotest allusion to any portion
+or other contingent advantage on the other side; and as Jane herself was,
+if possible, still more satisfied on the subject than her father, all the
+arrangements were rapidly made, and in less than three months after the
+apparition of the silk gown and other etceteras in the drawing-room, the
+indissoluble knot was tied, and Miss Cecilia, the second daughter, was
+advanced to the dignity of Miss Holford, vice Jane--promoted.
+
+The church was all decked out with roses and other pleasing emblems of the
+unfading nature of connubial bliss; wreaths of sunflowers, with the same
+comfortable moral, were hung up over the great gate of Mawley Court; while
+Miss de Mawley, representing in her own person the evergreens omitted in
+the garlands, received the happy couple on their return from the ceremony
+at the head of all the female domestics, from the housekeeper down to the
+kitchenmaid, and led the bride and bridegroom to the table in the great
+hall, where old Sir Hugh was sitting in great state. They kneeled down
+before his chair; and, laying his hand on their heads, he began blessing;
+but not having practised that style of oratory so much as he ought, it
+rapidly degenerated into a grace--and, as lunch in the mean time was
+brought in, and the Holford family, and one or two of the neighbours who
+had been present at the ceremony, had now arrived, the eloquence of Sir
+Hugh was not altogether thrown away. There were several speeches and
+toasts, and sundry attempts at jocularity; and Sir Hugh began the story of
+the French countess and the waterfall at Fountainbleau; and Reginald
+availed himself of the somnolency of the rest of the party to slip out
+with his bride without being observed, just as the royal family began to
+suspect the secret--and, long before the incensed husband sent the
+challenge, the happy pair were careering onward as fast as the postboy
+could drive, on the first stage of their wedding tour.
+
+A month afterwards they were in a country inn in Wales. The window at
+which they sat commanded a view of the beautiful vale of Cwmcwyllchly--a
+small river glided down in winding mazes, hiding itself behind wooded
+knolls, and brawling over rocks in the most playful and picturesque manner
+imaginable. The sun had begun to set, and was taking a last look at the
+prospect, with his vast chin rested on the top of Penchymcrwm, presenting
+to the poetical mind an image of a redfaced farmer looking over a
+five-barred gate--every thing, in short, that is generally met with in
+Tourists' Guides, as constituting a splendid view, was assembled on this
+favoured spot; and yet Jane heaved a deep sigh, and appeared to take no
+notice of the landscape.
+
+"You're tired, my love," said Reginald; "you have walked too far up these
+Welsh mountains."
+
+"I hope to get used to climbing," answered Jane; "there are plenty of
+hills at Belfront--aren't there?"
+
+"Yes, we have plenty of hills; but why don't you call it home, Jane?"
+
+"Because I have never lived there," she replied; "and a place can scarcely
+be called home that one has never seen."
+
+"But you have never said you wished to see it."
+
+"Oh, but I have wished it all the same--may we--may we go--home?"
+
+She said the word at last, and Reginald was delighted.
+
+"Home! to be sure--to-morrow, at daybreak; for, to tell you the truth, I
+don't care sixpence for fine views--in fact, I don't think there is any
+difference between any two landscapes--except that there may be hills in
+one, and none in another, or woods, or a river--but they are all exactly
+the same in reality. So, let us go home, my love, as fast as we can, or
+I'm very much afraid Mr Peeper won't like it."
+
+"Mr Peeper?" enquired Jane. "Who is Mr Peeper?"
+
+"You will know him in good time," said Reginald; "and I hope he will like
+you."
+
+"I hope he will--I hope all your friends will like me--I will do every
+thing in my power to please them."
+
+"You're a very good girl, Jane; and Mr Peeper can't help but be pleased,
+and I am glad of it; for it ought to be our first study to make ourselves
+agreeable to _him_."
+
+"Agreeable to Mr Peeper!" thought Jane. "How strange that I never was told
+about him before this moment! Does he live in the castle, Reginald?" she
+asked.
+
+"Certainly. One of his family has lived there ever since one of mine did;
+so there is a connexion between us of a few hundred years."
+
+"Have you any other friends who live in the castle?" enquired the bride.
+
+"I don't know whether Phil Lorimer is there just now or not; he has a room
+whenever he comes; and a knife and fork at table."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"A capital fellow--full of wit--and makes funnier faces and better songs
+than any man in Yorkshire. You will like Phil Lorimer."
+
+"And I hope he will like me!"
+
+"If he don't, I'll break every bone in his body."
+
+"Oh! I beg you won't," said the bride with a smile, and looking up in
+Reginald's face to assure herself he spoke in joke. It was as earnest a
+face as if it had been of cast-iron; and she saw that Mr Lorimer's only
+chance of preserving a whole skin was to like her with all his might.
+
+"Is there any one else?"
+
+"There's Mr Peeper's assistant, Mark Lutter--a clever man, and a great
+scholar. I hate scholars, so he dines in the servants' hall, or far down
+the table--below the salt."
+
+"Are you serious?" enquired Jane.
+
+"Do you not like scholars?"
+
+"What's the use of them? I never could see what they were good for--and,
+besides, Mr Peeper hates them too."
+
+"Then why does he keep this man as his assistant?"
+
+"Because if he didn't, the fellow would rebel."
+
+"Well, you could turn him off."
+
+"We never turn any body off at Belfront Castle. If they go of their own
+accord, we punish them for it if we can--if they stay, they are welcome.
+Mr Peeper must look to it, or Lutter will make a disturbance."
+
+"What a curious place this castle must be," thought Jane, "and what odd
+people they are that live in it!" She asked no more questions, but
+determined to restrain her curiosity till she could satisfy it on the spot;
+and, luckily, she had not long to wait. Next day they started on their
+homeward way. As they drew nearer their destination, Jane's anxiety to
+gain the first glimpse of her future home increased with every mile. She
+had, of course, formed many fancy pictures of it in her own mind; and, as
+love lent the brush and most obligingly compounded the colours, there can
+be no doubt they made out a very captivating landscape of it between them.
+
+"At the top of the next hill," said Reginald, "you will see the keep."
+
+Jane stretched her head forward, and looked through the front window as if
+she could pierce the hill that lay between her and home. On went the
+horses; but the next hill seemed an incredible way off; it was now getting
+late, and the shadows of evening, like a flock of tired black sheep, began
+to lie down and rest thenselves on the vast dreary moor they were
+travelling over. At last Jane felt that they were beginning an ascent; and
+a sickly moon, that seemed to have undergone a severe operation, and lost
+nearly all her limbs, lifted up her pale face in the sky. The wind, too,
+began to whistle in long low gusts, and Reginald, who was not of a
+poetical temperament, as we have already observed, was nearly asleep. They
+reached the hill top at last, and a great expanse of rugged and broken
+country lay before them.
+
+"Where is it?--on which hand?" said Jane.
+
+"Straight before you," replied the husband; "it is only three miles off;
+the high-road turns off to the left, but we go through fields right on."
+
+Jane looked with almost feverish anxiety. At a good distance in front,
+rose a tall black structure, like the chimney of a shot manufactory--a
+single, square, gigantic tower--throwing a darker mass against the
+darkened sky, and sicklied o'er on one of the faces with the yellow-green
+moonlight. There were no lights in it, nor any sign of habitation; and
+Jane would have indulged in various enquiries and exclamations, if the
+carriage had allowed her; but it had by this time left the main road, and
+sank up to the axles in the ruts; it bounded against stones, and wallowed
+in mire alternately; and all that she could do, was to hold on by one of
+the arm rests, as if she had been in the cabin of a storm-toss'd ship.
+
+"For mercy's sake, Reginald, will this last long?" she said, out of breath
+with her exertions.
+
+"We are about a mile from the drawbridge. I hope they have not drawn it
+up."
+
+"Could we not get into the castle if they have?"
+
+"We might fall into the moat if we tried the postern."
+
+"Oh, gracious!--is there a moat?"--and instinctively she put her hand to
+her throat, for her mother had brought her up with a salutary dread of
+colds, and she felt a sensation of choking at the very name.
+
+At this moment, the agonized carriage, after several groans that would
+have moved the heart of a highway commissioner, gave a rush downward, and
+committed suicide in the most determined manner, by dashing its axle on
+the ground--the wheels endeavouring in vain to fathom the profundity of
+the ruts, and the horses totally unable to move the stranded equipage. The
+sudden jerk knocked Reginald's hat over his eyes against the roof of the
+carriage, and Jane screamed when she felt the top of her bonnet squeezed
+as flat as a pancake by the same process, but neither of them, luckily,
+was hurt.
+
+"We must get out and walk," said the husband; "it isn't more than half a
+mile, and we will send Phil Lorimer, or some of them, for the trunks."
+
+He put his arm round Jane's waist, and helped her over the almost
+impassable track.
+
+"We must try to get the road mended," said Jane.
+
+"It has never been mended in our time," was the reply; and it was said in
+a tone which showed that the fact so announced was an unanswerable
+argument against the proposition of the bride.
+
+"A few stones well broken would do it all," she urged.
+
+"We never break stones at Belfront," was the rejoinder; and in silence,
+and with some difficulty, they groped their unsteady way. At last they
+emerged from a thick overgrown copse, in which the accident had happened,
+and, after sundry narrow escapes from sprained ankles and broken arms,
+they reached the gate. It was an immense wooden barrier, supported at each
+end by little round buildings--like a slice of toast laid lengthways
+between two half pounds of butter. It was thickly studded with iron nails,
+and the round piers were of massive stone, partly overgrown with ivy, and
+as solid as if they had been formed of one mass.
+
+"Does any body live in those lodges?" enquired Jane.
+
+"There is a warder in the inner court," said Reginald. "These are merely
+the supporters of the outer gate."
+
+"And how are we to get in?"
+
+"We must blow, I suppose." And so saying, Reginald lifted up a horn that
+was hung by an iron chain from one of the piers, and executed a flourish
+that made Jane put her fingers to her ears.
+
+In a short time the creaking of an iron chain--whose recollection of oil
+must have been of the most traditionary nature--gave intimation that its
+intentions were decidedly hospitable; and with many squeaks and grunts the
+enormous portal turned at last on its hinges, and exposed to view a narrow
+winding road between two walls, which, in a short time, conducted the
+visitors to a long wooden bridge over a piece of stagnant water--the said
+bridge having only that moment been let down from the lofty position in
+which its two halves were kept by an immense wooden erection, which bore
+an awful resemblance to a scaffold. When they got over the bridge,
+Reginald turned round, and, imprinting a kiss on the pale cheek of the
+astonished bride, said--
+
+"Welcome home, dear Jane. This is Belfront Castle!"
+
+Jane looked round a spacious courtyard, and saw a square of low
+dark-looking buildings, with the enormous tower she had seen from the top
+of the hill rearing its thick head above all at one corner. They proceeded
+across the roughly-paved quadrangle, and entered a low door; ascended
+three steps, and opened another door. They then found themselves in a
+large and lofty hall, with fitful flashes of red light flickering on the
+walls, as the flame of the wood fire on the hearth rose or fell beneath
+the efforts of a half distinguishable figure, extended at full length on
+the floor, and puffing the enormous log with a pair of gigantic bellows.
+In the palpable obscure, Jane could scarcely make out the persons of the
+occupants of the apartment; but when the flame burnt up a little more
+powerfully than usual, she observed the figure of a tall man dressed in
+black, who shook hands with Reginald, and bowed very coldly and formally
+to her, when he was introduced as Mr Peeper. He seemed about fifty or
+sixty years of age, but very much enfeebled. He stooped and coughed, and
+was very infirm in his motions; but when the red glare from the hearth
+fell upon his eyes, they fixed themselves on Jane with such a piercing
+expression, that she turned away her face almost in fear. His hair was
+snow-white, and yet it was impossible to decide whether he was a man of
+the years we have stated, with the premature appearance of age, or a
+person of extraordinary longevity, retaining the vigorous eyes and active
+spirit of youth. However it was, Mr Peeper was too harsh and haughty in
+his approaches, and exacted too much deference from the youthful bride, to
+be very captivating at first. He said no welcome to the new-comer, and was
+stiff and unkind even to the owner of the castle. Candles were soon
+brought in, and Jane took the opportunity of looking round. The individual
+who had been busy blowing the fire now rose from his humble position, and
+was presented to the lady as Phil Lorimer. He bowed and smiled, and was
+proceeding with a compliment, in which, however, he advanced no further
+than the summer sun bringing out the roses, when Reginald pushed him out
+of the hall, with orders to get the luggage brought in from the carriage,
+and to be back in time for supper. Phil Lorimer seemed a man of thirty,
+strongly built, with a sweet voice and friendly smile; but what station he
+filled in the household--whether a servant, a visitor, a poor relation, or
+what he could be, Jane could not make out, either from his manner or the
+way he was treated.
+
+"Mr Lorimer is very good-natured--very obliging, to take care of the
+luggage, I am sure," said Jane.
+
+"Better that than talking nonsense about roses," replied Reginald. "Did
+you expect us this evening, Mr Peeper?"
+
+"I did, Mr Reginald, and have invited a few of the neighbours to meet you."
+
+"Who are coming?"
+
+"Sir Bryan De Barreilles, Hasket of Norland, Maulerer of Phascald, and old
+Dr Howlet. They will be here soon, so you had better make haste."
+
+"I had better not appear, love," said Jane; "no ladies are coming, and
+among so many gentlemen my presence might be awkward."
+
+"By no means," replied the husband. "It wouldn't be right, Mr Peeper, for
+my wife to be absent from the supper-table?"
+
+"Certainly not. It is to see _her_ the neighbours are coming."
+
+Is this Mr Peeper to have the control of all my actions? thought Jane. Who
+can he be?
+
+She took another glance at the object of her thoughts, but caught his eye
+fixed on her with the same penetrating brightness as before; and she cast
+her looks on the ground; and, whether from anger or fear, she felt her
+cheeks glowing with blushes.
+
+"You will not be long gone, if you please," he said to Jane as she retired
+to change her dress.
+
+"You don't seem pleased to see us, Mr Peeper," said Reginald, when Jane
+had gone to her room under the guidance of a very tall old woman, who
+walked before her, holding out a tremendously long candle, as if it were a
+sword, and she was at the head of a military procession.
+
+"No, sir," replied Mr Peeper; "I am not pleased with the person you have
+brought here. You have gone too far from home for a wife. None of the
+Belfronts have ever married out of Yorkshire, and it may give rise to
+troubles."
+
+"I am very sorry my wife's relations would not allow me to send for you to
+perform the ceremony."
+
+"It is a bad omen," said the old man; "my predecessors have married your
+predecessors without a break since the conquest. It bodes no good."
+
+"I trust no harm will happen, and that you will soon forget the
+disappointment."
+
+"None of my family forget, but we will not _talk_ of it." So saying, he
+turned away, and arranged a goodly array of bottles on the sideboard.
+Reginald sat down on an oak chair beside the fire, and gazed attentively
+into the log.
+
+In the mean time, Jane had followed her gigantic conductor through half a
+mile of passages, and reached a small room at one end of the quadrangle,
+and through the window (of which half the panes were broken, as if on
+purpose) she caught the melodious murmur of a rapid river, that chafed
+against the foundation walls of the castle. On looking round, the prospect
+was not very encouraging. Tattered tapestries hung down the walls, and
+waved in a most melancholy and ghost-like fashion in the wind; the floor
+was thinly littered over with some plaited rushes, to supply the place of
+a carpet; and a few long high-backed oak chairs kept guard against the
+wall. The fire had died an infant in its iron cradle, the grate; and the
+curtain of the bed waved to and fro in mournful sympathy with the tapestry
+round the room. Jane was so cold that she could hardly go through her
+toilette, simple as it was; but having at last achieved a very slight
+alteration in her dress, and left her bonnet on the head of an owl, which
+formed the ornament of one of the high-backed chairs, she endeavoured to
+retrace her steps; and after a few pauses and mistakes, she found her way
+once more into the hall.
+
+The guests in the mean time were assembled and had seated themselves at
+table. On Jane's entrance they all rose, and on being respectively named
+by their host, bowed with cold and stately courtesy, and sat down again.
+The four strangers seemed all of the same ages, fifty or thereabouts--tall,
+hale, and dignified in their manners. Sir Bryan de Barreilles had a patch
+on his right eye; Hasket of Norland a deep scar on his forehead, that cut
+his left eyebrow into two parts, and gave a very extraordinary expression
+to his rigid countenance; Maulerer of Phascald had the general effect of
+very handsome features, marred by the want of his nose; not that there was
+actually no nose, but that it did not occupy the prominent position it
+usually holds on the human face divine, but was inserted deep between the
+cheeks--in fact, was a nose not set on after the fashion of a knocker, but
+a fine specimen of _basso-relievo_, indented after the manner of Socrates's
+head on a seal, and would probably have made a very fine impression. Dr
+Howlet was perfectly blind, and from the tone in which he was addressed by
+the other gentlemen, Jane concluded he was also very nearly deaf. Besides
+these, there were present Mr Peeper, at the foot of the table next to
+Reginald, and on the other side of him a thick square-built man, with a
+fine hilarious open countenance, who was perhaps of too low a rank to be
+introduced to the lady of the castle--no other in fact than the
+redoubtable Mr Lutter, of whom Jane had heard on her journey home.
+
+After the serving men, with some difficulty, had brought in the supper,
+consisting of enormous joints of meat, hot and cold, and deposited on the
+sideboard vast tankards of strong ale and other potent beverages, Mr
+Peeper rose, and folding his hands across his breast, and bending forward
+his head with every appearance of devotion, muttered some words evidently
+intended to represent a grace; but so indistinct that it was utterly
+impossible to make the slightest guess at their meaning, whereupon they
+all fell to with prodigious activity, and cut and slashed the enormous
+dishes as if they had been famished for a year. Mr Lutter, after making an
+observation that true thankfulness was as much shown by moderate enjoyment
+of good gifts as by long prayers said over them, made a most powerful
+assault on the cold sirloin, and, of all the party, was the only one who
+had the politeness to send a helping to Jane. She was tired and hungry,
+and felt really obliged by the attention, but could scarcely do justice to
+the viands from surprise at the conversation of the guests.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said Sir Bryan de Barreilles, "I once knew a thing--such a thing
+it was too--ho! ho!" And partly the vividness of the recollection, and
+principally an enormous mouthful of beef, produced a long fit of
+coughing--"'twill make you laugh," he continued--"'twas a rare feat--ho!
+ho!--even this lady will be pleased to hear it."
+
+Jane bowed in expectation of an amusing anecdote.
+
+"One of my tenants was going to be married; his bride was a very young
+creature, not more than eighteen, and on the wedding-day, as I always was
+ready for a joke in those days--ah! 'tis thirty years ago, or more--I
+asked the bridal party to the Tower. Ho! ho! such laughing we had!--Giles
+Mallet and Robin Henslow fought with redhot brands out of the fire, till I
+thought we should all have died; and Giles--the cleverest fellow and the
+wittiest, ho! ho!--such a fellow was Giles!--he took up the poker instead
+of the fir-log, and watched his opportunity, ho! ho!--it was redhot too--a
+good stout poker as ever you saw--and ran it clean through his cheek--you
+heard the tongue fizz! as it licked the hot iron--'twas a famous play. How
+Robin roared, to be sure, and couldn't speak plain--ho! ho! Well, the
+games went on; and nothing would please some of the young ones but we
+should see the Oubliette. 'Twas a dark hole where my forefathers
+imprisoned their refractory vassals, and sad stories were told about
+it--how that voices were heard from the bottom of it, and groans, and
+sometimes gory heads were seen at the top of it, looking up to the
+skylight, and struggling to escape, but ever tumbling back into the deep
+dark hole, with screams and smothered cries; a rare place for a man's
+enemies--but it had not been used for many years. Well--nothing would do,
+but when we were all merry with ale, we should all go and see the
+Oubliette, and a kiss of the bride was promised to the one who should go
+down the furthest. Now, the stone steps were very narrow at best; and were
+all worn away--and that was the best of it--all along the passages we went,
+and past the dungeon grating, till we came to the open mouth of the
+Oubliette. Ho! ho! how you'll laugh. Down a step went one--no kiss from
+the bride for him--two steps went another--some went down six steps, and
+one bold fellow went down so far that we lost sight of him in the darkness.
+Then the bridegroom, a stout young yeoman--thought it shame to let anyone
+beat him in daring, for so rich a prize as a kiss from the rosy lips of
+his bride, and down--down--he went--step after step--till finally, far
+down in the gloom, we heard a loud scream--such a scream--ho! ho! I can't
+help laughing yet when I think of it--and in a minute or two, whose voice
+should we hear but Giles Mallet's! _There_ was Giles, hollowing and
+roaring for us to send down a rope but _how_ he had got down, or _when_ he
+had gone down, nobody knew. However, a rope was got, and merrily, stoutly,
+we all pulled, but no Giles came up. Instead of him, we drew forth the
+bridegroom! but such a changed man. His eyes were fixed, and his face as
+white as silver--his mouth was wide open, and his great tongue went
+lolling about from side to side--and he shook his head, and mumbled and
+slavered--he was struck all of a sudden into idiocy, and knew nobody; not
+even his bride. She was sinking before him, but he never noticed her, but
+went moaning, and muttering, and shaking his head. Ho! ho! 'twas the
+comicalest thing I ever saw. And when Giles came up he explained it all.
+Giles had gone down deeper than any of them, and waited for the others on
+a ledge in the cavern; and just when the bridegroom reached it, Giles
+seized him by the leg, and said--'Your soul is mine'--ho! ho! 'Your soul
+is mine,' said Giles--and the bridegroom uttered only the loud, long
+scream we had all heard, and stood and shook and trembled. 'Twas a rare
+feat; and if you had come down last year"--he added, turning to Jane--"you
+would have seen the bridegroom going from door to door, followed by all
+the boys in the village--he never recovered. There he went, shake, shaking
+his head--and gape gaping with his mouth. "Twas good sport to teaze him.
+I've set my dogs on him myself; but he never took the least notice. 'Twas
+a good trick--I never knew better."
+
+"And the bride?" enquired Jane.
+
+"Oh, she died in a week or two after the adventure! A silly hussy--I
+wished to marry her, by the left hand, to my forester, but she kept on
+moping and looking at the idiotical bridegroom, and died--a poor fool."
+
+"Ah! we've grown dull since those merry times," said Hasket of Norland,
+looking, round the empty hall, and then towards Reginald, as if
+reproaching him with the absence of the ancient joviality. "There were
+three men killed at my marriage--in fair give and take fight--in the hall,
+at the wedding supper. There is the mark of blood on the floor yet."
+
+"I lost my eye at the celebration of a christening," said Sir Bryan de
+Barreilles. "My uncle of Malmescott pushed it in with the handle of his
+dagger."
+
+"I got this wound on my forehead at a feast after a funeral," said Hasket
+of Norland. "I quarreled with Morley Poyntz, and he cut my eyebrow with an
+axe. 'Twas a merry party in spite of that."
+
+"The Parson of Pynsent jumped on my face at a festival in honour of the
+birth of Sir Ranulph Berlingcourt's heir," said Maulerer of Phascald. "I
+had been knocked on the floor by the Archdeacon of Warleileigh, and the
+Parson of Pynsent trode on my nose. He was the biggest man in Yorkshire,
+and squeezed my nose out of sight--a rare jovial companion, was the Parson
+of Pynsent, and many is the joke we have had about the weight of his foot.
+Ah! we have no fun now--no fighting, no grinning through a horse-collar,
+no roasting before a fire, no singing"--
+
+"Yes," said Reginald, "we have Phil Lorimer."
+
+"Let him come--let us hear him," said some of the party.
+
+"I hate songs," said Dr Howlet; "and think all ballads should be burned."
+
+"And the writers of them, too," added Mr Peeper, with a fierce glance
+towards the fireplace, from which Phil Lorimer emerged.
+
+"Oh no! I think songs an innocent diversion," said Mr Lutter, "and
+softening to the heart. Sit near me, Mr Lorimer."
+
+"Make a face, Phil," cried the knight; "I would rather see a grin than
+hear your ballad."
+
+"Jump, Phil," said Hasket of Norland, applying his fork to Phil's leg as
+he passed, "you are a better morris-dancer than a poet."
+
+Phil, who was imperturbably good-natured, did as he was told. He opened
+his mouth to a preternatural size, turned one eye to the ceiling, and the
+other down to the floor, till Sir Bryan was in ecstasies at his
+achievement. He then sprang to an incredible height in that air, and
+danced once or twice through the hall, throwing himself into the most
+grotesque attitudes imaginable, and the table was nearly shaken in pieces
+by the thumpings with which the party showed their satisfaction.
+
+"Now then, Phil; here's a cup of sherry-wine--drink it, boy, and sing a
+sweet song to the lady," said Reginald.
+
+"Songs are an invention of the devil," said Mr Peeper.
+
+"Unless they are sung through the nose," said Mr Lutter, with a sneer.
+
+"You approve of songs then?" inquired Mr Peeper, with a fierce look.
+
+"Certainly," said Mr Lutter, "when their subject is good, and the language
+modest."
+
+"Then you are an atheist," retorted Mr Peeper.
+
+"What has a ballad to do with atheism?" enquired Mr Lutter, looking angry.
+
+"You approve of wicked songs, and therefore are an atheist."
+
+"A man is more like an atheist," retorted Mr Lutter, "who is ungrateful to
+God for the gift of song, and shuts up the sweetest avenue by which the
+spirit approaches its Creator. I admire poetry, and respect poets."
+
+"Any one who holds such diabolic doctrines is not fit to remain in
+Belfront Castle."
+
+"Nay," replied Mr Lutter, "Belfront Castle would be infinitely improved if
+such doctrines were adopted in it."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Reginald, "you are both learned men; and I know nothing
+about the questions you discuss."
+
+"Your lady shall judge between us," said Mr Lutter.
+
+"She shall not," said Mr Peeper; "I am the sole judge in matters of the
+kind."
+
+"Let us hear Phil's song in the mean time," said Reginald. "Come, Lorimer."
+
+"What shall it be?" said Phil.
+
+"Something comic," said Sir Bryan.
+
+"Something bloody," said Hasket of Norland.
+
+"Something loving," said Maulerer of Phascald.
+
+"Will the lady decide for us?" said Phil, with a smile. "Will you have the
+'Silver Scarf,' madam; or 'the Knight and the Soldan of Bagdad?' They are
+both done into my poor English from the troubadours of Almeigne."
+
+The lady fixed, at haphazard, on "the Knight and the Soldan of Bagdad:"
+and Phil prepared to obey her commands. He took a small harp in his hand,
+and sate down in the vacant chair next to Sir Bryan de Bareilles. The rest
+of the company composed themselves to listen; and, after a short prelude,
+Lorimer, in a fine manly voice, began--
+
+  "Oh, brightly bloom'd the orange flow'r,
+    And fair the roses round;
+  And the fountain, in its marble bed,
+    Leapt up with a happy sound;
+  And stately, stately was the hall,
+    And rich the feast outspread;
+  But the Soldan of Bagdad sigh'd full sore,
+    And never a word he said.
+  Never a word the Soldan said,
+    But many a tear let fall;
+  He had tried all the joys that life could give,
+    And was weary of them all.
+  The Soldan lift up his heavy eye--
+    And to that garden fair,
+  A stranger enter'd with harp in hand,
+    And with a winsome air;
+  Long locks of yellow molten gold
+    Hung over his cheek so brown,
+  And a red mantle of Venice silk
+    Fell from his shoulders down.
+  A weary wanderer he did seem,
+    Come from a distant land;
+  And over the harpstrings thoughtfully,
+    He moveth his cunning hand.
+  He opes his lips, and he poureth forth
+    Such a sweet stream of sound,
+  That the Soldan's heart leaps up in his breast,
+    And his eye he casts around.
+  'Was never a voice,' the Soldan said,
+    'So sweet--nor so blest a song;--
+  Sing on, kind minstrel,' the Soldan said,
+    'I have been sad too long.'
+  The minstrel sang, and soft and sweet
+    The Soldan's tears fell free;
+  'Oh, tell me, thou minstrel dear,' he said,
+    'What boon shall I give to thee?
+  Oh, stay with me but a year and a day,
+    And sing sweet songs to me;
+  And whatever the boon, by Allah, I swear,
+    I will freely give it to thee.'
+  The minstrel stay'd a year and a day,
+    And the Soldan loved him well;
+  'Now what is the boon thou askest of me--
+    I prithee, dear minstrel, tell.'
+  'A Christian knight in thy dungeon pines,
+    And his hope is nearly o'er;
+  His freedom is the boon I ask--
+    Oh, open his prison door!'
+  The minstrel went--and no more was seen;
+    And the Christian knight, set free,
+  Found a stately ship, that bore him safe
+    Home to his own countrie.
+  And his lady met him at the gate,
+    His lady fair and young;
+  And with a scream of pride and joy,
+    She in his bosom hung.
+  Oh, glad, glad was the Christian knight,
+    And glad was his lady fair,
+  And her pale cheek flush'd as he cast aside
+    The locks of her raven hair,
+  And kiss'd her brow, and told the tale
+    Of his dungeon, deep and strong;
+  And of the minstrel, too, he told
+    And of the power of song.
+  And they blest the minstrel, and blest his song,
+    And soon the feast was dight;
+  And prince and noble crowded in,
+    To welcome home the knight.
+  And when the brimming cup went round,
+    Spoke out an evil tongue,
+  And blamed that lady to her lord,
+    That lady fair and young;
+  And told, with many a bitter sneer,
+    How that, for many a day,
+  When he was prison'd in Paynim land,
+    That dame was far away,
+  And none knew where; but all could guess--
+    Up rose the knight, and kept
+  His hand close clutch'd on his dagger heft,
+    And down the hall he stept;
+  And onwards with the dagger bared,
+    He rush'd to the lady's bower--
+  'Thou hast been false, and left thy home--
+    Thou diest this very hour!'
+  'Oh! it is true, I left my home;
+    But yet, before I die,
+  Oh! look not on me with face so changed,
+    Nor with so fierce an eye!
+  Oh! let me, but for a minute's space,
+    Into my chamber hie;
+  One prayer I would say for thee and me--
+    One prayer--before I die!'
+  She left the bower; and as he stept
+    To and fro in ireful mood,
+  A stranger from the chamber came,
+    And close behind him stood.
+  Long locks of molten yellow gold
+    Hung over his cheek so brown,
+  And a red mantle of Venice silk,
+    Fell from his shoulder, down.
+  Dark frown'd the knight--'Vile churl!' he said;
+    But ere he utter'd more,
+  The stranger let the mantle fall
+    Unclasp'd upon the floor,--
+  And off he cast the yellow locks--
+    And, lo! the lady fair,
+  Blushing and casting from her cheek
+    Her glossy raven hair!
+  Down fell the dagger; down the knight
+    Sank kneeling and opprest;
+  And the lady oped her snow white arms,
+    And wept upon his breast!"
+
+"A foul song!--a wanton woman!"--exclaimed Sir Bryan de Barreilles--"he
+should have stabbed her for living so long with a Jew villain like the
+Soldan of Bagdad."
+
+"Was the villain a Jew?" enquired Dr Howlet, who had caught the word. "I
+did not know Bagdad was in Jewry. Is a heathen the same as a Jew, Mr
+Peeper?"
+
+The gentleman thus appealed to, coughed as if to clear his throat, and
+though he usually spoke with the utmost clearness, he mumbled and muttered
+in the same unintelligible manner as he had done when he was saying grace;
+and it was a very peculiar habit of the learned individual, whenever he
+was applied to for an explanation, to betake himself to a mode of speech
+that would have puzzled a far wiser head than Dr Howlet's, to make head or
+tail of it.
+
+Dr Howlett, however, appeared to be perfectly satisfied with the
+information; and by the indignant manner in which he struck his long
+gold-headed ebony walking-stick on the floor, seemed entirely to agree
+with the worthy knight in his estimate of the heroine of Phil Lorimer's
+ballad.
+
+"I like the ballad about the jousting of Romulus the bold Roman, with
+Judas Maccabaeus in the Camp at Ascalon far better," said Hasket of
+Norland. "Sing it, Phil."
+
+"No, no," cried Maulerer, who was far gone in intoxication. "Sing us the
+song of the Feasting at Glaston, when Eneas the Trojan married Arthur's
+daughter.--Sing the song, sirrah, this moment, or I'll cut your tongue in
+two, to make your note the sweeter.--Sing."
+
+Thus adjured, Phil once more began:--
+
+  "There was feasting high and revelry
+    In Glaston's lofty hall;
+  And loud was the sound, as the cup went round,
+    Of joyous whoop and call;
+  And Arthur the king, in that noble ring,
+    Was the merriest of them all.
+  No thought, no care, found entrance there,
+    But beauty's smiles were won;
+  No sour Jack Priest to spoil the feast"--
+
+"Ha!" cried Howlet, interrupting Mr Lorimer in a tremendous passion, "what
+says the varlet? He is a heathen Turk, and no Christian. How dares he talk
+so of the church?" The old man rose as he spoke, and, suddenly catching
+hold of the enormous ebony walking-stick, which generally reposed at the
+side of his chair, he aimed a blow with all his force at the unfortunate
+songster; but, being blind, and not calculating his distance, his staff
+fell with tremendous effect on the left eye of Sir Bryan de Barreilles.
+
+"Is it so?" cried the Knight, stunned; but resisting the tendency to
+prostration produced by the stroke, and flinging a large silver flagon
+across the table, which missed Dr Howlet, and made a deep indentation in
+the skull of Maulerer of Phascald--"Now, then!"
+
+Hasket of Norland attempted to hold Sir Bryan, and prevent his following
+up his attack; and Mr Maulerer recovered sufficiently to fling the heavy
+candlestick at his assailant; the branches of which hit the cheek of
+Hasket, while the massive bottom ejected the three front teeth of Sir
+Bryan.
+
+There was now no possibility of preventing the quarrel; and while the four
+strangers were pounding each other with whatever weapons came first to
+hand, and Mr Peeper crept under the table for safety, and Reginald essayed
+to talk them into reason, Mr Lutter politely handed Jane to the door of
+the hall.
+
+"Permit me, madam, to rescue you from this dreadful scene."
+
+"Is it thus always?" enquired Jane, nearly weeping with fright.
+
+"There are many things that may be improved in the castle," said Mr Lutter.
+"I have seen the necessity of an alteration for a long time, and, if you
+will favour me with your assistance, much may be done."
+
+"Oh! I will help you to the utmost of my power."
+
+"We must upset the influence of Mr Peeper," said Mr Lutter. "May I speak
+to you on the subject to-morrow?"
+
+A month had passed since Jane's arrival at Belfront Castle, and she had
+had many private and confidential conversations with Mr Lutter. The
+ominous eyes of Mr Peeper grew fiercer and fiercer, and she many times
+thought of coming to an open rupture with him at once; but was deterred
+from doing so, by not yet having ascertained whether her influence over
+Reginald was sufficiently established to stand a contest with the
+authority of his ancient friend. She could not understand how her husband
+could have remained hoodwinked so long; or how he had submitted to the
+despotic proceedings of his former tutor, who persisted in assembling the
+same airs of authority over him, as he had exercised when he was a child.
+Such, however, was evidently the case; and Reginald had never entertained
+a thought of rescuing himself from the thraldom in which he had grown up.
+A look from Mr Peeper; a solemn statement from him, that such and such
+things had never been heard of before in Belfront; and, above all, the use
+of the muttered and unintelligible jargon to which Mr Peeper betook
+himself in matters of weight and difficulty, were quite sufficient:
+Reginald immediately gave up his own judgment, and felt in fact rather
+ashamed of himself for having hinted that he had a judgement at all. Under
+these circumstances, Mr Lutter had a very difficult part to play; and all
+that Jane could do, was to second him whenever she had the opportunity.
+One day, in the lovely month of April, Phil Lorimer sat on a sunny part of
+the enornous wall that guarded the castle, and leaning his back against
+one of the little square towers that rose at intervals in the circuit of
+the fortifications, sang song after song, as if for the edification of a
+number of crows that were perched on the trees on the other side of the
+moat. The audience were grossly inattentive, and paid no respect whatever
+to the performer, who still continued his exertions, as highly satisfied
+as if he were applauded by boxes, pit, and gallery of a crowded
+theatre:--Among others, he sang the ballad of the "Silver Scarf."
+
+  "It was a King's fair daughter,
+    With eyes of deepest blue,
+  She wove a scarf of silver
+    The whole long summer through--
+
+  "A stately chair she sat on
+    Before the castle door,
+  And ever in the calm moonlight
+    She work'd it o'er and o'er.
+
+  "And many a knight and noble
+    Went daily out and in,
+  And each one marvell'd in his heart
+    Which the fair scarf might win.
+
+  "She took no heed of questions,
+    From her work ne'er raised her head,
+  And on the snow-white border
+    Sew'd her name in blackest thread.
+
+  "Then came a tempest roaring,
+    From the high hills it came,
+  And bore the scarf far out to sea
+    From forth its fragile frame:
+
+  "The maiden sate unstartled,
+    As if it _must_ be so--
+  She stood up from her stately chair,
+    And to her bower did go.
+
+  "She took from forth her wardrobe
+    Her dress of mourning hue--
+  Whoever for a scarf before
+    Such weight of sorrow knew?
+
+  "In robes of deepest mourning,
+    Three nights and days she sate;
+  On the third night, the warder's horn
+    Was sounded at the gate--
+
+  "A messenger stands at the door,
+    And sad news bringeth he;
+  The king and all his gallant ships
+    Are wreck'd upon the sea.
+
+  "And now the tide is rising,
+    And casts upon the shore
+  Full many a gallant hero's corse,
+    And many a golden store.
+
+  "Then up rose the king's daughter,
+    Drew to her window near;
+  'What is it glitters on thine arm,
+    In the moonlight so clear?'
+
+  "'It is a scarf of silver,
+    I brought it from the strand;
+  I took it from the closed grasp
+    Of a strong warrior's hand.'
+
+  "That feat thou ne'er shouldst boast of
+    If but alive were he;
+  Go take him back thy trophy
+    To the blue rolling sea.
+
+  "And when that knight you've buried,
+    The scarf his grave shall grace;
+  And next to where you've laid him,
+    Oh, leave a vacant place!"
+
+"Here, you cursed old piper! leave off frightening the crows, and open the
+gate this moment. Who the devil, do you think, is to burst a bloodvessel
+by hollowing here all day?"
+
+Mr Lorimer, though used to considerable indignities, as we have already
+seen, had still a little of the becoming poetical pride about him, and
+looked rather angrily over the wall. "Nobody wishes you to break
+bloodvessels, or have their own ears disturbed by your screaming," he said.
+"What do you want?"
+
+"To get into your infernal house, to be sure. Where did you get such
+unchristian roads? My bones are sore with the jolting. Send somebody to
+open the gate."
+
+"The drawbridge is up, and Mr Peeper must have his twopence."
+
+"Who the devil is Mr Peeper?" said the stranger. "I sha'n't give him a
+fraction. Who made the drawbridge his? Is Mr Belfront at home?"
+
+"Yes, he is in Mr Peeper's study."
+
+"And Mrs Belfront?"--
+
+"Pickling cod. It is Mr Peeper's favourite dish; so we all live on it
+sometimes for weeks together."
+
+"With such a trout-stream at your door? He'll be a cleverer fellow than I
+think him if he gets me to eat his salted carrion. Open the door, I say,
+or you'll have the worst of it when my stick gets near your head. Tell Mrs
+Belfront her uncle is here--her Uncle Samson."
+
+Phil Lorimer saw no great resemblance to the Jewish Hercules in the little,
+dapper, bustling-mannered man in a blue coat with bright brass buttons,
+pepper-and-salt knee-breeches, and long gaiters, who thus proclaimed his
+relationship to the lady of the castle. He hurried down from the wall to
+make the required announcement.
+
+"My uncle Samson, the manufacturer, from Leeds! Oh, let him in, by all
+means!" exclaimed Jane; "he was always so kind to me when I was a child!"
+
+"He can't get in, madam, unless Mr Peeper orders the drawbridge to be
+lowered; and he is now busy with Mr Belfront."
+
+"Go for Mr Lutter; he will be glad to hear of uncle Samson's arrival."
+
+Mr Lorimer discovered Mr Lutter comfortably regaling himself in the
+buttery; but on hearing in what respect his services were required, he
+left unfinished a large tankard of ale, with which he was washing down an
+enormous quantity of bread and cheese, and proceeded to the moat.
+
+"Don't disturb Mr Peeper," he said, "but help me to launch the little
+punt."
+
+By dint of a little labour, the small vessel was got into the water, and
+Mr Lutter, taking a scull in his hand, paddled over to the other side, and
+embarked the gentleman in the blue coat. Paddling towards an undefended
+part of the castle, he taught him how to clamber up the wall; and Mr
+Samson, wiping the stains of his climbing from the knees of his nether
+habiliments, looked round the castle-yard. "Well! who'd have thought that
+such a monstrous strong-looking place should be stormed by a middle-aged
+gentleman in a punt!"
+
+"You've a friend in the garrison, you'll remember, sir, and the
+battlements have never been repaired."
+
+"They ain't worth repairing. It's a regular waste of building materials to
+make such thick walls and pinnacles. Blowed, if them stones wouldn't build
+a mill; and a precious water-power, too," he added, as he saw the river
+sparkling downward at the northern side. "Oho! I must have a talk with
+Jane. Will you take me to Mrs Belfront? I haven't seen her for five years.
+She must be much changed since then, and I must prepare her for the
+arrival of her cousins."
+
+Jane was sitting in the great hall, feeling disconsolate enough. Often, in
+her father's comfortable parlour, she had read accounts of baronial
+residences of the olden time; and one of the greatest pleasures she had
+felt in becoming Mrs Belfront, was to be the possessor of a real _bona
+fide_ castle that had been actually a fortress in the days of knighthood.
+She had studied long ago the adventures of high-born dames and stately
+nobles, till she was nearly as far gone in romance as Don Quixote; and
+many questions she had asked about Belfront, and donjon-towers, and keeps,
+and tiltyards, and laboured very hard to acquire a correct idea of the
+mode of life and manners of the days of chivalry. Her imagination, we have
+seen, was too lively to be restrained by the more matter-of-fact nature of
+her husband; and she now felt with great bitterness the difference between
+presiding at a tournament, or being present at the Vow of the Peacock, and
+the slavish submission in which she, with the whole household, was held by
+Mr Pepper. Deeply she now regretted the feelings of superiority she had
+experienced over her own relations by her marriage into such an ancient
+race as the Belfronts. She felt ashamed of the contempt she had felt for
+the industrious founders of her own family's wealth, and at that moment
+would have preferred the blue coat and brass buttons of her uncle Samson,
+to all the escutcheons and shields of the Norman conquest; and at that
+moment, luckily, the identical coat and buttons made their appearance.
+
+"Well, niece, here's a go!" exclaimed the angry uncle. "Is this a way to
+receive a near relation after such a journey?"
+
+"Oh, uncle!"
+
+"Why, did ye never hear tell of such a place as Kidderminster?--have you
+no carpets?"
+
+"Mr Belfront says there were no carpets in his ancestor's time"--
+
+"And no railroads, nor postchaises, nor books, nor nothing; and is that
+any reason why we shouldn't have lots of every thing now? By dad, before
+I've been here a week I'll have a reg'lar French Revolution! No Bastille!
+says I; let's have a Turkey carpet, and a telescope dining-table, good
+roads, and no infernal punts--and, above all, let's get quit of the
+villain Peeper."
+
+"Oh! if Reginald would only consent!"
+
+"Why not? by dad, I'll make his fortune. I'll give him a thousand a-year
+for the water-power that's now all thrown away. I'll have a nice village
+built down in the valley. I'll get him two guineas an acre for his land
+that's now lying waste. I'll dig for coal. We'll build a nice comfortable
+house, and leave this old ruin to the crows."
+
+"And the neighbours, uncle Samson?"
+
+"Why, we'll build a church, and the parson will be a good companion. When
+the roads are made, you'll give a jolly dinner once a-week to every squire
+within ten miles. You'll have a book club. You'll help in the Sunday
+school. You'll go to the county balls. Your husband will join the
+agricultural society, and act as a magistrate. He'll subscribe to the
+hounds. He'll attend to the registrations. He'll have shooting-parties in
+September. And as to any old-world, wretched talks about chivalry and
+antiquity, we'll show him that there never was a time like the
+present--commerce, land, property, and intelligence, all in the very best
+condition. We'll make Lutter superintendent of the whole estate, and send
+old Peeper about his business. And in all this you must help; for there's
+nothing to be done without the help of the ladies: so give me your hand,
+dear niece, and don't cry."
+
+"It would make me so happy! I would never look into Amadis de Gaul again!"
+
+"Hang Amadis de Gall and Amadi de Spurzheim, too! Where is your husband?"
+
+"I seldom see him now. He is always in the oratory with Mr Peeper."
+
+"The deuce he is!" said the uncle. "And how do you get on in other
+respects? Are you comfortable--happy--contented?" Jane told him all she
+had encountered since she had come to the castle, and the uncle seemed
+thunderstruck at the recital.
+
+"Well! bold measures are always the best," he said at last; "I'll kick
+Peeper into the moat!" and before his niece could interfere, the uncle had
+rushed across the quadrangle, guided, we are sorry to say, by Mr Lutter,
+and, grasping the venerable Peeper, whom he met near the drawbridge, he
+dragged him towards the water.
+
+Jane ran to get assistance for the unfortunate victim; and crying "Help!
+help!" as she saw the wretched man forced over the walls, she looked in a
+state of distraction towards her husband. "Dear Jane," said that
+individual, smiling blandly, "I told you you had overtired yourself with
+walking." Jane gazed round; there was Reginald sitting beside her, with
+her head reclining on his shoulder, at the open window of the inn in Wales.
+The vale of Cwmcwyllchly was spread in a beautiful landscape below. They
+were still on their wedding tour.
+
+"You have been asleep, Jane," said Reginald.
+
+"And have had such dreadful dreams. Oh, Reginald! I have had such visions
+of horrid things and people. I shall never be romantic again about
+chivalry. Such coarseness!--such slavery!--such ignorance! Ah, how happy
+we ought to be that we are born in a civilized time, with no Mr Peepers
+for father confessors, nor fighting with firebrands for amusement!"
+
+"You have been reading _Hallam's Middle Ages_--a present from your uncle
+Samson--till you have become a right-down Utilitarian. Come, let us ring
+for tea; and to-morrow we must start for Yorkshire! The Quarter-sessions
+are coming on."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE.
+
+
+We left M. Dumas at Marseilles: we find him again at Naples. Three volumes
+are the result of his visit to the last named city--volumes in which he
+manages to put a little of every thing, and a good deal of some things.
+Antiquarian, historian, virtuoso, novelist, he touches upon all subjects,
+flying from one to the other with a lightness and a facility of transition
+peculiarly his own, and peculiarly agreeable. English travellers and
+Italian composers, St Januarius and the opera, Masaniello and the
+_gettatura_, Pompeii, princes, police spies, Vesuvius, all have their
+turn--M. Dumas, with his usual tact, merely glancing at those subjects
+which are known and written about by every tourist, but giving himself
+full scope when he gets off the beaten track. His book is literally
+crammed with tales and anecdotes, to such a degree indeed, and most of
+them so good, that our principal difficulty in commencing a notice of it,
+is to know where to pick and choose our extracts; _l'embarras des
+richesses_, in short. The best way will probably be to begin at the
+beginning, and go as far as our limits allow us, referring our readers to
+the original for the many good things that want of space will compel us to
+exclude.
+
+M. Dumas calls his book the _Corricolo_, and devotes a short and
+characteristic preface to an explanation of the title. This explanation we
+must give in his own words. It is so highly graphic, that, after reading
+it, we fancied we had seen a picture of what it describes.
+
+"A _corricolo_ is a sort of tilbury or gig, originally intended to hold
+one person, and be drawn by one horse. At Naples they harness two horses
+to it; and it conveys twelve or fifteen individuals, not at a walk nor at
+a trot, but at full gallop, and this, notwithstanding that only one of the
+horses does any work. The shaft horse draws, but the other, which is
+harnessed abreast of him, and called the _bilancino_, prances and curvets
+about, animates his companion, but does nothing else.
+
+"Having said that the gig built to carry one is made to carry fifteen, I
+am, of course, expected to explain how this is accomplished. There is an
+old French proverb, according to which, when there is enough for one there
+is enough for two; but I am not aware of any proverb in any language which
+says, that when there is enough for one, there is enough for fifteen.
+Nevertheless, it is the case with the _corricolo_. In the present advanced
+state of civilization, every thing is diverted from its primitive
+destination. As it is impossible to say at what period, or in how long a
+time, the capacity of the vehicle in question was extended in the ratio of
+one to fifteen, I must content myself with describing the way of packing
+the passengers.
+
+"In the first place, there is almost invariably a fat greasy monk seated
+in the middle, forming the centre of a sort of coil of human creatures. On
+one of his knees is some robust rosy-cheeked nurse from Aversa or Nettuno;
+on the other, a handsome peasant woman from Bauci or Procida. On either
+side of him, between the wheels and the body of the vehicle, stand the
+husbands of these two ladies. Standing on tiptoe behind the monk is the
+driver, holding in his left hand the reins, and in his right the long whip
+with which he keeps his horses at an equal rate of speed. Behind _him_ are
+two or three lazzaroni, who get up and down, go away, and are succeeded by
+others, without any body taking notice of them, or expecting them to pay
+for their ride. On the shafts are seated two boys, picked up on the road
+from Torre del Greco or Pouzzoles, probably supernumerary _ciceroni_ of
+the antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Finally, suspended under the
+carriage, in a sort of coarse rope network with large meshes, which swings
+backwards and forwards at every movement of the vehicle, is a shapeless
+and incomprehensible mass, which cries, laughs, sings, screams, shouts,
+and bellows, all by turns and none for long together, and the nature of
+which it is impossible to distinguish, dimly seen as it is through the
+clouds of dust raised by the horses' feet. This mass consists of three or
+four children, who belong to Heaven knows who, are going Heaven knows
+where, live Heaven knows how, and are there Heaven knows wherefore.
+
+"Now then, put down, one above the other, monk, women, husbands, driver,
+lazzaroni, boys and children; add them up, include the infant in arms,
+which has been forgotten, and the total will be fifteen.
+
+"It sometimes happens that the _coricolo_ passes over a big stone, and
+upsets, pitching out its occupants to a greater or less distance,
+according to their respective gravity. But, on such occasions, nobody
+thinks of himself; the attention of every one is immediately turned to the
+monk. If he is hurt, the journey is over for the day; they carry him to
+the nearest house; the horses are put into the stable, and he is put to
+bed; the women nurse him, make much of him, cry and pray over him. If, on
+the other hand, the monk is safe and sound, nobody has a right to complain;
+he resumes his seat, the nurse and the peasant woman resume theirs, the
+others climb up into their respective places--a crack of the long whip,
+and a shout from the driver, and the _corricolo_ is off again full speed."
+
+From this we learn what a _corricolo_ is, but we have not yet been told
+why M. Dumas should christen his book after the degenerate descendant of
+the Roman curriculum. Patience--we shall get to it in time. Materials
+crowd upon our traveller, and it is only in the second chapter that the
+desired explanation is given. In the first we are informed of M. Dumas's
+installation at the Hotel Vittoria, kept by M. Martin Zill, who, besides
+being an innkeeper, is a man of much taste in art, a distinguished
+antiquary, an amateur of pictures, a collector of autographs and
+curiosities. Apropos of the hotel we have an anecdote of the ex-dey of
+Algiers, who, on being dispossessed of his dominions by the French, took
+refuge at Naples, and established himself under M. Zill's hospitable roof.
+The third floor was entirely occupied by his suite and attendants, the
+fourth was for himself and his treasures, the fifth, or the garrets, he
+converted into his harem. The curious arms, costumes, and jewels which
+Hussein Pacha had brought with him, were a godsend to the virtuoso weary
+of examining and admiring them; and, before the African had been a week in
+the house, he and his host were sworn friends. Unfortunately this harmony
+was not destined to last very long.
+
+"One morning Hussein Pacha's cook (a Nubian as black as ink, and as
+shining as if he had been polished with a shoe-brush) entered the kitchen
+of the hotel, and asked for the largest knife they had. The head-cook gave
+him a sort of carving-knife, some eighteen inches long, sharp as a razor,
+and pliant as a foil. The negro looked at it, shook his head as if in
+doubt whether it would do, but nevertheless took it up stairs with him.
+Presently he brought it down again, and asked for a larger one. The cook
+opened all his drawers, and at last found a sort of cutlass, which he
+hardly ever used on account of its enormous size. With this the Nubian
+appeared more satisfied, and again went up stairs. Five minutes afterwards
+he came down for the third time, and returned the knife, asking for a
+bigger one still. The cook's curiosity was excited, and he enquired who
+wanted the knife, and for what purpose.
+
+"The African told him very coolly that the dey, having left his dominions
+rather in a hurry, had forgotten to bring an executioner with him, and had
+consequently ordered his cook to get a large knife and cut off the head of
+Osmin, chief of the eunuchs, who was convicted of having kept such
+negligent watch and ward over his highness's seraglio, that some
+presumptuous Giaour had made a hole in the wall, and established a
+communication with Zaida, the dey's favourite _odalisque_. Accordingly
+Osmin was to be decapitated; and as to the offending lady, the next time
+the dey took an airing in the bay of Naples, she would be put into the
+boat in a sack, and consigned to the keeping of the kelpies. Thunderstruck
+at such summary proceedings, the cook desired his Nubian brother to wait
+while he went for a larger knife; then hastening to M. Martin Zill, he
+told him what he had just heard.
+
+"M. Martin Zill ran to the minister of police, and laid the matter before
+him. His excellency got into his carriage and went to call upon the dey.
+
+He found his highness reclining upon a divan, his back supported by
+cushions, smoking latakia in a chibouque, while an icoglan scratched the
+soles of his feet, and two slaves fanned him. The minister made his three
+salaams; the dey nodded his head.
+
+"'Your highness,' said his excellency, 'I am the minister of police.'
+
+"'I know you are,' answered the dey.
+
+"'Then your highness probably conjectures the motive of my visit.'
+
+"'No. But you are welcome all the same.'
+
+"'I come to prevent your highness from committing a crime.'
+
+"'A crime! And what crime?' said the dey, taking the pipe from his mouth,
+and gazing at his interlocutor in the most profound astonishment.
+
+"'I wonder your highness should ask the question,' replied the minister.
+'Is it not your intention to cut off Osmin's head?'
+
+"'That is no crime,' answered the dey.
+
+"'Does not your highness purpose throwing Zaida into the sea?'
+
+"'That is no crime,' repeated the dey. 'I bought Osmin for five hundred
+piasters, and Zaida for a thousand sequins, just as I bought this pipe for
+a hundred ducats.'
+
+"'Well,' said the minister, 'what does your highness deduce from that?'
+
+"'That as this pipe belongs to me, as I have bought it and paid for it, I
+may break it to atoms if I choose, and nobody has a right to object.' So
+saying, the pacha broke his pipe, and threw the fragments into the middle
+of the room.
+
+"'All very well, as far as a pipe goes,' said the minister; 'but Osmin,
+but Zaida?'
+
+"'Less than a pipe,' said the dey gravely.
+
+"'How! less than a pipe! A man less than a pipe! A woman less than a pipe!'
+
+"'Osmin is not a man, and Zaida is not a woman: they are slaves. I will
+cut off Osmin's head, and throw Zaida into the sea.'
+
+"'No!' said the magistrate. 'Not at Naples at least.'
+
+"'Dog of a Christian!' shouted the dey, 'do you know who I am?'
+
+"'You are the ex-dey of Algiers, and I am the Neapolitan minister of
+police; and, if your deyship is impertinent, I shall send him to prison,'
+added the minister very coolly.
+
+"'To prison!' repeated the dey, falling back upon his divan.
+
+"'To prison,' replied the minister.
+
+"'Very well,' said Hussein. 'I leave Naples to-night.'
+
+"'Your highness is as free as air to go and to come. Nevertheless, I must
+make one condition. Before your departure, you will swear by the Prophet,
+that no harm shall be done to Osmin or Zaida.'
+
+"'Osmin and Zaida belong to me, and I shall do what I please with them.'
+
+"'Then your highness will be pleased to deliver them over to me, to be
+punished according to the laws of the country; and, until you do so, you
+will not be allowed to leave Naples.'
+
+"'Who will prevent me?'
+
+"'I will.'
+
+"The pacha laid his hand on his dagger. The minister stepped to the window
+and made a sign. The next moment the tramp of heavy boots and jingle of
+spurs were heard upon the stairs; the door opened, and a gigantic corporal
+of gendarmes made his appearance, his right hand raised to his cocked hat,
+his left upon the seam of his trouser.
+
+"'Gennaro,' said the minister of police, 'if I gave you an order to arrest
+this gentleman, would you see any difficulty in executing it?'
+
+"'None, your excellency.'
+
+"'You are aware that this gentleman's name is Hussein Pacha.'
+
+"'I was not, your excellency.'
+
+"'And that he is dey of Algiers.'
+
+"'May it please your excellency, I don't know what that is.'
+
+"'You see?' said the minister, turning to the dey.
+
+"'The devil! exclaimed Hussein.
+
+"'Shall I?' said Gennaro, taking a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, and
+advancing a pace towards the dey, who, on his part, took a step backwards.
+
+"'No,' replied the minister, 'it will not be necessary. His highness will
+do as he is bid. Go and search the hotel for a man named Osmin, and a
+woman named Zaida, and take them both to the prefecture.'
+
+"'What!' cried the dey; 'this man is to enter my harem?'
+
+"'He is not a man,' replied the minister; 'he is a corporal of gendarmes.
+But if you do not wish him to go, send for Osmin and Zaida yourself.'
+
+"'Will you promise to have them punished?' enquired the dey.
+
+"'Certainly; according to the utmost rigour of the law.'
+
+"Hussein Pacha clapped his hands. A door concealed behind a tapestry was
+opened, and a slave entered the room.
+
+"'Bring down Osmin and Zaida,' said the dey.
+
+"The slave crossed his hands on his breast, bowed his head, and
+disappeared without uttering a word. The next instant he came back with
+the two culprits.
+
+"The eunuch was a little round fat fellow, with beardless face, and small
+hands and feet. Zaida was a beautiful Circassian, her eyelids painted with
+kool, her teeth blackened with betel, her nails reddened with henna. On
+perceiving Hussein Pacha, the eunuch fell upon his knees; Zaida raised her
+head. The dey's eyes flashed, and he clutched the hilt of his kangiar.
+Osmin grew pale; Zaida smiled. The minister of police made a sign to the
+gendarme, who stepped up to the two captives, handcuffed them, and led
+them out of the room. As the door closed behind them, the dey uttered a
+sound between a sigh and a roar.
+
+"The magistrate looked out of the window, till he saw the prisoners and
+their escort disappear at the corner of the Strada Chiatamone. Then
+turning to the dey--
+
+"'Your highness is now at liberty to leave Naples, if he wishes so to do,'
+said the imperturbable functionary with a low bow.
+
+"'This very instant!' cried Hussein. 'I will not remain another moment in
+such a barbarous country as yours.'
+
+"'A pleasant journey to your highness,' said the minister.
+
+"'Go to the devil!' retorted Hussein.
+
+"Before an hour had elapsed, the dey had chartered a small vessel, on
+board of which he embarked the same evening with his suite, his wives, and
+his treasures; and at midnight he set sail; cursing the tyranny that
+prevented a man from drowning his wife and cutting off the heads of his
+slaves. The next day the minister of police had the culprits brought
+before him and examined. Osmin was found guilty of having slept when he
+ought to have watched, and Zaida of having watched when she ought to have
+slept. But, by some strange omission, the Neapolitan code allots no
+punishment to such offences; and, consequently, Osmin and Zaida, to their
+infinite astonishment, were immediately set at liberty. Osmin took to
+selling pastilles for a livelihood, and the lady got employment as _dame
+de comptoir_ in a coffeehouse. As to the dey, he had left Naples with the
+intention of going to England, in which country, as he had been informed,
+a man is at liberty to sell his wife, if he may not drown her. He was
+taken ill, however, on the road, and obliged to stop at Leghorn, where he
+died."
+
+M. Dumas, not being in good odour with the Neapolitan authorities, on
+account of some supposed republican tendencies of his, is at Naples under
+an assumed name; and, as it is uncertain how long he may be able to
+preserve his incognito, he is desirous of seeing all that is to be seen in
+as short a time as possible. He finds that Naples, independently of its
+suburbs, consists of three streets where every body goes, and five hundred
+streets where nobody goes. The three streets are, the Chiaja, the Toledo,
+and the Forcella; the five hundred others are nameless--a labyrinth of
+houses, which might be compared to that of Crete, deducting the Minotaur,
+and adding the Lazzaroni. There are three ways of seeing Naples--on foot,
+in a _corricolo_ or in a carriage. On foot, one goes every where, but one
+sees too much; in a carriage, one only goes through the three principal
+streets, and one sees too little--the _corricolo_ is the happy medium, the
+_juste milieu_, to which M. Dumas for once determines to adhere. Having
+made up his mind, he sends for his host, and enquires where he can hire a
+_corricolo_ by the week or month. His host tells him he had better buy one,
+horse and all. To this plan M. Dumas objects the expense.
+
+"'It will cost you,' said M. Martin, after a momentary calculation in his
+head, 'it will cost you--the _corricolo_ ten ducats, each horse thirty
+carlini, the harness a pistole; in all, eighty French francs.'
+
+"'What! for ten ducats I shall have a _corricolo_?'
+
+"'A magnificent one.'
+
+"'New?'
+
+"'Oh! you are asking too much. There are no such things as new _corricoli_.
+There is a standing order of the police forbidding coachmakers to build
+them.'
+
+"'Indeed! How long has that order been in force?'
+
+"'Fifty years, perhaps.'
+
+"'How comes it, then, that there is such a thing as a _corricolo_ in
+existence?'
+
+"'Nothing easier. You know the story of Jeannot's knife?'
+
+"'To be sure I do; it is one of our national chronicles. The blade had
+been changed fifteen times, and the handle fifteen times, but it was still
+the same knife.'
+
+"'The case of the _corricolo_ is exactly similar. It is forbidden to build
+new ones, but it is not forbidden to put new wheels to old bodies, and new
+bodies on old wheels. By these means the _corricolo_ becomes immortal.'
+
+"'I understand. An old body and new wheels for me, if you please. But the
+horses? Do you mean to say that for thirty francs I shall have a pair of
+horses?'
+
+"'A superb pair, that will go like the wind.'
+
+"'What sort of horses?'
+
+"'Oh, dead ones, of course!'
+
+"'Dead ones!'
+
+"'Certainly. At that price you could hardly expect any thing better.'
+
+"'My dear M. Martin, be kind enough to explain. I am travelling for my
+improvement, and information of all kinds is highly acceptable.'
+
+"'You are acquainted with the history of the horse, I suppose?'
+
+"'The natural history? Buffon's? Certainly. The horse is, after the lion,
+the noblest of all the beasts.'
+
+"'No, no; the philosophical history. The different stages and vicissitudes
+in the existence of those noble quadrupeds.'
+
+"'Oh yes! first the saddle, then a carriage or gig, thence to a
+stage-coach or omnibus, hackney-coach or cab, and finally--to the
+knacker's.'
+
+"'And from the knacker's?'
+
+"'To the Elysian fields, I suppose.'
+
+"'No. Not here, at least. From the knacker's they go to the _corricoli_.'
+
+"'How so?'
+
+"'I will tell you. At the Ponte della Maddalena, where horses are taken to
+be killed, there are always persons waiting, who, when a horse is brought,
+buy the hide and hoofs for thirty carlini, which is the price regulated by
+law. Instead of killing the horse and skinning him, these persons take him
+with the skin on, and make the most of the time he yet has to live. They
+are sure of getting the skin sooner or later. And these are what I mean by
+dead horses.'
+
+"'But what can they possibly do with the unfortunate brutes?'
+
+"'They harness them to the _corricoli_.'
+
+"'What! those with which I came from Salerno to Naples'--
+
+"'Were the ghosts of horses; spectre steeds, in short.'
+
+"'But they galloped the whole way.'
+
+"'Why not? _Les morts vont vite._'"
+
+_Et cetera, et cetera_. For the price stated by his host, M. Dumas finds
+himself possessor of a magnificent _corricolo_ of a bright red colour,
+with green trees and animals painted thereon. Two most fiery and impatient
+steeds, half concealed by harness, bells, and ribands, are included in his
+purchase. After a vain attempt to drive himself, the phantom coursers
+having apparently a supreme contempt for whipcord, he gives up the reins
+to a professional charioteer, and commences his perambulations. His first
+visit is to the Chiaja, the favourite promenade of the aristocracy and of
+foreigners; his second to the Toledo, the street of shops and loungers;
+his third to the Forcella, frequented by lawyers and their clients. He
+makes a chapter, and a long one too, out of each street; but not in the
+way usually adopted by those pitiless tour-writers who overwhelm their
+readers with dry architectural details, filling a page with a portico, and
+a chapter with a chapel--not letting one off a pane of a painted window or
+line of worm-eaten inscription however often those things may have been
+described already by previous travellers. M. Dumas prefers men to things
+as subjects for his pen; and the three chapters above named are filled
+with curious illustrations of Neapolitan manners, customs, and character.
+Apropos of the Toledo, we are introduced to the well-known _impresario_,
+Domenico Barbaja, who had his palazzo in that street, and who, from being
+waiter in a coffeehouse at Milan, became the manager of three theatres at
+one time, namely, San Carlo, La Scala, and the Vienna opera. He appears to
+have been a man of great energy and originality of character, concealing
+an excellent heart under the roughest manners and most choleric of tempers.
+
+"It would be impossible," says M. Dumas, "to translate into any language
+the abuse with which Barbaja used to overwhelm the singers and musicians
+at his theatres when they displeased him. Yet not one of them bore him
+malice for it, knowing that, if they had the least triumph, Barbaja would
+be the first to embrace and congratulate them: if they were unsuccessful,
+he would console them with the utmost delicacy: if they were ill, he would
+watch over them with the tenderness of a father or brother. The fortune
+which he had amassed, little by little, and by strenuous exertions, he
+spent in the most generous and princely manner. His palace, his villa, and
+his table, were open to all.
+
+"His genius was of a peculiar and extraordinary kind. Education he had
+none: he was unable to write the commonest letter, and did not know a note
+of music; yet he would give his composers the most valuable hints, and
+dictate with admirable skill the plan of a libretto. His own voice was of
+the harshest and most inharmonious texture; but by his advice and
+instructions he formed some of the first singers in Italy. His language
+was a Milanese patois; but he found means to make himself excellently
+understood by the kings and emperors, with whom he carried on negotiations
+upon a footing of perfect equality. It was a great treat to see him seated
+in his box at San Carlo, opposite that of the King of Naples, on the
+evening of a new opera; with grave and impartial aspect, now turning his
+face to the actors, then to the audience. If a singer went wrong, Barbaja
+was the first to crush him with a severity worthy of Brutus. His '_Can de
+Dio_!' was shouted out in a voice that made the theatre shake and the poor
+actor tremble. If, on the other hand, the public disapproved without
+reason, Barbaja would start up in his box and address the audience.
+'_Figli d'una racca_!' 'Will you hold your tongues? You don't deserve good
+singers.' If by chance the King himself omitted to applaud at the right
+time, Barbaja would shrug his shoulders and go grumbling out of his box.
+
+"With all his peculiarities, he it was who formed and brought forward
+Lablache, Tamburini, Rubini, Donzelli, Colbran, Pasta, Fodor, Donizetti,
+Bellini, and the great Rossini himself, whose masterpieces were composed
+for Barbaja. It is impossible to form an idea of the amount of entreaties,
+stratagems, and even violence, expended by the _impresario_ to make
+Rossini work. I will give an example of it, which is highly characteristic
+both of the manager and of the greatest and happiest, but most
+_insouciant_ and idle, musical genius that ever drew breath under the
+bright sky of Italy."
+
+We are sorry to tantalize our readers, but we have not space for the story
+that follows. It relates to the opera of _Othello_, which was composed by
+Rossini in an incredibly short time, whilst a prisoner in an apartment of
+Barbaja's house. For nearly six months had the composer been living vith
+the manager, entertaining his friends at his well-spread table, drinking
+his choicest wines, and occupying his best rooms--all this under promise
+of producing a new opera within the half-year, a promise which he showed
+little disposition to fulfil. Barbaja was in a fever of anxiety, and
+finding remonstrance unavailing, had recourse to stratagem. One morning,
+when Rossini was about to start on a party of pleasure, he found his doors
+secured outside; and, on putting his head out of the window, was informed
+by Barbaja that he must remain captive until his ransom was paid. The
+ransom, of course, was the opera.
+
+Rossini subsequently revenges himself on his tyrant in a very piquant
+manner; and, finally, the morning after _Othello_ has been performed with
+triumphant success, he starts for Bologna, taking with him, as travelling
+companion, the _prima donna_ of the San Carlo theatre, Signora Colbran,
+whom he had privately married. All this is related very amusingly by M.
+Dumas, but at too great length for our limits.
+
+We have a naval combat in the second volume, in which a French frigate is
+attacked by two English line-of-battle ships, one of which she sinks, and
+receives in return the entire point-blank broadside of the other, a
+three-decker; which broadside, we in our ignorance of nautical matters,
+should have thought sufficient to blow her either out of the water or
+under it. It has not that effect, however, and the frigate is captured;
+the captain of her, when he has hauled down his flag in order to save the
+lives of his men, stepping into his cabin and blowing his brains out. All
+this is very pretty, whatever may be said of its probability. But there
+are two subjects on which the majority of Frenchmen indulge in most
+singular delusions. These are, their invincibility upon the sea, and the
+battle of Waterloo. M. Dumas has not escaped the national monomania.
+
+Our author is very hard upon the poor English in this book. He attacks
+them on all sides and with all weapons. Nelson and Lady Hamilton occupy a
+prominent position in his pages. The execution of Admiral Carraciolo, an
+undoubted blot on the character of our naval hero, is given in all its
+details, and with some little decorations and embellishments, for which we
+suspect that we have to thank our imaginative historian. Nelson's weakness,
+the ascendency exercised over him by Lady Hamilton, or Emma Lyonna, as M.
+Dumas prefers styling her, her intimacy with the Queen of Naples, and
+subservient to the wishes and interests of the Neapolitan court, are all
+set forth in the most glowing colours. This is the heavy artillery, the
+round-shot and shell; but M. Dumas is too skilful a general to leave any
+part of his forces unemployed, and does not omit to bring up his
+sharpshooters, and open a pretty little fire of ridicule upon English
+travellers in Italy, who, as it is well known, go thither to make the
+fortunes of innkeepers and purchase antiquities manufactured in the
+nineteenth century. Strange as it may appear, we should be heartily sorry
+if M. Dumas were to exchange his evident dislike of us for a more kindly
+feeling. We should then lose some of his best stories; for he is never
+more rich and amusing than when he shows up the sons and daughters of _le
+perfide Albion_. In support of our assertion, take the following sketch:--
+
+"During my stay at Naples an Englishman arrived there, and took up his
+quarters at the hotel at which I was stopping. He was one of those
+phlegmatic, overbearing, obstinate Britons, who consider money the engine
+with which every thing is to be moved and all things accomplished, the
+argument in short which nothing can resist. Money was every thing in his
+estimation of mankind; talent, fame, titles, mere feathers that kicked the
+beam the moment a long rent-roll or inscription of three per cents were
+placed in the opposite scale. In proportion as men were rich or poor, did
+he esteem them much or little. Being very rich himself, he esteemed
+himself much.
+
+"He had come direct to Naples by steam, and during the voyage had made
+this calculation: With money I shall say every thing, do every thing, and
+have every thing I please. He had not long to wait to find out his mistake.
+The steamer cast anchor in the port of Naples just half an hour too late
+for the passengers to land. The Englishman, who had been very sea-sick,
+and was particularly anxious to get on shore, sent to offer the captain of
+the port a hundred guineas if he would let him land directly. The
+quarantine laws of Naples are very strict; the captain of the port thought
+the Englishman was mad, and only laughed at his offer. He was therefore
+obliged to sleep on board in an excessively bad humour, cursing alike
+those who made the regulations and those who enforced them.
+
+"The first thing he did when he got on shore, was to set off to visit the
+ruins of Pompeii. There happened to be no regular guide at hand, so he
+took a lazzarone instead. He had not forgotten his disappointment of the
+night before, and all the way to Pompeii he relieved his mind by abusing
+King Ferdinand in the best Italian he could muster. The lazzarone, whom he
+had taken into his carriage, took no notice of all this so long as they
+were on the high-road. Lazzaroni, in general, meddle very little in
+politics, and do not care how much you abuse king or kaiser so long as
+nothing disrespectful is said of the Virgin Mary, St Januarius, or Mount
+Vesuvius. On arriving, however, at the _Via dei Sepolchri_, the ragged
+guide put his finger on his lips as a signal to be silent. But his
+employer either did not understand the gesture, or considered it beneath
+his dignity to take notice of it, for he continued his invectives against
+Ferdinand the Well-beloved.
+
+"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone at last, placing his hand
+upon the side of the barouche, and jumping out as lightly as a harlequin.
+'Pardon me, Eccellenza, but I must return to Naples.'
+
+"'And why so?' inquired the other in his broken Italian.
+
+"'Because I do not wish to be hung.'
+
+"'And who would dare to hang you?'
+
+"'The king.'
+
+"'Why?'
+
+"'Because you are speaking ill of him.'
+
+"'An Englishman has a right to say whatever he likes.'
+
+"'It may be so, but a lazzarone has not.'
+
+"'But you have said nothing.'
+
+"'But I hear everything.'
+
+"'Who will tell what you hear?'
+
+"'The invalid soldier who accompanies us to visit Pompeii.'
+
+"'I do not want an invalid soldier.'
+
+"'Then you cannot visit Pompeii.'
+
+"'Not by paying?'
+
+"'No.'
+
+"'But I will pay double, treble, four times, whatever they ask.'
+
+"'No, no, no.'
+
+"'Oh!' said the Englishman, and he fell into a brown study, during which
+the lazzarone amused himself by trying to jump over his own shadow.
+
+"'I will take the invalid,' said the Englishman after a little reflection.
+
+"'Very good,' replied the lazzarone, 'we will take him.'
+
+"'But I shall say just what I please before him.'
+
+"'In that case I wish you a good morning.'
+
+"'No, no; you must remain.'
+
+"'Allow me to give you a piece of advice then. If you want to say what you
+please before the invalid, take a deaf one.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, delighted with the advice, 'by all means a
+deaf one. Here is a piaster for you for having thought of it.' The
+lazzarone ran to the guard-house, and soon returned with an old soldier
+who was as deaf as a post.
+
+"They began the usual round of the curiosities, during which the
+Englishman continued calling King Ferdinand any thing but a gentleman, of
+all which the invalid heard nothing, and the lazzarone took no notice.
+They visited the Via dei Sepolchri, the houses of Diomedes and Cicero. At
+last they came to Sallust's house, in one of the rooms of which was a
+fresco that hit the Englishman's fancy exceedingly. He immediately sat
+down, took a pencil and a blank book from his pocket, and began copying it.
+He had scarcely made a stroke, however, when the soldier and the lazzarone
+approached him. The former was going to speak, but the latter took the
+words out of his mouth.
+
+"'Eccellenza,' said he, 'it is forbidden to copy the fresco.'
+
+"'Oh!' said the Englishman, 'I must make this copy. I will pay for it.'
+
+"'It is not allowed, even if you pay.'
+
+"'But I will pay ten times its value if necessary; I must copy it, it is
+so funny.'
+
+"'If you do, the invalid will put you in the guard-room.'
+
+"'Pshaw! An Englishman has a right to draw any thing he likes.' And he
+went on with his sketch. The invalid approached him with an inexorable
+countenance.
+
+"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone; 'but would you like to copy
+not only this fresco, but as many more as you please?'
+
+"'Certainly I should, and I will too.'
+
+"'Then, let me give you a word of advice. Take a blind invalid.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, still more enchanted with this second hint
+than with the first. 'By all means, a blind invalid. Here are two piasters
+for the idea.'
+
+"They left Sallust's house, the deaf man was paid and discharged, and the
+lazzarone went to the guard-room, and brought back an invalid who was
+stone-blind and led by a black poodle.
+
+"The Englishman wished to return immediately to continue his drawing, but
+the lazzarone persuaded him to delay it, in order to avoid exciting
+suspicion. They continued their rambles, therefore, guided by the invalid,
+or rather by his dog, who displayed a knowledge of Pompeii that might have
+qualified him to become a member of the antiquarian society. After
+visiting the blacksmith's shop, Fortunata's house, and the public oven,
+they returned to the abode of Sallust, where the Englishman finished his
+sketch, while the lazzarone chatted with the blind man, and kept him
+amused. Continuing their lounge, he made a number of other drawings, and
+in a couple of hours his book was half full.
+
+"At last they arrived at a place where men were digging. There had been
+discovered a number of small busts and statues, bronzes, and curiosities
+of all kinds, which, as soon as they were dug up, were carried into a
+neighbouring house, and had his attention speedily attracted by a little
+statue of a satyr about six inches high. 'Oh!' cried he, 'I shall buy this
+figure.'
+
+"'The king of Naples does not wish to sell it,' replied the lazzarone.
+
+"'I will give its weight in sovereigns--double its weight even.'
+
+"'I tell you it is not to be sold,' persisted the lazzarone; 'but,' added
+he, changing his tone, 'I have already given your excellence two pieces of
+advice which you liked, I will now give you a third: Do not buy the
+statue--steal it.'
+
+"'Oh--oh! that will be very original, and we have a blind invalid too.
+Capital!'
+
+"'Yes, but the invalid has a dog, who has two good eyes and sixteen good
+teeth, and who will fly at you if you so much as touch any thing with your
+little finger.'
+
+"'I'll buy the dog, and hang him.'
+
+"'Do better still; take a lame invalid. Then, as you have seen nearly
+every thing here, put the figure in your pocket and run away. He may call
+out as much as he likes, he will not be able to run after you.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, in convulsions of delight, 'here are three
+piasters for you. Fetch me a lame invalid.'
+
+"And in order not to excite the suspicions of the blind man and his dog,
+he left the house, and pretended to be examining a fountain made of
+shell-work, while the lazzarone went for a third guide. In a quarter of an
+hour he returned, accompanied by an invalid with two wooden legs. They
+gave the blind man three carlini, two for him and one for his dog, and
+sent him away.
+
+"The theatre and the temple of Isis were all that now remained to be seen.
+After visiting them, the Englishman, in the most careless tone he could
+assume, said he should like to return to the house in which were deposited
+the produce of the researches then making. The invalid, without the
+slightest suspicion, conducted them thither, and they entered the
+apartment in which the curiosities were arranged on shelves nailed against
+the wall.
+
+"While the Englishman lounged about, pretending to be examining every
+thing with the greatest interest, the lazzarone busied himself in
+fastening a stout string across the doorway, at the height of a couple of
+feet from the ground. When he had done this, he made a sign to the
+Englishman, who seized the little statue that he coveted from under the
+very nose of the astounded invalid, put it into his pocket, and, jumping
+over the string, ran off as hard as he could, accompanied by the lazzarone.
+Darting through the Stabian gate, they found themselves on the Salerno
+road--an empty hackney-coach was passing, the Englishman jumped in, and
+had soon rejoined his carriage, which was waiting for him in Via dei
+Sepolchri. Two hours after he had left Pompeii he was at Torre del Greco,
+and in another hour at Naples.
+
+"As to the invalid, he at first tried to step over the cord fastened
+across the door, but the height at which the lazzarone had fixed it was
+too great for wooden legs to accomplish. He then endeavoured to untie it,
+but with no better success; for the lazzarone had fastened it in a knot
+compared to which the one of Gordian celebrity would have appeared a mere
+slip-knot. Finally, the old soldier, who had perhaps read of Alexander the
+Great, determined to cut what he could not untie, and accordingly drew his
+sword. But the sword in its best days had never had much edge, and now it
+had none at all; so that the Englishman was halfway to Naples whilst the
+invalid was still sawing away at his cord.
+
+"The same evening the Englishman left Naples on board a steamboat, and the
+lazzarone was lost in the crowd of his comrades; the six plasters he had
+got from his employer enabling him to live in what a lazzarone considers
+luxury for nearly as many months.
+
+"The Englishman had been twelve hours at Naples, and had done the three
+things that are most expressly forbidden to be done there. He had abused
+the king, copied frescoes, and stolen a statue, and all owing, not to his
+money, but to the ingenuity of a lazzarone."
+
+The lazzarone is a godsend for M. Dumas, an admirable peg upon which to
+hang his quaint conceit and sly satire; and he is accordingly frequently
+introduced in the course of the three volumes. We must make room for one
+more extract, in which he figures in conjunction with his friend the
+sbirro or gendarme, who before being invested with a uniform, and armed
+with carbine, pistols, and sabre, has frequently been a lazzarone himself,
+and usually preserves the instincts and tastes of his former station. The
+result of this is a coalition between the lazzarone and the
+sbirro--law-breaker and law-preserver uniting in a systematic attack upon
+the pockets of the public.
+
+"I was one day passing down the Toledo, when I saw a sbirro arrested. Like
+La Fontaine's huntsman, he had been insatiable, and his greediness brought
+its own punishment. This is what had happened.
+
+"A sbirro had caught a lazzarone in the fact.
+
+"'What did you steal from that gentleman in black, who just went by?' he
+demanded he.
+
+"'Nothing, your excellency,' replied the lazzarone. A lazzarone always
+addresses a sbirro as _eccellenza_.
+
+"'I saw your hand in his pocket.'
+
+"'His pocket was empty.'
+
+"'What! Not a purse, a snuff-box, a handkerchief?'
+
+"'Nothing, please your excellency. It was an author.'
+
+"'Why do you go to those sort of people?'
+
+"'I found out my mistake too late.'
+
+"'Come along with me to the police-office.'
+
+"'But, your excellency--since I have stolen nothing?'
+
+"'Idiot, that's the very reason. If you _had_ stolen something, we might
+have arranged matters.'
+
+"'Only wait till next time. I shall not always be so unfortunate. I
+promise you the contents of the pocket of the next person who passes.'
+
+"'Very good; but I will select the individual, or else you will be making
+a bad choice again.'
+
+"'As your excellency pleases.'
+
+"The sbirro folded his arms in a most dignified manner, and leaned his
+back against a post; the lazzarone stretched himself on the pavement at
+his feet. A priest came by, then a lawyer, then a poet; but the sbirro
+made no sign. At last there appeared a young officer, dressed in brilliant
+uniform, who passed gaily along, humming between his teeth a tune out of
+the last opera. The sbirro gave the signal. Up sprang the lazzarone and
+followed the officer. Both disappeared round a corner. Presently the
+lazzarone returned with his ransom in his hand.
+
+"'What have you got there?' said the sbirro.
+
+"'A handkerchief,' replied the other.
+
+"'Is that all?'
+
+"'That all! It is of the finest cambric.'
+
+"'Had he only one?'[11]
+
+    [11] At Naples, it is customary to carry two handkerchiefs, one of
+    silk, and the other of cambric; the latter being used to wipe the
+    forehead.
+
+"'Only one in that pocket.'
+
+"'And in the other?'
+
+"'In the other he had a silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'Why didn't you bring it?'
+
+"'I keep that for myself, excellency. It is fair that we should divide the
+profits. One pocket for you, the other for me.'
+
+"'I have a right to both, and I must have the silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'But, your excelleilcy'----
+
+"'I must have the silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'It is an injustice.'
+
+"'Ha! Do you dare speak ill of his majesty's sbirri? Come along to prison.'
+
+"'You shall have the silk handkerchief, your excellency.'
+
+"'How will you find the officer again?'
+
+"'He is gone to pay a visit in the Strada de Foria. I will go and wait for
+him at the door.'
+
+"The lazzarone walked away, turned the corner of the street, and
+established himself in the recess of a doorway. Presently the young
+officer came out of a house opposite, and before he had gone ten paces,
+put his hand in his pocket, and found he was minus a handkerchief.
+
+"'Pardon me, excellency,' said the lazzarone, stepping up to him; 'you
+have lost something, I think?'
+
+"'I have lost a cambric handkerchief.'
+
+"'Your excellency has not lost it; it has been stolen from him.'
+
+"'And who stole it?'
+
+"'What will your excellency give me if I find him the thief?'
+
+"'I will give you a piastre.'
+
+"'I must have two.'
+
+"'You shall. Hallo! What are you doing?'
+
+"'I am stealing your silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'In order to find my cambric one?'
+
+"'Yes.'
+
+"'And where will both of them be?'
+
+"'In the same pocket. The person to whom I shall give this handkerchief is
+the same to whom I have already given the other. Follow me, and observe
+what I do.'
+
+"The officer followed the lazzarone, who gave the handkerchief to the
+sbirro, and walked away. The latter had hardly put his prize in his pocket
+when the officer came up and seized him by the collar. The sbirro fell on
+his knees, but the officer was inexorable, and he was sent to prison. As
+the sbirro had himself been a lazzarone, he saw at once the trick that had
+been played him. He wanted to cheat his confederate, and his confederate
+had cheated him; but far from bearing him malice for having done so, the
+sbirro views the conduct of the lazzarone in the light of an exploit, and
+feels an additional respect for him in consequence. When he is released
+from prison, he will seek him out, and they will be hand and glove
+together. When that time comes, look to your pockets."
+
+We are introduced to Ferdinand IV. of Naples, King Nasone, as the
+lazzaroni nicknamed him; also to Padre Rocco, a popular preacher, and the
+idol of the lower classes of Neapolitans; and to Cardinal Perelli,
+remarkable for his simplicity, which quality, as may be supposed, loses
+nothing in passing through the hands of his present biographer. With his
+usual skill, M. Dumas glides from a ticklish story of which the cardinal
+is the hero, (a story that he does _not_ tell, for which forbearance we
+give him due credit, since he is evidently sorely tempted thereto,) to an
+account of the Vardarelli, a band of outlaws which for some time infested
+Calabria and the Capitanato.
+
+"Gaetano Vardarelli was a native of Calabria, and one of the earliest
+members of the revolutionary society of the Carbonari. When Murat, after
+for some time favouring that society, began to persecute it, Vardarelli
+fled to Sicily, and took service under King Ferdinand. He was then
+twenty-six years of age, possessing the muscles and courage of a lion, the
+agility of a chamois, the eye of an eagle. Such a recruit was not to be
+despised, and he was made sergeant in the Sicilian guards. On Ferdinand's
+restoration in 1815, he followed him to Naples; but finding that he was
+not likely ever to rise above a very subordinate grade, he became
+disgusted with the service, deserted, and took refuge in the mountains of
+Calabria. There two of his brothers, and some thirty brigands and outlaws,
+assembled around him and elected him their chief, with right of life and
+death over them. He had been a slave in the town; he found himself a king
+in the mountains.
+
+"Proceeding according to the old formula observed by banditti chiefs both
+in Calabria and in melodramas, Vardarelli proclaimed himself redresser
+general of wrongs and grievances, and acted up to his profession by
+robbing the rich and assisting the poor. The consequence was, that he soon
+became exceedingly dreaded by the former, and exceedingly popular among
+the latter class; and at last his exploits reached the ears of King
+Ferdinand himself, who was highly indignant at such goings on, and gave
+orders that the bandit should immediately be hung. But there are three
+things necessary to hang a man--a rope, a gallows, and the man himself. In
+this instance, the first two were easily found, but the third was
+unfortunately wanting. Gendarmes and soldiers were sent after Vardarelli,
+but the latter was too cunning for them all, and slipped through their
+fingers at every turn. His success in eluding pursuit increased his
+reputation, and recruits flocked to his standard. His band soon doubled
+its numbers, and its leader became a formidable and important person,
+which of course was an additional reason for the authorities to wish to
+capture him. A price was set on his head, large bodies of troops sent in
+search of him, but all in vain. One day the Prince of Leperano, Colonel
+Calcedonio, Major Delponte, with a dozen other officers, and a score of
+attendants, were hunting in a forest a few leagues from Bari, when the cry
+of '_Vardarelli_!' was suddenly heard. The party took to flight with the
+utmost precipitation, and all escaped except Major Delponte, who was one
+of the bravest, but, at the same time, one of the poorest, officers of the
+whole army. When he was told that he must pay a thousand ducats for his
+ransom, he only laughed, and asked where he was to get such a sum.
+Vardarelli then threatened to shoot him if it was not forthcoming by a
+certain day. The major replied that it was losing time to wait; and that,
+if he had a piece of advice to give his captor, it was to shoot him at
+once. The bandit at first felt half inclined to do so; but he reflected
+that the less Delponte cared about his life, the more ought Ferdinand to
+value it. He was right in his calculation; for no sooner did the king
+learn that his brave major was in the hands of the banditti, than he
+ordered the ransom to be paid out of his privy purse, and the major
+recovered his freedom.
+
+"But Ferdinand had sworn the extermination of the banditti with whom he
+was thus obliged to treat as from one potentate to another. A certain
+colonel, whose name I forget, and who had heard this vow, pledged himself,
+if a battalion were put under his command, to bring in Vardarelli, his two
+brothers, and the sixty men composing his troop, bound hand and foot, and
+to place them in the dungeons of the Vicaria. The offer was too good to be
+refused; the minister of war put five hundred men at the disposal of the
+colonel, who started with them at once in pursuit of the outlaw. The
+latter was soon informed by his spies of this fresh expedition, and _he_
+also made a vow, to the effect that he would cure his pursuer, once and
+for all, of any disposition to interfere with the Vardarelli.
+
+"He began by leading the poor colonel such a dance over hill and dale,
+that the unfortunate officer and his men were worn out with fatigue; then,
+when he saw them in the state that he wished, he caused some false
+intelligence to be conveyed to them at two o'clock one morning. The
+colonel fell into the snare, and started immediately to surprise
+Vardarelli, whom he was assured was in a little village at the further
+extremity of a narrow pass, through which only four men could pass abreast.
+He made such haste that he marched four leagues in two hours, and at
+daybreak found himself at the entrance of the pass, which, however, seemed
+so peculiarly well adapted for an ambuscade, that he halted his battalion,
+and sent on twenty men to reconnoitre. In a quarter of an hour the twenty
+men returned. They had not met a single living thing. The colonel
+hesitated no longer, and entered the defile; but, on reaching a spot about
+halfway through it, where the road widened out into a sort of platform
+surrounded by high rocks and steep precipices, a shout was suddenly heard,
+proceeding apparently from the clouds, and the poor colonel looking up,
+saw the summits of the rocks covered with brigands, who levelled their
+rifles at him and his soldiers. Nevertheless, he began forming up his men
+as well as the nature of the ground would permit, when Vardarelli himself
+appeared upon a projecting crag. 'Down with your arms, or you are dead
+men!' he shouted in a voice of thunder. The bandits repeated his summons,
+and the echoes repeated their voices, so that the troops, who had not made
+the same vow as their colonel, and who thought themselves surrounded by
+greatly superior numbers, cried out for quarter, in spite of the
+entreaties and menaces of their unfortunate commander. Then Vardarelli,
+without leaving his position, ordered them to pile their arms, and march
+to two different places which he pointed out to them. They obeyed; and
+Vardarelli, leaving twenty of his men in their ambush, came down with the
+remainder, who immediately proceeded to render the Neapolitan muskets
+useless (for the moment at least) by the same process which Gulliver
+employed to extinguish the conflagration of the palace at Lilliput.
+
+"The news of this affair put the king in very bad humour for the first
+twenty-four hours; after which time, however, the love of a joke
+overcoming his anger, he laughed heartily, and told the story to every one
+he saw; and as there are always lots of listeners when a king narrates,
+three years elapsed before the poor colonel ventured to show his face at
+Naples and encounter the ridicule of the court."
+
+The general commanding in Calabria takes the matter rather more seriously,
+and vows the destruction of the banditti. By offers of large pay and
+privileges, they are induced to enter the Neapolitan service, and prove
+highly efficient as a troop of gendarmes. But the general cannot forget
+his old grudge against them; although, for lack of an opportunity, and on
+account of the desperate character of the men, he is obliged to defer his
+revenge for some time. At last he succeeds in having their leaders
+assassinated, and by pretending great indignation, and imprisoning the
+perpetrators of the deed, he lulls the suspicions of the remaining bandits,
+who elect new officers, and on an appointed day, proceed to the town of
+Foggia to have their election confirmed. Only eight of them, apprehensive
+of treachery, refuse to accompany their comrades. The remaining thirty-one,
+and a woman who would not leave her husband, obey the general's summons.
+
+"It was a Sunday, the review had been publicly announced, and the square
+was thronged with spectators. The Vardarelli entered the town in perfect
+order, armed to the very teeth, but giving no sign of hostility or
+mistrust. On reaching the square, they raised their sabres, and with one
+voice exclaimed--'_Viva il Re_!' The general appeared on his balcony to
+acknowledge their salute. The aide-de-camp on duty came down to receive
+them, and after complimenting them on the beauty of their horses and good
+state of their arms, desired them to file past under the general's window,
+which they did with a precision worthy of regular troops. They then formed
+up again in the middle of the square, and dismounted.
+
+"The aide-de-camp went into the house again with the list of the three new
+officers; the Vardarelli were standing by their horses, when suddenly
+there was a great confusion and movement in the crowd, which opened in
+various places, and down every street leading to the square, a column of
+Neapolitan troops was seen advancing. The Vardarelli were surrounded on
+all sides. Perceiving at once that they were betrayed, they sprang upon
+their horses and drew their sabres; but at the same moment the general
+took off his hat, which was the signal agreed upon; the command, '_Faccia
+in terra_,' was heard, and the spectators, throwing themselves on their
+faces, the soldiers fired over them, and nine of the brigands fell to the
+ground, dead or mortally wounded. Those who were unhurt, seeing that they
+had no quarter to expect, dismounted, and forming a compact body, fought
+their way to an old castle in which they took refuge. Two only, trusting
+to the speed of their horses, charged the group of soldiers that appeared
+the least numerous, shot down two of them, and succeeded in breaking
+through the others and escaping. The woman owed her life to a similar
+piece of daring, effected, however, on another point of the enemy's line.
+She broke through, and galloped off, after having discharged both her
+pistols with fatal effect.
+
+"The attention of all was now turned to the remaining twenty Vardarelli,
+who had taken refuge in the ruined castle. The soldiers advanced against
+them, encouraging one another, and expecting to encounter an obstinate
+resistance; but, to their surprise, they reached the gate of the castle
+without a shot being fired at them. The gate was soon beaten in, and the
+soldiers spread themselves through the halls and galleries of the old
+building. But all was silence and solitude; the bandits had disappeared.
+
+"After an hour passed in rummaging every corner of the place, the
+assailants were going away in despair, convinced that their prey had
+escaped them; when a soldier, who was stooping down to look through the
+air-hole of a cellar, fell, shot through the body.
+
+"The Vardarelli were discovered; but still it was no easy matter to get at
+them. Instead of losing men by a direct attack, the soldiers blocked up
+the air-hole with stones, set a guard over it, and then going round to the
+door of the cellar, which was barricadoed on the inner side, they heaped
+lighted fagots and combustibles against it, so that the staircase was soon
+one immense furnace. After a time the door gave way, and the fire poured
+like a torrent into the retreat of the unfortunate bandits. Still a
+profound silence reigned in the vault. Presently two carbine shots were
+fired; two brothers, determined not to fall alive into the hands of their
+enemies, had shot each other to death. A moment afterwards an explosion
+was heard; a bandit had thrown himself into the flames, and his cartridge
+box had blown up. At last the remainder of the unfortunate men being
+nearly suffocated, and seeing that escape was impossible, surrendered at
+discretion, were dragged through the air-hole, and immediately bound hand
+and foot, and conveyed to prison.
+
+"As to the eight who had refused to come to Foggia, and the two who had
+escaped, they were hunted down like wild beasts, tracked from cavern to
+cavern, and from forest to forest. Some were shot, others betrayed by the
+peasantry, some gave themselves up, so that, before the year was out, all
+the Vardarelli were dead or prisoners. The woman who had displayed such
+masculine courage, was the only one who finally escaped. She was never
+heard of afterwards."
+
+M. Dumas finds that the climate of Naples, delightful as it is, has
+nevertheless its little drawbacks and disadvantages. He returns one night
+from an excursion in the environs, and has scarcely got into bed, when he
+is almost blown out of it again by a tornado of tropical violence.
+
+"At midnight, when we returned to Naples, the weather was perfect, the sky
+cloudless, the sea without a ripple. At three in the morning I was
+awakened by the windows of my room bursting open, their eighteen panes of
+glass falling upon the floor with a frightful clatter. I jumped out of bed,
+and felt that the house was shaking. I thought of Pliny the Elder, and
+having no desire for a similar fate, I hastily pulled on my clothes and
+hurried out into the corridor. My first impulse had apparently been that
+of all the inmates of the hotel, who were all standing, more or less
+dressed, at the doors of their apartments; amongst others, Jadin, who made
+his appearance with a phosphorus box in his hand, and his dog Milord at
+his heels. 'What a terrible draught in the house!' said he to me. This
+same draught, as he called it, had just carried off the roof of the Prince
+of San Feodoro's palace, including the garrets and several servants who
+were sleeping in them.
+
+"My first thought had been of an eruption of Vesuvius, but there was no
+such luck for us; it was merely a hurricane. A hurricane at Naples,
+however, is rather different from the same thing in any other European
+country.
+
+"Out of the seventy windows of the hotel, three only had escaped damage.
+The ceilings of seven or eight rooms were rent across. There was a crack
+extending from top to bottom of the house. Eight shutters had been carried
+away, and the servants were running down the street after them, just as
+one runs after one's hat on a windy day. The broken glass was swept away;
+as for sending for glaziers to mend the windows, it was out of the
+question. At Naples nobody thinks of disturbing himself at three in the
+morning. Besides, even had new panes been put in, they would soon have
+shared the fate of the old ones. We were obliged, therefore, to manage as
+well as we could with the shutters. I was tolerably lucky, for I had only
+lost one of mine. I went to bed again, and tried to sleep; but a storm of
+thunder and lightning soon rendered that impossible, and I took refuge on
+the ground-floor, where the wind had done less damage. Then began one of
+those storms of which we have no idea in the more northern parts of Europe.
+It was accompanied by a deluge such as I had never witnessed, except
+perhaps in Calabria. In an instant the Villa Reale appeared to be a part
+of the sea; the water came up to the windows of the ground-floor, and
+flooded the parlours. A minute afterwards, the servants came to tell M.
+Zill that his cellars were full, and his casks of wine floating about and
+staving one another. Presently we saw a jackass laden with vegetables come
+swimming down the street, carried along by the current. He was swept away
+into a large open drain, and disappeared. The peasant who owned him, and
+who had also been carried away, only saved himself from a like fate by
+clinging to a lamp-post. In one hour there fell more water than there
+falls in Paris during the two wettest months in the year.
+
+"Two hours after the cessation of the rain, the water had disappeared, and
+I then perceived the use of this kind of deluge. The streets were clean;
+which they never are in Naples except after a flood of this sort."
+
+One short anecdote, and we have done. After a long account of St Januarius,
+including the well-known miracle of the liquefaction of his blood, and
+some amusing illustrations of his immense popularity with the Neapolitans,
+M. Dumas, in two pithy lines, gives us the length, breadth, and thickness
+of a lazzarone's religion.
+
+"I was one day in a church at Naples," he says, "and I heard a lazzarone
+praying aloud. He entreated God to intercede with St Januarius to make him
+win in the lottery."
+
+On the whole, we think this one of the most amusing of M. Dumas's works,
+very light and sketchy, as is evident from our extracts; but at the same
+time giving a great deal of information concerning Naples, its environs,
+inhabitants, and customs, of much interest, and calculated to be highly
+useful to the traveller. It is also very free from a fault with which we
+taxed its author in a former paper, and we can scarcely call to mind a
+single line which it would be necessary to expunge, in order to render it
+fit reading for the most fastidious. As far as we ourselves are concerned,
+we heartily wish M. Dumas would travel over all the kingdoms of the earth,
+and write a book about each of them; and if he is as good company in a
+post-chaise as his books are at the chimney-corner, there are few things
+we should like better than to accompany him on his pilgrimage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.
+
+PART IX.
+
+
+  "Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
+  Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,
+  Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
+  Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
+  And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
+  Have I not in the pitched battle heard
+  Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?"
+
+        SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+The market-place was lighted up, and filled with dragoons. Leaving my
+hulans under cover of a dark street, and riding forward to reconnoitre, I
+saw with astonishment the utter carelessness with which they abandoned
+themselves to their indulgences in the midst of an irritated population.
+Some were drinking on horseback; some had thrown themselves on the benches
+of the market, and were evidently intoxicated. The people stood at the
+corners of the streets looking on, palpably in terror, yet as palpably
+indignant at the outrage of the military. From the excessive blaze in some
+of the windows, and the shrieks of females, I could perceive that plunder
+was going on, and that the intention was, after having ransacked the place,
+to set it on fire. Yet a strong body of cavalry mounted in the middle of
+the square, and keeping guard round a waggon on which a guillotine had
+been already erected, still made me feel that an attack would be hopeless.
+I soon saw a rush of the people from one of the side streets; a couple of
+dragoon helmets were visible above the crowd; and three or four carts
+followed, filled with young females in white robes and flowers, as if
+dressed for a ball. I gazed intently, to ascertain the meaning of this
+strange and melancholy spectacle. At this moment I felt my horse's bridle
+pulled, and saw the old noble at his head. "Now or never!" he cried, in a
+voice almost choked with emotion. "Those are destined for the guillotine.
+Barbarians! brigands!--they will murder my Amalia." He sank before me.
+"What! is this an execution?" I exclaimed. His answer was scarcely above a
+whisper, for he seemed fainting. "The villains have been sent," said he,
+"to burn the town; they have seized those children of our best families,
+compelled them to dress as they were dressed for the Prussian ball, and
+are now about to murder them by their accursed guillotine." Pointing to
+one lovely girl, who, pale as death, stood in the foremost of those
+vehicles of death, he exclaimed "Amalia! O, my Amalia!" The cart was
+already within a few feet of the scaffold when I gave the word to my
+troopers. The brave fellows answered my "Forward!" with a shout, charged
+sabre in hand, and in an instant had thrown themselves between the victims
+and the scaffold. Their escort, taken completely by surprise, was broken
+at the first shock; we dashed without loss of time on the squadrons
+scattered round the market, and swept it clear of them. Surprised,
+intoxicated, and unacquainted with our force--which they probably thought
+to be the advance of the whole Prussian cavalry--after having lost many
+men, for the peasantry showed no mercy on the dismounted, the regiment
+turned at full gallop to the open country. The townspeople now performed
+their part. The victims were hurried away by their families, among a storm
+of lamentations and rejoicings, tears and kisses. The old noble's daughter,
+half dead, was carried off in her father's arms, with a thousand
+benedictions on me. The guillotine was hewn down with a hundred axes, and
+I saw the fragments burning in the square. Its waggon was made to serve
+its country as a portion of a barricade; and with every vehicle, wheeled
+or unwheeled, which could be rolled out, the entrance to the streets was
+fortified with the national rapidity in any deed, good or ill, under the
+stars.
+
+After having appeased our hunger and that of our famishing horses, and
+being offered all the purses, which the French dragoons, however, had
+lightened nearly to the last coin, we finished the exploit by a general
+chant in honour of the ladies, and marched on our route, followed by the
+prayers of the whole community. This ended the only productive skirmish of
+the retreat. It fed us, broke the monotony of the march, and gave us
+something to talk of--and the soldier asks but little more. A gallant
+action had certainly been done; not the less gallant for its being a
+humane one; and even my bold hulans gave me credit for being a "smart
+officer," a title of no slight value in their dashing service.
+
+Yet what, as the poet Saadi says, is fortune but a peacock "a showy tail
+on a frightful pair of legs?" Our triumph was to be followed by a reverse.
+The burgundy and champagne of the old count's cellar had made us festive,
+and our voices were heard along the road with a gaiety imprudent in a
+hostile land. The sound of a trumpet in our front brought us to our senses
+and a dead stand. But we were in a vein of heroism and instead of taking
+to our old hussar habits, and slipping round the enemy's flanks, we
+determined to cut our way through them, if they had the whole cavalry of
+France as their _appui_. The word was given, and the spur carried us
+through a strong line of cavalry posted across the road. The moon had just
+risen enough to show that there was a still stronger line a few hundred
+yards beyond, which it would be folly to touch. There was now no resource
+but to return as we went, which we did at full speed, and again broke up
+our antagonists. But again we saw squadron after squadron blocking up the
+road. All was now desperate. But Frederick's law of arms was well
+known--"the officer of cavalry who _waits to be charged_, must be broke."
+We made a plunge at our living circumvallation; but the French dragoons
+had now learned common sense--they opened for us--and when we were once
+fairly in, enveloped us completely; it was then a troop to a brigade;
+fifty jaded men and horses to fifteen hundred fresh from camp. What
+happened further I know not. I saw for a minute or two a great deal of
+pistol firing and a great deal of sabre clashing; I felt my horse stagger
+under me, at the moment when I aimed a blow at a gigantic fellow covered
+all over with helmet and mustache; a pistol exploded close at my ear as I
+was going down, and I heard no more.
+
+On opening my eyes again, I found the scene strangely altered. I was lying
+in a little chamber hung round with Parisian ornament--a sufficient
+contrast to a sky dark as pitch, or only illumined by carbines and the
+sparkles of sabres delving at each other. I was lying on an embroidered
+sofa--an equally strong contrast to my position under the bodies of fallen
+men and the heels of kicking horses. A showy Turkish cloak, or _robe de
+chambre_, had superseded my laced jacket, purple pantaloons, and hussar
+boots. I was completely altered as a warrior; and, from a glimpse which I
+cast on a mirror, surrounded with gilt nymphs and swains enough to have
+furnished a ballet, I saw in my haggard countenance, and a wound, which a
+riband but half concealed, across my forehead, that I was not less altered
+as a man.
+
+All round me looked so perfectly like the scenes with which I had been
+familiar in my romance-reading days, that, bruised and feeble as I was, I
+almost expected to find my pillow attended by some of those slight figures
+in long white drapery with blue eyes, which of old ministered to so many
+ill-used knights and exhausted pilgrims. But my reveries were broken up by
+a rough voice in the outer chamber insisting on an entrance into mine, and
+replied to by a weak and garrulous female one, refusing the admission. The
+dialogue was something of this order--
+
+"Strong or weak, well or ill, able or not able, I must send him, before
+twelve o'clock this night, to Paris."
+
+"But the poor gentleman's wounds are still unhealed."
+
+"Still he must set out. The '_malle poste_' will be at the door; and, if
+he had fifty wounds on him, he must go. The marquis is halfway to Paris by
+this time; perhaps more than halfway to the guillotine."
+
+This was followed by a burst of sobs and broken exclamtions from the
+female, whom I discovered, by her sorrowing confessions, to have been a
+nurse in the family.
+
+"Well," was the ruffian's reply; "women of all ages are fools: what is it
+to you whether this young fellow is shot or hanged? He was taken in arms
+against the Republic--one and indivisible. All the enemies of France must
+perish!"
+
+The old woman now partially opened the door, to see whether I slept; and I
+closed my eyes, for the purpose of hearing all that was to be heard
+without interruption. The speaker, whom I alternately took for the
+_gendarme_ of the district, and the executioner, gave went to his swelling
+soul in the national style.
+
+"What! leave _me_! leave Jean Jacques Louis Gilet in charge of this
+wretched aristocrat, while I should be marching with my battalion, and at
+its head too, if merit meets its reward, to sweep the foes of the Republic
+from the face of the earth. No; I shall not remain in this paltry place,
+solicitor of a village, when I ought to be on the highest seat of
+justice--or playing the part of arresting aristocrats, when I might be
+commandant of a brigade, marching over the bodies of the crowned tyrants
+of the earth to glory!"
+
+As his harangue glowed, his pace quickened, and his voice grew more
+vehement; at length, probably impatient of the time which lay between him
+and the first offices of the Republic, he overpowered the resistance of
+the nurse, and rushed into the chamber. Throwng himself into a theatrical
+attitude before a mirror--for what Frenchman ever passes one without a
+glance of happy recognition?--"Rise, aristocrat!" he cried, in the tone of
+Talma calling up the shade of Caesar. "Rise, and account to the world for
+your crimes against the liberty of man!"
+
+I looked with such surprise on this champion of the sons of Adam--a little
+meagre creature, who seemed to be shaped on the model of one of his own
+pens, stripped, withered, and ink-dried--that I actually burst into
+laughter. His indignation rose, and, pulling out a pistol with one hand,
+and a roll of paper from his bosom with the other, he presented them
+together. I perceived, as I lay on my pillow, that the pistol was without
+a lock, and thus was comforted; but the paper was of a more formidable
+description. It was the famous decree of "Fraternization," by which France
+pronounced the fall of her own monarchy, declared "that she would grant
+succour to every people who wished to recover their liberty," and
+commanded her generals "to aid all such, and to defend all citizens who
+might be troubled in the cause of freedom."
+
+This paper indeed startled me; it was the consummation which I had dreaded
+so long. I saw at once that France, in those wild words, had declared war
+against every throne in Europe, and that we were now beginning the era of
+struggle and suffering which Mordecai's strong sense had predicted, and of
+which no human sagacity could foresee the end. My countenance probably
+showed the impression which this European anathema had made upon me; for
+Monsieur Gilet became more heroic than ever, tore his grizzled curls,
+throwing aside his pistol, which he had at length discovered to be _hors
+de combat_, and drawing the falchion which clattered at his heels, and was
+nearly as long as himself, flourished it in quick march backward and
+forward before the mirror--that mirror never forgotten!--in all the
+whirlwind of his rage, and panted for the conquest of "perfidious Albion,"
+the "traitor" Pitt, and the whole brood of hoary power. I was too feeble
+to turn him out of the room, and too contemptuous to reply. But his
+overthrow was not the further off. The old nurse, who, old as she was,
+still retained some of the sinews and all the irritability of a stout
+Champenoise peasant, roused by his insults to the aristocracy, one of whom
+she probably regarded herself, from having lived so long under their roof,
+watched her opportunity, made a spring at him like a wild-cat, wrested the
+sabre from his hand, and, grasping the struggling and screaming little
+functionary in her strong arms, carried him like a child out of the room.
+
+She then returned, and having locked the door to prevent his second inroad,
+sat down by the side of my couch, and, with the usual passion of women
+after strong excitement, burst into exclamations and tears. What I could
+collect from her broken narrative, was little more than the commonplace of
+national misery in that fearful time. She had been a servant in the family
+of the nobleman whose daughter I had saved from death. She had been the
+nurse of the young countess; and all the blessings that sorrow and
+gratitude ever gathered together, could not be exceeded by the praises
+which she poured upon my head. It had been rumoured in the town that I was
+attacked and killed by a body of cavalry sent to revenge the rout of their
+comrades. And the Marquis Lanfranc--I now first learned the name of my
+noble entertainer--had gone forth to look for my remains in the field. I
+was found still breathing, and to avoid further danger was carried to this
+dwelling, a hunting-lodge in the heart of the forest; there I had been
+attended by the family physician only, and, after a week of insensibility,
+had given signs of recovery. The marquis's humanity had brought evil on
+himself. His visits to the lodge had been remarked, and on this very
+morning he had been arrested, and conveyed with his daughter, in a
+carriage escorted by _gendarmes_ to the capital. My detection followed of
+course; papers found on my person had proved that I was an agent of
+England; and the officious M. Gilet had spent the morning in exhibiting to
+the peasantry of the neighbourhood the order of the "Committee of Public
+Safety," a name which froze the blood, to take me under his charge, and
+conduct me forthwith to their tribunal. I tell all this in my own way; for
+the dame's sighs, sobs, and vehement indignation, would have defied all
+record.
+
+My prospect was now black enough, for justice was a word unheard of in the
+present condition of things; and my plea of being an Englishman, and in
+the civil service of my country, would have been a death-warrant. I must
+acknowledge, too, that I had fairly thrown it away by my adoption of the
+Prussian sabre. I might well be now in low spirits; for the guillotine was
+crushing out life at that moment in every province of France, and the
+thirst of public curiosity was to be fed by nothing but blood. Yet, even
+in that moment, let me give myself credit for the recollection, my first
+enquiry was for the fate of my squadron. The old woman could tell me but
+little on the subject; but that little was consolatory. The French
+troopers, who had come back triumphing into the town, had not brought any
+Prussian prisoners: two or three foreigners, who had lost their horses,
+were sheltered in her master's stables until they could make their escape;
+and of them she had heard no more. The truth is, that nothing is more
+difficult in war than to catch a hussar who understands his business; and
+the probability was, that the chief part of them had slipped away, leaving
+the French to sabre each other in the dark. The fall of my horse had
+brought me down, otherwise I might have escaped the shot which stunned me,
+and been at that hour galloping to Berlin.
+
+Monsieur Gilet, with some of the civic authorities, paid me a second visit
+in the evening, to prepare me for my journey. To me it was become
+indifferent whether I died in the carriage or by the edge of the
+guillotine; the journey was short in either case, and the shorter and
+sooner the better. I answered none of their interrogatories; told them I
+was at their disposal; directed the old woman to pack up whatever
+travelling matters remained to me, and to remember me to her master and
+mistress, if she ever should see them in this world; shook her strong old
+hand, and bade God bless her. In return, she kissed me on both cheeks,
+whispered a thousand benedictions, and left the room violently sobbing;
+yet with a parting glance at Monsieur Gilet and his _collaborateurs_, so
+mingled of wrath and ridicule, that it was beyond all my deciphering.
+
+  "Time and the hour run through the longest day,"
+
+says the great poet; and, with the coming of midnight, a _chaise de poste_
+drew up at the door. As I was a prisoner of importance, M. Gilet was not
+suffered to take all the honour of my introduction to the axe on himself;
+and the mayor and deputy-mayor of the district insisted on this
+opportunity of making themselves known to the supreme Republic. They
+mounted the box in front, a couple of gendarmes sat behind, M. Gilet took
+his seat at my side, and, with an infinite cracking of whips, we rushed
+out upon the causeway.
+
+I soon discovered that my companion was by no means satisfied with
+existing circumstances. The officiousness of the pair of mayors
+prodigiously displeased him. He broke forth--
+
+"See these two beggars," he exclaimed, "pretending to patriotism! They
+have no energy, no courage, no civism. Why, _you_ might have remained for
+a twelvemonth under their very nostrils before they would have found you
+out. Gilet is the man for the service of his country." Merely to stop the
+torrent of his complainings, I asked him some vague questions relative to
+the nobleman whom I was now following to Paris. But the patriot was not to
+be moved from his topic.
+
+"Hah! Citizen Lanfranc. All is over with him. He once held his head high
+enough, but it will soon be as low as ever it was high. Yet I could have
+forgiven his aristocracy, if he had not put these two 'chiens' above me."
+
+The position in which the mayor and his deputy sat, on the box of the
+chaise, continually presenting them to the eye of my companion, kept his
+choler peculiarly active.
+
+"One of these fellows," he exclaimed, "was the Marquis's cook, another his
+perruquier! _I_ was his tailor. Every man of taste and talent knows the
+superiority of _my_ profession; for what is the first of noblemen without
+elegance of costume, or what indeed would man himself be without my art,
+the noblest and the earliest art of mankind? And yet he made these two
+'brigands' mayor and deputy--_peste_! I did my duty. I denounced him on
+the spot. I did more. The aristocrat had a faction in the town. It was
+filled with his dependents. In fact, it had been built on his grounds, and
+tenanted by the old hangers-on of the family. So, to make a clear stage, I
+denounced the town." He clapped his hands with exultation at this civic
+triumph.
+
+My recollection of the miseries which his malice had caused roused me into
+wrath, and, rash as the act was, I grasped him by the collar, with the
+full intent of throwing the little writhing wretch out of the window; but,
+while I was lifting him from the seat to which he clung screaming for help,
+and had already forced him halfway outside, a shot whistled close by the
+head of the postilion, which brought him to a full stop. "Mon
+Dieu!--Brigands!" exclaimed Monsieur Gilet; and, dropping back into the
+carriage, attempted to make a screen of my body by slipping his adroitly
+behind me. Two or three more discharges rattled through the trees,
+followed by a rush of peasants, who unceremoniously knocked down the two
+officials in front, and began a general scuffle with the gendarmes. The
+night was so dark, that I could discover nothing of the _mêlée_ but by the
+blaze of the fusils. All, however, was quiet in a few moments, by the
+disappearance of the gendarmes, and the complete capture of the convoy--M.
+Gilet, mayors, and all. Whether we had fallen into the hands of highwaymen,
+or of stragglers from the French army, was doubtful for a while, as not a
+syllable was spoken, nor a sound uttered, except by the unhappy
+functionaries, who grumbled prodigiously as they were dragged along
+through "rough and smooth, moss and mire," and whose pace was evidently
+quickened by many a kick and blow of the fusil. This was a rude march for
+me, too, with my unhealed wound, and my week's sojourn in bed; but I was
+treated, if not with tenderness, without incivility, while my _compagnons
+de voyage_ were insulted with every contemptuous phrase in a vocabulary at
+least as rich in those matters as any other in Europe. At length, after
+about an hour's rapid movement, we reached an open ground, and the door of
+one of the wide, old, staring, yet not uncomfortable farmhouses which are
+to be found in the northern provinces of France.
+
+Signs of comfort within were visible even at a distance, and the light of
+a huge wood fire had been seen for the last quarter of an hour gleaming
+through the woods, and leaving us in doubt whether we were approaching a
+horde of gipsies, or about to realize the classic scenes of Gil Blas.
+
+
+But it was only a farm-house after all. The good dame of the house, with
+an enormous cap, enormous petticoats, enormous earrings, and all the
+glaring good-humour of a countenance of domestic plenty and power, came to
+meet us on the threshold; and her reception of me was ardent, to the very
+verge of stranglulation. Nothing could exceed her rapture at the sight of
+me, or the fierceness of her embraces, except her indignation at the sight
+of my traveling companions. Her disgust at the mayor and his deputy--and
+certainly after their night trip they were not figures to charm the
+eye--was pitched in the highest key of scorn, so as to be surpassed only
+by the torrent of contempt which her well-practised elocution poured upon
+the "_traître tailleur._" I really believe, that, if she could have
+boiled him in the huge soup-kettle which bubbled upon the fire, without
+spoiling our supper, she would have flung him in upon the spot. The
+peasants who had captured us--bold, tall fellows, well dressed and well
+armed with cutlass and fusil, in the style of the
+_gardes-de-chasse_--could scarcely be kept from taking them out to the
+next tree, to make marks of them; and it was probably by my intercession
+alone that they were consigned to an outer house for the night. How the
+scene was to end with me, I knew not; though the jovial visage of my
+protectress showed me that I was secure. But the prisoners had no sooner
+been flung out of the door than I was ushered into an inner room, prepared
+with somewhat more of attention; where, to my great surprise and delight,
+the Marquis Lanfranc came forward to shake my hand, and, with a thousand
+expressions of gratitude, made me known to his daughter. The adventure was
+of the simplest order. The arrest of the Marquis was, of course, known in
+an instant, and a party of his foresters had immediately determined to
+take the law into their own hands--had posted themselves on the road by
+which his carriage was to pass, and had released him without difficulty.
+My release was merely a sequel to the drama. I had been left in the
+hunting-lodge by its owner, under the impression that an individual who
+could not be moved without hazard to life, would escape the vengeance of
+village patriotism. But the nurse, whom he had placed in charge of me, had
+no sooner ascertained that I was arrested, than she sent an express to the
+farm-house. The consequence naturally followed in my liberty; and the
+night which I expected to have spent freezing on my way to the dungeon,
+presented me with the pleasant exchange of hospitable shelter, the society
+of a most accomplished man, and his graceful handsome daughter; and last,
+not least, a couple of kisses from my late nurse, according to the custom
+of the country, as glowing and remorseless as those of my portly landlady
+herself.
+
+We sat for some hours, and scarcely felt them pass in the anxious topics
+which engrossed us; the perils of France, the prospects of the Allies, and
+the captivity of the unhappy Bourbons. Now and then the conversation
+turned on their own hair-breadth escapes, and those of their relatives and
+friends. Among the rest, the hazards of the De Tourville family were
+mentioned, and I heard the name of Clotilde pronounced with a sensation
+indescribable. The name was connected with such displays of fortitude,
+nobleness of spirit, and deep devotion to the royal cause, that, if I had
+loved before, I now honoured her. She had saved the lives of her household;
+she had, by an act of extraordinary, but most perilous affection, saved
+the life of her mother, at the moment when the first insurgency broke out;
+and, young as she was, she had exhibited so noble a union of generosity
+and strength of mind, that the Marquis's eyes filled with tears as he told
+it, and Amalia buried her forehead in her hands to conceal her convulsive
+emotions: what must have been mine!
+
+Our conversation was not unfrequently interrupted by bursts of merriment
+from the outer room, where the peasants were at supper provided by the
+Marquis for his bold rescuers--an indulgence which they seemed to enjoy
+with the highest zest imaginable. Songs were sung with very various kinds
+of merit in the performer, but all well received. Healths were proposed,
+in which the existing Government was certainly not much honoured; and, if
+the good wishes of the party could have sent the "Committee of Public
+Safety," the butcher cabinet of France, to the darkest spot on earth, or
+under it, its time would have been brief. But even this died away; the
+laugh subsided, the mirth grew silent, and at length the
+_gardes-de-chasse_ went away, making the forest ring with their
+professional whoops and holloas, the remnants of their honest revel. At
+length the Marquis and his daughter, who were to be on the wing at
+daybreak for the German frontier, and who had generously offered to take
+charge of my invalid frame in the same direction, retired; and wrapping
+myself up in a dark cloak, furnished by my mistress and formed to her
+showy proportions, I threw myself on the sofa, and was in the land of
+dreams.
+
+But though I slept, I did not rest. My fever, or my lassitude, or probably
+some presentiment of the troubled career into which I was to be plunged,
+made "tired nature's sweet restorer" a stepmother to me. I can never
+endure hearing the dreams of others, and thus I cannot suffer myself to
+inflict them on my hearers; but on that night, Queen Mab, like Jehu, drove
+her horses furiously. Every possible kind of disappointment, vexation, and
+difficulty; every conceivable shape of things, past and present, rushed
+through my brain; and all pale, fierce, disastrous, and melancholy. I was
+beckoned along dim shades by shapeless phantoms; I was trampled in battle;
+I was brought before a tribunal; I was on board a ship which blew up, and
+was flung strangling down an infinite depth in a midnight ocean. But this
+exceeded the privilege even of dreams. I made one desperate effort to rise,
+and awoke with a bound on the floor. There I found a real obstacle--a
+ruffian in a red cap. One strong hand was on my throat; and by the glimmer
+of the dying lantern, which hung from the roof, I saw the glitter of a
+pistol-barrel in the other. "Surrender in the name of the Republic!" were
+the words which told me my fate. Four or five wearers of the same ominous
+emblem, with sabres and pistols, were round me at the moment, and after a
+brief struggle I was secured. Cries were now heard outside the door, and a
+wounded gendarme was carried in, borne in the arms of his comrades. From
+their confused clamour, I could merely ascertain that the gendarmes who
+had escaped in the original _mêlée_, had obtained assistance, and returned
+on their steps. The farm-house had been surrounded, and the Marquis was
+indebted only to the vigilance of his peasantry for a second escape with
+his daughter. The _gardes-de-chasse_ had kept the gendarmes at bay until
+their retreat was secure; and the post-chaise which had brought M. Gilet
+and his coadjutors, was, by this time, some leagues off, at full speed,
+beyond the fangs of Republicanism.
+
+This at least was comfort, though I was left behind. But it was clear that
+the gallant old noble was blameless in the matter, and that nothing was to
+be blamed but my habitual ill luck. "_En route_ for Paris," was the last
+order which I heard; and with a gendarme, in the strange kind of
+post-waggon which was rolled out from the farmer's stable, I was
+dispatched, before daybreak, on my startling journey.
+
+I found my gendarme a facetious fellow; though his merriment might not be
+well adapted to cheer his prisoner. He whistled, he sang, he screamed, he
+stamped, to get rid of the ennui of travelling with so silent a companion.
+He told stories of his own prowess; libeled M. Gilet, who had got him
+beaten on this service in the first instance, and who seemed to be in the
+worst possible odour with man and woman; and abused all, mayors,
+deputy-mayors, and authorities, with the tongue of a leveler. But my
+facetious friend had his especial _chagrins_.
+
+"I have all my life," said he, "been longing to see Paris, and have never
+been able to stir a step beyond this stupid province. Yet I have had my
+chances too. I was once valet to a German count, and we were on the way to
+Paris together when the post-chaise was stopped, the baron was arrested as
+a swindler, and I was charged as his accomplice. He was sent to the
+galleys; I got off. I then had a second chance. I enlisted in a regiment
+of dragoons which was to be quartered in Versailles. But such was my fate,
+I had no sooner passed the first drill, when we were ordered off to
+Lorraine to watch old King Stanislaus, the Pole, who lived there like one
+of his own bears, frozen and fat. Still I was determined to see Paris. I
+asked leave of absence; the adjutant laughed at me, the colonel turned on
+his heel, and the provost-marshal gave me a week of the black-hole. But a
+week is but seven days after all, and on my seeing the parade again--I--"
+
+"You deserted?"
+
+"Not quite that," was the reply. "I took leave, and, as I had seen enough
+of the black hole already, I took good care to give the provost-marshal no
+notice on the subject. A fortnight's march brought me within sight of the
+towers of Notre-Dame. But as I was resting myself on the roadside, our
+adjutant, as ill luck would have it, came by in the _coupe_ of the
+diligence. He jumped out. I was seized, given up to the next guard-house,
+and after fitting me with a pair of fetters, by way of boots, I was
+ordered to take my passage with a condemned regiment for the West Indies.
+There I served ten years; I saw the regiment reduced to a skeleton by
+short rations and new rum; and returned the tenth representative of
+fifteen hundred felons. At last I have a chance; the gendarme of the
+village was so desperately mauled by the foresters in the attempt to carry
+you prisoner, that he has been forced to take to his bed, and let me take
+his place. The thing is certain now. _You_ will be guillotined, but I
+shall see Paris."
+
+Yet what is certain in this most changeful of possible worlds?
+
+  "Fate granted half the prayer,
+  The rest the gods dispersed in empty air."
+
+We had toiled through our long journey, rendered doubly long by the
+dreariest and deepest roads on earth, and were winding round the spur of
+Montmartre, when a troop of citizen heroes, coming forth to sweep the
+country of the retreating Prussians, and whose courage had risen to the
+boiling point by the news of the retreat, surrounded the carriage. My
+Prussian uniform was proof enough for the brains of the patriots; and the
+quick discovery of Parisian ears, that I had not learned my French in
+their capital, settled the question of my being a traitor. The gendarme
+joined in the charge with his natural volubility; but rather insisted
+rashly on his right to take his prisoner into Paris on his own behalf. I
+saw a cloud gathering on the brow of the _chef_, a short, stout, and
+grim-looking fellow, with the true Faubourg St Antoine physiognomy. The
+prize was evidently too valuable not to be turned to good account with the
+authorities; and he resolved on returning at the head of his brother
+patriots to present me as the first-fruits of his martial career. The
+dispute grew hot; my escort was foolish enough to clap his hand on the
+hilt of his sabre--an affront intolerable to a citizen, at the head of
+fifty or sixty _braves_ from the counter or the shambles; the result was,
+a succession of blows from the whole troop, which closed in my seeing him
+stripped of every thing, and flung into the _cachot_ of the _corps de
+garde_, from which his only view of his beloved Paris must have been
+through an iron _grille_.
+
+My captor, determined to enter the capital for once with eclat, seated
+himself beside me in the _chaise de poste_, and, surrounded by his
+pike-bearers, we began our march down the descent of the hill.
+
+My new friend was communicative. He gave his history in a breath. He had
+been a clerk in the office of one of the small tribunals in the south;
+inflamed with patriotism, and indignant at the idea of selling his talents
+at the rate of ten sous a-day, "in a rat-hole called a bureau," he had
+resolved on being known in the world, and to Paris he came. Paris was the
+true place for talent. His _civisme_ had become conspicuous; he had
+"assisted" at the birth of liberty. He had carried a musket on the 10th of
+August, and had "been appointed by the Republic to the command of the
+civic force," which now moved, before and behind me. He was a "_grand
+homme_" already. Danton had told him so within the last fortnight, and
+France and Europe would no sooner read his last pamphlet on the "Crimes of
+Kings," than his fame would be fixed with posterity.
+
+I believe that few men have passed through life without experiencing times
+when it would cost them little to lay it down. At least such times have
+occurred to me, and this was among them. Yet this feeling, whether it is
+to be called nonchalance or despair, has its advantages for the moment; it
+renders the individual considerably careless of the worst that man can do
+to him; and I began to question my oratorical judge's clerk on the events
+in the "city of cities." No man could take fuller advantage of having a
+listener at his command.
+
+"We have cut down the throne," said he, clapping his hands with exultation,
+"and now you may buy it for firewood. But you are an aristocrat, and of
+course a slave; while we have got liberty, equality, and a triumvirate
+that shears off the heads of traitors at a sign. Suspicion of being
+suspected is quite sufficient. Away goes the culprit; a true patriot is
+ordered to take possession of his house until the national pleasure is
+known; and thus every thing goes on well. Of course, you have heard of the
+clearance of the prisons. A magnificent work. Five thousand aristocrats,
+rich, noble, and enemies to their country, sent headless to the shades of
+tyrants. _Vive la Republique_! But a grand idea strikes me. You shall see
+Danton himself, the genius of liberty, the hero of human nature, the
+terror of kings." The thought was new, and a new thought is enough to turn
+the brain of the Gaul at any time. He thrust his head out of the window,
+ordered a general halt; and, instead of taking me to the quarters of the
+National, resolved to have the merit of delivering up an "agent of Pitt
+and English guineas" to the master of the Republic alone. "_A l'Abbaye_!"
+was his cry. But a new obstacle now arose in his troop; they had reckoned
+on a civic supper with their comrades of the guard; and the notion of
+bivouacking in front of the Abbaye, under the chilling wind and fierce
+showers which now swept down the dismal streets, was too much for their
+sense of discipline. The dispute grew angry. At length one of them, a huge
+and savage-looking fellow, who, by way of illustration, thrust his pike
+close to the little commandant's shrinking visage, bellowed out--
+
+"The people are not to be insulted. The people order, and all must obey!"
+Nothing could be more unanswerable, and no attempt was made to answer. The
+captain dropped back into the chaise, the troop took their own way, and my
+next glance showed the street empty. But the Frenchman finds comfort under
+all calamities. After venting his wrath in no measured terms on "rabble
+insolence," and declaring that laws were of no use when "_gueux_" like
+these could take them into their hands, he consoled himself by observing
+that, stripped as he was of his honours, the loss might be compensated by
+his profits; that the "vagabonds" might have expected to share the reward
+which the "grand Danton would infallibly be rejoiced to give for my
+capture, and that both the purse and the praise would be his own." "_A
+l'Abbaye_!" was the cry once more.
+
+We now were in motion again; and, after threading a labyrinth of streets,
+so dreary and so dilapidated as almost to give me the conception that I
+had never been in Paris before, we drove up to the grim entrance of the
+Abbaye. My companion left me in charge of the sentinel, and rushed in.
+"And is this," thought I, as I looked round the narrow space of the four
+walls, "the spot where so many hundreds were butchered; this the scene of
+the first desperate triumph of massacre; this miserable court the last
+field of so many gallant lives; these stones the last resting-place of so
+many whose tread had been on cloth of gold; these old and crumbling walls
+giving the last echo to the voices of statesmen and nobles, the splendid
+courtiers, the brilliant orators, and the hoary ecclesiastics, of the most
+superb kingdom of Europe!" Even by the feeble lamp-light, that rather
+showed the darkness than the forms of the surrounding buildings, it seemed
+to me that I could discover the colour of the slaughter on the ground; and
+there were still heaps in corners, which looked to me like clay suddenly
+flung over the remnants of the murdered.
+
+But my reveries were suddenly broken up by the return of the little
+captain, more angry than ever. He had missed the opportunity of seeing the
+"great man," who had gone to the Salpetrière. And some of the small men
+who performed as his jackals, having discovered that the captain was
+looking for a share in their plunder, had thought proper to treat him, his
+commission, and even his civism, with extreme contempt. In short, as he
+avowed to me, the very first use which he was determined to make of that
+supreme power to which his ascent was inevitable, would be to clear the
+_bureaux_ of France, beginning with Paris, of all those insolent and idle
+hangers-on, who lived only to purloin the profits, and libel the services,
+of "good citizens."
+
+"_A la Salpetrière_." There again disappointment met us. The great man had
+been there "but a few minutes before," and we dragged our slow way through
+mire and ruts that would have been formidable to an artillery waggon with
+all its team. My heart, buoyant as it had been, sank within me as I looked
+up at the frowning battlements, the huge towers, more resembling those of
+a fortress than of even a prison, the gloomy gates, and the general grim
+aspect of the whole vast circumference, giving so emphatic a resemblance
+of the dreariness and the despair within.
+
+"_Aux Carmes_!" was now the direction; for my conductor's resolve to earn
+his reward before daybreak, was rendered more pungent by this interview
+with the _gens de bureau_ at the Abbaye. He was sure that they would be
+instantly on the scent; and if they once took me out of his hands, adieu
+to dreams, of which Alnaschar, the glassman's, were only a type. He grew
+nervous with the thought, and poured out his whole vision of hopes and
+fears with a volubility which I should have set down for frenzy, if in any
+man but a wretch in the fever of a time when gold and blood were the
+universal and combined idolatries of the land.
+
+"You may think yourself fortunate," he exclaimed, "in having been in my
+charge! That brute of a country gendarme could have shown you nothing. Now,
+_I_ know every jail in Paris. I have studied them. They form the true
+knowledge of a citizen. To crush tyrants, to extinguish nobles, to avenge
+the cause of reason on priests, and to raise the people to a knowledge of
+their rights--these are the triumphs of a patriot. Yet, what teacher is
+equal to the jail for them all? _Mais voilà les Carmes_!"
+
+I saw a low range of blank wall, beyond which rose an ancient tower.
+
+"Here," said he, "liberty had a splendid triumph. A hundred and fifty
+tonsured apostles of incivism here fell in one day beneath the two-handed
+sword of freedom. A cardinal, two archbishops, dignitaries, monks, hoary
+with prejudices, antiquated with abuses, extinguishers of the new light of
+liberty, here were offered on the national shrine! _Chantons la
+Carmagnole_."
+
+But he was destined to be disappointed once more. Danton had been there,
+but was suddenly called away by a messenger from the Jacobins. Our
+direction was now changed again. "Now we shall be disappointed no longer.
+Once engaged in debate, he will be fixed for the night. _Allons_, you
+shall see the 'grand patriote,' 'the regenerator,' 'the first man in the
+world.' _Aux Jacobins_!"
+
+Our unfortunate postilion falling with fatigue on his horses' neck,
+attempted to propose going to an inn, and renewing our search in the
+morning; but the captain had made up his mind for the night, and, drawing
+a pistol from his breast, exhibited this significant sign pointed at his
+head. The horses, as tired as their driver, were lashed on. I had for some
+time been considering, as we passed through the deserted streets, whether
+it was altogether consistent with the feelings of my country, to suffer
+myself to be dragged round the capital at the mercy of this lover of lucre;
+but an apathy had come over my whole frame, which made me contemptuous of
+life. The sight of his pistol rather excited me to make the attempt, from
+the very insolence of his carrying it. But we still rolled on. At length,
+in one of the streets, which seemed darker and more miserable than all the
+rest, we were brought to a full stop by the march of a strong body of the
+National Guard, which halted in front of an enormous old building,
+furnished with battlement and bartizan. "_Le Temple_!" exclaimed my
+companion, with almost a shriek of exultation. I glanced upward, and saw a
+light with the pale glimmer which, in my boyish days, I had heard always
+attributed to spectres passing along the dim casements of a gallery. I
+cannot express how deeply this image sank upon me. I saw there only a huge
+tomb--the tomb of living royalty, of a line of monarchs, of all the
+feelings that still bound the heart of man to the cause of France. All now
+spectral. But, whatever might be the work of my imagination, there was
+terrible truth; enough before me to depress, and sting, and wring the mind.
+Within a step of the spot where I sat, were the noblest and the most
+unhappy beings in existence--the whole family of the throne caught in the
+snare of treason. Father, mother, sister, children! Not one rescued, not
+one safe, to relieve the wretchedness of their ruin by the hope that there
+was an individual of their circle beyond their prison bars--all consigned
+to the grave together--all alike conscious that every day which sent its
+light through their melancholy casements, only brought them nearer to a
+death of misery! But I must say no more of this. My heart withered within
+me as I looked at the towers of the Temple. It almost withers within me,
+at this moment, when I think of them. They are leveled long since; but
+while I write I see them before me again, a sepulchre; I see the mustering
+of that crowd of more than savages before the grim gate; and I see the
+pale glimmer of that floating lamp, which was then, perhaps, lighting the
+steps of Marie Antoinette to her solitary cell.
+
+Of all the sights of that melancholy traverse, this the most disheartened
+me, whatever had been my carelessness of life before. It was now almost
+scorn. The thoughts fell heavy on my mind. What was I, when such victims
+were prepared for sacrifice? What was the crush of my obscure hopes, when
+the sitters on thrones were thus leveled with the earth? If I perished in
+the next moment, no chasm would be left in society; perhaps but one or two
+human beings, if even they, would give a recollection to my grave. But
+here the objects of national homage and gallant loyalty, beings whose
+rising radiance had filled the eye of nations, and whose sudden fall was
+felt as an eclipse of European light, were exposed to the deepest
+sufferings of the captive. What, then, was I, that I should murmur; or,
+still more, that I should resist; or, most of all, that I should desire to
+protract an existence which, to this hour, had been one of a vexed spirit,
+and which, to the last hour of my career, looked but cloud on cloud?
+
+Some of this depression may have been the physical result of fatigue, for
+I had been now four-and-twenty hours without rest; and the dismal streets,
+the dashing rain, and the utter absence of human movement as we dragged
+our dreary way along, would have made even the floor of a dungeon welcome.
+I was as cold as its stone.
+
+At length our postilion, after nearly relieving us of all the troubles of
+this world, by running on the verge of the moat which once surrounded the
+Bastile, and where nothing but the screams of my companion prevented him
+from plunging in, wholly lost his way. The few lamps in this intricate and
+miserable quarter of the city had been blown out by the tempest, and our
+only resource appeared to be patience, until the tardy break of winter's
+morn should guide us through the labyrinth of the Faubourg St Antoine.
+However, this my companion's patriotism would not suffer. "The Club would
+be adjourned! Danton would be gone!" In short, he should not hear the
+Jacobin lion roar, nor have the reward on which he reckoned for flinging
+me into his jaws. The postilion was again ordered to move, and the turn of
+a street showing a light at a distance, he lashed his unfortunate horses
+towards it. Utterly indifferent as to where I was to be deposited, I saw
+and heard nothing, until I was roused by the postilion's cry of "Place de
+Grève."
+
+A large fire was burning in the midst of the gloomy square, round which a
+party of the National Guard were standing, with their muskets piled, and
+wrapped in their cloaks, against the inclemency of the night. Further off,
+and in the centre, feebly seen by the low blaze, was a wooden structure,
+on whose corners torches were flaring in the wind. "_Voilà, la
+guillotine_!" exclaimed my captor with the sort of ecstasy which might
+issue from the lips of a worshipper. As I raised my eyes, an accidental
+flash of the fire showed the whole outline of the horrid machine. I saw
+the glitter of the very axe that was to drop upon my head. My first
+sensation was that of deadly faintless. Ghastly as was the purpose of that
+axe, my imagination saw even new ghastliness in the shape of its huge
+awkward scythe-like steel; it seemed made for massacre. The faintness went
+off in the next moment, and I was another man. In the whole course of a
+life of excitement, I have never experienced so total a change. All my
+apathy was gone. The horrors of public execution stood in a visible shape
+before me at once. I might have fallen in the field with fortitude; I
+might have submitted to the deathbed, as the course of nature; I might
+have even died with exultation in some great public cause. But to perish
+by the frightful thing which shot up its spectral height before me; to be
+dragged as a spectacle to scoffing and scorning crowds--dragged, perhaps,
+in the feebleness and squalid helplessness of a confinement which might
+have exhibited me to the world in imbecility or cowardice; to be grasped
+by the ruffian executioner, and flung, stigmatized as a felon, into the
+common grave of felons--the thought darted through my mind like a jet of
+fire; but it gave me the strength of fire. I determined to die by the
+bayonets of the guard, or by any other death than this. My captor
+perceived my agitation, and my eye glanced on his withered and malignant
+visage, as with a smile he was cocking his pistol. I sprang on him like a
+tiger. In our struggle the pistol went off, and a gush of blood from his
+cheek showed that it had inflicted a severe wound. I was now his master,
+and, grasping him by the throat with one hand, with the other I threw open
+the door and leaped upon the pavement. For the moment, I looked round
+bewildered; but the report of the pistol had caught the ears of the guard,
+whom I saw hurrying to unpile their muskets. But this was a work of
+confusion, and, before they could snatch up their arms, I had made my
+choice of the darkest and narrowest of the wretched lanes which issue into
+the square. A shot or two fired after me sent me at my full speed, and I
+darted forward, leaving them as they might, to follow.
+
+How long I scrambled, or how often I felt sinking from mere weariness in
+that flight, I knew not. In the fever of my mind, I only knew that I
+twined my way through numberless streets, most of which have been since
+swept away; but, on turning the corner of a street which led into the
+Boulevard, and when I had some hope of taking refuge in my old hotel, I
+found that I had plunged into the heart of a considerable crowd of persons
+hurrying along, apparently on some business which strongly excited them.
+Some carried lanterns, some pikes, and there was a general appearance of
+more than republican enthusiasm, even savage ferocity, among them, that
+gave sufficient evidence of my having fallen into no good company. I
+attempted to draw back, but this would not be permitted; the words, "Spy,
+traitor, slave of the Monarchiques!" and, apparently as the blackest
+charge of all, "Cordelier!" were heaped upon me, and I ran the closest
+possible chance of being put to death on the spot. It may naturally be
+supposed that I made all kinds of protestations to escape being piked or
+pistoled. But they had no time to wait for apologies. The cry of "Death to
+the traitor!" was followed by the brandishing of half a dozen knives in
+the circle round me. At that moment, when I must have fallen helplessly, a
+figure stepped forward, and opening the slide of his dark lantern directly
+on his own face, whispered the word Mordecai. I recognised, I shall not
+say with what feelings, the police agent who had formerly conveyed me out
+of the city. He was dressed, like the majority of the crowd, in the
+republican costume; and certainly there never was a more extraordinary
+costume. He wore a red cap, like the cap of the butchers of the Faubourgs;
+an enormous beard covered his breast, a short Spanish mantle hung from his
+shoulders, a short leathern doublet, with a belt like an armoury, stuck
+with knives and pistols, a sabre, and huge trousers striped with red, in
+imitation of streams of gore, completed the patriot uniform. Some wore
+broad bands of linen round their waists, inscribed, "2d, 3d and 4th
+September,"--the days of massacre. These were its heros. I was in the
+midst of the _élite_ of murder.
+
+"Citizens," exclaimed the Jew in a voice of thunder, driving back the
+foremost, "hold your hands up; are you about to destroy a friend of
+freedom? Your knives have drunk the blood of aristocrats; but they are the
+defence of liberty. This citizen, against whom they are now unsheathed, is
+one of ourselves. He has returned from the frontier, to join the brave men
+of Paris, in their march to the downfall of tyrants. But out friends await
+us in the glorious club of the Jacobins. This is the hour of victory.
+Advance, regenerated sons of freedom! Forward, Frenchmen!"
+
+His speech had the effect. The rapid executors of public vengeance fell
+back; and the Jew, whispering to me, "You must follow us, or be
+killed,"--I chose the easier alternative at once, and stepped forward like
+a good citizen. As my protector pushed the crowd before him, in which he
+seemed to be a leader, he said to me from time to time, "Show no
+resistance. A word from you would be the signal for your death--we are
+going to the hall of the Jacobins. This is a great night among them, and
+the heads of the party will either be ruined to-night, or by morning will
+be masters of every thing. I pledge myself, if not for your safety, at
+least for doing all that I can to save you." I remained silent, as I was
+ordered; and we hurried on, until there was a halt in front of a huge old
+building. "The hall of the Jacobins," whispered the Jew, and again
+cautioned me against saying or doing any thing in the shape of reluctance.
+
+We now plunged into the darkness of a vast pile, evidently once a convent,
+and where the chill of the massive walls struck to the marrow. I felt as
+if walking through a charnel-house. We hurried on; a trembling light,
+towards the end of an immense and lofty aisle, was our guide; and the
+crowd, long familiar with the way, rushed through the intricacies where so
+many feet of monks had trod before them, and where, perhaps, many a deed
+that shunned the day had been perpetrated. At length a spiral stair
+brought us to a large gallery, where our entrance was marked with a shout
+of congratulation; and tumbling over the benches and each other, we at
+length took our seats in the highest part, which, in both the club and the
+National Assembly, was called, from its height, the Mountain, and from the
+characters which generally held it, was a mountain of flame. In the area
+below, once the nave of the church, sat the Jacobin club. I now, for the
+first time, saw that memorable and terrible assemblage. And nothing could
+be more suited than its aspect to its deeds. The hall was of such extent
+that a large portion of it was scarcely visible, and few lights which hung
+from the walls scarcely displayed even the remainder. The French love of
+decoration had no place here; neither statues nor pictures, neither
+gilding nor sculpture, relieved the heaviness of the building. Nothing of
+the arts was visible but their rudest specimens; the grim effigies of
+monks and martyrs, or the coarse and blackened carvings of a barbarous age.
+The hall was full; for the club contained nearly two thousand members, and
+on this night all were present. Yet, except for the occasional cries of
+approval or anger when any speaker had concluded, and the habitual murmur
+of every huge assembly, they might have been taken for a host of spectres;
+the area had so entirely the aspect of a huge vault, the air felt so thick,
+and the gloom was so feebly dispersed by the chandeliers. All was
+sepulchral. The chair of the president even stood on a tomb, an antique
+structure of black marble. The elevated stand, from which the speakers
+generally addressed the assembly, had the strongest resemblance to a
+scaffold, and behind it, covering the wall, were suspended chains, and
+instruments of torture of every horrid kind, used in the dungeons of old
+times; and though placed there for the sake of contrast with the mercies
+of a more enlightened age, yet enhancing the general idea of a scene of
+death. It required no addition to render the hall of the Jacobins fearful;
+but the meetings were always held at night, often prolonged through the
+whole night. Always stormy, and often sanguinary, daggers were drawn and
+pistols fired--assassination in the streets sometimes followed bitter
+attacks on the benches; and at this period, the mutual wrath and terror of
+the factions had risen to such height, that every meeting might be only a
+prelude to exile or the axe; and the deliberation of this especial night
+must settle the question, whether the Monarchy or the Jacobin club was to
+ascend the scaffold. It was the debate on the execution of the unhappy
+Louis XVI.
+
+The arrival of the crowd, among whom I had taken my unwilling seat,
+evidently gave new spirits to the regicides; the moment was critical. Even
+in Jacobinism all were not equally black, and the fear of the national
+revulsion at so desperate a deed startled many, who might not have been
+withheld by feelings of humanity. The leaders had held a secret
+consultation while the debate was drawing on its slow length, and Danton's
+old expedient of "terror" was resolved on. His emissaries had been sent
+round Paris to summon all his banditti; and the low _cafés_, the Faubourg
+taverns, and every haunt of violence, and the very drunkenness of crime,
+had poured forth. The remnant of the Marseillois--a gang of actual
+galley-slaves, who had led the late massacres--the paid assassins of the
+Marais, and the _sabreurs_ of the Royal Guard, who after treason to their
+king, had found profitable trade in living on the robbery and blood of the
+nobles and priests, formed this reinforcement; and their entrance into the
+gallery was recognised by a clapping of hands from below, which they
+answered by a roar, accompanied with the significant sign of clashing
+their knives and sabres.
+
+Danton immediately rushed into the Tribune. I had seen him before, on the
+fearful night which prepared the attack on the palace; but he was then in
+the haste and affected savageness of the rabble. He now played the part of
+leader of a political sect; and the commencement of his address adopted
+something of the decorum of public council. In this there was an artifice;
+for, resistless as the club was, it still retained a jealousy of the
+superior legislative rank of the assembly of national representatives, the
+Convention. The forms of the Convention were strictly imitated; and even
+those Jacobins who usually led the debate, scrupulously wore the dress of
+the better orders. Robespierre was elaborately dressed whenever he
+appeared in the Tribune, and even Danton abandoned the _canaille_ costume
+for the time. I was struck with his showy stature, his bold forehead, and
+his commanding attitude, as he stood waving his hand over the multitude
+below, as if he waved a sceptre. His appearance was received with a
+general shout from the gallery, which he returned by one profound bow, and
+then stood erect, till all sounds had sunk. His powerful voice then rang
+through the extent of the hall. He began with congratulating the people on
+their having relieved the Republic from its external dangers. His language
+at first was moderate, and his recapitulation of the perils which must
+have befallen a conquered country, was sufficiently true and even touching;
+but his tone soon changed, and I saw the true democrat. "What!" he cried,
+"are those perils to the horrors of domestic perfidy? What are the ravages
+on the frontier to poison and the dagger at our firesides? What is the
+gallant death in the field to assassination in cold blood? Listen,
+fellow-citizens, there is at this hour a plot deeper laid for your
+destruction than ever existed in the shallow heads of, or could ever be
+executed by the coward hearts of, their soldiery. Where is that plot? In
+the streets? No. The courage of our brave patriots is as proof against
+corruption as against fear." This was followed by a shout from the gallery.
+"Is it in the Tuileries? No; there the national sabre has cut down the
+tree which cast its deadly fruits among the nation. Where then is the
+focus of the plot--where the gathering of the storm that is to shake the
+battlements of the Republic--where that terrible deposit of combustibles
+which the noble has gathered, the priest has piled, and the king has
+prepared to kindle? Brave citizens, that spot is ----," he paused, looking
+mysteriously round, while a silence deep as death pervaded the multitude;
+then, as if suddenly recovering himself, he thundered out--"The Temple!"
+No language can describe the shout or the scene that followed. The daring
+word was now spoken which all anticipated; but which Danton alone had the
+desperate audacity to utter. The gallery screamed, howled, roared,
+embraced each other, danced, flourished their weapons, and sang the
+Marseillaise and the Carmagnole. The club below were scarcely less violent
+in their demonstrations of furious joy. Danton had now accomplished his
+task; but his vanity thirsted for additional applause, and he entered into
+a catalogue of his services to Republicanism. In the midst of the detail,
+a low but singularly clear voice was heard, from the extremity of the hall.
+
+"Descend, man of massacre!"
+
+I saw Danton start back as if he had been shot. At length, recovering his
+breath, he said feebly--
+
+"Citizens, of what am I accused?"
+
+"Of the three days of September," uttered the voice again, in a tone so
+strongly sepulchral, that it palpably awed the whole assemblage.
+
+"Who is it that insults me? who dares to malign me? What spy of the
+Girondists, what traitor of the Bourbons, what hireling of the gold of
+Pitt, is among us?" exclaimed the bold ruffian, yet with a visage which,
+even at the distance, I could observe had lost its usual fiery hue, and
+turned clay-colour. "Who accuses me?"
+
+"I!" replied the voice, and I saw a thin tall figure stalk up the length
+of the hall, and stand at the foot of the tribune. "Descend!" was the only
+word which he spoke; and Danton, as if under a spell, to my astonishment,
+obeyed without a word, and came down. The stranger took his place, none
+knew his name; and the rapidity and boldness of his assault suspended all
+in wonder like my own. I can give but a most incomplete conception of the
+extraordinary eloquence of this mysterious intruder. He openly charged
+Danton with having constructed the whole conspiracy against the
+unfortunate prisoners of September; with having deceived the people by
+imaginary alarms of the approach of the enemy; with having plundered the
+national treasury to pay the assassins; and, last and most deadly charge
+of all, with having formed a plan for a National Dictatorship, of which he
+himself was to be the first possessor. The charge was sufficiently
+probable, and was not now heard for the first time. But the keenness and
+fiery promptitude with which the speaker poured the charge upon him, gave
+it a new aspect; and I could see in the changing physiognomies round me,
+that the great democrat was already in danger. He obviously felt this
+himself; for starting up from the bench to which he had returned, he cried
+out, or rather yelled--
+
+"Citizens, this man thirsts for my blood. Am I to be sacrificed? Am I to
+be exposed to the daggers of assassins!" But no answering shout now arose;
+a dead silence reigned: all eyes were still turned on the tribune. I saw
+Danton, after a gaze of total helplessness on all sides, throw up his
+hands like a drowning man, and stagger back to his seat. Nothing could be
+more unfortunate than his interruption; for the speaker now poured the
+renewed invective, like a stream of molten iron, full on his personal
+character and career.
+
+"Born a beggar, your only hope of bread was crime. Adopting the profession
+of an advocate, your only conception of law was chicanery. Coming to Paris,
+you took up patriotism as a trade, and turned the trade into an imposture.
+Trained to dependence, you always hung on some one till he spurned you.
+You licked the dust before Mirabeau; you betrayed him, and he trampled on
+you; you took refuge in the cavern of Marat, until he found you too base
+even for his base companionship, and he, too, spurned you; you then clung
+to the skirts of Robespierre, and clung only to ruin. Viper! known only by
+your coils and your poison; like the original serpent, degraded even from
+the brute into the reptile, you already feel your sentence. I pronounce it
+before all. The man to whom you now cling will crush you. Maximilien
+Robespierre, is not your heel already lifted up to tread out the life of
+this traitor? Maximilien Robespierre," he repeated with a still more
+piercing sound, "do I not speak the truth?" "Have I not stripped the veil
+from your thoughts? Am I not looking on your heart?" He then addressed
+each of the Jacobin leaders in a brief appeal. "Billaud Varennes, stand
+forth--do you not long to drive your dagger into the bosom of this new
+tyrant? Collot d'Herbois, are you not sworn to destroy him? Couthon, have
+you not pronounced him perjured, perfidious, and unfit to live? St Just,
+have you not in your bosom the list of those who have pledged themselves
+that Danton shall never be Dictator; that his grave shall be dug before he
+shall tread on the first step of the throne; that his ashes shall be
+scattered to the four winds of heaven; that he shall never gorge on
+France?"
+
+A hollow murmur, like an echo of the vaults beneath, repeated the
+concluding words. The murmur had scarcely subsided when this extraordinary
+apparition, flinging round him a long white cloak, which he had hitherto
+carried on his arm, and which, in the dim light, gave him the look of one
+covered with a shroud, cried out in a voice of still deeper solemnity,
+"George Jacques Danton, you have this night pronounced the death of your
+king--I now pronounce your own. By the victims of the 20th of June--by the
+victims of the 10th of August--by the victims of the 2d of September--by
+the thousands whom your thirst of blood has slain--by the tens of
+thousands whom your treachery has sent to perish in a foreign grave--by
+the millions whom the war which you have kindled will lay in the field of
+slaughter--I cite you to appear before a tribunal, where sits a judge whom
+none can elude and none can defy. Within a year and a month, I cite you to
+meet the spirits of your victims before the throne of the Eternal."
+
+He stopped; not a voice was heard. He descended the steps of the Tribune,
+and stalked slowly through the hall; not a hand was raised against him. He
+pursued his way with as much calmness and security as if he had been a
+supernatural visitant, until he vanished in the darkness.
+
+This singular occurrence threw a complete damp on the regicidal ardour;
+and, as no one seemed inclined to mount the Tribune, the club would
+probably have broken up for the night, when a loud knocking at one of the
+gates, and the beating of drums, aroused the drowsy sitters on the benches.
+The gallery was as much awake as ever; but seemed occupied with evident
+expectation of either a new revolt, or a spectacle; pistols were taken out
+to be new primed, and the points and edges of knives duly examined. The
+doors at length were thrown open, and a crowd, one half of whom appeared
+to be in the last stage of intoxication, and the other half not far from
+insanity, came dancing and chorusing into the body of the building. In the
+midst of their troop they carried two busts covered with laurels--the
+busts of the regicides Ravaillac and Clement, with flags before them,
+inscribed, "They were glorious; for they slew kings!" The busts were
+presented to the president, and their bearers, a pair of _poissardes_,
+insisted on giving him the republican embrace, in sign of fraternization.
+The president, in return, invited them to the "honours of a sitting;" and
+thus reinforced, the discussion on the death of the unhappy monarch
+commenced once more, and the vote was carried by acclamation. The National
+Convention was still to be applied to for the completion of the sentence;
+but the decree of the Jacobins was the law of the land.
+
+I had often looked towards the gallery door, during the night, for the
+means of escape; but my police friend had forbade my moving before his
+return. I therefore remained until the club were breaking up, and the
+gallery began to clear. Cautious as I had been, I could not help
+exhibiting, from time to time, some disturbance at the atrocities of the
+night, and especially at the condemnation of the helpless king. In all
+this I had found a sympathizing neighbour, who had exhibited marked
+civility in explaining the peculiarities of the place, and giving me brief
+sketches of the speakers as they rose in succession. He had especially
+agreed with me in deprecating the cruelty of the regicidal sentence. I now
+rose to bid my gentlemanlike _cicerone_ good-night; but, to my surprise, I
+saw him make a sign to two loiterers near the door, who instantly pinioned
+me.
+
+"We cannot part quite so soon, Monsieur l'Aristocrat," said he; "and,
+though I much regret that I cannot have the honour of accommodating you in
+the Temple, near your friend Monsieur Louis Capet, yet you may rely on my
+services in procuring a lodging for you in one of the most agreeable
+prisons in Paris."
+
+I had been entrapped in the most established style, and I had nothing to
+thank for it but fortune. Resistance was in vain, for they pointed to the
+pistols within their coats; and with a vexed heart, and making many an
+angry remark on the treachery of the villain who had ensnared me--matters
+which fell on his ear probably with about the same effect as water on the
+pavement at my feet--I was put into a close carriage, and, with ny captors,
+carried off to the nearest barrier, and consigned to the governor of the
+well-known and hideous St Lazare.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+The Olympic Jupiter.
+
+  Calm the Olympian God sat in his marble fane,
+  High and complete in beauty too pure and vast to wane;
+  Full in his ample form, Nature appear'd to spread;
+  Thought and sovran Rule beam'd in his earnest head;
+  From the lofty foliaged brow, and the mightily bearded chin,
+  Down over all his frame was the strength of a life within.
+
+  Lovely a maid in twilight before the vision knelt,
+  Looking with upturn'd gaze the awe that her spirit felt.
+  Hung like the skies above her was bow'd the monarch mild,
+  Hearing the whisper'd words of the fair and panting child.
+  --Could she be dear to him as dews to ocean are,
+  Be in his wreath a leaf, on his robes a golden star!
+  Could she as incense float around his eternal throne,
+  Sound as the note of a hymn to his deep ear alone!
+
+  Lo! while her heart adoring still to the God exhales,
+  Speech from his glimmering lips on the silent air prevails:
+  --"Child of this earth, bewilder'd in thine aërial dream,
+  Turn thee to Powers that are, and not to those that seem.
+  All of fairest and noblest filling my graven form
+  First in a human spirit was breathing alive and warm.
+  Seek thou in him all else that he can evoke from nought,
+  Seek the creative master, the king of beautiful thought."
+
+  --Down the eyes of the maiden sank from the Thunderer's look,
+  Pale in her shame and terror, and yet with delight she shook
+  Swift on her brow she felt a crown by the God bestow'd,
+  Shading her face that now with a hope too lively glow'd.
+  Bending the Sculptor stood who wrought the work divine,
+  Godlike in voice he spake--Ever, oh, maid be mine!
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+A ROMAN IDYL.
+
+
+  Oh! blame not, friend, with scoff unfeeling,
+    The gentle tale of grief and wrong,
+  Which, all the pain of life revealing,
+    Yet teaches peace by thoughtful song.
+
+  The landscape round us wide expanded
+    As ere was heard the name of Rome;
+  And Rome, though fallen, our souls commanded,
+    In this her empire's earliest home.
+
+  Her brightness beam'd on each far mountain,
+    Her life made green the grass we trode,
+  Her memory haunted still the fountain,
+    And spread her shadows o'er the sod.
+
+  Her ruins told their tale of glory,
+    Decreed to that eternal sky;
+  And through that ancient grove, her story
+    With sibyl whisper seem'd to sigh.
+
+  The pile her wealthiest mourner builded,
+    In glimpse we caught through ilex gloom--
+  Metella's Tower, by sunshine gilded,
+    That beams alike on feast or tomb.
+
+  And on this plain, not yet benighted,
+    'Mid awful ages mouldering there,
+  Young hands in new-bloom flowers delighted,
+    Young eyes look'd bright in sunniest air.
+
+  Till we, Viterbo's wine-cup quaffing,
+    Which fairer lips refused to grace,
+  Could win by jest those lips to laughing,
+    And veil'd in folly wisdom's face.
+
+  But say, my friend, thou sage mysterious,
+    What Nymph, what Muse disown'd the strain
+  Which bade our heedless mirth be serious,
+    And woke our ears to nobler pain?
+
+  That region grave of plain and highland,
+    With Rome's grey ruin strewn around,
+  Is not a soft Calypso's island,
+    Nor fades at Truth's evoking sound.
+
+  High thoughts in words of quiet beauty
+    Accord with visions grand as these,
+  And song's imperishable duty
+    Has holier aims than but to please.
+
+  By word and image deeply wedded,
+    By cadence apt and varied rhyme,
+  To rouse the soul in sloth imbedded,
+    And tune its powers to life sublime.
+
+  By loftier shows of man's large being
+    Than man's dim actual hour displays,
+  To clear our eyes for purer seeing,
+    And nerve the flagging spirit's gaze.
+
+  By strains of bold heroic pleasure,
+    And action strong as thought conceives,
+  By many a doom-resounding measure
+    That best our selfish woes relieves;
+
+  By these to stir, by these to brighten,
+    By these to lift the soul from earth,
+  The Poet dares our joys to frighten,
+    And thrills the dirge of lazy mirth.
+
+  Ye Ruins, dust of empires vanish'd,
+    Ye mountains, clad with countless years,
+  From your great presence ne'er be banish'd
+    Sad songs that live in earnest ears:
+
+  Sad songs, the music of all sorrow,
+    Profound and calm as night's blue deep:
+  Accurst the dreams of any morrow
+    When man will feel he cannot weep.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+GOETHE
+
+
+  Alas! on earth his marvels done,
+    The noble German bosom lies,
+  His fatherland's Athenian son,
+    Amid the sage must largely rise!
+
+  Amid the sage the generous race
+    Of soaring thought and steadfast glow,
+  He breathes no more who gave a grace
+    To all our daily lot below.
+
+  He gave to man's encumber'd hours
+    The tuneful joys of truth serene,
+  And twined our life's neglected flowers
+    With nature's holiest evergreen.
+
+  Alas! for him the soul of fire,
+    For him of fancy's golden rays,
+  For him whose aims ascended higher
+    Than all that won a nation's praise!
+
+  We pause and ask--Why gloom'd the grave
+    For one of light so broadly mild?
+  And wonder beauty could not save
+    From death's deep night her eager child.
+
+  But could the lyre be heard again,
+    Its widow'd notes would seem to cry--
+  In all was he a man of men,
+    For them to live, like them to die.
+
+  What life inspires 'twas his to feel,
+    With ampler soul than all beside;
+  What earth's bright shows to few reveal,
+    His art for all expanded wide.
+
+  With earnest heed from hour to hour,
+    Through all his years of striving hope,
+  He fed his lamp, its light to shower
+    On paths where myriads dimly grope.
+
+  He taught nankind by toil, by love,
+    To cheer the world that must be theirs;
+  And ne'er to look for peace above,
+    By scorning earthly joys and cares.
+
+  Ah! pages full of grief and fear,
+    But all attuned to melody,
+  Vesuvio's flame reflected clear
+    In glassy seas of Napoli.
+
+  And on that sea we seem to float
+    In amber light, and catch from far,
+  'Mid ocean's boundless Voice, the note
+    Of girl who hymns the evening-star.
+
+  The sweetest word, the melting tone,
+    The pictured wisdom bright as day,
+  And Faust's remorse, and Tasso's groan,
+    And Dorothea's morning lay,
+
+  Glad Egmont, light of Clara's eyes,
+    Free Goetz, the warmth of manhood's noon,
+  And Mignon, all a tune of sighs,
+    And lorn Ottilia crush'd so soon.
+
+  Ah! tale that tells the life of all
+    To lovelier truth by fancy wrought,
+  And songs that e'en to us recall
+    The bliss a poet's vision caught!
+
+  All these are ours, yes, all--but he.
+    And who that lives can find a strain
+  Of worth like his the soul to free
+    From bonds of sublunary pain?
+
+  A strain like his we vainly seek
+    To sound above the singer's grave,
+  A voice empower'd like his to speak
+    The word our aching bosoms crave.
+
+  That word is not--Oh! not, farewell!
+    To thee whom all thy lays restore;
+  But deeply longs the heart to tell
+    A love thy smile accepts no more.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+HYMN OF A HERMIT.
+
+
+  Long the day, the task is longer;
+  Earth the strong by heaven the stronger.
+  Still is call'd to rise and brighten,
+    But, alas! how weak the soul;
+  While its inbred phantoms frighten,
+    While the past obscures the whole.
+
+  Shadows of the wise departed,
+  Be the brave, the loving-hearted;
+  Deathless dead, resounding, rushing,
+    From the morning-land of hope
+  Come, with viewless footsteps, crushing
+    Dreams that make the wing'd ones grope.
+
+  Socrates, the keen, the truthful,
+  In thy hoary wisdom youthful;
+  Smiling, fear-defying spirit,
+    From beside thy Grecian waves,
+  Teach us Norsemen to inherit
+    Thoughts whose dawn is life to graves.
+
+  Rome's Aurelius, thou the holy
+  King of earth, in goodness lowly,
+  From thy ruins by the Tiber,
+    Look with tearless aspect mild,
+  Till each agonizing fibre
+    Like thine own is reconciled.
+
+  Augustinus, bright and torrid,
+  Isles of green in deserts horrid
+  Once thy home, thy likeness ever!
+    We with sword no less divine
+  Would the good and evil sever,
+    In a larger world than thine.
+
+  Soft Petrarca, sweet and subtle,
+  Weaving still, with silver shuttle,
+  Moony veils for human feeling--
+    Thine the radiance from above,
+  Half-transfiguring, half-concealing,
+    Wounds and tears of earthly love.
+
+  Saxon rude, of thundering stammer,
+  Iron heart, by sin's dread hammer
+  Ground to better dust than golden,
+    May thy prophecy be true.
+  Melt the stern, the weak embolden;
+    Teach what Luther never knew.
+
+  Pale Spinosa, nursed in fable,
+  Painted hopes and portent sable,
+  Then an opener wisdom finding,
+    Let thy round and wintry sun
+  Chase the lurid vapour, blinding
+    Souls that seek the Holy One.
+
+  Thou from green Helvetia roaming,
+  Meteor pale in misty gloaming,
+  With a breast too fiercely burning;
+    Generous, tuneful, frail Rousseau!
+  Would that all to truth returning,
+    Gave, like thee, a tear to woe!
+
+  Eye of clear and diamond sparkle,
+  Where the Baltic waters darkle,
+  Lonely German seer of Reason,
+    Great and calm as Atlas old;
+  Through our formless foggy season,
+    Short thine adamantine cold.
+
+  Shelley, born of faith and passion,
+  Nobler far than gain and fashion;
+  Daring eaglet arm'd with lightning,
+    Firing soon thy native nest,
+  Still the eternal blaze is brightening
+    Ocean where thy pinions rest.
+
+  Heroes, prophets, bards, and sages,
+  Gods and men of climes and ages,
+  Conquerors of lifelong sorrow,
+    Torment that ye made your throne,
+  Help, Oh! help in us the morrow,
+  Full of triumph like your own.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE LUCKLESS LOVER
+
+
+    "If aught on earth assault may bide
+  Of ceaseless time and shifting tide,
+    Beloved! I swear to thee
+  It is the truth of hearts that love,
+  United in a world above
+    The moment's misty sea.
+
+    "Oh! sweeter than the light of dawn,
+  Than music in the woods withdrawn
+    From clamours of the crowd,
+  A new creation all our own,
+  Unvisited by scoff or groan,
+    Is faith in silence vow'd.
+
+    "Two hearts by reason nobly sad,
+  Nor rashly blind, nor lightly glad,
+    Possess they not a bliss
+  In their communion, felt and full,
+  Beyond all custom's deadly rule?
+    For life is only this.
+
+    "In sighs we met, in sighs and sobs,
+  Such grief as from the wretched robs
+    The hope to heaven allied:
+  Great calm was ours, a strength severe,
+  Though wet with many a scalding tear,
+    When soul to soul replied.
+
+  "Of thy dark eyes and gentle speech,
+  The memory has a power to teach
+    What know not many wise.
+  New stars may rise, the ancient fade,
+  But not for us, my own pale maid,
+    Be lost that pure surprise--
+
+  "The pure delight, the awful change,
+  Chief miracle in wonder's range,
+    That binds the twain in one;
+  While fear, foes, friends, and angry Fate,
+  And all that wreck our mortal state
+    Shall pass, like motes i' the sun.
+
+  "In his fine frame the throstle feels
+  The music that his note reveals;
+    And spite of shafts and nets,
+  How better is the dying bird
+  Than some dumb stone that ne'er was heard,
+    That arrow never threats?
+
+  "Disdaining man, the mountains rise;
+  Is love less kindred with the skies,
+    Or less their Maker's will?
+  The strains, without a human cause,
+  Flow on, unheeding lies and laws--
+    Will hearts for words be still?
+
+  "What cliffs oppose, what oceans roll,
+  What frowns o'ershade the weeping soul,
+    Alas! were long to tell.
+  But something is there more than these,
+  Than frowns and coldness, rocks and seas:
+    Until its hour--farewell!"
+
+  So sang the vassal bard by night,
+  Beneath his high-born lady's light
+    That from her turret shone.
+  Next morning in the forest glade
+  His corpse was found. Her brother's blade
+    Had cut his bosom's bone.
+
+  What reap'd Lord Wilfrid by the stroke?
+  Before another morning broke,
+    She, too, was with the blest:
+  And 'twas her last and only prayer,
+  That her sweet limbs might slumber where
+    The minstrel had his rest.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION
+
+THE CORN LAWS.
+
+
+It is remarkable that, while we hear so much of the advantages of free
+trade, the reciprocity of them is always in _prospect_ only. By throwing
+open our harbours to foreign nations, indeed, we give _them_ an immediate
+and obvious advantage over ourselves; but as to any corresponding
+advantages we are to gain in our intercourse with them, we are still
+waiting, in patient expectation of the anticipated benefit. Our patience
+is truly exemplary; it might furnish a model to Job himself. We resent
+nothing. No sooner do we receive a blow on one cheek, than we turn up the
+other to some new smiter. No sooner are we excluded, in return for our
+concessions, from the harbours of one state, than we begin making
+concessions to another. We are constantly in expectation of seeing the
+stream of human envy and jealousy run out:--
+
+  "Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis: at ille
+  Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum."
+
+We are imitating the man who made the experiment of constantly reducing
+the food on which his horse is to live. Let us take care that, just as he
+is learning to live on nothing, we do not find him dead in his stall.
+
+This, however, is no joking matter. The total failure of the free trade
+system to procure any, _even the smallest return_, coupled with the very
+serious injury it has inflicted on many of the staple branches of our
+industry, has now been completely demonstrated by experience, and is
+matter of universal notoriety. If any proof on the subject were required,
+it would be furnished by _Porter's Parliamentary Tables_, to which we
+earnestly request the attention of our readers. The first exhibits the
+effect of the reciprocity system, introduced by Mr Huskisson in Feb. 1823,
+in destroying our shipping with the Baltic powers, and quadrupling theirs
+with us. The second shows the trifling amount of our exports to these
+countries during the five last years, and thereby demonstrates the entire
+failure of the attempt to, extend our traffic with them by this gratuitous
+destruction of our shipping. The third shows the progress of our whole
+exports to Europe during the six years from 1814 to 1820, before the free
+trade began, and from 1833 to 1839, after it had been fifteen years in
+operation, and proves that it had _declined_ in the latter period as
+compared with the former, despite all our gratuitous sacrifices by free
+trade to augment our commerce.[12]
+
+    [12] See No. CCCXL, _Blackwood's Magazine_, p. 261.
+
+The free traders fully admit, and deeply deplore, as we have shown on a
+former occasion, these unfavourable results; but they say that it is to be
+hoped they will not continue: that foreign nations must, in the end, come
+to see that they are as much interested as we are in enlightened system of
+free trade; and that, meantime, it is for our interest to continue the
+system; or even though it totally fails in producing any augmentation in
+our exports, it is obviously for our advantage to continue it, as it
+brings in the immediate benefit of purchasing articles imported at a
+cheaper rate. Supposing, say they, we obtain no corresponding advantage
+from other states, there is an immense benefit accrues to ourselves from
+admitting foreign goods at a nominal duty, from the low price at which
+they may be purchased by the British consumer. To that point we shall
+advert in the sequel; in the mean time, it may be considered as
+demonstrated, that the free trade system has entirely failed in procuring
+for us the slightest extension of our foreign exports, or abating in the
+slightest degree the jealousy of foreign nations at our maritime and
+manufacturing superiority. Nor is there any difficulty in discovering to
+what this failure has been owing. It arises from laws inherent in the
+nature of things, and which will remain unabated as long as we continue a
+great and prosperous nation.
+
+It is related of the Lacedemonians, that while all the other citizens of
+Greece were careful to surround their towns with walls, they alone left a
+part open on all sides. Thus, superiority in the field rendered them
+indifferent to the adventitious protection of ramparts. It is for a
+similar reason that England is now willing to throw down the barriers of
+tariffs, and the impediments of custom-houses; and that all other nations
+are fain to raise them up. It is a secret sense of superiority on the one
+side, and of inferiority on the other, which is the cause of the
+difference. We advocate freedom of trade, because we are conscious that,
+in a fair unrestricted competition, we should succeed in beating them out
+of their own market. They resist it, and loudly clamour for protection,
+because they are aware that such a result would speedily take place, and
+that the superiority of the old commercial state is such, that on an open
+trial of strength, it must at once prove fatal to its younger rivals. As
+this effect is thus the result of permanent causes affecting both sides,
+it may fairly be presumed that it will be lasting; and that the more
+anxiously the old manufacturing state advocates or acts upon freedom of
+commercial intercourse, the more strenuously will the younger and rising
+ones advocate protection. Reciprocity, therefore, is out of the question
+between them: for it never could exist without the destruction of the
+manufactures of the younger state; and if that state has begun to enter on
+the path of manufacturing industry, it never will be permitted by its
+government.
+
+But this is not all. If free trade must of necessity prove fatal to the
+manufactures of the younger state, it as certainly leads to the
+destruction _of the agriculture of the older;_ and it is this double
+effect this RECIPROCITY OF EVIL, which renders it so disastrous and
+impracticable an experiment for both the older and the younger community.
+The reason of this has not hitherto been generally attended to; but when
+once it is stated, its force becomes obvious, and it furnishes the true
+answer on principle to the delusive doctrines of free trade.
+
+Nature has established, and, as it will immediately be shown, for very
+wise and important purposes, a permanent and indelible distinction between
+the effect of civilization and opulence on the production of food, and on
+the preparation of manufactures. In the latter, the discoveries of science,
+the exertions of skill, the application of capital, the introduction of
+machinery, are all-powerful, and give the older and more advanced state an
+immediate and decisive advantage over the younger and the ruder. In the
+former, the very reverse takes place: the additions made to productive
+power are comparatively inconsiderable, even by the most important
+discoveries; and as this capital and industry have in the end a powerful
+effect, and always enable the power of raising food for the human race to
+keep far a-head of the wants of mankind; yet this effect takes place very
+slowly, and the annual addition that can be made to the produce of the
+earth by such means is by no means considerable. The introduction of
+thorough draining will probably increase the productive power of the soil
+in Great Britain a third: scientific discovery may perhaps add another
+third; but at least ten years must elapse in the most favourable view
+before these effects generally take place--ere the judicious and
+well-directed labours of our husbandmen have formed rivulets for the
+superfluous wet of our fields, or overspread the soil with the now wasted
+animal remains of our cities. But our manufactures can in a few years
+quadruple their produce. So vast is the power which the steam-engine has
+made to the powers of production in commercial industry, that it is
+susceptible to almost indefinite and immediate extension; and the great
+difficulty always felt is, not to get hands to keep pace with the demand
+of the consumers, but to get a demand to keep pace with the hands employed
+in the production. Manchester and Glasgow could, in a few years, furnish
+muslin and cotton goods for the whole world.
+
+Nor is the difference less important and conspicuous in the _price_ at
+which manufacturing and agricultural produce can be raised in the old and
+the young state. This is the decisive circumstance which renders
+reciprocity between them impossible. The rich old state is as superior to
+the young one in the production of manufactures, as the poor young state
+is to the rich old one in that of subsistence. The steam-engine, capital,
+and machinery, have so enormously increased the power of manufacturing
+production, that they have rendered the old commercial state omnipotent in
+the foreign market in the supply of its articles. Nothing but fiscal
+regulations and heavy duties can protect the young state from ruin in
+those branches of industry. Heavy taxes, high wages, costly rents, dear
+rude produce, all are at once compensated, and more than compensated, by
+the gigantic powers of the steam-engine. Cotton goods are raised now in
+Great Britain at a fifth of the price which they were during the war. A
+gown, which formerly was cheap at £2, 10s., is now sold for ten shillings.
+Silks, muslins, and all other articles of female apparel, have been
+reduced in price in the same proportion. Colossal fortunes have been made
+by the master manufacturers, unbounded wealth diffused through the
+operative workmen in Lancashire and Lanarkshire, even at these extremely
+reduced prices. This is the real reason of the universal effort made by
+all nations which have the least pretensions to commercial industry, of
+late years to exclude, by fixed duties, our staple manufactures; of which
+the President of the Board of Trade so feelingly complains, and which the
+advocates of free trade consider as so inexplicable. A very clear
+principle has led to it, and will lead to it. It is the instinct of
+SELF-PRESERVATION.
+
+But there is no steam-engine in agriculture. The old state has no
+superiority over the young one in the price of producing food; on the
+contrary, it is decidedly its inferior. There, as in love, the apprentice
+is the master. The proof of this is decisive. Poland can raise wheat with
+ease at fifteen or twenty shillings a quarter, while England requires
+fifty. The serf of the Ukraine would make a fortune on the price at which
+the farmer of Kent or East Lothian would be rendered bankrupt. The Polish
+cultivators have no objection whatever to a free competition with the
+British; but the British anticipate, and with reason, total destruction
+from the free admission of Polish grain. These facts are so notorious,
+that they require no illustration; but nevertheless the conclusion to
+which they point is of the highest importance, and bears, with
+overwhelming force, on the theory of free trade as between an old and a
+young community. They demonstrate that that theory is not only practically
+pernicious, but on principle erroneous. It involves an oblivion of the
+fundamental law of nature as to the difference between the effect of
+wealth and civilization on the production of food and the raising of
+manufactures. It proceeds on insensibility to the difference in the age
+and advancement of nations, and the impossibility of a reciprocity being
+established between them without the ruin of an important branch of
+industry in each. It supposes nations to be of the same genus and age,
+like the trees in the larch plantation, not of all varieties and ages, as
+in the natural forest. If established in complete operation, it would only
+lead to the ruin of the manufactures of the younger state, and of the
+agriculture of the old one. The only reciprocity which it can ever
+introduce between such states is the reciprocity of evil.
+
+Illustrations from everyday life occur on all sides to elucidate the utter
+absurdity, and, in fact, total impracticapability of the system of free
+trade, as applied to nations who are, or are becoming, rivals of each
+other in manufacturing industry. Those who have the advantage, will always
+advocate free competition; those who are labouring under impediments, will
+always exclaim against them. In some cases the young have the advantage,
+in others the old; but in all the free system is applauded by those in the
+sunshine, and execrated by those in the shade. The fair _debutante_ of
+eighteen, basking in the bright light of youth, beauty, birth, and
+connections, has no sort of objection to the freedom of choice in the
+ball-room. If the mature spinster of forty would divulge her real opinion,
+what would it be on the same scene of competition? Experience proves that
+she is glad to retire, in the general case, from the unequal struggle, and
+finds the system of established precedence and fixed rank at dinner
+parties, much more rational. The leaders on the North Circuit--Sir James
+Scarlett or Lord Brongham--have no objections to the free choice, by
+solicitors and attorneys, for professional talent; but their younger
+brethren of the gown are fain to take shelter from such formidable rivals
+in the exclusive employment of the Crown, the East India Company, the Bank
+of England, or some of the numerous chartered companies in the country.
+England is the old lawyer on the Cirucuit in manufactures--but Poland is
+the young beauty of the ball-room in agriculture. We should like to see
+what sort of reciprocity could be established between them. Possibly the
+young belle may exchange her beauty for the old lawyer's guineas, but it
+will prove a bad reciprocity for both.
+
+It is usual for both philosophers and practical men to ascribe the
+superior cheapness with which subsistence can be raised in the young state
+to the old one, to the weight of taxes and of debt, public and private,
+with which the latter is burdened, from which the former is, in general,
+relieved. But, without disputing that these circumstances enter with
+considerable weight into the general result, it may safely be affirmed
+that the main cause of it is to be found in two laws of nature, of
+universal and permanent application. These are the low value of money in
+the rich state, in consequence of its plenty, compared with its high value
+in the poor one, in consequence of its poverty, and the experienced
+inapplicability of machinery or the division of labour to agricultural
+operations.
+
+Labour is cheap in the poor state, such as Poland, Prussia, and the
+Ukraine, becuase guineas are few.--"It is not," as Johnson said of the
+Highlands, "that eggs are many, but that pence are few." Commercial
+transactions being scanty, and the want of a circulating medium
+inconsiderable, it exists to a very limited extent in the country. People
+do not need a large circulating medium, therefore they do not buy it; they
+are poor, therefore they cannot. In the opulent and highly advanced
+community, on the other hand, the reverse of all this takes place.
+Transactions are so frequent, the necessities of commerce so extensive,
+that a large circulating medium is soon felt to be indispensable. In
+addition to a considerable amount of specie, the aid of bank-notes, public
+and private, of Government securities and exchequer bills, and of private
+bills to an immense ammount, bcomes necessary. McCulloch calculates the
+circulating medium of Great Britain, including paper and gold, at
+L.72,000,000. The bills in circulation are probably in amount nearly as
+much more. A hundred and forty, or a hundred and fifty millions, between
+specie, bank-notes, exchequer bills, Government securities, on which
+advances are made, and private bills, constitute the ordinary circulating
+medium of twenty-seven millions in the British empire. The total
+circulation of Russia, with sixty millions of inhabitants, is not forty
+millions sterling. The effect of this difference is prodigions. It is no
+wonder, whten it is taken into account, that wages are 5-1/2d. or 6d.
+a-day in Poland or the Ukraine, and 2s. or 2s. 6d. a-day in England.
+
+The clearest proof that this is the great cause of the superior cost of
+raising subsistence in the old than the young state, is afforded by the
+different value which money bears in different parts of the _same_
+community. Ask any housekeeper what is the difference between the expense
+of living in London, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and he will answer, that
+L.1500 a-year in Edingburgh, or L.750 in Aberdeen. Yet these different
+places are all situated in the same community, and their inhabitants pay
+the same public taxes, and very nearly the same of local ones. It is the
+vast results arising from the concentration of wealth and expediture in
+one place, compared with its abstraction from others, which occasions the
+difference. But if this effect is conspicuous, and matter of daily
+observation, in different parts of the same compact and moderately sized
+country, how much more must it obtain in regard to different countries,
+situated in different latitudes and politcal circumstances, and in
+different stages of wealth, civilization, and commercial opulence? Between
+England for example, and Poland or the Ukraine? The difference is there
+important and durable. Wheat can be raised with as good a profit to the
+cultivator for sixteen shillings per quarter in Poland, as for forty-eight
+shillings in England or Scotland.
+
+This superior weight of wages, rent and all the elements of cost, in the
+old, when compared with the young community, affects the manufacturer as
+well as the farmer; and in some branches of manufactures it does so with
+an overwhelming effect. But, generally speaking, the advantages of capital,
+machinery, and the division of labour, render the old state altogether
+predominant over the young one in these particulars. It would seem to be a
+fixed law of nature, that the progress of society adds almost nothing to
+the application of machinery to agriculture, but indefinitely to its
+importance in manufactures. Observe an old man digging his garden with a
+spade--that is the most productive species of cultivation; it is the last
+stage of agricultural progress to return to it. No steam engines or steam
+ploughs will ever rival it. But what is the old weaver toiling with his
+hands, to the large steam-power mill, turning at once ten thousand
+spindles? As dust in the balance. Man, by a beneficent law of his Maker,
+is permanently secured in his first and best pursuit. It is in those which
+demoralize and degrade, that machinery progressively encroaches on the
+labour of his hands.  England can undersell India in muslins and printed
+goods, manufactured in Lancashire or Lanarkshire, out of cotton which grew
+on the banks of the Ganges; for England though younger in years compared
+to India, is old in civilization, wealth, and power. We should like to see
+what profit would be made by exporting wheat from England, raised on land
+paying thirty shillings an acre of rent, by labourers paid at two
+shillings a-day, to Hindostan, where rice is raised twice a-year, on land
+paying five shillings an acre rent, by labourers receiving twopence a-day
+each.
+
+It is the constant operation of this law of nature which ensures the
+equalization of empires, the happiness of society, and the dispersion of
+mankind. To be convinced of this, we have only to reflect on the results
+which would ensue if this were not the case; if no unvarying law gave man
+in remote situations an advantage in raising subsistence over what they
+enjoy in the centres of opulence; and agriculture, in the aged and wealthy
+community, was able to acquire the same decisive superiority over distant
+and comparatively poor ones, which we see daily examplified in the
+production of manufactures. Suppose, for example, that in consequence of
+the application of the steam-engine, capital, and machinery to the raising
+of subsistence, Great Britian could undersell the cultivatiors of Poland
+and the Ukraine as effectually as she does their manufacturers in the
+production of cotton goods; that she could sell in the Polish market wheat
+at five shillings a quarter, when they require fifteen shillings to
+remunerate the cost of production. Would not the result be, that commerce
+between them would be entirely destroyed; that subsistence would be
+exclusively raised in the old opulent community; that mankind would
+congregate in fearful multitudes round the great commercial emporium of
+the world; and that the industry and progress of the more distant nations
+would be irrevocably blighted? Whereas, by the operation of the present
+law of nature, that the rich state can always undersell the poor one in
+maufactures, and the poor one always undersell the rich one in subsistence,
+those dangers are removed, a check is provided to the undue multiplication
+of the species in particular situations, and the dispersion of mankind
+over the globe--a vital object in the system of nature--is secured, from
+the very necessities and difficulties in which, in the progress of society,
+the old and wealthy community becomes involved.
+
+These considerations point out an important limitation to which, on
+principle, the doctrines of free trade must be subjected. Perfectly just
+in reference to a single community, or a compact empire of reasonable
+extent, they wholly fail when applied to separate nations in different
+degrees of civilization, or even to different provinces of the same empire,
+when it is of such an extent as to bring such different nations, in
+various degrees of progress, under one common dominion. They were
+suggested, in the first instance, to philosophers, by the absurd
+restrictions on the commerce of grain which existed in France under the
+old monarchy, and which Turgot and the Economists laboured so assiduously
+to abolish. There can be no doubt that they were perfectly right in doing
+so; for France is a compact, homogeneous country, in which the cost of
+producing subsistence is not materially different in one part from another,
+and the interests of the whole community are closely identified. The same
+holds with the interchange of grain between the different provinces of
+Spain, or for the various parts of the British islands. But the case is
+widely different with an empire so extensive as, like the British in
+modern or the Roman in ancient times, to embrace separate kingdoms, in
+wholly different circumstances of climate, progress, and social condition.
+Free trade, in such circumstances, must lead to a destruction of important
+interests, and a total subversion of the balance of society in both the
+kingdoms subjected to it. To be conviced of this, we have only to look at
+the present condition of the British, or the past fate of the Roman empire.
+
+It is the boast of our manufacturers--and such a marvel may well afford a
+subject for exultation--that with cotton which grew on the banks of the
+Ganges, they can, by the aid of British capital, machinery, and enterprise,
+undersell, in the production of muslin and cotton goods, the native Indian
+manufacturers, who work up their fabrics in the close vicinity of the
+original cotton-fields. The constant and increasing export of Britsh goods
+to India, two-thirds of which are cotton, demonstrates that this
+superiority really exists; and that the muslin manufacturers in Hindostan,
+who work for 3d. a-day on their own cotton, cannot stand the competition
+of the British operatives, who receive 3s. 6d. a-day, aided as they are by
+the almost miraculous powers of the steam-engine. Free trade, therefore,
+is ruinous to the manufacturing interests of India; and accordingly the
+Parliamentary proceedings are filled with evidence of the extreme misery
+which has been brought on the native manufacturers of Hindostan by that
+free importation of British goods, in which our political economists so
+much and so fully exult.
+
+The great distance of India from the British islands, the vast expense of
+transporting bulky articles eight thousand miles accross the ocean, have
+prevented the counterpart of this effect taking place; and the British
+farmers feeling the depressing influence of the Indian plough, in like
+manner as the Indian manufacturers have the ruinous competition of the
+British steam-engine. But it is clear that, if India had been nearer, the
+former effect would have taken place as well as the latter. If the shores
+of Hindostan were within a few days sail of London and Liverpool, and the
+Indian cultivators, labouring at 2d. or 3d. a-day, had been brought into
+direct competition with the British farmers, employing labourers who
+received two or three shillings, can there be a doubt that the British
+farmers would have been totally destroyed in the struggle? The English
+farmers would have been prostrated by the same cause which has ruined the
+Indian muslin manufacturers. Cheap grain, the fruit of free trade, would
+have demolished British agriculture as completely as cheap cotton goods,
+the fruits of unlimited importation, has ruined Indian manufacturing
+industry.
+
+Is, then, commercial intercourse impossible, on terms of mutual benefit,
+between states in widely different circumstatnces of commercial or
+agricultural advancement; and is the only reciprocity which can exist
+between them and reciprocity of evil? It is by no means necessary to rest
+in so unsatisfatory a conclusion. A most advantageous commercial
+intercourse to both parties may be carried on, but it must not be on the
+footing of free trade. The foundation of such an intercourse should be,
+that each should take, on the most favourable terms, the articles which
+_it wants and does not produce_, and impose restrictions on those which
+_it wants and does produce_. On this priciple, trade would be conducted so
+as to benefit both countries, and injure neither. Thus England may take
+from India to the utmost extent, and with perfect safety, sugar, indigo,
+cotton, tea, spices, cinnamon, and the more costly species of shawls;
+while India might take from England some species of cotton manufacture in
+which they have no fabrics of their own, cutlery, hardware, and all of the
+various luxuries of European manufacture. But a paternal and just
+government, equally alive to the interests of all its provinces, how far
+removed soever from the seat of power, would impose restrictions to
+prevent India being deluged with British cottons, to the ruin of its
+native manufactures, and to prevent Britian--if the distance did not
+operate, which it certainly would, as a sufficient protection--from being
+flooded with Indian grain. The varieties of climate, productions, and
+wants, in different countries, are such, that commerce, regulated on these
+principles, might be carried to the greatest extent consistent with the
+paramount duty of providing in each state for the preservation of its
+staple articles of industry.
+
+The Roman empire in ancient times afforded the clearest demonstration of
+the truth of these principles; and the fate of their vast dominion shows,
+in the most decisive manner, what is the inevitable consequence to which
+the free trade principles, now so strongly contended for by a party in
+this country, must lead. Alison is the first modern author with whom we
+are acquainted, who has traced the decline of the Roman empire in great
+part to this source. In the tenth volume of his "History of Europe,"
+p. 752, we find the following passage:--
+
+  "No nation can pretend to independence which rests for any sensible
+  protion of its subsistence in ordinary seasons on foreign, who may
+  become hostile, nations. And if we would see a memorable example of
+  the manner in which the greatest and most powerful nation may, in the
+  course of ages, come to be paralysed by this cause, we have only to
+  cast our eyes on imperial Rome, when the vast extent of the empire
+  had practically established a free trade in grain with the whole
+  civilized world; and the result was, that cultivation disappeared
+  from the Italian plains, that the race of Roman agriculturists, the
+  strength of the empire, became extinct, that the fields were laboured
+  only by slaves and cattle. The legions could no longer be recruited
+  but from foreign bands, vast tracts of pasturage overspread even the
+  fields of Lombardy and the Compagna of Naples, and it was the
+  plaintive confession of the Roman annalist, that the mistress of the
+  world had come to depend for her subsistence on the floods of the
+  Nile."
+
+This observation has excited, as well it might, the vehement indignation
+of the free trade journals. The example of the greates and most powerful
+nation that ever existed being weakened, and at length ruined by a free
+trade in corn, afforded too cogent an argument, and was too striking a
+warning, not to excite the wrath of those who would precipitate Great
+Britain into a similar course of policy. They have attacked the author,
+accordingly, with unwonted asperity; and, while they admint the ruin of
+Italian agriculture in the later stages of the Roman empire, endeavour to
+ascribe it to the gratuitous distribution of grain to the Roman populace,
+not the effect of a free importation of grain from its Egyptian and
+African provinces. The vast importance of the subject has induced us to
+look into the original authorities to whom Alison refers in support of his
+observation, and from among them we select three--Tacitus, Gibbon, and
+Michelet. Tacitus says,
+
+  "At Hercule _olim ex Itaila_ legionibus longinquas in provincias
+  commeatus portabantur, _nec nunc infecunditate laboratur_; sed Africam
+  _potius et Egyptum exercemus_, navibusque et casibus vita populi
+  Romani permissa est."--TACITUS, _Annal_. xii. 43.
+
+Antiquity does not contain a more pregnant and important passage, or one
+more directly bearing on the present policy of the Britsh emprire, than
+this. It demonstrates: 1, That in former times Italy had been an exporting
+country: "_olim_ ex Italia commeatus in longinquas provincias portabantur."
+2, That at the time when Tacitus wrote, in the days of the Emperor Trajan,
+it had ceased to be so, and had come to import largely from Africa and
+Lybia, "sed _nunc_ Africam potius et Egyptum exercemus." 3, That this was
+not the result of any supervening sterility or unfruitfulness, "nec nunc
+infecunditate laboratur," but was from causes which made it more
+profitable to purchase grain in the Egyptian or Lybian markets, "sed
+Africam POTIUS et Egyptum exercemus."
+
+Of the extent to which this decay of agriculture in the central
+provinces of the Roman empire went, in the latter stages of its history,
+we have the following striking account in the authentic pages of
+Gibbon:--
+
+
+  "Since the age of Tiberius _the decay of agriculture had been felt in
+  Italy_; and it was a just subject of complaint that the life of the
+  Roman people depended on the accidents of the winds and the waves. In
+  the division and decline of the empire, _the tributary harvests of
+  Egypt and Africa_ were withdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants
+  continually diminished with the means of subsistence; and the country
+  was exhausted by the irretrievable losses of war, pestilence, and
+  famine. Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer, and he affirms, with
+  strong exaggeration, that, in Emilia, Tuscany, and the adjacent
+  provinces, the human species was almost extirpated."--GIBBON, vol. vi.
+  c. xxxvi. p. 235.
+
+Of the progress and extent of this decay, Gibbon gives the following
+account in another part of his great work:--
+
+  "The agriculture of the Roman provinces _was insensibly ruined_; and
+  in the progress of despotism, which tends to disappoint its own
+  purpose, the emperors were obliged to derive some merit from the
+  forgiveness of debts, or the remission of tributes, which their
+  subjects were utterly incapable of paying. According to the new
+  division of Italy, the fertile and happy province of Campania, the
+  scene of the early victories and of the delicious retirements of the
+  citizens of Rome, extended between the sea and the Apennines, from
+  the Tiber to the Silarius. Within sixty years after the death of
+  Constantine, and on the evidence of an actual survey, an exemption
+  was granted in favour of 330,000 English acres _of desert and
+  uncultivated land, which amounted to one-eighth of the whole surface
+  of the province_. As the footsteps of the barbarians had not yet been
+  seen in Italy, the cause of this amazing desolation, which is
+  recorded in the laws, (Cod. Theod. lxi. t. 38, l. 2,) can be ascribed
+  only to the administration of the Roman emperors."--GIBBON, vol. iii.
+  c. xviii. p. 87. Edition in 12 volumes.
+
+Michelet observes, in his late profound and able History of France--
+
+  "The Christian emperors could not remedy the growing depopulation of
+  the country any more than their heathen predecessors. All their
+  efforts only showed the impotence of government to arrest that
+  dreadful evil. Sometimes, alarmed at the depopulation, they tried to
+  mitigate the lot of the farmer, to shield him against the landlord;
+  upon this the proprietor exclaimed he could no longer pay the taxes.
+  At other times they abandoned the farmer, surrendered him to the
+  landlord, and strove to chain him to the soil; but the unhappy
+  cultivators perished or fled, _and the land became deserted_. Even in
+  the time of Augustus, efforts were made to arrest the depopulation at
+  the expense of morals, by encouraging concubinage. Pertinax granted
+  an immunity from taxes to those who could occupy the desert lands of
+  Italy, _to the cultivators of the distant provinces, and the allied
+  kings_. Aurelian did the same. Probus was obliged to transport from
+  Germany men and oxen to cultivate Gaul.[13] Maximian and Constantius
+  transported the Franks and Germans from Picardy and Hainault into
+  Italy: but the depopulation in the towns and the country alike
+  continued. The people surrendered themselves in the fields to despair,
+  as a beast of burden lies down beneath his load and refuses to rise.
+  In vain the emperor strove, by offers of immunities and exemptions,
+  to recall the cultivator to his deserted fields. Nothing could do so.
+  The desert extended daily. At the commencement of the fifth century
+  there was, in the _happy_ Campania, the most fertile province of the
+  empire, 520,000 _jugera_ in a state of nature."--MICHELET, _Histoire
+  de France_, i. 104-108.
+
+    [13] "Arantur Gallicana rura _barbaris bobus_, et juga Germanica
+    captiva praebent colla nostris cultoribus."--_Probi Epist. ad
+    Senatum in Vopesio_.
+
+Pursued to its very grave by the same deep-rooted cause of evil, the
+strength of Italy, even in the last stages of its decay, was still
+prostrated by the importation of grain from Egypt and Lybia. "The Campagna
+of Rome," says Gibbon, "about the close of the sixth century, was reduced
+to the state of _a dreary wilderness_, in which the land was barren, the
+waters impure, and the air infectious. Yet the number of citizens _still
+exceeded the measure of subsistence; their precarious food was supplied
+from the harvests of Egypt and Lybia_; and the frequent repetitions of
+famine betray the inattention of the emperors to a distant
+provice."--GIBBON, vil. viii. c. xlv. 162.
+
+Nor was this desolating scourge of foreign importation confined to Italy;
+it obtained also in Greece equally with the Ausonian fields, the abode of
+early riches, opulence, and prosperity. "In the later stages of the
+empire," says Michelet, "Greece was almost entirely _supported by corn
+raised in the fields of Podolia_," (Poland.)--MICHELET, i. 277.
+
+Now let it be recollected that this continual and astonishing decline of
+agriculture, and disappearance of the rural cultivators in the latter
+stages of the Roman empire, took place in an empire which contained, as
+Gibbon tells us, 120,000,000 of inhabitants, and 1600 great cities, was
+3000 miles long and 2000 miles broad, contained 1,600,000 square miles,
+chiefly fertile and well cultivated land, which embraced the fairest and
+most fertile portions of the earth, and which had been governed for eighty
+yers under the successive sway of Nerva, Adrian, Trajan, and the two
+Antonines, with consummate wisdon and the most paternal spirit.[14] The
+scourge of foreign war, the devastation of foreign armies, were alike
+unknown; profound tranquillity pervaded every part of the empire; and a
+vast inland lake, spreading its ample waters through the heart of the
+dominion, afforded to all its provinces the most perfect facility of
+intercourse with the metropolis and the central parts of the empire. Yet
+this period--the period which Mr Hume has told us the philosophers would
+select as the happiest the human race had ever known--was precisely that
+during which agriculture so rapidly declined in the Italian and Grecian
+fields, during which the sturdy race of free cultivators disappeared, and
+the plains of Italy were entirely absorbed by pasturage, and maintained
+only vast herds of cattle tended by slaves.
+
+    [14] "Quingena viginti octo millia quadringinta duo jugera, quae
+    Campania provincia, juxta inspectorum relationem, in desertis et
+    squalidis locis habero dignoscitur, iisdem provincialibus
+    concessum."--_Cod. Theod_. lxi. i. 2382.
+
+What was it, then, which in an empire containing so immense a population,
+and such boundless resources, drawn forth and developed under so wise and
+beneficent a race of emperors, occasioned this constant and uninterrupted
+decay of agriculture, and at length the total destruction of the rural
+population in the heart of the empire? How did it happen that Italian
+cultivation receded, as Tacitus and Gibbon tell us it did, _from the time
+of Tiberius_; and equally under the wisdom of the Antonines, as the
+tyranny of Nero, or the civil wars of Vitellius? Some general and durable
+cause must have been in operation during all this period, which at firest
+depressed, and at length totally destroyed, the numerous body of free
+Italian cultivators who so long had constituted the strength of the
+legions, and had borne the Roman eagles, conquering and to conquer, to the
+very extremities of the habitable earth. The cause is apparent. It was the
+free importation of Egyptian and Lybian grain, consequent on the extension
+of the Roman dominion over their fertile fields, which effected the result.
+Were England to extend its conquering arms over Poland and the Ukraine,
+and, as a necessary consequence, expose the British farmer to the
+unrestrained competition of Polish and Russian wheat, precisely the same
+result would ensue. If the shores of Hindostan were within three or four
+days' sail of the Tiber, this result would long ago have taken place. Let
+Polish and Russian grain be admitted without a protecting duty into the
+British harbours, as Lybian and Egyptian were into those of Italy, and we
+shall soon see the race of cultivators disappear from the fields of
+England as they did from those of old Rome, and the words of Tacitus will,
+by a mere change of proper names, become a picture of our condition; three
+hundred thousand acres will soon be reduced to a state of nature in Kent
+and Norfolk, as they were in the Campania Felix. "Nec nunc infecunditate
+laboramur, _Podoliam_ potius et _Scythiam_ exercemus, navibusque et
+casibus vita populi _Anglici_ permissa est."
+
+The free traders allege that the decay of agriculture in the central
+provinces of the Roman empire, to which, by the concurring testimony of
+all historians, the ruin of the dominion of the Caesars was chiefly owing,
+is to be ascribed, not to the free importation of grain from Egypt,
+Podolia, and Lybia, but to the tyranny of the emperors, the gratuitous
+distribution of grain to the Roman populace, and the dreadful evils of
+domestic slavery. A very slight consideration, however, must be sufficient
+to show that these causes, how powerful soever in producing _general_
+evils over the empire, could not have been instrumental in occasioning
+those _peculiar_ and separate causes of depression, which so early began
+to check, and at length totally destroyed, the agriculture of its central
+provinces.
+
+The tyranny of the Caesars, the oppression of the Proconsuls, the avarice
+of the Patricians, were general evils, affecting alike every part of the
+empire; or rather they were felt with more severity in the remote
+provinces than the districts nearer home, in consequence of the superior
+opportunities of escape which distance from the central government
+afforded to iniquity, and the lesser chance of success which the
+insurrection of a remote province held forth to the "wild revenge" of
+rebellion. Muscovite oppression, accordingly, is more severely felt at
+Odessa or Taganrog than St Petersburg; and British rule is far from being
+restrained by the same considerations of justice on the banks of the
+Ganges or the Indus, as on those of the Thames. The gratuitous
+distribution of grain by the emperors to the populace of Rome, could never
+have occasioned the ruin of the Italian _cultivators_. Supposing that the
+two or three hundred thousand lazy and turbulent plebeians, who were
+nourished by the bounty or fed by the terrors of the Caesars, were the
+most useless, worthless, and dangerous set of men that ever existed,
+(which they probably were,) that circumstance could never have uprooted
+the race of cultivators from the plains of Lombardy, Umbria, or the
+Campania Felix. The greatest possible good to a nation, according to the
+free trader, is cheap grain, and never more so than when it is purchased
+or imported from foreign growers. If this be true, the importation of the
+harvests of Egypt and Africa into the Italian harbours, either by the
+voluntary purchase of the Roman emperors, or the forced tribute in grain
+which they exacted from those provinces, must have been the greatest
+possible benefit to the Italian people. How then, if there be no mischief
+in such foreign importations, is it possible to ascribe the ruin of
+Italian cultivation, and with it of the Roman empire, to these forced
+contributions? If the free traders have recourse to such an argument, they
+concede the very point in dispute, and admit that the introduction of
+foreign grain is injurious, and may in the end prove fatal, to the
+agriculture and existence of a state.
+
+Slavery, though a great evil, will as little explain the peculiar and
+extraordinary decline of Italian and Grecian cultivation in the later
+stages of the Roman empire. The greater part of the labour of the ancient
+world, as every one knows, was conducted by means of slaves. They were
+slaves who held the plough, and tilled the land, and tended the flocks,
+equally in Lybia, in Campania, in Egypt, as in Umbria. Nay, the number of
+freemen, at least in the days of the Roman Republic, and the earlier
+periods of the empire, was incomparably _greater_ in Italy and Greece, the
+abode of celebrated, powerful, and immortal republics, than in Lybia and
+Egypt, which from the earliest times had been subject to the despotic sway
+of satraps, kings, and tyrants. So numerous were the free citizens of Rome
+in the early days of the empire, that, by the census of Claudius, we are
+told by Gibbon they amounted to 6,945,000 men,[15] the greater proportion
+of whom, of course, were residents in Italy, the seat of government, and
+the centre of wealth, power, and enjoyment. While so great was the
+multitude of free citizens which the Republic bequeathed to the empire,
+resident and exercising unfettered industry in Italy, the cultivators of
+Africa and Egypt were all serfs and slaves, toiling, like the West Indian
+negroes, beneath the lash of a master. How, then, did it happen that the
+labour of the Italian freeman was disused, and at length extinguished,
+while that of the African and Egyptian slaves continued to furnish grain
+for Italy down to the very latest period of the empire? We are told that
+the labour of freemen is cheaper than that of slaves; and the free traders
+will probably not dispute that proposition. It could not, therefore, have
+been the slavery of antiquity which ruined Italian agriculture, carried on,
+in part at least, by freemen; since African agriculture, the fruits
+entirely of slavery, continued to flourish down to the very last days of
+the Roman world.
+
+    [15] GIBBON, chap. i. 68.
+
+The severe taxation of the emperors is justly stated by Gibbon and
+Sismondi, as well as Michelet, as a principal cause of the decline of
+Italian agriculture: but very little consideration is required to show,
+that this cause is inadequate to explain this ruin of cultivation in the
+Italian plains, when it continued to flourish and maintain the chief
+cities of the empire with food, in Egypt and Lybia. Heavy as it was, and
+oppressive as it ultimately became, _it was equal_; it was the same every
+where; it might, therefore, satisfactorily explain the _general_ decline
+of rural industry through the empire, and doubtless had a large share in
+contributing to its downfall; but it cannot explain the _particular_ ruin
+of it, in the central provinces of this vast dominion, while it continued,
+down to the very last moment, to flourish in its remote dependencies.
+
+But the taxation of the empire, _when coupled with the free importation of
+grain_ from these distant dependencies, does afford a most satisfactory,
+and, in truth, the true explanation of the ruin of Italian and Grecian
+cultivation. It was a fixed principle of Roman taxation, that the duties
+allotted on a particular district should remain fixed, how much lower the
+inhabitants or industry of the province might decline. When, therefore, by
+the constant importation of Egyptian and African grain, raised at half the
+cost at which they could produce it, the Italian cultivators were deprived
+of a remunerating return, and the taxes exacted from each district
+underwent no diminution, it is not surprising that the small farmers and
+proprietors were ruined; that they took refuge in the industry and crowds
+of cities, and that the race of freemen disappeared from the country. A
+similar process is now going on in the Turkish provinces. But without
+undervaluing--on the contrary, attaching full weight to this
+circumstance--nothing can be clearer than that it was the ruinous
+competition of foreign grain, raised cheaper than they could produce it,
+which rendered the same taxation crushing on the Italian farmers, which
+was borne with comparative facility in the remoter provinces, where land
+was more fertile, and labour less expensive. An example, _à fortiori_,
+applied to the British empire, where the free traders wish us to admit a
+free importation of grain from Poland and the Ukraine, where not only is
+labour cheap but taxation trifling, into the British islands, where not
+only is labour dear but taxation is five times more burdensome.
+
+And for a decisive proof that it was the superior advantages which Egypt
+and Lybia enjoyed in the production of grain, and not any other causes,
+which occasioned the ruin of Italian agriculture, and with it the fall of
+the Roman empire, we have only to look to the condition of the Italian
+fields in the last stages of the government of the Caesars. Already, in
+the time of the elder Pliny, it had become a subject of complaint that the
+_great properties_ were ruining Italy[16]--a sure proof, when the great
+division of estates in the days of the Republic--when, literally speaking,
+"every rood had its man"--that some general and irresistible cause,
+affecting the remuneration of their industry, was exterminating the small
+proprietors. Erelong, cultivators ceased entirely in the country, and
+the huge estates of the nobles were cultivated exclusively in pasturage,
+and by means of slaves. "La classe," says Michelet, "_des petits
+cultivateurs peu à pee a disparu_; les grands proprietaires qui leur
+succedèrent y suppleèrent par des esclaves."[17] It is recorded by Ammianus
+Marcellinus, that when Rome was taken by the Goths, it contained 1,200,000
+inhabitants, and was mainly supported by 1780 great families, who
+cultivated their ample estates in Italy in pasturage, by means of
+slaves.[18] For centuries before, the threat of blockading the Tiber had
+been found to be the most effectual way of coercing the Roman populace;
+and whenever it took place, famine ensued, not only in Rome, but the
+Italian provinces. The diminution of its agricultural produce had, long
+before, been stated by Columella at _nine-tenths_, and by Varro at
+_three-fourths_, of what at one period had been raised. Yet such was the
+wealth of the Roman nobles, derived from pasturage, that some of them had
+L.160, 000 a-year.[19] Agriculture, therefore, was destroyed; grain was no
+longer raised in Italy; Rome was wholly dependent on foreign supplies--but
+pasturage was undecayed; and colossal fortunes were enjoyed by a wealthy
+race of great proprietors, who managed their vast estates by means of
+slaves, and had bought up and absorbed the properties of the whole free
+cultivators in the country. Such was the effect--such was the result--of a
+free trade in grain in ancient times.
+
+    [16] "Verumque confitentibus _latifundia perdidere Italiam_."--PLINY,
+    _Hist. Nat_.xviii. 7.
+
+    [17] MICHELET, i. 96.
+
+    [18] AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, c. xvi.--See also GIBBON, vi. 264.
+
+    [19] GIBBON, vi. 262.
+
+The free traders seem not insensible to these inevitable results of their
+favourite principles; but they meet them by describing such consequences
+as rather advantageous than injurious. If England, say they, can raise
+iron and cotton goods cheaper than Poland, and Poland and Russia grain
+cheaper than England, then the interest of each require that they should
+follow out these branches of industry, and it is impolitic to strive
+against it. Let, then, England admit foreign grain on a nominal duty, and
+this will in the end induce Russia and Prussia to admit English
+manufactured goods on equally favourable terms; and thus the real
+interests of both countries will in the end be promoted.
+
+There are two objections to this system. In the first place, it is
+impracticable if it were expedient. In the second, it is inexpedient if it
+were practicable.
+
+It is impracticable if it were expedient. Theoretical writers may coolly
+discuss in their closets the total destruction of various important
+branches of industry, the "absorption" of the persons engaged in them in
+other pursuits, and the transference of national capital and industry from
+agriculture to manufactures, and _vice versà_; but it is impossible to
+effect such changes by the voluntary act of government, even in the most
+despotic country. We say by the voluntary act of government; because there
+is no doubt that it may be effected, though at an enormous sacrifice of
+life, wealth, and happiness, by the silent and unobserved operation of the
+laws of nature, which are irresistible; as was the case with the
+transference of industry from agriculture to pasturage, under the effect
+of free trade in grain in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, in
+the later stages of the Roman empire; or from manufactures to agriculture,
+from the consequences of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in the
+Italian republics in modern times. But no government, not even that of the
+Czar Peter or Sultaun Mahmoud, could succeed in destroying or nipping in
+the bud brances of national industry, by simple acts of the legislature or
+sovereign authority, not imposed by external and irresistible authority.
+The Emperor Paul tried it, and got a sash twisted about his neck,
+according to the established fashion of that country, for his pains. The
+Whigs tried it, and were turned out of office in consequence. All the
+governments of Europe, despotic, constitutional, and democratic, meet our
+concessions, in favour of free trade, by increased protection to their
+manufacturers. They dare not destroy their rising commercial wealth any
+more than we dare destroy our old colossal agricultural investments. The
+republicans of America even exceed them in the race of tariffs and
+protection. Sixty-two per cent has lately been laid on our British iron
+goods in return for Sir Robert Peel's tariff; a similar duty on iron and
+cotton goods, it is well known, is contemplated in the Prussian leagues in
+Germany. The British government has at length, through its prime minister,
+spoken out firmly in support of the existing corn-laws. The feeling of the
+agricultural counties, as evinced at the late meetings, left them no
+alternative. All nations, under all varieties of government, situation,
+race, and political circumstances, concur in rising up to resist the
+doctrines of free trade. Necessity has enlightened, experience has taught
+them: a very clear motive urges them on, which is not likely to decline in
+strength with the progress of time--it is the instinct of
+self-preservation.
+
+Such a system as the free traders advocate, if practicable, would be to
+the last degree inexpedient.
+
+What would be the result? Why, that one country would become wholly, or in
+great part, agricultural, and the other wholly, or in great part,
+manufacturing. Is this a result desirable to either? Admitting that a city
+or small state, which has no territory which can furnish any considerable
+proportion of the subsistence which it requires, like Holland, may do well
+to attend exclusively to manufactures and commerce; or a country which, by
+the rigour of nature, or the remoteness of its situation, cannot attain to
+commercial or manufacturing greatness, would do well to attend exclusively
+to the cultivation or productions of the earth; the question which here
+occurs--Is such a system advisable or expedient for a nation which has
+received from the bounty of nature the means of rising to greatness in
+_both_--such as Great Britain, Russia, or Prussia? The free traders would
+have England sacrifice its agriculture to its manufactures, and Russia
+sacrifice its manufactures to its agriculture. Would such a system benefit
+either? Would England be happier or richer, more stable or more moral, if
+the already colossal amount of its manufactures were trebled; or Russia,
+if its rising iron and woolen fabrics were destroyed, and its industry
+confined exclusively to the slow return of agricultural labour? Is it
+desirable that the zone of tall chimneys, sickly faces, brick houses, and
+crowded jails, which at present spans across the whole of England and part
+of Scotland, should be doubled and trebled in breadth; and the fertile
+fields of Kent, Norfolk, and East Lothian, be reduced to vast unenclosed
+pastures, such as overspread Italy in the later stages of the Roman
+empire? Or is it desirable to Russia and Prussia that they should be for
+ever chained to the labour of boors, serfs, and shepherds, and all the
+vivifying and unimportant effects of commercial wealth be denied to their
+exertions? Nature has designed, experience recommends, a very different
+system. History tells us in all parts of the world, that it is in the
+_intermixture_ of commerce and agriculture that the best security is to be
+found for social happiness and advancement, and the most effectual
+antidote provided to the evils with which either, when existing alone, is
+so prone. Mr McCulloch has told us, that the commerce and manufactures of
+Great Britain have now risen to such a prodigious height, that any further
+extension of them is undesirable, and that no real patriot would have
+desired them to have become so extensive as they already are. Is it
+desirable, in such a state of matters, to go on increasing the same
+splendid but perilous system, and to do so at the expense of the great
+pillar of national wealth, security, and independence--the land of the
+state?
+
+Further, the proposed system is pernicious even with reference to the
+national wealth and interests of the manufacturers themselves, as tending
+to undermine the main branches of our national resources, and substitute
+encouragement to an inferior, to upholding of the superior market for our
+manufacturing industry.
+
+Although in the meetings where they address the agricultural
+constituencies, the free traders hold out that their measures would
+benefit the manufacturers, and _not injure the agriculturists_; yet
+nothing can be clearer than that this is a mere shallow pretext, put forth
+to conceal their real objects and the effect of their measures, and that
+the result they _really_ anticipate is as different from that as the poles
+are asunder. What is the benefit they hold out to the community as an
+inducement to go into their measures? Cheap grain. What is the motive
+which stimulates all their efforts, and which, among themselves and in
+private conversation with all men of sense, they at once admit is their
+ruling object? _Reduced wages_; the hope of extending our export in
+foreign countries by taking an additional quantity of their rude produce;
+and diminishing the cost of production to our manufacturers by lowering
+the price of food, and with it the wages of labour. The whole strength of
+their case rests in these propositions. Their influence over the urban
+multitudes arises solely from the continual reiteration of these alluring
+hopes. If these effects are not to follow free trade and the efforts of
+the League, in the name of Heaven, what good are they to do, and why do
+they agitate the country and subscribe to the League fund? Sensible men do
+not throw away £100,000 for nothing, for no benefit to themselves or
+others. But these prospects are as fallacious as they are alluring, and so
+a very few observations will demonstrate.
+
+Considered in a _national_ point of view, if the matter is brought to this
+issue, the great question is--Whether agriculture or manufactures are the
+superior interests in the production of national wealth. Admitting that
+the true policy for government is to protect _all_ the branches of
+national industry, and stoutly contending, as we do, and ever shall do,
+that the real and ultimate interests of all is the same, and cannot be
+separated--the question comes to be, if one fiercely demands the sacrifice
+of the other, and insists that its interests are so weighty and momentous
+that all others must be sacrificed to them, which of the two thus placed
+in jeopardy is the most momentous? which brings in most to the national
+treasury? Now, on this point the facts are as adverse to the arguments of
+the League, as on all other branches of their case.
+
+Take the sum total of manufactures in Great Britain and Ireland,
+accompanied with the sum total of agricultural production, in order to
+discover which of the two is the more valuable interest--in order that it
+may be discovered, if matters are brought to that issue that one or other
+must be abandoned, which is to be sacrificed. The choice of a wise
+government could not be doubtful, if it were necessary to make the
+selection. The agricultural productions of the British islands amount to
+L.300,000,000 a-year, while the sum total of manufactures of every
+description is only L.180,000,000. Nor can it be said, with any degree of
+truth, that the agriculture of the country is dependent for its existence
+on its manufactures, and would decline if they were materially injured;
+for the example of modern Italy and Flanders proves, that three centuries
+_after_ a country has ceased to be the chief in manufacturing or
+commercial industry, it may advance with undiminished vigour and success
+in the production of agricultural riches.
+
+But this is not all. The statistical documents which have now been
+prepared with so much care by Parliament, and published by the accurate
+and indefatigable Mr Porter, himself a decided free trader, demonstrate
+that, of the manufacturing productions, nearly three-fourths are taken off
+by the home market, and _four-fifths_ by the home and colonial market
+taken together, leaving only ONE-FIFTH for _the whole foreign markets of
+the world put together_--
+
+  "The total amount of British manufactures annually produced is about
+  £180,000,000 worth, of which only £47,000,000 is taken off by the
+  whole external trade of the world put together, while no less than
+  £133,000, 000 is consumed in the home market; and of the foreign
+  consumption, fully a third is absorbed by the British Colonies, in
+  different parts of the world. So that the home and colonial trade is
+  to the whole foreign put together as 5 to 1. And, whle the total
+  produce of manufactures is £180,000,000 annually, and of mines and
+  minerals £13,776,000, the amount of agricultural produce annually
+  extracted from the soil is not less than £300,000,000; or a half more
+  than the whole manufactures and mines put together."
+
+Further, if we compare the proportion purchased of our manufactures, which
+is taken off by foreign nations, for the export to whom we are required to
+make the sacrifice of our domestic agriculture, with what is consumed by
+our own native population, whether in the British islands or in our
+colonies of British descent, the difference is prodigious, and such as
+might well, even for their own sake, make the Anti-corn-law League pause
+in their career of violence. From the tables compiled from Porter's
+_Parliamentary Tables_, and the population of the different states to whom
+we export, taken from Malte Brun and Balbi, it appears, that while the
+British population, whether at home or abroad, consume from £3 to £5
+a-head worth of our manufactures, the foreign nations to whom we are
+willing to sacrifice the British agriculturists, take off per head ONLY AS
+MANY PENCE. In preferring the one to the other, therefore, we are,
+literally speaking, penny wise and pound foolish.
+
+We have shown how agriculture was ruined in the Roman empire in Italy, by
+the free importation of grain from the Lybian and Egyptian provinces of
+the empire. As a contrast to that woful progress, the main cause of the
+destruction of the empire of the Caesars, we request the attention of our
+readers to the progress of British exports in official value, which
+indicates their amount from 1790 to 1840, premising that the _whole_ of
+that period was one of protection to the British agriculturist; during the
+first twenty years of the period, by the effects of the war--during the
+last twenty-five, by the operation of the corn law and sliding scale,
+introduced in 1814. We recommend the advocates of free trade to search the
+annals of the world for a similar instance of progress and prosperity
+flowing from, or co-existent with, the practical adoption of their
+principles.
+
+These facts, which, in truth, are altogether decisive of the present
+question, point to the great source from which the errors of the free
+trade party are derived, and which appears, in an especial manner, their
+favourite position, that cheap prices is an unmitigated blessing, and that
+the great thing to attend to is to increase our imports. Cheap prices of
+grain are like the Amreeta cap in Kehama; the greatest of all blessings is
+the greatest of all curses, _according as they arise from magnitude of
+domestic production, or magnitude of foreign importation_. Of the first we
+had an example during the five fine years in succession, from 1830 to 1835,
+during which the foreign importation was practically abolished by the
+abundant harvests, and consequent high duty on grain under the sliding
+scale. This was a period, as all the world knows, of universal and
+unexampled commercial prosperity. Of the second we had a memorable example
+during the five bad years in succession, which elapsed fiom 1836 to 1840,
+in the course of which the corn laws, from the effect of the same sliding
+scale, and the continued low prices, were practically abolished; and
+importations, at the close of the period, amounted to 2,500,000 quarters,
+and, on an average of the whole, was little short of 2,000,000 of quarters.
+And what was the result? The exportation of 6,000,000 of sovereigns in a
+single year to buy grain; an unexampled pressure on the money market;
+commercial embarrassments, long-continued, and severe beyond all former
+precedent; the contraction of ten millions of additional debt in four
+years, and the creation of a deficit which at length rose to the
+formidable amount, in 1842, of L.4,000,000 sterling! And what first
+dispelled this distress, and arrested this downward and disastrous
+progress? The fine harvests of 1842--the blessed sun of its long summer,
+followed by the more checkered, but also fine summer of 1843, which again
+gave us plenty, derived from domestic production, and consequent general
+and increasing manufacturing as well as rural prosperity.
+
+It is in vain, therefore, to say, cheap prices are a blessing in
+themselves, and the consumers at least are ever benefited by a fall in the
+cost of grain. Cheap prices are a real blessing if that effect consists
+with prosperity to the producer, as by improved methods of cultivation or
+manufacture, or the benignity of nature in giving fine seasons. But cheap
+prices are the greatest of all evils, and to none more shall the consumers,
+if they are the result, not of the magnitude of domestic production, but
+of the magnitude of foreign importation. It was that sort of cheap prices
+which ruined the Roman empire, from the destruction of the agriculture of
+Italy; it is that sort of cheap prices which has ruined the Indian weavers,
+from the disastrous competition of the British steam-engine; it is that
+sort of low prices which has so grievously depressed British shipping,
+from the disastrous competition of the Baltic vessels under the
+reciprocity system. It is in vain for the consumers to say, we will
+separate our case from that of the producers, and care not, so as we get
+low prices, what comes of them. Where will the consumers be, and that
+erelong, if the producers are destroyed? What will be the condition of the
+landlords if their farmers are ruined? or of bondholders if their debtors
+are bankrupt? or of railway proprietors if traffic ceases? or of owners of
+bank stock if bills are no longer presented for discount? or of the 3 per
+cents if Government, by the failure of the productive industry of the
+country, is rendered bankrupt? The consumers all rest on the producers,
+and must sink or swim with them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+341, March, 1844, Vol. 55, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
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+
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+<head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type"
+          content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
+
+    <title>Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 55, No.
+    341.</title>
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 341,
+March, 1844, Vol. 55, 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. 341, March, 1844, Vol. 55
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2005 [EBook #14778]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jon Ingram, Internet Library of Early Journals, Allen
+Siddle and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+    <h1>BLACKWOOD'S</h1>
+
+    <h1>Edinburgh</h1>
+
+    <h1>MAGAZINE.</h1>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>NO. CCCXLI.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; MARCH,
+    1844.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; VOL. LV.</h3>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+
+    <ul>
+        <li><a href="#bw341s1">ETHIOPIA,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s2">A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE
+        CLASSES. BY LORGNON,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s3">THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. A TALE OF
+        VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. PART I.,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s4">COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN
+        INDIA,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s5">BELFRONT CASTLE. A RETROSPECTIVE
+        REVIEW,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s6">DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s7">MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A
+        STATESMAN. PART IX.,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s8">THE OLYMPIC JUPITER,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s9">A ROMAN IDYL,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s10">GOETHE,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s11">HYMN OF A HERMIT,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s12">THE LUCKLESS LOVER,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341s13">FREE TRADE AND PROTECTIONTHE CORN
+        LAWS,</a></li>
+
+        <li><a href="#bw341-footnotes">[FOOTNOTES]</a></li>
+    </ul><br>
+    <br>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h2>EDINBURGH:</h2>
+
+    <h4>WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET;</h4>
+
+    <h4>AND 22, PALL-MALL, LONDON.</h4>
+
+    <h4><i>To whom all Communications (post paid) must be
+    addressed.</i></h4>
+
+    <h4>SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS THE UNITED KINGDOM.</h4>
+
+    <h4>PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND HUGHES, EDINBURGH.</h4>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <a name="bw341s1"
+          id="bw341s1"></a>
+
+    <h2>ETHIOPIA<a id="footnotetag1"
+       name="footnotetag1"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></h2>
+
+    <p>From the various circumstances of our day, the impression is
+    powerfully made upon intelligent men in Europe, that some
+    extraordinary change is about to take place in the general
+    condition of mankind. A new ardour of human intercourse seems
+    to be spreading through all nations. Europe has laid aside her
+    perpetual wars, and seems to be assuming a <i>habit</i> of
+    peace. Even France, hitherto the most belligerent of European
+    nations, is evidently abandoning the passion for conqest, and
+    begining to exert her fine powers in the cultivation of
+    commerce. All the nations of Europe are either following her
+    example, or sending out colonies of greater or less magnitude,
+    to fill the wild portions of the world. Regions hitherto
+    utterly neglected, and even scarcely known, are becoming
+    objects of enlightened regard; and mankind, in every quarter,
+    is approaching, with greater or less speed, to that combined
+    interest and mutual intercourse, which are the first steps to
+    the true possession of the globe.</p>
+
+    <p>But, we say it with the gratification of Englishmen, proud
+    of their country's fame, and still prouder of its
+    principles&mdash;that the lead in this noblest of all human
+    victories, has been clearly taken by England. It is she who
+    pre-eminently stimulates the voyage, and plants the colony, and
+    establishes the commerce, and civilizes the people. And all
+    this has been done in a manner so little due to popular caprice
+    or national ambition, to the mere will of a sovereign, or the
+    popular thirst of possession, that it invests the whole process
+    with a sense of unequaled security. Resembling the work of
+    nature in the simplicity of its growth, it will probably also
+    resemble the work of nature in the permanence of its existence.
+    It is not an exotic, fixed in an unsuitable soil by capricions
+    planting; but a seed self-sown, nurtured by the common air and
+    dews, assimilated to the climate, and strikig its roots deep in
+    the ground which it has thus, by its own instincts, chosen. The
+    necessities of British commerce, the urgency of English
+    protection, and the overflow of British population, have been
+    the great acting causes of our national efforts; and as those
+    are causes which regulate themselves, their results are as
+    regular and unshaken, as they are natural and extensive. But
+    England has also had a higher motive. She has unquestionably
+    mingled a spirit of benevolence largely with her general
+    exertions. She has laboured to communicate freedom, law, a
+    feeling of property, and a consciousness of the moral debt due
+    by man to the Great Disposer of all, wherever she has had the
+    power in her hands. No people <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page270"
+       name="page270"></a>[pg 270]</span> have ever been the worse
+       for her, and all have been the better, in proportion to
+       their following her example. Wherever she goes, oppression
+       decays, the safety of person and property begins to be felt,
+       the sword is sheathed, the pen and the ploughshare commence
+       alike to reclaim the mental and the physical soil, and
+       civilization comes, like the dawn, however slowly advancing,
+       to prepare the heart of the barbarian for the burst of
+       light, in the rising of Christianity upon his eyes.</p>
+
+    <p>The formation of a new route between India and Europe by the
+    Red Sea&mdash;a route, though well known to the ancient world,
+    yet wholly incapable of adoption by any but an Arab horseman,
+    from the perpetual tumults of the country&mdash;compelled
+    England to look for a resting-place and depot for her
+    steam-ships at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden, a desolated
+    port, was the spot fixed on; and the steam-vessels touching
+    there were enabled to prepare themselves for the continuance of
+    their voyage. We shall subsequently see how strikingly British
+    protection has changed the desolateness of this corner of the
+    Arab wilderness, how extensively it has become a place of
+    commerce, and how effectually it will yet furnish the means of
+    increasing our knowledge of the interior of the great Arabian
+    peninsula.</p>
+
+    <p>It is remarkable that Africa, one of the largest and most
+    fertile portions of the globe, remains one of the least known.
+    Furnishing materials of commerce which have been objects of
+    universal desire since the deluge&mdash;gold, gems, ivory,
+    fragrant gums, and spices&mdash;it has still remained almost
+    untraversed by the European foot, except along its coast. It
+    has been circumnavigated by the ships of every European nation,
+    its slave-trade has divided its profits and its pollutions
+    among the chief nations of the eastern and western worlds; and
+    yet, to this hour, there are regions of Africa, probably
+    amounting to half its bulk, and possessing kingdoms of the size
+    of France and Spain, of which Europe has no more heard than of
+    the kingdoms of the planet Jupiter. The extent of Africa is
+    enormous:&mdash;5000 miles in length, 4600 in breadth, it forms
+    nearly a square of 13,430,000 square miles! the chief part
+    solid ground; for we know of no Mediterranean to break its
+    continuity&mdash;no mighty reservoir for the waters of its
+    hills&mdash;and scarcely more than the Niger and the Nile for
+    the means of penetrating any large portion of this huge
+    continent.</p>
+
+    <p>The population naturally divides itself into two portions,
+    connected with the character of its surface&mdash;the countries
+    to the north and the south of the mountains of Kong and the
+    Jebel-al-Komr. To the north of this line of demarcation, are
+    the kingdoms of the foreign conquerors, who have driven the
+    original natives to the mountains, or have subjected them as
+    slaves. This is the Mahometan land. To the south of this line
+    dwells the Negro, in a region a large portion of which is too
+    fiery for European life. This is Central Africa; distinguished
+    from all the earth by the unspeakable mixture of squalidness
+    and magnificence, simplicity of life yet fury of passion,
+    savage ignorance of its religious notions yet fearful worship
+    of evil powers, its homage to magic, and desperate belief in
+    spells, incantations and the <i>fetish</i>. The configuration
+    of the country, so far as it can be conjectured, assists this
+    primeval barbarism. Divided by natural barriers of hill, chasm,
+    or river, into isolated states, they act under a general
+    impulse of hostility and disunion. If they make peace, it is
+    only for purposes of plunder; and, if they plunder, it is only
+    to make slaves. The very fertility of the soil, at once
+    rendering them indolent and luxurious, excites their passions,
+    and the land is a scene alike of profligacy and profusion. To
+    the south of this vast region lies a third&mdash;the land of
+    the Caffre, occupying the eastern coast, and, with the
+    Betjouana and the Hottentot, forming the population of the most
+    promising portion of the continent. But here another and more
+    enterprising race have fixed themselves; and the great English
+    colony of the Cape, with its dependent settlements, has begun
+    the first real conquest of African barbarism. Whether Aden may
+    not act on the opposite coasts of the Red Sea, and Abyssinia
+    become once more a Christian land; or whether even some impulse
+    may not divinely come from Africa itself, are questions
+    belonging <span class="pagenum"><a id="page271"
+       name="page271"></a>[pg 271]</span> to the future. But there
+       can scarcely be a doubt, that the existence of a great
+       English viceroyalty in the most prominent position of South
+       Africa, the advantages of its government, the intelligence
+       of its people, their advancement in the arts essential to
+       comfort, and the interest of their protection, their
+       industry, and their example, must, year by year, operate in
+       awaking even the negro to a feeling of his own powers, of
+       the enjoyment of his natural faculties, and of that rivalry
+       which stimulates the skill of man to reach perfection.</p>
+
+    <p>The name of Africa, which, in the Punic tongue, signifies
+    "ears of corn," was originally applied only to the northern
+    portion, lying between the Great Desert and the shore, and now
+    held by the pashalics of Tunis and Tripoli. They were then the
+    granary of Rome. The name Lybia was derived from the Hebrew
+    <i>Leb</i>, (heat,) and was sometimes partially extended to the
+    continent, but was geographically limited to the provinces
+    between the Great Syrtis and Egypt. The name Ethiopia is
+    evidently Greek, (burning, or black, visage.)</p>
+
+    <p>There is strong reason to believe that the Portuguese boast
+    of the sixteenth century&mdash;the circumnavigation of
+    Africa&mdash;was anticipated by the Phoenician sailors two
+    thousand years and more. We have the testimony of Herodotus,
+    that Necho, king of Egypt, having failed in an attempt to
+    connect the Nile with the Red Sea by a canal, determine to try
+    whether another route might not be within his reach, and sent
+    Phoenician vessels from the Red Sea, with orders to sail round
+    Africa, and return by the Mediterranean. It is not improbable
+    that, from being unacquainted with the depth to which it
+    penetrates the south, he had expected the voyage to be a brief
+    one. It seems evident that the navigators themselves did not
+    conceive that it could extend beyond the equator, from their
+    surprise at seeing the sun rise on their <i>right hand</i>. The
+    narrative tells us&mdash;"The Phoenicians, taking their course
+    from the Red Sea, entered into the Southern Ocean on the
+    approach of autumn; they landed in Lybia, planted corn, and
+    remained till the harvest. They then sailed again. After having
+    thus spent two years, they passed the Columns of Hercules in
+    the third, and returned to Egypt." Herodotus doubted their
+    story&mdash;"Their relation," says the honest old Greek, "may
+    obtain belief from others, but to me it seems incredible; for
+    they affirmed, that, having sailed round Africa, they <i>had
+    the sun on their right hand</i>. Thus was Africa for the first
+    time known."</p>
+
+    <p>Thus the very circumstance which the old historian regarded
+    as throwing doubt on the discovery, is now one of the strongest
+    corroborations of its truth.<a id="footnotetag2"
+       name="footnotetag2"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> There appear to have been
+       several attempts to sail along the west coast, by ancient
+       expeditions; but to the Portuguese is due the modern honour
+       of having first sailed round the Cape. From 1412, the
+       Portuguese, under a race of adventurous princes, had
+       extended their discoveries; but it occupied them sixty years
+       to reach the Line, and nearly thirty years more to reach the
+       Cape, which they first called Cabo Tormentoso, (Stormy
+       Cape.) But the king gave it the more lucky, though the less
+       poetical, title which it now bears.</p>
+
+    <p>The triumph of Columbus, in his discovery of the New World
+    in 1493, raised the emulation of the Portuguese, then regarded
+    as the first navigators in the world; yet it was not until four
+    years after, that their expedition was sent, to equalize the
+    stupendous accession to the Spanish domains, by the possession
+    of the East. In July 1497, Gama sailed, reached Calicut May 2,
+    1498, and returned to Portugal, covered with well-earned
+    renown, after a voyage of upwards of two years.</p>
+
+    <p>Having given this brief outline of the divisions and
+    character of the mighty continent, which seemed important to
+    the better understanding of the immediate subject, we revert to
+    the intelligent and animated volumes of Captain (now Major)
+    Harris.</p>
+
+    <p>A letter from the Bombay government, 29th April 1841, gave
+    him this distinguished credential:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page272"
+           name="page272"></a>[pg 272]</span> "SIR&mdash;I am
+           directed to inform you that the Honourable the Governor
+           in Council, having formed a very high estimate of your
+           talents and acquirements, and of the spirit of
+           enterprise and decision, united with prudence and
+           discretion, exhibited in your recently published travels
+           through the territories of the Maselakatze to the Tropic
+           of Capricorn, has been pleased to select you to conduct
+           the mission which the British Government has resolved to
+           send to Sahela Selasse, the king of Shoa, in Southern
+           Abyssinia, whose capital, Ankober, is supposed to be
+           about four hundred miles inland from the port of Tajura,
+           on the African coast."</p>
+
+        <p>[Then followed the mention of the vessels appointed to
+        carry the mission.]</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>(Signed) "J.P. WILLOUGHBY,"</p>
+
+            <p>"Secretary to Government."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The persons comprising the mission were Major W.C. Harris,
+    Bombay Engineers, Captain Douglas Graham, Bombay army,
+    principal assistant, with others, naturalists, draftsmen,
+    &amp;c., and an escort of two sergeants and fifteen rank and
+    file, volunteers from H.M. 6th foot and the Bombay
+    Artillery.</p>
+
+    <p>On the afternoon of a sultry day in April, Major Harris,
+    with his gallant and scientific associates, embarked on board
+    the East India Company's steam ship Auckland, in the harbour of
+    Bombay, on their voyage to the kingdom of Shoa in Southern
+    Abyssinia, in the year 1841. The steam frigate pursued her way
+    prosperously through the waters, and on the ninth day was
+    within sight of Cape Aden, after a voyage of 1680 miles. The
+    Cape, named by the natives, Jebel Shemshan, rises nearly 1800
+    feet above the ocean, is frequently capped with clouds, a wild
+    and fissured mass of rock, and evidently intended by nature for
+    one of those great beacons which announce the approach to an
+    inland sea. On rounding the Cape, the British eye was delighted
+    with the sight of the Red Sea squadron, riding at anchor within
+    the noble bay. The arrival of the frigate also caused a
+    sensation on the shore; and Major Harris happily describes the
+    feelings with which a new arrival is hailed by the British
+    garrison on that dreary spot, their only excitement being the
+    periodical visits of the packets between Suez and Bombay. In
+    the dead of the night a blue light shoots up in the offing. It
+    is answered by the illumination of the block ship, then the
+    thunder of her guns is heard, then, as she nears the shore, the
+    flapping of her paddles is heard through the silence, then the
+    spectral lantern appears at the mast-head, and then she rushes
+    to her anchorage, leaving in her wake a long phosphoric
+    train.</p>
+
+    <p>Wherever England drops an anchor a new scene of existence
+    has begun. At Aden, the supply of coals for the steam-ships has
+    introduced a new trade; gangs of brawny Seedies, negroes from
+    the Zanzibar coast, but fortunately enfranchised, make a
+    livelihood by transferring the coal from the depots on shore to
+    the steamers. Though the most unmusical race in the world, they
+    can do nothing without music, but it is music of their
+    own&mdash;a tambourine beaten with the thigh-bone of a calf;
+    but their giant frames go through prodigious labour, carry
+    immense sacks, and drink prodigious draughts to wash the
+    coal-dust down. Such is the furious excitement with which they
+    rush into this repulsive operation, that Major Harris thinks
+    that for every hundred tons of coal thus embarked, at least one
+    life is sacrificed; those strong savages, at once inflamed by
+    drink, and overcome with toil, throwing themselves down on the
+    dust or the sand, to rise no more. This shows the advantage of
+    English philosophy: our coal-heavers in the Thames toil as
+    much, are nearly as naked, nearly as black, and probably drink
+    more; but we never hear of their dying in a fit of rapture in
+    the embrace of a coal-sack. When the day is done, drunk or
+    sober, washed or unwashed, they go home to their wives, sleep
+    untroubled by the cares of kings, and return to fresh dust,
+    drink, and dirt, next morning.</p>
+
+    <p>The coast of Arabia has no claims to the picturesque: all
+    its charms, like those of the oyster, lie within the roughest
+    of possible shells. Its first aspect resembles heaps of the
+    cinders of a glass-house&mdash;a building whose heat seems to
+    be fully realized by the temperature of this fearful place.
+    England has a resident there, <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page273"
+       name="page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> Captain Haynes,named as
+       political agent. That any human being, who could exist in
+       any other place, would remain in Aden, is one of the wonders
+       of human nature. An officer, of course, must go wherever he
+       is sent; but such is the innate love for a post, that if
+       this gallant and intelligent person were roasted to death,
+       as might happen in one of the coolest days of the Ethiopian
+       summer, there would be a thousand applications before a
+       month was over, to the Foreign Office, for the honour of
+       being carbonaded on the rocks of Aden.</p>
+
+    <p>The promontory has all the marks of volcanic eruption, and
+    is actually recorded, by an Arab historian of the tenth
+    century, to have been thrown up about that period. "Its sound,
+    like the rumbling of thunder, might then be heard many miles,
+    and from its entrails vomited forth redhot stones, with a flood
+    of liquid fire." The crater of the extinguished volcano is
+    still visible, though shattered and powdered down by the tread
+    under which Alps and Appennines themselves crumble
+    away&mdash;that of Time. The only point on which we are
+    sceptical is the late origin of the promontory. Nothing beyond
+    a sandhill or a heap of ashes has been produced on the face of
+    nature since the memory of man. That a rock, or rather a
+    mountain chain, with a peak 1800 feet high, should have been
+    produced at any time time within the last four thousand years,
+    altogether tasks our credulity. The powers of nature are now
+    otherwise employed than in rough-hewing the surface of the
+    globe. She has been long since, like the sculptor, employed in
+    polishing and finishing&mdash;the features were hewn out long
+    ago. Her master-hand has ever since been employed in smoothing
+    them.</p>
+
+    <p>Aden's reputation for barrenness is an old one&mdash;"Aden,"
+    says Ben Batuta of Tangiers, "is situate upon the sea-shore; a
+    large city without either seed, water, or tree." This was
+    written five hundred years ago; yet the ruins of fortifications
+    and watch-towers along the rocks, show that even this human
+    oven was the object of cupidity in earlier times; and the
+    British guns, bristling among the precipices, show that the
+    desire is undecayed even in our philosophic age.</p>
+
+    <p>Yet the Arab imagination has created its wonders even in
+    this repulsive scene; and the generation of monkeys which
+    tenant the higher portion of the rocks, are declared by Arab
+    tradition to be the remnant of the once powerful tribe of Ad,
+    changed into apes by the displeasure of Heaven, when "the King
+    of the World," Sheddad, renowned in eastern story,
+    presumptuously dared to form a garden which should rival
+    Paradise. The prophet Hud remonstrated; but his remonstrances
+    went for nothing, and the indignant monarch and his courtiers
+    suddenly found their visages simious, their tongues chattering,
+    and their lower portions furnished with tails&mdash;a species
+    of transformation, which, so far as regards visage and tongue,
+    is supposed to be not unfrequent among courtiers to this day.
+    But this showy tradition goes further still. The Bostan al Irem
+    (Garden of Paradise) is believed still to exist in the deserts
+    of Aden; though geographers differ on its position. It still
+    retains its domes and bowers&mdash;both of indescribable
+    beauty; its crystal fountains, and its walks strewed with
+    pearls for sand. It is true, that no living man can absolutely
+    aver that he has seen this place of wonders; but that is a mere
+    result of our very wicked age. This has not been always the
+    case; for Abdallah Ibn Aboo Kelaba passed a night in its palace
+    in the reign of Moowiych, the prince of the Faithful. Lucky the
+    man who shall next find it, but unlucky the world when he does;
+    for then the day of the general conflagration will be at hand.
+    In the mean time, it remains, like the top of Mount Meru,
+    covered with clouds, or, like the inside of a Chinese puzzle, a
+    work of unrivaled art, conceivable but intangible by man.</p>
+
+    <p>In this pleasant mingling of fact, visible to his shrewd
+    eye, and fiction drawn from ancient fancy, Major Harris leads
+    us on. But Aden is not yet exhausted of wonders&mdash;an island
+    in its bay, Seerah, (the fortified black isle,) is pronounced
+    to have been the refuge of Cain on the murder of Abel; and its
+    volcanic and barren chaos is no unequal competitor for the
+    honour with the rocks of the Caucasus.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page274"
+       name="page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> But England, which
+       changes every thing, is changing all this. Within the next
+       generation, the railway will run down the romances of
+       Nutrib; a cotton manufactory will send up its smokes to blot
+       out the celestial blue by day, and shoot forth its sullen
+       illumination by night, over the anointed soil; the minstrel
+       will turn policeman, and the sheik be a justice of peace;
+       political economy will have its itinerant lecturers,
+       enlightening the Bedouins on the principles of rent and
+       taxes; the city will have a lord mayor and corporation of
+       the deepest black; the volcano will be planted with villas;
+       turnpikes will measure out the sands; a hotel will flourish
+       on the summit of Jebel Shemshan; and Aden will differ from
+       Liverpool in nothing but being two thousand miles further
+       from the smoke and multitudes of London.</p>
+
+    <p>The Arab is still the prominent person among the native
+    population of this territory. Major Harris describes him well.
+    The bronzed and sunburnt visage, surrounded by long matted
+    locks of raven hair; the slender but wiry and active frame, and
+    the energetic gait and manner, proclaimed the untamable
+    descendant of Ishmael. He nimbly mounts the crupper of his now
+    unladen dromedary, and at a trot moves down the bazar. A
+    checked kerchief round his brows, and a kilt of dark blue
+    calico round his frame, comprise his slender costume. His arms
+    have been deposited outside the Turkish wall; and as he looks
+    back, his meagre, ferocious aspect, flanked by that tangled web
+    of hair, stamps him the roving tenant of the desert. It is
+    curious to find in this remote country a custom similar to that
+    of the fiery cross, which in old times summoned the Celtic
+    tribes to arms. On the alarm of invasion, a branch, torn by the
+    priest from the <i>nebek</i>, (a tree bearing a fruit like the
+    Siberian crab,) is lighted in the fire, the flame is then
+    quenched in the blood of a newly slaughtered ram. It is then
+    sent forth with a messenger to the nearest clan. Thus, great
+    numbers are assembled with remarkable promptitude. In the
+    invasion under Ibrahim Pasha, sixteen thousand of these wild
+    warriors were assembled from one tribe. They crept into the
+    Egyptian camp by night, and, using only their daggers, made
+    such formidable slaughter, that the Pasha was glad to escape by
+    a precipitate retreat.</p>
+
+    <p>The Jews form an important part of the population, as
+    artizans and manufacturers. Feeling the natural veneration for
+    the Chosen People in all their misfortunes, and convinced that
+    the time will come when those misfortunes will be obliterated,
+    it is highly gratifying to find, that even in this place of
+    their ancient sufferings, they are beginning to feel the
+    benefit of British protection. Hitherto, through their
+    indefatigable industry, having acquired opulence in Arabia as
+    elsewhere, they were afraid either to display or to enjoy it;
+    but now, under the protection of the British flag, they not
+    merely enjoy their wealth, but they publicly practise the
+    rights of their religion. Stone slabs with Hebrew inscriptions
+    mark the place of their dead. They have schools for the
+    education of their children; and their men and women, arrayed
+    in their holiday apparel, sit fearlessly in the synagogue, and
+    listen to the reading of the law and the prophets, as of old.
+    It is a great source of gratification to the philanthropist to
+    find, that wherever England extends her power, industry,
+    commerce, and peace are the natural result. Aden, barren as the
+    soil is, is evidently approaching to a prosperity which it
+    never possessed even in its most flourishing days. Emigrants
+    from Yemen and from both shores of the Red Sea, are daily
+    crowding within the walls, through the security which they
+    offer against native oppression. In the short space of three
+    years, the population has risen to twenty thousand souls.
+    Substantial dwellings are rising up in every quarter, and at
+    all the adjacent ports hundreds of native merchants are only
+    waiting the erection of permanent fortifications, in token of
+    our intending to remain, to flock under the guns with their
+    families and wealth. The opinion of this intelligent writer is,
+    that Aden, as a free port, whilst she pours wealth into a now
+    impoverished land, must erelong become the queen of the
+    adjacent seas, and rank amongst the most useful dependencies of
+    the British crown.</p>
+
+    <p>The mission having remained some <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page275"
+       name="page275"></a>[pg 275]</span> time at Aden, to purchase
+       horses and stores, sailed on the 15th May; and, on losing
+       sight of Aden, the members of the mission characteristically
+       took the "Pilgrims' vow" not to shave until their return. On
+       the 17th they opened the town of Tajura, on the verge of a
+       broad expanse of blue water, over which a gossamerlike fleet
+       of fishing catamarans already plied their craft. Their
+       pilot, an old Arab, was a man of fun, and the specimens of
+       his tongue are good. In some reference to the anchorage, he
+       said, "Now if we only had two-fathom Ali here, you would not
+       have all these difficulties. When they want to lay out an
+       anchor, they have nothing to do but to hand it over to Ali,
+       and he walks away with it into six or eight feet without any
+       ado. I went once upon a time in the dark to grope for a
+       berth on board of his buggalow, and, stumbling over some
+       one's toes, enquired to whom they belonged. 'To Ali,' was
+       the reply. 'And whose knees are these?' said I, after
+       walking half across the deck. 'Ali's.' 'And this head in the
+       scuppers, pray whose is it?' 'Ali's; what do you want with
+       it?' 'Ali again!' I exclaimed; 'then I must even look for
+       stowage elsewhere.'"</p>
+
+    <p>The sight of a shark in the harbour let loose the old jester
+    again. "A friend of mine," said he, "pilot of a vessel almost
+    as fast a sailer as my own, which is acknowledged to be the
+    best in these seas, was bound to Mocha with camels on board.
+    When off the high table-land betwixt the Bay of Tajura and the
+    Red Sea, one of the beasts dying, was hove overboard. Up came a
+    shark ten times the size of that fellow there, and swallowed
+    the camel, leaving only his hinder legs sticking out of his
+    jaws; but before he had time to think where he was to find
+    stowage for it, up came another tremendous fellow and bolted
+    the shark, camel, legs, and all."</p>
+
+    <p>In return for this anecdote, the major gave him the story of
+    the two Kilkenny cats in the saw-pit, which fought, until
+    nothing remained of either but the tail and a bit of the flue.
+    The old pilot doubted. "How can that be?" said he, revolving
+    the business seriously in his mind. "As for the story I have
+    told you, it is as true as the Koran."</p>
+
+    <p>After a short stay and presentation to the Sultan of Tajura,
+    a slave-port, with a miserable old man for its master, the
+    mission once more set forth for Shoa; yet even here we glean a
+    specimen of Arab speech. "Trees attain not to their growth in a
+    single day," said an Arab, when remonstrating with the sultan
+    on his inordinate love of lucre. "Take the tree as your text,
+    and learn that property is to be gathered only by slow
+    degrees." "True," said the old miser; "but, sheik, you must
+    have lost sight of the fact, that my leaves are already
+    withered, and that, if I would be rich, I have not a moment to
+    lose."</p>
+
+    <p>The packing up for the journey was a new source of trouble;
+    every camel-driver found fault with his load. However, at
+    length every article was stowed, except a hand-organ and a few
+    stand of arms. At length, a great hulking savage offered to
+    take the arms, provided they were cut in two to suit the back
+    of his animals. We have then another instance of Arab drollery.
+    "You are a tall man," said the old pilot; "suppose we shorten
+    you by the legs." "No, no," said the barbarian, "I am flesh and
+    blood, and shall be spoiled." "So will the contents of these
+    cases, you offspring of an ass," said the old man, "if you
+    divide them."</p>
+
+    <p>The progress to the interior from the port of Tajura, led
+    them over immense ranges of basaltic cliffs, where the heat of
+    the sun was felt with an intensity scarcely conceivable by
+    European feelings. In this land of fire, the road skirting the
+    base of a barren range covered with heaps of lava blocks, and
+    its foot marked by piles of stones, the memorials of deeds of
+    blood, the lofty conical peak of Jebel Seearo rose in sight,
+    and not long afterwards the far-famed Lake Assad, surrounded by
+    its dancing mirage, was seen sparkling at its base.</p>
+
+    <p>The first glimpse of this phenomenon, "though curious, was
+    far from pleasing"&mdash;"an elliptical basin, seven miles in
+    its transverse axis, filled half with smooth water of the
+    deepest cerulean hue, and half with a sheet of glittering
+    snow-white salt, girded on three sides by huge hot-looking
+    mountains, that dip their basins into its very bowl, and on the
+    fourth by crude, half-formed rocks of lava, broken and divided
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page276"
+       name="page276"></a>[pg 276]</span> by chasms. No sound broke
+       on the ear, not a ripple played on the water. The molten
+       surface of the lake lay like burnished steel, the fierce sky
+       was without a cloud, and the angry sun, like a ball of metal
+       at a white heat, rode in full blaze."</p>
+
+    <p>It is scarcely wonderful, that among a people devoted to
+    superstition, those terrible passes and sultry hollows should
+    be marked as the haunts of the powers of evil. Adyli, a deep
+    mysterious cavern at the extremity of one of those melancholy
+    plains, is believed to be the especial abode of gins and
+    <i>afreets</i>, whose voices are heard in the night, and who
+    carry off the traveller to devour him without remorse. A late
+    instance was mentioned of a man who was compelled by the
+    weariness of his camel to fall behind the caravan, and who left
+    no remnants behind him but his spear and shield. Major Harris
+    well describes this spot as one which, from its desolate
+    position, might be believed to be the last stage of the
+    habitable world. "A close mephitic stench, impeding
+    respiration, arose from the saline exhalations of the stagnant
+    lake. A frightful glare from the white salt and limestone
+    hillocks threatened extinction to the vision, and a sickening
+    heaviness in the loaded atmosphere was enhanced rather than
+    alleviated by the fiery breath of the north-westerly wind,
+    which blew without interruption during the day. The air was
+    inflamed, the sky sparkled, and columns of burning sand, which
+    at quick intervals towered high into the atmosphere, became so
+    illumined as to appear like tall pillars of fire. Crowds of
+    horses, mules, and camels, tormented to madness by the
+    poisonous gad-fly, flocked to share the only bush; and,
+    disputing with their heels the slender shelter it afforded,
+    compelled several of the party to seek refuge in caves formed
+    below by fallen masses of volcanic rock, heated to the
+    temperature of a potter's kiln, and fairly baking up the marrow
+    in the bones." The heat in this place, with the thermometer
+    under the shade of cloaks and umbrellas, was at 126&deg;. It is
+    only surprising how any of the party survived. Certainly if
+    Abyssinia is to be approached only by this road, the prospect
+    of an intercourse with it from the east, appears among the most
+    improbable things of this world.</p>
+
+    <p>One of the advantages of continental travel has been long
+    since said to be, its teaching us how many comfortable things
+    we enjoy at home; and it appears that no Englishman can
+    comprehend the value of that despised fluid, fresh water, until
+    he has left the precincts of his own fortunate land: but it is
+    in Africa, and peculiarly on this Abyssinian high-road, that
+    the value of a draught of spring water is to be especially
+    estimated. "Since leaving the shores of India," says Major
+    Harris, "the party had gradually been in training towards a
+    disregard of dirty water. On board a ship of any description,
+    the fluid is seldom very clear or very plentiful. At Cape Aden,
+    there was little perceptible difference between the sea water
+    and the land water. At Tajura, the beverage obtainable was far
+    from being improved in quality by the taint of the new skins in
+    which it was transferred from the only well; and now, in the
+    very heart of the scorching Tehama, where a copious draught of
+    pure water seemed absolutely indispensable every five minutes,
+    the mixture was the very acme of abomination. Fresh hides
+    stript from the he-goat, besmeared inside as well as out with
+    old tallow and strong bark tan, filled from an impure well at
+    Sagallo, tossed and tumbled during two days and nights under a
+    distilling heat," formed a drink which we should conclude to be
+    little short of poison. However, the human throat learns to
+    accommodate itself to every thing in time, and the time came
+    when even this abomination was longed for.</p>
+
+    <p>But the worst was not yet come. It was midnight when the
+    party commenced the steep ascent of the south-eastern boundary
+    of the lake, a ridge of volcanic rocks. "The north-east wind
+    had scarcely diminished its parching fierceness, and in hot
+    suffocating gusts swept over the glittering expanse of water
+    and salt, where the moon shone brightly; each deadly puff
+    succeeded by the stillness that foretells a tropical hurricane.
+    The prospect around was wild&mdash;beetling, basaltic cones,
+    and jagged slabs of shattered lava."</p>
+
+    <p>The path itself was formidable, <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page277"
+       name="page277"></a>[pg 277]</span> winding along the crest
+       of the ridge over sheets of broken lava, with scarcely more
+       than sufficient width to admit of the progress in single
+       file. "The horrors of this dismal night set all description
+       at defiance." The hope of water, though at the distance of
+       sixteen miles, excited them for a while; but at length even
+       this excitement failed. And "owing to the heat, fasting, and
+       privation, the limbs of the weaker refused the task, and
+       after the first two miles they dropped fast into the rear.
+       Under the fiery blast of the midnight sirocco the cry for
+       water, uttered feebly and with difficulty by numbers of
+       parched throats, now became incessant; and the supply for
+       the whole party falling short of a gallon and a half, it was
+       not long to be answered. A tiny sip of diluted vinegar for a
+       moment assuaged the burning thirst which raged in the
+       vitals; but its effects were transient, and, after
+       struggling a few steps, they sank again, declaring their
+       days to be numbered, and their resolution to rise up no
+       more. Dogs incontinently expired upon the road, horses and
+       mules that once lay down were abandoned to their fate; while
+       the lion-hearted soldier, who had braved death at the
+       cannon's mouth, subdued and unmanned by thirst, lay gasping
+       by the wayside, hailing approaching dissolution with
+       delight, as the termination of tortures which were no longer
+       to be endured. As another day dawned, and the "round red
+       sun" again rose over the lake of salt, the courage even of
+       those who had borne up against this fiery trial began to
+       flag: "a dimness came before the drowsy eyes, giddiness
+       seized the brain, and the hope held out by the guides, of
+       water in advance, seemed like the delusion of a dream."</p>
+
+    <p>In this crisis, at which our chief wonder is, that Major
+    Harris and his explorers were ever heard of again, or had left
+    any memorials of themselves but their bones, a wild Bedouin was
+    seen, "like a delivering angel," hurrying forward with a large
+    skin, filled with muddy water. This well-timed supply was
+    divided among the fainting people: a quantity was poured over
+    the face and down the throat of each; and at a late hour,
+    "ghastly, haggard, and exhausted, like men who had escaped from
+    the jaws of death, the whole had contrived to straggle into a
+    camp, which, but for the foresight and firmness of the son of
+    Ali Abi,(who had sent the water,) few individuals would have
+    reached alive."</p>
+
+    <p>After traversing this terrible desert of fifty miles&mdash;a
+    barrier to all general and commercial intercourse, which we
+    should think impassable, however it might be overcome by a
+    small party of bold and hardy men, well led, furnished with
+    every supply, water excepted, which could sustain them through
+    its horrors, (and which yet, through that single want, had
+    nearly perished)&mdash;they persued a long and dlifficult march
+    through a dreary country, scantily peopled, dotted with robber
+    clans, and exhibiting impediments of all kinds in the knavery
+    and villany of the native authorities; until they reached the
+    borders of Abyssinia. We had by no means been aware that
+    volcanoes had made so large a share of this portion of Africa.
+    The whole border seems to be volcanic, and to retain in its
+    blasted and broken surface, evidence of its having been, in
+    remote ages, perhaps in the earliest, the scene of most intense
+    and general volcanic action.</p>
+
+    <p>In Major Harris's animated description&mdash;"singular and
+    interesting indeed is the wild scenery in the vicinity of the
+    treacherous oasis of Sultelli. A field of extinct volcanic
+    cones, vomited out of the entrails of the earth, and each
+    encircled by a black belt of vitrified lava, environs it on
+    three sides; and of these Mount Abida, three thousand feet in
+    height, whose cup, enveloped in clouds, stretches some two and
+    a half miles in <i>diameter</i>, would seem to be the parent.
+    Beyond, the still loftier crater of Aiulloo, the ancient
+    landmark of the now-decayed empire of Ethiopia, is visible in
+    dim perspective; and, looming hazily in the extreme distance,
+    is the great blue Abyssinian range."</p>
+
+    <p>In any part of Africa a river of tolerable magnitude is an
+    object of the most anxious interest; and the approach to the
+    Hawash, the boundary river of the kingdom of Shoa, was looked
+    to with eager speculation. At length the height was reached
+    from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page278"
+       name="page278"></a>[pg 278]</span> which was obtained "an
+       exhilarating prospect over the dark, lone valley of the long
+       looked-for Hawash. The course of the river was marked by a
+       dense belt of trees and verdure, stretching towards the base
+       of the great mountain range, of which the cloud-capped cone,
+       which frowns over the capital of Shoa, forms the most
+       conspicuous feature." The mission now began to
+       exalt:&mdash;"Though still far distant, the ultimate
+       destination of the embassy appeared almost to have been
+       gained, and none had an idea of the length of time that must
+       elapse before his foot should press the soil of Ankober." A
+       day of intense heat was as usual followed by a heavy fall of
+       rain, which, owing to the unaccommodating arrangement of
+       striking the tents at sunset, thoroughly drenched the whole
+       party.</p>
+
+    <p>The new difficulty was, how to cross the Hawash, "second of
+    the rivers of Abyssinia, and rising in the very heart of
+    Ethipoia, at an elevation of 8000 feet above the sea. It is fed
+    by niggardly tributaries from the high bulwarks of Shoa and
+    Efat, and flows, like a great artery, through the arid plains
+    of the Adaiel, green and wooded throughout its long course, and
+    finally absorbed in the lagoons of Aussa. The canopy of fleecy
+    clouds, which, as mid-day dawned, hung thick and heavy over the
+    lofty blue peaks beyond, gave sad presage of the deluge that
+    was pouring between its verdant banks from the higher regions
+    of the source."</p>
+
+    <p>The party now descended to enjoy the real luxuries of shade
+    and water, in a region where they had hitherto seen nothing but
+    salt and lava. At first thinly wooded, they found the soil
+    covered with tall rank grass, from which, however, the
+    perpetual incursions of the robber tribes scare the flocks and
+    herds. Deeper down, they entered among gum-bearing acacias and
+    fruit-trees. "Guinea-fowl rose before them, groves of tamarisk,
+    ringing to the voice of the bell-bird, flanked every open
+    glade, and the fractured branches of the nobletrees gave proof
+    of the presence of the most ponderous of the mammalia."</p>
+
+    <p>Forcing their way, with some difficulty, through this
+    jungle, they obtained their first near view of the river, a
+    "deep volume of turbid water," covered with drift wood, and
+    rolling, at the rate of three miles an hour, between clayey
+    walls twenty-five feet in height. The breadth fell short of
+    sixty yards, but the flood was not yet at its maximum. Willows,
+    drooping over the stream, were festooned with recent drift,
+    hanging many feet above the level of the banks; and it was
+    evident that the waters had lately been out, to the overflowing
+    of the country for many miles. The river, now upwards of 2200
+    feet above the level of the ocean forms, in this quarter, the
+    nominal boundary of the kingdom of Shoa.</p>
+
+    <p>They were now on "the spot which exhibited the forest life
+    of Africa." In a lake adjoining the river, the hippopotamus
+    "rolled his unwieldy carcass to the surface, and floating
+    crocodiles, protruding his snout to blow a snort that might be
+    heard at the distance of a mile." An unfortunate donkey, which
+    had been partly drowned and partly strangled, was thrown out of
+    the camp. No sooner had night fallen, than this prey roused the
+    appetites of the whole forest, the howl and growl of wild
+    beasts was heard at their banquet on the donkey throughout the
+    night. Lightening played over the woods; the "violent snapping
+    of the branches proclaimed the nocturnal movements of the
+    elephant and hippopotamus;" the loud roar and startling snort
+    were constantly heard; and by morning every vestige of the dead
+    animal, even to the skull, had disappeared.</p>
+
+    <p>Africa, in all its provinces, is the scene of the boldest
+    field sports in the world&mdash;India and its tigers, perhaps,
+    excepted. But Africa excels even India in the variety and
+    multitude of its mighty savages&mdash;lions, elephants,
+    panthers, and hippopotami; the sands, the forests, the jungles,
+    the rivers, the marshes, every thing and place abounds with
+    brute life, on the largest, the boldest, and the fiercest
+    scale. Africa, with the human race on the lowest grade, has the
+    brute on the highest, and its true name is the great kingdom of
+    savage nature.</p>
+
+    <p>A two-ounce ball had been lodged in the forehead of
+    hippopotamus on the evening of reaching the Hawash;
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page279"
+       name="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> but the animal having
+       dived, the natives, in some jealousy of the skill of the
+       British rifle, declared that it had not been mortally
+       struck. The next dawn, however, decided the question, for
+       the "freckled pink sides of a dead hippopotamus were to be
+       seen high above the surface, as the distended carcass
+       floated like a monstrous buoy at anchor." Hawsers were
+       carried out with all diligence, and the "colossus" was towed
+       ashore amidst the acclamations of the whole caravan. Then
+       came a native scene. A tribe of savages, who had waited,
+       squatting, to see the arrival of the monster, threw aside
+       their bows and arrows, and, stripping its thick hide from
+       the ribs, attacked it with the vigour of an African horde.
+       Donkeys and women were laden with incredible despatch, and,
+       "staggering under huge flaps of meat," the savages went
+       their way.</p>
+
+    <p>The soil now became swampy, yet only the more filled with
+    animal existence. LE ADO, (the White Water,) a lake which they
+    skirted, of two miles' diameter, was the haunt of countless
+    wild-fowl, geese, mallards, teal, herons, flamingoes. A party
+    of Bedouin women deposed to having seen another "party" of
+    elephants taking a bath in the spot half an hour before, and
+    the prints of their huge feet in the moist sands corroborated
+    the testimony. Hideously withered women followed the march of
+    the mission, carrying curds, and covered over with marsh-flies.
+    Above, vast flights of locusts, which had stripped the coast,
+    were pouring in towards Abyssinia. "They quite darkened the
+    air" where the caravan halted; and above them again were a host
+    of adjutant birds, sometimes bursting down through the mass,
+    and then stooping to the ground, and stalking along to devour
+    the killed and wounded. This is the land, too, of the
+    hurricane. Nature is queen or tyrant here; the thunder tears
+    the sensorium; the lightning burns out the eyes; the rain is a
+    cataract; the hall is a continued volley of ice; the clouds
+    stoop to earth, and bury the daylight like a shroud; the rivers
+    become torrents; the dry plain becomes first a swamp, and then
+    a sea. Tents and tarpaulins are useless to keep out the deluge
+    from above, or are beaten down by its weight on the heads of
+    the unfortunates who trust to them for shelter, until at length
+    the caravan, stripped of all covering, has no resource but to
+    bide the pelting of the pitiless storm, and, shivering and
+    shelterless, wait until the hurricane has howled itself
+    away.</p>
+
+    <p>At length they reached the city of Furri, loaded, for the
+    thirty-fifth time, with the baggage of the British embassy. The
+    caravan, escorted by a detachment of three hundred matchlock
+    men, with flutes playing, and muskets echoing, and the heads of
+    the warriors decorated with white plumes, on the 16th July
+    entered the frontier town of the kingdom of Efat. Clusters of
+    conical-roofed houses, covering the sides of twin hills, here
+    presented the first permanent habitations that had greeted the
+    eye since leaving the sea-coast&mdash;rude and ungainly, but
+    right welcome signs of transition from depopulated waste to the
+    abodes of man. The African seems a robber by nature, and the
+    sight of the bales and boxes excited the national propensity in
+    a most violent degree. Even the royal ministers and courtiers
+    seem to have felt a passion for looking into those prohibited
+    treasures, which evidently tempted their virtue in a most
+    perilous degree. Meanwhile a special messenger arrived, bearing
+    reiterated compliments from the Negoos, (king,) with a horse
+    and a mule from the royal stud, attired in the peculiar
+    trappings which belong to majesty. Those animals awoke all the
+    loyal curiosity of the people. At the sight women and girls,
+    enveloped in blood-red shifts, who had thronged to stare at the
+    strangers, burst into a scream of acclamation. A group of
+    hooded widows thrust their fingers into their ears and joined
+    in the clamour. The escort and camel-drivers placed no bounds
+    to their hilarity. A fat ox, that had been promised, was turned
+    loose among the spectators, pursued by fifty savages with their
+    gleaming <i>creeses</i>, and hamstrung by a dexterous blow,
+    which threw it bellowing to the earth in the height of its mad
+    career, and tribes of lean curs commenced an indiscriminate
+    engagement over the garbage.</p>
+
+    <p>The neighbouring nations look upon the population of this
+    province with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page280"
+       name="page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> great contempt. They say
+       that their tongues are long for lying, their arms are long
+       for stealing, and their legs are long for running away.</p>
+
+    <p>The mission now approached another region, perhaps the
+    finest in Africa. Every change in the climate and soil in
+    Africa is in extremes, and barreness and unbounded fertility
+    lie side by side.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"As if by the touch of the magician's wand, the scene
+        now passes, in an instant, from parched wastes to the geen,
+        and lovely islands of Abyssinia, presenting one scene of
+        rich and thriving cultivation. The baggage having at length
+        been consigned to the shoulders of six hundred grumbling
+        Moslem porters&mdash;for here the camel, from the steepness
+        of the hills, was useless&mdash;and forming a line, which
+        extended upwards of a mile, the embassy, on the morning of
+        the 17th, comnenced the ascent of the Abyssinian Alps; the
+        flutes again played, the wild warriors of the escort again
+        chanted their songs. It was a cool and lovely morning, and
+        an invigorating breeze played over the mountains' side, on
+        which, now less than ten degrees from the equator,
+        flourished the vegetation of northern climes. The rough and
+        stony road wound on, by a steep ascent, over hill and dale,
+        now skirting some precipitous ascent, now dipping into the
+        basin of some verdant hollow, where it suddenly emerged
+        into a succession of shady lanes, bounded by flowering
+        hedgerows."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>All this is so like England, and so unlike Africa, that we
+    should suspect the major's memory to have been as active at
+    least as his observation. But the work contains so much
+    internal evidence of accuracy, independently of the confidence
+    attached to the character of the intelligent writer himself,
+    that we must believe the heart of Ethiopa to possess secnes
+    that would be worthy of the heart of our own fresh and
+    flower-bearing island. The scene which follows is quite
+    Arcadian.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The wild rose, the fern, the lantana, and the
+        honeysuckle, smiled round a succession of highly cultivated
+        terraces, and on every eminence, stood a cluster of
+        conically thatched houses, environed by green hedges, and
+        partially embowered amid dark trees As the troop passed on,
+        the peasant abandoned his occupation to gaze at the novel
+        procession; while merry groups of hooded women, decked in
+        scarlet and crimson left their avocations in the hut to
+        welcome the king's guests with a shrill <i>ziroleet</i>,
+        which ran from every hand. Birds warbled among the groves.
+        At various turns of the road the prospect was rugged, wild,
+        and beautiful. The first Christian village was soon
+        revealed on the summit of a height. Three principal ranges
+        of hills were next crossed in succession. Lastly, the view
+        opened upon the wooded site of Ankober occupying a central
+        position in a horseshoe crescent of mountains, still high
+        above which enclose a magnificent amphitheatre of ten miles
+        in diameter. This is clothed throughout with a splendid
+        vigorous, and varied vegetation."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The embassy now halted, waiting for permission to enter the
+    capital, and taking up their quarters in a town three thousand
+    feet above Furri, on the frontier. The escort of the troop
+    fired a salute on entering, and, as they marched along,
+    performed the war dance. A veteran capered before the ranks
+    with a drawn sword between his teeth, and the martial song was
+    chorused by three hundred Christian throats. The prospect from
+    this elevated point naturally struck the travellers with
+    astonishment and admiration. The site of the town is only one
+    of the thousand cones into which the mountain side is broken as
+    it approaches the plain. The prospect over the plain was
+    boundless, and countless villages met the eye upon the mountain
+    slope. Wherever the plough could go, all was cultivated. Wheat,
+    barley, Indian corn, beans, peas, cotton, and oil plant, throve
+    luxuriantly round every hamlet. The regularly marked fields
+    mounted in terraces to the height of three or four thousand
+    feet, becoming, in their boundaries, more and more indistinct,
+    until totally lost in the shadowy green side of Mamrat (the
+    Mother of Grace.)</p>
+
+    <p>This mountain is a wonder, shrouded in clouds whilst all was
+    sunshine below. It is clothed with a dense forest, and ascends
+    to an elevation of 13,000 feet above the sea. Here are
+    collected, for security, the treasures of the monarch which
+    have been amassing since the re-establishment of the kingdom,
+    one hundred and fifty years since.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page281"
+       name="page281"></a>[pg 281]</span> After remaining some time
+       in the market-place, the governor of the town appeared, and
+       conducted the mission to the house of an old Moslem woman,
+       where they were to lodge for the night. The names of the
+       three daughters, Major Harris observes, were worthy of the
+       days of Prince Cherry and Fair Star. They were Eve, Sweet
+       Limes, and Sunbeam. The ladies vacated the house with great
+       good-humour; but it was low, intolerably filthy, and without
+       bedding or food. The unfortunate mission had thus to spend a
+       night, probably unequaled by their sufferings in the open
+       field. Though so near the equator, they felt the cold
+       severely; rain set in with great violence, pouring through
+       the roof, and entering into the threshold. A fire was
+       indispensable, yet they were nearly suffocated with smoke;
+       they were devoured with insects, and in this torment and
+       fever tossed till dawn. At the arrival of morning they
+       received the disappointing message, that the king could not
+       yet visit his capital, but that they might either seek him
+       among the mountains, or wait for him where they were.</p>
+
+    <p>Major Harris imputes this disappointment to the accidental
+    opening of one of the boxes of presents. Royal cupidity had
+    been so strongly excited by the conjectures of their contents,
+    that the king had evidently been anxious, in the first
+    instance, to hasten their delivery as much as possible. Gold
+    and jewels were probably uppermost in the royal conceptions;
+    but the box happening to contain only the leathern buckets
+    belonging to the "galloper guns," the spectators were loud in
+    their derision. "These," they exclaimed, "are but a poor
+    people! What is their nation compared with the Amhara? for
+    behold, in this trash, specimens of the offerings brought from
+    their boasted land to the footstool of the mightiest of
+    monarchs."</p>
+
+    <p>The rainy season was now setting in, and the situation of
+    the embassy became more comfortless from day to day. Notes were
+    written, and answers received from the monarch, but the royal
+    interview was still postponed, partly by the artifice of the
+    knavish governors, who kept a longing eye on the presents, and
+    partly by the barbarian etiquette of showing the natives the
+    scorn with which their king was entitled to treat all the
+    nations of the world.</p>
+
+    <p>The residence of the mission in this comfortless place,
+    however, gave a opportunity of acquiring considerable knowledge
+    of the habits and commerce of the interior. The chief traffic
+    is in slaves, but coffee is exported extensively from Hurrna,
+    and large caravans three times in the year visit the ports,
+    Zeyla and Barbara, laden with ivory, ostrich feathers, ghee,
+    saffrons, gums, and myrrh. In return are brought blue and white
+    calicoes, Indian piece goods, Indian prints, silks, and shawls,
+    red cotton yarn, silk threads, beads, frankincense, copper
+    wire, and zinc.</p>
+
+    <p>A fortnight rolled away painfully in this detestable place,
+    which was named Alio Amba, when a summons came from the monarch
+    in these formal words:&mdash;"Tarry not by day, neither stay ye
+    by night; for the heart of the father longeth to see his
+    children, and let him not be disappointed."</p>
+
+    <p>They now ascended through a country of romantic beauty, to
+    Machalwan, the place appointed for the interview. The
+    Abyssinian in charge of the embassy, was now sent forward to
+    obtain permission to fire a salute of twenty-one guns on the
+    arrival of the troop at the royal residence. This request
+    seemed to have alarmed his majesty in no slight degree. The
+    most romantic reports of the ordnance had gone before them. It
+    was currently believed that their discharge was sufficient to
+    set fire to the ground, to shiver rocks, and to dismantle
+    mountain fastnesses. Men were said to have arrived, with
+    "copper legs," who served those tremendous engines; and in
+    alarm for the safety of his palace, capital, and treasures, the
+    suspicious monarch still peremptorily insisted on withholding
+    the desired license, until he should have seen the battery
+    "with his own eyes." It rained incessantly during the night
+    which preceded the day of presentation, and until the morning
+    broke; when a great volume of white mist rose from the deep
+    valleys, and drifted like a scene-curtain across the summit of
+    the giant Mamrat. The whole troop now began to ascend the
+    mountain; and, as they approached within sight of the stockaded
+    palace, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page282"
+       name="page282"></a>[pg 282]</span> the escort commenced to
+       fire their matchlocks. The view here is described as very
+       lovely, and giving some conception of European variety of
+       vegetation, with tropical luxuriance. Farm-houses, rich
+       fields, foaming cascades, and bright green meadows covered
+       with flowers, met the eye on every side; and above all
+       towered the great Abyssinian range, some thousand feet
+       perpendicularly overhead, with its summits crested with
+       clouds. The crowd of spectators was immense, and were
+       repelled only by strokes of the bamboo. At length a large
+       tent was pitched for the reception of the embassy, the floor
+       was strewed with heath, myrtles, and other aromatic shrubs;
+       and the weather having cleared up, "the mission, radiant
+       with plumes and gold embroidery, moved on." As they reached
+       the precincts of the palace, the artillery fired a salute,
+       which equally awed and astonished the multitude, the
+       discharge being followed by universal shouts in the native
+       tongue of&mdash;"Wonderful English! Well done, well
+       done!"</p>
+
+    <p>After several further stoppages, they entered the reception
+    hall. It was circular, and showy. The lofty walls glittered
+    with a profusion of silver ornaments, emblazoned shields,
+    matchlocks, and double-barreled guns. Persian carpets and rugs
+    of all sizes, colours, and patterns, covered the floors; and
+    crowds of governors, chiefs, and officers of the court, in
+    their holiday attire, stood in a posture of respect, uncovered
+    to the girdle. Two wide alcoves receded on either side, in one
+    of which blazed a cheerful wood fire, engrossed by indolent
+    cats; while in the other, on a flowered satin ottoman,
+    surrounded by withered slaves and juvenile pages, and supported
+    by gay velvet cushions, lay "His most Christian majesty, Sahela
+    Selasse!" The Dech Agulari (state doorkeeper,) as master of the
+    ceremonies, stood with a rod of green rushes to preserve the
+    exact distance of approach to royalty; and as the British
+    entered and made their bows, pointed them to chairs, which
+    done, it was commanded that all should be covered.</p>
+
+    <p>The monarch was not unworthy of figuring in this pomp. Forty
+    summers, of which eight-and-twenty had been passed on the
+    throne, had slightly furrowed his forehead, and grizzled a full
+    bushy head of hair, arranged in elaborate curls. But, though
+    wanting the left eye, "the expression of his manly features,
+    open, pleasing, and commanding, did not belie the character for
+    impartial justice which he had obtained far and wide; even the
+    robber tribes of the low country calling him a fine balance of
+    gold."</p>
+
+    <p>After the delivery of the ambassadorial letters, the
+    exhibition commenced, which had so long been the envy of the
+    courtiers, and probably the conversation of the kingdom. The
+    presents were displayed. A rich Brussels carpet, which
+    completely covered the hall, Cashmere shawls, and embroidered
+    Delhi scarfs of resplendent hues, excited universal admiration.
+    The finer specimens were handed to the king. As the various
+    presents succeeded, the delight increased. A group of Chinese
+    dancing figures, produced bursts of merriment; and when the
+    European escort, in full uniform, with the sergeant at their
+    head, marched into the hall, paced in front of the throne, and
+    performed the manual and platoon exercises, amid ornamented
+    clocks chiming, and musical boxes playing "God save the Queen,"
+    his majesty appeared quite entranced. "But many and bright were
+    the smiles that lighted up the royal features, as three hundred
+    muskets, with bayonets fixed, were piled in front of the royal
+    footstool. A buzz of mingled wonder and applause arose from the
+    crowded courtiers; and the monarch's satisfaction now filled to
+    overflowing. 'God will reward you,' he exclaimed&mdash;'for I
+    cannot!'"</p>
+
+    <p>But a more serious and a more striking display was still to
+    follow. The artillery were to exhibit their powers; and the
+    crowd rushed out, and scattered over the hill to see its
+    practice. A sheet was attached to the opposite face of the
+    ravine, the valley rang to the roar of the guns; and as the
+    white cloth flew in shreds to the wind, under a rapid discharge
+    of round shot, canister, and grape, amid the crumbling of the
+    rock, and the rush of falling stones, shouts of admiration rang
+    from hill to hill. This eventful evening was closed by
+    testimonies of the king's satisfaction, in the shape of a huge
+    pepper pie from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page283"
+       name="page283"></a>[pg 283]</span> the royal kitchen, with
+       his commands that his children might feast; and a visit from
+       the royal confessor, a dwarf enveloped in robes and turbans,
+       and armed with silver cross and crosier. Seating himself in
+       a chair, he delivered a speech, which affords as good a
+       specimen of court oratory as any thing that we remember; and
+       also shows the powerful effect of the presents on the
+       courtly sensibilities. The speech was as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"Forty years have rolled away since Asfa Woosen, on
+        whose memory be peace! grandsire to our beloved monarch,
+        saw in a dream that the red men were bringing into his
+        kingdom, curious and beautiful commodities from countries
+        beyond the great sea. The astrologers, on being commanded
+        to give an interpretation thereof, predicted with one
+        accord, that foreigners from the land of Egypt would come
+        into Abysinia during his majesty's most illustrious reign;
+        and that yet more and wealthier would follow in that of his
+        son, and of his son's son, who should sit next upon the
+        throne. Praise be unto God, that the dream and its
+        interpretation have now been fulfilled! Our eyes, though
+        they be old, have never beheld wonders until this day; and
+        during the reign over Shoa of seven successive kings, no
+        such miracles as these have been wrought in Ethiopia!!"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The embassy were now fixed under the protection of the
+    monarch; and they were invited to join in the various displays
+    and festivals of the new year, which the Abyssinians begin on
+    the 10th of September. Of these, the cavalry review was by far
+    the most showy, as well as the most suited to the gratification
+    of the British officers. Some parts of this display seemed to
+    have been borrowed from the days of European knighthood. The
+    king's master of the horse advanced at the head of his
+    squadrons of picked household cavalry, "the flower of the
+    Christian lances." Ayto Melkoo, their leader, was arrayed in a
+    party-coloured vest, surmounted by a crimson Arab fleece,
+    handsomely studded with silver jets. A gilt embossed gauntlet
+    encircled his right arm, from the wrist to the elbow; his targe
+    and horse trappings glittered with a profusion of silver
+    crosses and devices, and he looked a stately and martial
+    figure, curveting at the head of his well-appointed
+    lancers.</p>
+
+    <p>This warrior, advancing with his line, galloped up in front,
+    and made a speech in the manner of old heroic times, vaunting
+    his past prowess and his present loyalty, his troopers
+    accompanying the more succcessful parts of his speech by
+    striking the lance upon the targe. At the close, he threw his
+    spears upon the ground, unsheathed his two-edged falchion, gave
+    a howl, which was answered by a roar from his horsemen, and a
+    discharge of fire-arms; and the whole made a dash, and charged
+    across the parade.</p>
+
+    <p>At the royal command, the British now fired a salute of
+    twenty-one guns, to the great wonder and astonishment of the
+    wild Galla and the multitude of spectators. Thirteen governors,
+    (of provinces, we presume,) clothed in the skins of lions and
+    leopards and covered with silver chains, cuirasses, and
+    gauntlets, emblems of their gallantry in the field, next passed
+    before the king, each at the head of his troop, and each making
+    a harangue. Abyssinia must be a very oratorical country. Last
+    of all, came the tall, martial figure of Abegoz Moreteh, chief
+    of the tributary Galla of the south, at the head of his legion,
+    three thousand in number: this "sea of wild horsemen" moved in
+    advance, to the sound of kettle-drums, their arms and
+    decorations flashing in the sun, and their ample white robes
+    and long sable hair streaming in the breeze. At the war-hoop of
+    their leader, "with the rush of a hurricane the moving forest
+    of lances disappeared under a cloud of dust." From <i>eight to
+    ten thousand</i> cavalry were in the field; and the spectacle,
+    which lasted from nine in the morning until five in the
+    afternoon, was "exceedingly wild and impressive." But the most
+    impressive display of all was to be supplied by the British.
+    With fire-arms the people were acquainted already. The "brass
+    galloper," though viewed with "wonderful respect," was still
+    only an engine on a larger scale than those to which they were
+    familiarized. But the rocket was a formidable and splendid
+    novelty. Night had now thrown her mantle round the field, and,
+    by the king's command, the rocket practice began; the first
+    brilliant <span class="pagenum"><a id="page284"
+       name="page284"></a>[pg 284]</span> rush into the air was
+       matter of amazement to all. When the rocket started with a
+       roar from its bed, men, women, and children fell on their
+       faces&mdash;horses and mules broke from their
+       tethers&mdash;and the warriors who had any heart remaining
+       shouted aloud. The Galla tribes, who witnessed the
+       explosion, ascribed the phenomenon to "potent medicines,"
+       and declared, that since the Gyptzis (British) could, at
+       pleasure, produce comets in the sky and rain fire down
+       heaven, there was nothing for them but submission to the
+       king's command.</p>
+
+    <p>The review was followed, at some interval of time, by a more
+    substantial display. Thrice in the year the king summons his
+    rude militia for an inroad into some of the neighbouring lands;
+    and, as he was particularly anxious to have the presence of the
+    embassy on this occasion, and as they conceived it to offer the
+    best opportunity of seeing the country, they accordingly
+    accepted the invitation. As it is to be presumed that they had
+    no intention of taking any personal part in this marauding
+    expedition, we are not disposed to criticise their
+    acquiescence; otherwise there could be no doubt whatever, that
+    they had no right to assist the king of Shoa in his foray on
+    his neighbours, more than they would have had a right to assist
+    his neighbours in their attacks upon the king of Shoa.</p>
+
+    <p>The march was peculiar, and even pompous, in its kind. It
+    was extraordinary to see it preceded by a copy of the Holy
+    Scriptures, under a canopy of scarlet cloth, and borne on a
+    mule; but, it must be owned, accompanied by the "Ark of the
+    cathedral of St Michael," which works miracles, and is regarded
+    as a pledge of victory. Then came the king on a specially
+    caparisoned mule, surrounded by his guard of shield-bearers,
+    and flanked by matchlock-men; then came forty damsels, royal
+    cooks, painted with ochre, and muffled in crimson-striped robes
+    of cotton&mdash;a troop rigorously guarded by attendants with
+    long white wands. Beyond these, as far as the eye could
+    penetrate the clouds of dust, every hill and valley teemed with
+    horsemen, camp-followers, sumpter-mules, and men carrying
+    sheaves of spears, and leading caparisoned horses, all mixed in
+    the most picturesque confusion. After a march of fifteen miles,
+    the female cooks halted, like a flight of flamingoes, in a
+    pretty, secluded valley. It was evident that the day's march
+    was now at an end, and the army halted to bivouac for the
+    night. In the centre of this straggling camp, which could not
+    be less than five miles in diameter, was raised a suite of
+    royal tents, consisting of a gay party-coloured marquee of
+    Turkish manufacture, surrounded by twelve ample awnings of
+    black serge, over which floated five crimson pennons,
+    surmounted respectively by silver globes. There was something
+    of African, or perhaps European, pomp in this proceeding. Until
+    the royal tents were enclosed from the vulgar eye, the Negoos,
+    ascending an adjacent eminence with his chiefs and an escort of
+    picked warriors, remained seated on cushioned <i>alga</i>, and
+    under the crimson canopy of the state umbrella.</p>
+
+    <p>When night fell, rockets were fired by the royal command,
+    "to instil terror into the breasts of the Galla hordes;" and
+    the peak which ran near the headquarters, was chosen as the
+    most central spot for the display. The effect, brilliant every
+    where, was here all that even Majesty could have desired. The
+    "fire-rainers" (the picturesqe name which, we presune, Major
+    Harris has adopted from the natives) produced delight, wonder,
+    and terror, in all their degrees; and if the Galla nation were
+    present, they must, to a man, have solicited chains, rather
+    than be roasted alive by those flying monsters, which the
+    people seem to have taken for the works of magic, if not
+    magicians themselves. The display was followed by a repast in
+    the old heroic style, and which will not be forgotten, should
+    Abyssinia ever give the world a sable Homer.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The chiefs and nobles sat down to their feast in the
+        royal pavilion, where hydromel, beer, and <i>raw</i> flesh
+        were in regal profusion!! After supper, speeches were made
+        in the Homeric style, boasting of what the warriors had
+        done, and intended to do. A fragment of one of the
+        speeches; addressed to the English as the party broke up,
+        gives a fair idea of Abyssinian table eloquence,
+        <span class="pagenum"><a id="page285"
+           name="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> 'You are the
+           adorners,' (the orator had been decorated with a scarlet
+           cloak;) 'you have given me scarlet broadcloth, and
+           behold I have reserved the gift for this day. This
+           garment will bring me success; for the Pagan who sees a
+           crimson cloak on the shoulders of the Amhara,'
+           (Abyssinian,) 'believing him to be a warrior of
+           distinguished valour, will take, like an ass, to his
+           heels, and be speared without the smallest danger.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The march, and the foray into the country of one of the
+    Galla tribes, are admirably told, and perhaps are among the
+    best descriptions in the volumes&mdash;exact without being
+    tedious, and deeply coloured without exaggeration. But we must
+    hasten to other things. This was the monarch's eighty-fourth
+    foray; and on this we may conceive something of the horrors of
+    barbarian life, and of the tremendous evils which nations have
+    escaped whose laws and principles tame down the original evil
+    of man.</p>
+
+    <p>We are glad to find that the embassy refused to take any
+    share in this horrible work, though they fell into some
+    disrepute with the troops, and even with the monarch, for their
+    remissness. The king had even reserved an unlucky Galla in a
+    tree, to be shot by his guests. But this they declined, first,
+    on the pretext of its being the Sabbath, and next, more
+    distinctly on the ground, that&mdash;"no public body was
+    authorized by the law of nations, to draw a sword offensively
+    in any country not at war with its own." They then offered the
+    compromise, "that an elephant was esteemed equivalent to forty
+    Gallas, and a wild buffalo to five, and that they were ready to
+    shoot as many of both as his Majesty pleased." But the embassy
+    did more effectual things; the sick and wounded received relief
+    from them to the extent of their means, and they even prevailed
+    on the king to liberate all his prisoners. The troops in the
+    foray amounted to about 20,000.</p>
+
+    <p>On the return of this destroying expedition, which seems to
+    have turned a very fine country into a desert, the king made a
+    kind of triumphal entry into his capital. His costume was
+    splendidly savage. A lion's skin over his shoulders, richly
+    ornamented, and half concealing beneath its folds an
+    embroidered green mantle of Indian manufacture; on his right
+    shoulder were three chains of gold, as emblems of the Holy
+    Trinity,(!) and the fresh-plucked bough of asparagus, which
+    denoted his recent exploit, rose from the centre of an embossed
+    coronet of silver on his brow. His dappled war-horse, in
+    housings of blue and yellow, was led beside him; and in front
+    his "champion" rode a coal-black charger, bearing the royal
+    shield of massive silver, with the cross upon it, and dressed
+    in a panther's hide. The two chief officers of his army rode
+    either side of the crimson umbrella; at the palace gates, a
+    deputation of priests in white robes received the conqueror
+    with a benediction and a volley of musketry announced his
+    arrival. The leader of the royal matchlock-men performed a war
+    dance before the Ark as it was borne along, and in the inner
+    court the principal warriors, each carring some human fragment
+    on his lance, flung then on the ground before the royal
+    footstool, and shouted their war praise.</p>
+
+    <p>The embassy at length attained personal distinction by the
+    death of an elephant, which one of the party brought to the
+    ground by a two-ounce ball. The "warriors" were all in
+    astonishment at this feat, to which all had predicted the most
+    disastrous termiration; and "Boroo, the brave chief of the
+    Soopa," exclaimed in his delight, "The world was made for you,
+    and no one else has any business in it!"</p>
+
+    <p>The chief object of the embassy was still to be
+    accomplished&mdash;the formation of something that approached
+    to a treaty of commerce. Beads, cutlery, and trinkets, had been
+    received from the coast; but the beggary of the nobles for
+    those things was perpetual and intolerable. They called those
+    ornanents pleasing things, and the cry was constant, "show me
+    pleasing things," "give me delighting things," "adorn me from
+    head to foot." It is scarcely surprising that the natives
+    should be enamoured of European conmodities; for, though an old
+    commerce had subsisted with Arabia, the supplies brought by the
+    English were of the most exciting kind. Detonating caps were in
+    great request; treble strong canister powder was also
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286"
+       name="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span> much in demand. Yet there
+       was some ingenuity amongst themselves; for a young fellow
+       was taken up for making dollars of pewter. Every spot and
+       letter had been closely represented with punch and file.
+       "Tell me," said the king, on the case of this culprit being
+       mentioned to him, "how is that machine made which in your
+       country pours out the silver crowns like a shower of rain?"
+       The hand corn-mills, presented by the British Government,
+       had been erected within the palace walls, and slaves were
+       turning the wheels with unceasing diligence. "Demetrius, the
+       Armenian, made a machine to grind corn," exclaimed his
+       majesty in a transport of delight, as the flour streamed
+       upon the floor; "and though it cost the people a year of
+       hard labour to construct, it was useless when finished,
+       because the priest declared it to be the devil's work, and
+       cursed the bread. But, may the Sahela Selasse
+       die&mdash;these engines are the work of clever hands."</p>
+
+    <p>The monarch, elated with his knowledge, now determined to
+    build a bridge, which in three days was completed; and, as was
+    predicted by the quiet English spectators, in three hours fell
+    down on the very first fresh produced by the annual rains.</p>
+
+    <p>Weaving excepted, the people manufactured nothing; but
+    British commerce has long been known, though evidently of the
+    coarsest kind. At length, on his majesty's being told that five
+    thousand looms would bring him more wealth than ten thousand
+    soldiers, he gradually consented to form a commercial treaty.
+    The crown had hitherto appropriated the property of strangers
+    dying in the country. The purchase or display of costly goods
+    by the subject had been interdicted, and a maxim exhibiting the
+    whole jealousy of savage life had been established, that the
+    stranger who once entered was never to depart from Abyssinia.
+    By the articles of the commercial treaty, all those barbarous
+    prohibitions have been abolished.</p>
+
+    <p>As the monarch returned the deed, he made a short speech
+    sufficiently able and appropriate: "You have loaded me with
+    costly presents, the rainment that I wear, the throne on which
+    I sit, the curiosities in my store-houses, and the muskets
+    which hang round my great hall&mdash;all are from your country.
+    What have I to give in return for such wealth? My kingdom is as
+    nothing."</p>
+
+    <p>The hereditary provinces at this day subject to the King of
+    Shoa, are comprised in a rectangular domain of 150 by 90 miles;
+    an area traversed by five systems of mountains, of which the
+    culminating point divides the basin of the Nile from that of
+    the Hawash. The Christian population of Shoa and Efat are
+    estimated at a million; and the Moslem and Pagan population at
+    a million and a half. The royal revenues are said to amount to
+    80,000 or 90,000 German crowns, arising chiefly from import
+    duties in slaves, merchandise, and salt. As the annual expenses
+    of the state do not exceed 10,000 dollars; it is presumed that
+    the king, during his thirty years' reign, has amassed much
+    treasure, which is regularly deposited under ground.</p>
+
+    <p>We recommend the enquirers into the truth of Herodotus, to
+    examine the curious illustrations stated in these volumes; and,
+    among the rest, the kingdom of pigmies. The geographer will
+    find ample interest in tracing the course of the Gochob, a sort
+    of central Nile; and the naturalist, botanist, and
+    entomologist, will find abundant information in the very
+    interesting and complete appendices on those subjects. The
+    history of the Christian missions of early ages is an excellent
+    chapter, and the general statistics of religion.</p>
+
+    <p>The practical religion of the Abyssinian Christian is of the
+    very lowest degree of formality. Fasts, penances, and
+    excommunications, form the chief discipline; but the penitent
+    can always provide a substitute for the two former, and the
+    latter is always to be averted by money. Spiritual offences,
+    however, are rare; for murder and sacrilege alone give umbrage
+    to the easy conscience of the natives of Shoa. Abstinence and
+    largesses of money are equivalent to wiping away every sin.
+    Their creed advises the invocation of saints, confession to the
+    priest, and faith in charms and amulets. Prayers for the dead,
+    and absolution, are indispensable; and, as a more summary
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page287"
+       name="page287"></a>[pg 287]</span> mode of relieving the
+       burdens of the flesh, it is pronounced, that all sins are
+       forgiven from the moment that the kiss of the pilgrim is
+       imprinted on the stones of Jerusalem, and that even kissing
+       the hand of a priest purifies the body from all sin. A creed
+       of this order, which makes spiritual safety dependent, not
+       upon personal purification of mind and divine mercy, but
+       upon forms which are unconnected with either, and which even
+       can be executed by a substitute, of course excludes the
+       necessity for morals of any kind. All is
+       corruption&mdash;"Born amid falsehood and deceit, cradled in
+       bloodshed, and nursed in the arms of idleness and
+       debauchery, the national character almost defies the
+       missionary."</p>
+
+    <p>There are some strange remnants of Judaism still lingering
+    amongst the tribes of these highland regions. The Galla have a
+    tradition, that their whole nation will one day be called on to
+    march, <i>en masse</i>, and reconquer Palestine for the return
+    of the Jews. The king of Shoa regards himself as a direct
+    descendant of the house of Solomon, calls himself king of
+    Israel, and the national standard bears the motto, "The Lion of
+    the tribe of Judah hath prevailed." They believe the 45th Psalm
+    to be a prophecy of Queen Magueda's visit to Jerusalem; whither
+    she was attended by a daughter of Hiram, king of Tyre. The
+    Jewish prohibitions against the flesh of unclean animals, are
+    observed by the Abyssinians. The sinew which shrank, and the
+    eating of which was prohibited to the Israelite, is also
+    prohibited in Shoa. The Jewish Sabbath is strictly observed.
+    The Abyssinians are said, by Ludolf, to be the greatest fasters
+    in the world. The Wednesdays and Fridays are fasts; the forty
+    days before Easter are rigidly observed as a fast; and from the
+    Thursday preceding Easter till the Sunday, no morsel of meat is
+    to enter the lips, and the prohibition against drink is equally
+    rigorous. St Michael and the Virgin Mary are venerated in the
+    highest degree; St Michael as the leader of the hosts of
+    heaven, and the latter as the chief of all saints, and queen of
+    heaven and earth, and both as the great intercessors of
+    mankind.</p>
+
+    <p>Like the Jews of old, the Abyssinians weep and lament on all
+    occasions of death; and the shriek ascends to the sky, as if
+    the soul could be recalled from the world of spirits. As with
+    the Jews, the most inferior garments are employed as the weeds
+    of woe; and the skin torn from the temples, and scarified on
+    the cheeks and breast, proclaims the last extremity of grief.
+    As the Rabbins believe that angels were the governors of all
+    sublunary things, the Abyssinians adopt this belief: carrying
+    it even further, they confidently implore their assistance in
+    all concerns, and invoke and adore them in a higher degree than
+    the Creator. The clergy enjoy the price of deathbed confession;
+    and the churchyard is sternly denied to all who die without the
+    rite, or whose relations refuse the fee and the funeral feast.
+    Eight pieces of salt are the price of wafting a poor man's soul
+    to the place of rest, and the feast for the dead places him in
+    a state of happiness, according to the cost of the
+    entertainment. For the rich, money procures the attendance of
+    priests, who absolve, and pray continually day and night. The
+    anniversaries of the deaths of the six kings of Shoa are held
+    with great ceremony in the capital; and once every twelvemonth,
+    before a splendid feast, their souls are absolved from all
+    sin.</p>
+
+    <p>Major Harris expresses himself ardently and eloquently on
+    the hopes of commerce which might be maintained by Great
+    Britain with this little-known but productive part of the
+    world. It is notorious that gold and gold dust, ivory, ostrich
+    feathers, peltries, spices, wax, and precious gums, form a part
+    of the lading of every slave caravan; notwithstanding that the
+    tediousness of the transport, and the penuriousness of the
+    Indian and Arab merchant, offer but a small compensation for
+    their labour. No quarter of the globe abounds to a greater
+    extent in vegetable and mineral productions than tropical
+    Africa; and in the populous, fertile, and salubrious portions
+    lying immediately north of the equator, the very highest
+    capabilities are presented for the employment of British
+    capital. Coal has already been found; cotton, of a quality
+    unrivaled in the whole world, is every where a
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page288"
+       name="page288"></a>[pg 288]</span> weed, and might be
+       cultivated to any extent. The coffee which is sold in Arabia
+       as the produce of Mocha, is chiefly of wild African growth;
+       and that species of the tea plant which is used by the lower
+       orders of the Chinese, flourishes so widely, and with so
+       little care, that the climate would doubtless be found well
+       adapted for the higher-flavoured and more delicate species.
+       If, at a very moderate calculation, a sum falling very
+       little short of a hundred thousand pounds sterling, can be
+       annually invested in European goods, to supply the wants of
+       some of the poorer tribes adjacent to Abyssinia, what
+       important results might not be anticipated from
+       well-directed efforts, adopting the natural neans of
+       communication in Africa?</p>
+
+    <p>Another winter passed&mdash;a dreary time for the mission in
+    Ankober. Torrents rushed down the mountains, every footpath had
+    been converted into a stream, and every valley into a morass.
+    The season was peculiarly tempestuous; the heavy white clouds
+    constantly hung on the mountain pinnacles, and the torrents
+    swelled the Hawash to such an extent, that the land for many
+    miles on both sides was inundated. There must have been some
+    difficulty in spending the time of this solitary confinement
+    among the hills; but the author was well employed in writing
+    his volumes, and engineers were employed in erecting a Gothic
+    hall, to the great delight of his Abyssinian majesty. He would
+    allow them to do every thing except paint his
+    portrait&mdash;the national idea being, that whoever takes a
+    likeness, immediately becomes invested with power over the
+    original. "You are writing a book," he said. "I know this,
+    because I never enquire what you are doing that they do not
+    tell me you are using a pen, or gazing at the heavens. That is
+    a good thing, and it pleases me. You will speak favourably of
+    myself; but you shall not insert my portrait, as you have done
+    that of the King of Zingero."</p>
+
+    <p>The English had new wonders for him; they shaped planks out
+    of trees in a fashion new to the Abyssinians, who waste a tree
+    on every plank. "You English are indeed a strange people," said
+    the king, as he saw the first plank formed in this economical
+    style. "I do not understand your stories of the roads dug under
+    rivers, nor of the carriages that gallop without horses; but
+    you are a strong people, and employ wonderful inventions."</p>
+
+    <p>At length the Gothic hall was complete. It may be presumed
+    that nothing like it was ever seen in Abyssinia before; for the
+    mission not merely built, but furnished it with couches,
+    ottomans, chairs, tables, and curtains; doubtless a very showy
+    affair, though we camot exactly comprehend the author's
+    expression of its being furnished after the manner of an
+    English cottage ornee. The king, however, was delighted with
+    it. "I shall turn it into a chapel," said his majesty, patting
+    his chief ecclesiastic on the back. "What say you to that plan,
+    my father?" As a last finishing touch, were suspended in the
+    centre hall a series of large coloured engravings, representing
+    the chase of the tiger in all its various phases. The
+    domestication of the elephant, and its employment in war or in
+    the pageant, had ever proved a stumbling block to the king; but
+    the appearance of the hugest of beasts in his hunting harness
+    struck the chord of a new idea. "I will have a nunber caught on
+    the Roby," he exclaimed, "that you may tame then, and that I
+    too may ride on an elephant before I die!"</p>
+
+    <p>Another of those fearful displays of barbarian plunder and
+    havoc took place at the end of September. Twenty thousand
+    warriors, headed by the king, made an inroad on the Galla.
+    Those unfortunate people were so little prepared, that they
+    seem to have been slaughtered without resistance. Between four
+    and five thousand were butchered, and forty-three thousand head
+    of cattle were driven off. A thousand captives, chiefly women
+    and children, were marched in triumph to the capital; but they
+    were soon liberated, apparently on the remonstrance of the
+    British mission.</p>
+
+    <p>But a terrible disaster was to befall the palace and the
+    people. The dweller amongst mountains must be always exposed to
+    their dilapidation; and a season of unusual rain, continuing to
+    a much later period than usual, produced an
+    earth-avalanche.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page289"
+           name="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> "As the evening of an
+           eventful night (Dec. 6th) closed in, not a single breath
+           of wind disturbed the thick fog which brooded over the
+           mountain. A sensible difference was perceptible in the
+           atmosphere; but the rain again began to descend, and for
+           hours pelted like the dischage of a waterspout. Towards
+           morning, a violent thunder storm careered along the
+           crest of the range, and every rock and cranny re-echoed
+           from the crash of the thunder. Deep darkness again
+           settled on the mountains, and a heavy rumbling noise,
+           like the passage of artillery wheels, as followed by the
+           shrill cry of despair. The earth, saturated with
+           moisture, had slidden from their steep slopes, houses
+           and cottages were engulfed in the debris, or shattered
+           to fragments by the descending masses, and daylight
+           presented a strange scene of ruin. Perched on the apex
+           of the conical peak, the palace buildings were now
+           stripped of their palisades, or overwhelmed: the roads
+           along the hill were completely obliterated. The
+           desolation had spread for miles along the great range:
+           houses, with their inmates, had been hurried away."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Before the mission took its departure, it did honour to the
+    character of its country by one act which alone would have been
+    worth its time and trouble. The horrid policy of African
+    despotism condemns all the brothers of the throne to the
+    dungeon, from the moment of the royal accession. The king had
+    exhibited qualities of a very unexpected order in an African
+    despot, and, under the guidance of the mission, had made some
+    advances to justice, and even to clemency. At this period, he
+    was suddenly seized with an alarming spasmodic disorder, and he
+    apprehended that his constitution, enfeebled by the habits of
+    his life, was likely to give way. On his recovery being
+    despaired of by both priests and physicians, he suddenly sent
+    for the British mission.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'My children,' said his majesty in a sepulchral voice,
+        as he extended his burning hand towards them, 'behold I am
+        sore stricken. Last night they believed me dead, and the
+        voice of mourning had arisen within the palace walls; but
+        God hath spared me until now.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>It seems to be the custom for the king's physician to taste
+    the draught prescribed for him, and an attenpt being made to do
+    this by the British, the sick monarch generously forbade
+    it.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'What need is there now of this?' he exclaimed
+        reproachfully. 'Do I not know that you would administer to
+        Sahela Selasse nothing that could do him mischief?'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>The reader will probably remember an almost similar act of
+    confidence of Alexander the Great in his physician. An
+    opportunity was now taken of urging him to an act of humanity,
+    however strongly opposed to the habits of the country, and to
+    the interests of the man. It was represented to him that his
+    uncles and brothers had been immured in a dungeon during the
+    thirty years of his reign, and that no act could be more
+    honourable to himself, or acceptable to Heaven, than the
+    extinction of this barbarous custom.</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'And I will release them,' returned the monarch, after
+        a moment's debate within himself. 'By the Holy Eucharist I
+        swear, and by the Church of the Holy Trinity in Koora
+        Gadel, that if Sahela Selasse arise from this bed of
+        sickness, all of whom you speak shall be restored to the
+        enjoyment of liberty.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Fortunately he did arise from that bed of sickness, and he
+    honourably determined to keep his promise. The royal captives
+    were seven, and the British mission were summoned to see their
+    introduction into the presence. They had been so exhausted by
+    long captivity, that at first they seemed scarcely to
+    comprehend freedom. They had been manacled, and spent their
+    time in the fabrication of harps and combs, of which they
+    brought specimens to lay at the feet of their monarch. This
+    touching interview concluded with a speech of the king to the
+    embassy&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"'My children, you will write all that you have seen to
+        your country, and will say to the British Queen, that,
+        though far behind the nations of the White Men, from whom
+        Ethiopia first received her religion, there yet remains a
+        spark of Christian love in the breast of the King of
+        Shoa.'"</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>We have thus given a rapid and bird's-eye view of a work,
+    which we regard as rivaling in interest and importance any
+    "book of travels" of this <span class="pagenum"><a id="page290"
+       name="page290"></a>[pg 290]</span> century. The name of
+       Abyssinia was scarcely more than a recollection, connected
+       with the adventurous ramblings of Bruce, for the romantic
+       purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. His narrative
+       had also been wholly profitless&mdash;attracting public
+       curiosity in a remarkable degree at he time, no direct
+       foundation of European intercourse was laid, and no movement
+       of European traffic followed. But giving Bruce all the
+       credit, which was so long denied him, for fidelity to fact,
+       and for the spirit of bold adventure which he exhibited in
+       penetrating a land of violence and barbarism, the mission of
+       Major Harris at once establishes its object on more
+       substantial grounds. It is not a private adventure, but a
+       public act, rendered natural by the circumstances of British
+       neighbourhood, and important for the opening of Abyssinia
+       and central Africa to the greatest civilizer which the world
+       has ever seen&mdash;the commerce of England. There are still
+       obvious difficulties of transit, between the coast and the
+       capital, by the ordinary route. But if the navigation of the
+       Gochob, or the route from Tajura, should once be secured,
+       the trade will have commenced, which in the course of a few
+       years will change the face of Abyssinia; limit, if not
+       extinguish, that disgrace of human nature&mdash;the slave
+       trade; and, if not reform, at least enlighten, the clouded
+       Christianity of the people.</p>
+
+    <p>As the author was commissioned, not merely as a discoverer,
+    but a diplomatist, it is to be presumed that on many
+    interesting points he writes under the restraints of diplomatic
+    reserve. But he has told us enough to excite our strong
+    interest in the beauty, the fertility, and the capabilities of
+    the country which he describes; and more than enough to show,
+    that it is almost a British duty to give the aid of our
+    science, our inventions, and our principles, to a monarch and a
+    people evidently prepared for rising in the scale of
+    nations.</p>
+
+    <p>We have a kind of impression, that some general improvement
+    is about to take place in the more neglected portions of the
+    world, and that England is honoured to be the chief agent in
+    the great work. Africa, which has been under a <i>ban</i> for
+    so many thousand years, may be on the eve of relief from the
+    misery, lawlessness, and impurity of barbarism; and we are
+    strongly inclined to look upon this establishment of British
+    feeling, and intercourse in Abyssinia, as the commencement of
+    that proud and fortunate change. All attempts to enter Africa
+    by the western coast have failed. The heat, the swamps, the
+    rank vegetation, and the unhealthy atmosphere, have proved
+    insurmountable barriers. The north is fenced by a line of
+    burning wilderness. But the east is open, free, fertile, and
+    beautiful. A British factory in Abyssinia would be not merely a
+    source of infinite comfort to the people, by the communication
+    of European conveniences and manufactures, but a source of
+    light. British example would teach obedience and loyalty to the
+    laws, subordination on the part of the people, and mercy on
+    that of the sovereign.</p>
+
+    <p>But we have also another object, sufficiently important to
+    determine our Government in looking to the increase of our
+    connexion with Eastern Africa. It is certainly a minor one, but
+    one which no rational Government can undervalue. The policy of
+    the present French King is directed eminently to the extension
+    of commercial influence in all countries. To this policy, none
+    can make objection. It is the duty of a monarch to develop all
+    the resources of his country; and while France exerts herself
+    only in the rivalry of peace, her advance is an advance of all
+    nations. But her extreme attention, of late years, to Africa,
+    ought to open our eyes to the necessity of exertion in that
+    boundless quarter. On the western coast, she had long fixed a
+    lazy grasp; but that grasp is now becoming vigorous, and
+    extending hour by hour. Her flag flies at Golam, 250 miles up
+    the Senegal. She has a settlement at Gori; she has lately
+    established a settlement at the mouth of the Assinee, another
+    at the mouth of the Gaboon, and is on the point of establishing
+    another in the Bight of Benin; when she will command all
+    Western Africa.</p>
+
+    <p>She is not less active on the eastern shore. At Massawah, on
+    the coast of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page291"
+       name="page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> Abyssinia, she is fast
+       monopolizing the trade in gold and spices. She has purchased
+       Edh, and is endeavouring to purchase Brava. Her attention to
+       <i>Northern</i> Abyssinia is matter of notoriety, and we
+       must regard this system, not so much with regard to
+       advantages which such possessions might give to ourselves,
+       as to their prejudice to us in falling into rival hands. The
+       possession of Algeria should direct the eye of Europe to the
+       ulterior objects of France; the first change of masters in
+       Egypt, must be looked to with national anxiety; and the
+       transmission of the great routes of Africa into her hands,
+       must be guarded against with a vigilance worthy of the
+       interests of England and Europe.</p>
+
+    <p>If the river shall be found navigable to any extent, what an
+    opening is thus presented to both the Merchant and the
+    philanthropist; a soil surpassed by none in the world, a
+    climate varying only 1&ordm; in the mean temperature of summer
+    and winter, and presenting an average of 55-1/2&ordm;, and a
+    population who could hardly fail to feel the advantages of
+    commerce and civilization. From such a point as Aden offers,
+    access is promised to the very heart of Africa, and thence to
+    the sources of the mighty rivers which find an outlet on the
+    western side of the continent; thus not merely benefiting the
+    British merchant in a remarkable degree, but rapidly abolishing
+    the slave trade, by giving employment to the people, wealth to
+    the native trader, and a new direction to the powers of the
+    country and the mind of its unhappy population.</p>
+
+    <p>On the whole consideration of the subject, we feel
+    convinced, that Eastern Africa is the safe and the natural
+    point for British enterprise; that it is the most direct and
+    effective point for the extinction of the cruel traffic in
+    human flesh; and that it is the most promising and productive
+    point for the establishment of that substantial connexion with
+    the governments of the interior, which alone can be regarded as
+    worth the attention of the statesman.</p>
+
+    <p>Insignificant stations on the coast, to carry on a peddling
+    traffic, are beneath a manly and comprehensive policy. We must
+    penetrate the mountains, ascend the rivers, and reach the seats
+    of sovereignty. We must, by a large and generous self-interest,
+    combine the good, the knowledge, and the virtue of the
+    population with our own; and we must lay the foundation of our
+    permanent influence over this fourth of the globe, by showing
+    that we are the fittest to communicate the benefits, and
+    establish the example of civilized society.</p>
+
+    <p>To those who desire to go into more minute details, we
+    recommend an accompanying volume by the missionaries Isenberg
+    and Krapf&mdash;the latter of whom acted as interpreter to the
+    embassy. A capital geographical memoir is also given by Mr
+    M'Queen, the well-known African geographer.</p>
+
+    <p>On the whole, it is highly gratifying to our respect for
+    British soldiership; to see works of this rank proceeding from
+    our military men. They have great opportunities, and may thus
+    render national services in peace, not less important than
+    their enterprise in war. The East India Company offers
+    inducements of the most important order, to the accomplishment
+    and scientific activity of its officers; and Major Harris must
+    feel the distinction of having been selected for a mission of
+    such interest, as well as the high gratification of having
+    conducted it to so benevolent, solid, and satisfactory a
+    close.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page292"
+       name="page292"></a>[pg 292]</span> <a name="bw341s2"
+          id="bw341s2"></a>
+
+    <h2>A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES.</h2>
+
+    <h3>BY LORGNON.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i6">"Vai, ch'avete gl'intelletti sani,</p>
+
+            <p>Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde,</p>
+
+            <p>Sotto queste coperte, alte e
+            profonde!"&mdash;BERNI.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>In the course of social transition, professions, like dogs,
+    have their day. A calling honourable in one century, becomes
+    infamous in the next; and vocations grow obsolete, like the
+    fashioning of our garments or figures of speech. In barbarous
+    communities, the strong man is king:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Le premier roi fut un soldat heureux."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Where human statute is beginning to prize the general weal,
+    the legist is of high account, and the priest paramount. Higher
+    civilization engenders the influence of the man of letters, the
+    artist, the dramatist, the wit, the poet, and the orator. Or
+    when, with a wisdom surpassing the philosophy of the schools,
+    we tumble down to prose, and assume the leathern apron of the
+    utilitarian&mdash;the civil engineer, or operative chemist,
+    starts up into a colossus. Sir Humphrey Davy, and Sir Isambert
+    Brunel, are the true knights of modern chivalry; and Sir
+    Walter&mdash;our Sir Walter&mdash;never showed himself more
+    shrewd than in his exclamation to Moore&mdash;"Ah,
+    Tam!&mdash;it's lucky, man, we cam' sae soon!" Great as was his
+    influence, equaling that of the other two great Sir Walters,
+    Manny and Raleigh, in their several epochs of valour and
+    enterprise, it is likely enough, that, if born a century later,
+    the MSS. of the Scotch novels would have been chiefly valuable
+    to light the furnace of some factory!</p>
+
+    <p>So much in exposition of the fact, that, so long as the
+    world possessed only three of what we choose to call quarters,
+    an executioner was an officer of state; and that, now it
+    possesses five, the female of highest renown, and greatest
+    power of self-enrichment, is the <i>danseuse</i>, or
+    opera-dancer!</p>
+
+    <p>Many intermediary callings have disappeared. The domestic
+    chaplain of a lordly household is now nearly as superfluous as
+    its archers or falconers; and the court calendars of former
+    reigns record a variety of places and perquisites, which, did
+    they still exist, would be unpalatable to modern courtiers,
+    though compelled to earn their daily cakes, however dirty. Just
+    as the last golden pippin of the house of Crenie was preserved
+    in wax for the edification of posterity, a watchman has been
+    deposited, with his staff and lantern, in the Royal Arsenal at
+    Woolwich, or the Museum of the Zoological, or United Service
+    Club, or some other of your grand national collections, as a
+    specimen of the extinct Dogberry or Charley of the eighteenth
+    century; and in process of time, as much and more also will
+    probably be done to a parish beadle, a theatrical manager, a
+    lord chamberlain&mdash;and other public functionaries whom it
+    might not be altogether safe to enumerate.</p>
+
+    <p>Among them, however, there is really some satisfaction in
+    hinting at the hangman!&mdash;For, hear it, ye sanguinary
+    <i>manes</i> of our ancestors:&mdash;"<i>Les bourreaux s'en
+    vont!</i>" Executioners are departing! We shall shortly have to
+    commemorate in our obituaries, and signalize by the hands of
+    our novelists&mdash;"the last of the Jack Ketches." In these
+    days of ultra-philanthropy, the hangman scarcely finds salt to
+    his porridge, or porridge to salt.</p>
+
+    <p><i>Exempli gratia</i>. In the course of last year, a patient
+    of the lower class was admitted into the lunatic ward of the
+    public hospital at Marseilles, whose malady seemed the result
+    of religious depression. In that supposition, the usual means
+    of relief were resorted to, and he was at length discharged as
+    convalescent; when, to attest the perfectness of his cure, he
+    went and hanged himself! A <i>proc&egrave;s verbal</i> was, as
+    usual, made out, and the supposed fanatic proved to be the
+    ex-executioner of Lyons! Tender-hearted people instantly
+    ascribed his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293"
+       name="page293"></a>[pg 293]</span> melancholy to qualms of
+       conscience. But it appeared in evidence, that, since the
+       accession of the citizen king, the trade of the hangman had
+       become a dead failure; and the disconsolate bankrupt was
+       accordingly forced to take French leave of a world wherein
+       <i>bourreaux</i> can no longer turn an honest penny!</p>
+
+    <p>Yet, less than three centuries ago, his predecessors were
+    men of mark and consideration. Our own King Hal took more heed
+    of his executioner than of half the counties over whose necks
+    his axe was suspended; while Louis XI., a <i>legitimate</i>
+    sovereign of France, used to dip in the dish with Tristan
+    Hermite and Olivier le Dain. A few reigns later, and the
+    hangman of the French metropolis (who shares with its diocesan
+    the honour of being styled "Monsieur de Paris") was respected
+    as the most accomplished in Europe. The treasons of its civil
+    wars had created so many executions, that a Gascon, wishing to
+    prove that his father had been beheaded as a nobleman, instead
+    of hanged like a dog or a citizen, asserted the decollation to
+    have been so expertly executed <i>en Gr&egrave;ve</i>, that the
+    sufferer was unconscious of his end. "Shake yourself,"
+    exclaimed the executioner; and, on his lordship's making the
+    attempt, his head rolled into the dust.</p>
+
+    <p>This adroitness was the result of competition. In that day
+    there were degrees of hangmen, and promotion might be
+    accomplished. Not only had the king his executioner, and the
+    Lorraines theirs&mdash;the court and the city&mdash;the abbot
+    of St Germain des Pr&egrave;s&mdash;the abbot of this, and the
+    abbot of that&mdash;but various communities and Signories,
+    having right of life and death over their vassals, kept an
+    executioner for purposes of domestic torture, as they kept a
+    seneschal to carve their meats; or as people now keep a
+    <i>chef</i> or a <i>ma&icirc;tre d'h&ocirc;tel</i>. In those
+    excellent olden times of Europe, hangmen, doubtless, carried
+    about written characters from lord to lord, certifying their
+    experience with rope and axe&mdash;branding-iron and thong. So
+    long as the Inquisition afforded constant work for able hands,
+    a good hangman out of place must have been a treasure! Had
+    there been register-offices or newspaper advertisements, there
+    probably would have appeared&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"WANTS A SITUATION&mdash;An able-bodied, middle-aged man,
+    without encumbrance, who can have an undeniable character from
+    his last situation, as headsman, hangman, and general
+    executioner. He is accustomed to the use of thumbikins and the
+    most approved and fashionable modes of torture; and officiated
+    for many years as superintendent of the wheel of a foreign
+    prince, renowned for the neatness of his rack. Drawing and
+    quartering in all their branches. Pressing to death performed
+    in the most economical style. Impalement in the Turkish manner;
+    and the pile, as practised by the best Smithfield hands,
+    &amp;c. &amp;c. &amp;c."</p>
+
+    <p>Independent, indeed, of the high prosperity and vast
+    perquisites of such posts as executioner of the Tower of London
+    or the Gr&egrave;ve of Paris, there was honour and satisfaction
+    in the office. A royal master knew when he was well served.
+    Henry III. stood by, in his chateau of Blois, to see, not only
+    the heads severed from the dead bodies of the Duke and Cardinal
+    de Guise, but their <i>flesh cut into small pieces</i>,
+    preparatory to being burned, and the ashes scattered to the
+    winds. "His majesty," says an eyewitness, "stood in a pool of
+    blood to witness the hacking of the bodies."</p>
+
+    <p>This Italian <i>gusto</i> for the smell of blood, appears to
+    have been introduced into the palaces of France from those of
+    Italy by alliance with the Medici&mdash;those ennobled
+    pawnbrokers of the middle ages, whose <i>parvenu</i> taste
+    engendered the fantastic gilding of the <i>renaissance</i>,
+    which they naturalized in the Tuileries and at Fontainbleau, in
+    common with the stiletto and acqua tofana of their poisoners,
+    and the fatalism of their judicial astrology.</p>
+
+    <p>But enough of Catharine de Medicis and her sanguinary
+    son&mdash;enough of Henry Tudor and his savage
+    daughters&mdash;enough of the monstrous professions flourishing
+    in their age of monstrosities. And turn we for relief to the
+    exquisite vocation completing the antithesis&mdash;the vocation
+    whose execution is that of <i>pas de z&eacute;phyrs</i>, and
+    the tortures of whose <span class="pagenum"><a id="page294"
+       name="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span> infliction are the
+       tortures of the tender heart!</p>
+
+    <p>The calling of the <i>danseuse</i>, we repeat, is among the
+    most lucrative of modern times, and nearly the most
+    influential. The names of Taglioni and Elssler are as European,
+    nay, as universal, as those of Wellington and
+    Talleyrand-Metternich or Thiers; and modern statesmanship and
+    modern diplomacy show pale beside the Machiavelism of the
+    <i>coulisses</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>With what pomp of phraseology are the triumphs and movements
+    of these <i>danseuses</i> announced, by the self-same journal
+    which despatches, with a stroke of the pen, the submission of a
+    province or revolution of a kingdom! One poor halfpenny-worth,
+    or half a line, suffices for the death of a sultana; while
+    fiery columns precede the departure and arrival of the steamer
+    honoured by conveying across the Atlantic some ethereal being,
+    whose light fantastic toe is to give the law to the United
+    States. Her appearance in the Ecclesiastic States, on the other
+    hand, is announced in Roman capitals; and her triumphal entry
+    into St Petersburg received with regiments of notes of
+    admiration!!!</p>
+
+    <p>Were Taglioni, by the malediction of Providence, to break
+    her leg, what corner of the civilized earth but would
+    sympathize in the casualty? Or were Elssler epidemically
+    carried off, on the same day with the Pope, the Archbishop of
+    Dublin, a chancellor of an university, an historiographer, or
+    astronomer-royal&mdash;<i>which</i> would be most cared for by
+    society at large, or to which would the public journals
+    distribute the larger share of their dolefuls?</p>
+
+    <p>Nor is it alone the levities of Europe which have
+    encompassed with a gaseous atmosphere of enthusiasm these idols
+    of the day. We appeal to our sober, plodding, painstaking
+    brother Jonathan. We move for returns of the sums he has
+    expended on his beloved Fanny, and for notes of the honours
+    conferred upon her, not only on the boards of his theatres and
+    in the publicity of his causeways, but amid the august
+    nationalities of his senate! "Fanny Elssler in Congress" has
+    become as historical as the name of Washington! As if for the
+    purpose of proving that extremes meet, the democrats of the New
+    World were demonstrating the wildest infatuation in favour of
+    one dancer, while the great autocrat of the Old was exhibiting
+    a similar fervour in honour of another. La Gitana became all
+    but presidentess of the Transatlantic republic; La
+    Bayad&egrave;re depolarized the tyrant of the Poles! But, above
+    all, the Empress of Russia&mdash;albeit, the lightest of
+    sovereigns and coldest of women&mdash;was carried so far by her
+    enthusiasm as to fasten a bracelet of gems on the fair arm of
+    Taglioni; while the Queen-Dowager of England conferred a
+    similar honour on the Neapolitan dancer Cerito!</p>
+
+    <p>Now, what queen or princess, we should like to know, has
+    lavished necklace, or bracelet, or one poor pitiful brooch, on
+    Miss Edgeworth or Miss Aitkin, Mrs Somerville or Joanna
+    Baillie, or any other of the female illustrations of the age,
+    saving these aerial machines which have achieved such enviable
+    supremacy? Mrs Marcet, who has taught the young idea of our
+    three kingdoms how to shoot; Miss Martineau, who has engrafted
+    new ones on our oldest crab-stocks, might travel from Dan to
+    Beersheba without having a fatted calf or a fatted capon killed
+    for them, at the public expense. But let Taglioni take the
+    road, and what clapping of hands&mdash;what
+    gratulation&mdash;what curiosity&mdash;what expansion of
+    delight!</p>
+
+    <p>The only wonder of all this is, that we should wonder about
+    the matter. Dancing constitutes that desideratum of the learned
+    of all ages&mdash;an universal language. Music, which many
+    esteem much, is nearly as nationalized in its rhythm as dialect
+    in its words; whereas the organs of sight are cosmopolitan. The
+    eye of man and the foot of the dancer include between them all
+    nations and languages. The poetry of motion is interpreted by
+    the lexicon of instinct; and the unimpregnable grace of a
+    Taglioni becomes omnipotent and catholic as that of</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The statue that enchants the world!"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>Who can doubt that the names of these sorceresses of our
+    time will reach posterity, as those of the Aspasias and Lauras
+    of antiquity have reached our own&mdash;as having held
+    philosophers by the beard, and trampled on the necks
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page295"
+       name="page295"></a>[pg 295]</span> of the conquerors of
+       mankind&mdash;as being those for whom Solon legislated, and
+       to whom Pericles succumbed?</p>
+
+    <p>Pausanius tells us of the stately tomb of the frail
+    Pythonice in the Vica Sacra; and we know that Phryne offered to
+    rebuild the walls of Thebes, by Alexander overthrown. And
+    surely, if modern guide-books instruct us to weep in the
+    cemetery of P&egrave;re la Chaise over the grave of Fanny Bias,
+    history will say a word or two in honour of Cerito, who
+    proposed through the newspapers, last season, an alliance
+    offensive and defensive with no less a man than Peter
+    Borthwick, Esq. M.P., (<i>Arcades ambo</i>!) to relieve the
+    distress of the manufacturing classes of Great Britain! It is
+    true such heroines can afford to be generous; for what lord
+    chancellor or archbishop of modern times commands a revenue
+    half as considerable?</p>
+
+    <p>Why, therefore&mdash;O Public! why, we beseech thee, seeing
+    that the influence of the operative class is fairly understood,
+    and undeniably established among us&mdash;why not at once
+    elevate choriography to the rank of one of the fine
+    arts?&mdash;Why not concentrate, define, and qualify the
+    calling, by a public academy?&mdash;since all hearts and eyes
+    are amenable to the charm of exquisite dancing, why vex
+    ourselves by the sight of what is bad, when better may be
+    achieved? Be wise, O Pubic, and consider! Establish a
+    professor's chair for the improvement of pirouetters. We have
+    hundreds of professor's chairs, quite as unavailable to the
+    advancement of the interests of humanity, and wholly
+    unavailable to its pleasures. Neither painters nor musicians
+    acquire as much popularity as dancers, or amass an equal
+    fortune. Why should they be more highly protected by the
+    state?</p>
+
+    <p>To disdain this exquisite art, is a proof of barbarism. The
+    nations of the East may cause their dances to be performed by
+    slaves; but two of the greatest kings of ancient and modern
+    times, the kings after God's own heart and man's own
+    heart&mdash;David and Louis le Grand&mdash;were excellent
+    dancers, the one before the ark, the other before his
+    subjects.</p>
+
+    <p>Never, perhaps, did the art of dancing attain such eminent
+    honours in the eyes of mankind, as during the <i>si&egrave;cle
+    dor&eacute;</i> of the latter monarch. At an epoch boasting of
+    Moli&egrave;re and Racine, Bossuet and F&eacute;n&eacute;lon,
+    Boileau and La Fontaine, Colbert and Perrault, (the fairy
+    talisman of politics and architecture,) the court of Versailles
+    could imagine no manifestation of regality more august, or more
+    exquisite, than that of getting up a royal ballet; and the
+    father of his people, Louis XIV., was, in his youth, its
+    <i>coulon</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>How amusing are the descriptions of these <i>entr&eacute;es
+    de ballet</i>, circumstantially bequeathed us by the memoirs of
+    the regency of Anne of Austria! The cardinal himself took part
+    in them; but the chief performers were the young King, his
+    brother Gaston d'Orleans, and the maids of honour, figuring as
+    Apollo and the Muses, or Hamadryads adoring some sylvan
+    divinity. Who has not sympathized in the joy of Madame de
+    Sevign&eacute;, at seeing her fair daughter exhibit among the
+    <i>coryph&eacute;es</i>! Who has not felt interested in the
+    <i>jet&eacute;es</i> and <i>pas de bourr&eacute;es</i> of the
+    <i>ancien r&eacute;gime</i>, when accomplished at court by
+    Cond&eacute;s, Contis, Montpensiers, Montmorencys, Rohans,
+    Guises! The Marquis de Dangeau first recommended himself to the
+    favour of the royal master whose courts he was destined to
+    journalize for posterity, by the skill of his <i>pas de
+    basques</i>; and long before the all but conjugal influence of
+    the lovely La Valli&egrave;re commenced over the heart of the
+    <i>grand monarque</i>, his early love, and more especially his
+    passion for the beautiful niece of the Cardinal, may be traced
+    to the rehearsals and <i>rondes de jambes</i> of Maitz and
+    Fontainbleau.</p>
+
+    <p>The reign of Madame de Maintenon (<i>la raison
+    m&ecirc;me</i>) over his affections, declared itself by the
+    sudden transfer of a ballet-opera, expressly composed by Rameau
+    and Quinault for the beauties of the court, to the public
+    theatre of the Palais Royal. No more noble figurantes at
+    Versailles! Louis le Pirouettiste's occupation was gone; and
+    the <i>ma&icirc;tre des ballets du roi</i> arrayed himself in
+    sackcloth and ashes. But, lo! the glories of his throne took
+    wing with the loves and graces; ballets and victories being
+    effaced on the same page from the annals of his reign.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page296"
+       name="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> During the minority of
+       Louis XV., the same royal dansomania was renewed. The
+       regent, Duke of Orleans, entertained the same notions of
+       kingly education, on this head, as his predecessor the
+       cardinal; and Louis <i>le Bien-aim&eacute;</i>, like his
+       great-grandfather before him, was the best dancer of his
+       realm. Such dancing as it was! such exquisite footing! In
+       the upper story of the grand gallery at Versailles, hang
+       several pictures representing these court ballets; Cupids in
+       coatees of pink lustring, with silver lace and tinsel wings,
+       wearing full-bottomed wigs and the riband of the St Esprit;
+       or Venuses in hoops and powder, whose <i>minauderies</i>
+       might afford a lesson to the divinities of our own day for
+       the benefit of the omnibus box.</p>
+
+    <p>Some of these groups, by Mignard, Boucher, and their
+    imitators, are charming studies as <i>tableaux de genre</i>.
+    But in nothing, by the way, are they more remarkable than in
+    their <i>decency</i>. The nudities of the present times appear
+    to have been undreamed of in the philosophy of Versailles. That
+    simple-hearted, though strong-minded American writer, Miss
+    Sedgwick, who has published an account of her consternation as
+    she sat with Mrs Jameson in the stalls of our Italian opera,
+    might have witnessed the royal performance unabashed. On being
+    told, as she gazed upon the intrepid self-exposure of Taglioni,
+    "<i>qu'il fallait &ecirc;tre sage pour danser comme
+    &ccedil;a</i>," Miss S. observes, that it requires to be more
+    or less than woman, and proposes to divide the human species
+    into men, women, and OPERA-DANCERS, little suspecting that half
+    her readers translate such a classification into "men, women,
+    and ANGELS;" or that they would see herself and her sister
+    moralist go down in the <i>President</i> without a pang,
+    provided Elssler and Taglioni were saved from the deep!</p>
+
+    <p>Natural enough! we repeat it&mdash;natural enough! To create
+    a good dancer, requires the rarest combination of physical and
+    mental endowments. Graceful as the forms transmitted to us by
+    the pottery of Etruria and the frescoes of Herculaneum, she
+    must unite with the strength of an athlete, the genius of a
+    first-rate actress. That even moderate dancing demands
+    immoderate abilities, is attested by the exhibition of human
+    ungainliness disfiguring all the court balls of Europe. There
+    may be seen the representatives of the highest nobility,
+    tutored by the highest education, shuffling over the polished
+    floor with stiffened arms and bewildered legs&mdash;often out
+    of time&mdash;always out of place&mdash;as if acting under the
+    influence of a galvanic battery. Not one in ten of them rises
+    even to mediocrity as a dancer. A few degrees lower in the
+    social scale, and it would be not one in twenty. Amid the
+    shoving, shouldering, shuffling mob of dancers in an ordinary
+    ball-room, the absence of all grace amounts even to the
+    ludicrous. Forty years long have people been dancing the
+    quadrilles now in vogue, which consist of six favourite
+    country-dances, fashionable in Paris at the close of the last
+    century, and then singly known by the names they still
+    retain&mdash;"La Poule, L'Et&eacute;, Le Pantalon, Le Trenis,"
+    &amp;c. &amp;c. To avoid the monotony of dancing each in
+    succession, for hours at a time, down a file of forty couple,
+    it was arranged that every eight couple should form a square,
+    and perform the favourite dances, in succession, with the same
+    partner&mdash;a considerable relief to the monotony of the
+    ball-room. Yet, after all this experience, if poor Monsieur le
+    Trenis (after whom one of the figures was named, and who,
+    during the consulate, died dancing-mad in a public lunatic
+    asylum) could rise, sane, from the dead, it would be enough to
+    drive him mad again to see how little had been acquired, in the
+    way of practice, since his decease. The processes and varieties
+    of the ball-room are just where he left then on his exit!</p>
+
+    <p>Previous to the introduction of quadrilles and country
+    dances or <i>contredanses</i>, the inaptitude of nine-tenths of
+    mankind for dancing was still more eminently demonstrated in
+    the murders of the minuet. For (as Morall, the dancing-master
+    of Marie Antoinette, used passionately to exclaim)&mdash;<i>que
+    de choses dans un minuet</i>! What worlds of modest
+    dignity&mdash;of alternate amenity and scorn! The minuet has
+    all the tender coquetry of the bolero, divested of its
+    licentious fervour. With the <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page297"
+       name="page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> minuet and the hoop,
+       indeed, disappeared that powerful circumvallation of female
+       virtue, rendering superfluous the annual publication of a
+       dozen codes of ethics, addressed to the "wives of England"
+       and their daughters. All was comprehended in the <i>pas
+       grave</i>. That noble and right Aulic dance was expressly
+       invented in deference to the precariousness of powdered
+       heads; and its calm sobrieties, once banished from the
+       ball-room, revolutionary <i>boulang&egrave;res</i>
+       succeeded&mdash;and chaos was come again! The stately
+       <i>pavon</i> had possession of the English court, with ruffs
+       and farthingales, in the reign of Elizabeth. With the
+       Stuarts came the wild courante or corante&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Hair loosely flowing, robes as free"&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>and if the House of Hanover, and minuets, reformed for a
+    time the irregularities of St James's&mdash;what are we to
+    expect now that waltzes, galops, and the eccentricities of the
+    cotillon have possession of the social stage? WHAT NEXT? as the
+    pamphlets say&mdash;"What will the lords do?"&mdash;what the
+    ladies?</p>
+
+    <p>Thus much in proof, that the boss of pirouettiveness is
+    strangely wanting in human conformation, and that there is
+    consequently all the excuse of ignorance for the wild
+    enthusiasm lavished by London on the operative class. Ten
+    guineas per night&mdash;five hundred for the season&mdash;is
+    the price exacted for a first-rate opera-box; and as the
+    exclusives usually arrive at the close of the opera, or, if
+    earlier, keep up a perpetual babble during its performance,
+    they clearly come for the dancing.&mdash;"<i>On voit
+    l'op&eacute;ra, et l'on &eacute;coute le ballet</i>," used to
+    be said of the Acad&eacute;mie de Musique. But it might be
+    asserted now, with fully as much truth, of the Queen's Theatre,
+    where the evolutions of Carlotta Grisi, Elssler, and Cerito,
+    keep the audience in a state of breathless attention denied to
+    Shakspeare.</p>
+
+    <p>In two out of these instances, it may be advanced that they
+    are consummate actresses as well as graceful and active
+    dancers. Elssler's comedy is almost as piquant as that of
+    Mademoiselle Mars. Nor is the ballet unsusceptible of a still
+    higher order of histrionic display. We never remember to have
+    seen a stronger <i>lev&eacute;e en masse</i> of cambric
+    handkerchiefs in honour of O'Neill's <i>Mrs Haller</i>, or
+    Siddons's <i>Isabella</i>, than of the ballet of "Nina;" while
+    the affecting death-dance in "Masaniello" is still fresh in the
+    memory of the admirers of Pauline Leroux. We have heard of
+    swoons and hysterics along the more impressionable audiences of
+    La Scala, during the performance of the ballet of "La Vestale;"
+    and have witnessed with admiration the striking effect of the
+    fascinative scene in "Faust."</p>
+
+    <p>Of late years, the union of Italian blood and a French
+    education has been found indispensable to create a
+    <i>danseuse</i>&mdash;"Sangue Napolitano in scuola
+    Parigiana;"&mdash;and Vesuvius is the Olympus of all our recent
+    divinities. Formerly, a Spanish origin was the most successful.
+    The first dancer who possessed herself of European notoriety
+    was La Camargo, whose portraits, at the close of a century, are
+    still popular in France, where she has been made the heroine of
+    several recent dramas. To her reign, succeeded that of the
+    Gruinards and Duth&eacute;s&mdash;in honour of whose bright
+    eyes, a variety of noblemen saw the inside both of Fort St
+    Ev&ecirc;que and St Pelagie; the opera being at that time a
+    fertile source of <i>lettres de cachet</i>. To obtain
+    admittance to the private theatricals of the former dancer, in
+    her magnificent hotel in the Chauss&eacute;e d'Antin, the
+    ladies of fashion and of the court had recourse to the meanest
+    artifices; while the latter has obtained historical renown, by
+    having excited the jealousy, or rather envy, of Marie
+    Antoinette. Mademoiselle Duth&eacute; appeared at the
+    f&ecirc;tes of Longchamps, in the Bois de Boulogne, in a
+    gorgeous chariot drawn by six milk-white steeds, with red
+    morocco harness, richly ornamented with cut steel; and thus
+    accomplished the object of incurring the resentment of the
+    court, from the prodigality of one of whose married princes
+    these splendours were supposed to emanate&mdash;splendours
+    exceeding those of the Rhodopes of old.</p>
+
+    <p>But the greatest triumph ever achieved by <i>danseuse</i>,
+    was that of Bigottini! The Allied sovereigns, after vanquishing
+    the victor of modern Europe, were by <i>her</i> vanquished in
+    their turn. At <span class="pagenum"><a id="page298"
+       name="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span> her feet, fresh trembling
+       from an <i>entre-chat</i>, did</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Fiery French and furious Hun"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>lay down their arms! The Allied armies appeared to have
+    entered Paris only to become the slaves of Bigottini!</p>
+
+    <p>In our own country, devotees of the <i>danseuse</i> have
+    done more, by promoting her to the decencies of the domestic
+    fireside. In our own country, also, even Punch was once
+    purchased by an eccentric nobleman for the diversion of his
+    private life. But as Demosthenes observed of the cost of such a
+    pleasure, "that is buying repentance too dear!"</p>
+
+    <p>We are perhaps offending the gravity of certain of our
+    readers by the extent of this notice; albeit, we have striven
+    to propitiate their prejudices by the peculiar combination and
+    juxtaposition of professions, selected for consideration. But
+    we are not acting unadvisedly. Close its eyes as it may, the
+    public cannot but perceive, that the legitimate drama is
+    banished by want of encouragement from the national theatres,
+    and that the ballet is brandishing her cap and bells
+    triumphantly in its room.</p>
+
+    <p>Such changes are never the result of accident. The supply is
+    created by the demand. It is because we prefer the Sylphide to
+    Juliet, that the Sylphide figures before us. Shakspeare was
+    played to empty benches; the Peri and Gisele fill the
+    houses.</p>
+
+    <p>We repeat, therefore, since such is the bent of public
+    appetite, let it be gratified in the least objectionable way.
+    Let us have a royal academy of dancing. We shall easily find
+    some Earl of Westmoreland to compose its ballets, and lady
+    patronesses to give an annual ball for the benefit of the
+    institution. Do not let some eighty thousand a-year be lost to
+    the country. An idol is as easily carved out of one block of
+    wood as another. Let us make unto ourselves goddesses out of
+    the haberdashers' shops of Oxford Street; and qualify the
+    youthful caprices of Whitechapel to command the homage of
+    Congress, and of the great autocrat of all the Russias.
+    Properly instructed, little Sukey Smith may still obtain an
+    enameled brooch or bracelet from her Majesty the Queen-Dowager!
+    Let us "people this whole isle with sylphs!" Let Drury-Lane and
+    Covent-Garden flourish; but&mdash;thanks to Great Britain
+    pirouettes!&mdash;the art of giving ten guineas for a couple of
+    hours spent in an opera-box, will then become less criminal;
+    and we shall have no fear of the influence of some Herodias's
+    daughter in our domestic life, when we see the Cracovienne
+    announced in the bills "by Miss Mary Thomson." The charm will
+    be destroyed. The unfrequented <i>coulisses</i>, like Dodona,
+    will cease to give forth oracles.</p>
+
+    <p>Under the influence of an "establishment," we shall have to
+    record of opera-dancers as of other professions, that "the
+    goddesses are departing!" The <i>danse &agrave; roulades</i> of
+    Fanny Elssler will be voted vulgar, when attempted by a
+    Buggins. Let Mr Bunn look to himself. He may yet survive his
+    immortality. We foresee a day in which he will be no longer
+    styled Alfred the Great. With the aid of George Robins, and
+    other illustrious persons interested in the destinies of
+    theatrical property, we do not despond of hearing attached to
+    "a bill for the legalization of the Royal and National Academy
+    of Dancing of the United Kingdom," the satisfactory decree of
+    "LA REINE LE VEUT!"</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page299"
+       name="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> <a name="bw341s3"
+          id="bw341s3"></a>
+
+    <h2>THE PIRATES OF SEGNA.</h2>
+
+    <h3>A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. IN TWO PARTS.</h3>
+
+    <h3>PART I.</h3>
+
+    <h4>CHAPTER I.&mdash;THE STUDIO.</h4>
+
+    <p>It was on a bright afternoon in spring, and very near the
+    close of the sixteenth century, that a handsome youth, of
+    slender form and patrician aspect, was seated and drawing
+    before an easel in the studio of the aged cavaliere Giovanni
+    Contarini&mdash;the last able and distinguished painter of the
+    long-declining school of Titian. The studio was a spacious and
+    lofty saloon, commanding a cheerful view over the grand canal.
+    Full curtains of crimson damask partially shrouded the lofty
+    windows, intercepting the superabundant light, and diffusing
+    tints resembling the ruddy, soft, and melancholy hues of
+    autumnal foliage; while these hues were further deepened by a
+    richly carved ceiling of ebony, which, not reflecting but
+    absorbing light, allayed the sunny radiance beneath, and
+    imparted a sombre yet brilliant effect to the pictured walls,
+    and glossy draperies, of the spacious apartment. Above the rich
+    and lofty mantelpiece hung one of the last portraits of himself
+    painted by the venerable Titian, and on the dark pannels around
+    were suspended portraits of great men and lovely women by the
+    gifted hands of Giorgione, Paul Veronese, Paris Bordone, and
+    Tintoretto. Regardless, however, of all around him, and almost
+    breathless with eagerness and impatience, the student pursued
+    his object, and with rapid and vigorous strokes had half
+    completed his sketch&mdash;totally unconcious the while that
+    some one had opened the folding-doors, crossed the saloon, and
+    now stood behind his chair.</p>
+
+    <p>"But tell me, Antonello mio!" exclaimed old Contarini, after
+    gazing awhile in mute astonishment at the sketch before him;
+    "tell me, in the name of wonder, what kind of face do you mean
+    to draw around that lean and withered nose and that horribly
+    wrinkled mouth?"</p>
+
+    <p>Antonio, however, was so unconcious of the "world without,"
+    that he started not at this sudden interruption of the previous
+    stillness. Regardless, too, of the serious and indeed reproving
+    tone of the old man's voice, he hastily replied without
+    averting his gaze from the canvass. "Hush, maestro! I beseech
+    you. Question me not, for Heaven's sake! I cannot spare a word
+    in reply. The original," continued he, after a brief interval
+    of close attention to his object, and drawing as he spoke; "the
+    original is still firmly fixed in my memory. I see its sharp
+    outlines clear within me, and, as you well know and oft have
+    told me, a feature lost is lost for ever. Alas! alas! those
+    lines and angles around the mouth are already fading into
+    shadow."</p>
+
+    <p>After he had thrown out these words, from time to time, like
+    interjections, and with Venetian rapidity of utterance, nothing
+    was audible in the saloon for some minutes but the young
+    artist's sharp and rapid strokes upon the canvass.</p>
+
+    <p>"No more of this, Antonio!" at length exclaimed the old
+    painter with energy, after gazing for some time at the gradual
+    appearance of an old woman's lean and winkled features, dried
+    up and yellow as if one of the dead, and yet lighted up by a
+    pair of dark deep-set eyes, which seemed to blaze with
+    supernatural life and lustre. At each touch of the artist, this
+    mummy-like and unearthly visage was brought out into sharper
+    and more disgusting relief, when Contarini, no longer able to
+    control his indignation, dashed the charcoal from his pupil's
+    hand. "Apage, Satanas!" he shouted, "thy talent hath a devil in
+    it. I see his very hoof-print in that horrible design."</p>
+
+    <p>Startled by this unexpected violence, the young artist
+    turned round, and beheld with amazement the usually benign
+    featutes of his venerable <span class="pagenum"><a id="page300"
+       name="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> teacher flashing upon him
+       with irrepressible anger, which was the more impressive
+       because the Cavaliere had just returned from a visit to the
+       Doge, and was richly attired in the imposing patrician
+       costume of the period. Around his neck was the golden chain
+       hung there by the imperial hands of Rodolph the Second, and
+       he wore the richly enameled barret, and lofty heron's plume,
+       which the same picture-loving emperor had placed upon his
+       head when he knighted him as a reward for the noble pictures
+       he had painted in Germany. There was a true and fine air of
+       nobility in his lofty form and well-marked features&mdash;a
+       character of matured thought and intellectual power in the
+       expansive brow, and in the firm gaze of his large dark eyes,
+       as yet undimmed by age&mdash;with evidence of decision and
+       self-respect, and habitual composure in the finely formed
+       mouth and chin. Thus splendidly arrayed, and thus dignified
+       in form, features, and expression, this distinguished man
+       recalled so powerfully to the memory of his imaginative
+       pupil the high-minded doges of the heroic period of Venice,
+       and the imposing portraits of Titian's senators, that, with
+       a deep sense of his own moral inferiority, he obeyed in
+       silence, and with starting tears removed the offending
+       sketch. Then placing before him a small picture of a weeping
+       and lovely Magdalen by Contarini, which he had undertaken to
+       copy, he began the sketch, patiently awaiting a voluntary
+       explanation of this unwonted vehemence in his beloved
+       teacher, who, seated in his armchair, leaned his head upon
+       his hand and seemed lost in thought.</p>
+
+    <p>And now again for some time was the deep stillness of the
+    studio interrupted only by the strokes of Antonio's charcoal,
+    which, unlike his rapid and feverish efforts when sketching the
+    old woman, were now subdued and tranquil. As he gazed into the
+    upraised and pleading eyes of the beautiful Magdalen, his
+    excitement gradually yielded to the pacifying influence of her
+    mute and eloquent sorrow. This salutary change escaped not the
+    observation of Contarini, whose benevolent features softened as
+    he gazed upon these tokens of a better spirit in his pupil.</p>
+
+    <p>"I rejoice to see, Antonio," he began, "that you already
+    feel, how ever imperfectly, the soothing and hallowed influence
+    of the Beautiful in Art and Nature, and the peril to soul and
+    body of delighting in imaginary forms of horror. If you indulge
+    these cravings of a distempered fancy, you will sink to the
+    base level of those Flemish artists who delight in painting
+    witches and demons, and in all fabulous and monstrous forms.
+    You, who are nobly born, devoted to poetry and fine art, and
+    possess manifest power in portraiture, should aim at the Heroic
+    in painting. Make this your first and steadfast purpose. Devote
+    to it your life and soul; and, should the power to reach this
+    elevation be wanting, you may still achieve the Beautiful, and
+    paint lovely women in lovely attitudes. But tell me,
+    Antonello!" continued he, resuming his wonted kindness, "how
+    came that horrid visage across thy path, or rather across thy
+    fancy? for surely no such original exists. Say, didst thou see
+    it living, or was it the growth of those distempered dreams to
+    which painters, more than other men, are subject?"</p>
+
+    <p>"No, padre mio! it was no dream," eagerly answered his
+    pupil. "Yesterday I went in our gondola, as is my wont on
+    festivals, to the beautiful church of San Moyses, which I love
+    for its oriental and singular architecture. When near the
+    church I heard a melodious voice calling to Jacopo, my
+    gondolier, the only boatman in sight, and begging a conveyance
+    across the canal. Issuing from the cabin, I saw a tall figure,
+    closely veiled, standing on the steps of the palace facing the
+    church and occupied by the Archduke's ambassador. Approaching
+    the steps, Jacopo placed a plank for the stranger; but, as she
+    stepped out to reach it, a sudden gust caught her large loose
+    mantle, which, clinging to her shape, displayed for a moment a
+    form of such majestic and luxuriant fulness&mdash;such perfect
+    and glorious symmetry, as no man, still less an artist, could
+    look on unmoved. In trembling and indescribable impatience, I
+    awaited the raising of her veil. Another gust, and a slight
+    stumble as she bounded rather than stepped into the boat,
+    befriended <span class="pagenum"><a id="page301"
+       name="page301"></a>[pg 301]</span> me; the partial shifting
+       of her veil, which she hastily replaced, permitted a glimpse
+       of her features&mdash;brief, indeed, but never to be
+       forgotten. Yes, father! the face which surmounted that
+       goddess-like and splendid person, was the horrid visage I
+       have sketched, lean and yellow, drawn up into innumerable
+       wrinkles, and with black eyes of intolerable brightness,
+       blazing out of deep and faded sockets. Staggered by this
+       unearthly contrast, I fell back upon the bench of the
+       gondola, and gazed in silent horror at the stranger, who
+       answered not the blunt questions of Jacopo; and, as if
+       ashamed of her astounding ugliness, sat motionless and
+       shrouded from head to foot in her capacious mantle. I
+       followed her into the church; but, unable to hold out during
+       the mass, I left her there and hastily returned to sketch
+       this sublime example of the hideous before any of its points
+       had faded from my memory. Forgive me, father, for yielding
+       to an impulse so strong as to overwhelm all power of
+       resistance. Yet why should I abandon this rare opportunity
+       of displaying any skill I may have gained from so gifted a
+       teacher? Pictures of Madonnas and of lovely women so abound
+       in all our palaces, that a young artist can only rise above
+       the common level by representing something extraordinary,
+       something rarely or never seen in life."</p>
+
+    <p>Contarini gazed with sorrowing and affectionate interest
+    upon the flushed features of his pupil, again excited as before
+    by his own description of the mysterious stranger. One less
+    acquainted with human nature, would have mistaken the flashing
+    eyes and animated features of the youthful artist for the sure
+    tokens of conscious and advancing talent; but the aged painter,
+    whose practised eye was not dazzled by the soft harmony of
+    features which gave a character of feminine beauty to Antonio,
+    saw in the excitement which failed to give a more intellectual
+    character to his countenance, sad evidence of a soul too feeble
+    and infirm of purpose to achieve eminence in any thing, and
+    with growing alarm he inferred a predisposition to mental
+    disease from those morbid and uncontrolled impulses, which
+    delighted in portraying objects revolting to all men of sound
+    and healthy feelings.</p>
+
+    <p>He arose in evident emotion, and after pacing the studio
+    some time in silence, he approached Antonio, who, yielding to
+    his eccentric longings, had seized the sketch of the old
+    woman's head, and was gazing on it with evident delight. "Give
+    me the sketch, Antonio!" resumed the painter in his kindest
+    tone, "'Tis finished, and the hunter cares not for the hunted
+    beast when stricken. What wouldst thou with it?" "What would I,
+    maestro?" exclaimed the alarmed youth, hastily removing his
+    sketch from the extended hand of the painter, "Finish the
+    subject of course, and place this wonderful old head upon the
+    magnificent form to which it belongs."</p>
+
+    <p>"But, saidst thou not, Antonio, that the poor creature in
+    the gondola hastily concealed her features when accident
+    revealed them, as if ashamed of her unnatural ugliness? And
+    canst thou be so heartless as to publish to the world that
+    strange deformity she is doomed to bear through life, and which
+    she is evidently anxious to conceal? Wouldst thou add another
+    pang to the existence of one to whom life is worse than death,
+    and whose eternal veil is but a foretaste of the winding-sheet
+    and the grave? Thou wilt not, canst not, my Antonio, make such
+    unheard-of misery thy stepping-stone to fame and fortune." This
+    impassioned appeal to all his better feelings at length reached
+    the heart of Antonio. For a short time he continued to withhold
+    the drawing; but his kindly nature triumphed. Tearing his
+    sketch into fragments, he threw himself into the extended arms
+    of his beloved teacher, who with deep emotion placed his
+    trembling hand on the curling locks of his pupil, and implored
+    the blessing of Heaven on his better feelings and purposes.</p>
+
+    <p>With a view to improve the impression he had made, the
+    painter led Antonio round the studio, and sought to fix his
+    attention upon several portraits of lovely women which adorned
+    it. "Here," said he, "are heads worthy to crown that striking
+    figure in the gondola. Behold that all-surpassing portrait by
+    Giorgione, of such beauty as painters and poets may dream of
+    but never find, and yet not superhuman in its type. Too
+    impassioned for an angel; too brilliant <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page302"
+       name="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> for a Madonna; and with
+       too much of thought and character for a Venus&mdash;she is
+       merely <i>woman</i>. Belonging to no special rank or class
+       in society, and neither classical nor ideal, she personifies
+       all that is most lovely in her sex; and, whether found in a
+       palace or a cottage, would delight and astonish all
+       beholders. This rarely gifted woman was the daughter of
+       Palma Vecchio, and the beloved of Giorgione, one of the
+       handsomest men of his time; but her sympathies were not for
+       him, and he died of grief and despair in his prime. She was
+       the favourite model of Titian and his school, and the type
+       that more or less prevails in many celebrated pictures.</p>
+
+    <p>"How different and yet how beautiful of its kind, is that
+    portrait of a Doge's daughter, by Paris Bordone! Less dazzling
+    and luxuriant in her beauty than Palma's daughter, she is in
+    all respects intensely aristocratic. In complexion not rich and
+    glowing, but of a transparent and pearly lustre, through which
+    the course of each blue vein is visible. In shape and features
+    not full and beautifully rounded, but somewhat taller and of
+    more delicate symmetry. In look and attitude not open, frank,
+    and natural; but astute, refined, courteous, and winning to a
+    degree attainable only by aristocratic training and the habits
+    of high society. In apparel, neither national nor picturesque,
+    but attired with studied elegance. Rich rows of pearls wind
+    through her braided hair, in colour gold, in texture soft as
+    silk. A band of gold forms the girdle of her ruby-coloured
+    velvet robe, which descends to the wrist, and there reveals the
+    small white hand and tapering fingers of patrician beauty. All
+    this may captivate the fastidious noble; but, to men less
+    artificial in their tastes and habits, could such a woman be
+    better than a statue&mdash;and could love, the strongest of
+    human passions, be ever more to her than a short-lived and
+    amusing pastime?</p>
+
+    <p>"From these immortal portraits, my Antonio, you may learn
+    that <i>colour</i> was the grand secret of the great Venetian
+    painters. <i>Their</i> pale forms are never white, nor their
+    blooming cheeks rose-colour, but the true colour of
+    life&mdash;mellow, rich, and glowing; both men and women
+    strictly true to nature, and looking as if they could turn pale
+    with anger or blush with tender passion. From these great men
+    can best be learned how much charm may be conveyed by
+    <i>colour</i>, and what life and glow, what passion, grace, and
+    beauty it gives to <i>form</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>"But I weary thee, Antonio; and after such excitement thou
+    hast need of repose. To-morrow, let me see thee early."</p>
+
+    <p>The exhausted youth gladly departed from a scene of so much
+    trial; and, hastening to his gondola, sought refreshment in an
+    excursion to the Lido. Returning after nightfall, he landed on
+    the Place of St Mark's, and wandered through its cool arcades
+    until they were deserted. In vain, however, did he strive to
+    banish the graceful form and grisly features of the stranger.
+    The strong impression he had received became so vivid and
+    absorbing, that at every turn he thought he saw her gazing at
+    him as if in mockery, and lighting up the deep shadows beneath
+    the arches with her glowing orbs, which seemed to his
+    disordered fancy to emit sparks and flashes of fire. No longer
+    able to resist the impulse, forgetting alike the paternal
+    admonitions of the old painter, and the promises so sincerely
+    given, he quitted the piazza and hastened to the palace of his
+    father, the Proveditore Marcello, then absent on state affairs
+    in the Levant.</p>
+
+    <p>Retiring to his own apartment, he fixed an easel with
+    impetuous haste, and by lamplight again began to sketch the
+    Medusa head of the old woman. Yielding himself up to this new
+    frenzy, he succeeded beyond his hopes; a supernatural power
+    seemed to guide his hand, and soon after midnight he had drawn
+    to the life not only the appalling head, but the commanding and
+    beautiful person, of the mysterious personage in the gondola.
+    After gazing awhile upon his work with triumphant delight, he
+    retired to bed; but slept not until long after sunrise, and
+    then the extraordinary incidents of the past day haunted his
+    feverish dreams. A female form, youthful and of surpassing
+    beauty, hovered around his couch, but ever changing in
+    appearance. At first her head was invisible and veiled in mist,
+    from which, at intervals, flashed features of
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303"
+       name="page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> resplendent loveliness,
+       and eyes of heavenly blue, which beamed upon him with
+       thrilling tenderness; and then the mist dispersed, and the
+       beauteous phantom stooped down to kiss his cheek, when
+       suddenly her blooming face darkened and withered into the
+       death-like visage of that fearful stranger, and her long
+       bright hair was converted into hissing sepents. Starting
+       with a scream of horror from his troubled and exhausting
+       slumbers, he again sought refuge in his gondola, but
+       returned, alas! to make his sketch into a picture, which the
+       hues of life made still more hideous and repulsive. After
+       several days thus occupied, he sketched in various attitudes
+       the imposing figure of the old woman, and endeavoured to fit
+       this beautiful Torso with a head not unworthy of it. But
+       herein, after many attempts, he failed. His excitement, so
+       long indulged, had risen into fever. His diseased fancy
+       controlled his pencil, and blended with features of the
+       highest order of beauty so many touches of the old woman's
+       ghastly visage, that he threw down his pencil, and abandoned
+       all further efforts in despair.</p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+    <h4>THE CAVERN.</h4>
+
+    <p>The shores of Austrian Dalmatia south of the port of Fiume,
+    are of so rugged and dangerous a nature, that although broken
+    into numerous creeks and bays, there are but few places where
+    vessels, even of small dimensions, dare to approach them, or
+    indeed where it is possible to effect a landing. A long
+    experience of the coast, and of the adjacent labyrinth of
+    islands which block up the gulf of Carnero, is necessary in
+    order to accomplish in safety the navigation of the shallow
+    rocky sea; and even when the mariner succeeds in setting foot
+    on land, he not unfrequently finds his progress into the
+    interior barred by precipices steep as walls, roaring torrents,
+    and yawning ravines.</p>
+
+    <p>It was on a mild evening of early spring, and a few days
+    after the incidents recorded in the preceding chapter, that a
+    group of wild-looking figures was assembled on the Dalmatian
+    shore, opposite the island of Veglia. The sun was setting, and
+    the beach was so overshadowed by the beetling summits of the
+    high chalky cliffs, that it would have been difficult to
+    discover much of the appearance of the persons in question, but
+    for an occasional streak of light that shot out of a narrow
+    ravine opening among the rocks in rear of the party, and lit up
+    some dark-bearded visage, or flashed on the bright barrel of a
+    long musket. High above the ravine, and standing out against
+    the red stormy-looking sky behind it, the outline of a fortress
+    was visible, and in the hollow beneath might be distinguished
+    the small closely-built mass of houses known as the town of
+    Segna.</p>
+
+    <p>This castle, which, by natural even more than artificial
+    defences, was deemed impregnable, especially on its sea face,
+    was the stronghold of a handful of hardy and desperate
+    adventurers, who, although their numbers never exceeded seven
+    hundred men, had yet, for many years preceding the date of this
+    narrative, made themselves a name dreaded throughout the whole
+    Adriatic. The inhabitants of the innumerable Dalmatian islands,
+    the subjects of the Grand Turk, the people of Ancona&mdash;all,
+    in short, who inhabited the shores of the Adriatic, and were
+    interested in its commerce, or in the countless merchant
+    vessels that skimmed over its waters&mdash;trembled and turned
+    pale when the name of these daring freebooters was mentioned in
+    their hearing. In vain was it that the Sultan, who in his
+    sublimity scarcely deigned to know the names of some of the
+    great European powers, had caused his pachas to take the field
+    with strong armaments for the extermination of this nest of
+    pirates. These expeditions were certainly not disadvantageous
+    to the Porte, which seized the opportunity of annexing to its
+    dominions some large slices of Hungarian and Venetian
+    territory; but their ostensible object remained unaccomplished,
+    and the proverbial salutation <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page304"
+       name="page304"></a>[pg 304]</span> of the time, "God save
+       you from the Uzcoques!" was still on the lips of every
+       one.</p>
+
+    <p>The word "Uzcoque," by which this dreaded people was known,
+    had grown into a sound of mourning and panic to the inhabitants
+    of the shores and islands of the Adriatic. At the utterance of
+    that fearful name, young girls crowded together like frightened
+    doves; the child hid its terrified face in its mother's lap;
+    the eyes of the matron overflowed with tears as the images of
+    murdered sons and outraged daughters passed before her mind's
+    eye, and, like Banquo's ghost, filled the vacant seats at the
+    table; while the men gazed anxiously out, expecting to see
+    their granaries and store-houses in flames. Nor were the
+    seaman's apprehensions less lively, when night surprised him
+    with some valuable cargo in the neighbourhood of the pirates'
+    haunts. Every rock, each tree, and bush became an object of
+    dread; the very ripple of the waves on the shingle a sound of
+    alarm. To his terrified fancy, a few leafless and projecting
+    branches assumed the appearance of muskets, a point of rock
+    became the prow of one of those light, sharp-built boats in
+    which the Uzcoques were wont to dart like seabirds upon their
+    prey; and, invoking his patron saint, the frightened sailor
+    crossed himself, and with a turn of the rudder brought his
+    vessel yet nearer to the Venetian galleys that escorted the
+    convoy.</p>
+
+    <p>At the cry "Uzcoque" the slender active Albanian grasped his
+    fire-lock, with rage and hatred expressed on his bearded
+    countenance: the phlegmatic Turk sprang in unwonted haste from
+    his carpet; his pipe and coffee were neglected, his women and
+    treasures secured in the harem, while he shouted for the
+    Martellossi,<a id="footnotetag3"
+       name="footnotetag3"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> and slipping them like dogs
+       from a leash, sent them to the encounter of their foes on
+       the devastated plains of Cardavia. In the despatches from
+       Madrid, from the ministers of that monarch on whose
+       dominions the sun never set, to his ambassadors, the name of
+       these seven hundred outlaws occupied a frequent and
+       prominent place. But by none were the Uzcoques more feared
+       and detested than by the greyheaded doge and senators of the
+       Ocean Queen, the sea-born city, before whose cathedral the
+       colours of three kingdoms fluttered from their crimson
+       flagstaffs; and the few young Venetians in whose breasts the
+       remembrance of their heroic ancestors yet lived, blushed for
+       their country's degradation when they beheld her rulers
+       braved and insulted by a band of sea-robbers.</p>
+
+    <p>To this band belonged the wild figures, whose appearance on
+    the shore has been noticed, and who were busily employed in
+    rummaging a number of sacks and packages which lay scattered on
+    the ground. They pursued their occupation in profound silence,
+    except when the discovery of some object of unusual value
+    elicited an exclamation of delight, or a disappointment brought
+    a grumbling curse to their lips. They seemed carefully to avoid
+    noise, lest it should draw down upon them the observation of
+    the castle that frowned above their heads, and at the
+    embrasures and windows of which they cast frequent and
+    frightened glances, although the darkness of the ravine, at the
+    entrance of which they had stationed themselves, and the
+    rapidly deepening twilight, rendered it almost impossible to
+    discover them.</p>
+
+    <p>"By the beard of the prophet, Hassan!" exclaimed in a
+    suppressed tone a young Turk, who lay bound hand and foot at a
+    short distance from the pirates, "why do these mangy curs keep
+    us lying so long on the wet grass? Why do they not seek their
+    kennel up yonder?"</p>
+
+    <p>The person addressed was a little, <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page305"
+       name="page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> round, oily-looking Turk,
+       a Levant merchant, whose traffic had called him to one of
+       the neighbouring islands, and who had been laid hold of on
+       his passage by the Uzcoques. He was sitting up, being less
+       strictly manacled than his more youthful and
+       energetic-looking companion; and his comical countenance
+       wore a most desponding expression, as, in reply to the
+       question put to him, he shook his head slowly from side to
+       side, at the same time gravely stroking his beard.</p>
+
+    <p>"By Allah!" exclaimed the young man impatiently, as he saw
+    the pirates rummaging more eagerly than ever, and now and then
+    concealing something of value under their cloaks, "could not
+    the greedy knaves wait till they got home before they shared
+    the plunder? May their fathers' souls burn!"</p>
+
+    <p>"What saith the sage Oghuz?" quoth old Hassan slowly, "'As
+    people grow rich their maw widens.'"</p>
+
+    <p>"Silence, unbelieving hound!" exclaimed a harsh voice behind
+    him, and a thump between the shoulders warned the old Turk to
+    keep his proverbs for a more fitting season. The pirate was
+    about to repeat the blow, when suddenly his hand fell, and the
+    curses died away upon his lips.</p>
+
+    <p>The clouds that had hitherto veiled the setting sun had
+    suddenly broken, and a broad stream of golden light poured down
+    the ravine, flashing upon the roofs and gables of the town, and
+    making the castle appear like a huge and magnificent lantern.
+    The ravine was lighted up as though by enchantment, and the
+    unexpected illumination caused an alarm among the group of
+    pirates, not unlike that of an owl into whose gloomy
+    roosting-place a torch is suddenly intruded. Terror was
+    depicted upon their countenances as they gazed up at the
+    castle. For a moment all was still and hushed as the grave, and
+    the Uzcoques scarcely seemed to breathe as they drew their
+    greedy hands in silent haste out of the sacks; then, suddenly
+    recovering from their stupefaction, they snatched up their
+    muskets and crowded into a dark cavern in the rock, which the
+    beams of the setting sun had now for the first time rendered
+    visible, without, however, lighting up its deep and dark
+    recesses. In their haste and alarm, more than one of the
+    freebooters had his tattered mantle caught by the thorny arms
+    of some of the bushes scattered over the shore, and turned in
+    terror, thinking himself in the grasp of a foe. A few only had
+    the presence of mind to throw their cloaks over the varied and
+    glittering plunder that lay scattered about on the ground; and
+    strange was the contrast of the sparkling jewellery, the rich
+    stuffs, and embroidered robes, strewed on the beach, with the
+    mean and filthy garments that partially concealed them, and the
+    wild and squalid figures of their present possessors.</p>
+
+    <p>A number of the Uzcoques now threw themselves with brutal
+    violence upon the two prisoners, muffled their heads in cloaks
+    to prevent their crying out, and carried them with the speed of
+    light into the cave, in the innermost recess of which they
+    bestowed them. They then rejoined their companions, who were
+    grouped together at the entrance of the cavern like a herd of
+    frightened deer, and gazing anxiously up at the castle. After
+    the lapse of a very few minutes, the bright glow again faded
+    away, the fortress reassumed its black and frowning aspect, the
+    roofs of Segna relapsed into their dull grey hue, and shadows,
+    deeper than before, covered the ravine.</p>
+
+    <p>Reviving under the influence of the darkness, so congenial
+    to their habits and occupations, the Uzcoques began to recover
+    from their alarm, and the murmur of voices was again heard as
+    they seized the sacks, and hastily filled them with the various
+    objects lying on the beach. Every thing being collected, the
+    pirates commenced toiling their way up the steep mountain path
+    leading to the castle, with the exception of a few who still
+    lingered at the entrance of the cavern, and whom the prisoners
+    could hear disputing about some point on which there seemed to
+    exist much difference of opinion.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hell and the devil!" at last exclaimed an impatient voice,
+    in a louder tone than had yet been employed. "There's little
+    chance that we have not been seen from the castle; for the
+    warder would expect us back about this time, and doubtless was
+    on the look-out. These Turkish hounds have <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page306"
+       name="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> seen every thing, and
+       might easily betray us. Let us leave them here till
+       to-morrow, till I have spoken to the warder, and arranged
+       that they be sent on at once to Gradiska without coming to
+       speech of the captain. I will join the escort myself to make
+       it still surer."</p>
+
+    <p>After some slight opposition on the part of the others, this
+    proposal was adopted, and the remaining pirates took their
+    departure. The sound of their footsteps along the rocky path
+    had scarcely died away on the ears of the anxiously listening
+    captives, when loud acclamations and cries of joy announced the
+    arrival of the first detachment at the castle. The heavy gates
+    of the fortress were opened with much din and rattle; after a
+    short space they were again slammed to, the portcullis fell,
+    and then no further sound broke the deep silence that reigned
+    in the ravine.</p>
+
+    <p>The collection of the plunder, the discussion among the
+    pirates, and their departure, had passed so rapidly, that the
+    young Turk had scarcely had time to recover from the giddy,
+    half-stunned state into which the rough usage he had received
+    had thrown him, when he found himself alone with his old
+    fellow-captive.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, Hassan," said he at last, in a voice of suppressed
+    fury, "what think you of all this?"</p>
+
+    <p>The old man made no verbal reply, but merely stroked his
+    beard, shrugged his shoulders, and opened his eyes wider than
+    before, as much as to say, "I don't think at all; what do you
+    think?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It is not the prospect of passing the night in this damp
+    hole, bound hand and foot, that chafes me to madness, and makes
+    my very blood boil in my veins," resumed the young man after a
+    pause. "That is a small matter, but"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"A small matter!" interrupted Hassan with unusual vivacity.
+    "That is, because you have forgotten the most dreadful part of
+    our position. Bound hand and foot as we are, we can expect
+    nothing less than to fall, ere cock-crow, into the power of
+    Satan."</p>
+
+    <p>"Of Satan!" repeated the other. "Has terror turned thy
+    brain?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of a truth, the Evil One has already tied the three fatal
+    nooses which he hangs over the head of the sleeping believer,"
+    replied the old Mahometan in a lachrymose tone. "He who awakes
+    and forthwith invokes the holy name of Allah, is thereby
+    delivered from the first noose; by performing his ablutions,
+    the second becomes loosened; and by fervent prayer he unties
+    the third. Our bonds render it impossible for us to wash, and
+    the second noose, therefore, will remain suspended over our
+    devoted heads."</p>
+
+    <p>"Runs it so in the Koran, old man?" asked the youth.</p>
+
+    <p>"In the Koran! What Mussulman are you? It is the hundred and
+    forty-ninth passage of the Suna."</p>
+
+    <p>"The Suna!" repeated the other, in a tone of indifference.
+    "If that is all, it will not break my slumbers."</p>
+
+    <p>"Allah protect me!" exclaimed the old man, as he made an
+    attempt to pluck out his beard, which the shackles on his
+    wrists rendered ineffectual. "Allah protect me! Is it not
+    enough that I have fallen into captivity? Am I also doomed to
+    pass the night under the same roof with an unbeliever, even as
+    the Nazarenes are?"</p>
+
+    <p>"May the bolt of Heaven fall on thy lying tongue!" exclaimed
+    the youth in great wrath. "I an unbeliever! I, Ibrahim, the
+    adopted son of Hassan, pacha of Bosnia!"</p>
+
+    <p>In deepest humility did the old merchant bow his head, and
+    endeavour to lay hold of the hem of the young man's crimson
+    caftan, in order to carry it to his lips.</p>
+
+    <p>"Enough! enough!" said Ibrahim, whose good temper had
+    returned. "You spoke in haste and ignorance. I am well pleased
+    when I break no commandment of the Koran; and trouble my head
+    little about the sayings of those babbling greybeards, the
+    twelve holy Imaums."</p>
+
+    <p>"But the nooses," expostulated Hassan, not a little
+    scandalized by his companion's words.</p>
+
+    <p>"You have nothing to do but to sleep all night without
+    awaking," replied the young Turk laughing. "Then you will have
+    no need either to wash or pray."</p>
+
+    <p>The superstitious old man turned his face to the wall in
+    consternation and anguish of spirit.</p>
+
+    <p>"This night have I seen with my own eyes what we have
+    hitherto <span class="pagenum"><a id="page307"
+       name="page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> refused to believe,"
+       resumed Ibrahim after a pause, and in a tone of indignation
+       that echoed through the cavern. "I am now convinced that the
+       shameless scoundrels do not rob on their own account, since
+       they are obliged to pilfer and conceal a part of their
+       plunder in order to get a profit from their misdeeds. Marked
+       you not, Hassan, how they trembled when the sun lit up the
+       ravine, lest their tricks should be espied by some sentry on
+       the battlements; and how their panic fear made them carry
+       every thing up to the castle?"</p>
+
+    <p>The old Turk bowed his head assentingly.</p>
+
+    <p>"Glory be to God and the Sultan!" continued the youth.
+    "Before the bright countenance of the prophet's vicegerent, who
+    reigneth in Stamboul, no misdeed can remain hidden that occurs
+    in the remotest corner of his vast dominions. Nay, much of what
+    happens in the land of the Giaour is also manifest to his
+    penetrating vision. Witness the veil of turpitude and cunning
+    which has long been seen through by the clear eyes of our holy
+    mollahs, and of the council at the Seraglio, and which has just
+    now been torn away from before me, like a mist dispersing in
+    the sunshine of truth. Truly spoke the Christian maiden, whom
+    but a few weeks back I took captive in a fight with the
+    Uzcoques, but who was shortly after rescued by another band of
+    those raging fiends."</p>
+
+    <p>"Saw you the maiden," exclaimed Hassan, "the good maiden
+    that accompanies the pirates, like an angel walking among
+    demons?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What know you of the Houri?" eagerly demanded the youth, in
+    vain endeavouring to raise his head from the damp stones.</p>
+
+    <p>"That it was the hand of Allah that rescued her from you,"
+    replied the other. He chastiseth his creatures with rods, but
+    even in his chastisemcnt is mercy. "How many more had not the
+    dogs and the ravens devoured, had the Christian maiden been
+    taken from among the Uzcoques? She belongs to them, she is the
+    daughter of their leader, the terrible Dansowich, beside whom
+    she is ever to be found, instilling the musk and amber of
+    mildness into his fierce soul, and pouring healing into the
+    wounds he makes. I know her not, but often have I heard the
+    Christians, with whom my traffic brought me acquainted, include
+    her in the prayers they addressed to their God."</p>
+
+    <p>"Her eyes were as brilliant stars, and they blinded my very
+    soul," exclaimed Ibrahim impetuously; "the honey of her words
+    dropped like balm into my heart! As the sound of bubbling
+    fountains, and the rustle of flowery groves to the parched
+    wanderer in the desert, fell her sweet voice upon my ear. So
+    gentle and musical were its tones, that I thought not of their
+    meaning, and it is only to-day that I understand them."</p>
+
+    <p>"I know not," quoth Hassan, "what you may have seen; but
+    doubtless, Satan, who wished to inspire you with an unholy
+    desire for a Nazarene woman, began by blinding you. According
+    to all I have heard, the Uzcoque maiden is good and
+    compassionate, but as ugly as night."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ugly!" cried Ibrahim, "Then there must be two of them; for
+    the one I saw was blooming as the spring, her eyes like the
+    morning star, and her cheeks of velvet. Oh, that I could again
+    behold her! In that hope it was that I pressed so rashly
+    forward in the fight, and was made prisoner; but yet have I not
+    beheld the pearl of mine eyes."</p>
+
+    <p>"She cannot be amongst them," said Hassan; "and thence comes
+    it that the pirates have this year committed greater cruelties
+    than ever, and done deeds that cry out to Allah for
+    vengeance."</p>
+
+    <p>"Instead of her silver tones," continued Ibrahim, "I hear
+    the shrieks of the tortured; instead of her words of peace and
+    blessing, the curses of the murderer."</p>
+
+    <p>"But what did the maiden tell you?" enquired Hassan, who was
+    getting impatient at the transports of the enamoured youth.</p>
+
+    <p>"Her words flowed like a clear stream out of the well of
+    truth. It is not the Uzcoques alone," said she, "who are to
+    blame for the horrors that"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Hark!" interrupted the old Turk.</p>
+
+    <p>A clamour of voices and splashing of oars became audible, a
+    keel grated on the beach, and then hurried footsteps were heard
+    in the ravine.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page308"
+       name="page308"></a>[pg 308]</span> "It is another vessel
+       with Uzcoques!" exclaimed Ibrahim; "but these are not laden
+       with plunder, their movements are too rapid."</p>
+
+    <p>As he spoke, the tumult and murmur of voices and trampling
+    of feet increased, and above all a noise like distant musketry
+    was heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"Holy Virgin!" suddenly exclaimed a clear and feminine
+    voice, apparently close to the mouth of the cavern. "They are
+    already at the castle&mdash;the gates, no doubt, are shut, the
+    drawbridge raised. Before they could come down it would be too
+    late."</p>
+
+    <p>The young Turk started.</p>
+
+    <p>"It is she, Hassan!" he exclaimed. "It is Strasolda, the
+    Christian maiden!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, my father!" cried the same voice in tones of
+    heart-rending anguish. "How shall we deliver thee? Alas! alas!
+    who can tell the tortures they will make thee suffer in their
+    dreadful dungeons?"</p>
+
+    <p>The noise of the musketry became more and more distinct.
+    Some of the newly arrived Uzcoques who had hurried up the
+    winding path, were soon heard clamouring furiously for
+    admittance at the castle gates.</p>
+
+    <p>"They will be too late!" exclaimed the maiden, wringing her
+    hands in despair. The next moment a sudden thought seemed to
+    flash across her mind, lending her fresh hope and energy.</p>
+
+    <p>"Gracious Heaven!" she exclaimed in joyful tones. "Have we
+    not here the cave, from which, invoked by fire, the storm and
+    the hurricane, the north wind and the tempest, come forth and
+    shatter the most stately vessels against our iron-bound
+    coast.<a id="footnotetag4"
+       name="footnotetag4"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> Up, Uzcoques, and fire the
+       cavern! Let the elements do battle for us. Perchance by
+       their aid the bark of your leader Dansowich may yet escape
+       its foes and reach the haven."</p>
+
+    <p>Immediately after these words, which made the two Moslems
+    quail, the pirate's daughter hastily entered the cavern with a
+    blazing torch, the flashes of which awakened from slumber into
+    life and glow the various tints of mosses, lichens, and
+    stalactites innumerable that studded the ample vault. In this
+    flitting and singular illumination, the appearance of the
+    Uzcoque maiden was awful. Above the common stature of woman,
+    and finely formed, she was attired in a white woollen garment,
+    carelessly adjusted and confined at the waist by broad red
+    girdle, from which it fell in long and graceful folds to her
+    feet. Her face was a perfect oval; her features of regular and
+    striking beauty; her complexion, naturally of that clear rich
+    brown, which lends more lustre to the eyes than the purest red
+    and white, was now ghastly with intense alarm; and this
+    death-like paleness imparted a more prominent and commanding
+    character to her well-defined, jet-black brows, and the full,
+    dark, humid eyes, which gleamed like brilliants through their
+    long lashes. Heavy tresses of raven hair, escaping beneath her
+    turban-like head-dress, streamed out like a sable banner as she
+    rushed into the cavern, then fell and flowed in waving
+    luxuriance over neck and shoulders to her girdle. The Turks in
+    the interior of the cavern, gazed in speechless wonder at this
+    beautiful apparition standing erect in the strong red light.
+    Waving her torch with energetic and graceful action, she
+    appeared like an antique sybil at the moment of inspiration, or
+    some Arabian enchantress preparing for an incantation. Their
+    admiration, however, yielded to alarm, when they beheld her
+    dash the torch <span class="pagenum"><a id="page309"
+       name="page309"></a>[pg 309]</span> upon the ground, and her
+       attendants pile upon it straw and fagots, which blazed up
+       instantly to the cavern roof, emitting volumes of smoke that
+       made the captives invisible, and by its suffocating
+       influence deprived them erelong of all power of
+       utterance.</p>
+
+    <p>The evening was serene and still, with scarcely a breath of
+    wind stirring, and the flames blazed upward to the cavern roof;
+    only now and then a light breeze from the sea wafted them on
+    one side, and, at the sane time, dispersing the smoke, gave the
+    Turks a momentary glimpse of the maiden, standing with uplifted
+    hands, expectation, anxiety, and grief, depicted on her
+    speaking countenance, as she invoked the spirit of the storm,
+    while around her stood the few remaining Uzcoques, with
+    sorrowing and downcast faces.</p>
+
+    <p>"They come not!" she exclaimed after a pause, during which
+    the fire began to burn low for lack of fuel, and the noise of
+    the musketry diminished and finally ceased. "Uzcoques!" she
+    cried in a louder voice, and with inspiration in her thrilling
+    tones&mdash;"Take heed and warning, for your hour is come. Your
+    crags and caverns, your rocky shores and howling storms, refuse
+    you further service!"</p>
+
+    <p>She paused, and at that moment was heard the rush of a
+    rapidly approaching boat.</p>
+
+    <p>"Speak not, ye messengers of evil!" exclaimed Strasolda in
+    piercing accents. "Utter not a word. You have left Dansowich in
+    the hands of the Venetians."</p>
+
+    <p>There was no reply to her half frantic exclamation, and the
+    deep silence was only broken by the footsteps of the
+    new-comers, as with dejected looks they joined their
+    companions. Just then some damp branches that had lain
+    smouldering and smoking on the fire, burned brightly up, and by
+    their light Ibrahim and Hassan beheld the maiden kneeling in
+    the midst of the pirates, her tearful face covered by her fair
+    and slender fingers. The next moment she raised her head and
+    gazed into the cavern.</p>
+
+    <p>As she did so, the sorrowful expression of her features
+    changed, and her countenance was lighted up with a look of
+    rapture, while a loud cry burst from her lips. Through the
+    opening in the smoke, the prisoners became visible to her as
+    they lay motionless in the interior of the cave, the light from
+    the flames glowing on their red garments, and giving them the
+    appearance of two statues of fire. In the handsome countenance
+    of one of the figures thus suddenly revealed to her, Strasolda
+    recognized the young Moslem, whose prisoner she had been, and
+    whose noble person and bearing, courteous manners, and gentle
+    treatment, had more than once since the day of her captivity,
+    occupied the thoughts and fancy of the Uzcoque maiden. Unaware
+    of Ibrahim's capture, Strasolda did not for an instant suppose
+    that she beheld him in flesh and blood before her. To her
+    excited and superstitious imagination, the figures of the Turks
+    appeared formed out of fire itself, and she doubted not that
+    the spirits of the cave had chosen this means of presenting to
+    her, as in a prophetic mirror, a shadowy fore-knowledge of
+    future and more favourable events.</p>
+
+    <p>While she yet gazed eagerly on what she deemed a
+    supernatural appearance, the rent in the veil of smoke suddenly
+    closed, the flame sank down, and again all was gloom and
+    darkness in the cavern. The thick stifling vapour of the damp
+    wood, augmenting as the flame diminished, was now so
+    overpowering that the Turks were in imminent danger of
+    suffocation. In their extremity, making a violent effort, their
+    pent up voices found vent in a cry of such startling wildness,
+    that the Uzcoques, struck with terror, sprang back from the
+    mouth of the cave, hurrying the maiden with them. The cry was
+    not repeated, for the Turks had lost all consciousness from the
+    stifling effects of the smoke.</p>
+
+    <p>"Banish your fears, Uzcoques!" exclaimed Strasolda, staying
+    the fugitives. "The voice that to you is a sound of dismay,
+    gives me hope and confidence. I see the golden crescent rising
+    in irresistible might, and shedding its rays over all the lands
+    of the earth. Happy they on whom it casts its mild and
+    favouring beams, and truer far the safeguard it affords to
+    those who serve it, than that which is found beneath the shadow
+    of the cross. Better the sharp cimeter and <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page310"
+       name="page310"></a>[pg 310]</span> plighted word of the
+       Moslem, than the fair promises of the lying Christian, who,
+       in the hour of peril, abandons those by whose courage he has
+       profited. But enough!" cried she in an altered tone. "Our
+       first duty is to rescue my father from the hands of the
+       Venetians. Go not into Segna. There are traitors there who
+       might reveal what we most wish kept secret. The Venetians
+       know not the person of Dansowich, and that may save him if
+       no time be lost in plotting his deliverance. Let none even
+       of our own people hear of his captivity. Now to the
+       castle!"</p>
+
+    <p>She led the way, and in silence and sadness the pirates
+    followed the daughter of their captive chief.</p>
+
+    <p>The fire was quite out, the smoke had cleared away, the moon
+    poured its silvery light into the cavern, and the stillness was
+    unbroken, save by the ripple of the waves on the beach, when
+    Ibrahim recovered from the state of insensibility into which he
+    had been thrown by the suffocating influence of the smoke, and
+    heard his companion snoring at his side. For some time the
+    young Turk lay, revolving in his mind the eventful scene he had
+    witnessed, and the strange and startling circumstances that had
+    come to his knowledge during the few preceding hours. The
+    capture of Dansowich was an event of much importance; nor was
+    there less weight in the discovery Ibrahim had made of the
+    dependence of the Uzcoques upon a higher power, which, in
+    secret, aided and profited by their depredations. Although
+    Austria had been frequently accused of abetting the piracies of
+    the Uzcoques, the charge had never been clearly proved, and to
+    many appeared too improbable to obtain credence. Ibrahim had
+    hitherto been among the incredulous; but what he had this day
+    seen and heard, removed every doubt, and fully convinced him of
+    the justice of those imputations.</p>
+
+    <p>Turning in disgust from the contemplation of the labyrinth
+    of crime and treachery to which he had seized the clue; the
+    young Moslem sought and found a far pleasanter subject of
+    reflection in the remembrance of the maiden, whose transcendent
+    beauty and touching devotion to her captive parent, shone out
+    the more brightly from their contrast with the vice and
+    degradation by which she was surrounded. With much interest did
+    he endeavour to solve the problem, and explain what appeared
+    almost miraculous, how so fair a creature&mdash;such a
+    masterpiece of Heaven's handiwork&mdash;could have passed her
+    childhood and youth amongst the refuse of humanity assembled on
+    the island, and yet have retained the spotless purity which was
+    apparent in every look and gesture. But, however interesting
+    these reflections were to the enamoured Ibrahim, his recent
+    fatigues had been too great for nature not to assert her
+    claims, and the wearied body finished by triumphing over the
+    rebellious restlessness of the excited spirit. The graceful
+    form of Strasolda, and the wild figures of the Uzcoques, swam
+    more and more indistinctly before his closing eyes, until he
+    sank at last into a deep and refreshing slumber.</p>
+    <hr />
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+    <h4>THE JEWELS.</h4>
+
+    <p>The tribe of the Uzcoques, or Scochi, derived their name
+    from <i>scoco</i>, a refugee or fugitive, a word bearing
+    reference to their origin. Towards the commencement of the
+    sixteenth century, a band of hardy and warlike men abandoned
+    the the provinces of Southern Hungary, Bulgaria, and Servia,
+    and took refuge in Dalmatia from the tyranny and ill usage of
+    the Turks, who had overrun the first-named provinces.
+    Accompanied by their wives and families, and recruiting their
+    numbers as they went along, they at last reached the fortress
+    of Clissa, situated in the mountains, a few miles from the old
+    Roman town of Spalatro. There, with the permission of its
+    owner, Pietro Crosichio, they established themselves, forming
+    one of the outposts of Christendom, and thence carried on a war
+    of extermination against the Turks, to whom they did a degree
+    of injury that would appear <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page311"
+       name="page311"></a>[pg 311]</span> quite incommensurate with
+       the smallness of their numbers. The name of Uzcoque soon
+       became known throughout the Adriatic as the synonyme of a
+       gallant warrior, till at length the Turks, driven nearly
+       frantic by the exploits of this handful of brave men, fitted
+       out a strong expedition and laid siege to Clissa, with the
+       double object of getting rid of a troublesome foe, and of
+       advancing another step into Christian Europe.</p>
+
+    <p>The different powers who had benefited greatly, although
+    indirectly, by the enterprising valour of the Uzcoques,
+    neglected to give them the smallest assistance in their hour of
+    peril. After an heroic defence, Clissa fell into the hands of
+    the Turks, and a scanty and disheartened remnant of its brave
+    defenders fled northward to seek some new place of refuge. This
+    they found in the fortress of Segna, then belonging to a Count
+    Frangipani, who allowed them to occupy it; and, at the same
+    time, Ferdinand the First of Austria bethought himself,
+    although somewhat tardily, that the Uzcoques had deserved
+    better at his hands, and at those of other Christian princes,
+    than to be left to their own resources when assailed by the
+    overwhelming power of the Porte. As a sort of atonement, he
+    took them formally into his pay, to assist him in his wars
+    against the infidel. But from this day forward the Uzcoques
+    gradually declined in valour and in moral worth. From a race of
+    heroes they degenerated into a horde of mercenary adventurers,
+    and finally, of cruel and cowardly pirates. Their primitive
+    customs and simple virtues were exchanged for the vices of
+    refugees and criminals from Venice and other neighbouring
+    states, who came in crowds to fill up the frequent vacancies
+    occurring in their ranks.</p>
+
+    <p>At length the military value of the Uzcoques being much
+    impaired, and their services also less required, Austria became
+    irregular in her payments, and at last entirely discontinued
+    them. The barren mountains round Segna produced nothing, and
+    the unfortunate Uzcoques were in danger of dying of hunger.
+    This they felt by no means inclined to do, and erelong
+    complaints began to be made of piracies and depredations
+    committed by the Segnarese on the vessels and territory of
+    Venice. For some time no application on the subject was made to
+    Austria, and when made it was found to be of little avail.</p>
+
+    <p>At the period to which this narrative refers, Austria had
+    already formed those designs upon her southern neighbour, which
+    in more modern times she has carried out with complete success.
+    The fertile plains of Northern Italy, the convenient ports on
+    the Adriatic, the rich commerce with the Levant, were tempting
+    baits to what was then the most ambitious power in Europe; and
+    with an undeviating steadiness did she follow up the policy
+    which promised to place such desirable acquisitions within her
+    grasp. Venice, whose power and importance were already on the
+    decline, was the state against which her most strenuous efforts
+    were directed; and nothing that could injure the trade, or
+    lower the dignity and importance of the republic, was omitted
+    by the Austrian Machiavels of the day. Insignificant as such a
+    means of annoyance may appear, the band of Uzcoques was one of
+    the prime engines employed to undermine the bulwarks of
+    Venetian independence. Through her commerce had Venice achieved
+    her greatness, and through her commerce was she to be assailed
+    and overthrown. Whilst the Venetians, for the sake of their
+    trade, had formed alliances with the Turks, the Austrians,
+    professing great religious zeal, and hatred of the infidels, as
+    well as a dread of further encroachments upon European
+    territory, did all in their power to ruin the traffic and break
+    the connexion between the republic and the Porte. The Uzcoques,
+    who, although asserting a sort of independence, still dwelt on
+    Austrian territory, and were reckoned as Austrian subjects,
+    were secretly encouraged in the piracies which they committed
+    indiscriminately against Turkish and Venetian vessels. These
+    acts of piracy usually took place in the night, and could
+    rarely be brought home to their perpetrators, although there
+    could be no moral doubt as to the identity of the latter; but,
+    even when proved, it was found impossible to obtain any
+    substantial redress. At the time now referred to, the evil was
+    at its height. Nominally <span class="pagenum"><a id="page312"
+       name="page312"></a>[pg 312]</span> peace both with Venice
+       and the Porte, Austria, nevertheless, stimulated the
+       Uzcoques to aggressions upon the subjects of both. The
+       Archduke Ferdinand, a well-intentioned and virtuous prince,
+       but young and inexperienced, was completely led and deceived
+       by the wily and unprincipled politicians who governed in his
+       name. He was kept entirely in the dark as to the real
+       character of the Segnarese, and thus prevented from giving
+       credence to the frequent complaints made against them by
+       neighbouring states. His corrupt ministers, moreover, not
+       content with making the pirates instrumental in this
+       tortuous policy, were not ashamed to squeeze from them a
+       portion of their illicit gains; and a lion's share of the
+       spoil found its way into the coffers of the archducal
+       counsellors, who welcomed the golden Pactolus, utterly
+       regardless of the foul channel through which it flowed. The
+       Uzcoques, on their part, who were no longer the race of
+       brave and hardy soldiers they had been some half century
+       before, clung to the protection of Austria, conscious that,
+       in their degenerate state, and with their diminished
+       numbers, they must soon fall a prey to their numerous foes,
+       should that protection be withdrawn. Thus, although inwardly
+       chafing at being compelled to disgorge a large part of the
+       hard-won booty for which they frequently periled their
+       lives, they did not dare to withhold the tribute, nor to
+       omit the rich presents which they were in the habit of
+       making to certain influential persons about the archducal
+       court. In return, the ports of Austria on the Adriatic, were
+       open to them to build and repair vessels, or obtain supplies
+       of provisions; every species of indirect assistance was
+       afforded them, and more than once, when some of their number
+       had fallen into the hands of the Venetians, their release,
+       as subjects of Austria, had been demanded and obtained by
+       the authorities at Gradiska. On the other hand, the claims
+       of Venice for satisfaction, when some of her richly laden
+       merchant-ships had been captured or pillaged, were slightly
+       attended to, the applicants put off from day to day, and
+       from year to year, with promises and excuses, until the weak
+       and cowardly republic, seeing that no satisfaction was to be
+       obtained by peaceable means, and being in no state to
+       declare war against her powerful neighbour, usually ended
+       the matter by ceasing to advance claims, the prosecution of
+       which only tended to her further humiliation.</p>
+
+    <p>It was Easter Sunday in the town of Gradiska. The strict
+    religious ceremonies with which the Passion week was
+    commemorated at the court of the youthful but pious Archduke
+    Ferdinand were at an end; the black hangings disappeared from
+    the church walls, and the bells rang out a merry peal in joyful
+    commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. The nobles and
+    ladies of the court, wearied with the vigils and fasting which
+    the religious zeal of the time rendered imperative, betook
+    themselves with lightened hearts to their apartments, the elder
+    portion to repose, the younger ones to prepare for the
+    brilliant festival and ball which the following day was to
+    witness.</p>
+
+    <p>In a richly furnished apartment of the castle, the young and
+    handsome wife of one of the archducal counsellors was pacing up
+    and down, her full and voluptuous form reflected on every side
+    by the tall Venetian mirrors that covered the walls of the
+    apartment. The lady was apparently in no gentle mood; her step
+    was hurried and impatient, her face flushed, her lips peevishly
+    compressed, and her irritation seemed to increase each time
+    that she passed before a table on which were displayed a number
+    of jewel-boxes and caskets, all open, and nearly all empty.
+    Since the Easter festival of the preceding year, the caprices
+    and necessities of this spendthrift beauty had abstracted one
+    by one the rich kernels from these now worthless husks, and the
+    recollection of the follies, or worse, in which their value had
+    been squandered, now came to aggravate the vexation which the
+    want of the jewels occasioned her. So absorbed was she in the
+    consideration of her annoyances and perplexities, that for some
+    time she took no notice of the presence of a young and graceful
+    female in plain attire, who stood apparently in deep thought in
+    the embrasure of one of the windows. The maiden had her back
+    turned to the room; but the admirable contours of
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page313"
+       name="page313"></a>[pg 313]</span> her fine figure, and the
+       rich luxuriance of the jet-black locks that flowed over her
+       shoulders, gave promise of a perfection that was not belied,
+       when, on an exclamation of impatience from her mistress, she
+       suddenly turned round, and revealed the beauteous features
+       of Dansowich's daughter. She it was who formed the usual
+       medium of communication between the pirates and their
+       archducal allies; and during her frequent sojourns at
+       Gradiska, she assumed the character of attendant on the
+       counsellor's lady.</p>
+
+    <p>"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the court dame, stamping her foot
+    violently on the polished floor. "What can detain the knaves?
+    Say, girl! where can they be lingering?"</p>
+
+    <p>Strasolda made no reply to this impetuous enquiry. She was
+    no longer the excited and impetuous Uzcoque heroine, invoking
+    the spirit of the storm amidst the precipices and caverns of
+    her native shores. A total change had come over her. Her look
+    was subdued, her cheek pale, her eyes red and swollen with
+    weeping. She cast an humble and sorrowful glance at the lady,
+    and a tear trembled on her long dark lashes.</p>
+
+    <p>"Why come they not?" repeated the angry dame in a voice
+    half-choked with passion. "By all the saints!" she continued,
+    with a furious look at Strasolda, "I believe thy father,
+    Dansowich, to be the cause of this delay; for well I know it is
+    with small good-will he pays the tribute. But if the thieving
+    knaves thus play me false, if the Easter gift is wanting, and
+    for lack of jewels I am compelled to plead sickness, and pass
+    to-morrow in my apartment, instead of, as heretofore, eclipsing
+    every rival by the splendour of my jewels, rest assured,
+    maiden, that thy robber friends shall pay dearly for their
+    neglect. A word from me, and thy father, brethren, and kinsmen
+    grace the gallows, and their foul eyrie is leveled with
+    dust."</p>
+
+    <p>Strasolda pressed her hands upon her heart, and burst into a
+    flood of tears. Then throwing herself at the lady's
+    feet&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"That word you will never have the cruelty to utter," cried
+    she. "Bethink you, noble lady, of the perils to which they are
+    exposed. The bravest cannot command success, and you know not
+    yet whether their last expedition may not have been
+    unprosperous."</p>
+
+    <p>"I!" replied her irritated mistress. "How should I be privy
+    to their proceedings? But <i>you</i> ought to be able to give
+    some tidings: Wherefore did you not accompany your father this
+    last voyage?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I told you, lady," answered Strasolda, "that I was busied
+    with plans for the deliverance of the Uzcoques now held captive
+    in Venice. I have brothers amongst those unfortunate prisoners,
+    and it is the uncertainty of their fate which thus afflicts
+    me."</p>
+
+    <p>The maiden gazed tearfully and imploringly at the angry
+    lady. It was not without good reason that she concealed from
+    her the fact of her father's captivity. The stern and
+    inflexible Dansowich had ever viewed with an eye of disapproval
+    the connexion between his people and the counsellors at
+    Gradiska; and the latter, aware of this, would not have been
+    likely to take much pains for the release of one who was
+    unfavourable to their interests. It was only, therefore, by
+    representing the captive Uzcoques as less nearly connected with
+    her, that Strasolda could hope for aid to rescue them from the
+    hands of the Venetians.</p>
+
+    <p>"So much the more should you desire the arrival of the
+    tribute!" exclaimed the lady. "Did I not, at your request, make
+    interest with our ambassador at Venice, that he should insist
+    upon the surrender of the Uzcoques as Austrian subjects?
+    Assuredly the feeble signoria will not venture to refuse
+    compliance. A casket of jewels is but a paltry guerdon for such
+    service, and yet even that is not forthcoming. But it is not
+    too late to alter what has been done. If I say the word, the
+    prisoners linger in the damp and fetid dungeons of the
+    republic, until they welcome death as a blessing."</p>
+
+    <p>"Alas, alas!" sobbed Strasolda; "have you the heart thus to
+    add to my sorrow? Is it not enough to know those I love in
+    captivity, to behold my people, once so noble and heroic,
+    degraded to the very refuse of humanity despised and detested
+    of all men, having their dwelling on a barren rock, and earning
+    by crime and bloodshed a precarious existence
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page314"
+       name="page314"></a>[pg 314]</span> and doubtful freedom? Is
+       it not enough"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Hush!" interrupted the lady in a quick sharp whisper,
+    raising her finger, and glancing towards the door of the
+    apartment. There was a noise as of stealthy footsteps in the
+    corridor. Strasolda sprang from the kneeing posture which she
+    had maintained during her conversation with her mistress, and
+    resumed her station in the recess of a window, while the
+    counsellor's lady snatched up a rich shawl from a damask
+    covered ottoman, and threw it over the caskets spread out upon
+    the table. Scarcely were these arrangements completed, when the
+    door was partially opened, and a wild sunburnt and bearded
+    countenance showed itself at the aperture.</p>
+
+    <p>"Heaven and the saints be praised!" exclaimed the lady.
+    "They are come at last. In with you, Jurissa Caiduch: there is
+    no one but Strasolda here."</p>
+
+    <p>The person thus addressed, was a strongly built and active
+    man, rather under the middle size, muffled in a coarse brown
+    cloak, which was drawn over the lower part of his face,
+    apparently with a view to concealment. A broad-brimmed felt hat
+    was slouched over his small black eyes, which glittered through
+    its shadow like those of a snake, never fixing themselves on an
+    object, but casting restless and suspicious glances, as though
+    apprehensive of danger or treachery. Gliding into the room, and
+    closing the door noiselessly behind him, he approached the
+    table, and placed upon it a tolerably large casket, which he
+    produced from under his cloak; then retreating a step or two,
+    he removed his hat, and stood in an attitude of silent respect,
+    his eyes still gleaming, however, with their habitual
+    expression of mistrust and cunning.</p>
+
+    <p>Without uttering a word, the lady seized the casket, and
+    impatiently forced open its delicate silver lock. A cry of
+    joyful surprise burst from her lips on beholding the rich
+    contents of the jewel-case. Diamond chains, golden girdles and
+    bracelets, combs and hair ornaments studded with orient pearls,
+    passed in rapid succession through the white and eager fingers
+    of the gratified dame, who seemed to lack words to express her
+    pleasure and astonishment at the sight of such costly gems. At
+    last she turned to the bearer.</p>
+
+    <p>"Of a truth, Jurissa" cried she, "you are unusually liberal
+    this time, and you must have great need of the good offices of
+    myself and Father Cipriano, to be willing to purchase our
+    influence with the archduke at so high a price."</p>
+
+    <p>"Our last expedition was a successful one, noble lady,"
+    replied the Uzcoque. "The tender-hearted Strasolda," added he
+    with a spiteful glance at the maiden, who still kept her
+    station by the window, "that guardian angel, who so often steps
+    between us and our prey, was absent, and we had no need to stay
+    our hands."</p>
+
+    <p>As he spoke, the door was again hastily opened as softly as
+    before, but somewhat wider, and the burly figure of a monk
+    entered the room. This was no other than the Father Cipriano
+    Guido Lucchese, whom the lady had alluded to, and who, by his
+    pleadings at the papal court, in favour of the Uzcoques, had
+    earned himself the honourable cognomen of Ambassador de Ladri,
+    or the Thieves' Envoy. He had expiated his discreditable
+    intercession by a sojourn in the prisons of the Inquisition,
+    which did not, however, present his being in high favour with
+    the Archduke Ferdinand, at whose court he filled the triple
+    office of theologian, confessor, and privy counsellor.</p>
+
+    <p>The sleek and unctuous physiognomy of the monk wore an
+    expression of unusual care and anxiety. Without bestowing a
+    salutation or a look upon the lady whose apartment he thus
+    unceremoniously entered, he addressed himself at once to the
+    Uzcoque Jurissa.</p>
+
+    <p>"Away with you!" cried he. "Out of the palace; and quietly,
+    too, as your own shadow. Thumbscrews are waiting for you if you
+    linger."</p>
+
+    <p>Strasolda gazed in alarm at Father Cipriano. Jurissa thrust
+    his right hand under his cloak, and seemed to clutch some
+    weapon. Even the counsellor's dame for a moment turned her eyes
+    from the jewels she was admiring to the anxious countenance of
+    the padre.</p>
+
+    <p>"Your last exploit will bring you into trouble," continued
+    the latter to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page315"
+       name="page315"></a>[pg 315]</span> Jurissa. "You have gone
+       beyond all bounds; and a special ambassador has arrived here
+       from Venice."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well!" replied the Uzcoque surlily, "was not the sack of
+    doubloons sufficient fee to keep you at your post?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I have but just left it," answered the monk, "and you may
+    thank me if the storm is averted for the moment, although it
+    must burst erelong. Before the ambassador could obtain his
+    audience, I hurried to the archduke, and chanted the old ditty;
+    told him you were the Maccabees of the century&mdash;the
+    bulwarks of Christendom: that without you the Turks would long
+    since have been in Gradiska&mdash;that the Venetians, through
+    fear and lust of gain, were hand and glove with the followers
+    of Mahomet&mdash;and that it was their own fault if you had to
+    strike through them to get at the infidel: that they cared
+    little about religion, so long as the convenience of their
+    traffic was not interfered with&mdash;and that it would be a
+    sin and a shame to deprive himself of such valiant defenders
+    for the sake of obliging the republic. This, and much more, did
+    I say to his highness, Signor Jurissa," concluded the fat
+    priest, wiping away the perspiration which his eagerness and
+    volubility had caused to start out on his brow; "and, in good
+    truth, I think your paltry bag of doubloons but poor reward for
+    the pains I took, and the zeal I have shown in your
+    defence."</p>
+
+    <p>"And wherein consists the danger, then," interrupted
+    Jurissa, "since your eloquence has sped so well on our
+    behalf?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You do not hear me out, my son," replied the priest. "The
+    greybeards at Venice have chosen an envoy who is right well
+    informed of your small numbers, bad equipment, and cowardice in
+    broad daylight. Nay, man, never grind your teeth. I do but
+    repeat the ambassador's words; for I had stationed myself in an
+    adjoining room, and heard all that passed between him and the
+    archduke. He said, moreover, that, far from being of use as a
+    bulwark against Turkish encroachments, it was you who had
+    afforded to the infidels a pretext to wrest more than one rich
+    province from Christian potentates. All this seemed to make
+    some impression upon the archduke, and to plant suspicions in
+    his mind which bode no good to you and your race. For the
+    present, the capture of those two Turks, one of whom is a
+    person of rank, is testimony in your favour with his highness,
+    to whom the crescent is an abomination. Could he follow his own
+    inclinations, he would, I fully believe, start a new crusade
+    against the followers of Mahoun. But come, Jurissa, this is no
+    time for gossip. You must not be seen in Gradiska. Away with
+    you!"</p>
+
+    <p>"And the Venetian," cried Jurissa, "what is his name?"</p>
+
+    <p>"It is the Proveditore Marcello, who has lately returned
+    from a long absence in the East."</p>
+
+    <p>The Uzcoque started. The name seemed to have some potent and
+    mysterious effect upon him, and he stood for a few moments with
+    his eyes fixed upon the ground, apparently forgetful of the
+    necessity for his immediate departure. The priest took him by
+    the arm, and drew him towards the door, which he was about to
+    open, when Jurissa shook off his grasp and hastily approached
+    the counsellor's wife, who had thrown herself into a large
+    gilded chair before one of the pier-glasses, and was busily
+    engaged in trying on the ornaments that had just been brought
+    her.</p>
+
+    <p>"Have a care, noble lady!" cried the Uzcoque. "You will do
+    well to let a couple of weeks elapse before you appear in
+    public with those pretty gauds. At any rate, wear them not at
+    to-morrow's ball, lest, perchance, they find an owner. Beware,
+    lady, of the Proveditore Marcello!"</p>
+
+    <p>With a look of peculiar meaning he left the room,
+    accompanied by Father Cipriano. But his warning fell faintly
+    upon the lady's ear, who, though she heard the words, was far
+    too much engrossed in arranging and admiring the costly gems so
+    lately become her own, to give much heed to their import. She
+    remained before her mirror, loading her white neck and arms
+    with chains and jewels, and interweaving diamonds and pearls in
+    her tresses, regardless of the grief of Strasolda who sat in
+    tears and sadness, deploring her father's increasing peril, and
+    the cloud that menaced the future fortunes of her people.</p>
+    <hr />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page316"
+       name="page316"></a>[pg 316]</span>
+
+    <h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+    <h4>THE BALL.</h4>
+
+    <p>The ancient burg, or castle, of Gradiska had been originally
+    on a larger scale, but, at this period, consisted only of a
+    centre, flanked at right angles by two wings ending in square
+    towers, large, grey, and massive, and embattled, with
+    overhanging galleries for sentinels to pace along, while
+    similar galleries, on a smaller scale, extended along the
+    entire front and wings of the castle. The central edifice
+    contained, on the ground-floor, numerous apartments and offices
+    for menials; above which arose a spacious saloon and other
+    lofty apartments, lighted by windows high above the flooring,
+    and terminating in the round-headed arches so commonly seen in
+    the castellated mansions of northern Italy. In this palatial
+    hall preparation had been busy for the ball, to which the wife
+    of the archducal counsellor so impatiently looked forward, as
+    an opportunity to eclipse all rivals by the splendour of her
+    jewels. The hour of reception by the archduke had arrived. The
+    exterior of the spacious edifice was illuminated from end to
+    end by nunerous torches, and the capacious staircase was
+    lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers, in splendid apparel.
+    In the interior of the vast apartment huge waxen tapers were
+    fixed above the <i>chevron</i>, or zig-zag moulding, which ran
+    round the walls, and connected the casement of each window.
+    Large crystal lamps, pendant from the point of each inverted
+    pinnacle on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant
+    light, and imparted life and colour to the rich tapestries,
+    portraying stirring scenes from the Crusades, which covered the
+    walls from floor to window. Complete suits of armour,
+    exhibiting every known device of harness, and numerous weapons,
+    fancifully arranged, decorated the spaces between the windows.
+    And now began to appear, in this scene of splendour, groups of
+    knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and cloth of gold, and
+    attending upon fair dames, sparkling with jewels, and bearing
+    nodding plumes upon their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst
+    these, and towering above all in stature, appeared the haughty
+    mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of dark green velvet,
+    which well relieved the fairness of her complexion, and
+    displaying upon her finely moulded neck and arms a collar and
+    bracelets of large and lustrous oriental pearls. Her firlgers
+    were bedecked with costly rings, and upon her head she wore an
+    ornament of singular device, which soon attracted universal
+    attention. Above the rim of a golden comb, richly chased and
+    studded with brilliants, arose a peacock with expanded tail.
+    The body was of chased gold in imitation of feathers, the
+    arching neck was mosaic work of precious stones, the eyes were
+    sparkling diamonds of the purest water, and the feathers of the
+    tail glittered with emeralds, rubies, and sapphires of singular
+    beauty and lustre. So great was the curiosity excited by the
+    dazzling splendour of these jewels, that the fair wearer was
+    followed round the room by a train of ladies, anxious to
+    observe at leisure a display of ornaments so extraordinary, and
+    whispering to sympathizing ears conjectures not over charitable
+    to the counsellor's wife. When, at length, she had seated
+    herself upon one of the sofas which lined the walls, a circle
+    of admiring gazers was formed, whose numbers were rapidly
+    increased by the attendant cavaliers. While the lady was
+    enjoying her triumph, a bustle at the entrance of the hall
+    turned every head in that direction, when the cause appeared in
+    the person of the young archduke, who entered in full costume,
+    followed by a group of courtiers, and accompanied by a Venetian
+    cavalier, of tall and commanding person, with whom he appeared
+    to be in earnest discourse. The stranger was a large-boned,
+    spare, and powerful man, of middle age, and attired in a black
+    vest and pantaloons of woven silk, with a short cloak, of the
+    same hue. The golden hilt of his rapier, and a gold chain and
+    medallion round his neck, were his only ornaments. His
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page317"
+       name="page317"></a>[pg 317]</span> features were large,
+       regular, and grand, and the gaze of his full dark eyes
+       serene, yet firm and potent; his complexion pale, and
+       contrasting strongly with a dark beard which circled his
+       visage like a frame. His high and massive forehead, and well
+       closed lips, had a character of thought and decision, while
+       his mien and tread were those of one long accustomed to
+       authority. He seemed a man born after his time, and worthy
+       to have lived and acted in the high and palmy days of
+       Venice. After attending the archduke to the steps of the
+       dais at the upper end of the hall, he made his bow, and
+       began to pace the floor in seeming abstraction from the gay
+       scene around him. Arrested in his progress by the numerous
+       groups which, after saluting the archduke, had again
+       collected around the counsellor's lady, he paused in
+       returning conciousness; and, looking for the cause of such
+       unwonted attraction, was enabled, by his lofty stature, to
+       obtain a glimpse of the jewelled lady within the circle. Her
+       features were unknown to him; but when his careless gaze
+       fell upon the rare ornament which crowned her redundant
+       tresses, his countenance became suddenly darkened by some
+       strong emotion. Again, he looked more earnestly, and with
+       increasing wonder and curiosity. Controlling, by a sudden
+       effort, all outward evidence of feeling, he watched his
+       opportunity, and at length penetrating within the crowd,
+       stood for some moments before the object of attraction, and
+       gazed, as if admiringly, upon her various adornments in
+       succession; then, bowing gracefully, he addressed to her
+       some words of compliment upon the splendour and value of the
+       dazzling bird upon her head. "Fair lady," he continued, "I
+       have a daughter whom I fondly love, and fain would I bestow
+       upon her youthful beauty such ornaments as yours. But say, I
+       pray you, where can the cunning hand be found which fashions
+       such glorious birds? Was it in Venice or Vienna that you
+       bought this materpiece of art?" Unsuspicious of evil, and
+       bridling at gratified vanity at this attention from a
+       stranger of such distinguished mien, the spoil-bedecked fair
+       one replied to him as she had done to others.</p>
+
+    <p>"I bought this ornament, some weeks back, in Venice, at the
+    store of a Greek trader from the Levant."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ha!" exclaimed the stranger; "and where dwelt this Greek,
+    that I may see and ask him for another such?"</p>
+
+    <p>The concious lady, embarrassed by such close questioning,
+    and somewhat alarmed by the kindling glances of the questioner,
+    replied in haste&mdash;"Nay, signor, now I remember better, it
+    was not a Greek I bought these gauds, but of a trading Jew, who
+    walks the Merceria with a box of jewellry."</p>
+
+    <p>"Just now, methinks, you said a Greek, fair lady; and now
+    you say a Jew. What next? Why not a Moslem, or perchance <i>an
+    Uzcoque?</i>"</p>
+
+    <p>At this ominous conclusion, which the stranger muttered in
+    tones of marked significance, the alarmed culprit started to
+    her feet; and her fierce temper getting the better of her
+    prudence, she boldly faced the cavalier, exclaiming, in a
+    louder key than beseemed a courtier's wife&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"And who are you, signor, that dare thus question the lady
+    of an archducal counsellor?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Lady!" he sternly answered, "here I am known to none save
+    your husband's master; but in Venice men call me the
+    Proveditore Marcello."</p>
+
+    <p>And now flashed upon the indignant signora a fearful
+    reminiscence of Jurissa's unheeded and forgotten warning, to
+    hide her jewels for a time, and to beware of the Proveditore
+    Marcello. In utter dismay, and nearly fainting with alarm, she
+    sank upon the sofa, and her eyes expanded into the wide stare
+    of terror as she gazed at the menacing visage of the Venetian
+    noble. Unwilling to expose the conscience-striken woman before
+    so numerous an assemblage, he seated himself beside her, and in
+    tones inaudible to others thus whispered in her
+    ear&mdash;"Lady! but eight days back the jewels that you wear
+    were mine. That peacock was my own design, and made for my
+    daughter by a cunning artificer in Candia. Its like exists not
+    in the world; for the mould was made by my order, and broken as
+    soon as used. 'Twas mine until the base Uzcoques plundered my
+    baggage. How thus quickly it passed <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page318"
+       name="page318"></a>[pg 318]</span> from them to you, is as
+       well known to me as to yourself. But mark me, lady! if all
+       these jewels are not delivered at my apartments in the west
+       wing of the castle ere midnight, I will denounce your
+       husband and his colleagues as long-suspected and now-proved
+       partakers with the Pirates of Segna. And, should redress be
+       denied me here, the ambassador of Venice shall report this
+       infamous collusion before a higher tribunal in Vienna."</p>
+
+    <p>Struck dumb by this terrible denunciation, the fair culprit
+    gasped for breath, and her evident distress having been watched
+    in growing wonder by the assembled ladies and cavaliers, the
+    latter began to mutter threats of vengeance. One of them now
+    stepped forward, and, grasping the hilt of his rapier, accused
+    the Venetian of having insulted the wife of a nobleman high in
+    the councils of the archduke, when the Proveditore, looking
+    down upon the courtier with that riveted and intensely piercing
+    gaze which staggers the beholder like a sudden blow, and may
+    still be noted in many of Titian's portraits, answered with
+    brief and startling emphasis&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Signor! you do me grievous wrong. 'Tis I, and not the lady,
+    who am the injured party."</p>
+
+    <p>Awed by his gathering brow, and the settled, stern,
+    unsparing resolution which flashed from every feature, and
+    indicated a man confident in his own resources, the courtiers
+    did involuntary homage to his loftier spirit, and gave way. The
+    proud Venetian strode through the yielding circle and quitted
+    the hall, while the counsellor's wife, pleading illness and
+    fatigue in reply to the pointed and numerous questions of
+    surrounding friends and enemies, summoned her husband to attend
+    her, and retired to her apartments.</p>
+
+    <p>Meanwhile the young Moslem and his companion in misfortune,
+    who had been brought prisoners to Gradiska, were confined in
+    one of the massive towers which flanked the castle. They had
+    arrived not long before the comencement of the festival, and
+    when going under guard along a corridor in the east wing,
+    Ibrahim passed the open door of an apartment in which Strasolda
+    was adjusting the rich jewels of the counsellor's lady before
+    her appearance in the ball-room. Startled by the approaching
+    tramp of armed men, the Uzcoque maiden raised her eyes, and
+    beheld the noble and well-remembered features of the young
+    Turk, whose captive she had been, and whose image had so
+    strangely reappeared to her through the flitting cloud of smoke
+    in the cavern. "Mother of Heaven!" she exclaimed, covering her
+    eyes with her hands; "do I again behold that Moslem youth, ever
+    appearing when least expected?" Again she gazed; but the
+    prisoners, hurried onward by their guards, had proceeded to the
+    end of the corridor, where a narrow winding staircase,
+    fashioned in the immense thickness of the tower wall, led to
+    their appointed prison, a large square apartment, the sides of
+    which were panneled to a considerable height, and imperfectly
+    lighted by small windows, or rather embrasures, perforating a
+    wall many feet in thickness. Here they were left to their
+    reflections, and to what comfort they could derive fron a lamp
+    and a supply of provisions. Hassan, wearied with his journey,
+    hastily swallowed his supper, and, stretching himself upon a
+    paillasse, soon forgot his calamities in sound repose. Ibrahim,
+    more vigilant and less apprehensive of future evil, as the
+    Turks and Austrians were then at peace, paced awhile along the
+    floor of his spacious prison, musing on the peerless charms of
+    the Uzcoque maiden. From time to time he gazed upon the walls
+    and windows as if calculating the chances of escape, when
+    gradually the peculiar and regular design of the panneling
+    caught and fixed his attention. It was divided by prominent
+    mouldings into oblong squares, from the centres of which
+    projected large diamond-shaped bosses of carved oak. This
+    peculiarity at length roused into action some reminiscences of
+    the early life and adventures of his beloved patron, the pacha
+    of Bosnia, to the recital of which he had often, in his
+    boyhood, listened with eager delight. These recollections, at
+    first shadowy and indistinct, became gradually more vivid and
+    accurate, until finally the full conviction flashed upon him
+    that his benefactor, when taken prisoner in his youth by the
+    Austrians, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page319"
+       name="page319"></a>[pg 319]</span> had been confined in this
+       very tower and room, and, by a singular discovery, had been
+       enabled to liberate himself and his fellow-prisoners. The
+       pacha, then a subordinate in rank, in endeavouring to reach
+       the level of one of the embrasures, had mounted upon the
+       shoulders of a comrade, and was supporting himself by a firm
+       grasp of the large boss in the centre of the pannel, when
+       suddenly he felt it turning round in his hand. Surprised to
+       find it not a fixture, he pulled it towards him, and found
+       that it slowly yielded to the impulse. Drawing it out of the
+       socket, he saw it followed by an iron chain, which for a
+       time resisted all his efforts, but at length gave way, and
+       he heard a grating sound like the drawing of a rusty bolt.
+       Suddenly the entire pannel shook, and then the lower end
+       started back sufficiently to betray a recess in the wall.
+       Hastily descending on his comrade's shoulders, and pushing
+       back the pannel, he discovered that it was supported by
+       hinges, and was doubtless intended to conceal a secret issue
+       from the castle, which he soon ascertained, and effected his
+       escape. These facts were all that the memory of Ibrahim
+       could supply; but they were enough to guide him in his
+       search, and he immediately proceeded to sound the pannels in
+       succession with his fist. Commencing with the southern or
+       outer wall, which he supposed more massive and more likely
+       to contain a secret passage, he sounded each pannel, and
+       perceiving in the corner one more reverberation than in the
+       others, he roused Hassan from his slumbers. "Hassan!
+       Hassan!" he exclaimed, "Arouse thee, man! and listen to good
+       tidings." The awakened sleeper gazed with half-opened eyes
+       upon his excited companion, and would have dropped to sleep
+       again had not a few words of explanation and the hope of
+       escape fully roused him. Having with some difficulty perched
+       his rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibrahim, he
+       followed his directions and grasped the wooden boss, which,
+       to the inexpressible delight of both, yielded, as it had
+       done forty years before to the captive Turk, and displayed
+       the iron chain. Bidding Hassan replace the boss, Ibrahim
+       determined to postpone his attempt until the festival had
+       collected all the guards and menials into the central
+       edifice and its approaches. An hour before midnight, when
+       the young Moslem expected the revelry would be at its
+       height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders, and after
+       many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded in drawing up
+       the bolt. The pannel receded some inches, and Ibrahim
+       raising it still further, seized the lamp and entered a
+       small oblong recess in the wall, which was not less than ten
+       or twelve feet in thickness. Perceiving no outlet, he
+       examined the wooden flooring, and soon discovered a trap,
+       which, when raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a
+       steep and narrow descending staircase, leading apparently to
+       some sally-port beyond the castle ditch. After carefully
+       trimming his lamp, he was about to lead the way into this
+       dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and sudden, as of something
+       falling in the adjacent prison, caught his ear. Retracing
+       his steps, he re-entered the apartment, where, after a brief
+       search, he found beneath one of the embrasures a paper
+       folded round a large pebble. Hastily opening it, the
+       following lines, written in the <i>lingua Franca</i> so
+       common in the Levant, were visible.</p>
+
+    <p>"Moslem! If thy soul belie not thy noble form and features,
+    thou wilt not withhold thine aid from a bereaved and sorrowing
+    daughter. Before to-morrow's sunset thou wilt be free, for
+    Austria wars not with the Turk. Then straight repair to Venice,
+    and there await the Battle of the Bridge. Take thy stand
+    beneath the portal of St Barbara, and follow the man who
+    whispers in thine ear,</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"STRASOLDA."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Mashallah!" shouted the enraptured youth, "these lines are
+    from the Uzcoque maiden; and by the gates of Paradise I'll do
+    her bidding, though it perils life."</p>
+
+    <p>For a time he was tempted to follow her guidance implicitly,
+    and await the promised release from the authorities of
+    Gradiska; recollecting, however, the proverbial slowness of
+    Austrian counsellors, and too restless and ardent to endure
+    suspense, he resumed his purpose of exploring the secret
+    passage. After he had secured the <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page320"
+       name="page320"></a>[pg 320]</span> pannel and replaced the
+       boss, he bade Hassan follow him and began to descend. The
+       staircase ended in a small passage round an angle, beyond
+       which he discovered a similar descent, followed by another
+       angle and staircase, proving that this secret issue from the
+       castle penetrated through each of the four massive walls
+       which formed the tower. At length their further progress was
+       stopped by a door, originally strong and plated with iron,
+       but now so much decayed, that although fastened by bolts
+       without, the joint strength of the two captives forced it
+       from its hinges. They now entered a vaulted passage of hewn
+       stone, low and narrow, and with no visible termination. As
+       they advanced, the long pent-up and dank unwholesome vapours
+       made it difficult to breathe, and compelled Ibrahim to pause
+       repeatedly and trim his lamp, which burned so dimly in this
+       oppressive atmosphere as to be nearly extinguished. After a
+       while the path began to slope upwards, and erelong they
+       distinguished moonlight faintly streaming through a tangled
+       mass of ivy which concealed the remains of an iron grating,
+       broken probably in his patron's successful attempt to escape
+       by this secret passage from the prison above. Gazing through
+       the aperture, they perceived not many feet below what had
+       once been the castle ditch, now dry, and forming a portion
+       of the archduke's gardens. With a joyous heart and an
+       elastic bound, Ibrahim reached the soft turf beneath. The
+       more timid and helpless Hassan lowered himself by clinging
+       to a remaining iron bar, and with the aid of his companion
+       was soon on his feet, enjoying, with many thanks to Allah,
+       the fresh air of heaven and the consciousness of escape from
+       captivity. The gates of the palace gardens being unguarded
+       during the festival, the liberated prisoners reached the
+       coast without an obstacle, compelled a fisherman to take
+       them in his bark across the Adriatic, and land them on the
+       Lido, which forms the outward limit of the port of Venice.
+       Then making free with an unwatched gondola, they sped across
+       the bay, and were soon in safety, beneath the roof of a
+       Turkish trader and correspondent of Hassan.</p>
+
+    <p>Before their escape was discovered on the following morning,
+    the indignant Proveditore had departed for Venice, and
+    Strasolda had disappeared.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page321"
+       name="page321"></a>[pg 321]</span> <a name="bw341s4"
+          id="bw341s4"></a>
+
+    <h2>COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.<a id="footnotetag5"
+       name="footnotetag5"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></h2>
+
+    <p>The appearance of this work was heralded some three months
+    since, as divers of our readers may possibly remember, by a
+    species of puff-preliminary, for which even the annals of Great
+    Marlborough Street afforded no precedent&mdash;being nothing
+    less than the appearance of Mr Colburn, <i>in propri&acirc;
+    person&acirc;</i>, at the bar of the police-office adjoining
+    his premises, to answer the complaint of the gallant and irate
+    author for what he was pleased to consider the unwarrantable
+    detention of the MS. from which his narrative had been printed.
+    It was alleged, in extenuation, that "the gallant colonel's MS.
+    was so nearly undecipherable, that Mr Colburn had been put to
+    considerable expense in revising the press;"&mdash;and a
+    mysterious and curiosity-provoking hint was further thrown out,
+    that "it was the custom of the trade, that, until a work was
+    published, the MS. should not be parted with by the publisher,
+    as it might turn out that some part of it was libellous, and in
+    such case the publisher must produce the MS." In the end the
+    gallant colonel (whom the newspaper reports described as "very
+    much excited,") took nothing by his motion in regard to the
+    recovery of the MS.; but though in this respect he may have
+    been somewhat scurvily treated, we cannot equally sympathize
+    with his complaints of the work not having been duly
+    <i>advertised</i>; for surely all the little "neatly turned
+    paragraphs" that ever proceeded from Mr Colburn's laboratory,
+    could not have been so effectual as the method struck out by
+    the impromptu genius of the colonel himself, in intimating to
+    the public that something quite out of the common way might be
+    expected from the forthcoming production thus brought before
+    its notice.</p>
+
+    <p>And verily those who have been prepared for a queer volume,
+    will not be disappointed in the diary of our choleric and
+    corpulent colonel. If ever the assurance, which seems to be
+    regarded as indispensable in the preface to works of this
+    class, that the author "wrote the following pages purely for
+    his own amusement," bore the stamp of unequivocal truth, it is
+    in the present instance; and, notwithstanding the asseverations
+    of Mr Colburn and his literary employ&eacute;s, it is difficult
+    to conceive that any revision whatever can have been bestowed
+    on the rough notes of the writer, since they were first hastily
+    committed to paper amidst the scenes which they describe. The
+    style is as rambling and unconnected as the incidents to which
+    it refers; but wherever the author's devious footsteps lead us,
+    from the jungles of Bundelcund to the holy gh&acirc;ts of
+    Hurdwar, the principal figure is always that of the colonel
+    himself, who, in the portly magnificence of twenty stone minus
+    two pounds, fills up the whole foreground with himself and his
+    accessories of servants, elephant, stud, Nagoree cows, and
+    other component parts of the <i>suwarree</i> or suite of a
+    <i>Qui-hye</i>, who can afford to make himself comfortable
+    after the fashion of the country. The quantity (sometimes not
+    trifling) and quality of his meals, the consequent state of his
+    digestion, and his endless rows on the score of accommodations
+    and forage with thannadars, darogahs, kutwals, and all the
+    other designations for Hindoo and Hindoostani jacks-in-office,
+    (for to Feringhi society he appears to have been not very
+    partial,) may doubtless have been points of peculiar interest
+    to the colonel himself, but are not likely to engage the
+    attention of the world in general, and had better have been
+    omitted in the revision of the diary, instead of being
+    chronicled, as they are on all occasions, with wearisome
+    minuteness of detail. But with <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page322"
+       name="page322"></a>[pg 322]</span> all these drawbacks, a
+       man who, as he says of himself, "has dwelt in India
+       twenty-five years, and traversed it from the snowy range to
+       Bombay on the west, must have seen something of the country,
+       and may be supposed to know something of the
+       natives"&mdash;among whom, by the way, he seems to have
+       mingled more familiarly than most Feringhis; and in spite of
+       all the egotism and rigmarole with which his pages abound,
+       the rambles of this "stout gentleman" through Upper India,
+       and some other parts of the country not much visited by
+       Europeans, present us with a good deal of plain sense and
+       sterling matter, viewed, it is true, with the eccentric eye
+       of a humorist, and frequently couched in very odd
+       phraseology; but not the less true on that account. His
+       opinions on all men and all things are expressed with the
+       same honesty and candour with which he narrates the various
+       scrapes in which he was involved, while pushing right a-head
+       like an elephant through a jungle;&mdash;and though laughing
+       at him quite as often as with him, we have found the
+       colonel, on the whole, far from an unpleasant travelling
+       companion.</p>
+
+    <p>Bareilly, on the fronters of Oude and Rohilcund, was the
+    colonel's starting-point;&mdash;and thence on St Patrick's
+    day<a id="footnotetag6"
+       name="footnotetag6"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> he set forward for Hurdwar, at
+       the head of a retinue, the members of which, both quadruped
+       and biped, he enumerates seriatim, giving the <i>pas</i> to
+       the former&mdash;a precedence perhaps well merited by steeds
+       up to such a welter weight under the climate of India, over
+       such a set of unredeemed and thriftless knaves as he
+       describes his native attendants. Accordingly, he gives the
+       names and pedigrees of the whole stud, from "the buggy mare
+       Maiden-head and my wicked little favourite Fish-Guts," up to
+       "my favourite brood-mare Fair Amelia, purchased at a prize
+       sale on the frontier, and bred by the king of Bokhara, with
+       his royal stamp on her near flank&mdash;stands nearly
+       fifteen and a half hands high, with magnificent action and
+       great show of blood&mdash;had, when taken, four gold rings
+       in her nostrils, now removed and replaced by silver, which
+       will be stolen by her groom one by one." His first day's
+       march was to Futtehgunge, ("the mart of victory," being the
+       scene of the memorable battle in 1774, in which the English,
+       as the bought allies of the Nawab Shoojah-ed-dowlah,
+       defeated and slew the gallant Rohilla chief, Hafez-Rehmut;)
+       and here he oracularly announced a discovery in gastronomy,
+       of which it would be unpardonable not to give our readers
+       the benefit. "I used my farourite condiment, tomata sauce,
+       with my beef; and <i>to all who are ignorant</i> of this
+       delicious vegetable I may venture to recommend its sauce, as
+       at once both wholesome and savoury, if eaten with anything
+       but cranberry tart or apple pie!" It is melancholy to
+       reflect how often the best efforts of genius are anticipated
+       and rendered of no avail. The colonel, when he penned this
+       sentence with a heart overflowing with Epicurean
+       philanthropy, was evidently unconscious that "chops and
+       tomata sauce" were already familiar to the British public
+       from the immortal researches of Mr Pickwick!</p>
+
+    <p>Rampore, in the territory of which the colonel now found
+    himself, is still a semi-independent state, the Nawab of which
+    has a revenue of sixteen lacs of rupees, (&pound;160,000,)
+    while the city, being without the pale of English law, is "a
+    city of refuge, a very Goshen of robbers, ... the streets are
+    crowded with a mob of very handsome, idle, lounging fellows,
+    having generally the fullest and finest jet-black beards and
+    black mustaches in the world. Many of these were handsomely
+    dressed, and many (which struck me as a very curious fact)
+    appeared clean!" These were the Pathans and Rohillas, partly
+    descended from the original Moslem conquerors of India, and
+    partly from those who have more recently migrated from
+    Affghanistan and the adjoining countries. The most athletic and
+    warlike race among the Indian <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page323"
+       name="page323"></a>[pg 323]</span> Mahommedans, and too
+       proud of their blood to exercise any profession but that of
+       arms, they are found in every town throughout Upper India,
+       swaggering about with sword, shield, and matchlock, in the
+       retinues of the native princes, and ready to join any
+       enterprise, or flock to the standard of any invader, through
+       whose means any prospect is afforded of shaking off the
+       Feringhi yoke, and resuming their ancient predominance in
+       the country which their forefathers won by their swords from
+       the idolaters. "They hate us with the most intense
+       bitterness, and can any one be surprised at it? We have
+       taken their broad lands foot by foot." Few if any of these
+       turbulent spirits are found in our European regular native
+       army; their dislike to the cumbrous accoutrements and
+       awkward European saddles operating equally, perhaps, with
+       the severity of the drill and discipline to deter them; but
+       they form the strength of the various corps of irregular
+       horse&mdash;a force which, of late years, has most
+       judiciously been greatly increased in numbers, and the
+       uniform dashing bravery of which in the field, strongly
+       contrasts with the misconduct of one at least of the regular
+       native cavalry regiments in the late Affghan war. "I have
+       seen," (says the colonel,) "a lineal descendant of Pathan
+       Nawab's serving in the ranks of Hearsay's horse, as a common
+       trooper on twenty rupees a-month, out of which he had merely
+       to buy and feed his horse, procure clothes, arms, and
+       harness, and sustain his hereditary dignity! By his
+       commander and his fellow-soldiers he was always addressed by
+       his title of Nawab Sahib!"</p>
+
+    <p>The small-pox was committing dreadful ravages in Rampore and
+    its neighbourhood; and though vaccination was performed gratis
+    at Bareilly, the fatalist prejudices of the natives, even of
+    those of rank and education, prevented them from availing
+    themselves of the boon. All the instances of the colonel, in
+    behalf of a charming little girl, four years old, whose mother
+    and sister had already taken the infection, could get from her
+    father nothing more than a promise "to think of it! If it's her
+    fate&mdash;&mdash;" said he. "'You fool!' said I, in my civil
+    way," (and the colonel's <i>brusquerie</i> was here, at least,
+    not misplaced,) "'if a man throws himself into the fire or a
+    well, or in the path of a tiger, is he without blame?'" Such
+    apathy seems almost unaccountable to English minds; but it may
+    find a parallel in Lady Chatterton's story of the Irish
+    parents, <a id="footnotetag7"
+       name="footnotetag7"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> who, after refusing to spend
+       fourpence in nourishment for a dying child, came in deep
+       grief after its death to their employer, to solicit an
+       advance of thirty shillings to <i>wake the corpse</i>!
+       Perhaps some ingenious systematists might hence deduce a
+       fresh argument in favour of the alleged oriental origin of
+       the Irish.</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's next stage was to Moradabad, another Pathan
+    city, but under the <i>raj</i> of the Company, where, in a
+    visit to a native original, named Meer Mahommed, he was greatly
+    delighted by his new friend's introduction of the English word
+    <i>swap</i> into a sentence of Hindoostani. And on the 25th he
+    reached Dhampore, where the welcome proclamation, "that the new
+    moon had been seen," terminated the fast of the Ramazan, to the
+    uncontrollable joy of the Mussulmans, who would have been
+    subjected to another day's abstinence if it had not been
+    perceived till the succeeding evening. The colonel, however,
+    slyly remarks, that "it was very odd that the <i>Hindoos</i>
+    could not see the new moon," and hints that their imperfection
+    of vision was shared by himself, but it was otherwise decided
+    by the Faithful; and he proceeded, amid the noisy rejoicings of
+    the Moslem feast of <i>Bukra-Eed</i>, (called by the Turks
+    Bairam,) by Najeena, the Birmingham of Upper India, to
+    Nujeebabad. Here resided, on a pension of 60,000 rupees
+    (&pound;6000) a-year from the English government, the Nawab
+    Gholam-ed-deen, better known by the nickname of Bumbo Khan, a
+    brother of the once famous Rohilla chief Gholam-Khadir. Though
+    past eighty years of age, and weighing upwards of twenty stone,
+    he had not lost, any more than the equiponderant colonel, his
+    taste for the good things of this world; and our
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page324"
+       name="page324"></a>[pg 324]</span> traveller, on partaking
+       of the Nawab's hospitality, records with infinite zest the
+       glories of a peculiar preparation of lamb, called
+       <i>nargus</i>, or the narcissus. But, alas! the
+       reminiscences of the nargus were less grateful than the
+       fruition, and the remorse of the colonel's guilty stomach
+       (as poor Theodore Hooke, or some one else, used to call
+       indigestion) continued to afflict him all the way to
+       Hurdwar; and may probably account, by the consequent
+       irritation of his temper, for various squabbles in which he
+       was involved on the route.</p>
+
+    <p>The great fair of Hurdwar was in full swing at the colonel's
+    arrival, with its vast concourse of Hindoo devotees from all
+    parts of India, to whom it is in itself a spot of peculiar
+    sanctity, besides lying in the way to the shrine of Gungotree,
+    (the source of the Ganges,) in the Himmalaya&mdash;its crowds
+    of merchants and adventurers of all sorts, even from Uzbek
+    Tartary and the remote regions of Central Asia&mdash;Seiks by
+    thousands from the Punjab, with their families&mdash;Affghan
+    and Persian horse-dealers&mdash;and numerous grandees, both of
+    the Hindoo and Moslem faith, who repair hither as to a scene of
+    gaiety and general resort. The colonel found quarters in the
+    tent of a friend employed in the purchase of horses for
+    government, and seems to have entered with all his heart into
+    the humours of the scene; his description of which, and of the
+    varied characteristics of the motley groups composing the half
+    million of human beings present, is one of the most graphic and
+    picturesque sketches in his work. "Huge heaps of assafoetida,
+    in bags, from the mountains beyond Cabool&mdash;tons of raisins
+    of various sorts&mdash;almonds, pistachio nuts, sheep with four
+    or five horns&mdash;Balkh<a id="footnotetag8"
+       name="footnotetag8"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> cats, with long silken hair;
+       of singular beauty&mdash;faqueers begging, and abusing the
+       uncharitable with the grossest and most filthy
+       language&mdash;long strings of elderly ladies, proceeding in
+       a chant to the priests of the Lingam, to bargain for bodily
+       issue&mdash;Gh&acirc;t priests presenting their books for
+       the presents and signatures of the European
+       visitors&mdash;groups of Hindoos surrounding a Bramin, who
+       gives each of them a certificate of his having performed the
+       pilgrimage"&mdash;such are a few of the component parts of
+       the scene; but the colonel's attention seems to have been
+       principally fixed upon the horses, and the tricks of the
+       <i>dulals</i> or brokers, to whom the purchase is generally
+       confided, it being almost hopeless for an European to make a
+       personal bargain with a native dealer. But among the
+       greatest curiosities in this way were some
+       <i>tortoiseshell</i> ponies&mdash;for we can call them
+       nothing else&mdash;a peculiar race from Uzbek Tartary, which
+       we never remember to have heard of before. "They were under
+       thirteen hands high, and the most curious compound of
+       colours and marks that can be imagined. Suppose the animal
+       pure, snowy white; cover the white with large, irregular,
+       light bay spots through which the white is visible; in the
+       middle of these light bay let there be dark bay marbled
+       spots; at every six or eight inches plant rhomboidal patches
+       of a very dark iron-grey; then sprinkle the whole with dark
+       flea-bites! There's a <i>phooldar</i>, ( flower-market,) as
+       they call them;" and we agree with the colonel that such an
+       animal would be a fortune at Bartlemy fair.</p>
+
+    <p>Among the distinguished visitors to Hurdwar at this season
+    of festivity was the noted Begum Sombre, or Sumroo, whose face
+    the colonel compares to that of an old Scotch highlander, and
+    her person to a sackful of shawls, and who declared "that the
+    Duke of Wellington <i>must</i> be at heart a Catholic,
+    <i>because</i> he emancipated the Catholics!" He also renewed
+    his gastronomic friendship with his friend Bumbo Khan, with
+    whom the recollections of past indigestion did not prevent him
+    from feasting on <i>mahaseer</i>, a delicious fish found in
+    this part of the Ganges; and on this occasion his Apician
+    ecstasies are not alloyed by subsequent regrets&mdash;"even now
+    the recollection soothes me"&mdash;and he recommends
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page325"
+       name="page325"></a>[pg 325]</span> such of his readers as
+       are yet ignorant of this luxury to start forthwith for
+       Hurdwar and repair the omission. The fair ended April 13;
+       and the colonel having previously succeeded in disposing of
+       his buggy to a potentate whom he calls "the Kheerea
+       Thunnasir Rajah," (we believe, the ruler of one of the Seik
+       protected states,) and buying a stout Turcomani pony for the
+       hills, started the same day on the road to Suharunpoor. He
+       favours his readers, <i>en passant</i>, with some
+       exceedingly original speculations touching the Mosaic
+       deluge, in reference to the hills about Hurdwar, which do
+       not speak very highly for his attainments in geology, though
+       in some other branches of natural history, and particularly
+       in botany, he appears to be no mean proficient. The journey
+       was disturbed by attempts to steal the colonel's new
+       purchase, (which was not, like the rest of the stud,
+       distinguished from the horses of the country by having its
+       tail cut,) and by a quarrel at Secunderpore with a
+       thannadar, or native police magistrate, whose European
+       superior's neglect of the colonel's complaint he charitably
+       attributes to "some (I hope slight) derangement of the
+       stomach." At Suharunpore he visited the well-known botanist
+       Dr Royle, the curator of the Company's botanic garden there,
+       then engaged in those labours on the Flora of the Himmalayas
+       which have been since given to the world; and at Boorea,
+       leaving the British territory, he entered that of the
+       protected Seik states, whose petty chieftains are secured in
+       their semi-independence by the treaty with Runjeet in 1809,
+       which confined the ruler of Lahore to the right bank of the
+       Sutlej. But their reception of the colonel did not appear to
+       indicate any great degree of gratitude for these favours to
+       the British nation, as represented in his person; for not
+       one of the five Seik chiefs, "each of whom has his own snug
+       little fort close to the city," would supply him with a
+       lodging; and it was only by perseverance and ingenuity that
+       he secured a place to lay his head, after long wrangling
+       with the subordinate functionaries. Matters improved,
+       however, as he advanced further into the country; and, at
+       the little mountain-city of Nahun, he was most hospitably
+       received and entertained by the young rajah, Futteh Pur
+       Grass Sing, "who had been educated almost entirely under the
+       kind and fatherly superintendence of Captain Murray," the
+       commissioner of the Seik states, and whose frank and
+       gentlemanlike manners, "so unlike those of the ghee-fed
+       wretches of the plains," did honour to his guardian's
+       precepts. The town of Nahun, which is 3600 feet above the
+       level of the sea, is described as clean and well paved; and
+       the rajah, whose revenue had been increased under the
+       management of Captain Murray from 37,000 to 53,000 rupees,
+       was highly popular, and by the colonel's account deservedly
+       so, with his subjects. He earnestly pressed "the fat
+       gentleman" (whose caution in mounting an elephant, while two
+       men on the other side of the howdah balanced his weight,
+       vehemently excited his risibility) to return to the plains
+       through Nahun, and have a month's shooting with him in the
+       valley; but whether the invitation was accepted or not
+       remains untold, as&mdash;"Alas for the literature of the
+       age! when I was ordered to Bundelcund, a vile thief entered
+       my tents at night, and robbed me of my second volume; and
+       thus did I lose my carefully written account of the
+       sub-Himmalayan range, which cost me fully eight months'
+       labour."</p>
+
+    <p>Thus abruptly terminates the first part of the colonel's
+    travels, and at the commencement of the second we find him
+    crossing the Jumna to Calpee, the frontier town of Bundelcund,
+    a wild and unsettled province, prolific in Thugs and bad
+    characters of all sorts, and principally inhabited by a
+    peculiar race called Bundelas, who have never been perfectly
+    reconciled to the British supremacy, and who, at this present
+    writing, are kept quiet only by the presence of a force of
+    15,000 men. Calpee is said to be the hottest place in India,
+    the thermometer in June, according to the colonel, standing
+    even on a cloudy day at 145 degrees&mdash;a degree of heat
+    almost incredible; and it is also the principal mart for the
+    cotton, which the rich black soil of Bundelcund produces of
+    finer quality than any other part of Hindostan. But,
+    notwithstanding its commercial inportance, the town was
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page326"
+       name="page326"></a>[pg 326]</span> at this time left to the
+       government of a native Darogah or chief of police, the
+       nearest European courts being at Hameerpore, thirty miles
+       distant, and the state of society seems to have been
+       somewhat singular. Among its most conspicuous members is
+       "Gopal, the celebrated robber, murderer, and smuggler, a
+       tall athletic man about forty-two years of age, with a most
+       hideous muddy eye, having the glare of hell itself. It is
+       said that he has always fifteen servants in stated pay, and
+       can in a few hours command the services of three hundred
+       armed and desperate men; and the strength and vigour of the
+       Calpee police may be estimated by the fact, that he has been
+       known to walk into the house of a rich merchant in the
+       centre of the town, when he was surrounded by his servants
+       and family; he has very coolly selected the gold bangles of
+       his children, and silenced the trembling remonstrances of
+       the Mahajun by threats of vengeance; nor is this a solitary
+       instance. When he murders, he is equally above all
+       concealment; as in the recent case of a sepahee returning
+       home with his savings, who was waylaid and murdered by our
+       hero in open day. He very coolly gave himself up,
+       acknowledging that he had killed the sepahee, who had first
+       assaulted him. It was proved on the trial, that the sepahee
+       was wholly unarmed, and he was condemned to be hung by the
+       court of Hameerpore on his own confession, but released,
+       <i>from want of evidence</i>, by the Sudder Court at
+       Calcutta. Their objection was excellent, though curious;
+       that if his confession was taken, it must be taken
+       altogether, and not that part only which could lead to his
+       conviction. He was released, and now walks about in his
+       Sunday clothes, a living evidence of British
+       tenderness."</p>
+
+    <p>Gopal was not the only amiable character with whom the
+    colonel became acquainted at Calpee, as he sought and obtained
+    an interview with a famous Thug approver, who had retired from
+    the active exercise of his profession, and was travelling the
+    country in company with a party of police, denouncing his
+    former associates to justice. We cannot help suspecting, both
+    from the traits recorded of him, and from the vicinity of
+    Calpee to his former residence at Jalone, that this personage
+    was no other than the celebrated Ameer Ali, whose adventures
+    formed the ground of Captain Meadows Taylor's well-known
+    "Confessions of a Thug;" and as a pendant to the already
+    published descriptions of him, we here quote the impression he
+    made upon the colonel. "I expected to see a great man, but at
+    the first glance I saw that I was in the presence of a master.
+    The Thug was tall, active, and slenderly formed; his head was
+    nearly oval; his eye most strongly resembled that of a cobra di
+    capello; its dart was perfectly wild and maniacal, restless,
+    brilliant, metallic, and concentrated." The colonel had a
+    narrow escape from irretrievably affronting this eminent
+    professor of murder, by unguardedly enquiring whether he was in
+    any way cognizant of a trifling robbery by which the colonel
+    himself had been a sufferer. "No, sir!" he exclaimed with a
+    look which might have frozen a less innocent querist; "murder,
+    not robbery, is my profession ... and none but the merest
+    novices would descend so low as to rob a tent or a
+    dwelling-house." The colonel, however, expresses a shrewd
+    suspicion, from circumstances which had come to his knowledge,
+    that his distinguished visitor's <i>esprit de corps</i> led him
+    to deviate from truth in this particular&mdash;a belief in
+    which Captain Taylor's pages fully bear him out.</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's movements, after quitting Calpee and its
+    attractive circles, appear to have been somewhat desultory. We
+    find him, successively, at Murgaon or Murgong, Julalpore,
+    Keitah, &amp;c., without being told what decided his route; but
+    from some subsequent remarks, it appears probable that he was
+    engaged on engineering service by order of Government. Between
+    Julalpore and Keitah he fell in with a gang of <i>nutts</i>
+    <a id="footnotetag9"
+       name="footnotetag9"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> or <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page327"
+       name="page327"></a>[pg 327]</span> gipsies, whom the beauty
+       of their women (a point to which the colonel is always
+       alive) did not prevent him from suspecting of an intention
+       to practise <i>thuggee</i> on his own portly person&mdash;a
+       belief in which he was confirmed by hearing them speak <i>in
+       another tongue</i> among themselves&mdash;no doubt the
+       <i>Ramasee</i>, or cant language of the Thugs, subsequently
+       made known to the world at large by the investigations of
+       Major Sleeman. At Goraree he purchased some small cups,
+       carved from the variegated serpentine of the rock on which
+       the town is built; but, on proposing to employ the artist in
+       making some larger vases, "he told me that he was a very
+       poor man, and his efforts had never been directed to larger
+       patterns; meaning to infer that it was impossible he could
+       either try or succeed!" Such is Hindoo nature!</p>
+
+    <p>Churkaree, the capital of Ruttun Sing Buhadoor, one of the
+    principal of the numerous rajahs among whom Bundelcund is
+    divided, is described as "prettily situated on the side of the
+    hill, over a lake covered with the white lotus flower, and
+    having a very fine appearance from a distance, as most of the
+    houses have their upper stories whitewashed, and are seen
+    peeping through the dark-green leafy trees of the country, but
+    the town, which contains perhaps 15,000 souls, of whom 1000 may
+    be Mussulmen, is very straggling, irregular, and dirty." The
+    male population were all fiercely mustached, and loaded with
+    arms; but their repulsive exterior was more than compensated by
+    the charms of the other sex, all of whom wore immense hollow
+    ankle bangles of zinc, filled with bits of gravel, which
+    tinkled as they walked. "I have never seen so many well-formed
+    and handsome women together as I did at the wells outside the
+    town, drawing water <i>&agrave; la Rebecca</i>. Some of their
+    faces were strikingly intelligent, and their figures eminently
+    graceful. The population is almost purely Hindoo; and I think
+    the Hindoo females are more delicate in their forms than the
+    Mussulmanees." The Rajah was, however, absent on a sporting
+    excursion, and the darogah refused to provide the colonel with
+    lodgings, alleging his master's orders that no Feringhis should
+    be allowed in the town; and it was not till after a long
+    altercation, of which the colonel gives himself greatly the
+    best, that he succeeded in finding quarters in the house of a
+    <i>bunneea</i> or grocer. But the next day's march (for
+    Bundelcund is almost as thickly set with sovereign princes as
+    Saxony itself) carried him out of the realm of this
+    inhospitable potentate into the territories of the Rajah of
+    Jalone, the once noted patron and protector of Thuggee, by
+    whose agent he was most politely received at Mahoba, a once
+    splendid but now ruined city, celebrated for its artificial
+    lakes, which in long-past times were formed by a famous Rajpoot
+    prince named Purmal, by damming up the narrow gorges of the
+    hills. "Never had I seen, in the plains of India, a prospect
+    more enchanting! Conceive a beautiful sheet of calm, clear,
+    silvery water, of several miles in circumference, occasionally
+    agitated by the splashing leaps of large fishes, or the gradual
+    alighting of noble swan-like aquatic birds: its margin broken
+    as if by the most skilful artist; now running into the centre,
+    and ending in most romantic low rocky hills, covered with trees
+    and embellished with black, antique Jain temples, deserted
+    probably for hundreds of years, and at present the retreat of
+    the elegant peafowl; in other places embanked with huge blocks
+    of cut granite, embrowned by the shade of magnificent trees,
+    under which small bright Hindoo temples, carefully whitewashed,
+    might be seen in the shade; or bounded by abrupt rocky
+    promontories, surmounted by many-pillared temples in ruins,
+    hanging in the sky. A fine rich sunset gave an exquisite
+    richness and classic magnificence to the scene. Many little
+    boys with rod and line were ensnaring the sweet little
+    <i>singhee</i>, or the golden <i>rohoo</i> or
+    carp&mdash;bringing back to my heart the days, when, stealing
+    from <span class="pagenum"><a id="page328"
+       name="page328"></a>[pg 328]</span> school, I was wont to sit
+       on the rocks of the Dee, at Craglug, near Aberdeen, watching
+       the motion of a float that was not under water once in the
+       twenty-four hours."</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's laudable habit of associating freely, whenever
+    opportunity occurred, with the natives, gave him considerable
+    insight into the state of the country, where the caprices of
+    the native princes were not then much interfered with, and
+    which consequently, as he says, "was pretty much in the
+    situation of the Emerald Isle;" and verily if the tale told him
+    by the Hindoo <i>gosain</i> or priest at Jour&acirc;ho&ocirc;,
+    of the murder of his predecessor in the temple, and the
+    impunity of the robbers, were correctly related, the Bundelas
+    have not much to learn in the arts of bloodshed and
+    depredation. "This village being a sort of corner to the
+    territories of several Rajahs, robberies, murders, and all
+    other diversions, are of daily occurrence; and when enquiries
+    are made; each territory throws the blame on its neighbour."
+    The maxim of government most current in Bundelcund, both with
+    rulers and ruled, seems indeed to have been&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The good old rule, the simple plan,</p>
+
+            <p>That those should take who have the power,</p>
+
+            <p>And those should keep who can;"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>for while this strange confusion of <i>meum</i> and
+    <i>tuum</i> prevailed among the peasantry, the country was
+    ruined by the oppressive and irregular exactions of the rajahs,
+    both zemindars and cultivators flying from their habitations to
+    escape the levying of the rents, which were often demanded more
+    than once by different collectors. At Chundla, the colonel was
+    lodged in the house of an opulent zemindar, who had absconded
+    for the reason just given; "and one of the thanna servants told
+    me, that, by those means, Bundelcund was depopulated"&mdash;a
+    statement corroborated by the numerous ruined brick houses
+    remaining in the towns among the miserable hovels of the
+    present day. The rajahs of Bundelcund are, almost without
+    exception, of Rajpoot lineage, and thus of a different race
+    from their Bundela subjects; but the condition of the country
+    is much the same wherever it is left under the sway of the
+    Hindoo princes, who are exempt even from the partial restraint
+    which the Koran imposes on the despotism of Mahommedan rulers.
+    The only effectual cure for the evils reigning in Bundelcund
+    will be its formal incorporation with the dominions of the
+    Company&mdash;a consummation which, from the refractory spirit
+    shown in the province after our losses in Affghanistan, is
+    probably not far distant.</p>
+
+    <p>The remainder of the colonel's notes on Bundelcund relate
+    principally to his visits to the ancient hill-fortresses of
+    Ajeegur and Kalingur, both formerly occupied in force by the
+    British, but now&mdash;with the exception of a havildar's
+    (sergeant's) party of sepoys posted at the former, and a single
+    company at the latter&mdash;garrisoned solely by the
+    <i>lungoors</i>, or large black monkeys, whom the colonel found
+    holding solemn assembly in the Jain temples and the hall of
+    audience, built by the famous Rajah Purmal at Ajeegur. While
+    exploring his way along the ruined and overgrown ramparts, he
+    had a narrow escape from the fangs of a large venomous serpent,
+    ("the <i>Katula Rekula Poda</i>, No. 7 of Russell,") on which
+    he was on the point of treading, and which, in commendable
+    gratitude for its forbearance; he allowed to glide off unharmed
+    by his fowling-piece; "but he was the first reptile that ever
+    escaped without the chance of losing his life at my hands." On
+    the road to Kalingur he had an interview with a petitioner, who
+    offered him 400 rupees in cash, or a large diamond, for his
+    interest in a certain case then pending before the judge at
+    Bandah; "but I explained to my client that I was not in that
+    line of business, and as I saw he had no intention of insulting
+    me, we parted friends." Kalingur, which was taken by the
+    British after a long siege in 1812, stands on a rock towering
+    "upwards of 850 feet above the plain below, and probably about
+    3000 feet above the level of the sea;" but its strength as a
+    fortress is as nothing in comparison to its sanctity, which
+    entitles every one, who resides there only as long as it takes
+    to milk a cow, to especial beatitude&mdash;the object of
+    veneration being a <i>lingam</i> of black stone enshrined in a
+    temple, the guardianship of which is <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page329"
+       name="page329"></a>[pg 329]</span> jointly vested in five
+       resident families of Bramins. "At this time," says the
+       colonel, "the place is not worth keeping, the country being
+       so thoroughly impoverished and desolate;" and he
+       accordingly, after viewing the marvels of the locality,
+       pursued his way to Banda, and thence <i>laid a d&acirc;k</i>
+       (or travelled by palanquin with relays of bearers) to
+       Calpee, "there to sit from nine to four, writing filthy
+       accounts of bricks and mortar, square feet, cubic feet, and
+       running feet, rupees, annas, and pie; squabbling with
+       wrinkled unromantic villains, whose cool-tempered and
+       overwhelming patience amply deserve their unlawful
+       gains&mdash;I mean as labourers in the vineyard of
+       villany."</p>
+
+    <p>"A sporting excursion in Oude," in the spring of 1836, comes
+    next in order of time; and in regular order we accordingly take
+    it, though it has pleased either Mr Colburn or the colonel to
+    place it after the voyage down the Ganges. The colonel left
+    Lucknow, March 2; and three days later the whole party
+    rendezvoused at Khyrabad, consisting of "Mrs, Miss, and
+    Brigadier Churchill, Colonel Arnold, Major Cureton, Lieut.
+    Waugh, Dr Ross of her Majesty's 16th Lancers, and the writer of
+    these amiable records;" to whom was soon after added, in the
+    capacity of guide and hanger-on, "Sam Lall, by birth a Chuttree
+    or Rajpoot, by profession a zemindar, and by inclination a
+    sycophant and shikarree, (hunter.)" Indian field sports, with
+    their concomitants of hogs, hogdeer, jungles, elephants,
+    tigers, and nullahs, have been of late years rendered so
+    familiar to stay-at-home travellers, that we shall but
+    concisely notice the colonel's exploits in this forest
+    campaign, which present no remarkable novelty, though detailed
+    <i>con amore</i>, and with the two-fold zest of a sportsman and
+    an epicure. With all deference, indeed, to the colonel, we have
+    shrewd doubts whether the latter feeling was not the
+    predominant one; for the death of a tiger, nine of which fell
+    during the three weeks' foray before the rifles of himself and
+    his companions, is evidently chronicled with less of heart-felt
+    enthusiasm than characterises his encomiums on the hogdeer
+    soup, the delicate floricans and black partridges, (in the
+    preparation of bread sauce, for which, with his own hands, he
+    earned immortal renown,) and the other materials for good
+    living poured forth from the cornucopia of an Indian game-bag.
+    His gastronomic fervour during this jaunt reaches at times an
+    ecstatic pitch, which, as old Weller says, "werges on the
+    poetical." "For him (the gastronomist) the dark rocks and arid
+    plains of the dry Dekkan produce their purple grapes, and
+    cunning but goodly bustard; for him burning Bundelcund its
+    wonderful rock pigeon and ortolan inimitable; the Jumna, most
+    ancient of rivers, its large rich Kala banse, and tasty crabs;
+    for him yields the low and marshy Terace her elegant florican;
+    the mighty Gunga its melting mahaseer; the Goomtee its
+    exquisite mullet. And shall he not eat and delight in her
+    fruits? ... Let the ass eat its thistles, and the swallow its
+    flies <i>au naturel</i>; you and I, reader, know better!"</p>
+
+    <p>One day, while wading on their elephants through a deep
+    marsh in pursuit of a tiger, the chasseurs suddenly stumbled
+    upon a pleasant family party&mdash;"a labyrinth of huge
+    boa-constrictors or pythons, sound asleep, floating on a bed of
+    crushed <i>nurkool</i>, (a gigantic species of reed,) the least
+    of them twenty feet long, and two feet in circumference. A more
+    beautiful natural mosaic cannot be imagined: they appeared,
+    from being wet, as if recently varnished. Perhaps they were
+    from twenty to thirty in number, and occupied a spot of about
+    twenty feet square. No sooner did the dreadful glistening
+    reptiles hear the click of my rifle, and feel its ball, than
+    they shot forth with all their vigour, and diving, disappeared
+    in an instant under the matted roots of the tall nurkool, and,
+    although I tried, I could not get another glimpse." One of
+    these giant serpents, seventeen feet long, and eighteen inches
+    in circumference, which the colonel calls a small one, was shot
+    a few days afterwards by Colonel Arnold. The marsh and jungle
+    swarmed with peacocks, jungle-fowl, and wild-fowl of all sorts,
+    affording glorious sport; and, besides the smaller kinds of
+    deer, several specimens occurred of a magnificent species of
+    stag with twelve-tyned horns, called
+    <i>baru-singa</i>&mdash;apparently allied to <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page330"
+       name="page330"></a>[pg 330]</span> the <i>sambur</i> and
+       <i>rusa</i> of the Dekkan. The comparatively small number of
+       tigers killed was, however, a source of disappointment;
+       since the utility of these battues, in which the superior
+       fire-arms and appliances of the English are brought into
+       action for the destruction of these ferocious animals, may
+       be estimated from the damage done by them in the wilder
+       parts of India, "which is beyond the belief even of
+       Indo-European residents, and must, consequently, appear an
+       exaggeration to distant Englishmen. General (then Captain)
+       Briggs, when resident at Dhoolia in Candeish, in 1821, where
+       his potails, or head men, were obliged to keep a register of
+       the oxen (exclusive of sheep and goats) destroyed in their
+       villages, reported that no less than 21,000 had been killed
+       in three years! As no register is kept in Oude, it is
+       impossible to register the number."</p>
+
+    <p>On the banks of the Mohun-nuddee the party was joined by
+    Rajah Ruttun Sing, a chief holding a considerable tract of
+    country under the suzeraint&eacute; of Oude, who favoured them
+    with his company while they remained in his district&mdash;a
+    compliment which he expected to be acknowledged, as he
+    distinctly intimated on taking leave, by the gift of a valuable
+    fowling-piece; but this modest request was parried by the
+    rejoinder, that none of their guns were good enough for his
+    highness! During one of the halts, an incident occurred which
+    strongly illustrates the inhuman apathy of the Hindoos towards
+    any one not connected with them by the ties of caste. A man was
+    found sitting under a tree near the camp, uttering strange
+    cries, and the servants were desired to order him to withdraw;
+    "they returned, saying carelessly that he was a <i>nutt</i>, or
+    gipsy, who had been robbed." A robbery <i>from</i> a gipsy was
+    such a strange contradiction of terms, that the colonel went
+    personally to enquire into the matter, when he was
+    horror-struck by finding, that the man had been, not only
+    plundered of his earnings by a band of Bunjarras, but
+    frightfully mutilated and wounded, a trifle which the Hindoo
+    servants had not thought worth mentioning. The poor wretch's
+    arm was amputated by Dr Ross; and, being carried with the camp
+    and carefully tended, he was at last dismissed, with a fair
+    prospect of recovery, and with a gift of sixty rupees
+    subscribed among the party; but not even the example of the
+    <i>sahibs</i> could teach the Hindoos humanity, and only the
+    peremptory commands of Dr Ross could prevail upon his bearer to
+    place a mattress under the sufferer! On their return march, the
+    party were further honoured by visits from several rajahs and
+    zemindars, all of whom were "loud in complaint against the
+    extortions of the aumils, who constantly attempted to gather
+    more, and sometimes twice and a half as much, as the stipulated
+    rent, in consequence of which the zemindars were compelled to
+    rebel;" a view of the political condition of Oude which
+    naturally results from its anomalous position, under a
+    sovereign nominally independent, who is at once too weak to
+    control his own subjects, and fearful of diminishing the shadow
+    of authority left to him by calling in the only available aid.
+    On the 29th of March the party again reached Khyrabad, the
+    appointed place of their separation, as it had been of their
+    meeting; and here the narrative, as before, breaks off
+    abruptly.</p>
+
+    <p>The concluding part, in order of time, of the colonel's
+    lucubrations, contains his narrative of a voyage on the Ganges,
+    from Allahabad, by Dhacca, to Calcutta; but the features and
+    incidents of this navigation have been so frequently described
+    by travellers of all sorts and kinds, from Bishop Heber and
+    Captain Bellew to our own much-esteemed Kerim Khan, that we
+    shall devote but brief space to it. He quitted Allahabad, as he
+    informs us, December 5, 1839, so deeply regretted by the native
+    population, that they determined to perpetuate his memory by
+    the erection of a new gh&acirc;t or landing-place, every brick
+    of which was to be stamped with the letter D&mdash;a
+    distinction which he had, no doubt, deserved by the
+    <i>bonhommie</i> towards both Hindoo and Moslem, which forms
+    one of the most favourable traits in the jovial colonel's
+    character. The Tribeenee Gh&acirc;t, immediately below
+    Allahabad, where the streams of the Jumna and the Ganges unite,
+    is one of the holiest spots in India; to which pilgrims
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page331"
+       name="page331"></a>[pg 331]</span> resort from all quarters,
+       in the hope of securing paradise by dying at the junction of
+       the sacred waters. The spirit of religious exclusiveness
+       prevails here as well as in other places; and the colonel
+       mentions his having been once an eyewitness of some rough
+       treatment received by a <i>chumar</i>, or leather-dresser,
+       (one of the lowest castes,) at the hands of some high caste
+       sepoys, who were highly indignant that so mean a carcass
+       should presume to defile the holy ground! Leaving the
+       gh&acirc;ts and devotees behind him, however, and floating
+       down the stream in his capacious three-roomed budgerow, he
+       passed Mirzapoor, Chunar, and even the holy city of Benares,
+       (which he perversely spells Bunarus,) without halting; and
+       reached without adventure or mishap the mouth of the
+       Goomtee, where his attention was attracted by a party of
+       eighteen young elephants, the property of the king of Oude,
+       bathing in the river. "Of all animals, saving the Bundela
+       goat, there is none that suffers more from change of climate
+       than the elephant: of the numbers caught on the eastern
+       frontier, probably not one in four survives a journey to
+       Delhi. Bred in the darkest and most gloomy forests, they are
+       in a great measure sheltered from heat by the eternal
+       moisture of the cool shady bower under which they rove; and
+       are then expected to bear all on a sudden the most intense
+       heat, acting directly on their jet-black skins, when brought
+       into the plains of Upper India. A very clever native told me
+       he could make money by any thing but young elephants."
+       Another curious fact relative to the elephant, mentioned in
+       a subsequent chapter on the authority of Captain Broadfoot
+       of the Madras commissariat, is, that both wild and tame
+       elephants are extremely subject to a pulmonary disease,
+       which proved on dissection to be tubercular&mdash;in fact,
+       consumption! It was found to yield, however, to copious
+       bleedings, if taken in its early stages.</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel's pages, at this point, are filled with
+    digressions and dissertations on subjects somewhat
+    miscellaneous&mdash;Aberdeen pale ale&mdash;the enormities of
+    Warren Hastings' government&mdash;the late James Prinsep and
+    the moral precepts of the Rajah Piy&acirc;d&acirc;see&mdash;and
+    a most incomprehensible rhapsody about "a red mustached member
+    of the Bengal civil service," of which we profess ourselves
+    utterly incompetent to make either head or tail, and strongly
+    recommend the colonel to expunge it if the work reaches another
+    edition. The voyage presents no incidents but the usual ones of
+    pelicans, alligators, and porpoises: and on January 15, he
+    arrived at Dhacca, "the once famous city of muslins." But the
+    muslin trade has now almost wholly disappeared; and with it
+    "the thousands of families of muslin weavers, who, from the
+    extreme delicacy of their manufacture, were obliged to work in
+    pits, sheltered from the heat of the sun and changes of the
+    weather; and even after that precaution, only while the dew lay
+    on the ground, as the increasing heat destroyed the extremely
+    delicate thread." The jungle is in consequence advancing close
+    upon the city, which is thus rendered almost uninhabitable from
+    malaria&mdash;the only manufacturers which continue to flourish
+    being those of violins, bracelets, made from a peculiar shell
+    resembling the <i>Murex tulipa</i>, and&mdash;idols for Hindoo
+    worship!</p>
+
+    <p>The colonel remained at Dhacca till February 4, awaiting
+    ulterior orders from headquarters, and had, consequently,
+    abundance of leisure for making himself acquainted with the
+    place and its people. These researches, however, were not
+    always unattended with danger; for on one occasion, while
+    viewing the city from an elevated building, a piece of plaster
+    was struck from the cornice near where he stood by a matchlock
+    ball&mdash;a delicate hint that the Mussulmans disliked being
+    overlooked. The Nawab, apparently the son of Bishop Heber's
+    acquaintance, Shumseddowlah, still resides in the palace of his
+    ancestors, but is described as an extravagant, uneducated
+    youth, who has mortgaged away his income from 5000 to 200
+    rupees per mensem&mdash;that is, from L.6000 to L.240 per
+    annum. The inhabitants were a mixture of almost all the creeds
+    and nations of Asia&mdash;Chinese, Thibetans, Mugs from
+    Arracan, Burmese, Malays, etc.; but the great majority are
+    Hindoos, whose sanguinary goddess Kalee is adored
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page332"
+       name="page332"></a>[pg 332]</span> in not less than fifty
+       temples. The Greeks and Armenians also have each a church,
+       the services of which, as described by the colonel, are
+       conducted in much the same form as at
+       Constantinople:&mdash;"But among the (Armenian) matrons only
+       was any appearance of devotion visible; one of them, most
+       gorgeously appareled in the Armenian fashion, with a
+       magnificent tiara of jewels on her brow, and wearing a
+       superb shawl, threw herself on the ground, with her head
+       sunk between her arms, towards the altar, and remained in
+       that position nearly five minutes. The others, being dressed
+       <i>&agrave; l'Anglaise</i>, with stiff stays and fashionable
+       bonnets, could not afford to indulge in such a position."
+       The Armenians were formerly numerous in Dhacca, and are
+       still an influential and wealthy body; the Greeks are now
+       "few and far between," but in the palmy days of Dhacca they
+       were a flourishing community.</p>
+
+    <p>Dhacca was a place abounding in strange characters from all
+    parts of the world; and among others whom the colonel
+    encountered, was a singular specimen of a cosmopolite, a native
+    of Fez, who called himself a Moslem, but whom our friend
+    vehemently suspected of being a Jew. He had been almost as
+    great a traveller as his countryman the famous Sheikh Ebn
+    Batuta, whose wanderings are immortalized in the pages of
+    Maga,<a id="footnotetag10"
+       name="footnotetag10"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a> and came last from Moulmein,
+       with a cargo of black pepper and rubies. He had resided
+       seventeen years in India, and proposed to the colonel, whom
+       he claimed as a brother, "since from his own home he could
+       reach England in ten days," that they should jointly freight
+       a vessel with valuables, and go <i>home</i> together! And,
+       among other scattered facts, a casual encounter with some
+       Chinese in the employ of the Assam Tea Company, whom the
+       colonel considerably astonished by addressing them in their
+       own language, introduces "the very curious fact," that at
+       Tipperah, a civil station not more than fifty or sixty miles
+       from Dhacca, the natives have from time immemorial used the
+       tea which grows there abundantly, and is prepared after a
+       fashion of their own. "And yet" (continues the
+       colonel&mdash;and we fear there is too much truth in his
+       remarks) "the existence of the tea-plant is but a recent
+       discovery! Any other nation would have established a
+       tea-manufactory at Tipperah, immediately after the first
+       settlement, and the Yankees would have 'progressed'
+       railroads and steam-boats for its success. India is at this
+       moment a mine of unexplored wealth. No sooner had
+       steam-boats appeared than coal has been discovered in every
+       direction!" The manufacture of native iron in Bengal, which
+       had been pressed upon Lord Hastings, as the colonel seems to
+       imply, by himself, and at first warmly adopted by him, was
+       objected to in the council, and ultimately abandoned, "on
+       the grounds that it would militate against the commercial
+       interests of Great Britain&mdash;that is, against the
+       profits of those India stockholders, possessing votes, who
+       followed the trade of ironmongers!" There is many a true
+       word spoken in jest; and this and other side-cuts of the
+       colonel at the shortsighted proceedings of the Bahadurs at
+       Calcutta, though sometimes queerly worded, contain now and
+       then some unpalatable facts. The administration of the
+       present Governor-General has shown at least some
+       <i>promise</i> of a better state of things&mdash;and if the
+       impulse now given to the development of the resources of
+       India be steadily followed up, this reproach will erelong be
+       taken away. The receipt of his final orders, however, which
+       pointed out China as his destination, put an end to the
+       colonel's speculations; and re-embarking on the stream of
+       the Booree Gunga, he passed, with little incident worth
+       noticing, through the numerous branches of the river, and
+       the picturesque jungles of the Soonderbunds, and arrived
+       safely, after an absence of twenty-one years, at the city of
+       palaces&mdash;and there we leave him.</p>
+
+    <p>The subject of the manufactures and products of India, is
+    not, however, the only point connected with the internal
+    administration, respecting <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page333"
+       name="page333"></a>[pg 333]</span> which some inconvenient
+       facts find their way to light in the colonel's
+       pages&mdash;and with one or two of these revelations, we
+       shall conclude our extracts. The majority of those
+       Anglo-Indian employ&eacute;s, who have favoured the world
+       with "Reminiscences" and "Narratives," are singularly free
+       from the charge of what is familiarly termed "telling tales
+       out of school." According to their account, nowhere is
+       justice so efficiently administered, or its functionaries so
+       accessible, as in our Indian empire; but here, whether from
+       the native frankness of the colonel's disposition, or from
+       his having nothing more to hope or fear from the old Begum
+       in Leadenhall Street, we find this important subject placed,
+       on several occasions, in rather a different light from that
+       in which it is usually represented. It is well known that
+       Sir David Ochterlony, a short time before his death,
+       discovered by mere accident that he was enrolled as a
+       pensioner to a large amount on the civil list of almost
+       every native prince in Upper India, from the emperor of
+       Delhi downwards&mdash;his principal moonshee, or native
+       secretary, having thrown out intelligible hints, as though
+       from his master, that such douceurs would not be without
+       their use in securing his powerful interest at
+       Calcutta&mdash;the moonshee himself quietly pocketing the
+       proceeds. This was certainly an outrageous instance; but it
+       is the direct interest of every native subordinate to screen
+       his own misdeeds and extortions, by promoting to the utmost,
+       in his European superior, that inaccessibility to which he
+       is naturally but too much inclined&mdash;and the extent to
+       which this system of exclusion is carried, may be inferred
+       from the following anecdote. The colonel had been requested
+       by a native landholder of high respectability, to introduce
+       him to the house of a civilian; and on asking why he could
+       not go by himself, was told, "I dare not approach the very
+       compound of the house he lives in! If his head man should
+       hear that I ventured to present myself before the gentleman
+       without his permission, he would immediately harass me by
+       some false complaint, or even by instituting an enquiry into
+       the very title-deeds of my estate, which might, however
+       falsely, terminate in my ruin. It is not long since I paid
+       eleven hundred rupees to &mdash;&mdash; to suppress false
+       claims, which, if they had actually gone into court, would
+       have cost me ten times the sum."</p>
+
+    <p>Of the practical effects of criminal punishments, the
+    colonel does not speak more highly. "In the real Hindoostanee
+    view of the subject, a convict in chains is nearly a native
+    gentleman&mdash;a little rou&eacute;, perhaps&mdash;employed on
+    especial duties in the Company's service, for which he is well
+    fed, and has little labour. A jail-bird can easily be
+    distinguished after the first six months, by his superior
+    bodily condition. On his head maybe seen either a kinkh&acirc;b
+    (brocade) or embroidered cap, or one of English flowered
+    muslin, enriched with a border of gold or silver lace. Gros de
+    Naples is coming into fashion, but slowly.... Was he
+    low-spirited, he could, for a trifling present, send to the
+    bazar, and enjoy a nautah from the hour the judge went to sleep
+    till daybreak next morning&mdash;nay, under proper management,
+    he might be gratified by the society of his wife and family....
+    See him at work, the burkandauze (policeman) is smoking
+    <i>his</i> chillum, while he and his friends are sound asleep,
+    <i>sub tegmine fagi</i>. All of a sudden there is an
+    alarm&mdash;the judge is coming! up they all start, and work
+    like devils for ten or fifteen seconds, and then again to
+    repose. This is working in chains on the roads! In fact, after
+    a man is once used to the comforts of an Indian prison, there's
+    no keeping him out!"</p>
+
+    <p>All this, no doubt, is broad caricature&mdash;but "ridentem
+    dicere verum quid vetat?" a motto which the colonel could not
+    do better than adopt for any future edition of his eccentric
+    lucubrations. And so Rookhsut! Colonel Sahib! may your
+    favourite tomata sauce never pall upon your palate; and though
+    perhaps you would hardly thank us for the usual oriental good
+    wish, that your shadow may continue to increase, may it at
+    least never be diminished by that worst of all fiends,
+    indigestion!</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page334"
+       name="page334"></a>[pg 334]</span> <a name="bw341s5"
+          id="bw341s5"></a>
+
+    <h2>BELFRONT CASTLE.</h2>
+
+    <h3>A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.</h3>
+
+    <p>One half of the world was surprised that Reginald Belfront
+    married Jane Holford&mdash;and the other half was equally
+    surprised that Jane Holford married Reginald Belfront; for,
+    considering the experience that both halves of the world must
+    have had, it is amazing how subject they still are to surprise.
+    To us, who have not the pleasure to belong to either half,
+    there is very little surprising in the matter. Reginald had
+    been for some time on a visit at the house of a distant
+    relation&mdash;old Sir Hugh de Mawley. He had wandered through
+    the great woods of the estate, and found them very tiresome;
+    had strolled in the immense park, and found it dull; and, in
+    the long evenings, had sat in the stately hall, and listened to
+    the endless, whispered anecdotes of his host, and found them
+    both intolerable. No wonder he started with joyful surprise
+    when, one day in the drawing-room, he heard the rustle of a
+    silk gown; caught the glancing of some beautiful real flowers
+    on the top of a bright-green bonnet; and, more wonderful than
+    all, the smile of the prettiest lips, and the glances of the
+    clearest eyes he had ever seen in his life. The gown, the
+    bonnet, the smiles, and eyes, all belonged to Jane Holford; and
+    Reginald, who had, up to this time, made no great progress in
+    the study of comparative physiology, now made such rapid
+    strides, that he could have told you every point in which the
+    possessor of the above-named attributes differed from the stiff
+    and prim Miss de Mawley, who had hitherto been the sole
+    representative of the female sex in Mawley Court. The neck and
+    shoulders&mdash;the chin&mdash;nose&mdash;arms&mdash;
+    ankles&mdash;feet&mdash;not to mention the hair and
+    eyebrows&mdash;of the new specimen, were minutely studied; and,
+    in spite of the usual antipathy he entertained against all
+    scientific pursuits, he felt a strong inclination to be the
+    owner of it himself, in order to pursue his investigations at
+    full leisure. He was no genius&mdash;hated books&mdash;disliked
+    clever people&mdash;but prided himself on his horsemanship, his
+    play at quarterstaff, his personal strength, and, above all, in
+    his fine old castle in a somewhat inaccessible part of
+    Yorkshire, which had remained in the possession of his family
+    ever since the Conquest. Jane, on the other hand, had no castle
+    to boast of; and probably had no ancestor whatever at any
+    period preceding the year 1750, when her grandfather had bought
+    an estate near Mawley Court&mdash;which had gone on improving
+    with the improvement of the times, till her father found
+    himself the possessor of a rent-roll of fifteen hundred a year,
+    four sons, and six grown-up daughters. It will easily be
+    believed that no objections to the match were raised on the
+    part of a middle-aged gentleman, with so many reasons for
+    agreeing to the marriage settlement proposed by Reginald
+    Belfront; consisting, as it did, of a jointure to the widow,
+    and the use of Belfront Castle for life, without the remotest
+    allusion to any portion or other contingent advantage on the
+    other side; and as Jane herself was, if possible, still more
+    satisfied on the subject than her father, all the arrangements
+    were rapidly made, and in less than three months after the
+    apparition of the silk gown and other etceteras in the
+    drawing-room, the indissoluble knot was tied, and Miss Cecilia,
+    the second daughter, was advanced to the dignity of Miss
+    Holford, vice Jane&mdash;promoted.</p>
+
+    <p>The church was all decked out with roses and other pleasing
+    emblems of the unfading nature of connubial bliss; wreaths of
+    sunflowers, with the same comfortable moral, were hung up over
+    the great gate of Mawley Court; while Miss de Mawley,
+    representing in her own person the evergreens omitted in the
+    garlands, received the happy couple on their return from the
+    ceremony at the head of all the female domestics, from the
+    housekeeper down to the kitchenmaid, and led the bride and
+    bridegroom to the table in the great hall, where old Sir Hugh
+    was sitting in great state. They kneeled down before his chair;
+    and, laying his hand on their heads, he began blessing;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page335"
+       name="page335"></a>[pg 335]</span> but not having practised
+       that style of oratory so much as he ought, it rapidly
+       degenerated into a grace&mdash;and, as lunch in the mean
+       time was brought in, and the Holford family, and one or two
+       of the neighbours who had been present at the ceremony, had
+       now arrived, the eloquence of Sir Hugh was not altogether
+       thrown away. There were several speeches and toasts, and
+       sundry attempts at jocularity; and Sir Hugh began the story
+       of the French countess and the waterfall at Fountainbleau;
+       and Reginald availed himself of the somnolency of the rest
+       of the party to slip out with his bride without being
+       observed, just as the royal family began to suspect the
+       secret&mdash;and, long before the incensed husband sent the
+       challenge, the happy pair were careering onward as fast as
+       the postboy could drive, on the first stage of their wedding
+       tour.</p>
+
+    <p>A month afterwards they were in a country inn in Wales. The
+    window at which they sat commanded a view of the beautiful vale
+    of Cwmcwyllchly&mdash;a small river glided down in winding
+    mazes, hiding itself behind wooded knolls, and brawling over
+    rocks in the most playful and picturesque manner imaginable.
+    The sun had begun to set, and was taking a last look at the
+    prospect, with his vast chin rested on the top of Penchymcrwm,
+    presenting to the poetical mind an image of a redfaced farmer
+    looking over a five-barred gate&mdash;every thing, in short,
+    that is generally met with in Tourists' Guides, as constituting
+    a splendid view, was assembled on this favoured spot; and yet
+    Jane heaved a deep sigh, and appeared to take no notice of the
+    landscape.</p>
+
+    <p>"You're tired, my love," said Reginald; "you have walked too
+    far up these Welsh mountains."</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope to get used to climbing," answered Jane; "there are
+    plenty of hills at Belfront&mdash;aren't there?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, we have plenty of hills; but why don't you call it
+    home, Jane?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because I have never lived there," she replied; "and a
+    place can scarcely be called home that one has never seen."</p>
+
+    <p>"But you have never said you wished to see it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, but I have wished it all the same&mdash;may
+    we&mdash;may we go&mdash;home?"</p>
+
+    <p>She said the word at last, and Reginald was delighted.</p>
+
+    <p>"Home! to be sure&mdash;to-morrow, at daybreak; for, to tell
+    you the truth, I don't care sixpence for fine views&mdash;in
+    fact, I don't think there is any difference between any two
+    landscapes&mdash;except that there may be hills in one, and
+    none in another, or woods, or a river&mdash;but they are all
+    exactly the same in reality. So, let us go home, my love, as
+    fast as we can, or I'm very much afraid Mr Peeper won't like
+    it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr Peeper?" enquired Jane. "Who is Mr Peeper?"</p>
+
+    <p>"You will know him in good time," said Reginald; "and I hope
+    he will like you."</p>
+
+    <p>"I hope he will&mdash;I hope all your friends will like
+    me&mdash;I will do every thing in my power to please them."</p>
+
+    <p>"You're a very good girl, Jane; and Mr Peeper can't help but
+    be pleased, and I am glad of it; for it ought to be our first
+    study to make ourselves agreeable to <i>him</i>."</p>
+
+    <p>"Agreeable to Mr Peeper!" thought Jane. "How strange that I
+    never was told about him before this moment! Does he live in
+    the castle, Reginald?" she asked.</p>
+
+    <p>"Certainly. One of his family has lived there ever since one
+    of mine did; so there is a connexion between us of a few
+    hundred years."</p>
+
+    <p>"Have you any other friends who live in the castle?"
+    enquired the bride.</p>
+
+    <p>"I don't know whether Phil Lorimer is there just now or not;
+    he has a room whenever he comes; and a knife and fork at
+    table."</p>
+
+    <p>"Who is he?"</p>
+
+    <p>"A capital fellow&mdash;full of wit&mdash;and makes funnier
+    faces and better songs than any man in Yorkshire. You will like
+    Phil Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"And I hope he will like me!"</p>
+
+    <p>"If he don't, I'll break every bone in his body."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I beg you won't," said the bride with a smile, and
+    looking up in Reginald's face to assure herself he spoke in
+    joke. It was as earnest a face as if it had been of cast-iron;
+    and she saw that Mr Lorimer's only chance of preserving a whole
+    skin was to like her with all his might.</p>
+
+    <p>"Is there any one else?"</p>
+
+    <p>"There's Mr Peeper's assistant, <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page336"
+       name="page336"></a>[pg 336]</span> Mark Lutter&mdash;a
+       clever man, and a great scholar. I hate scholars, so he
+       dines in the servants' hall, or far down the
+       table&mdash;below the salt."</p>
+
+    <p>"Are you serious?" enquired Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Do you not like scholars?"</p>
+
+    <p>"What's the use of them? I never could see what they were
+    good for&mdash;and, besides, Mr Peeper hates them too."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then why does he keep this man as his assistant?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Because if he didn't, the fellow would rebel."</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, you could turn him off."</p>
+
+    <p>"We never turn any body off at Belfront Castle. If they go
+    of their own accord, we punish them for it if we can&mdash;if
+    they stay, they are welcome. Mr Peeper must look to it, or
+    Lutter will make a disturbance."</p>
+
+    <p>"What a curious place this castle must be," thought Jane,
+    "and what odd people they are that live in it!" She asked no
+    more questions, but determined to restrain her curiosity till
+    she could satisfy it on the spot; and, luckily, she had not
+    long to wait. Next day they started on their homeward way. As
+    they drew nearer their destination, Jane's anxiety to gain the
+    first glimpse of her future home increased with every mile. She
+    had, of course, formed many fancy pictures of it in her own
+    mind; and, as love lent the brush and most obligingly
+    compounded the colours, there can be no doubt they made out a
+    very captivating landscape of it between them.</p>
+
+    <p>"At the top of the next hill," said Reginald, "you will see
+    the keep."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane stretched her head forward, and looked through the
+    front window as if she could pierce the hill that lay between
+    her and home. On went the horses; but the next hill seemed an
+    incredible way off; it was now getting late, and the shadows of
+    evening, like a flock of tired black sheep, began to lie down
+    and rest thenselves on the vast dreary moor they were
+    travelling over. At last Jane felt that they were beginning an
+    ascent; and a sickly moon, that seemed to have undergone a
+    severe operation, and lost nearly all her limbs, lifted up her
+    pale face in the sky. The wind, too, began to whistle in long
+    low gusts, and Reginald, who was not of a poetical temperament,
+    as we have already observed, was nearly asleep. They reached
+    the hill top at last, and a great expanse of rugged and broken
+    country lay before them.</p>
+
+    <p>"Where is it?&mdash;on which hand?" said Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Straight before you," replied the husband; "it is only
+    three miles off; the high-road turns off to the left, but we go
+    through fields right on."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane looked with almost feverish anxiety. At a good distance
+    in front, rose a tall black structure, like the chimney of a
+    shot manufactory&mdash;a single, square, gigantic
+    tower&mdash;throwing a darker mass against the darkened sky,
+    and sicklied o'er on one of the faces with the yellow-green
+    moonlight. There were no lights in it, nor any sign of
+    habitation; and Jane would have indulged in various enquiries
+    and exclamations, if the carriage had allowed her; but it had
+    by this time left the main road, and sank up to the axles in
+    the ruts; it bounded against stones, and wallowed in mire
+    alternately; and all that she could do, was to hold on by one
+    of the arm rests, as if she had been in the cabin of a
+    storm-toss'd ship.</p>
+
+    <p>"For mercy's sake, Reginald, will this last long?" she said,
+    out of breath with her exertions.</p>
+
+    <p>"We are about a mile from the drawbridge. I hope they have
+    not drawn it up."</p>
+
+    <p>"Could we not get into the castle if they have?"</p>
+
+    <p>"We might fall into the moat if we tried the postern."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, gracious!&mdash;is there a moat?"&mdash;and
+    instinctively she put her hand to her throat, for her mother
+    had brought her up with a salutary dread of colds, and she felt
+    a sensation of choking at the very name.</p>
+
+    <p>At this moment, the agonized carriage, after several groans
+    that would have moved the heart of a highway commissioner, gave
+    a rush downward, and committed suicide in the most determined
+    manner, by dashing its axle on the ground&mdash;the wheels
+    endeavouring in vain to fathom the profundity of the ruts, and
+    the horses totally unable to move the stranded equipage. The
+    sudden jerk knocked Reginald's hat over his eyes against the
+    roof of the carriage, and Jane screamed when she felt the top
+    of her bonnet squeezed as flat as a pancake by the same
+    process, but neither of them, luckily, was hurt.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page337"
+       name="page337"></a>[pg 337]</span> "We must get out and
+       walk," said the husband; "it isn't more than half a mile,
+       and we will send Phil Lorimer, or some of them, for the
+       trunks."</p>
+
+    <p>He put his arm round Jane's waist, and helped her over the
+    almost impassable track.</p>
+
+    <p>"We must try to get the road mended," said Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"It has never been mended in our time," was the reply; and
+    it was said in a tone which showed that the fact so announced
+    was an unanswerable argument against the proposition of the
+    bride.</p>
+
+    <p>"A few stones well broken would do it all," she urged.</p>
+
+    <p>"We never break stones at Belfront," was the rejoinder; and
+    in silence, and with some difficulty, they groped their
+    unsteady way. At last they emerged from a thick overgrown
+    copse, in which the accident had happened, and, after sundry
+    narrow escapes from sprained ankles and broken arms, they
+    reached the gate. It was an immense wooden barrier, supported
+    at each end by little round buildings&mdash;like a slice of
+    toast laid lengthways between two half pounds of butter. It was
+    thickly studded with iron nails, and the round piers were of
+    massive stone, partly overgrown with ivy, and as solid as if
+    they had been formed of one mass.</p>
+
+    <p>"Does any body live in those lodges?" enquired Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"There is a warder in the inner court," said Reginald.
+    "These are merely the supporters of the outer gate."</p>
+
+    <p>"And how are we to get in?"</p>
+
+    <p>"We must blow, I suppose." And so saying, Reginald lifted up
+    a horn that was hung by an iron chain from one of the piers,
+    and executed a flourish that made Jane put her fingers to her
+    ears.</p>
+
+    <p>In a short time the creaking of an iron chain&mdash;whose
+    recollection of oil must have been of the most traditionary
+    nature&mdash;gave intimation that its intentions were decidedly
+    hospitable; and with many squeaks and grunts the enormous
+    portal turned at last on its hinges, and exposed to view a
+    narrow winding road between two walls, which, in a short time,
+    conducted the visitors to a long wooden bridge over a piece of
+    stagnant water&mdash;the said bridge having only that moment
+    been let down from the lofty position in which its two halves
+    were kept by an immense wooden erection, which bore an awful
+    resemblance to a scaffold. When they got over the bridge,
+    Reginald turned round, and, imprinting a kiss on the pale cheek
+    of the astonished bride, said&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Welcome home, dear Jane. This is Belfront Castle!"</p>
+
+    <p>Jane looked round a spacious courtyard, and saw a square of
+    low dark-looking buildings, with the enormous tower she had
+    seen from the top of the hill rearing its thick head above all
+    at one corner. They proceeded across the roughly-paved
+    quadrangle, and entered a low door; ascended three steps, and
+    opened another door. They then found themselves in a large and
+    lofty hall, with fitful flashes of red light flickering on the
+    walls, as the flame of the wood fire on the hearth rose or fell
+    beneath the efforts of a half distinguishable figure, extended
+    at full length on the floor, and puffing the enormous log with
+    a pair of gigantic bellows. In the palpable obscure, Jane could
+    scarcely make out the persons of the occupants of the
+    apartment; but when the flame burnt up a little more powerfully
+    than usual, she observed the figure of a tall man dressed in
+    black, who shook hands with Reginald, and bowed very coldly and
+    formally to her, when he was introduced as Mr Peeper. He seemed
+    about fifty or sixty years of age, but very much enfeebled. He
+    stooped and coughed, and was very infirm in his motions; but
+    when the red glare from the hearth fell upon his eyes, they
+    fixed themselves on Jane with such a piercing expression, that
+    she turned away her face almost in fear. His hair was
+    snow-white, and yet it was impossible to decide whether he was
+    a man of the years we have stated, with the premature
+    appearance of age, or a person of extraordinary longevity,
+    retaining the vigorous eyes and active spirit of youth. However
+    it was, Mr Peeper was too harsh and haughty in his approaches,
+    and exacted too much deference from the youthful bride, to be
+    very captivating at first. He said no welcome to the new-comer,
+    and was stiff and unkind even to the owner of the castle.
+    Candles were soon brought in, and Jane took the opportunity of
+    looking round. The individual <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page338"
+       name="page338"></a>[pg 338]</span> who had been busy blowing
+       the fire now rose from his humble position, and was
+       presented to the lady as Phil Lorimer. He bowed and smiled,
+       and was proceeding with a compliment, in which, however, he
+       advanced no further than the summer sun bringing out the
+       roses, when Reginald pushed him out of the hall, with orders
+       to get the luggage brought in from the carriage, and to be
+       back in time for supper. Phil Lorimer seemed a man of
+       thirty, strongly built, with a sweet voice and friendly
+       smile; but what station he filled in the
+       household&mdash;whether a servant, a visitor, a poor
+       relation, or what he could be, Jane could not make out,
+       either from his manner or the way he was treated.</p>
+
+    <p>"Mr Lorimer is very good-natured&mdash;very obliging, to
+    take care of the luggage, I am sure," said Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Better that than talking nonsense about roses," replied
+    Reginald. "Did you expect us this evening, Mr Peeper?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I did, Mr Reginald, and have invited a few of the
+    neighbours to meet you."</p>
+
+    <p>"Who are coming?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Sir Bryan De Barreilles, Hasket of Norland, Maulerer of
+    Phascald, and old Dr Howlet. They will be here soon, so you had
+    better make haste."</p>
+
+    <p>"I had better not appear, love," said Jane; "no ladies are
+    coming, and among so many gentlemen my presence might be
+    awkward."</p>
+
+    <p>"By no means," replied the husband. "It wouldn't be right,
+    Mr Peeper, for my wife to be absent from the supper-table?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Certainly not. It is to see <i>her</i> the neighbours are
+    coming."</p>
+
+    <p>Is this Mr Peeper to have the control of all my actions?
+    thought Jane. Who can he be?</p>
+
+    <p>She took another glance at the object of her thoughts, but
+    caught his eye fixed on her with the same penetrating
+    brightness as before; and she cast her looks on the ground;
+    and, whether from anger or fear, she felt her cheeks glowing
+    with blushes.</p>
+
+    <p>"You will not be long gone, if you please," he said to Jane
+    as she retired to change her dress.</p>
+
+    <p>"You don't seem pleased to see us, Mr Peeper," said
+    Reginald, when Jane had gone to her room under the guidance of
+    a very tall old woman, who walked before her, holding out a
+    tremendously long candle, as if it were a sword, and she was at
+    the head of a military procession.</p>
+
+    <p>"No, sir," replied Mr Peeper; "I am not pleased with the
+    person you have brought here. You have gone too far from home
+    for a wife. None of the Belfronts have ever married out of
+    Yorkshire, and it may give rise to troubles."</p>
+
+    <p>"I am very sorry my wife's relations would not allow me to
+    send for you to perform the ceremony."</p>
+
+    <p>"It is a bad omen," said the old man; "my predecessors have
+    married your predecessors without a break since the conquest.
+    It bodes no good."</p>
+
+    <p>"I trust no harm will happen, and that you will soon forget
+    the disappointment."</p>
+
+    <p>"None of my family forget, but we will not <i>talk</i> of
+    it." So saying, he turned away, and arranged a goodly array of
+    bottles on the sideboard. Reginald sat down on an oak chair
+    beside the fire, and gazed attentively into the log.</p>
+
+    <p>In the mean time, Jane had followed her gigantic conductor
+    through half a mile of passages, and reached a small room at
+    one end of the quadrangle, and through the window (of which
+    half the panes were broken, as if on purpose) she caught the
+    melodious murmur of a rapid river, that chafed against the
+    foundation walls of the castle. On looking round, the prospect
+    was not very encouraging. Tattered tapestries hung down the
+    walls, and waved in a most melancholy and ghost-like fashion in
+    the wind; the floor was thinly littered over with some plaited
+    rushes, to supply the place of a carpet; and a few long
+    high-backed oak chairs kept guard against the wall. The fire
+    had died an infant in its iron cradle, the grate; and the
+    curtain of the bed waved to and fro in mournful sympathy with
+    the tapestry round the room. Jane was so cold that she could
+    hardly go through her toilette, simple as it was; but having at
+    last achieved a very slight alteration in her dress, and left
+    her bonnet on the head of an owl, which formed the ornament of
+    one of the high-backed chairs, she endeavoured to retrace her
+    steps; and after a few pauses and mistakes, she found her way
+    once more into the hall.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page339"
+       name="page339"></a>[pg 339]</span> The guests in the mean
+       time were assembled and had seated themselves at table. On
+       Jane's entrance they all rose, and on being respectively
+       named by their host, bowed with cold and stately courtesy,
+       and sat down again. The four strangers seemed all of the
+       same ages, fifty or thereabouts&mdash;tall, hale, and
+       dignified in their manners. Sir Bryan de Barreilles had a
+       patch on his right eye; Hasket of Norland a deep scar on his
+       forehead, that cut his left eyebrow into two parts, and gave
+       a very extraordinary expression to his rigid countenance;
+       Maulerer of Phascald had the general effect of very handsome
+       features, marred by the want of his nose; not that there was
+       actually no nose, but that it did not occupy the prominent
+       position it usually holds on the human face divine, but was
+       inserted deep between the cheeks&mdash;in fact, was a nose
+       not set on after the fashion of a knocker, but a fine
+       specimen of <i>basso-relievo</i>, indented after the manner
+       of Socrates's head on a seal, and would probably have made a
+       very fine impression. Dr Howlet was perfectly blind, and
+       from the tone in which he was addressed by the other
+       gentlemen, Jane concluded he was also very nearly deaf.
+       Besides these, there were present Mr Peeper, at the foot of
+       the table next to Reginald, and on the other side of him a
+       thick square-built man, with a fine hilarious open
+       countenance, who was perhaps of too low a rank to be
+       introduced to the lady of the castle&mdash;no other in fact
+       than the redoubtable Mr Lutter, of whom Jane had heard on
+       her journey home.</p>
+
+    <p>After the serving men, with some difficulty, had brought in
+    the supper, consisting of enormous joints of meat, hot and
+    cold, and deposited on the sideboard vast tankards of strong
+    ale and other potent beverages, Mr Peeper rose, and folding his
+    hands across his breast, and bending forward his head with
+    every appearance of devotion, muttered some words evidently
+    intended to represent a grace; but so indistinct that it was
+    utterly impossible to make the slightest guess at their
+    meaning, whereupon they all fell to with prodigious activity,
+    and cut and slashed the enormous dishes as if they had been
+    famished for a year. Mr Lutter, after making an observation
+    that true thankfulness was as much shown by moderate enjoyment
+    of good gifts as by long prayers said over them, made a most
+    powerful assault on the cold sirloin, and, of all the party,
+    was the only one who had the politeness to send a helping to
+    Jane. She was tired and hungry, and felt really obliged by the
+    attention, but could scarcely do justice to the viands from
+    surprise at the conversation of the guests.</p>
+
+    <p>"Ho, ho!" said Sir Bryan de Barreilles, "I once knew a
+    thing&mdash;such a thing it was too&mdash;ho! ho!" And partly
+    the vividness of the recollection, and principally an enormous
+    mouthful of beef, produced a long fit of coughing&mdash;"'twill
+    make you laugh," he continued&mdash;"'twas a rare
+    feat&mdash;ho! ho!&mdash;even this lady will be pleased to hear
+    it."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane bowed in expectation of an amusing anecdote.</p>
+
+    <p>"One of my tenants was going to be married; his bride was a
+    very young creature, not more than eighteen, and on the
+    wedding-day, as I always was ready for a joke in those
+    days&mdash;ah! 'tis thirty years ago, or more&mdash;I asked the
+    bridal party to the Tower. Ho! ho! such laughing we
+    had!&mdash;Giles Mallet and Robin Henslow fought with redhot
+    brands out of the fire, till I thought we should all have died;
+    and Giles&mdash;the cleverest fellow and the wittiest, ho!
+    ho!&mdash;such a fellow was Giles!&mdash;he took up the poker
+    instead of the fir-log, and watched his opportunity, ho!
+    ho!&mdash;it was redhot too&mdash;a good stout poker as ever
+    you saw&mdash;and ran it clean through his cheek&mdash;you
+    heard the tongue fizz! as it licked the hot iron&mdash;'twas a
+    famous play. How Robin roared, to be sure, and couldn't speak
+    plain&mdash;ho! ho! Well, the games went on; and nothing would
+    please some of the young ones but we should see the Oubliette.
+    'Twas a dark hole where my forefathers imprisoned their
+    refractory vassals, and sad stories were told about
+    it&mdash;how that voices were heard from the bottom of it, and
+    groans, and sometimes gory heads were seen at the top of it,
+    looking up to the skylight, and struggling to escape, but ever
+    tumbling back into the deep dark hole, with screams and
+    smothered cries; a rare place for a man's enemies&mdash;but it
+    had not been used for many years. Well&mdash;nothing would do,
+    but when <span class="pagenum"><a id="page340"
+       name="page340"></a>[pg 340]</span> we were all merry with
+       ale, we should all go and see the Oubliette, and a kiss of
+       the bride was promised to the one who should go down the
+       furthest. Now, the stone steps were very narrow at best; and
+       were all worn away&mdash;and that was the best of
+       it&mdash;all along the passages we went, and past the
+       dungeon grating, till we came to the open mouth of the
+       Oubliette. Ho! ho! how you'll laugh. Down a step went
+       one&mdash;no kiss from the bride for him&mdash;two steps
+       went another&mdash;some went down six steps, and one bold
+       fellow went down so far that we lost sight of him in the
+       darkness. Then the bridegroom, a stout young
+       yeoman&mdash;thought it shame to let anyone beat him in
+       daring, for so rich a prize as a kiss from the rosy lips of
+       his bride, and down&mdash;down&mdash;he went&mdash;step
+       after step&mdash;till finally, far down in the gloom, we
+       heard a loud scream&mdash;such a scream&mdash;ho! ho! I
+       can't help laughing yet when I think of it&mdash;and in a
+       minute or two, whose voice should we hear but Giles
+       Mallet's! <i>There</i> was Giles, hollowing and roaring for
+       us to send down a rope but <i>how</i> he had got down, or
+       <i>when</i> he had gone down, nobody knew. However, a rope
+       was got, and merrily, stoutly, we all pulled, but no Giles
+       came up. Instead of him, we drew forth the bridegroom! but
+       such a changed man. His eyes were fixed, and his face as
+       white as silver&mdash;his mouth was wide open, and his great
+       tongue went lolling about from side to side&mdash;and he
+       shook his head, and mumbled and slavered&mdash;he was struck
+       all of a sudden into idiocy, and knew nobody; not even his
+       bride. She was sinking before him, but he never noticed her,
+       but went moaning, and muttering, and shaking his head. Ho!
+       ho! 'twas the comicalest thing I ever saw. And when Giles
+       came up he explained it all. Giles had gone down deeper than
+       any of them, and waited for the others on a ledge in the
+       cavern; and just when the bridegroom reached it, Giles
+       seized him by the leg, and said&mdash;'Your soul is
+       mine'&mdash;ho! ho! 'Your soul is mine,' said
+       Giles&mdash;and the bridegroom uttered only the loud, long
+       scream we had all heard, and stood and shook and trembled.
+       'Twas a rare feat; and if you had come down last
+       year"&mdash;he added, turning to Jane&mdash;"you would have
+       seen the bridegroom going from door to door, followed by all
+       the boys in the village&mdash;he never recovered. There he
+       went, shake, shaking his head&mdash;and gape gaping with his
+       mouth. "Twas good sport to teaze him. I've set my dogs on
+       him myself; but he never took the least notice. 'Twas a good
+       trick&mdash;I never knew better."</p>
+
+    <p>"And the bride?" enquired Jane.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, she died in a week or two after the adventure! A silly
+    hussy&mdash;I wished to marry her, by the left hand, to my
+    forester, but she kept on moping and looking at the idiotical
+    bridegroom, and died&mdash;a poor fool."</p>
+
+    <p>"Ah! we've grown dull since those merry times," said Hasket
+    of Norland, looking, round the empty hall, and then towards
+    Reginald, as if reproaching him with the absence of the ancient
+    joviality. "There were three men killed at my marriage&mdash;in
+    fair give and take fight&mdash;in the hall, at the wedding
+    supper. There is the mark of blood on the floor yet."</p>
+
+    <p>"I lost my eye at the celebration of a christening," said
+    Sir Bryan de Barreilles. "My uncle of Malmescott pushed it in
+    with the handle of his dagger."</p>
+
+    <p>"I got this wound on my forehead at a feast after a
+    funeral," said Hasket of Norland. "I quarreled with Morley
+    Poyntz, and he cut my eyebrow with an axe. 'Twas a merry party
+    in spite of that."</p>
+
+    <p>"The Parson of Pynsent jumped on my face at a festival in
+    honour of the birth of Sir Ranulph Berlingcourt's heir," said
+    Maulerer of Phascald. "I had been knocked on the floor by the
+    Archdeacon of Warleileigh, and the Parson of Pynsent trode on
+    my nose. He was the biggest man in Yorkshire, and squeezed my
+    nose out of sight&mdash;a rare jovial companion, was the Parson
+    of Pynsent, and many is the joke we have had about the weight
+    of his foot. Ah! we have no fun now&mdash;no fighting, no
+    grinning through a horse-collar, no roasting before a fire, no
+    singing"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes," said Reginald, "we have Phil Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"Let him come&mdash;let us hear him," said some of the
+    party.</p>
+
+    <p>"I hate songs," said Dr Howlet; "and think all ballads
+    should be burned."</p>
+
+    <p>"And the writers of them, too," added Mr Peeper, with a
+    fierce glance <span class="pagenum"><a id="page341"
+       name="page341"></a>[pg 341]</span> towards the fireplace,
+       from which Phil Lorimer emerged.</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh no! I think songs an innocent diversion," said Mr
+    Lutter, "and softening to the heart. Sit near me, Mr
+    Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"Make a face, Phil," cried the knight; "I would rather see a
+    grin than hear your ballad."</p>
+
+    <p>"Jump, Phil," said Hasket of Norland, applying his fork to
+    Phil's leg as he passed, "you are a better morris-dancer than a
+    poet."</p>
+
+    <p>Phil, who was imperturbably good-natured, did as he was
+    told. He opened his mouth to a preternatural size, turned one
+    eye to the ceiling, and the other down to the floor, till Sir
+    Bryan was in ecstasies at his achievement. He then sprang to an
+    incredible height in that air, and danced once or twice through
+    the hall, throwing himself into the most grotesque attitudes
+    imaginable, and the table was nearly shaken in pieces by the
+    thumpings with which the party showed their satisfaction.</p>
+
+    <p>"Now then, Phil; here's a cup of sherry-wine&mdash;drink it,
+    boy, and sing a sweet song to the lady," said Reginald.</p>
+
+    <p>"Songs are an invention of the devil," said Mr Peeper.</p>
+
+    <p>"Unless they are sung through the nose," said Mr Lutter,
+    with a sneer.</p>
+
+    <p>"You approve of songs then?" inquired Mr Peeper, with a
+    fierce look.</p>
+
+    <p>"Certainly," said Mr Lutter, "when their subject is good,
+    and the language modest."</p>
+
+    <p>"Then you are an atheist," retorted Mr Peeper.</p>
+
+    <p>"What has a ballad to do with atheism?" enquired Mr Lutter,
+    looking angry.</p>
+
+    <p>"You approve of wicked songs, and therefore are an
+    atheist."</p>
+
+    <p>"A man is more like an atheist," retorted Mr Lutter, "who is
+    ungrateful to God for the gift of song, and shuts up the
+    sweetest avenue by which the spirit approaches its Creator. I
+    admire poetry, and respect poets."</p>
+
+    <p>"Any one who holds such diabolic doctrines is not fit to
+    remain in Belfront Castle."</p>
+
+    <p>"Nay," replied Mr Lutter, "Belfront Castle would be
+    infinitely improved if such doctrines were adopted in it."</p>
+
+    <p>"Gentlemen," said Reginald, "you are both learned men; and I
+    know nothing about the questions you discuss."</p>
+
+    <p>"Your lady shall judge between us," said Mr Lutter.</p>
+
+    <p>"She shall not," said Mr Peeper; "I am the sole judge in
+    matters of the kind."</p>
+
+    <p>"Let us hear Phil's song in the mean time," said Reginald.
+    "Come, Lorimer."</p>
+
+    <p>"What shall it be?" said Phil.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something comic," said Sir Bryan.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something bloody," said Hasket of Norland.</p>
+
+    <p>"Something loving," said Maulerer of Phascald.</p>
+
+    <p>"Will the lady decide for us?" said Phil, with a smile.
+    "Will you have the 'Silver Scarf,' madam; or 'the Knight and
+    the Soldan of Bagdad?' They are both done into my poor English
+    from the troubadours of Almeigne."</p>
+
+    <p>The lady fixed, at haphazard, on "the Knight and the Soldan
+    of Bagdad:" and Phil prepared to obey her commands. He took a
+    small harp in his hand, and sate down in the vacant chair next
+    to Sir Bryan de Bareilles. The rest of the company composed
+    themselves to listen; and, after a short prelude, Lorimer, in a
+    fine manly voice, began&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Oh, brightly bloom'd the orange flow'r,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And fair the roses round;</p>
+
+            <p>And the fountain, in its marble bed,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Leapt up with a happy sound;</p>
+
+            <p>And stately, stately was the hall,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And rich the feast outspread;</p>
+
+            <p>But the Soldan of Bagdad sigh'd full sore,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And never a word he said.</p>
+
+            <p>Never a word the Soldan said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But many a tear let fall;</p>
+
+            <p>He had tried all the joys that life could give,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And was weary of them all.</p>
+
+            <p>The Soldan lift up his heavy eye&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And to that garden fair,</p>
+
+            <p>A stranger enter'd with harp in hand,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And with a winsome air;</p>
+
+            <p>Long locks of yellow molten gold</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Hung over his cheek so brown,</p>
+
+            <p>And a red mantle of Venice silk</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Fell from his shoulders down.</p>
+
+            <p>A weary wanderer he did seem,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Come from a distant land;</p>
+
+            <p>And over the harpstrings thoughtfully,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">He moveth his cunning
+            hand.</p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page342"
+               name="page342"></a>[pg 342]</span>
+
+            <p>He opes his lips, and he poureth forth</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Such a sweet stream of sound,</p>
+
+            <p>That the Soldan's heart leaps up in his breast,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And his eye he casts around.</p>
+
+            <p>'Was never a voice,' the Soldan said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'So sweet&mdash;nor so blest a
+            song;&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>Sing on, kind minstrel,' the Soldan said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'I have been sad too long.'</p>
+
+            <p>The minstrel sang, and soft and sweet</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The Soldan's tears fell free;</p>
+
+            <p>'Oh, tell me, thou minstrel dear,' he said,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'What boon shall I give to thee?</p>
+
+            <p>Oh, stay with me but a year and a day,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And sing sweet songs to me;</p>
+
+            <p>And whatever the boon, by Allah, I swear,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">I will freely give it to thee.'</p>
+
+            <p>The minstrel stay'd a year and a day,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And the Soldan loved him well;</p>
+
+            <p>'Now what is the boon thou askest of me&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">I prithee, dear minstrel, tell.'</p>
+
+            <p>'A Christian knight in thy dungeon pines,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And his hope is nearly o'er;</p>
+
+            <p>His freedom is the boon I ask&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Oh, open his prison door!'</p>
+
+            <p>The minstrel went&mdash;and no more was seen;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And the Christian knight, set free,</p>
+
+            <p>Found a stately ship, that bore him safe</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Home to his own countrie.</p>
+
+            <p>And his lady met him at the gate,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">His lady fair and young;</p>
+
+            <p>And with a scream of pride and joy,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">She in his bosom hung.</p>
+
+            <p>Oh, glad, glad was the Christian knight,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And glad was his lady fair,</p>
+
+            <p>And her pale cheek flush'd as he cast aside</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The locks of her raven hair,</p>
+
+            <p>And kiss'd her brow, and told the tale</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of his dungeon, deep and strong;</p>
+
+            <p>And of the minstrel, too, he told</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And of the power of song.</p>
+
+            <p>And they blest the minstrel, and blest his song,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And soon the feast was dight;</p>
+
+            <p>And prince and noble crowded in,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To welcome home the knight.</p>
+
+            <p>And when the brimming cup went round,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Spoke out an evil tongue,</p>
+
+            <p>And blamed that lady to her lord,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That lady fair and young;</p>
+
+            <p>And told, with many a bitter sneer,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">How that, for many a day,</p>
+
+            <p>When he was prison'd in Paynim land,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That dame was far away,</p>
+
+            <p>And none knew where; but all could guess&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Up rose the knight, and kept</p>
+
+            <p>His hand close clutch'd on his dagger heft,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And down the hall he stept;</p>
+
+            <p>And onwards with the dagger bared,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">He rush'd to the lady's bower&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>'Thou hast been false, and left thy home&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Thou diest this very hour!'</p>
+
+            <p>'Oh! it is true, I left my home;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But yet, before I die,</p>
+
+            <p>Oh! look not on me with face so changed,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Nor with so fierce an eye!</p>
+
+            <p>Oh! let me, but for a minute's space,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Into my chamber hie;</p>
+
+            <p>One prayer I would say for thee and me&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">One prayer&mdash;before I die!'</p>
+
+            <p>She left the bower; and as he stept</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To and fro in ireful mood,</p>
+
+            <p>A stranger from the chamber came,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And close behind him stood.</p>
+
+            <p>Long locks of molten yellow gold</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Hung over his cheek so brown,</p>
+
+            <p>And a red mantle of Venice silk,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Fell from his shoulder, down.</p>
+
+            <p>Dark frown'd the knight&mdash;'Vile churl!' he
+            said;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But ere he utter'd more,</p>
+
+            <p>The stranger let the mantle fall</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Unclasp'd upon the floor,&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>And off he cast the yellow locks&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And, lo! the lady fair,</p>
+
+            <p>Blushing and casting from her cheek</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Her glossy raven hair!</p>
+
+            <p>Down fell the dagger; down the knight</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Sank kneeling and opprest;</p>
+
+            <p>And the lady oped her snow white arms,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And wept upon his breast!"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"A foul song!&mdash;a wanton woman!"&mdash;exclaimed Sir
+    Bryan de Barreilles&mdash;"he should have stabbed her for
+    living so long with a Jew villain like the Soldan of
+    Bagdad."</p>
+
+    <p>"Was the villain a Jew?" enquired Dr Howlet, who had caught
+    the word. "I did not know Bagdad was in Jewry. Is a heathen the
+    same as a Jew, Mr Peeper?"</p>
+
+    <p>The gentleman thus appealed to, coughed as if to clear his
+    throat, and though he usually spoke with the utmost clearness,
+    he mumbled and muttered in the same unintelligible manner as he
+    had done when he was saying grace; and it was a very peculiar
+    habit of the learned individual, whenever he was applied to for
+    an explanation, to betake himself to a mode of
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page343"
+       name="page343"></a>[pg 343]</span> speech that would have
+       puzzled a far wiser head than Dr Howlet's, to make head or
+       tail of it.</p>
+
+    <p>Dr Howlett, however, appeared to be perfectly satisfied with
+    the information; and by the indignant manner in which he struck
+    his long gold-headed ebony walking-stick on the floor, seemed
+    entirely to agree with the worthy knight in his estimate of the
+    heroine of Phil Lorimer's ballad.</p>
+
+    <p>"I like the ballad about the jousting of Romulus the bold
+    Roman, with Judas Maccabaeus in the Camp at Ascalon far
+    better," said Hasket of Norland. "Sing it, Phil."</p>
+
+    <p>"No, no," cried Maulerer, who was far gone in intoxication.
+    "Sing us the song of the Feasting at Glaston, when Eneas the
+    Trojan married Arthur's daughter.&mdash;Sing the song, sirrah,
+    this moment, or I'll cut your tongue in two, to make your note
+    the sweeter.&mdash;Sing."</p>
+
+    <p>Thus adjured, Phil once more began:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"There was feasting high and revelry</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In Glaston's lofty hall;</p>
+
+            <p>And loud was the sound, as the cup went round,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of joyous whoop and call;</p>
+
+            <p>And Arthur the king, in that noble ring,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Was the merriest of them all.</p>
+
+            <p>No thought, no care, found entrance there,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But beauty's smiles were won;</p>
+
+            <p>No sour Jack Priest to spoil the feast"&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Ha!" cried Howlet, interrupting Mr Lorimer in a tremendous
+    passion, "what says the varlet? He is a heathen Turk, and no
+    Christian. How dares he talk so of the church?" The old man
+    rose as he spoke, and, suddenly catching hold of the enormous
+    ebony walking-stick, which generally reposed at the side of his
+    chair, he aimed a blow with all his force at the unfortunate
+    songster; but, being blind, and not calculating his distance,
+    his staff fell with tremendous effect on the left eye of Sir
+    Bryan de Barreilles.</p>
+
+    <p>"Is it so?" cried the Knight, stunned; but resisting the
+    tendency to prostration produced by the stroke, and flinging a
+    large silver flagon across the table, which missed Dr Howlet,
+    and made a deep indentation in the skull of Maulerer of
+    Phascald&mdash;"Now, then!"</p>
+
+    <p>Hasket of Norland attempted to hold Sir Bryan, and prevent
+    his following up his attack; and Mr Maulerer recovered
+    sufficiently to fling the heavy candlestick at his assailant;
+    the branches of which hit the cheek of Hasket, while the
+    massive bottom ejected the three front teeth of Sir Bryan.</p>
+
+    <p>There was now no possibility of preventing the quarrel; and
+    while the four strangers were pounding each other with whatever
+    weapons came first to hand, and Mr Peeper crept under the table
+    for safety, and Reginald essayed to talk them into reason, Mr
+    Lutter politely handed Jane to the door of the hall.</p>
+
+    <p>"Permit me, madam, to rescue you from this dreadful
+    scene."</p>
+
+    <p>"Is it thus always?" enquired Jane, nearly weeping with
+    fright.</p>
+
+    <p>"There are many things that may be improved in the castle,"
+    said Mr Lutter. "I have seen the necessity of an alteration for
+    a long time, and, if you will favour me with your assistance,
+    much may be done."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! I will help you to the utmost of my power."</p>
+
+    <p>"We must upset the influence of Mr Peeper," said Mr Lutter.
+    "May I speak to you on the subject to-morrow?"</p>
+
+    <p>A month had passed since Jane's arrival at Belfront Castle,
+    and she had had many private and confidential conversations
+    with Mr Lutter. The ominous eyes of Mr Peeper grew fiercer and
+    fiercer, and she many times thought of coming to an open
+    rupture with him at once; but was deterred from doing so, by
+    not yet having ascertained whether her influence over Reginald
+    was sufficiently established to stand a contest with the
+    authority of his ancient friend. She could not understand how
+    her husband could have remained hoodwinked so long; or how he
+    had submitted to the despotic proceedings of his former tutor,
+    who persisted in assembling the same airs of authority over
+    him, as he had exercised when he was a child. Such, however,
+    was evidently the case; and Reginald had never entertained a
+    thought of rescuing himself from the thraldom in which he had
+    grown up. A look from Mr Peeper; a solemn statement from him,
+    that such and such things had never been heard of before in
+    Belfront; and, above all, the use of the muttered and
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page344"
+       name="page344"></a>[pg 344]</span> unintelligible jargon to
+       which Mr Peeper betook himself in matters of weight and
+       difficulty, were quite sufficient: Reginald immediately gave
+       up his own judgment, and felt in fact rather ashamed of
+       himself for having hinted that he had a judgement at all.
+       Under these circumstances, Mr Lutter had a very difficult
+       part to play; and all that Jane could do, was to second him
+       whenever she had the opportunity. One day, in the lovely
+       month of April, Phil Lorimer sat on a sunny part of the
+       enornous wall that guarded the castle, and leaning his back
+       against one of the little square towers that rose at
+       intervals in the circuit of the fortifications, sang song
+       after song, as if for the edification of a number of crows
+       that were perched on the trees on the other side of the
+       moat. The audience were grossly inattentive, and paid no
+       respect whatever to the performer, who still continued his
+       exertions, as highly satisfied as if he were applauded by
+       boxes, pit, and gallery of a crowded theatre:&mdash;Among
+       others, he sang the ballad of the "Silver Scarf."</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"It was a King's fair daughter,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With eyes of deepest blue,</p>
+
+            <p>She wove a scarf of silver</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The whole long summer through&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"A stately chair she sat on</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Before the castle door,</p>
+
+            <p>And ever in the calm moonlight</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">She work'd it o'er and o'er.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"And many a knight and noble</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Went daily out and in,</p>
+
+            <p>And each one marvell'd in his heart</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Which the fair scarf might win.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"She took no heed of questions,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From her work ne'er raised her head,</p>
+
+            <p>And on the snow-white border</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Sew'd her name in blackest thread.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Then came a tempest roaring,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From the high hills it came,</p>
+
+            <p>And bore the scarf far out to sea</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From forth its fragile frame:</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The maiden sate unstartled,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">As if it <i>must</i> be so&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>She stood up from her stately chair,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And to her bower did go.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"She took from forth her wardrobe</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Her dress of mourning hue&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>Whoever for a scarf before</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Such weight of sorrow knew?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"In robes of deepest mourning,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Three nights and days she sate;</p>
+
+            <p>On the third night, the warder's horn</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Was sounded at the gate&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"A messenger stands at the door,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And sad news bringeth he;</p>
+
+            <p>The king and all his gallant ships</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Are wreck'd upon the sea.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"And now the tide is rising,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And casts upon the shore</p>
+
+            <p>Full many a gallant hero's corse,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And many a golden store.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Then up rose the king's daughter,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Drew to her window near;</p>
+
+            <p>'What is it glitters on thine arm,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In the moonlight so clear?'</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"'It is a scarf of silver,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">I brought it from the strand;</p>
+
+            <p>I took it from the closed grasp</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of a strong warrior's hand.'</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"That feat thou ne'er shouldst boast of</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">If but alive were he;</p>
+
+            <p>Go take him back thy trophy</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To the blue rolling sea.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"And when that knight you've buried,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The scarf his grave shall grace;</p>
+
+            <p>And next to where you've laid him,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Oh, leave a vacant place!"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>"Here, you cursed old piper! leave off frightening the
+    crows, and open the gate this moment. Who the devil, do you
+    think, is to burst a bloodvessel by hollowing here all
+    day?"</p>
+
+    <p>Mr Lorimer, though used to considerable indignities, as we
+    have already seen, had still a little of the becoming poetical
+    pride about him, and looked rather angrily over the wall.
+    "Nobody wishes you to break bloodvessels, or have their own
+    ears disturbed by your screaming," he said. "What do you
+    want?"</p>
+
+    <p>"To get into your infernal house, to be sure. Where did you
+    get such unchristian roads? My bones are sore with the jolting.
+    Send somebody to open the gate."</p>
+
+    <p>"The drawbridge is up, and Mr Peeper must have his
+    twopence."</p>
+
+    <p>"Who the devil is Mr Peeper?" said the stranger. "I sha'n't
+    give him a fraction. Who made the drawbridge his? Is Mr
+    Belfront at home?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Yes, he is in Mr Peeper's study."</p>
+
+    <p>"And Mrs Belfront?"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Pickling cod. It is Mr Peeper's favourite dish; so we all
+    live on it sometimes for weeks together."</p>
+
+    <p>"With such a trout-stream at your door? He'll be a cleverer
+    fellow than I think him if he gets me to eat <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page345"
+       name="page345"></a>[pg 345]</span> his salted carrion. Open
+       the door, I say, or you'll have the worst of it when my
+       stick gets near your head. Tell Mrs Belfront her uncle is
+       here&mdash;her Uncle Samson."</p>
+
+    <p>Phil Lorimer saw no great resemblance to the Jewish Hercules
+    in the little, dapper, bustling-mannered man in a blue coat
+    with bright brass buttons, pepper-and-salt knee-breeches, and
+    long gaiters, who thus proclaimed his relationship to the lady
+    of the castle. He hurried down from the wall to make the
+    required announcement.</p>
+
+    <p>"My uncle Samson, the manufacturer, from Leeds! Oh, let him
+    in, by all means!" exclaimed Jane; "he was always so kind to me
+    when I was a child!"</p>
+
+    <p>"He can't get in, madam, unless Mr Peeper orders the
+    drawbridge to be lowered; and he is now busy with Mr
+    Belfront."</p>
+
+    <p>"Go for Mr Lutter; he will be glad to hear of uncle Samson's
+    arrival."</p>
+
+    <p>Mr Lorimer discovered Mr Lutter comfortably regaling himself
+    in the buttery; but on hearing in what respect his services
+    were required, he left unfinished a large tankard of ale, with
+    which he was washing down an enormous quantity of bread and
+    cheese, and proceeded to the moat.</p>
+
+    <p>"Don't disturb Mr Peeper," he said, "but help me to launch
+    the little punt."</p>
+
+    <p>By dint of a little labour, the small vessel was got into
+    the water, and Mr Lutter, taking a scull in his hand, paddled
+    over to the other side, and embarked the gentleman in the blue
+    coat. Paddling towards an undefended part of the castle, he
+    taught him how to clamber up the wall; and Mr Samson, wiping
+    the stains of his climbing from the knees of his nether
+    habiliments, looked round the castle-yard. "Well! who'd have
+    thought that such a monstrous strong-looking place should be
+    stormed by a middle-aged gentleman in a punt!"</p>
+
+    <p>"You've a friend in the garrison, you'll remember, sir, and
+    the battlements have never been repaired."</p>
+
+    <p>"They ain't worth repairing. It's a regular waste of
+    building materials to make such thick walls and pinnacles.
+    Blowed, if them stones wouldn't build a mill; and a precious
+    water-power, too," he added, as he saw the river sparkling
+    downward at the northern side. "Oho! I must have a talk with
+    Jane. Will you take me to Mrs Belfront? I haven't seen her for
+    five years. She must be much changed since then, and I must
+    prepare her for the arrival of her cousins."</p>
+
+    <p>Jane was sitting in the great hall, feeling disconsolate
+    enough. Often, in her father's comfortable parlour, she had
+    read accounts of baronial residences of the olden time; and one
+    of the greatest pleasures she had felt in becoming Mrs
+    Belfront, was to be the possessor of a real <i>bona fide</i>
+    castle that had been actually a fortress in the days of
+    knighthood. She had studied long ago the adventures of
+    high-born dames and stately nobles, till she was nearly as far
+    gone in romance as Don Quixote; and many questions she had
+    asked about Belfront, and donjon-towers, and keeps, and
+    tiltyards, and laboured very hard to acquire a correct idea of
+    the mode of life and manners of the days of chivalry. Her
+    imagination, we have seen, was too lively to be restrained by
+    the more matter-of-fact nature of her husband; and she now felt
+    with great bitterness the difference between presiding at a
+    tournament, or being present at the Vow of the Peacock, and the
+    slavish submission in which she, with the whole household, was
+    held by Mr Pepper. Deeply she now regretted the feelings of
+    superiority she had experienced over her own relations by her
+    marriage into such an ancient race as the Belfronts. She felt
+    ashamed of the contempt she had felt for the industrious
+    founders of her own family's wealth, and at that moment would
+    have preferred the blue coat and brass buttons of her uncle
+    Samson, to all the escutcheons and shields of the Norman
+    conquest; and at that moment, luckily, the identical coat and
+    buttons made their appearance.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well, niece, here's a go!" exclaimed the angry uncle. "Is
+    this a way to receive a near relation after such a
+    journey?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh, uncle!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, did ye never hear tell of such a place as
+    Kidderminster?&mdash;have you no carpets?"</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page346"
+       name="page346"></a>[pg 346]</span> "Mr Belfront says there
+       were no carpets in his ancestor's time"&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"And no railroads, nor postchaises, nor books, nor nothing;
+    and is that any reason why we shouldn't have lots of every
+    thing now? By dad, before I've been here a week I'll have a
+    reg'lar French Revolution! No Bastille! says I; let's have a
+    Turkey carpet, and a telescope dining-table, good roads, and no
+    infernal punts&mdash;and, above all, let's get quit of the
+    villain Peeper."</p>
+
+    <p>"Oh! if Reginald would only consent!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why not? by dad, I'll make his fortune. I'll give him a
+    thousand a-year for the water-power that's now all thrown away.
+    I'll have a nice village built down in the valley. I'll get him
+    two guineas an acre for his land that's now lying waste. I'll
+    dig for coal. We'll build a nice comfortable house, and leave
+    this old ruin to the crows."</p>
+
+    <p>"And the neighbours, uncle Samson?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Why, we'll build a church, and the parson will be a good
+    companion. When the roads are made, you'll give a jolly dinner
+    once a-week to every squire within ten miles. You'll have a
+    book club. You'll help in the Sunday school. You'll go to the
+    county balls. Your husband will join the agricultural society,
+    and act as a magistrate. He'll subscribe to the hounds. He'll
+    attend to the registrations. He'll have shooting-parties in
+    September. And as to any old-world, wretched talks about
+    chivalry and antiquity, we'll show him that there never was a
+    time like the present&mdash;commerce, land, property, and
+    intelligence, all in the very best condition. We'll make Lutter
+    superintendent of the whole estate, and send old Peeper about
+    his business. And in all this you must help; for there's
+    nothing to be done without the help of the ladies: so give me
+    your hand, dear niece, and don't cry."</p>
+
+    <p>"It would make me so happy! I would never look into Amadis
+    de Gaul again!"</p>
+
+    <p>"Hang Amadis de Gall and Amadi de Spurzheim, too! Where is
+    your husband?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I seldom see him now. He is always in the oratory with Mr
+    Peeper."</p>
+
+    <p>"The deuce he is!" said the uncle. "And how do you get on in
+    other respects? Are you
+    comfortable&mdash;happy&mdash;contented?" Jane told him all she
+    had encountered since she had come to the castle, and the uncle
+    seemed thunderstruck at the recital.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well! bold measures are always the best," he said at last;
+    "I'll kick Peeper into the moat!" and before his niece could
+    interfere, the uncle had rushed across the quadrangle, guided,
+    we are sorry to say, by Mr Lutter, and, grasping the venerable
+    Peeper, whom he met near the drawbridge, he dragged him towards
+    the water.</p>
+
+    <p>Jane ran to get assistance for the unfortunate victim; and
+    crying "Help! help!" as she saw the wretched man forced over
+    the walls, she looked in a state of distraction towards her
+    husband. "Dear Jane," said that individual, smiling blandly, "I
+    told you you had overtired yourself with walking." Jane gazed
+    round; there was Reginald sitting beside her, with her head
+    reclining on his shoulder, at the open window of the inn in
+    Wales. The vale of Cwmcwyllchly was spread in a beautiful
+    landscape below. They were still on their wedding tour.</p>
+
+    <p>"You have been asleep, Jane," said Reginald.</p>
+
+    <p>"And have had such dreadful dreams. Oh, Reginald! I have had
+    such visions of horrid things and people. I shall never be
+    romantic again about chivalry. Such coarseness!&mdash;such
+    slavery!&mdash;such ignorance! Ah, how happy we ought to be
+    that we are born in a civilized time, with no Mr Peepers for
+    father confessors, nor fighting with firebrands for
+    amusement!"</p>
+
+    <p>"You have been reading <i>Hallam's Middle Ages</i>&mdash;a
+    present from your uncle Samson&mdash;till you have become a
+    right-down Utilitarian. Come, let us ring for tea; and
+    to-morrow we must start for Yorkshire! The Quarter-sessions are
+    coming on."</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page347"
+       name="page347"></a>[pg 347]</span> <a name="bw341s6"
+          id="bw341s6"></a>
+
+    <h2>DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE.</h2>
+
+    <p>We left M. Dumas at Marseilles: we find him again at Naples.
+    Three volumes are the result of his visit to the last named
+    city&mdash;volumes in which he manages to put a little of every
+    thing, and a good deal of some things. Antiquarian, historian,
+    virtuoso, novelist, he touches upon all subjects, flying from
+    one to the other with a lightness and a facility of transition
+    peculiarly his own, and peculiarly agreeable. English
+    travellers and Italian composers, St Januarius and the opera,
+    Masaniello and the <i>gettatura</i>, Pompeii, princes, police
+    spies, Vesuvius, all have their turn&mdash;M. Dumas, with his
+    usual tact, merely glancing at those subjects which are known
+    and written about by every tourist, but giving himself full
+    scope when he gets off the beaten track. His book is literally
+    crammed with tales and anecdotes, to such a degree indeed, and
+    most of them so good, that our principal difficulty in
+    commencing a notice of it, is to know where to pick and choose
+    our extracts; <i>l'embarras des richesses</i>, in short. The
+    best way will probably be to begin at the beginning, and go as
+    far as our limits allow us, referring our readers to the
+    original for the many good things that want of space will
+    compel us to exclude.</p>
+
+    <p>M. Dumas calls his book the <i>Corricolo</i>, and devotes a
+    short and characteristic preface to an explanation of the
+    title. This explanation we must give in his own words. It is so
+    highly graphic, that, after reading it, we fancied we had seen
+    a picture of what it describes.</p>
+
+    <p>"A <i>corricolo</i> is a sort of tilbury or gig, originally
+    intended to hold one person, and be drawn by one horse. At
+    Naples they harness two horses to it; and it conveys twelve or
+    fifteen individuals, not at a walk nor at a trot, but at full
+    gallop, and this, notwithstanding that only one of the horses
+    does any work. The shaft horse draws, but the other, which is
+    harnessed abreast of him, and called the <i>bilancino</i>,
+    prances and curvets about, animates his companion, but does
+    nothing else.</p>
+
+    <p>"Having said that the gig built to carry one is made to
+    carry fifteen, I am, of course, expected to explain how this is
+    accomplished. There is an old French proverb, according to
+    which, when there is enough for one there is enough for two;
+    but I am not aware of any proverb in any language which says,
+    that when there is enough for one, there is enough for fifteen.
+    Nevertheless, it is the case with the <i>corricolo</i>. In the
+    present advanced state of civilization, every thing is diverted
+    from its primitive destination. As it is impossible to say at
+    what period, or in how long a time, the capacity of the vehicle
+    in question was extended in the ratio of one to fifteen, I must
+    content myself with describing the way of packing the
+    passengers.</p>
+
+    <p>"In the first place, there is almost invariably a fat greasy
+    monk seated in the middle, forming the centre of a sort of coil
+    of human creatures. On one of his knees is some robust
+    rosy-cheeked nurse from Aversa or Nettuno; on the other, a
+    handsome peasant woman from Bauci or Procida. On either side of
+    him, between the wheels and the body of the vehicle, stand the
+    husbands of these two ladies. Standing on tiptoe behind the
+    monk is the driver, holding in his left hand the reins, and in
+    his right the long whip with which he keeps his horses at an
+    equal rate of speed. Behind <i>him</i> are two or three
+    lazzaroni, who get up and down, go away, and are succeeded by
+    others, without any body taking notice of them, or expecting
+    them to pay for their ride. On the shafts are seated two boys,
+    picked up on the road from Torre del Greco or Pouzzoles,
+    probably supernumerary <i>ciceroni</i> of the antiquities of
+    Herculaneum and Pompeii. Finally, suspended under the carriage,
+    in a sort of coarse rope network with large meshes, which
+    swings backwards and forwards at every movement of the vehicle,
+    is a shapeless and incomprehensible mass, which cries, laughs,
+    sings, screams, shouts, and bellows, all by turns and none for
+    long together, and the nature of which it is impossible to
+    distinguish, dimly seen as it is through the clouds of dust
+    raised by the horses' feet. This mass consists of three or four
+    children, who belong to Heaven knows who, are going Heaven
+    knows where, live Heaven knows how, and are there Heaven knows
+    wherefore.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page348"
+       name="page348"></a>[pg 348]</span> "Now then, put down, one
+       above the other, monk, women, husbands, driver, lazzaroni,
+       boys and children; add them up, include the infant in arms,
+       which has been forgotten, and the total will be fifteen.</p>
+
+    <p>"It sometimes happens that the <i>coricolo</i> passes over a
+    big stone, and upsets, pitching out its occupants to a greater
+    or less distance, according to their respective gravity. But,
+    on such occasions, nobody thinks of himself; the attention of
+    every one is immediately turned to the monk. If he is hurt, the
+    journey is over for the day; they carry him to the nearest
+    house; the horses are put into the stable, and he is put to
+    bed; the women nurse him, make much of him, cry and pray over
+    him. If, on the other hand, the monk is safe and sound, nobody
+    has a right to complain; he resumes his seat, the nurse and the
+    peasant woman resume theirs, the others climb up into their
+    respective places&mdash;a crack of the long whip, and a shout
+    from the driver, and the <i>corricolo</i> is off again full
+    speed."</p>
+
+    <p>From this we learn what a <i>corricolo</i> is, but we have
+    not yet been told why M. Dumas should christen his book after
+    the degenerate descendant of the Roman curriculum.
+    Patience&mdash;we shall get to it in time. Materials crowd upon
+    our traveller, and it is only in the second chapter that the
+    desired explanation is given. In the first we are informed of
+    M. Dumas's installation at the Hotel Vittoria, kept by M.
+    Martin Zill, who, besides being an innkeeper, is a man of much
+    taste in art, a distinguished antiquary, an amateur of
+    pictures, a collector of autographs and curiosities. Apropos of
+    the hotel we have an anecdote of the ex-dey of Algiers, who, on
+    being dispossessed of his dominions by the French, took refuge
+    at Naples, and established himself under M. Zill's hospitable
+    roof. The third floor was entirely occupied by his suite and
+    attendants, the fourth was for himself and his treasures, the
+    fifth, or the garrets, he converted into his harem. The curious
+    arms, costumes, and jewels which Hussein Pacha had brought with
+    him, were a godsend to the virtuoso weary of examining and
+    admiring them; and, before the African had been a week in the
+    house, he and his host were sworn friends. Unfortunately this
+    harmony was not destined to last very long.</p>
+
+    <p>"One morning Hussein Pacha's cook (a Nubian as black as ink,
+    and as shining as if he had been polished with a shoe-brush)
+    entered the kitchen of the hotel, and asked for the largest
+    knife they had. The head-cook gave him a sort of carving-knife,
+    some eighteen inches long, sharp as a razor, and pliant as a
+    foil. The negro looked at it, shook his head as if in doubt
+    whether it would do, but nevertheless took it up stairs with
+    him. Presently he brought it down again, and asked for a larger
+    one. The cook opened all his drawers, and at last found a sort
+    of cutlass, which he hardly ever used on account of its
+    enormous size. With this the Nubian appeared more satisfied,
+    and again went up stairs. Five minutes afterwards he came down
+    for the third time, and returned the knife, asking for a bigger
+    one still. The cook's curiosity was excited, and he enquired
+    who wanted the knife, and for what purpose.</p>
+
+    <p>"The African told him very coolly that the dey, having left
+    his dominions rather in a hurry, had forgotten to bring an
+    executioner with him, and had consequently ordered his cook to
+    get a large knife and cut off the head of Osmin, chief of the
+    eunuchs, who was convicted of having kept such negligent watch
+    and ward over his highness's seraglio, that some presumptuous
+    Giaour had made a hole in the wall, and established a
+    communication with Zaida, the dey's favourite <i>odalisque</i>.
+    Accordingly Osmin was to be decapitated; and as to the
+    offending lady, the next time the dey took an airing in the bay
+    of Naples, she would be put into the boat in a sack, and
+    consigned to the keeping of the kelpies. Thunderstruck at such
+    summary proceedings, the cook desired his Nubian brother to
+    wait while he went for a larger knife; then hastening to M.
+    Martin Zill, he told him what he had just heard.</p>
+
+    <p>"M. Martin Zill ran to the minister of police, and laid the
+    matter before him. His excellency got into his carriage
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page349"
+       name="page349"></a>[pg 349]</span> and went to call upon the
+       dey.</p>
+
+    <p>He found his highness reclining upon a divan, his back
+    supported by cushions, smoking latakia in a chibouque, while an
+    icoglan scratched the soles of his feet, and two slaves fanned
+    him. The minister made his three salaams; the dey nodded his
+    head.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your highness,' said his excellency, 'I am the minister of
+    police.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I know you are,' answered the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then your highness probably conjectures the motive of my
+    visit.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No. But you are welcome all the same.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I come to prevent your highness from committing a
+    crime.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A crime! And what crime?' said the dey, taking the pipe
+    from his mouth, and gazing at his interlocutor in the most
+    profound astonishment.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I wonder your highness should ask the question,' replied
+    the minister. 'Is it not your intention to cut off Osmin's
+    head?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That is no crime,' answered the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Does not your highness purpose throwing Zaida into the
+    sea?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That is no crime,' repeated the dey. 'I bought Osmin for
+    five hundred piasters, and Zaida for a thousand sequins, just
+    as I bought this pipe for a hundred ducats.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Well,' said the minister, 'what does your highness deduce
+    from that?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That as this pipe belongs to me, as I have bought it and
+    paid for it, I may break it to atoms if I choose, and nobody
+    has a right to object.' So saying, the pacha broke his pipe,
+    and threw the fragments into the middle of the room.</p>
+
+    <p>"'All very well, as far as a pipe goes,' said the minister;
+    'but Osmin, but Zaida?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Less than a pipe,' said the dey gravely.</p>
+
+    <p>"'How! less than a pipe! A man less than a pipe! A woman
+    less than a pipe!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Osmin is not a man, and Zaida is not a woman: they are
+    slaves. I will cut off Osmin's head, and throw Zaida into the
+    sea.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No!' said the magistrate. 'Not at Naples at least.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Dog of a Christian!' shouted the dey, 'do you know who I
+    am?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You are the ex-dey of Algiers, and I am the Neapolitan
+    minister of police; and, if your deyship is impertinent, I
+    shall send him to prison,' added the minister very coolly.</p>
+
+    <p>"'To prison!' repeated the dey, falling back upon his
+    divan.</p>
+
+    <p>"'To prison,' replied the minister.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Very well,' said Hussein. 'I leave Naples to-night.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your highness is as free as air to go and to come.
+    Nevertheless, I must make one condition. Before your departure,
+    you will swear by the Prophet, that no harm shall be done to
+    Osmin or Zaida.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Osmin and Zaida belong to me, and I shall do what I please
+    with them.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then your highness will be pleased to deliver them over to
+    me, to be punished according to the laws of the country; and,
+    until you do so, you will not be allowed to leave Naples.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Who will prevent me?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The pacha laid his hand on his dagger. The minister stepped
+    to the window and made a sign. The next moment the tramp of
+    heavy boots and jingle of spurs were heard upon the stairs; the
+    door opened, and a gigantic corporal of gendarmes made his
+    appearance, his right hand raised to his cocked hat, his left
+    upon the seam of his trouser.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Gennaro,' said the minister of police, 'if I gave you an
+    order to arrest this gentleman, would you see any difficulty in
+    executing it?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'None, your excellency.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You are aware that this gentleman's name is Hussein
+    Pacha.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I was not, your excellency.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And that he is dey of Algiers.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'May it please your excellency, I don't know what that
+    is.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You see?' said the minister, turning to the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'The devil! exclaimed Hussein.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Shall I?' said Gennaro, taking a pair of handcuffs from
+    his pocket, and advancing a pace towards the dey, who, on his
+    part, took a step backwards.</p>
+
+    <p>"'No,' replied the minister, 'it will not be necessary. His
+    highness <span class="pagenum"><a id="page350"
+       name="page350"></a>[pg 350]</span> will do as he is bid. Go
+       and search the hotel for a man named Osmin, and a woman
+       named Zaida, and take them both to the prefecture.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What!' cried the dey; 'this man is to enter my harem?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'He is not a man,' replied the minister; 'he is a corporal
+    of gendarmes. But if you do not wish him to go, send for Osmin
+    and Zaida yourself.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Will you promise to have them punished?' enquired the
+    dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Certainly; according to the utmost rigour of the law.'</p>
+
+    <p>"Hussein Pacha clapped his hands. A door concealed behind a
+    tapestry was opened, and a slave entered the room.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Bring down Osmin and Zaida,' said the dey.</p>
+
+    <p>"The slave crossed his hands on his breast, bowed his head,
+    and disappeared without uttering a word. The next instant he
+    came back with the two culprits.</p>
+
+    <p>"The eunuch was a little round fat fellow, with beardless
+    face, and small hands and feet. Zaida was a beautiful
+    Circassian, her eyelids painted with kool, her teeth blackened
+    with betel, her nails reddened with henna. On perceiving
+    Hussein Pacha, the eunuch fell upon his knees; Zaida raised her
+    head. The dey's eyes flashed, and he clutched the hilt of his
+    kangiar. Osmin grew pale; Zaida smiled. The minister of police
+    made a sign to the gendarme, who stepped up to the two
+    captives, handcuffed them, and led them out of the room. As the
+    door closed behind them, the dey uttered a sound between a sigh
+    and a roar.</p>
+
+    <p>"The magistrate looked out of the window, till he saw the
+    prisoners and their escort disappear at the corner of the
+    Strada Chiatamone. Then turning to the dey&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your highness is now at liberty to leave Naples, if he
+    wishes so to do,' said the imperturbable functionary with a low
+    bow.</p>
+
+    <p>"'This very instant!' cried Hussein. 'I will not remain
+    another moment in such a barbarous country as yours.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A pleasant journey to your highness,' said the
+    minister.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Go to the devil!' retorted Hussein.</p>
+
+    <p>"Before an hour had elapsed, the dey had chartered a small
+    vessel, on board of which he embarked the same evening with his
+    suite, his wives, and his treasures; and at midnight he set
+    sail; cursing the tyranny that prevented a man from drowning
+    his wife and cutting off the heads of his slaves. The next day
+    the minister of police had the culprits brought before him and
+    examined. Osmin was found guilty of having slept when he ought
+    to have watched, and Zaida of having watched when she ought to
+    have slept. But, by some strange omission, the Neapolitan code
+    allots no punishment to such offences; and, consequently, Osmin
+    and Zaida, to their infinite astonishment, were immediately set
+    at liberty. Osmin took to selling pastilles for a livelihood,
+    and the lady got employment as <i>dame de comptoir</i> in a
+    coffeehouse. As to the dey, he had left Naples with the
+    intention of going to England, in which country, as he had been
+    informed, a man is at liberty to sell his wife, if he may not
+    drown her. He was taken ill, however, on the road, and obliged
+    to stop at Leghorn, where he died."</p>
+
+    <p>M. Dumas, not being in good odour with the Neapolitan
+    authorities, on account of some supposed republican tendencies
+    of his, is at Naples under an assumed name; and, as it is
+    uncertain how long he may be able to preserve his incognito, he
+    is desirous of seeing all that is to be seen in as short a time
+    as possible. He finds that Naples, independently of its
+    suburbs, consists of three streets where every body goes, and
+    five hundred streets where nobody goes. The three streets are,
+    the Chiaja, the Toledo, and the Forcella; the five hundred
+    others are nameless&mdash;a labyrinth of houses, which might be
+    compared to that of Crete, deducting the Minotaur, and adding
+    the Lazzaroni. There are three ways of seeing Naples&mdash;on
+    foot, in a <i>corricolo</i> or in a carriage. On foot, one goes
+    every where, but one sees too much; in a carriage, one only
+    goes through the three principal streets, and one sees too
+    little&mdash;the <i>corricolo</i> is the happy medium, the
+    <i>juste milieu</i>, to which M. Dumas for <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page351"
+       name="page351"></a>[pg 351]</span> once determines to
+       adhere. Having made up his mind, he sends for his host, and
+       enquires where he can hire a <i>corricolo</i> by the week or
+       month. His host tells him he had better buy one, horse and
+       all. To this plan M. Dumas objects the expense.</p>
+
+    <p>"'It will cost you,' said M. Martin, after a momentary
+    calculation in his head, 'it will cost you&mdash;the
+    <i>corricolo</i> ten ducats, each horse thirty carlini, the
+    harness a pistole; in all, eighty French francs.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What! for ten ducats I shall have a <i>corricolo</i>?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A magnificent one.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'New?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh! you are asking too much. There are no such things as
+    new <i>corricoli</i>. There is a standing order of the police
+    forbidding coachmakers to build them.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Indeed! How long has that order been in force?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Fifty years, perhaps.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'How comes it, then, that there is such a thing as a
+    <i>corricolo</i> in existence?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Nothing easier. You know the story of Jeannot's
+    knife?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'To be sure I do; it is one of our national chronicles. The
+    blade had been changed fifteen times, and the handle fifteen
+    times, but it was still the same knife.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The case of the <i>corricolo</i> is exactly similar. It is
+    forbidden to build new ones, but it is not forbidden to put new
+    wheels to old bodies, and new bodies on old wheels. By these
+    means the <i>corricolo</i> becomes immortal.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I understand. An old body and new wheels for me, if you
+    please. But the horses? Do you mean to say that for thirty
+    francs I shall have a pair of horses?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'A superb pair, that will go like the wind.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What sort of horses?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh, dead ones, of course!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Dead ones!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Certainly. At that price you could hardly expect any thing
+    better.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'My dear M. Martin, be kind enough to explain. I am
+    travelling for my improvement, and information of all kinds is
+    highly acceptable.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You are acquainted with the history of the horse, I
+    suppose?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The natural history? Buffon's? Certainly. The horse is,
+    after the lion, the noblest of all the beasts.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No, no; the philosophical history. The different stages
+    and vicissitudes in the existence of those noble
+    quadrupeds.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh yes! first the saddle, then a carriage or gig, thence
+    to a stage-coach or omnibus, hackney-coach or cab, and
+    finally&mdash;to the knacker's.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And from the knacker's?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'To the Elysian fields, I suppose.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No. Not here, at least. From the knacker's they go to the
+    <i>corricoli</i>.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'How so?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will tell you. At the Ponte della Maddalena, where
+    horses are taken to be killed, there are always persons
+    waiting, who, when a horse is brought, buy the hide and hoofs
+    for thirty carlini, which is the price regulated by law.
+    Instead of killing the horse and skinning him, these persons
+    take him with the skin on, and make the most of the time he yet
+    has to live. They are sure of getting the skin sooner or later.
+    And these are what I mean by dead horses.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But what can they possibly do with the unfortunate
+    brutes?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'They harness them to the <i>corricoli</i>.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What! those with which I came from Salerno to
+    Naples'&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"'Were the ghosts of horses; spectre steeds, in short.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But they galloped the whole way.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why not? <i>Les morts vont vite.</i>'"</p>
+
+    <p><i>Et cetera, et cetera</i>. For the price stated by his
+    host, M. Dumas finds himself possessor of a magnificent
+    <i>corricolo</i> of a bright red colour, with green trees and
+    animals painted thereon. Two most fiery and impatient steeds,
+    half concealed by harness, bells, and ribands, are included in
+    his purchase. After a vain attempt to drive himself, the
+    phantom coursers having apparently a supreme contempt for
+    whipcord, he gives up the reins to a professional charioteer,
+    and commences his perambulations. His first visit is to the
+    Chiaja, the favourite promenade of the aristocracy and of
+    foreigners; his second to the Toledo, the street of shops and
+    loungers; his third <span class="pagenum"><a id="page352"
+       name="page352"></a>[pg 352]</span> to the Forcella,
+       frequented by lawyers and their clients. He makes a chapter,
+       and a long one too, out of each street; but not in the way
+       usually adopted by those pitiless tour-writers who overwhelm
+       their readers with dry architectural details, filling a page
+       with a portico, and a chapter with a chapel&mdash;not
+       letting one off a pane of a painted window or line of
+       worm-eaten inscription however often those things may have
+       been described already by previous travellers. M. Dumas
+       prefers men to things as subjects for his pen; and the three
+       chapters above named are filled with curious illustrations
+       of Neapolitan manners, customs, and character. Apropos of
+       the Toledo, we are introduced to the well-known
+       <i>impresario</i>, Domenico Barbaja, who had his palazzo in
+       that street, and who, from being waiter in a coffeehouse at
+       Milan, became the manager of three theatres at one time,
+       namely, San Carlo, La Scala, and the Vienna opera. He
+       appears to have been a man of great energy and originality
+       of character, concealing an excellent heart under the
+       roughest manners and most choleric of tempers.</p>
+
+    <p>"It would be impossible," says M. Dumas, "to translate into
+    any language the abuse with which Barbaja used to overwhelm the
+    singers and musicians at his theatres when they displeased him.
+    Yet not one of them bore him malice for it, knowing that, if
+    they had the least triumph, Barbaja would be the first to
+    embrace and congratulate them: if they were unsuccessful, he
+    would console them with the utmost delicacy: if they were ill,
+    he would watch over them with the tenderness of a father or
+    brother. The fortune which he had amassed, little by little,
+    and by strenuous exertions, he spent in the most generous and
+    princely manner. His palace, his villa, and his table, were
+    open to all.</p>
+
+    <p>"His genius was of a peculiar and extraordinary kind.
+    Education he had none: he was unable to write the commonest
+    letter, and did not know a note of music; yet he would give his
+    composers the most valuable hints, and dictate with admirable
+    skill the plan of a libretto. His own voice was of the harshest
+    and most inharmonious texture; but by his advice and
+    instructions he formed some of the first singers in Italy. His
+    language was a Milanese patois; but he found means to make
+    himself excellently understood by the kings and emperors, with
+    whom he carried on negotiations upon a footing of perfect
+    equality. It was a great treat to see him seated in his box at
+    San Carlo, opposite that of the King of Naples, on the evening
+    of a new opera; with grave and impartial aspect, now turning
+    his face to the actors, then to the audience. If a singer went
+    wrong, Barbaja was the first to crush him with a severity
+    worthy of Brutus. His '<i>Can de Dio</i>!' was shouted out in a
+    voice that made the theatre shake and the poor actor tremble.
+    If, on the other hand, the public disapproved without reason,
+    Barbaja would start up in his box and address the audience.
+    '<i>Figli d'una racca</i>!' 'Will you hold your tongues? You
+    don't deserve good singers.' If by chance the King himself
+    omitted to applaud at the right time, Barbaja would shrug his
+    shoulders and go grumbling out of his box.</p>
+
+    <p>"With all his peculiarities, he it was who formed and
+    brought forward Lablache, Tamburini, Rubini, Donzelli, Colbran,
+    Pasta, Fodor, Donizetti, Bellini, and the great Rossini
+    himself, whose masterpieces were composed for Barbaja. It is
+    impossible to form an idea of the amount of entreaties,
+    stratagems, and even violence, expended by the
+    <i>impresario</i> to make Rossini work. I will give an example
+    of it, which is highly characteristic both of the manager and
+    of the greatest and happiest, but most <i>insouciant</i> and
+    idle, musical genius that ever drew breath under the bright sky
+    of Italy."</p>
+
+    <p>We are sorry to tantalize our readers, but we have not space
+    for the story that follows. It relates to the opera of
+    <i>Othello</i>, which was composed by Rossini in an incredibly
+    short time, whilst a prisoner in an apartment of Barbaja's
+    house. For nearly six months had the composer been living vith
+    the manager, entertaining his friends at his well-spread table,
+    drinking his choicest wines, and occupying his best
+    rooms&mdash;all this under promise of producing a new opera
+    within the half-year, a promise which <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page353"
+       name="page353"></a>[pg 353]</span> he showed little
+       disposition to fulfil. Barbaja was in a fever of anxiety,
+       and finding remonstrance unavailing, had recourse to
+       stratagem. One morning, when Rossini was about to start on a
+       party of pleasure, he found his doors secured outside; and,
+       on putting his head out of the window, was informed by
+       Barbaja that he must remain captive until his ransom was
+       paid. The ransom, of course, was the opera.</p>
+
+    <p>Rossini subsequently revenges himself on his tyrant in a
+    very piquant manner; and, finally, the morning after
+    <i>Othello</i> has been performed with triumphant success, he
+    starts for Bologna, taking with him, as travelling companion,
+    the <i>prima donna</i> of the San Carlo theatre, Signora
+    Colbran, whom he had privately married. All this is related
+    very amusingly by M. Dumas, but at too great length for our
+    limits.</p>
+
+    <p>We have a naval combat in the second volume, in which a
+    French frigate is attacked by two English line-of-battle ships,
+    one of which she sinks, and receives in return the entire
+    point-blank broadside of the other, a three-decker; which
+    broadside, we in our ignorance of nautical matters, should have
+    thought sufficient to blow her either out of the water or under
+    it. It has not that effect, however, and the frigate is
+    captured; the captain of her, when he has hauled down his flag
+    in order to save the lives of his men, stepping into his cabin
+    and blowing his brains out. All this is very pretty, whatever
+    may be said of its probability. But there are two subjects on
+    which the majority of Frenchmen indulge in most singular
+    delusions. These are, their invincibility upon the sea, and the
+    battle of Waterloo. M. Dumas has not escaped the national
+    monomania.</p>
+
+    <p>Our author is very hard upon the poor English in this book.
+    He attacks them on all sides and with all weapons. Nelson and
+    Lady Hamilton occupy a prominent position in his pages. The
+    execution of Admiral Carraciolo, an undoubted blot on the
+    character of our naval hero, is given in all its details, and
+    with some little decorations and embellishments, for which we
+    suspect that we have to thank our imaginative historian.
+    Nelson's weakness, the ascendency exercised over him by Lady
+    Hamilton, or Emma Lyonna, as M. Dumas prefers styling her, her
+    intimacy with the Queen of Naples, and subservient to the
+    wishes and interests of the Neapolitan court, are all set forth
+    in the most glowing colours. This is the heavy artillery, the
+    round-shot and shell; but M. Dumas is too skilful a general to
+    leave any part of his forces unemployed, and does not omit to
+    bring up his sharpshooters, and open a pretty little fire of
+    ridicule upon English travellers in Italy, who, as it is well
+    known, go thither to make the fortunes of innkeepers and
+    purchase antiquities manufactured in the nineteenth century.
+    Strange as it may appear, we should be heartily sorry if M.
+    Dumas were to exchange his evident dislike of us for a more
+    kindly feeling. We should then lose some of his best stories;
+    for he is never more rich and amusing than when he shows up the
+    sons and daughters of <i>le perfide Albion</i>. In support of
+    our assertion, take the following sketch:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"During my stay at Naples an Englishman arrived there, and
+    took up his quarters at the hotel at which I was stopping. He
+    was one of those phlegmatic, overbearing, obstinate Britons,
+    who consider money the engine with which every thing is to be
+    moved and all things accomplished, the argument in short which
+    nothing can resist. Money was every thing in his estimation of
+    mankind; talent, fame, titles, mere feathers that kicked the
+    beam the moment a long rent-roll or inscription of three per
+    cents were placed in the opposite scale. In proportion as men
+    were rich or poor, did he esteem them much or little. Being
+    very rich himself, he esteemed himself much.</p>
+
+    <p>"He had come direct to Naples by steam, and during the
+    voyage had made this calculation: With money I shall say every
+    thing, do every thing, and have every thing I please. He had
+    not long to wait to find out his mistake. The steamer cast
+    anchor in the port of Naples just half an hour too late for the
+    passengers to land. The Englishman, who had been very sea-sick,
+    and was particularly anxious to get on shore, sent to offer the
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page354"
+       name="page354"></a>[pg 354]</span> captain of the port a
+       hundred guineas if he would let him land directly. The
+       quarantine laws of Naples are very strict; the captain of
+       the port thought the Englishman was mad, and only laughed at
+       his offer. He was therefore obliged to sleep on board in an
+       excessively bad humour, cursing alike those who made the
+       regulations and those who enforced them.</p>
+
+    <p>"The first thing he did when he got on shore, was to set off
+    to visit the ruins of Pompeii. There happened to be no regular
+    guide at hand, so he took a lazzarone instead. He had not
+    forgotten his disappointment of the night before, and all the
+    way to Pompeii he relieved his mind by abusing King Ferdinand
+    in the best Italian he could muster. The lazzarone, whom he had
+    taken into his carriage, took no notice of all this so long as
+    they were on the high-road. Lazzaroni, in general, meddle very
+    little in politics, and do not care how much you abuse king or
+    kaiser so long as nothing disrespectful is said of the Virgin
+    Mary, St Januarius, or Mount Vesuvius. On arriving, however, at
+    the <i>Via dei Sepolchri</i>, the ragged guide put his finger
+    on his lips as a signal to be silent. But his employer either
+    did not understand the gesture, or considered it beneath his
+    dignity to take notice of it, for he continued his invectives
+    against Ferdinand the Well-beloved.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone at last,
+    placing his hand upon the side of the barouche, and jumping out
+    as lightly as a harlequin. 'Pardon me, Eccellenza, but I must
+    return to Naples.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And why so?' inquired the other in his broken Italian.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Because I do not wish to be hung.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And who would dare to hang you?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The king.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Because you are speaking ill of him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'An Englishman has a right to say whatever he likes.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'It may be so, but a lazzarone has not.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But you have said nothing.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But I hear everything.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Who will tell what you hear?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The invalid soldier who accompanies us to visit
+    Pompeii.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I do not want an invalid soldier.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then you cannot visit Pompeii.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Not by paying?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But I will pay double, treble, four times, whatever they
+    ask.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No, no, no.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh!' said the Englishman, and he fell into a brown study,
+    during which the lazzarone amused himself by trying to jump
+    over his own shadow.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will take the invalid,' said the Englishman after a
+    little reflection.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Very good,' replied the lazzarone, 'we will take him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But I shall say just what I please before him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In that case I wish you a good morning.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'No, no; you must remain.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Allow me to give you a piece of advice then. If you want
+    to say what you please before the invalid, take a deaf
+    one.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, delighted with the advice, 'by
+    all means a deaf one. Here is a piaster for you for having
+    thought of it.' The lazzarone ran to the guard-house, and soon
+    returned with an old soldier who was as deaf as a post.</p>
+
+    <p>"They began the usual round of the curiosities, during which
+    the Englishman continued calling King Ferdinand any thing but a
+    gentleman, of all which the invalid heard nothing, and the
+    lazzarone took no notice. They visited the Via dei Sepolchri,
+    the houses of Diomedes and Cicero. At last they came to
+    Sallust's house, in one of the rooms of which was a fresco that
+    hit the Englishman's fancy exceedingly. He immediately sat
+    down, took a pencil and a blank book from his pocket, and began
+    copying it. He had scarcely made a stroke, however, when the
+    soldier and the lazzarone approached him. The former was going
+    to speak, but the latter took the words out of his mouth.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Eccellenza,' said he, 'it is forbidden to copy the
+    fresco.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh!' said the Englishman, 'I must make this copy. I will
+    pay for it.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'It is not allowed, even if you pay.'</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page355"
+       name="page355"></a>[pg 355]</span> "'But I will pay ten
+       times its value if necessary; I must copy it, it is so
+       funny.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'If you do, the invalid will put you in the
+    guard-room.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pshaw! An Englishman has a right to draw any thing he
+    likes.' And he went on with his sketch. The invalid approached
+    him with an inexorable countenance.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone; 'but would you
+    like to copy not only this fresco, but as many more as you
+    please?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Certainly I should, and I will too.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Then, let me give you a word of advice. Take a blind
+    invalid.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, still more enchanted with this
+    second hint than with the first. 'By all means, a blind
+    invalid. Here are two piasters for the idea.'</p>
+
+    <p>"They left Sallust's house, the deaf man was paid and
+    discharged, and the lazzarone went to the guard-room, and
+    brought back an invalid who was stone-blind and led by a black
+    poodle.</p>
+
+    <p>"The Englishman wished to return immediately to continue his
+    drawing, but the lazzarone persuaded him to delay it, in order
+    to avoid exciting suspicion. They continued their rambles,
+    therefore, guided by the invalid, or rather by his dog, who
+    displayed a knowledge of Pompeii that might have qualified him
+    to become a member of the antiquarian society. After visiting
+    the blacksmith's shop, Fortunata's house, and the public oven,
+    they returned to the abode of Sallust, where the Englishman
+    finished his sketch, while the lazzarone chatted with the blind
+    man, and kept him amused. Continuing their lounge, he made a
+    number of other drawings, and in a couple of hours his book was
+    half full.</p>
+
+    <p>"At last they arrived at a place where men were digging.
+    There had been discovered a number of small busts and statues,
+    bronzes, and curiosities of all kinds, which, as soon as they
+    were dug up, were carried into a neighbouring house, and had
+    his attention speedily attracted by a little statue of a satyr
+    about six inches high. 'Oh!' cried he, 'I shall buy this
+    figure.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'The king of Naples does not wish to sell it,' replied the
+    lazzarone.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will give its weight in sovereigns&mdash;double its
+    weight even.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I tell you it is not to be sold,' persisted the lazzarone;
+    'but,' added he, changing his tone, 'I have already given your
+    excellence two pieces of advice which you liked, I will now
+    give you a third: Do not buy the statue&mdash;steal it.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Oh&mdash;oh! that will be very original, and we have a
+    blind invalid too. Capital!'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Yes, but the invalid has a dog, who has two good eyes and
+    sixteen good teeth, and who will fly at you if you so much as
+    touch any thing with your little finger.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I'll buy the dog, and hang him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Do better still; take a lame invalid. Then, as you have
+    seen nearly every thing here, put the figure in your pocket and
+    run away. He may call out as much as he likes, he will not be
+    able to run after you.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, in convulsions of delight,
+    'here are three piasters for you. Fetch me a lame invalid.'</p>
+
+    <p>"And in order not to excite the suspicions of the blind man
+    and his dog, he left the house, and pretended to be examining a
+    fountain made of shell-work, while the lazzarone went for a
+    third guide. In a quarter of an hour he returned, accompanied
+    by an invalid with two wooden legs. They gave the blind man
+    three carlini, two for him and one for his dog, and sent him
+    away.</p>
+
+    <p>"The theatre and the temple of Isis were all that now
+    remained to be seen. After visiting them, the Englishman, in
+    the most careless tone he could assume, said he should like to
+    return to the house in which were deposited the produce of the
+    researches then making. The invalid, without the slightest
+    suspicion, conducted them thither, and they entered the
+    apartment in which the curiosities were arranged on shelves
+    nailed against the wall.</p>
+
+    <p>"While the Englishman lounged about, pretending to be
+    examining every thing with the greatest interest, the lazzarone
+    busied himself in fastening a stout string across the doorway,
+    at the height of a couple of feet from <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page356"
+       name="page356"></a>[pg 356]</span> the ground. When he had
+       done this, he made a sign to the Englishman, who seized the
+       little statue that he coveted from under the very nose of
+       the astounded invalid, put it into his pocket, and, jumping
+       over the string, ran off as hard as he could, accompanied by
+       the lazzarone. Darting through the Stabian gate, they found
+       themselves on the Salerno road&mdash;an empty hackney-coach
+       was passing, the Englishman jumped in, and had soon rejoined
+       his carriage, which was waiting for him in Via dei
+       Sepolchri. Two hours after he had left Pompeii he was at
+       Torre del Greco, and in another hour at Naples.</p>
+
+    <p>"As to the invalid, he at first tried to step over the cord
+    fastened across the door, but the height at which the lazzarone
+    had fixed it was too great for wooden legs to accomplish. He
+    then endeavoured to untie it, but with no better success; for
+    the lazzarone had fastened it in a knot compared to which the
+    one of Gordian celebrity would have appeared a mere slip-knot.
+    Finally, the old soldier, who had perhaps read of Alexander the
+    Great, determined to cut what he could not untie, and
+    accordingly drew his sword. But the sword in its best days had
+    never had much edge, and now it had none at all; so that the
+    Englishman was halfway to Naples whilst the invalid was still
+    sawing away at his cord.</p>
+
+    <p>"The same evening the Englishman left Naples on board a
+    steamboat, and the lazzarone was lost in the crowd of his
+    comrades; the six plasters he had got from his employer
+    enabling him to live in what a lazzarone considers luxury for
+    nearly as many months.</p>
+
+    <p>"The Englishman had been twelve hours at Naples, and had
+    done the three things that are most expressly forbidden to be
+    done there. He had abused the king, copied frescoes, and stolen
+    a statue, and all owing, not to his money, but to the ingenuity
+    of a lazzarone."</p>
+
+    <p>The lazzarone is a godsend for M. Dumas, an admirable peg
+    upon which to hang his quaint conceit and sly satire; and he is
+    accordingly frequently introduced in the course of the three
+    volumes. We must make room for one more extract, in which he
+    figures in conjunction with his friend the sbirro or gendarme,
+    who before being invested with a uniform, and armed with
+    carbine, pistols, and sabre, has frequently been a lazzarone
+    himself, and usually preserves the instincts and tastes of his
+    former station. The result of this is a coalition between the
+    lazzarone and the sbirro&mdash;law-breaker and law-preserver
+    uniting in a systematic attack upon the pockets of the
+    public.</p>
+
+    <p>"I was one day passing down the Toledo, when I saw a sbirro
+    arrested. Like La Fontaine's huntsman, he had been insatiable,
+    and his greediness brought its own punishment. This is what had
+    happened.</p>
+
+    <p>"A sbirro had caught a lazzarone in the fact.</p>
+
+    <p>"'What did you steal from that gentleman in black, who just
+    went by?' he demanded he.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Nothing, your excellency,' replied the lazzarone. A
+    lazzarone always addresses a sbirro as <i>eccellenza</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>"'I saw your hand in his pocket.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'His pocket was empty.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What! Not a purse, a snuff-box, a handkerchief?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Nothing, please your excellency. It was an author.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why do you go to those sort of people?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I found out my mistake too late.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Come along with me to the police-office.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But, your excellency&mdash;since I have stolen
+    nothing?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Idiot, that's the very reason. If you <i>had</i> stolen
+    something, we might have arranged matters.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Only wait till next time. I shall not always be so
+    unfortunate. I promise you the contents of the pocket of the
+    next person who passes.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Very good; but I will select the individual, or else you
+    will be making a bad choice again.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'As your excellency pleases.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The sbirro folded his arms in a most dignified manner, and
+    leaned his back against a post; the lazzarone stretched himself
+    on the pavement at his feet. A priest came by, then a lawyer,
+    then a poet; but the sbirro made no sign. At last there
+    appeared a young officer, dressed in brilliant uniform, who
+    passed gaily along, humming <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page357"
+       name="page357"></a>[pg 357]</span> between his teeth a tune
+       out of the last opera. The sbirro gave the signal. Up sprang
+       the lazzarone and followed the officer. Both disappeared
+       round a corner. Presently the lazzarone returned with his
+       ransom in his hand.</p>
+
+    <p>"'What have you got there?' said the sbirro.</p>
+
+    <p>"'A handkerchief,' replied the other.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Is that all?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'That all! It is of the finest cambric.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Had he only one?'<a id="footnotetag11"
+       name="footnotetag11"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a></p>
+
+    <p>"'Only one in that pocket.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And in the other?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In the other he had a silk handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Why didn't you bring it?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I keep that for myself, excellency. It is fair that we
+    should divide the profits. One pocket for you, the other for
+    me.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I have a right to both, and I must have the silk
+    handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'But, your excelleilcy'&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"'I must have the silk handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'It is an injustice.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Ha! Do you dare speak ill of his majesty's sbirri? Come
+    along to prison.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You shall have the silk handkerchief, your
+    excellency.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'How will you find the officer again?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'He is gone to pay a visit in the Strada de Foria. I will
+    go and wait for him at the door.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The lazzarone walked away, turned the corner of the street,
+    and established himself in the recess of a doorway. Presently
+    the young officer came out of a house opposite, and before he
+    had gone ten paces, put his hand in his pocket, and found he
+    was minus a handkerchief.</p>
+
+    <p>"'Pardon me, excellency,' said the lazzarone, stepping up to
+    him; 'you have lost something, I think?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I have lost a cambric handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Your excellency has not lost it; it has been stolen from
+    him.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And who stole it?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'What will your excellency give me if I find him the
+    thief?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I will give you a piastre.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I must have two.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'You shall. Hallo! What are you doing?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'I am stealing your silk handkerchief.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In order to find my cambric one?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'Yes.'</p>
+
+    <p>"'And where will both of them be?'</p>
+
+    <p>"'In the same pocket. The person to whom I shall give this
+    handkerchief is the same to whom I have already given the
+    other. Follow me, and observe what I do.'</p>
+
+    <p>"The officer followed the lazzarone, who gave the
+    handkerchief to the sbirro, and walked away. The latter had
+    hardly put his prize in his pocket when the officer came up and
+    seized him by the collar. The sbirro fell on his knees, but the
+    officer was inexorable, and he was sent to prison. As the
+    sbirro had himself been a lazzarone, he saw at once the trick
+    that had been played him. He wanted to cheat his confederate,
+    and his confederate had cheated him; but far from bearing him
+    malice for having done so, the sbirro views the conduct of the
+    lazzarone in the light of an exploit, and feels an additional
+    respect for him in consequence. When he is released from
+    prison, he will seek him out, and they will be hand and glove
+    together. When that time comes, look to your pockets."</p>
+
+    <p>We are introduced to Ferdinand IV. of Naples, King Nasone,
+    as the lazzaroni nicknamed him; also to Padre Rocco, a popular
+    preacher, and the idol of the lower classes of Neapolitans; and
+    to Cardinal Perelli, remarkable for his simplicity, which
+    quality, as may be supposed, loses nothing in passing through
+    the hands of his present biographer. With his usual skill, M.
+    Dumas glides from a ticklish story of which the cardinal is the
+    hero, (a story that he does <i>not</i> tell, for which
+    forbearance we give him due credit, since he is evidently
+    sorely tempted thereto,) to an account of the
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page358"
+       name="page358"></a>[pg 358]</span> Vardarelli, a band of
+       outlaws which for some time infested Calabria and the
+       Capitanato.</p>
+
+    <p>"Gaetano Vardarelli was a native of Calabria, and one of the
+    earliest members of the revolutionary society of the Carbonari.
+    When Murat, after for some time favouring that society, began
+    to persecute it, Vardarelli fled to Sicily, and took service
+    under King Ferdinand. He was then twenty-six years of age,
+    possessing the muscles and courage of a lion, the agility of a
+    chamois, the eye of an eagle. Such a recruit was not to be
+    despised, and he was made sergeant in the Sicilian guards. On
+    Ferdinand's restoration in 1815, he followed him to Naples; but
+    finding that he was not likely ever to rise above a very
+    subordinate grade, he became disgusted with the service,
+    deserted, and took refuge in the mountains of Calabria. There
+    two of his brothers, and some thirty brigands and outlaws,
+    assembled around him and elected him their chief, with right of
+    life and death over them. He had been a slave in the town; he
+    found himself a king in the mountains.</p>
+
+    <p>"Proceeding according to the old formula observed by
+    banditti chiefs both in Calabria and in melodramas, Vardarelli
+    proclaimed himself redresser general of wrongs and grievances,
+    and acted up to his profession by robbing the rich and
+    assisting the poor. The consequence was, that he soon became
+    exceedingly dreaded by the former, and exceedingly popular
+    among the latter class; and at last his exploits reached the
+    ears of King Ferdinand himself, who was highly indignant at
+    such goings on, and gave orders that the bandit should
+    immediately be hung. But there are three things necessary to
+    hang a man&mdash;a rope, a gallows, and the man himself. In
+    this instance, the first two were easily found, but the third
+    was unfortunately wanting. Gendarmes and soldiers were sent
+    after Vardarelli, but the latter was too cunning for them all,
+    and slipped through their fingers at every turn. His success in
+    eluding pursuit increased his reputation, and recruits flocked
+    to his standard. His band soon doubled its numbers, and its
+    leader became a formidable and important person, which of
+    course was an additional reason for the authorities to wish to
+    capture him. A price was set on his head, large bodies of
+    troops sent in search of him, but all in vain. One day the
+    Prince of Leperano, Colonel Calcedonio, Major Delponte, with a
+    dozen other officers, and a score of attendants, were hunting
+    in a forest a few leagues from Bari, when the cry of
+    '<i>Vardarelli</i>!' was suddenly heard. The party took to
+    flight with the utmost precipitation, and all escaped except
+    Major Delponte, who was one of the bravest, but, at the same
+    time, one of the poorest, officers of the whole army. When he
+    was told that he must pay a thousand ducats for his ransom, he
+    only laughed, and asked where he was to get such a sum.
+    Vardarelli then threatened to shoot him if it was not
+    forthcoming by a certain day. The major replied that it was
+    losing time to wait; and that, if he had a piece of advice to
+    give his captor, it was to shoot him at once. The bandit at
+    first felt half inclined to do so; but he reflected that the
+    less Delponte cared about his life, the more ought Ferdinand to
+    value it. He was right in his calculation; for no sooner did
+    the king learn that his brave major was in the hands of the
+    banditti, than he ordered the ransom to be paid out of his
+    privy purse, and the major recovered his freedom.</p>
+
+    <p>"But Ferdinand had sworn the extermination of the banditti
+    with whom he was thus obliged to treat as from one potentate to
+    another. A certain colonel, whose name I forget, and who had
+    heard this vow, pledged himself, if a battalion were put under
+    his command, to bring in Vardarelli, his two brothers, and the
+    sixty men composing his troop, bound hand and foot, and to
+    place them in the dungeons of the Vicaria. The offer was too
+    good to be refused; the minister of war put five hundred men at
+    the disposal of the colonel, who started with them at once in
+    pursuit of the outlaw. The latter was soon informed by his
+    spies of this fresh expedition, and <i>he</i> also made a vow,
+    to the effect that he would cure his pursuer, once and for all,
+    of any disposition to interfere with the Vardarelli.</p>
+
+    <p>"He began by leading the poor colonel such a dance over hill
+    and dale, that the unfortunate officer and <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page359"
+       name="page359"></a>[pg 359]</span> his men were worn out
+       with fatigue; then, when he saw them in the state that he
+       wished, he caused some false intelligence to be conveyed to
+       them at two o'clock one morning. The colonel fell into the
+       snare, and started immediately to surprise Vardarelli, whom
+       he was assured was in a little village at the further
+       extremity of a narrow pass, through which only four men
+       could pass abreast. He made such haste that he marched four
+       leagues in two hours, and at daybreak found himself at the
+       entrance of the pass, which, however, seemed so peculiarly
+       well adapted for an ambuscade, that he halted his battalion,
+       and sent on twenty men to reconnoitre. In a quarter of an
+       hour the twenty men returned. They had not met a single
+       living thing. The colonel hesitated no longer, and entered
+       the defile; but, on reaching a spot about halfway through
+       it, where the road widened out into a sort of platform
+       surrounded by high rocks and steep precipices, a shout was
+       suddenly heard, proceeding apparently from the clouds, and
+       the poor colonel looking up, saw the summits of the rocks
+       covered with brigands, who levelled their rifles at him and
+       his soldiers. Nevertheless, he began forming up his men as
+       well as the nature of the ground would permit, when
+       Vardarelli himself appeared upon a projecting crag. 'Down
+       with your arms, or you are dead men!' he shouted in a voice
+       of thunder. The bandits repeated his summons, and the echoes
+       repeated their voices, so that the troops, who had not made
+       the same vow as their colonel, and who thought themselves
+       surrounded by greatly superior numbers, cried out for
+       quarter, in spite of the entreaties and menaces of their
+       unfortunate commander. Then Vardarelli, without leaving his
+       position, ordered them to pile their arms, and march to two
+       different places which he pointed out to them. They obeyed;
+       and Vardarelli, leaving twenty of his men in their ambush,
+       came down with the remainder, who immediately proceeded to
+       render the Neapolitan muskets useless (for the moment at
+       least) by the same process which Gulliver employed to
+       extinguish the conflagration of the palace at Lilliput.</p>
+
+    <p>"The news of this affair put the king in very bad humour for
+    the first twenty-four hours; after which time, however, the
+    love of a joke overcoming his anger, he laughed heartily, and
+    told the story to every one he saw; and as there are always
+    lots of listeners when a king narrates, three years elapsed
+    before the poor colonel ventured to show his face at Naples and
+    encounter the ridicule of the court."</p>
+
+    <p>The general commanding in Calabria takes the matter rather
+    more seriously, and vows the destruction of the banditti. By
+    offers of large pay and privileges, they are induced to enter
+    the Neapolitan service, and prove highly efficient as a troop
+    of gendarmes. But the general cannot forget his old grudge
+    against them; although, for lack of an opportunity, and on
+    account of the desperate character of the men, he is obliged to
+    defer his revenge for some time. At last he succeeds in having
+    their leaders assassinated, and by pretending great
+    indignation, and imprisoning the perpetrators of the deed, he
+    lulls the suspicions of the remaining bandits, who elect new
+    officers, and on an appointed day, proceed to the town of
+    Foggia to have their election confirmed. Only eight of them,
+    apprehensive of treachery, refuse to accompany their comrades.
+    The remaining thirty-one, and a woman who would not leave her
+    husband, obey the general's summons.</p>
+
+    <p>"It was a Sunday, the review had been publicly announced,
+    and the square was thronged with spectators. The Vardarelli
+    entered the town in perfect order, armed to the very teeth, but
+    giving no sign of hostility or mistrust. On reaching the
+    square, they raised their sabres, and with one voice
+    exclaimed&mdash;'<i>Viva il Re</i>!' The general appeared on
+    his balcony to acknowledge their salute. The aide-de-camp on
+    duty came down to receive them, and after complimenting them on
+    the beauty of their horses and good state of their arms,
+    desired them to file past under the general's window, which
+    they did with a precision worthy of regular troops. They then
+    formed up again in the middle of the square, and
+    dismounted.</p>
+
+    <p>"The aide-de-camp went into the house again with the list of
+    the three <span class="pagenum"><a id="page360"
+       name="page360"></a>[pg 360]</span> new officers; the
+       Vardarelli were standing by their horses, when suddenly
+       there was a great confusion and movement in the crowd, which
+       opened in various places, and down every street leading to
+       the square, a column of Neapolitan troops was seen
+       advancing. The Vardarelli were surrounded on all sides.
+       Perceiving at once that they were betrayed, they sprang upon
+       their horses and drew their sabres; but at the same moment
+       the general took off his hat, which was the signal agreed
+       upon; the command, '<i>Faccia in terra</i>,' was heard, and
+       the spectators, throwing themselves on their faces, the
+       soldiers fired over them, and nine of the brigands fell to
+       the ground, dead or mortally wounded. Those who were unhurt,
+       seeing that they had no quarter to expect, dismounted, and
+       forming a compact body, fought their way to an old castle in
+       which they took refuge. Two only, trusting to the speed of
+       their horses, charged the group of soldiers that appeared
+       the least numerous, shot down two of them, and succeeded in
+       breaking through the others and escaping. The woman owed her
+       life to a similar piece of daring, effected, however, on
+       another point of the enemy's line. She broke through, and
+       galloped off, after having discharged both her pistols with
+       fatal effect.</p>
+
+    <p>"The attention of all was now turned to the remaining twenty
+    Vardarelli, who had taken refuge in the ruined castle. The
+    soldiers advanced against them, encouraging one another, and
+    expecting to encounter an obstinate resistance; but, to their
+    surprise, they reached the gate of the castle without a shot
+    being fired at them. The gate was soon beaten in, and the
+    soldiers spread themselves through the halls and galleries of
+    the old building. But all was silence and solitude; the bandits
+    had disappeared.</p>
+
+    <p>"After an hour passed in rummaging every corner of the
+    place, the assailants were going away in despair, convinced
+    that their prey had escaped them; when a soldier, who was
+    stooping down to look through the air-hole of a cellar, fell,
+    shot through the body.</p>
+
+    <p>"The Vardarelli were discovered; but still it was no easy
+    matter to get at them. Instead of losing men by a direct
+    attack, the soldiers blocked up the air-hole with stones, set a
+    guard over it, and then going round to the door of the cellar,
+    which was barricadoed on the inner side, they heaped lighted
+    fagots and combustibles against it, so that the staircase was
+    soon one immense furnace. After a time the door gave way, and
+    the fire poured like a torrent into the retreat of the
+    unfortunate bandits. Still a profound silence reigned in the
+    vault. Presently two carbine shots were fired; two brothers,
+    determined not to fall alive into the hands of their enemies,
+    had shot each other to death. A moment afterwards an explosion
+    was heard; a bandit had thrown himself into the flames, and his
+    cartridge box had blown up. At last the remainder of the
+    unfortunate men being nearly suffocated, and seeing that escape
+    was impossible, surrendered at discretion, were dragged through
+    the air-hole, and immediately bound hand and foot, and conveyed
+    to prison.</p>
+
+    <p>"As to the eight who had refused to come to Foggia, and the
+    two who had escaped, they were hunted down like wild beasts,
+    tracked from cavern to cavern, and from forest to forest. Some
+    were shot, others betrayed by the peasantry, some gave
+    themselves up, so that, before the year was out, all the
+    Vardarelli were dead or prisoners. The woman who had displayed
+    such masculine courage, was the only one who finally escaped.
+    She was never heard of afterwards."</p>
+
+    <p>M. Dumas finds that the climate of Naples, delightful as it
+    is, has nevertheless its little drawbacks and disadvantages. He
+    returns one night from an excursion in the environs, and has
+    scarcely got into bed, when he is almost blown out of it again
+    by a tornado of tropical violence.</p>
+
+    <p>"At midnight, when we returned to Naples, the weather was
+    perfect, the sky cloudless, the sea without a ripple. At three
+    in the morning I was awakened by the windows of my room
+    bursting open, their eighteen panes of glass falling upon the
+    floor with a frightful clatter. I jumped out of bed, and felt
+    that the house was shaking. I thought of Pliny the Elder, and
+    having no desire for a similar fate, I hastily pulled on my
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page361"
+       name="page361"></a>[pg 361]</span> clothes and hurried out
+       into the corridor. My first impulse had apparently been that
+       of all the inmates of the hotel, who were all standing, more
+       or less dressed, at the doors of their apartments; amongst
+       others, Jadin, who made his appearance with a phosphorus box
+       in his hand, and his dog Milord at his heels. 'What a
+       terrible draught in the house!' said he to me. This same
+       draught, as he called it, had just carried off the roof of
+       the Prince of San Feodoro's palace, including the garrets
+       and several servants who were sleeping in them.</p>
+
+    <p>"My first thought had been of an eruption of Vesuvius, but
+    there was no such luck for us; it was merely a hurricane. A
+    hurricane at Naples, however, is rather different from the same
+    thing in any other European country.</p>
+
+    <p>"Out of the seventy windows of the hotel, three only had
+    escaped damage. The ceilings of seven or eight rooms were rent
+    across. There was a crack extending from top to bottom of the
+    house. Eight shutters had been carried away, and the servants
+    were running down the street after them, just as one runs after
+    one's hat on a windy day. The broken glass was swept away; as
+    for sending for glaziers to mend the windows, it was out of the
+    question. At Naples nobody thinks of disturbing himself at
+    three in the morning. Besides, even had new panes been put in,
+    they would soon have shared the fate of the old ones. We were
+    obliged, therefore, to manage as well as we could with the
+    shutters. I was tolerably lucky, for I had only lost one of
+    mine. I went to bed again, and tried to sleep; but a storm of
+    thunder and lightning soon rendered that impossible, and I took
+    refuge on the ground-floor, where the wind had done less
+    damage. Then began one of those storms of which we have no idea
+    in the more northern parts of Europe. It was accompanied by a
+    deluge such as I had never witnessed, except perhaps in
+    Calabria. In an instant the Villa Reale appeared to be a part
+    of the sea; the water came up to the windows of the
+    ground-floor, and flooded the parlours. A minute afterwards,
+    the servants came to tell M. Zill that his cellars were full,
+    and his casks of wine floating about and staving one another.
+    Presently we saw a jackass laden with vegetables come swimming
+    down the street, carried along by the current. He was swept
+    away into a large open drain, and disappeared. The peasant who
+    owned him, and who had also been carried away, only saved
+    himself from a like fate by clinging to a lamp-post. In one
+    hour there fell more water than there falls in Paris during the
+    two wettest months in the year.</p>
+
+    <p>"Two hours after the cessation of the rain, the water had
+    disappeared, and I then perceived the use of this kind of
+    deluge. The streets were clean; which they never are in Naples
+    except after a flood of this sort."</p>
+
+    <p>One short anecdote, and we have done. After a long account
+    of St Januarius, including the well-known miracle of the
+    liquefaction of his blood, and some amusing illustrations of
+    his immense popularity with the Neapolitans, M. Dumas, in two
+    pithy lines, gives us the length, breadth, and thickness of a
+    lazzarone's religion.</p>
+
+    <p>"I was one day in a church at Naples," he says, "and I heard
+    a lazzarone praying aloud. He entreated God to intercede with
+    St Januarius to make him win in the lottery."</p>
+
+    <p>On the whole, we think this one of the most amusing of M.
+    Dumas's works, very light and sketchy, as is evident from our
+    extracts; but at the same time giving a great deal of
+    information concerning Naples, its environs, inhabitants, and
+    customs, of much interest, and calculated to be highly useful
+    to the traveller. It is also very free from a fault with which
+    we taxed its author in a former paper, and we can scarcely call
+    to mind a single line which it would be necessary to expunge,
+    in order to render it fit reading for the most fastidious. As
+    far as we ourselves are concerned, we heartily wish M. Dumas
+    would travel over all the kingdoms of the earth, and write a
+    book about each of them; and if he is as good company in a
+    post-chaise as his books are at the chimney-corner, there are
+    few things we should like better than to accompany him on his
+    pilgrimage.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page362"
+       name="page362"></a>[pg 362]</span> <a name="bw341s7"
+          id="bw341s7"></a>
+
+    <h2>MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.</h2>
+
+    <h3>PART IX.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Have I not in my time heard lions roar?</p>
+
+            <p>Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,</p>
+
+            <p>Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?</p>
+
+            <p>Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,</p>
+
+            <p>And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?</p>
+
+            <p>Have I not in the pitched battle heard</p>
+
+            <p>Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets
+            clang?"</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">SHAKSPEARE.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>The market-place was lighted up, and filled with dragoons.
+    Leaving my hulans under cover of a dark street, and riding
+    forward to reconnoitre, I saw with astonishment the utter
+    carelessness with which they abandoned themselves to their
+    indulgences in the midst of an irritated population. Some were
+    drinking on horseback; some had thrown themselves on the
+    benches of the market, and were evidently intoxicated. The
+    people stood at the corners of the streets looking on, palpably
+    in terror, yet as palpably indignant at the outrage of the
+    military. From the excessive blaze in some of the windows, and
+    the shrieks of females, I could perceive that plunder was going
+    on, and that the intention was, after having ransacked the
+    place, to set it on fire. Yet a strong body of cavalry mounted
+    in the middle of the square, and keeping guard round a waggon
+    on which a guillotine had been already erected, still made me
+    feel that an attack would be hopeless. I soon saw a rush of the
+    people from one of the side streets; a couple of dragoon
+    helmets were visible above the crowd; and three or four carts
+    followed, filled with young females in white robes and flowers,
+    as if dressed for a ball. I gazed intently, to ascertain the
+    meaning of this strange and melancholy spectacle. At this
+    moment I felt my horse's bridle pulled, and saw the old noble
+    at his head. "Now or never!" he cried, in a voice almost choked
+    with emotion. "Those are destined for the guillotine.
+    Barbarians! brigands!&mdash;they will murder my Amalia." He
+    sank before me. "What! is this an execution?" I exclaimed. His
+    answer was scarcely above a whisper, for he seemed fainting.
+    "The villains have been sent," said he, "to burn the town; they
+    have seized those children of our best families, compelled them
+    to dress as they were dressed for the Prussian ball, and are
+    now about to murder them by their accursed guillotine."
+    Pointing to one lovely girl, who, pale as death, stood in the
+    foremost of those vehicles of death, he exclaimed "Amalia! O,
+    my Amalia!" The cart was already within a few feet of the
+    scaffold when I gave the word to my troopers. The brave fellows
+    answered my "Forward!" with a shout, charged sabre in hand, and
+    in an instant had thrown themselves between the victims and the
+    scaffold. Their escort, taken completely by surprise, was
+    broken at the first shock; we dashed without loss of time on
+    the squadrons scattered round the market, and swept it clear of
+    them. Surprised, intoxicated, and unacquainted with our
+    force&mdash;which they probably thought to be the advance of
+    the whole Prussian cavalry&mdash;after having lost many men,
+    for the peasantry showed no mercy on the dismounted, the
+    regiment turned at full gallop to the open country. The
+    townspeople now performed their part. The victims were hurried
+    away by their families, among a storm of lamentations and
+    rejoicings, tears and kisses. The old noble's daughter, half
+    dead, was carried off in her father's arms, with a thousand
+    benedictions on me. The guillotine was hewn down with a hundred
+    axes, and I saw the fragments burning in the square. Its waggon
+    was made to serve its country as a portion of a barricade; and
+    with every vehicle, wheeled or unwheeled, which could be rolled
+    out, the entrance to the streets was fortified with the
+    national rapidity in any deed, good or ill, under the
+    stars.</p>
+
+    <p>After having appeased our hunger <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page363"
+       name="page363"></a>[pg 363]</span> and that of our famishing
+       horses, and being offered all the purses, which the French
+       dragoons, however, had lightened nearly to the last coin, we
+       finished the exploit by a general chant in honour of the
+       ladies, and marched on our route, followed by the prayers of
+       the whole community. This ended the only productive skirmish
+       of the retreat. It fed us, broke the monotony of the march,
+       and gave us something to talk of&mdash;and the soldier asks
+       but little more. A gallant action had certainly been done;
+       not the less gallant for its being a humane one; and even my
+       bold hulans gave me credit for being a "smart officer," a
+       title of no slight value in their dashing service.</p>
+
+    <p>Yet what, as the poet Saadi says, is fortune but a peacock
+    "a showy tail on a frightful pair of legs?" Our triumph was to
+    be followed by a reverse. The burgundy and champagne of the old
+    count's cellar had made us festive, and our voices were heard
+    along the road with a gaiety imprudent in a hostile land. The
+    sound of a trumpet in our front brought us to our senses and a
+    dead stand. But we were in a vein of heroism and instead of
+    taking to our old hussar habits, and slipping round the enemy's
+    flanks, we determined to cut our way through them, if they had
+    the whole cavalry of France as their <i>appui</i>. The word was
+    given, and the spur carried us through a strong line of cavalry
+    posted across the road. The moon had just risen enough to show
+    that there was a still stronger line a few hundred yards
+    beyond, which it would be folly to touch. There was now no
+    resource but to return as we went, which we did at full speed,
+    and again broke up our antagonists. But again we saw squadron
+    after squadron blocking up the road. All was now desperate. But
+    Frederick's law of arms was well known&mdash;"the officer of
+    cavalry who <i>waits to be charged</i>, must be broke." We made
+    a plunge at our living circumvallation; but the French dragoons
+    had now learned common sense&mdash;they opened for us&mdash;and
+    when we were once fairly in, enveloped us completely; it was
+    then a troop to a brigade; fifty jaded men and horses to
+    fifteen hundred fresh from camp. What happened further I know
+    not. I saw for a minute or two a great deal of pistol firing
+    and a great deal of sabre clashing; I felt my horse stagger
+    under me, at the moment when I aimed a blow at a gigantic
+    fellow covered all over with helmet and mustache; a pistol
+    exploded close at my ear as I was going down, and I heard no
+    more.</p>
+
+    <p>On opening my eyes again, I found the scene strangely
+    altered. I was lying in a little chamber hung round with
+    Parisian ornament&mdash;a sufficient contrast to a sky dark as
+    pitch, or only illumined by carbines and the sparkles of sabres
+    delving at each other. I was lying on an embroidered
+    sofa&mdash;an equally strong contrast to my position under the
+    bodies of fallen men and the heels of kicking horses. A showy
+    Turkish cloak, or <i>robe de chambre</i>, had superseded my
+    laced jacket, purple pantaloons, and hussar boots. I was
+    completely altered as a warrior; and, from a glimpse which I
+    cast on a mirror, surrounded with gilt nymphs and swains enough
+    to have furnished a ballet, I saw in my haggard countenance,
+    and a wound, which a riband but half concealed, across my
+    forehead, that I was not less altered as a man.</p>
+
+    <p>All round me looked so perfectly like the scenes with which
+    I had been familiar in my romance-reading days, that, bruised
+    and feeble as I was, I almost expected to find my pillow
+    attended by some of those slight figures in long white drapery
+    with blue eyes, which of old ministered to so many ill-used
+    knights and exhausted pilgrims. But my reveries were broken up
+    by a rough voice in the outer chamber insisting on an entrance
+    into mine, and replied to by a weak and garrulous female one,
+    refusing the admission. The dialogue was something of this
+    order&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Strong or weak, well or ill, able or not able, I must send
+    him, before twelve o'clock this night, to Paris."</p>
+
+    <p>"But the poor gentleman's wounds are still unhealed."</p>
+
+    <p>"Still he must set out. The '<i>malle poste</i>' will be at
+    the door; and, if he had fifty wounds on him, he must go. The
+    marquis is halfway to Paris by this time; perhaps more than
+    halfway to the guillotine."</p>
+
+    <p>This was followed by a burst of <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page364"
+       name="page364"></a>[pg 364]</span> sobs and broken
+       exclamtions from the female, whom I discovered, by her
+       sorrowing confessions, to have been a nurse in the
+       family.</p>
+
+    <p>"Well," was the ruffian's reply; "women of all ages are
+    fools: what is it to you whether this young fellow is shot or
+    hanged? He was taken in arms against the Republic&mdash;one and
+    indivisible. All the enemies of France must perish!"</p>
+
+    <p>The old woman now partially opened the door, to see whether
+    I slept; and I closed my eyes, for the purpose of hearing all
+    that was to be heard without interruption. The speaker, whom I
+    alternately took for the <i>gendarme</i> of the district, and
+    the executioner, gave went to his swelling soul in the national
+    style.</p>
+
+    <p>"What! leave <i>me</i>! leave Jean Jacques Louis Gilet in
+    charge of this wretched aristocrat, while I should be marching
+    with my battalion, and at its head too, if merit meets its
+    reward, to sweep the foes of the Republic from the face of the
+    earth. No; I shall not remain in this paltry place, solicitor
+    of a village, when I ought to be on the highest seat of
+    justice&mdash;or playing the part of arresting aristocrats,
+    when I might be commandant of a brigade, marching over the
+    bodies of the crowned tyrants of the earth to glory!"</p>
+
+    <p>As his harangue glowed, his pace quickened, and his voice
+    grew more vehement; at length, probably impatient of the time
+    which lay between him and the first offices of the Republic, he
+    overpowered the resistance of the nurse, and rushed into the
+    chamber. Throwng himself into a theatrical attitude before a
+    mirror&mdash;for what Frenchman ever passes one without a
+    glance of happy recognition?&mdash;"Rise, aristocrat!" he
+    cried, in the tone of Talma calling up the shade of Caesar.
+    "Rise, and account to the world for your crimes against the
+    liberty of man!"</p>
+
+    <p>I looked with such surprise on this champion of the sons of
+    Adam&mdash;a little meagre creature, who seemed to be shaped on
+    the model of one of his own pens, stripped, withered, and
+    ink-dried&mdash;that I actually burst into laughter. His
+    indignation rose, and, pulling out a pistol with one hand, and
+    a roll of paper from his bosom with the other, he presented
+    them together. I perceived, as I lay on my pillow, that the
+    pistol was without a lock, and thus was comforted; but the
+    paper was of a more formidable description. It was the famous
+    decree of "Fraternization," by which France pronounced the fall
+    of her own monarchy, declared "that she would grant succour to
+    every people who wished to recover their liberty," and
+    commanded her generals "to aid all such, and to defend all
+    citizens who might be troubled in the cause of freedom."</p>
+
+    <p>This paper indeed startled me; it was the consummation which
+    I had dreaded so long. I saw at once that France, in those wild
+    words, had declared war against every throne in Europe, and
+    that we were now beginning the era of struggle and suffering
+    which Mordecai's strong sense had predicted, and of which no
+    human sagacity could foresee the end. My countenance probably
+    showed the impression which this European anathema had made
+    upon me; for Monsieur Gilet became more heroic than ever, tore
+    his grizzled curls, throwing aside his pistol, which he had at
+    length discovered to be <i>hors de combat</i>, and drawing the
+    falchion which clattered at his heels, and was nearly as long
+    as himself, flourished it in quick march backward and forward
+    before the mirror&mdash;that mirror never forgotten!&mdash;in
+    all the whirlwind of his rage, and panted for the conquest of
+    "perfidious Albion," the "traitor" Pitt, and the whole brood of
+    hoary power. I was too feeble to turn him out of the room, and
+    too contemptuous to reply. But his overthrow was not the
+    further off. The old nurse, who, old as she was, still retained
+    some of the sinews and all the irritability of a stout
+    Champenoise peasant, roused by his insults to the aristocracy,
+    one of whom she probably regarded herself, from having lived so
+    long under their roof, watched her opportunity, made a spring
+    at him like a wild-cat, wrested the sabre from his hand, and,
+    grasping the struggling and screaming little functionary in her
+    strong arms, carried him like a child out of the room.</p>
+
+    <p>She then returned, and having locked the door to prevent his
+    second inroad, sat down by the side of my couch, and, with the
+    usual passion of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page365"
+       name="page365"></a>[pg 365]</span> women after strong
+       excitement, burst into exclamations and tears. What I could
+       collect from her broken narrative, was little more than the
+       commonplace of national misery in that fearful time. She had
+       been a servant in the family of the nobleman whose daughter
+       I had saved from death. She had been the nurse of the young
+       countess; and all the blessings that sorrow and gratitude
+       ever gathered together, could not be exceeded by the praises
+       which she poured upon my head. It had been rumoured in the
+       town that I was attacked and killed by a body of cavalry
+       sent to revenge the rout of their comrades. And the Marquis
+       Lanfranc&mdash;I now first learned the name of my noble
+       entertainer&mdash;had gone forth to look for my remains in
+       the field. I was found still breathing, and to avoid further
+       danger was carried to this dwelling, a hunting-lodge in the
+       heart of the forest; there I had been attended by the family
+       physician only, and, after a week of insensibility, had
+       given signs of recovery. The marquis's humanity had brought
+       evil on himself. His visits to the lodge had been remarked,
+       and on this very morning he had been arrested, and conveyed
+       with his daughter, in a carriage escorted by
+       <i>gendarmes</i> to the capital. My detection followed of
+       course; papers found on my person had proved that I was an
+       agent of England; and the officious M. Gilet had spent the
+       morning in exhibiting to the peasantry of the neighbourhood
+       the order of the "Committee of Public Safety," a name which
+       froze the blood, to take me under his charge, and conduct me
+       forthwith to their tribunal. I tell all this in my own way;
+       for the dame's sighs, sobs, and vehement indignation, would
+       have defied all record.</p>
+
+    <p>My prospect was now black enough, for justice was a word
+    unheard of in the present condition of things; and my plea of
+    being an Englishman, and in the civil service of my country,
+    would have been a death-warrant. I must acknowledge, too, that
+    I had fairly thrown it away by my adoption of the Prussian
+    sabre. I might well be now in low spirits; for the guillotine
+    was crushing out life at that moment in every province of
+    France, and the thirst of public curiosity was to be fed by
+    nothing but blood. Yet, even in that moment, let me give myself
+    credit for the recollection, my first enquiry was for the fate
+    of my squadron. The old woman could tell me but little on the
+    subject; but that little was consolatory. The French troopers,
+    who had come back triumphing into the town, had not brought any
+    Prussian prisoners: two or three foreigners, who had lost their
+    horses, were sheltered in her master's stables until they could
+    make their escape; and of them she had heard no more. The truth
+    is, that nothing is more difficult in war than to catch a
+    hussar who understands his business; and the probability was,
+    that the chief part of them had slipped away, leaving the
+    French to sabre each other in the dark. The fall of my horse
+    had brought me down, otherwise I might have escaped the shot
+    which stunned me, and been at that hour galloping to
+    Berlin.</p>
+
+    <p>Monsieur Gilet, with some of the civic authorities, paid me
+    a second visit in the evening, to prepare me for my journey. To
+    me it was become indifferent whether I died in the carriage or
+    by the edge of the guillotine; the journey was short in either
+    case, and the shorter and sooner the better. I answered none of
+    their interrogatories; told them I was at their disposal;
+    directed the old woman to pack up whatever travelling matters
+    remained to me, and to remember me to her master and mistress,
+    if she ever should see them in this world; shook her strong old
+    hand, and bade God bless her. In return, she kissed me on both
+    cheeks, whispered a thousand benedictions, and left the room
+    violently sobbing; yet with a parting glance at Monsieur Gilet
+    and his <i>collaborateurs</i>, so mingled of wrath and
+    ridicule, that it was beyond all my deciphering.</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"Time and the hour run through the
+            longest day,"</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>says the great poet; and, with the coming of midnight, a
+    <i>chaise de poste</i> drew up at the door. As I was a prisoner
+    of importance, M. Gilet was not suffered to take all the honour
+    of my introduction to the axe on himself; and the mayor and
+    deputy-mayor of the district insisted on this
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page366"
+       name="page366"></a>[pg 366]</span> opportunity of making
+       themselves known to the supreme Republic. They mounted the
+       box in front, a couple of gendarmes sat behind, M. Gilet
+       took his seat at my side, and, with an infinite cracking of
+       whips, we rushed out upon the causeway.</p>
+
+    <p>I soon discovered that my companion was by no means
+    satisfied with existing circumstances. The officiousness of the
+    pair of mayors prodigiously displeased him. He broke
+    forth&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"See these two beggars," he exclaimed, "pretending to
+    patriotism! They have no energy, no courage, no civism. Why,
+    <i>you</i> might have remained for a twelvemonth under their
+    very nostrils before they would have found you out. Gilet is
+    the man for the service of his country." Merely to stop the
+    torrent of his complainings, I asked him some vague questions
+    relative to the nobleman whom I was now following to Paris. But
+    the patriot was not to be moved from his topic.</p>
+
+    <p>"Hah! Citizen Lanfranc. All is over with him. He once held
+    his head high enough, but it will soon be as low as ever it was
+    high. Yet I could have forgiven his aristocracy, if he had not
+    put these two 'chiens' above me."</p>
+
+    <p>The position in which the mayor and his deputy sat, on the
+    box of the chaise, continually presenting them to the eye of my
+    companion, kept his choler peculiarly active.</p>
+
+    <p>"One of these fellows," he exclaimed, "was the Marquis's
+    cook, another his perruquier! <i>I</i> was his tailor. Every
+    man of taste and talent knows the superiority of <i>my</i>
+    profession; for what is the first of noblemen without elegance
+    of costume, or what indeed would man himself be without my art,
+    the noblest and the earliest art of mankind? And yet he made
+    these two 'brigands' mayor and deputy&mdash;<i>peste</i>! I did
+    my duty. I denounced him on the spot. I did more. The
+    aristocrat had a faction in the town. It was filled with his
+    dependents. In fact, it had been built on his grounds, and
+    tenanted by the old hangers-on of the family. So, to make a
+    clear stage, I denounced the town." He clapped his hands with
+    exultation at this civic triumph.</p>
+
+    <p>My recollection of the miseries which his malice had caused
+    roused me into wrath, and, rash as the act was, I grasped him
+    by the collar, with the full intent of throwing the little
+    writhing wretch out of the window; but, while I was lifting him
+    from the seat to which he clung screaming for help, and had
+    already forced him halfway outside, a shot whistled close by
+    the head of the postilion, which brought him to a full stop.
+    "Mon Dieu!&mdash;Brigands!" exclaimed Monsieur Gilet; and,
+    dropping back into the carriage, attempted to make a screen of
+    my body by slipping his adroitly behind me. Two or three more
+    discharges rattled through the trees, followed by a rush of
+    peasants, who unceremoniously knocked down the two officials in
+    front, and began a general scuffle with the gendarmes. The
+    night was so dark, that I could discover nothing of the
+    <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i> but by the blaze of the fusils. All,
+    however, was quiet in a few moments, by the disappearance of
+    the gendarmes, and the complete capture of the convoy&mdash;M.
+    Gilet, mayors, and all. Whether we had fallen into the hands of
+    highwaymen, or of stragglers from the French army, was doubtful
+    for a while, as not a syllable was spoken, nor a sound uttered,
+    except by the unhappy functionaries, who grumbled prodigiously
+    as they were dragged along through "rough and smooth, moss and
+    mire," and whose pace was evidently quickened by many a kick
+    and blow of the fusil. This was a rude march for me, too, with
+    my unhealed wound, and my week's sojourn in bed; but I was
+    treated, if not with tenderness, without incivility, while my
+    <i>compagnons de voyage</i> were insulted with every
+    contemptuous phrase in a vocabulary at least as rich in those
+    matters as any other in Europe. At length, after about an
+    hour's rapid movement, we reached an open ground, and the door
+    of one of the wide, old, staring, yet not uncomfortable
+    farmhouses which are to be found in the northern provinces of
+    France.</p>
+
+    <p>Signs of comfort within were visible even at a distance, and
+    the light of a huge wood fire had been seen for the last
+    quarter of an hour gleaming through the woods, and leaving us
+    in doubt whether we were approaching a horde of gipsies, or
+    about to realize the classic scenes of Gil Blas.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page367"
+       name="page367"></a>[pg 367]</span> But it was only a
+       farm-house after all. The good dame of the house, with an
+       enormous cap, enormous petticoats, enormous earrings, and
+       all the glaring good-humour of a countenance of domestic
+       plenty and power, came to meet us on the threshold; and her
+       reception of me was ardent, to the very verge of
+       stranglulation. Nothing could exceed her rapture at the
+       sight of me, or the fierceness of her embraces, except her
+       indignation at the sight of my traveling companions. Her
+       disgust at the mayor and his deputy&mdash;and certainly
+       after their night trip they were not figures to charm the
+       eye&mdash;was pitched in the highest key of scorn, so as to
+       be surpassed only by the torrent of contempt which her
+       well-practised elocution poured upon the "<i>tra&icirc;tre
+       tailleur.</i>" I really believe, that, if she could have
+       boiled him in the huge soup-kettle which bubbled upon the
+       fire, without spoiling our supper, she would have flung him
+       in upon the spot. The peasants who had captured
+       us&mdash;bold, tall fellows, well dressed and well armed
+       with cutlass and fusil, in the style of the
+       <i>gardes-de-chasse</i>&mdash;could scarcely be kept from
+       taking them out to the next tree, to make marks of them; and
+       it was probably by my intercession alone that they were
+       consigned to an outer house for the night. How the scene was
+       to end with me, I knew not; though the jovial visage of my
+       protectress showed me that I was secure. But the prisoners
+       had no sooner been flung out of the door than I was ushered
+       into an inner room, prepared with somewhat more of
+       attention; where, to my great surprise and delight, the
+       Marquis Lanfranc came forward to shake my hand, and, with a
+       thousand expressions of gratitude, made me known to his
+       daughter. The adventure was of the simplest order. The
+       arrest of the Marquis was, of course, known in an instant,
+       and a party of his foresters had immediately determined to
+       take the law into their own hands&mdash;had posted
+       themselves on the road by which his carriage was to pass,
+       and had released him without difficulty. My release was
+       merely a sequel to the drama. I had been left in the
+       hunting-lodge by its owner, under the impression that an
+       individual who could not be moved without hazard to life,
+       would escape the vengeance of village patriotism. But the
+       nurse, whom he had placed in charge of me, had no sooner
+       ascertained that I was arrested, than she sent an express to
+       the farm-house. The consequence naturally followed in my
+       liberty; and the night which I expected to have spent
+       freezing on my way to the dungeon, presented me with the
+       pleasant exchange of hospitable shelter, the society of a
+       most accomplished man, and his graceful handsome daughter;
+       and last, not least, a couple of kisses from my late nurse,
+       according to the custom of the country, as glowing and
+       remorseless as those of my portly landlady herself.</p>
+
+    <p>We sat for some hours, and scarcely felt them pass in the
+    anxious topics which engrossed us; the perils of France, the
+    prospects of the Allies, and the captivity of the unhappy
+    Bourbons. Now and then the conversation turned on their own
+    hair-breadth escapes, and those of their relatives and friends.
+    Among the rest, the hazards of the De Tourville family were
+    mentioned, and I heard the name of Clotilde pronounced with a
+    sensation indescribable. The name was connected with such
+    displays of fortitude, nobleness of spirit, and deep devotion
+    to the royal cause, that, if I had loved before, I now honoured
+    her. She had saved the lives of her household; she had, by an
+    act of extraordinary, but most perilous affection, saved the
+    life of her mother, at the moment when the first insurgency
+    broke out; and, young as she was, she had exhibited so noble a
+    union of generosity and strength of mind, that the Marquis's
+    eyes filled with tears as he told it, and Amalia buried her
+    forehead in her hands to conceal her convulsive emotions: what
+    must have been mine!</p>
+
+    <p>Our conversation was not unfrequently interrupted by bursts
+    of merriment from the outer room, where the peasants were at
+    supper provided by the Marquis for his bold rescuers&mdash;an
+    indulgence which they seemed to enjoy with the highest zest
+    imaginable. Songs were sung with very various kinds of merit in
+    the performer, but all well received. Healths were proposed, in
+    which the existing Government was certainly not much honoured;
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page368"
+       name="page368"></a>[pg 368]</span> and, if the good wishes
+       of the party could have sent the "Committee of Public
+       Safety," the butcher cabinet of France, to the darkest spot
+       on earth, or under it, its time would have been brief. But
+       even this died away; the laugh subsided, the mirth grew
+       silent, and at length the <i>gardes-de-chasse</i> went away,
+       making the forest ring with their professional whoops and
+       holloas, the remnants of their honest revel. At length the
+       Marquis and his daughter, who were to be on the wing at
+       daybreak for the German frontier, and who had generously
+       offered to take charge of my invalid frame in the same
+       direction, retired; and wrapping myself up in a dark cloak,
+       furnished by my mistress and formed to her showy
+       proportions, I threw myself on the sofa, and was in the land
+       of dreams.</p>
+
+    <p>But though I slept, I did not rest. My fever, or my
+    lassitude, or probably some presentiment of the troubled career
+    into which I was to be plunged, made "tired nature's sweet
+    restorer" a stepmother to me. I can never endure hearing the
+    dreams of others, and thus I cannot suffer myself to inflict
+    them on my hearers; but on that night, Queen Mab, like Jehu,
+    drove her horses furiously. Every possible kind of
+    disappointment, vexation, and difficulty; every conceivable
+    shape of things, past and present, rushed through my brain; and
+    all pale, fierce, disastrous, and melancholy. I was beckoned
+    along dim shades by shapeless phantoms; I was trampled in
+    battle; I was brought before a tribunal; I was on board a ship
+    which blew up, and was flung strangling down an infinite depth
+    in a midnight ocean. But this exceeded the privilege even of
+    dreams. I made one desperate effort to rise, and awoke with a
+    bound on the floor. There I found a real obstacle&mdash;a
+    ruffian in a red cap. One strong hand was on my throat; and by
+    the glimmer of the dying lantern, which hung from the roof, I
+    saw the glitter of a pistol-barrel in the other. "Surrender in
+    the name of the Republic!" were the words which told me my
+    fate. Four or five wearers of the same ominous emblem, with
+    sabres and pistols, were round me at the moment, and after a
+    brief struggle I was secured. Cries were now heard outside the
+    door, and a wounded gendarme was carried in, borne in the arms
+    of his comrades. From their confused clamour, I could merely
+    ascertain that the gendarmes who had escaped in the original
+    <i>m&ecirc;l&eacute;e</i>, had obtained assistance, and
+    returned on their steps. The farm-house had been surrounded,
+    and the Marquis was indebted only to the vigilance of his
+    peasantry for a second escape with his daughter. The
+    <i>gardes-de-chasse</i> had kept the gendarmes at bay until
+    their retreat was secure; and the post-chaise which had brought
+    M. Gilet and his coadjutors, was, by this time, some leagues
+    off, at full speed, beyond the fangs of Republicanism.</p>
+
+    <p>This at least was comfort, though I was left behind. But it
+    was clear that the gallant old noble was blameless in the
+    matter, and that nothing was to be blamed but my habitual ill
+    luck. "<i>En route</i> for Paris," was the last order which I
+    heard; and with a gendarme, in the strange kind of post-waggon
+    which was rolled out from the farmer's stable, I was
+    dispatched, before daybreak, on my startling journey.</p>
+
+    <p>I found my gendarme a facetious fellow; though his merriment
+    might not be well adapted to cheer his prisoner. He whistled,
+    he sang, he screamed, he stamped, to get rid of the ennui of
+    travelling with so silent a companion. He told stories of his
+    own prowess; libeled M. Gilet, who had got him beaten on this
+    service in the first instance, and who seemed to be in the
+    worst possible odour with man and woman; and abused all,
+    mayors, deputy-mayors, and authorities, with the tongue of a
+    leveler. But my facetious friend had his especial
+    <i>chagrins</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>"I have all my life," said he, "been longing to see Paris,
+    and have never been able to stir a step beyond this stupid
+    province. Yet I have had my chances too. I was once valet to a
+    German count, and we were on the way to Paris together when the
+    post-chaise was stopped, the baron was arrested as a swindler,
+    and I was charged as his accomplice. He was sent to the
+    galleys; I got off. I then had a second chance. I enlisted in a
+    regiment of dragoons which was to be <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page369"
+       name="page369"></a>[pg 369]</span> quartered in Versailles.
+       But such was my fate, I had no sooner passed the first
+       drill, when we were ordered off to Lorraine to watch old
+       King Stanislaus, the Pole, who lived there like one of his
+       own bears, frozen and fat. Still I was determined to see
+       Paris. I asked leave of absence; the adjutant laughed at me,
+       the colonel turned on his heel, and the provost-marshal gave
+       me a week of the black-hole. But a week is but seven days
+       after all, and on my seeing the parade
+       again&mdash;I&mdash;"</p>
+
+    <p>"You deserted?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Not quite that," was the reply. "I took leave, and, as I
+    had seen enough of the black hole already, I took good care to
+    give the provost-marshal no notice on the subject. A
+    fortnight's march brought me within sight of the towers of
+    Notre-Dame. But as I was resting myself on the roadside, our
+    adjutant, as ill luck would have it, came by in the
+    <i>coupe</i> of the diligence. He jumped out. I was seized,
+    given up to the next guard-house, and after fitting me with a
+    pair of fetters, by way of boots, I was ordered to take my
+    passage with a condemned regiment for the West Indies. There I
+    served ten years; I saw the regiment reduced to a skeleton by
+    short rations and new rum; and returned the tenth
+    representative of fifteen hundred felons. At last I have a
+    chance; the gendarme of the village was so desperately mauled
+    by the foresters in the attempt to carry you prisoner, that he
+    has been forced to take to his bed, and let me take his place.
+    The thing is certain now. <i>You</i> will be guillotined, but I
+    shall see Paris."</p>
+
+    <p>Yet what is certain in this most changeful of possible
+    worlds?</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i6">"Fate granted half the prayer,</p>
+
+            <p>The rest the gods dispersed in empty air."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>We had toiled through our long journey, rendered doubly long
+    by the dreariest and deepest roads on earth, and were winding
+    round the spur of Montmartre, when a troop of citizen heroes,
+    coming forth to sweep the country of the retreating Prussians,
+    and whose courage had risen to the boiling point by the news of
+    the retreat, surrounded the carriage. My Prussian uniform was
+    proof enough for the brains of the patriots; and the quick
+    discovery of Parisian ears, that I had not learned my French in
+    their capital, settled the question of my being a traitor. The
+    gendarme joined in the charge with his natural volubility; but
+    rather insisted rashly on his right to take his prisoner into
+    Paris on his own behalf. I saw a cloud gathering on the brow of
+    the <i>chef</i>, a short, stout, and grim-looking fellow, with
+    the true Faubourg St Antoine physiognomy. The prize was
+    evidently too valuable not to be turned to good account with
+    the authorities; and he resolved on returning at the head of
+    his brother patriots to present me as the first-fruits of his
+    martial career. The dispute grew hot; my escort was foolish
+    enough to clap his hand on the hilt of his sabre&mdash;an
+    affront intolerable to a citizen, at the head of fifty or sixty
+    <i>braves</i> from the counter or the shambles; the result was,
+    a succession of blows from the whole troop, which closed in my
+    seeing him stripped of every thing, and flung into the
+    <i>cachot</i> of the <i>corps de garde</i>, from which his only
+    view of his beloved Paris must have been through an iron
+    <i>grille</i>.</p>
+
+    <p>My captor, determined to enter the capital for once with
+    eclat, seated himself beside me in the <i>chaise de poste</i>,
+    and, surrounded by his pike-bearers, we began our march down
+    the descent of the hill.</p>
+
+    <p>My new friend was communicative. He gave his history in a
+    breath. He had been a clerk in the office of one of the small
+    tribunals in the south; inflamed with patriotism, and indignant
+    at the idea of selling his talents at the rate of ten sous
+    a-day, "in a rat-hole called a bureau," he had resolved on
+    being known in the world, and to Paris he came. Paris was the
+    true place for talent. His <i>civisme</i> had become
+    conspicuous; he had "assisted" at the birth of liberty. He had
+    carried a musket on the 10th of August, and had "been appointed
+    by the Republic to the command of the civic force," which now
+    moved, before and behind me. He was a "<i>grand homme</i>"
+    already. Danton had told him so within the last fortnight, and
+    France and Europe would no sooner <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page370"
+       name="page370"></a>[pg 370]</span> read his last pamphlet on
+       the "Crimes of Kings," than his fame would be fixed with
+       posterity.</p>
+
+    <p>I believe that few men have passed through life without
+    experiencing times when it would cost them little to lay it
+    down. At least such times have occurred to me, and this was
+    among them. Yet this feeling, whether it is to be called
+    nonchalance or despair, has its advantages for the moment; it
+    renders the individual considerably careless of the worst that
+    man can do to him; and I began to question my oratorical
+    judge's clerk on the events in the "city of cities." No man
+    could take fuller advantage of having a listener at his
+    command.</p>
+
+    <p>"We have cut down the throne," said he, clapping his hands
+    with exultation, "and now you may buy it for firewood. But you
+    are an aristocrat, and of course a slave; while we have got
+    liberty, equality, and a triumvirate that shears off the heads
+    of traitors at a sign. Suspicion of being suspected is quite
+    sufficient. Away goes the culprit; a true patriot is ordered to
+    take possession of his house until the national pleasure is
+    known; and thus every thing goes on well. Of course, you have
+    heard of the clearance of the prisons. A magnificent work. Five
+    thousand aristocrats, rich, noble, and enemies to their
+    country, sent headless to the shades of tyrants. <i>Vive la
+    Republique</i>! But a grand idea strikes me. You shall see
+    Danton himself, the genius of liberty, the hero of human
+    nature, the terror of kings." The thought was new, and a new
+    thought is enough to turn the brain of the Gaul at any time. He
+    thrust his head out of the window, ordered a general halt; and,
+    instead of taking me to the quarters of the National, resolved
+    to have the merit of delivering up an "agent of Pitt and
+    English guineas" to the master of the Republic alone. "<i>A
+    l'Abbaye</i>!" was his cry. But a new obstacle now arose in his
+    troop; they had reckoned on a civic supper with their comrades
+    of the guard; and the notion of bivouacking in front of the
+    Abbaye, under the chilling wind and fierce showers which now
+    swept down the dismal streets, was too much for their sense of
+    discipline. The dispute grew angry. At length one of them, a
+    huge and savage-looking fellow, who, by way of illustration,
+    thrust his pike close to the little commandant's shrinking
+    visage, bellowed out&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"The people are not to be insulted. The people order, and
+    all must obey!" Nothing could be more unanswerable, and no
+    attempt was made to answer. The captain dropped back into the
+    chaise, the troop took their own way, and my next glance showed
+    the street empty. But the Frenchman finds comfort under all
+    calamities. After venting his wrath in no measured terms on
+    "rabble insolence," and declaring that laws were of no use when
+    "<i>gueux</i>" like these could take them into their hands, he
+    consoled himself by observing that, stripped as he was of his
+    honours, the loss might be compensated by his profits; that the
+    "vagabonds" might have expected to share the reward which the
+    "grand Danton would infallibly be rejoiced to give for my
+    capture, and that both the purse and the praise would be his
+    own." "<i>A l'Abbaye</i>!" was the cry once more.</p>
+
+    <p>We now were in motion again; and, after threading a
+    labyrinth of streets, so dreary and so dilapidated as almost to
+    give me the conception that I had never been in Paris before,
+    we drove up to the grim entrance of the Abbaye. My companion
+    left me in charge of the sentinel, and rushed in. "And is
+    this," thought I, as I looked round the narrow space of the
+    four walls, "the spot where so many hundreds were butchered;
+    this the scene of the first desperate triumph of massacre; this
+    miserable court the last field of so many gallant lives; these
+    stones the last resting-place of so many whose tread had been
+    on cloth of gold; these old and crumbling walls giving the last
+    echo to the voices of statesmen and nobles, the splendid
+    courtiers, the brilliant orators, and the hoary ecclesiastics,
+    of the most superb kingdom of Europe!" Even by the feeble
+    lamp-light, that rather showed the darkness than the forms of
+    the surrounding buildings, it seemed to me that I could
+    discover the colour of the slaughter on the ground; and there
+    were still heaps in corners, which looked to me like clay
+    suddenly flung over the remnants of the murdered.</p>
+
+    <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page371"
+       name="page371"></a>[pg 371]</span> But my reveries were
+       suddenly broken up by the return of the little captain, more
+       angry than ever. He had missed the opportunity of seeing the
+       "great man," who had gone to the Salpetri&egrave;re. And
+       some of the small men who performed as his jackals, having
+       discovered that the captain was looking for a share in their
+       plunder, had thought proper to treat him, his commission,
+       and even his civism, with extreme contempt. In short, as he
+       avowed to me, the very first use which he was determined to
+       make of that supreme power to which his ascent was
+       inevitable, would be to clear the <i>bureaux</i> of France,
+       beginning with Paris, of all those insolent and idle
+       hangers-on, who lived only to purloin the profits, and libel
+       the services, of "good citizens."</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>A la Salpetri&egrave;re</i>." There again disappointment
+    met us. The great man had been there "but a few minutes
+    before," and we dragged our slow way through mire and ruts that
+    would have been formidable to an artillery waggon with all its
+    team. My heart, buoyant as it had been, sank within me as I
+    looked up at the frowning battlements, the huge towers, more
+    resembling those of a fortress than of even a prison, the
+    gloomy gates, and the general grim aspect of the whole vast
+    circumference, giving so emphatic a resemblance of the
+    dreariness and the despair within.</p>
+
+    <p>"<i>Aux Carmes</i>!" was now the direction; for my
+    conductor's resolve to earn his reward before daybreak, was
+    rendered more pungent by this interview with the <i>gens de
+    bureau</i> at the Abbaye. He was sure that they would be
+    instantly on the scent; and if they once took me out of his
+    hands, adieu to dreams, of which Alnaschar, the glassman's,
+    were only a type. He grew nervous with the thought, and poured
+    out his whole vision of hopes and fears with a volubility which
+    I should have set down for frenzy, if in any man but a wretch
+    in the fever of a time when gold and blood were the universal
+    and combined idolatries of the land.</p>
+
+    <p>"You may think yourself fortunate," he exclaimed, "in having
+    been in my charge! That brute of a country gendarme could have
+    shown you nothing. Now, <i>I</i> know every jail in Paris. I
+    have studied them. They form the true knowledge of a citizen.
+    To crush tyrants, to extinguish nobles, to avenge the cause of
+    reason on priests, and to raise the people to a knowledge of
+    their rights&mdash;these are the triumphs of a patriot. Yet,
+    what teacher is equal to the jail for them all? <i>Mais
+    voil&agrave; les Carmes</i>!"</p>
+
+    <p>I saw a low range of blank wall, beyond which rose an
+    ancient tower.</p>
+
+    <p>"Here," said he, "liberty had a splendid triumph. A hundred
+    and fifty tonsured apostles of incivism here fell in one day
+    beneath the two-handed sword of freedom. A cardinal, two
+    archbishops, dignitaries, monks, hoary with prejudices,
+    antiquated with abuses, extinguishers of the new light of
+    liberty, here were offered on the national shrine! <i>Chantons
+    la Carmagnole</i>."</p>
+
+    <p>But he was destined to be disappointed once more. Danton had
+    been there, but was suddenly called away by a messenger from
+    the Jacobins. Our direction was now changed again. "Now we
+    shall be disappointed no longer. Once engaged in debate, he
+    will be fixed for the night. <i>Allons</i>, you shall see the
+    'grand patriote,' 'the regenerator,' 'the first man in the
+    world.' <i>Aux Jacobins</i>!"</p>
+
+    <p>Our unfortunate postilion falling with fatigue on his
+    horses' neck, attempted to propose going to an inn, and
+    renewing our search in the morning; but the captain had made up
+    his mind for the night, and, drawing a pistol from his breast,
+    exhibited this significant sign pointed at his head. The
+    horses, as tired as their driver, were lashed on. I had for
+    some time been considering, as we passed through the deserted
+    streets, whether it was altogether consistent with the feelings
+    of my country, to suffer myself to be dragged round the capital
+    at the mercy of this lover of lucre; but an apathy had come
+    over my whole frame, which made me contemptuous of life. The
+    sight of his pistol rather excited me to make the attempt, from
+    the very insolence of his carrying it. But we still rolled on.
+    At length, in one of the streets, which seemed darker and more
+    miserable than all the rest, we were brought to a full stop by
+    the march of a strong body of the National Guard, which halted
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page372"
+       name="page372"></a>[pg 372]</span> in front of an enormous
+       old building, furnished with battlement and bartizan. "<i>Le
+       Temple</i>!" exclaimed my companion, with almost a shriek of
+       exultation. I glanced upward, and saw a light with the pale
+       glimmer which, in my boyish days, I had heard always
+       attributed to spectres passing along the dim casements of a
+       gallery. I cannot express how deeply this image sank upon
+       me. I saw there only a huge tomb&mdash;the tomb of living
+       royalty, of a line of monarchs, of all the feelings that
+       still bound the heart of man to the cause of France. All now
+       spectral. But, whatever might be the work of my imagination,
+       there was terrible truth; enough before me to depress, and
+       sting, and wring the mind. Within a step of the spot where I
+       sat, were the noblest and the most unhappy beings in
+       existence&mdash;the whole family of the throne caught in the
+       snare of treason. Father, mother, sister, children! Not one
+       rescued, not one safe, to relieve the wretchedness of their
+       ruin by the hope that there was an individual of their
+       circle beyond their prison bars&mdash;all consigned to the
+       grave together&mdash;all alike conscious that every day
+       which sent its light through their melancholy casements,
+       only brought them nearer to a death of misery! But I must
+       say no more of this. My heart withered within me as I looked
+       at the towers of the Temple. It almost withers within me, at
+       this moment, when I think of them. They are leveled long
+       since; but while I write I see them before me again, a
+       sepulchre; I see the mustering of that crowd of more than
+       savages before the grim gate; and I see the pale glimmer of
+       that floating lamp, which was then, perhaps, lighting the
+       steps of Marie Antoinette to her solitary cell.</p>
+
+    <p>Of all the sights of that melancholy traverse, this the most
+    disheartened me, whatever had been my carelessness of life
+    before. It was now almost scorn. The thoughts fell heavy on my
+    mind. What was I, when such victims were prepared for
+    sacrifice? What was the crush of my obscure hopes, when the
+    sitters on thrones were thus leveled with the earth? If I
+    perished in the next moment, no chasm would be left in society;
+    perhaps but one or two human beings, if even they, would give a
+    recollection to my grave. But here the objects of national
+    homage and gallant loyalty, beings whose rising radiance had
+    filled the eye of nations, and whose sudden fall was felt as an
+    eclipse of European light, were exposed to the deepest
+    sufferings of the captive. What, then, was I, that I should
+    murmur; or, still more, that I should resist; or, most of all,
+    that I should desire to protract an existence which, to this
+    hour, had been one of a vexed spirit, and which, to the last
+    hour of my career, looked but cloud on cloud?</p>
+
+    <p>Some of this depression may have been the physical result of
+    fatigue, for I had been now four-and-twenty hours without rest;
+    and the dismal streets, the dashing rain, and the utter absence
+    of human movement as we dragged our dreary way along, would
+    have made even the floor of a dungeon welcome. I was as cold as
+    its stone.</p>
+
+    <p>At length our postilion, after nearly relieving us of all
+    the troubles of this world, by running on the verge of the moat
+    which once surrounded the Bastile, and where nothing but the
+    screams of my companion prevented him from plunging in, wholly
+    lost his way. The few lamps in this intricate and miserable
+    quarter of the city had been blown out by the tempest, and our
+    only resource appeared to be patience, until the tardy break of
+    winter's morn should guide us through the labyrinth of the
+    Faubourg St Antoine. However, this my companion's patriotism
+    would not suffer. "The Club would be adjourned! Danton would be
+    gone!" In short, he should not hear the Jacobin lion roar, nor
+    have the reward on which he reckoned for flinging me into his
+    jaws. The postilion was again ordered to move, and the turn of
+    a street showing a light at a distance, he lashed his
+    unfortunate horses towards it. Utterly indifferent as to where
+    I was to be deposited, I saw and heard nothing, until I was
+    roused by the postilion's cry of "Place de Gr&egrave;ve."</p>
+
+    <p>A large fire was burning in the midst of the gloomy square,
+    round which a party of the National Guard were standing, with
+    their muskets piled, and wrapped in their cloaks, against the
+    inclemency of the night. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page373"
+       name="page373"></a>[pg 373]</span> Further off, and in the
+       centre, feebly seen by the low blaze, was a wooden
+       structure, on whose corners torches were flaring in the
+       wind. "<i>Voil&agrave;, la guillotine</i>!" exclaimed my
+       captor with the sort of ecstasy which might issue from the
+       lips of a worshipper. As I raised my eyes, an accidental
+       flash of the fire showed the whole outline of the horrid
+       machine. I saw the glitter of the very axe that was to drop
+       upon my head. My first sensation was that of deadly
+       faintless. Ghastly as was the purpose of that axe, my
+       imagination saw even new ghastliness in the shape of its
+       huge awkward scythe-like steel; it seemed made for massacre.
+       The faintness went off in the next moment, and I was another
+       man. In the whole course of a life of excitement, I have
+       never experienced so total a change. All my apathy was gone.
+       The horrors of public execution stood in a visible shape
+       before me at once. I might have fallen in the field with
+       fortitude; I might have submitted to the deathbed, as the
+       course of nature; I might have even died with exultation in
+       some great public cause. But to perish by the frightful
+       thing which shot up its spectral height before me; to be
+       dragged as a spectacle to scoffing and scorning
+       crowds&mdash;dragged, perhaps, in the feebleness and squalid
+       helplessness of a confinement which might have exhibited me
+       to the world in imbecility or cowardice; to be grasped by
+       the ruffian executioner, and flung, stigmatized as a felon,
+       into the common grave of felons&mdash;the thought darted
+       through my mind like a jet of fire; but it gave me the
+       strength of fire. I determined to die by the bayonets of the
+       guard, or by any other death than this. My captor perceived
+       my agitation, and my eye glanced on his withered and
+       malignant visage, as with a smile he was cocking his pistol.
+       I sprang on him like a tiger. In our struggle the pistol
+       went off, and a gush of blood from his cheek showed that it
+       had inflicted a severe wound. I was now his master, and,
+       grasping him by the throat with one hand, with the other I
+       threw open the door and leaped upon the pavement. For the
+       moment, I looked round bewildered; but the report of the
+       pistol had caught the ears of the guard, whom I saw hurrying
+       to unpile their muskets. But this was a work of confusion,
+       and, before they could snatch up their arms, I had made my
+       choice of the darkest and narrowest of the wretched lanes
+       which issue into the square. A shot or two fired after me
+       sent me at my full speed, and I darted forward, leaving them
+       as they might, to follow.</p>
+
+    <p>How long I scrambled, or how often I felt sinking from mere
+    weariness in that flight, I knew not. In the fever of my mind,
+    I only knew that I twined my way through numberless streets,
+    most of which have been since swept away; but, on turning the
+    corner of a street which led into the Boulevard, and when I had
+    some hope of taking refuge in my old hotel, I found that I had
+    plunged into the heart of a considerable crowd of persons
+    hurrying along, apparently on some business which strongly
+    excited them. Some carried lanterns, some pikes, and there was
+    a general appearance of more than republican enthusiasm, even
+    savage ferocity, among them, that gave sufficient evidence of
+    my having fallen into no good company. I attempted to draw
+    back, but this would not be permitted; the words, "Spy,
+    traitor, slave of the Monarchiques!" and, apparently as the
+    blackest charge of all, "Cordelier!" were heaped upon me, and I
+    ran the closest possible chance of being put to death on the
+    spot. It may naturally be supposed that I made all kinds of
+    protestations to escape being piked or pistoled. But they had
+    no time to wait for apologies. The cry of "Death to the
+    traitor!" was followed by the brandishing of half a dozen
+    knives in the circle round me. At that moment, when I must have
+    fallen helplessly, a figure stepped forward, and opening the
+    slide of his dark lantern directly on his own face, whispered
+    the word Mordecai. I recognised, I shall not say with what
+    feelings, the police agent who had formerly conveyed me out of
+    the city. He was dressed, like the majority of the crowd, in
+    the republican costume; and certainly there never was a more
+    extraordinary costume. He wore a red cap, like the cap of the
+    butchers of the Faubourgs; an enormous beard covered his
+    breast, a short Spanish mantle hung from his shoulders, a short
+    leathern doublet, with a belt <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page374"
+       name="page374"></a>[pg 374]</span> like an armoury, stuck
+       with knives and pistols, a sabre, and huge trousers striped
+       with red, in imitation of streams of gore, completed the
+       patriot uniform. Some wore broad bands of linen round their
+       waists, inscribed, "2d, 3d and 4th September,"&mdash;the
+       days of massacre. These were its heros. I was in the midst
+       of the <i>&eacute;lite</i> of murder.</p>
+
+    <p>"Citizens," exclaimed the Jew in a voice of thunder, driving
+    back the foremost, "hold your hands up; are you about to
+    destroy a friend of freedom? Your knives have drunk the blood
+    of aristocrats; but they are the defence of liberty. This
+    citizen, against whom they are now unsheathed, is one of
+    ourselves. He has returned from the frontier, to join the brave
+    men of Paris, in their march to the downfall of tyrants. But
+    out friends await us in the glorious club of the Jacobins. This
+    is the hour of victory. Advance, regenerated sons of freedom!
+    Forward, Frenchmen!"</p>
+
+    <p>His speech had the effect. The rapid executors of public
+    vengeance fell back; and the Jew, whispering to me, "You must
+    follow us, or be killed,"&mdash;I chose the easier alternative
+    at once, and stepped forward like a good citizen. As my
+    protector pushed the crowd before him, in which he seemed to be
+    a leader, he said to me from time to time, "Show no resistance.
+    A word from you would be the signal for your death&mdash;we are
+    going to the hall of the Jacobins. This is a great night among
+    them, and the heads of the party will either be ruined
+    to-night, or by morning will be masters of every thing. I
+    pledge myself, if not for your safety, at least for doing all
+    that I can to save you." I remained silent, as I was ordered;
+    and we hurried on, until there was a halt in front of a huge
+    old building. "The hall of the Jacobins," whispered the Jew,
+    and again cautioned me against saying or doing any thing in the
+    shape of reluctance.</p>
+
+    <p>We now plunged into the darkness of a vast pile, evidently
+    once a convent, and where the chill of the massive walls struck
+    to the marrow. I felt as if walking through a charnel-house. We
+    hurried on; a trembling light, towards the end of an immense
+    and lofty aisle, was our guide; and the crowd, long familiar
+    with the way, rushed through the intricacies where so many feet
+    of monks had trod before them, and where, perhaps, many a deed
+    that shunned the day had been perpetrated. At length a spiral
+    stair brought us to a large gallery, where our entrance was
+    marked with a shout of congratulation; and tumbling over the
+    benches and each other, we at length took our seats in the
+    highest part, which, in both the club and the National
+    Assembly, was called, from its height, the Mountain, and from
+    the characters which generally held it, was a mountain of
+    flame. In the area below, once the nave of the church, sat the
+    Jacobin club. I now, for the first time, saw that memorable and
+    terrible assemblage. And nothing could be more suited than its
+    aspect to its deeds. The hall was of such extent that a large
+    portion of it was scarcely visible, and few lights which hung
+    from the walls scarcely displayed even the remainder. The
+    French love of decoration had no place here; neither statues
+    nor pictures, neither gilding nor sculpture, relieved the
+    heaviness of the building. Nothing of the arts was visible but
+    their rudest specimens; the grim effigies of monks and martyrs,
+    or the coarse and blackened carvings of a barbarous age. The
+    hall was full; for the club contained nearly two thousand
+    members, and on this night all were present. Yet, except for
+    the occasional cries of approval or anger when any speaker had
+    concluded, and the habitual murmur of every huge assembly, they
+    might have been taken for a host of spectres; the area had so
+    entirely the aspect of a huge vault, the air felt so thick, and
+    the gloom was so feebly dispersed by the chandeliers. All was
+    sepulchral. The chair of the president even stood on a tomb, an
+    antique structure of black marble. The elevated stand, from
+    which the speakers generally addressed the assembly, had the
+    strongest resemblance to a scaffold, and behind it, covering
+    the wall, were suspended chains, and instruments of torture of
+    every horrid kind, used in the dungeons of old times; and
+    though placed there for the sake of contrast with the mercies
+    of a more enlightened age, yet <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+    "page375"
+       name="page375"></a>[pg 375]</span> enhancing the general
+       idea of a scene of death. It required no addition to render
+       the hall of the Jacobins fearful; but the meetings were
+       always held at night, often prolonged through the whole
+       night. Always stormy, and often sanguinary, daggers were
+       drawn and pistols fired&mdash;assassination in the streets
+       sometimes followed bitter attacks on the benches; and at
+       this period, the mutual wrath and terror of the factions had
+       risen to such height, that every meeting might be only a
+       prelude to exile or the axe; and the deliberation of this
+       especial night must settle the question, whether the
+       Monarchy or the Jacobin club was to ascend the scaffold. It
+       was the debate on the execution of the unhappy Louis
+       XVI.</p>
+
+    <p>The arrival of the crowd, among whom I had taken my
+    unwilling seat, evidently gave new spirits to the regicides;
+    the moment was critical. Even in Jacobinism all were not
+    equally black, and the fear of the national revulsion at so
+    desperate a deed startled many, who might not have been
+    withheld by feelings of humanity. The leaders had held a secret
+    consultation while the debate was drawing on its slow length,
+    and Danton's old expedient of "terror" was resolved on. His
+    emissaries had been sent round Paris to summon all his
+    banditti; and the low <i>caf&eacute;s</i>, the Faubourg
+    taverns, and every haunt of violence, and the very drunkenness
+    of crime, had poured forth. The remnant of the
+    Marseillois&mdash;a gang of actual galley-slaves, who had led
+    the late massacres&mdash;the paid assassins of the Marais, and
+    the <i>sabreurs</i> of the Royal Guard, who after treason to
+    their king, had found profitable trade in living on the robbery
+    and blood of the nobles and priests, formed this reinforcement;
+    and their entrance into the gallery was recognised by a
+    clapping of hands from below, which they answered by a roar,
+    accompanied with the significant sign of clashing their knives
+    and sabres.</p>
+
+    <p>Danton immediately rushed into the Tribune. I had seen him
+    before, on the fearful night which prepared the attack on the
+    palace; but he was then in the haste and affected savageness of
+    the rabble. He now played the part of leader of a political
+    sect; and the commencement of his address adopted something of
+    the decorum of public council. In this there was an artifice;
+    for, resistless as the club was, it still retained a jealousy
+    of the superior legislative rank of the assembly of national
+    representatives, the Convention. The forms of the Convention
+    were strictly imitated; and even those Jacobins who usually led
+    the debate, scrupulously wore the dress of the better orders.
+    Robespierre was elaborately dressed whenever he appeared in the
+    Tribune, and even Danton abandoned the <i>canaille</i> costume
+    for the time. I was struck with his showy stature, his bold
+    forehead, and his commanding attitude, as he stood waving his
+    hand over the multitude below, as if he waved a sceptre. His
+    appearance was received with a general shout from the gallery,
+    which he returned by one profound bow, and then stood erect,
+    till all sounds had sunk. His powerful voice then rang through
+    the extent of the hall. He began with congratulating the people
+    on their having relieved the Republic from its external
+    dangers. His language at first was moderate, and his
+    recapitulation of the perils which must have befallen a
+    conquered country, was sufficiently true and even touching; but
+    his tone soon changed, and I saw the true democrat. "What!" he
+    cried, "are those perils to the horrors of domestic perfidy?
+    What are the ravages on the frontier to poison and the dagger
+    at our firesides? What is the gallant death in the field to
+    assassination in cold blood? Listen, fellow-citizens, there is
+    at this hour a plot deeper laid for your destruction than ever
+    existed in the shallow heads of, or could ever be executed by
+    the coward hearts of, their soldiery. Where is that plot? In
+    the streets? No. The courage of our brave patriots is as proof
+    against corruption as against fear." This was followed by a
+    shout from the gallery. "Is it in the Tuileries? No; there the
+    national sabre has cut down the tree which cast its deadly
+    fruits among the nation. Where then is the focus of the
+    plot&mdash;where the gathering of the storm that is to shake
+    the battlements of the Republic&mdash;where that terrible
+    deposit of combustibles which the noble <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page376"
+       name="page376"></a>[pg 376]</span> has gathered, the priest
+       has piled, and the king has prepared to kindle? Brave
+       citizens, that spot is &mdash;&mdash;," he paused, looking
+       mysteriously round, while a silence deep as death pervaded
+       the multitude; then, as if suddenly recovering himself, he
+       thundered out&mdash;"The Temple!" No language can describe
+       the shout or the scene that followed. The daring word was
+       now spoken which all anticipated; but which Danton alone had
+       the desperate audacity to utter. The gallery screamed,
+       howled, roared, embraced each other, danced, flourished
+       their weapons, and sang the Marseillaise and the Carmagnole.
+       The club below were scarcely less violent in their
+       demonstrations of furious joy. Danton had now accomplished
+       his task; but his vanity thirsted for additional applause,
+       and he entered into a catalogue of his services to
+       Republicanism. In the midst of the detail, a low but
+       singularly clear voice was heard, from the extremity of the
+       hall.</p>
+
+    <p>"Descend, man of massacre!"</p>
+
+    <p>I saw Danton start back as if he had been shot. At length,
+    recovering his breath, he said feebly&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Citizens, of what am I accused?"</p>
+
+    <p>"Of the three days of September," uttered the voice again,
+    in a tone so strongly sepulchral, that it palpably awed the
+    whole assemblage.</p>
+
+    <p>"Who is it that insults me? who dares to malign me? What spy
+    of the Girondists, what traitor of the Bourbons, what hireling
+    of the gold of Pitt, is among us?" exclaimed the bold ruffian,
+    yet with a visage which, even at the distance, I could observe
+    had lost its usual fiery hue, and turned clay-colour. "Who
+    accuses me?"</p>
+
+    <p>"I!" replied the voice, and I saw a thin tall figure stalk
+    up the length of the hall, and stand at the foot of the
+    tribune. "Descend!" was the only word which he spoke; and
+    Danton, as if under a spell, to my astonishment, obeyed without
+    a word, and came down. The stranger took his place, none knew
+    his name; and the rapidity and boldness of his assault
+    suspended all in wonder like my own. I can give but a most
+    incomplete conception of the extraordinary eloquence of this
+    mysterious intruder. He openly charged Danton with having
+    constructed the whole conspiracy against the unfortunate
+    prisoners of September; with having deceived the people by
+    imaginary alarms of the approach of the enemy; with having
+    plundered the national treasury to pay the assassins; and, last
+    and most deadly charge of all, with having formed a plan for a
+    National Dictatorship, of which he himself was to be the first
+    possessor. The charge was sufficiently probable, and was not
+    now heard for the first time. But the keenness and fiery
+    promptitude with which the speaker poured the charge upon him,
+    gave it a new aspect; and I could see in the changing
+    physiognomies round me, that the great democrat was already in
+    danger. He obviously felt this himself; for starting up from
+    the bench to which he had returned, he cried out, or rather
+    yelled&mdash;</p>
+
+    <p>"Citizens, this man thirsts for my blood. Am I to be
+    sacrificed? Am I to be exposed to the daggers of assassins!"
+    But no answering shout now arose; a dead silence reigned: all
+    eyes were still turned on the tribune. I saw Danton, after a
+    gaze of total helplessness on all sides, throw up his hands
+    like a drowning man, and stagger back to his seat. Nothing
+    could be more unfortunate than his interruption; for the
+    speaker now poured the renewed invective, like a stream of
+    molten iron, full on his personal character and career.</p>
+
+    <p>"Born a beggar, your only hope of bread was crime. Adopting
+    the profession of an advocate, your only conception of law was
+    chicanery. Coming to Paris, you took up patriotism as a trade,
+    and turned the trade into an imposture. Trained to dependence,
+    you always hung on some one till he spurned you. You licked the
+    dust before Mirabeau; you betrayed him, and he trampled on you;
+    you took refuge in the cavern of Marat, until he found you too
+    base even for his base companionship, and he, too, spurned you;
+    you then clung to the skirts of Robespierre, and clung only to
+    ruin. Viper! known only by your coils and your poison; like the
+    original serpent, degraded even from the brute into the
+    reptile, you already feel your sentence. I pronounce it before
+    all. The man to whom you now cling will crush you. Maximilien
+    Robespierre, is not your heel already <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page377"
+       name="page377"></a>[pg 377]</span> lifted up to tread out
+       the life of this traitor? Maximilien Robespierre," he
+       repeated with a still more piercing sound, "do I not speak
+       the truth?" "Have I not stripped the veil from your
+       thoughts? Am I not looking on your heart?" He then addressed
+       each of the Jacobin leaders in a brief appeal. "Billaud
+       Varennes, stand forth&mdash;do you not long to drive your
+       dagger into the bosom of this new tyrant? Collot d'Herbois,
+       are you not sworn to destroy him? Couthon, have you not
+       pronounced him perjured, perfidious, and unfit to live? St
+       Just, have you not in your bosom the list of those who have
+       pledged themselves that Danton shall never be Dictator; that
+       his grave shall be dug before he shall tread on the first
+       step of the throne; that his ashes shall be scattered to the
+       four winds of heaven; that he shall never gorge on
+       France?"</p>
+
+    <p>A hollow murmur, like an echo of the vaults beneath,
+    repeated the concluding words. The murmur had scarcely subsided
+    when this extraordinary apparition, flinging round him a long
+    white cloak, which he had hitherto carried on his arm, and
+    which, in the dim light, gave him the look of one covered with
+    a shroud, cried out in a voice of still deeper solemnity,
+    "George Jacques Danton, you have this night pronounced the
+    death of your king&mdash;I now pronounce your own. By the
+    victims of the 20th of June&mdash;by the victims of the 10th of
+    August&mdash;by the victims of the 2d of September&mdash;by the
+    thousands whom your thirst of blood has slain&mdash;by the tens
+    of thousands whom your treachery has sent to perish in a
+    foreign grave&mdash;by the millions whom the war which you have
+    kindled will lay in the field of slaughter&mdash;I cite you to
+    appear before a tribunal, where sits a judge whom none can
+    elude and none can defy. Within a year and a month, I cite you
+    to meet the spirits of your victims before the throne of the
+    Eternal."</p>
+
+    <p>He stopped; not a voice was heard. He descended the steps of
+    the Tribune, and stalked slowly through the hall; not a hand
+    was raised against him. He pursued his way with as much
+    calmness and security as if he had been a supernatural
+    visitant, until he vanished in the darkness.</p>
+
+    <p>This singular occurrence threw a complete damp on the
+    regicidal ardour; and, as no one seemed inclined to mount the
+    Tribune, the club would probably have broken up for the night,
+    when a loud knocking at one of the gates, and the beating of
+    drums, aroused the drowsy sitters on the benches. The gallery
+    was as much awake as ever; but seemed occupied with evident
+    expectation of either a new revolt, or a spectacle; pistols
+    were taken out to be new primed, and the points and edges of
+    knives duly examined. The doors at length were thrown open, and
+    a crowd, one half of whom appeared to be in the last stage of
+    intoxication, and the other half not far from insanity, came
+    dancing and chorusing into the body of the building. In the
+    midst of their troop they carried two busts covered with
+    laurels&mdash;the busts of the regicides Ravaillac and Clement,
+    with flags before them, inscribed, "They were glorious; for
+    they slew kings!" The busts were presented to the president,
+    and their bearers, a pair of <i>poissardes</i>, insisted on
+    giving him the republican embrace, in sign of fraternization.
+    The president, in return, invited them to the "honours of a
+    sitting;" and thus reinforced, the discussion on the death of
+    the unhappy monarch commenced once more, and the vote was
+    carried by acclamation. The National Convention was still to be
+    applied to for the completion of the sentence; but the decree
+    of the Jacobins was the law of the land.</p>
+
+    <p>I had often looked towards the gallery door, during the
+    night, for the means of escape; but my police friend had
+    forbade my moving before his return. I therefore remained until
+    the club were breaking up, and the gallery began to clear.
+    Cautious as I had been, I could not help exhibiting, from time
+    to time, some disturbance at the atrocities of the night, and
+    especially at the condemnation of the helpless king. In all
+    this I had found a sympathizing neighbour, who had exhibited
+    marked civility in explaining the peculiarities of the place,
+    and giving me brief sketches of the speakers as they rose in
+    succession. He had especially agreed with me in deprecating the
+    cruelty of the regicidal sentence. I now rose to bid my
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page378"
+       name="page378"></a>[pg 378]</span> gentlemanlike
+       <i>cicerone</i> good-night; but, to my surprise, I saw him
+       make a sign to two loiterers near the door, who instantly
+       pinioned me.</p>
+
+    <p>"We cannot part quite so soon, Monsieur l'Aristocrat," said
+    he; "and, though I much regret that I cannot have the honour of
+    accommodating you in the Temple, near your friend Monsieur
+    Louis Capet, yet you may rely on my services in procuring a
+    lodging for you in one of the most agreeable prisons in
+    Paris."</p>
+
+    <p>I had been entrapped in the most established style, and I
+    had nothing to thank for it but fortune. Resistance was in
+    vain, for they pointed to the pistols within their coats; and
+    with a vexed heart, and making many an angry remark on the
+    treachery of the villain who had ensnared me&mdash;matters
+    which fell on his ear probably with about the same effect as
+    water on the pavement at my feet&mdash;I was put into a close
+    carriage, and, with ny captors, carried off to the nearest
+    barrier, and consigned to the governor of the well-known and
+    hideous St Lazare.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <a name="bw341s8"
+          id="bw341s8"></a>
+
+    <h3>THE OLYMPIC JUPITER.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Calm the Olympian God sat in his marble fane,</p>
+
+            <p>High and complete in beauty too pure and vast to
+            wane;</p>
+
+            <p>Full in his ample form, Nature appear'd to
+            spread;</p>
+
+            <p>Thought and sovran Rule beam'd in his earnest
+            head;</p>
+
+            <p>From the lofty foliaged brow, and the mightily
+            bearded chin,</p>
+
+            <p>Down over all his frame was the strength of a life
+            within.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Lovely a maid in twilight before the vision
+            knelt,</p>
+
+            <p>Looking with upturn'd gaze the awe that her spirit
+            felt.</p>
+
+            <p>Hung like the skies above her was bow'd the monarch
+            mild,</p>
+
+            <p>Hearing the whisper'd words of the fair and panting
+            child.</p>
+
+            <p>&mdash;Could she be dear to him as dews to ocean
+            are,</p>
+
+            <p>Be in his wreath a leaf, on his robes a golden
+            star!</p>
+
+            <p>Could she as incense float around his eternal
+            throne,</p>
+
+            <p>Sound as the note of a hymn to his deep ear
+            alone!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Lo! while her heart adoring still to the God
+            exhales,</p>
+
+            <p>Speech from his glimmering lips on the silent air
+            prevails:</p>
+
+            <p>&mdash;"Child of this earth, bewilder'd in thine
+            a&euml;rial dream,</p>
+
+            <p>Turn thee to Powers that are, and not to those that
+            seem.</p>
+
+            <p>All of fairest and noblest filling my graven
+            form</p>
+
+            <p>First in a human spirit was breathing alive and
+            warm.</p>
+
+            <p>Seek thou in him all else that he can evoke from
+            nought,</p>
+
+            <p>Seek the creative master, the king of beautiful
+            thought."</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>&mdash;Down the eyes of the maiden sank from the
+            Thunderer's look,</p>
+
+            <p>Pale in her shame and terror, and yet with delight
+            she shook</p>
+
+            <p>Swift on her brow she felt a crown by the God
+            bestow'd,</p>
+
+            <p>Shading her face that now with a hope too lively
+            glow'd.</p>
+
+            <p>Bending the Sculptor stood who wrought the work
+            divine,</p>
+
+            <p>Godlike in voice he spake&mdash;Ever, oh, maid be
+            mine!</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page379"
+       name="page379"></a>[pg 379]</span> <a name="bw341s9"
+          id="bw341s9"></a>
+
+    <h3>A ROMAN IDYL.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Oh! blame not, friend, with scoff unfeeling,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The gentle tale of grief and wrong,</p>
+
+            <p>Which, all the pain of life revealing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Yet teaches peace by thoughtful song.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>The landscape round us wide expanded</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">As ere was heard the name of Rome;</p>
+
+            <p>And Rome, though fallen, our souls commanded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In this her empire's earliest home.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Her brightness beam'd on each far mountain,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Her life made green the grass we
+            trode,</p>
+
+            <p>Her memory haunted still the fountain,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And spread her shadows o'er the sod.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Her ruins told their tale of glory,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Decreed to that eternal sky;</p>
+
+            <p>And through that ancient grove, her story</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With sibyl whisper seem'd to sigh.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>The pile her wealthiest mourner builded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In glimpse we caught through ilex
+            gloom&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>Metella's Tower, by sunshine gilded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That beams alike on feast or tomb.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>And on this plain, not yet benighted,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">'Mid awful ages mouldering there,</p>
+
+            <p>Young hands in new-bloom flowers delighted,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Young eyes look'd bright in sunniest
+            air.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Till we, Viterbo's wine-cup quaffing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Which fairer lips refused to grace,</p>
+
+            <p>Could win by jest those lips to laughing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And veil'd in folly wisdom's face.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>But say, my friend, thou sage mysterious,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">What Nymph, what Muse disown'd the
+            strain</p>
+
+            <p>Which bade our heedless mirth be serious,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And woke our ears to nobler pain?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>That region grave of plain and highland,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With Rome's grey ruin strewn around,</p>
+
+            <p>Is not a soft Calypso's island,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Nor fades at Truth's evoking sound.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>High thoughts in words of quiet beauty</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Accord with visions grand as these,</p>
+
+            <p>And song's imperishable duty</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Has holier aims than but to please.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By word and image deeply wedded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">By cadence apt and varied rhyme,</p>
+
+            <p>To rouse the soul in sloth imbedded,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And tune its powers to life sublime.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page380"
+           name="page380"></a>[pg 380]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By loftier shows of man's large being</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Than man's dim actual hour displays,</p>
+
+            <p>To clear our eyes for purer seeing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And nerve the flagging spirit's gaze.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By strains of bold heroic pleasure,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And action strong as thought
+            conceives,</p>
+
+            <p>By many a doom-resounding measure</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That best our selfish woes relieves;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>By these to stir, by these to brighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">By these to lift the soul from earth,</p>
+
+            <p>The Poet dares our joys to frighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And thrills the dirge of lazy mirth.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Ye Ruins, dust of empires vanish'd,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Ye mountains, clad with countless
+            years,</p>
+
+            <p>From your great presence ne'er be banish'd</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Sad songs that live in earnest ears:</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Sad songs, the music of all sorrow,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Profound and calm as night's blue
+            deep:</p>
+
+            <p>Accurst the dreams of any morrow</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">When man will feel he cannot weep.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <a name="bw341s10"
+          id="bw341s10"></a>
+
+    <h3>GOETHE</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Alas! on earth his marvels done,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The noble German bosom lies,</p>
+
+            <p>His fatherland's Athenian son,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Amid the sage must largely rise!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Amid the sage the generous race</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of soaring thought and steadfast
+            glow,</p>
+
+            <p>He breathes no more who gave a grace</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To all our daily lot below.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>He gave to man's encumber'd hours</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The tuneful joys of truth serene,</p>
+
+            <p>And twined our life's neglected flowers</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With nature's holiest evergreen.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Alas! for him the soul of fire,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For him of fancy's golden rays,</p>
+
+            <p>For him whose aims ascended higher</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Than all that won a nation's praise!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>We pause and ask&mdash;Why gloom'd the grave</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For one of light so broadly mild?</p>
+
+            <p>And wonder beauty could not save</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From death's deep night her eager
+            child.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>But could the lyre be heard again,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Its widow'd notes would seem to
+            cry&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p>In all was he a man of men,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For them to live, like them to die.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page381"
+           name="page381"></a>[pg 381]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>What life inspires 'twas his to feel,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">With ampler soul than all beside;</p>
+
+            <p>What earth's bright shows to few reveal,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">His art for all expanded wide.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>With earnest heed from hour to hour,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Through all his years of striving
+            hope,</p>
+
+            <p>He fed his lamp, its light to shower</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">On paths where myriads dimly grope.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>He taught nankind by toil, by love,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To cheer the world that must be
+            theirs;</p>
+
+            <p>And ne'er to look for peace above,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">By scorning earthly joys and cares.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Ah! pages full of grief and fear,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But all attuned to melody,</p>
+
+            <p>Vesuvio's flame reflected clear</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In glassy seas of Napoli.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>And on that sea we seem to float</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In amber light, and catch from far,</p>
+
+            <p>'Mid ocean's boundless Voice, the note</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Of girl who hymns the evening-star.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>The sweetest word, the melting tone,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The pictured wisdom bright as day,</p>
+
+            <p>And Faust's remorse, and Tasso's groan,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And Dorothea's morning lay,</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Glad Egmont, light of Clara's eyes,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Free Goetz, the warmth of manhood's
+            noon,</p>
+
+            <p>And Mignon, all a tune of sighs,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And lorn Ottilia crush'd so soon.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Ah! tale that tells the life of all</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To lovelier truth by fancy wrought,</p>
+
+            <p>And songs that e'en to us recall</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The bliss a poet's vision caught!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>All these are ours, yes, all&mdash;but he.</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And who that lives can find a strain</p>
+
+            <p>Of worth like his the soul to free</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From bonds of sublunary pain?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>A strain like his we vainly seek</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To sound above the singer's grave,</p>
+
+            <p>A voice empower'd like his to speak</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The word our aching bosoms crave.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>That word is not&mdash;Oh! not, farewell!</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">To thee whom all thy lays restore;</p>
+
+            <p>But deeply longs the heart to tell</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">A love thy smile accepts no more.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page382"
+       name="page382"></a>[pg 382]</span> <a name="bw341s11"
+          id="bw341s11"></a>
+
+    <h3>HYMN OF A HERMIT.</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Long the day, the task is longer;</p>
+
+            <p>Earth the strong by heaven the stronger.</p>
+
+            <p>Still is call'd to rise and brighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">But, alas! how weak the soul;</p>
+
+            <p>While its inbred phantoms frighten,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">While the past obscures the whole.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Shadows of the wise departed,</p>
+
+            <p>Be the brave, the loving-hearted;</p>
+
+            <p>Deathless dead, resounding, rushing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From the morning-land of hope</p>
+
+            <p>Come, with viewless footsteps, crushing</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Dreams that make the wing'd ones
+            grope.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Socrates, the keen, the truthful,</p>
+
+            <p>In thy hoary wisdom youthful;</p>
+
+            <p>Smiling, fear-defying spirit,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From beside thy Grecian waves,</p>
+
+            <p>Teach us Norsemen to inherit</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Thoughts whose dawn is life to
+            graves.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Rome's Aurelius, thou the holy</p>
+
+            <p>King of earth, in goodness lowly,</p>
+
+            <p>From thy ruins by the Tiber,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Look with tearless aspect mild,</p>
+
+            <p>Till each agonizing fibre</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Like thine own is reconciled.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Augustinus, bright and torrid,</p>
+
+            <p>Isles of green in deserts horrid</p>
+
+            <p>Once thy home, thy likeness ever!</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">We with sword no less divine</p>
+
+            <p>Would the good and evil sever,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">In a larger world than thine.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Soft Petrarca, sweet and subtle,</p>
+
+            <p>Weaving still, with silver shuttle,</p>
+
+            <p>Moony veils for human feeling&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Thine the radiance from above,</p>
+
+            <p>Half-transfiguring, half-concealing,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Wounds and tears of earthly love.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Saxon rude, of thundering stammer,</p>
+
+            <p>Iron heart, by sin's dread hammer</p>
+
+            <p>Ground to better dust than golden,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">May thy prophecy be true.</p>
+
+            <p>Melt the stern, the weak embolden;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Teach what Luther never knew.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Pale Spinosa, nursed in fable,</p>
+
+            <p>Painted hopes and portent sable,</p>
+
+            <p>Then an opener wisdom finding,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Let thy round and wintry sun</p>
+
+            <p>Chase the lurid vapour, blinding</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Souls that seek the Holy One.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page383"
+           name="page383"></a>[pg 383]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Thou from green Helvetia roaming,</p>
+
+            <p>Meteor pale in misty gloaming,</p>
+
+            <p>With a breast too fiercely burning;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Generous, tuneful, frail Rousseau!</p>
+
+            <p>Would that all to truth returning,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Gave, like thee, a tear to woe!</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Eye of clear and diamond sparkle,</p>
+
+            <p>Where the Baltic waters darkle,</p>
+
+            <p>Lonely German seer of Reason,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Great and calm as Atlas old;</p>
+
+            <p>Through our formless foggy season,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Short thine adamantine cold.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Shelley, born of faith and passion,</p>
+
+            <p>Nobler far than gain and fashion;</p>
+
+            <p>Daring eaglet arm'd with lightning,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Firing soon thy native nest,</p>
+
+            <p>Still the eternal blaze is brightening</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Ocean where thy pinions rest.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>Heroes, prophets, bards, and sages,</p>
+
+            <p>Gods and men of climes and ages,</p>
+
+            <p>Conquerors of lifelong sorrow,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Torment that ye made your throne,</p>
+
+            <p>Help, Oh! help in us the morrow,</p>
+
+            <p>Full of triumph like your own.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr />
+    <a name="bw341s12"
+          id="bw341s12"></a>
+
+    <h3>THE LUCKLESS LOVER</h3>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"If aught on earth assault may bide</p>
+
+            <p>Of ceaseless time and shifting tide,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Beloved! I swear to thee</p>
+
+            <p>It is the truth of hearts that love,</p>
+
+            <p>United in a world above</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The moment's misty sea.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"Oh! sweeter than the light of dawn,</p>
+
+            <p>Than music in the woods withdrawn</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">From clamours of the crowd,</p>
+
+            <p>A new creation all our own,</p>
+
+            <p>Unvisited by scoff or groan,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Is faith in silence vow'd.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"Two hearts by reason nobly sad,</p>
+
+            <p>Nor rashly blind, nor lightly glad,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Possess they not a bliss</p>
+
+            <p>In their communion, felt and full,</p>
+
+            <p>Beyond all custom's deadly rule?</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">For life is only this.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p class="i2">"In sighs we met, in sighs and sobs,</p>
+
+            <p>Such grief as from the wretched robs</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The hope to heaven allied:</p>
+
+            <p>Great calm was ours, a strength severe,</p>
+
+            <p>Though wet with many a scalding tear,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">When soul to soul replied.</p>
+        </div><span class="pagenum"><a id="page384"
+           name="page384"></a>[pg 384]</span>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Of thy dark eyes and gentle speech,</p>
+
+            <p>The memory has a power to teach</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">What know not many wise.</p>
+
+            <p>New stars may rise, the ancient fade,</p>
+
+            <p>But not for us, my own pale maid,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Be lost that pure surprise&mdash;</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"The pure delight, the awful change,</p>
+
+            <p>Chief miracle in wonder's range,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That binds the twain in one;</p>
+
+            <p>While fear, foes, friends, and angry Fate,</p>
+
+            <p>And all that wreck our mortal state</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Shall pass, like motes i' the sun.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"In his fine frame the throstle feels</p>
+
+            <p>The music that his note reveals;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">And spite of shafts and nets,</p>
+
+            <p>How better is the dying bird</p>
+
+            <p>Than some dumb stone that ne'er was heard,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That arrow never threats?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Disdaining man, the mountains rise;</p>
+
+            <p>Is love less kindred with the skies,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Or less their Maker's will?</p>
+
+            <p>The strains, without a human cause,</p>
+
+            <p>Flow on, unheeding lies and laws&mdash;</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Will hearts for words be still?</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"What cliffs oppose, what oceans roll,</p>
+
+            <p>What frowns o'ershade the weeping soul,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Alas! were long to tell.</p>
+
+            <p>But something is there more than these,</p>
+
+            <p>Than frowns and coldness, rocks and seas:</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Until its hour&mdash;farewell!"</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>So sang the vassal bard by night,</p>
+
+            <p>Beneath his high-born lady's light</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">That from her turret shone.</p>
+
+            <p>Next morning in the forest glade</p>
+
+            <p>His corpse was found. Her brother's blade</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">Had cut his bosom's bone.</p>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>What reap'd Lord Wilfrid by the stroke?</p>
+
+            <p>Before another morning broke,</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">She, too, was with the blest:</p>
+
+            <p>And 'twas her last and only prayer,</p>
+
+            <p>That her sweet limbs might slumber where</p>
+
+            <p class="i2">The minstrel had his rest.</p>
+
+            <p class="i40">J. S.</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page385"
+       name="page385"></a>[pg 385]</span> <a name="bw341s13"
+          id="bw341s13"></a>
+
+    <h2>FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION</h2>
+
+    <h3>THE CORN LAWS.</h3>
+
+    <p>It is remarkable that, while we hear so much of the
+    advantages of free trade, the reciprocity of them is always in
+    <i>prospect</i> only. By throwing open our harbours to foreign
+    nations, indeed, we give <i>them</i> an immediate and obvious
+    advantage over ourselves; but as to any corresponding
+    advantages we are to gain in our intercourse with them, we are
+    still waiting, in patient expectation of the anticipated
+    benefit. Our patience is truly exemplary; it might furnish a
+    model to Job himself. We resent nothing. No sooner do we
+    receive a blow on one cheek, than we turn up the other to some
+    new smiter. No sooner are we excluded, in return for our
+    concessions, from the harbours of one state, than we begin
+    making concessions to another. We are constantly in expectation
+    of seeing the stream of human envy and jealousy run
+    out:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <div class="poem">
+        <div class="stanza">
+            <p>"Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis: at ille</p>
+
+            <p>Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum."</p>
+        </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <p>We are imitating the man who made the experiment of
+    constantly reducing the food on which his horse is to live. Let
+    us take care that, just as he is learning to live on nothing,
+    we do not find him dead in his stall.</p>
+
+    <p>This, however, is no joking matter. The total failure of the
+    free trade system to procure any, <i>even the smallest
+    return</i>, coupled with the very serious injury it has
+    inflicted on many of the staple branches of our industry, has
+    now been completely demonstrated by experience, and is matter
+    of universal notoriety. If any proof on the subject were
+    required, it would be furnished by <i>Porter's Parliamentary
+    Tables</i>, to which we earnestly request the attention of our
+    readers. The first exhibits the effect of the reciprocity
+    system, introduced by Mr Huskisson in Feb. 1823, in destroying
+    our shipping with the Baltic powers, and quadrupling theirs
+    with us. The second shows the trifling amount of our exports to
+    these countries during the five last years, and thereby
+    demonstrates the entire failure of the attempt to, extend our
+    traffic with them by this gratuitous destruction of our
+    shipping. The third shows the progress of our whole exports to
+    Europe during the six years from 1814 to 1820, before the free
+    trade began, and from 1833 to 1839, after it had been fifteen
+    years in operation, and proves that it had <i>declined</i> in
+    the latter period as compared with the former, despite all our
+    gratuitous sacrifices by free trade to augment our
+    commerce.<a id="footnotetag12"
+       name="footnotetag12"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote12"><sup>12</sup></a></p>
+
+    <p>The free traders fully admit, and deeply deplore, as we have
+    shown on a former occasion, these unfavourable results; but
+    they say that it is to be hoped they will not continue: that
+    foreign nations must, in the end, come to see that they are as
+    much interested as we are in enlightened system of free trade;
+    and that, meantime, it is for our interest to continue the
+    system; or even though it totally fails in producing any
+    augmentation in our exports, it is obviously for our advantage
+    to continue it, as it brings in the immediate benefit of
+    purchasing articles imported at a cheaper rate. Supposing, say
+    they, we obtain no corresponding advantage from other states,
+    there is an immense benefit accrues to ourselves from admitting
+    foreign goods at a nominal duty, from the low price at which
+    they may be purchased by the British consumer. To that point we
+    shall advert in the sequel; in the mean time, it may be
+    considered as demonstrated, that the free trade system has
+    entirely failed in procuring for us the slightest extension of
+    our foreign exports, or abating in the slightest degree the
+    jealousy of foreign nations at our maritime and manufacturing
+    superiority. Nor is there any difficulty in discovering to what
+    this failure has been owing. It arises <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page386"
+       name="page386"></a>[pg 386]</span> from laws inherent in the
+       nature of things, and which will remain unabated as long as
+       we continue a great and prosperous nation.</p>
+
+    <p>It is related of the Lacedemonians, that while all the other
+    citizens of Greece were careful to surround their towns with
+    walls, they alone left a part open on all sides. Thus,
+    superiority in the field rendered them indifferent to the
+    adventitious protection of ramparts. It is for a similar reason
+    that England is now willing to throw down the barriers of
+    tariffs, and the impediments of custom-houses; and that all
+    other nations are fain to raise them up. It is a secret sense
+    of superiority on the one side, and of inferiority on the
+    other, which is the cause of the difference. We advocate
+    freedom of trade, because we are conscious that, in a fair
+    unrestricted competition, we should succeed in beating them out
+    of their own market. They resist it, and loudly clamour for
+    protection, because they are aware that such a result would
+    speedily take place, and that the superiority of the old
+    commercial state is such, that on an open trial of strength, it
+    must at once prove fatal to its younger rivals. As this effect
+    is thus the result of permanent causes affecting both sides, it
+    may fairly be presumed that it will be lasting; and that the
+    more anxiously the old manufacturing state advocates or acts
+    upon freedom of commercial intercourse, the more strenuously
+    will the younger and rising ones advocate protection.
+    Reciprocity, therefore, is out of the question between them:
+    for it never could exist without the destruction of the
+    manufactures of the younger state; and if that state has begun
+    to enter on the path of manufacturing industry, it never will
+    be permitted by its government.</p>
+
+    <p>But this is not all. If free trade must of necessity prove
+    fatal to the manufactures of the younger state, it as certainly
+    leads to the destruction <i>of the agriculture of the
+    older;</i> and it is this double effect this RECIPROCITY OF
+    EVIL, which renders it so disastrous and impracticable an
+    experiment for both the older and the younger community. The
+    reason of this has not hitherto been generally attended to; but
+    when once it is stated, its force becomes obvious, and it
+    furnishes the true answer on principle to the delusive
+    doctrines of free trade.</p>
+
+    <p>Nature has established, and, as it will immediately be
+    shown, for very wise and important purposes, a permanent and
+    indelible distinction between the effect of civilization and
+    opulence on the production of food, and on the preparation of
+    manufactures. In the latter, the discoveries of science, the
+    exertions of skill, the application of capital, the
+    introduction of machinery, are all-powerful, and give the older
+    and more advanced state an immediate and decisive advantage
+    over the younger and the ruder. In the former, the very reverse
+    takes place: the additions made to productive power are
+    comparatively inconsiderable, even by the most important
+    discoveries; and as this capital and industry have in the end a
+    powerful effect, and always enable the power of raising food
+    for the human race to keep far a-head of the wants of mankind;
+    yet this effect takes place very slowly, and the annual
+    addition that can be made to the produce of the earth by such
+    means is by no means considerable. The introduction of thorough
+    draining will probably increase the productive power of the
+    soil in Great Britain a third: scientific discovery may perhaps
+    add another third; but at least ten years must elapse in the
+    most favourable view before these effects generally take
+    place&mdash;ere the judicious and well-directed labours of our
+    husbandmen have formed rivulets for the superfluous wet of our
+    fields, or overspread the soil with the now wasted animal
+    remains of our cities. But our manufactures can in a few years
+    quadruple their produce. So vast is the power which the
+    steam-engine has made to the powers of production in commercial
+    industry, that it is susceptible to almost indefinite and
+    immediate extension; and the great difficulty always felt is,
+    not to get hands to keep pace with the demand of the consumers,
+    but to get a demand to keep pace with the hands employed in the
+    production. Manchester and Glasgow could, in a few years,
+    furnish muslin and cotton goods for the whole world.</p>
+
+    <p>Nor is the difference less important and conspicuous in the
+    <i>price</i> at which <span class="pagenum"><a id="page387"
+       name="page387"></a>[pg 387]</span> manufacturing and
+       agricultural produce can be raised in the old and the young
+       state. This is the decisive circumstance which renders
+       reciprocity between them impossible. The rich old state is
+       as superior to the young one in the production of
+       manufactures, as the poor young state is to the rich old one
+       in that of subsistence. The steam-engine, capital, and
+       machinery, have so enormously increased the power of
+       manufacturing production, that they have rendered the old
+       commercial state omnipotent in the foreign market in the
+       supply of its articles. Nothing but fiscal regulations and
+       heavy duties can protect the young state from ruin in those
+       branches of industry. Heavy taxes, high wages, costly rents,
+       dear rude produce, all are at once compensated, and more
+       than compensated, by the gigantic powers of the
+       steam-engine. Cotton goods are raised now in Great Britain
+       at a fifth of the price which they were during the war. A
+       gown, which formerly was cheap at &pound;2, 10s., is now
+       sold for ten shillings. Silks, muslins, and all other
+       articles of female apparel, have been reduced in price in
+       the same proportion. Colossal fortunes have been made by the
+       master manufacturers, unbounded wealth diffused through the
+       operative workmen in Lancashire and Lanarkshire, even at
+       these extremely reduced prices. This is the real reason of
+       the universal effort made by all nations which have the
+       least pretensions to commercial industry, of late years to
+       exclude, by fixed duties, our staple manufactures; of which
+       the President of the Board of Trade so feelingly complains,
+       and which the advocates of free trade consider as so
+       inexplicable. A very clear principle has led to it, and will
+       lead to it. It is the instinct of SELF-PRESERVATION.</p>
+
+    <p>But there is no steam-engine in agriculture. The old state
+    has no superiority over the young one in the price of producing
+    food; on the contrary, it is decidedly its inferior. There, as
+    in love, the apprentice is the master. The proof of this is
+    decisive. Poland can raise wheat with ease at fifteen or twenty
+    shillings a quarter, while England requires fifty. The serf of
+    the Ukraine would make a fortune on the price at which the
+    farmer of Kent or East Lothian would be rendered bankrupt. The
+    Polish cultivators have no objection whatever to a free
+    competition with the British; but the British anticipate, and
+    with reason, total destruction from the free admission of
+    Polish grain. These facts are so notorious, that they require
+    no illustration; but nevertheless the conclusion to which they
+    point is of the highest importance, and bears, with
+    overwhelming force, on the theory of free trade as between an
+    old and a young community. They demonstrate that that theory is
+    not only practically pernicious, but on principle erroneous. It
+    involves an oblivion of the fundamental law of nature as to the
+    difference between the effect of wealth and civilization on the
+    production of food and the raising of manufactures. It proceeds
+    on insensibility to the difference in the age and advancement
+    of nations, and the impossibility of a reciprocity being
+    established between them without the ruin of an important
+    branch of industry in each. It supposes nations to be of the
+    same genus and age, like the trees in the larch plantation, not
+    of all varieties and ages, as in the natural forest. If
+    established in complete operation, it would only lead to the
+    ruin of the manufactures of the younger state, and of the
+    agriculture of the old one. The only reciprocity which it can
+    ever introduce between such states is the reciprocity of
+    evil.</p>
+
+    <p>Illustrations from everyday life occur on all sides to
+    elucidate the utter absurdity, and, in fact, total
+    impracticapability of the system of free trade, as applied to
+    nations who are, or are becoming, rivals of each other in
+    manufacturing industry. Those who have the advantage, will
+    always advocate free competition; those who are labouring under
+    impediments, will always exclaim against them. In some cases
+    the young have the advantage, in others the old; but in all the
+    free system is applauded by those in the sunshine, and
+    execrated by those in the shade. The fair <i>debutante</i> of
+    eighteen, basking in the bright light of youth, beauty, birth,
+    and connections, has no sort of objection to the freedom of
+    choice in the ball-room. If the mature spinster of forty would
+    divulge her real opinion, what would it be on the same scene of
+    competition? <span class="pagenum"><a id="page388"
+       name="page388"></a>[pg 388]</span> Experience proves that
+       she is glad to retire, in the general case, from the unequal
+       struggle, and finds the system of established precedence and
+       fixed rank at dinner parties, much more rational. The
+       leaders on the North Circuit&mdash;Sir James Scarlett or
+       Lord Brongham&mdash;have no objections to the free choice,
+       by solicitors and attorneys, for professional talent; but
+       their younger brethren of the gown are fain to take shelter
+       from such formidable rivals in the exclusive employment of
+       the Crown, the East India Company, the Bank of England, or
+       some of the numerous chartered companies in the country.
+       England is the old lawyer on the Cirucuit in
+       manufactures&mdash;but Poland is the young beauty of the
+       ball-room in agriculture. We should like to see what sort of
+       reciprocity could be established between them. Possibly the
+       young belle may exchange her beauty for the old lawyer's
+       guineas, but it will prove a bad reciprocity for both.</p>
+
+    <p>It is usual for both philosophers and practical men to
+    ascribe the superior cheapness with which subsistence can be
+    raised in the young state to the old one, to the weight of
+    taxes and of debt, public and private, with which the latter is
+    burdened, from which the former is, in general, relieved. But,
+    without disputing that these circumstances enter with
+    considerable weight into the general result, it may safely be
+    affirmed that the main cause of it is to be found in two laws
+    of nature, of universal and permanent application. These are
+    the low value of money in the rich state, in consequence of its
+    plenty, compared with its high value in the poor one, in
+    consequence of its poverty, and the experienced inapplicability
+    of machinery or the division of labour to agricultural
+    operations.</p>
+
+    <p>Labour is cheap in the poor state, such as Poland, Prussia,
+    and the Ukraine, becuase guineas are few.&mdash;"It is not," as
+    Johnson said of the Highlands, "that eggs are many, but that
+    pence are few." Commercial transactions being scanty, and the
+    want of a circulating medium inconsiderable, it exists to a
+    very limited extent in the country. People do not need a large
+    circulating medium, therefore they do not buy it; they are
+    poor, therefore they cannot. In the opulent and highly advanced
+    community, on the other hand, the reverse of all this takes
+    place. Transactions are so frequent, the necessities of
+    commerce so extensive, that a large circulating medium is soon
+    felt to be indispensable. In addition to a considerable amount
+    of specie, the aid of bank-notes, public and private, of
+    Government securities and exchequer bills, and of private bills
+    to an immense ammount, bcomes necessary. McCulloch calculates
+    the circulating medium of Great Britain, including paper and
+    gold, at L.72,000,000. The bills in circulation are probably in
+    amount nearly as much more. A hundred and forty, or a hundred
+    and fifty millions, between specie, bank-notes, exchequer
+    bills, Government securities, on which advances are made, and
+    private bills, constitute the ordinary circulating medium of
+    twenty-seven millions in the British empire. The total
+    circulation of Russia, with sixty millions of inhabitants, is
+    not forty millions sterling. The effect of this difference is
+    prodigions. It is no wonder, whten it is taken into account,
+    that wages are 5-1/2d. or 6d. a-day in Poland or the Ukraine,
+    and 2s. or 2s. 6d. a-day in England.</p>
+
+    <p>The clearest proof that this is the great cause of the
+    superior cost of raising subsistence in the old than the young
+    state, is afforded by the different value which money bears in
+    different parts of the <i>same</i> community. Ask any
+    housekeeper what is the difference between the expense of
+    living in London, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and he will answer,
+    that L.1500 a-year in Edingburgh, or L.750 in Aberdeen. Yet
+    these different places are all situated in the same community,
+    and their inhabitants pay the same public taxes, and very
+    nearly the same of local ones. It is the vast results arising
+    from the concentration of wealth and expediture in one place,
+    compared with its abstraction from others, which occasions the
+    difference. But if this effect is conspicuous, and matter of
+    daily observation, in different parts of the same compact and
+    moderately sized country, how much more must it obtain in
+    regard to different countries, situated in different latitudes
+    and politcal circumstances, and in different stages
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page389"
+       name="page389"></a>[pg 389]</span> of wealth, civilization,
+       and commercial opulence? Between England for example, and
+       Poland or the Ukraine? The difference is there important and
+       durable. Wheat can be raised with as good a profit to the
+       cultivator for sixteen shillings per quarter in Poland, as
+       for forty-eight shillings in England or Scotland.</p>
+
+    <p>This superior weight of wages, rent and all the elements of
+    cost, in the old, when compared with the young community,
+    affects the manufacturer as well as the farmer; and in some
+    branches of manufactures it does so with an overwhelming
+    effect. But, generally speaking, the advantages of capital,
+    machinery, and the division of labour, render the old state
+    altogether predominant over the young one in these particulars.
+    It would seem to be a fixed law of nature, that the progress of
+    society adds almost nothing to the application of machinery to
+    agriculture, but indefinitely to its importance in
+    manufactures. Observe an old man digging his garden with a
+    spade&mdash;that is the most productive species of cultivation;
+    it is the last stage of agricultural progress to return to it.
+    No steam engines or steam ploughs will ever rival it. But what
+    is the old weaver toiling with his hands, to the large
+    steam-power mill, turning at once ten thousand spindles? As
+    dust in the balance. Man, by a beneficent law of his Maker, is
+    permanently secured in his first and best pursuit. It is in
+    those which demoralize and degrade, that machinery
+    progressively encroaches on the labour of his hands. England
+    can undersell India in muslins and printed goods, manufactured
+    in Lancashire or Lanarkshire, out of cotton which grew on the
+    banks of the Ganges; for England though younger in years
+    compared to India, is old in civilization, wealth, and power.
+    We should like to see what profit would be made by exporting
+    wheat from England, raised on land paying thirty shillings an
+    acre of rent, by labourers paid at two shillings a-day, to
+    Hindostan, where rice is raised twice a-year, on land paying
+    five shillings an acre rent, by labourers receiving twopence
+    a-day each.</p>
+
+    <p>It is the constant operation of this law of nature which
+    ensures the equalization of empires, the happiness of society,
+    and the dispersion of mankind. To be convinced of this, we have
+    only to reflect on the results which would ensue if this were
+    not the case; if no unvarying law gave man in remote situations
+    an advantage in raising subsistence over what they enjoy in the
+    centres of opulence; and agriculture, in the aged and wealthy
+    community, was able to acquire the same decisive superiority
+    over distant and comparatively poor ones, which we see daily
+    examplified in the production of manufactures. Suppose, for
+    example, that in consequence of the application of the
+    steam-engine, capital, and machinery to the raising of
+    subsistence, Great Britian could undersell the cultivatiors of
+    Poland and the Ukraine as effectually as she does their
+    manufacturers in the production of cotton goods; that she could
+    sell in the Polish market wheat at five shillings a quarter,
+    when they require fifteen shillings to remunerate the cost of
+    production. Would not the result be, that commerce between them
+    would be entirely destroyed; that subsistence would be
+    exclusively raised in the old opulent community; that mankind
+    would congregate in fearful multitudes round the great
+    commercial emporium of the world; and that the industry and
+    progress of the more distant nations would be irrevocably
+    blighted? Whereas, by the operation of the present law of
+    nature, that the rich state can always undersell the poor one
+    in maufactures, and the poor one always undersell the rich one
+    in subsistence, those dangers are removed, a check is provided
+    to the undue multiplication of the species in particular
+    situations, and the dispersion of mankind over the
+    globe&mdash;a vital object in the system of nature&mdash;is
+    secured, from the very necessities and difficulties in which,
+    in the progress of society, the old and wealthy community
+    becomes involved.</p>
+
+    <p>These considerations point out an important limitation to
+    which, on principle, the doctrines of free trade must be
+    subjected. Perfectly just in reference to a single community,
+    or a compact empire of reasonable extent, they wholly fail when
+    applied to separate nations in different degrees of
+    civilization, or even to different provinces of the same
+    empire, when it is of such an extent as to bring such
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page390"
+       name="page390"></a>[pg 390]</span> different nations, in
+       various degrees of progress, under one common dominion. They
+       were suggested, in the first instance, to philosophers, by
+       the absurd restrictions on the commerce of grain which
+       existed in France under the old monarchy, and which Turgot
+       and the Economists laboured so assiduously to abolish. There
+       can be no doubt that they were perfectly right in doing so;
+       for France is a compact, homogeneous country, in which the
+       cost of producing subsistence is not materially different in
+       one part from another, and the interests of the whole
+       community are closely identified. The same holds with the
+       interchange of grain between the different provinces of
+       Spain, or for the various parts of the British islands. But
+       the case is widely different with an empire so extensive as,
+       like the British in modern or the Roman in ancient times, to
+       embrace separate kingdoms, in wholly different circumstances
+       of climate, progress, and social condition. Free trade, in
+       such circumstances, must lead to a destruction of important
+       interests, and a total subversion of the balance of society
+       in both the kingdoms subjected to it. To be conviced of
+       this, we have only to look at the present condition of the
+       British, or the past fate of the Roman empire.</p>
+
+    <p>It is the boast of our manufacturers&mdash;and such a marvel
+    may well afford a subject for exultation&mdash;that with cotton
+    which grew on the banks of the Ganges, they can, by the aid of
+    British capital, machinery, and enterprise, undersell, in the
+    production of muslin and cotton goods, the native Indian
+    manufacturers, who work up their fabrics in the close vicinity
+    of the original cotton-fields. The constant and increasing
+    export of Britsh goods to India, two-thirds of which are
+    cotton, demonstrates that this superiority really exists; and
+    that the muslin manufacturers in Hindostan, who work for 3d.
+    a-day on their own cotton, cannot stand the competition of the
+    British operatives, who receive 3s. 6d. a-day, aided as they
+    are by the almost miraculous powers of the steam-engine. Free
+    trade, therefore, is ruinous to the manufacturing interests of
+    India; and accordingly the Parliamentary proceedings are filled
+    with evidence of the extreme misery which has been brought on
+    the native manufacturers of Hindostan by that free importation
+    of British goods, in which our political economists so much and
+    so fully exult.</p>
+
+    <p>The great distance of India from the British islands, the
+    vast expense of transporting bulky articles eight thousand
+    miles accross the ocean, have prevented the counterpart of this
+    effect taking place; and the British farmers feeling the
+    depressing influence of the Indian plough, in like manner as
+    the Indian manufacturers have the ruinous competition of the
+    British steam-engine. But it is clear that, if India had been
+    nearer, the former effect would have taken place as well as the
+    latter. If the shores of Hindostan were within a few days sail
+    of London and Liverpool, and the Indian cultivators, labouring
+    at 2d. or 3d. a-day, had been brought into direct competition
+    with the British farmers, employing labourers who received two
+    or three shillings, can there be a doubt that the British
+    farmers would have been totally destroyed in the struggle? The
+    English farmers would have been prostrated by the same cause
+    which has ruined the Indian muslin manufacturers. Cheap grain,
+    the fruit of free trade, would have demolished British
+    agriculture as completely as cheap cotton goods, the fruits of
+    unlimited importation, has ruined Indian manufacturing
+    industry.</p>
+
+    <p>Is, then, commercial intercourse impossible, on terms of
+    mutual benefit, between states in widely different
+    circumstatnces of commercial or agricultural advancement; and
+    is the only reciprocity which can exist between them and
+    reciprocity of evil? It is by no means necessary to rest in so
+    unsatisfatory a conclusion. A most advantageous commercial
+    intercourse to both parties may be carried on, but it must not
+    be on the footing of free trade. The foundation of such an
+    intercourse should be, that each should take, on the most
+    favourable terms, the articles which <i>it wants and does not
+    produce</i>, and impose restrictions on those which <i>it wants
+    and does produce</i>. On this priciple, trade would be
+    conducted so as to benefit both countries, and injure neither.
+    Thus England may take from India to the utmost extent, and with
+    perfect safety, sugar, indigo, cotton, tea, spices, cinnamon,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page391"
+       name="page391"></a>[pg 391]</span> and the more costly
+       species of shawls; while India might take from England some
+       species of cotton manufacture in which they have no fabrics
+       of their own, cutlery, hardware, and all of the various
+       luxuries of European manufacture. But a paternal and just
+       government, equally alive to the interests of all its
+       provinces, how far removed soever from the seat of power,
+       would impose restrictions to prevent India being deluged
+       with British cottons, to the ruin of its native
+       manufactures, and to prevent Britian&mdash;if the distance
+       did not operate, which it certainly would, as a sufficient
+       protection&mdash;from being flooded with Indian grain. The
+       varieties of climate, productions, and wants, in different
+       countries, are such, that commerce, regulated on these
+       principles, might be carried to the greatest extent
+       consistent with the paramount duty of providing in each
+       state for the preservation of its staple articles of
+       industry.</p>
+
+    <p>The Roman empire in ancient times afforded the clearest
+    demonstration of the truth of these principles; and the fate of
+    their vast dominion shows, in the most decisive manner, what is
+    the inevitable consequence to which the free trade principles,
+    now so strongly contended for by a party in this country, must
+    lead. Alison is the first modern author with whom we are
+    acquainted, who has traced the decline of the Roman empire in
+    great part to this source. In the tenth volume of his "History
+    of Europe," p. 752, we find the following passage:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"No nation can pretend to independence which rests for
+        any sensible protion of its subsistence in ordinary seasons
+        on foreign, who may become hostile, nations. And if we
+        would see a memorable example of the manner in which the
+        greatest and most powerful nation may, in the course of
+        ages, come to be paralysed by this cause, we have only to
+        cast our eyes on imperial Rome, when the vast extent of the
+        empire had practically established a free trade in grain
+        with the whole civilized world; and the result was, that
+        cultivation disappeared from the Italian plains, that the
+        race of Roman agriculturists, the strength of the empire,
+        became extinct, that the fields were laboured only by
+        slaves and cattle. The legions could no longer be recruited
+        but from foreign bands, vast tracts of pasturage overspread
+        even the fields of Lombardy and the Compagna of Naples, and
+        it was the plaintive confession of the Roman annalist, that
+        the mistress of the world had come to depend for her
+        subsistence on the floods of the Nile."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>This observation has excited, as well it might, the vehement
+    indignation of the free trade journals. The example of the
+    greates and most powerful nation that ever existed being
+    weakened, and at length ruined by a free trade in corn,
+    afforded too cogent an argument, and was too striking a
+    warning, not to excite the wrath of those who would precipitate
+    Great Britain into a similar course of policy. They have
+    attacked the author, accordingly, with unwonted asperity; and,
+    while they admint the ruin of Italian agriculture in the later
+    stages of the Roman empire, endeavour to ascribe it to the
+    gratuitous distribution of grain to the Roman populace, not the
+    effect of a free importation of grain from its Egyptian and
+    African provinces. The vast importance of the subject has
+    induced us to look into the original authorities to whom Alison
+    refers in support of his observation, and from among them we
+    select three&mdash;Tacitus, Gibbon, and Michelet. Tacitus
+    says,</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"At Hercule <i>olim ex Itaila</i> legionibus longinquas
+        in provincias commeatus portabantur, <i>nec nunc
+        infecunditate laboratur</i>; sed Africam <i>potius et
+        Egyptum exercemus</i>, navibusque et casibus vita populi
+        Romani permissa est."&mdash;TACITUS, <i>Annal</i>. xii.
+        43.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Antiquity does not contain a more pregnant and important
+    passage, or one more directly bearing on the present policy of
+    the Britsh emprire, than this. It demonstrates: 1, That in
+    former times Italy had been an exporting country: "<i>olim</i>
+    ex Italia commeatus in longinquas provincias portabantur." 2,
+    That at the time when Tacitus wrote, in the days of the Emperor
+    Trajan, it had ceased to be so, and had come to import largely
+    from Africa and Lybia, "sed <i>nunc</i> Africam potius et
+    Egyptum exercemus." 3, That this was not the result of any
+    supervening sterility or unfruitfulness, "nec nunc
+    infecunditate laboratur," but was from causes which made it
+    more profitable to purchase grain in the Egyptian or Lybian
+    markets, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page392"
+       name="page392"></a>[pg 392]</span> "sed Africam POTIUS et
+       Egyptum exercemus."</p>
+
+    <p>Of the extent to which this decay of agriculture in the
+    central provinces of the Roman empire went, in the latter
+    stages of its history, we have the following striking account
+    in the authentic pages of Gibbon:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"Since the age of Tiberius <i>the decay of agriculture
+        had been felt in Italy</i>; and it was a just subject of
+        complaint that the life of the Roman people depended on the
+        accidents of the winds and the waves. In the division and
+        decline of the empire, <i>the tributary harvests of Egypt
+        and Africa</i> were withdrawn; the numbers of the
+        inhabitants continually diminished with the means of
+        subsistence; and the country was exhausted by the
+        irretrievable losses of war, pestilence, and famine. Pope
+        Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer, and he affirms, with
+        strong exaggeration, that, in Emilia, Tuscany, and the
+        adjacent provinces, the human species was almost
+        extirpated."&mdash;GIBBON, vol. vi. c. xxxvi. p. 235.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Of the progress and extent of this decay, Gibbon gives the
+    following account in another part of his great work:&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The agriculture of the Roman provinces <i>was
+        insensibly ruined</i>; and in the progress of despotism,
+        which tends to disappoint its own purpose, the emperors
+        were obliged to derive some merit from the forgiveness of
+        debts, or the remission of tributes, which their subjects
+        were utterly incapable of paying. According to the new
+        division of Italy, the fertile and happy province of
+        Campania, the scene of the early victories and of the
+        delicious retirements of the citizens of Rome, extended
+        between the sea and the Apennines, from the Tiber to the
+        Silarius. Within sixty years after the death of
+        Constantine, and on the evidence of an actual survey, an
+        exemption was granted in favour of 330,000 English acres
+        <i>of desert and uncultivated land, which amounted to
+        one-eighth of the whole surface of the province</i>. As the
+        footsteps of the barbarians had not yet been seen in Italy,
+        the cause of this amazing desolation, which is recorded in
+        the laws, (Cod. Theod. lxi. t. 38, l. 2,) can be ascribed
+        only to the administration of the Roman
+        emperors."&mdash;GIBBON, vol. iii. c. xviii. p. 87. Edition
+        in 12 volumes.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Michelet observes, in his late profound and able History of
+    France&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The Christian emperors could not remedy the growing
+        depopulation of the country any more than their heathen
+        predecessors. All their efforts only showed the impotence
+        of government to arrest that dreadful evil. Sometimes,
+        alarmed at the depopulation, they tried to mitigate the lot
+        of the farmer, to shield him against the landlord; upon
+        this the proprietor exclaimed he could no longer pay the
+        taxes. At other times they abandoned the farmer,
+        surrendered him to the landlord, and strove to chain him to
+        the soil; but the unhappy cultivators perished or fled,
+        <i>and the land became deserted</i>. Even in the time of
+        Augustus, efforts were made to arrest the depopulation at
+        the expense of morals, by encouraging concubinage. Pertinax
+        granted an immunity from taxes to those who could occupy
+        the desert lands of Italy, <i>to the cultivators of the
+        distant provinces, and the allied kings</i>. Aurelian did
+        the same. Probus was obliged to transport from Germany men
+        and oxen to cultivate Gaul.<a id="footnotetag13"
+           name="footnotetag13"></a><a href=
+           "#footnote13"><sup>13</sup></a> Maximian and Constantius
+           transported the Franks and Germans from Picardy and
+           Hainault into Italy: but the depopulation in the towns
+           and the country alike continued. The people surrendered
+           themselves in the fields to despair, as a beast of
+           burden lies down beneath his load and refuses to rise.
+           In vain the emperor strove, by offers of immunities and
+           exemptions, to recall the cultivator to his deserted
+           fields. Nothing could do so. The desert extended daily.
+           At the commencement of the fifth century there was, in
+           the <i>happy</i> Campania, the most fertile province of
+           the empire, 520,000 <i>jugera</i> in a state of
+           nature."&mdash;MICHELET, <i>Histoire de France</i>, i.
+           104-108.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Pursued to its very grave by the same deep-rooted cause of
+    evil, the strength of Italy, even in the last stages of its
+    decay, was still prostrated by the importation of grain from
+    Egypt and Lybia. "The Campagna of Rome," says Gibbon, "about
+    the close of the sixth century, was reduced to the state of
+    <i>a dreary wilderness</i>, in which the land was barren,
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page393"
+       name="page393"></a>[pg 393]</span> the waters impure, and
+       the air infectious. Yet the number of citizens <i>still
+       exceeded the measure of subsistence; their precarious food
+       was supplied from the harvests of Egypt and Lybia</i>; and
+       the frequent repetitions of famine betray the inattention of
+       the emperors to a distant provice."&mdash;GIBBON, vil. viii.
+       c. xlv. 162.</p>
+
+    <p>Nor was this desolating scourge of foreign importation
+    confined to Italy; it obtained also in Greece equally with the
+    Ausonian fields, the abode of early riches, opulence, and
+    prosperity. "In the later stages of the empire," says Michelet,
+    "Greece was almost entirely <i>supported by corn raised in the
+    fields of Podolia</i>," (Poland.)&mdash;MICHELET, i. 277.</p>
+
+    <p>Now let it be recollected that this continual and
+    astonishing decline of agriculture, and disappearance of the
+    rural cultivators in the latter stages of the Roman empire,
+    took place in an empire which contained, as Gibbon tells us,
+    120,000,000 of inhabitants, and 1600 great cities, was 3000
+    miles long and 2000 miles broad, contained 1,600,000 square
+    miles, chiefly fertile and well cultivated land, which embraced
+    the fairest and most fertile portions of the earth, and which
+    had been governed for eighty yers under the successive sway of
+    Nerva, Adrian, Trajan, and the two Antonines, with consummate
+    wisdon and the most paternal spirit. <a id="footnotetag14"
+       name="footnotetag14"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote14"><sup>14</sup></a> The scourge of foreign war,
+       the devastation of foreign armies, were alike unknown;
+       profound tranquillity pervaded every part of the empire; and
+       a vast inland lake, spreading its ample waters through the
+       heart of the dominion, afforded to all its provinces the
+       most perfect facility of intercourse with the metropolis and
+       the central parts of the empire. Yet this period&mdash;the
+       period which Mr Hume has told us the philosophers would
+       select as the happiest the human race had ever
+       known&mdash;was precisely that during which agriculture so
+       rapidly declined in the Italian and Grecian fields, during
+       which the sturdy race of free cultivators disappeared, and
+       the plains of Italy were entirely absorbed by pasturage, and
+       maintained only vast herds of cattle tended by slaves.</p>
+
+    <p>What was it, then, which in an empire containing so immense
+    a population, and such boundless resources, drawn forth and
+    developed under so wise and beneficent a race of emperors,
+    occasioned this constant and uninterrupted decay of
+    agriculture, and at length the total destruction of the rural
+    population in the heart of the empire? How did it happen that
+    Italian cultivation receded, as Tacitus and Gibbon tell us it
+    did, <i>from the time of Tiberius</i>; and equally under the
+    wisdom of the Antonines, as the tyranny of Nero, or the civil
+    wars of Vitellius? Some general and durable cause must have
+    been in operation during all this period, which at firest
+    depressed, and at length totally destroyed, the numerous body
+    of free Italian cultivators who so long had constituted the
+    strength of the legions, and had borne the Roman eagles,
+    conquering and to conquer, to the very extremities of the
+    habitable earth. The cause is apparent. It was the free
+    importation of Egyptian and Lybian grain, consequent on the
+    extension of the Roman dominion over their fertile fields,
+    which effected the result. Were England to extend its
+    conquering arms over Poland and the Ukraine, and, as a
+    necessary consequence, expose the British farmer to the
+    unrestrained competition of Polish and Russian wheat, precisely
+    the same result would ensue. If the shores of Hindostan were
+    within three or four days' sail of the Tiber, this result would
+    long ago have taken place. Let Polish and Russian grain be
+    admitted without a protecting duty into the British harbours,
+    as Lybian and Egyptian were into those of Italy, and we shall
+    soon see the race of cultivators disappear from the fields of
+    England as they did from those of old Rome, and the words of
+    Tacitus will, by a mere change of proper names, become a
+    picture of our condition; three hundred thousand acres will
+    soon be reduced to a state of nature in Kent <span class=
+    "pagenum"><a id="page394"
+       name="page394"></a>[pg 394]</span> and Norfolk, as they were
+       in the Campania Felix. "Nec nunc infecunditate laboramur,
+       <i>Podoliam</i> potius et <i>Scythiam</i> exercemus,
+       navibusque et casibus vita populi <i>Anglici</i> permissa
+       est."</p>
+
+    <p>The free traders allege that the decay of agriculture in the
+    central provinces of the Roman empire, to which, by the
+    concurring testimony of all historians, the ruin of the
+    dominion of the Caesars was chiefly owing, is to be ascribed,
+    not to the free importation of grain from Egypt, Podolia, and
+    Lybia, but to the tyranny of the emperors, the gratuitous
+    distribution of grain to the Roman populace, and the dreadful
+    evils of domestic slavery. A very slight consideration,
+    however, must be sufficient to show that these causes, how
+    powerful soever in producing <i>general</i> evils over the
+    empire, could not have been instrumental in occasioning those
+    <i>peculiar</i> and separate causes of depression, which so
+    early began to check, and at length totally destroyed, the
+    agriculture of its central provinces.</p>
+
+    <p>The tyranny of the Caesars, the oppression of the
+    Proconsuls, the avarice of the Patricians, were general evils,
+    affecting alike every part of the empire; or rather they were
+    felt with more severity in the remote provinces than the
+    districts nearer home, in consequence of the superior
+    opportunities of escape which distance from the central
+    government afforded to iniquity, and the lesser chance of
+    success which the insurrection of a remote province held forth
+    to the "wild revenge" of rebellion. Muscovite oppression,
+    accordingly, is more severely felt at Odessa or Taganrog than
+    St Petersburg; and British rule is far from being restrained by
+    the same considerations of justice on the banks of the Ganges
+    or the Indus, as on those of the Thames. The gratuitous
+    distribution of grain by the emperors to the populace of Rome,
+    could never have occasioned the ruin of the Italian
+    <i>cultivators</i>. Supposing that the two or three hundred
+    thousand lazy and turbulent plebeians, who were nourished by
+    the bounty or fed by the terrors of the Caesars, were the most
+    useless, worthless, and dangerous set of men that ever existed,
+    (which they probably were,) that circumstance could never have
+    uprooted the race of cultivators from the plains of Lombardy,
+    Umbria, or the Campania Felix. The greatest possible good to a
+    nation, according to the free trader, is cheap grain, and never
+    more so than when it is purchased or imported from foreign
+    growers. If this be true, the importation of the harvests of
+    Egypt and Africa into the Italian harbours, either by the
+    voluntary purchase of the Roman emperors, or the forced tribute
+    in grain which they exacted from those provinces, must have
+    been the greatest possible benefit to the Italian people. How
+    then, if there be no mischief in such foreign importations, is
+    it possible to ascribe the ruin of Italian cultivation, and
+    with it of the Roman empire, to these forced contributions? If
+    the free traders have recourse to such an argument, they
+    concede the very point in dispute, and admit that the
+    introduction of foreign grain is injurious, and may in the end
+    prove fatal, to the agriculture and existence of a state.</p>
+
+    <p>Slavery, though a great evil, will as little explain the
+    peculiar and extraordinary decline of Italian and Grecian
+    cultivation in the later stages of the Roman empire. The
+    greater part of the labour of the ancient world, as every one
+    knows, was conducted by means of slaves. They were slaves who
+    held the plough, and tilled the land, and tended the flocks,
+    equally in Lybia, in Campania, in Egypt, as in Umbria. Nay, the
+    number of freemen, at least in the days of the Roman Republic,
+    and the earlier periods of the empire, was incomparably
+    <i>greater</i> in Italy and Greece, the abode of celebrated,
+    powerful, and immortal republics, than in Lybia and Egypt,
+    which from the earliest times had been subject to the despotic
+    sway of satraps, kings, and tyrants. So numerous were the free
+    citizens of Rome in the early days of the empire, that, by the
+    census of Claudius, we are told by Gibbon they amounted to
+    6,945,000 men,<a id="footnotetag15"
+       name="footnotetag15"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote15"><sup>15</sup></a> the greater proportion of
+       whom, of course, were residents in Italy, the seat of
+       <span class="pagenum"><a id="page395"
+       name="page395"></a>[pg 395]</span> government, and the
+       centre of wealth, power, and enjoyment. While so great was
+       the multitude of free citizens which the Republic bequeathed
+       to the empire, resident and exercising unfettered industry
+       in Italy, the cultivators of Africa and Egypt were all serfs
+       and slaves, toiling, like the West Indian negroes, beneath
+       the lash of a master. How, then, did it happen that the
+       labour of the Italian freeman was disused, and at length
+       extinguished, while that of the African and Egyptian slaves
+       continued to furnish grain for Italy down to the very latest
+       period of the empire? We are told that the labour of freemen
+       is cheaper than that of slaves; and the free traders will
+       probably not dispute that proposition. It could not,
+       therefore, have been the slavery of antiquity which ruined
+       Italian agriculture, carried on, in part at least, by
+       freemen; since African agriculture, the fruits entirely of
+       slavery, continued to flourish down to the very last days of
+       the Roman world.</p>
+
+    <p>The severe taxation of the emperors is justly stated by
+    Gibbon and Sismondi, as well as Michelet, as a principal cause
+    of the decline of Italian agriculture: but very little
+    consideration is required to show, that this cause is
+    inadequate to explain this ruin of cultivation in the Italian
+    plains, when it continued to flourish and maintain the chief
+    cities of the empire with food, in Egypt and Lybia. Heavy as it
+    was, and oppressive as it ultimately became, <i>it was
+    equal</i>; it was the same every where; it might, therefore,
+    satisfactorily explain the <i>general</i> decline of rural
+    industry through the empire, and doubtless had a large share in
+    contributing to its downfall; but it cannot explain the
+    <i>particular</i> ruin of it, in the central provinces of this
+    vast dominion, while it continued, down to the very last
+    moment, to flourish in its remote dependencies.</p>
+
+    <p>But the taxation of the empire, <i>when coupled with the
+    free importation of grain</i> from these distant dependencies,
+    does afford a most satisfactory, and, in truth, the true
+    explanation of the ruin of Italian and Grecian cultivation. It
+    was a fixed principle of Roman taxation, that the duties
+    allotted on a particular district should remain fixed, how much
+    lower the inhabitants or industry of the province might
+    decline. When, therefore, by the constant importation of
+    Egyptian and African grain, raised at half the cost at which
+    they could produce it, the Italian cultivators were deprived of
+    a remunerating return, and the taxes exacted from each district
+    underwent no diminution, it is not surprising that the small
+    farmers and proprietors were ruined; that they took refuge in
+    the industry and crowds of cities, and that the race of freemen
+    disappeared from the country. A similar process is now going on
+    in the Turkish provinces. But without undervaluing&mdash;on the
+    contrary, attaching full weight to this
+    circumstance&mdash;nothing can be clearer than that it was the
+    ruinous competition of foreign grain, raised cheaper than they
+    could produce it, which rendered the same taxation crushing on
+    the Italian farmers, which was borne with comparative facility
+    in the remoter provinces, where land was more fertile, and
+    labour less expensive. An example, <i>&agrave; fortiori</i>,
+    applied to the British empire, where the free traders wish us
+    to admit a free importation of grain from Poland and the
+    Ukraine, where not only is labour cheap but taxation trifling,
+    into the British islands, where not only is labour dear but
+    taxation is five times more burdensome.</p>
+
+    <p>And for a decisive proof that it was the superior advantages
+    which Egypt and Lybia enjoyed in the production of grain, and
+    not any other causes, which occasioned the ruin of Italian
+    agriculture, and with it the fall of the Roman empire, we have
+    only to look to the condition of the Italian fields in the last
+    stages of the government of the Caesars. Already, in the time
+    of the elder Pliny, it had become a subject of complaint that
+    the <i>great properties</i> were ruining Italy<a id=
+    "footnotetag16"
+       name="footnotetag16"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote16"><sup>16</sup></a>&mdash;a sure proof, when the
+       great division of estates in the days of the
+       Republic&mdash;when, literally speaking, "every rood had its
+       man"&mdash;that some general and <span class=
+       "pagenum"><a id="page396"
+       name="page396"></a>[pg 396]</span> irresistible cause,
+       affecting the remuneration of their industry, was
+       exterminating the small proprietors. Erelong, cultivators
+       ceased entirely in the country, and the huge estates of the
+       nobles were cultivated exclusively in pasturage, and by
+       means of slaves. "La classe," says Michelet, "<i>des petits
+       cultivateurs peu &agrave; pee a disparu</i>; les grands
+       proprietaires qui leur succed&egrave;rent y
+       supple&egrave;rent par des esclaves."<a id="footnotetag17"
+       name="footnotetag17"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote17"><sup>17</sup></a>It is recorded by Ammianus
+       Marcellinus, that when Rome was taken by the Goths, it
+       contained 1,200,000 inhabitants, and was mainly supported by
+       1780 great families, who cultivated their ample estates in
+       Italy in pasturage, by means of slaves.<a id="footnotetag18"
+       name="footnotetag18"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote18"><sup>18</sup></a> For centuries before, the
+       threat of blockading the Tiber had been found to be the most
+       effectual way of coercing the Roman populace; and whenever
+       it took place, famine ensued, not only in Rome, but the
+       Italian provinces. The diminution of its agricultural
+       produce had, long before, been stated by Columella at
+       <i>nine-tenths</i>, and by Varro at <i>three-fourths</i>, of
+       what at one period had been raised. Yet such was the wealth
+       of the Roman nobles, derived from pasturage, that some of
+       them had L.160,000 a-year.<a id="footnotetag19"
+       name="footnotetag19"></a><a href=
+       "#footnote19"><sup>19</sup></a> Agriculture, therefore, was
+       destroyed; grain was no longer raised in Italy; Rome was
+       wholly dependent on foreign supplies&mdash;but pasturage was
+       undecayed; and colossal fortunes were enjoyed by a wealthy
+       race of great proprietors, who managed their vast estates by
+       means of slaves, and had bought up and absorbed the
+       properties of the whole free cultivators in the country.
+       Such was the effect&mdash;such was the result&mdash;of a
+       free trade in grain in ancient times.</p>
+
+    <p>The free traders seem not insensible to these inevitable
+    results of their favourite principles; but they meet them by
+    describing such consequences as rather advantageous than
+    injurious. If England, say they, can raise iron and cotton
+    goods cheaper than Poland, and Poland and Russia grain cheaper
+    than England, then the interest of each require tht they should
+    follow out these branches of industry, and it is impolitic to
+    strive against it. Let, then, England admit foreign grain on a
+    nominal duty, and this will in the end induce Russia and
+    Prussia to admit English manufactured goods on equally
+    favourable terms; and thus the real interests of both countries
+    will in the end be promoted.</p>
+
+    <p>There are two objections to this system. In the first place,
+    it is impracticable if it were expedient. In the second, it is
+    inexpedient if it were practicable.</p>
+
+    <p>It is impracticable if it were expedient. Theoretical
+    writers may coolly discuss in their closets the total
+    destruction of various important branches of industry, the
+    "absorption" of the persons engaged in them in other pursuits,
+    and the transference of national capital and industry from
+    agriculture to manufactures, and <i>vice vers&agrave;</i>; but
+    it is impossible to effect such changes by the voluntary act of
+    government, even in the most despotic country. We say by the
+    voluntary act of government; because there is no doubt that it
+    may be effected, though at an enormous sacrifice of life,
+    wealth, and happiness, by the silent and unobserved operation
+    of the laws of nature, which are irresistible; as was the case
+    with the transference of industry from agriculture to
+    pasturage, under the effect of free trade in grain in the
+    countries bordering on the Mediterranean, in the later stages
+    of the Roman empire; or from manufactures to agriculture, from
+    the consequences of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in
+    the Italian republics in modern times. But no government, not
+    even that of the Czar Peter or Sultaun Mahmoud, could succeed
+    in destroying or nipping in the bud brances of national
+    industry, by simple acts of the legislature or sovereign
+    authority, not imposed by external and irresistible authority.
+    The Emperor Paul tried it, and got a sash twisted about his
+    neck, according to the established fashion of that country, for
+    his pains. The Whigs tried it, and were turned out of office in
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page397"
+       name="page397"></a>[pg 397]</span> consequence. All the
+       governments of Europe, despotic, constitutional, and
+       democratic, meet our concessions, in favour of free trade,
+       by increased protection to their manufacturers. They dare
+       not destroy their rising commercial wealth any more than we
+       dare destroy our old colossal agricultural investments. The
+       republicans of America even exceed them in the race of
+       tariffs and protection. Sixty-two per cent has lately been
+       laid on our British iron goods in return for Sir Robert
+       Peel's tariff; a similar duty on iron and cotton goods, it
+       is well known, is contemplated in the Prussian leagues in
+       Germany. The British government has at length, through its
+       prime minister, spoken out firmly in support of the existing
+       corn-laws. The feeling of the agricultural counties, as
+       evinced at the late meetings, left them no alternative. All
+       nations, under all varieties of government, situation, race,
+       and political circumstances, concur in rising up to resist
+       the doctrines of free trade. Necessity has enlightened,
+       experience has taught them: a very clear motive urges them
+       on, which is not likely to decline in strength with the
+       progress of time&mdash;it is the instinct of
+       self-preservation.</p>
+
+    <p>Such a system as the free traders advocate, if practicable,
+    would be to the last degree inexpedient.</p>
+
+    <p>What would be the result? Why, that one country would become
+    wholly, or in great part, agricultural, and the other wholly,
+    or in great part, manufacturing. Is this a result desirable to
+    either? Admitting that a city or small state, which has no
+    territory which can furnish any considerable proportion of the
+    subsistence which it requires, like Holland, may do well to
+    attend exclusively to manufactures and commerce; or a country
+    which, by the rigour of nature, or the remoteness of its
+    situation, cannot attain to commercial or manufacturing
+    greatness, would do well to attend exclusively to the
+    cultivation or productions of the earth; the question which
+    here occurs&mdash;Is such a system advisable or expedient for a
+    nation which has received from the bounty of nature the means
+    of rising to greatness in <i>both</i>&mdash;such as Great
+    Britain, Russia, or Prussia? The free traders would have
+    England sacrifice its agriculture to its manufactures, and
+    Russia sacrifice its manufactures to its agriculture. Would
+    such a system benefit either? Would England be happier or
+    richer, more stable or more moral, if the already colossal
+    amount of its manufactures were trebled; or Russia, if its
+    rising iron and woolen fabrics were destroyed, and its industry
+    confined exclusively to the slow return of agricultural labour?
+    Is it desirable that the zone of tall chimneys, sickly faces,
+    brick houses, and crowded jails, which at present spans across
+    the whole of England and part of Scotland, should be doubled
+    and trebled in breadth; and the fertile fields of Kent,
+    Norfolk, and East Lothian, be reduced to vast unenclosed
+    pastures, such as overspread Italy in the later stages of the
+    Roman empire? Or is it desirable to Russia and Prussia that
+    they should be for ever chained to the labour of boors, serfs,
+    and shepherds, and all the vivifying and unimportant effects of
+    commercial wealth be denied to their exertions? Nature has
+    designed, experience recommends, a very different system.
+    History tells us in all parts of the world, that it is in the
+    <i>intermixture</i> of commerce and agriculture that the best
+    security is to be found for social happiness and advancement,
+    and the most effectual antidote provided to the evils with
+    which either, when existing alone, is so prone. Mr McCulloch
+    has told us, that the commerce and manufactures of Great
+    Britain have now risen to such a prodigious height, that any
+    further extension of them is undesirable, and that no real
+    patriot would have desired them to have become so extensive as
+    they already are. Is it desirable, in such a state of matters,
+    to go on increasing the same splendid but perilous system, and
+    to do so at the expense of the great pillar of national wealth,
+    security, and independence&mdash;the land of the state?</p>
+
+    <p>Further, the proposed system is pernicious even with
+    reference to the national wealth and interests of the
+    manufacturers themselves, as tending to undermine the main
+    branches of our national resources, and substitute
+          <span class="pagenum"><a id="page398"
+       name="page398"></a>[pg 398]</span> encouragement to an
+       inferior, to upholding of the superior market for our
+       manufacturing industry.</p>
+
+    <p>Although in the meetings where they address the agricultural
+    constituencies, the free traders hold out that their measures
+    would benefit the manufacturers, and <i>not injure the
+    agriculturists</i>; yet nothing can be clearer than that this
+    is a mere shallow pretext, put forth to conceal their real
+    objects and the effect of their measures, and that the result
+    they <i>really</i> anticipate is as different from that as the
+    poles are asunder. What is the benefit they hold out to the
+    community as an inducement to go into their measures? Cheap
+    grain. What is the motive which stimulates all their efforts,
+    and which, among themselves and in private conversation with
+    all men of sense, they at once admit is their ruling object?
+    <i>Reduced wages</i>; the hope of extending our export in
+    foreign countries by taking an additional quantity of their
+    rude produce; and diminishing the cost of production to our
+    manufacturers by lowering the price of food, and with it the
+    wages of labour. The whole strength of their case rests in
+    these propositions. Their influence over the urban multitudes
+    arises solely from the continual reiteration of these alluring
+    hopes. If these effects are not to follow free trade and the
+    efforts of the League, in the name of Heaven, what good are
+    they to do, and why do they agitate the country and subscribe
+    to the League fund? Sensible men do not throw away
+    &pound;100,000 for nothing, for no benefit to themselves or
+    others. But these prospects are as fallacious as they are
+    alluring, and so a very few observations will demonstrate.</p>
+
+    <p>Considered in a <i>national</i> point of view, if the matter
+    is brought to this issue, the great question is&mdash;Whether
+    agriculture or manufactures are the superior interests in the
+    production of national wealth. Admitting that the true policy
+    for government is to protect <i>all</i> the branches of
+    national industry, and stoutly contending, as we do, and ever
+    shall do, that the real and ultimate interests of all is the
+    same, and cannot be separated&mdash;the question comes to be,
+    if one fiercely demands the sacrifice of the other, and insists
+    that its interests are so weighty and momentous that all others
+    must be sacrificed to them, which of the two thus placed in
+    jeopardy is the most momentous? which brings in most to the
+    national treasury? Now, on this point the facts are as adverse
+    to the arguments of the League, as on all other branches of
+    their case.</p>
+
+    <p>Take the sum total of manufactures in Great Britain and
+    Ireland, accompanied with the sum total of agricultural
+    production, in order to discover which of the two is the more
+    valuable interest&mdash;in order that it may be discovered, if
+    matters are brought to that issue that one or other must be
+    abandoned, which is to be sacrificed. The choice of a wise
+    government could not be doubtful, if it were necessary to make
+    the selection. The agricultural productions of the British
+    islands amount to L.300,000,000 a-year, while the sum total of
+    manufactures of every description is only L.180,000,000. Nor
+    can it be said, with any degree of truth, that the agriculture
+    of the country is dependent for its existence on its
+    manufactures, and would decline if they were materially
+    injured; for the example of modern Italy and Flanders proves,
+    that three centuries <i>after</i> a country has ceased to be
+    the chief in manufacturing or commercial industry, it may
+    advance with undiminished vigour and success in the production
+    of agricultural riches.</p>
+
+    <p>But this is not all. The statistical documents which have
+    now been prepared with so much care by Parliament, and
+    published by the accurate and indefatigable Mr Porter, himself
+    a decided free trader, demonstrate that, of the manufacturing
+    productions, nearly three-fourths are taken off by the home
+    market, and <i>four-fifths</i> by the home and colonial market
+    taken together, leaving only ONE-FIFTH for <i>the whole foreign
+    markets of the world put together</i>&mdash;</p>
+
+    <blockquote>
+        <p>"The total amount of British manufactures annually
+        produced is about &pound;180,000,000 worth, of which only
+        &pound;47,000,000 is taken off by the whole external trade
+        of the world put together, while no less than
+        &pound;133,000, 000 is consumed in the home market; and of
+        the foreign consumption, fully a third is absorbed by the
+        British Colonies, in different parts of the world. So that
+        the home and colonial trade is to the <span class=
+        "pagenum"><a id="page399"
+           name="page399"></a>[pg 399]</span> whole foreign put
+           together as 5 to 1. And, whle the total produce of
+           manufactures is &pound;180,000,000 annually, and of
+           mines and minerals &pound;13,776,000, the amount of
+           agricultural produce annually extracted from the soil is
+           not less than &pound;300,000,000; or a half more than
+           the whole manufactures and mines put together."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <p>Further, if we compare the proportion purchased of our
+    manufactures, which is taken off by foreign nations, for the
+    export to whom we are required to make the sacrifice of our
+    domestic agriculture, with what is consumed by our own native
+    population, whether in the British islands or in our colonies
+    of British descent, the difference is prodigious, and such as
+    might well, even for their own sake, make the Anti-corn-law
+    League pause in their career of violence. From the tables
+    compiled from Porter's <i>Parliamentary Tables</i>, and the
+    population of the different states to whom we export, taken
+    from Malte Brun and Balbi, it appears, that while the British
+    population, whether at home or abroad, consume from &pound;3 to
+    &pound;5 a-head worth of our manufactures, the foreign nations
+    to whom we are willing to sacrifice the British agriculturists,
+    take off per head ONLY AS MANY PENCE. In preferring the one to
+    the other, therefore, we are, literally speaking, penny wise
+    and pound foolish.</p>
+
+    <p>We have shown how agriculture was ruined in the Roman empire
+    in Italy, by the free importation of grain from the Lybian and
+    Egyptian provinces of the empire. As a contrast to that woful
+    progress, the main cause of the destruction of the empire of
+    the Caesars, we request the attention of our readers to the
+    progress of British exports in official value, which indicates
+    their amount from 1790 to 1840, premising that the <i>whole</i>
+    of that period was one of protection to the British
+    agriculturist; during the first twenty years of the period, by
+    the effects of the war&mdash;during the last twenty-five, by
+    the operation of the corn law and sliding scale, introduced in
+    1814. We recommend the advocates of free trade to search the
+    annals of the world for a similar instance of progress and
+    prosperity flowing from, or co-existent with, the practical
+    adoption of their principles.</p>
+
+    <p>These facts, which, in truth, are altogether decisive of the
+    present question, point to the great source from which the
+    errors of the free trade party are derived, and which appears,
+    in an especial manner, their favourite position, that cheap
+    prices is an unmitigated blessing, and that the great thing to
+    attend to is to increase our imports. Cheap prices of grain are
+    like the Amreeta cap in Kehama; the greatest of all blessings
+    is the greatest of all curses, <i>according as they arise from
+    magnitude of domestic production, or magnitude of foreign
+    importation</i>. Of the first we had an example during the five
+    fine years in succession, from 1830 to 1835, during which the
+    foreign importation was practically abolished by the abundant
+    harvests, and consequent high duty on grain under the sliding
+    scale. This was a period, as all the world knows, of universal
+    and unexampled commercial prosperity. Of the second we had a
+    memorable example during the five bad years in succession,
+    which elapsed fiom 1836 to 1840, in the course of which the
+    corn laws, from the effect of the same sliding scale, and the
+    continued low prices, were practically abolished; and
+    importations, at the close of the period, amounted to 2,500,000
+    quarters, and, on an average of the whole, was little short of
+    2,000,000 of quarters. And what was the result? The exportation
+    of 6,000,000 of sovereigns in a single year to buy grain; an
+    unexampled pressure on the money market; commercial
+    embarrassments, long-continued, and severe beyond all former
+    precedent; the contraction of ten millions of additional debt
+    in four years, and the creation of a deficit which at length
+    rose to the formidable amount, in 1842, of L.4,000,000
+    sterling! And what first dispelled this distress, and arrested
+    this downward and disastrous progress? The fine harvests of
+    1842&mdash;the blessed sun of its long summer, followed by the
+    more checkered, but also fine summer of 1843, which again gave
+    us plenty, derived from domestic production, and consequent
+    general and increasing manufacturing as well as rural
+    prosperity.</p>
+
+    <p>It is in vain, therefore, to say, cheap prices are a
+    blessing in themselves, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page400"
+       name="page400"></a>[pg 400]</span> and the consumers at
+       least are ever benefited by a fall in the cost of grain.
+       Cheap prices are a real blessing if that effect consists
+       with prosperity to the producer, as by improved methods of
+       cultivation or manufacture, or the benignity of nature in
+       giving fine seasons. But cheap prices are the greatest of
+       all evils, and to none more shall the consumers, if they are
+       the result, not of the magnitude of domestic production, but
+       of the magnitude of foreign importation. It was that sort of
+       cheap prices which ruined the Roman empire, from the
+       destruction of the agriculture of Italy; it is that sort of
+       cheap prices which has ruined the Indian weavers, from the
+       disastrous competition of the British steam-engine; it is
+       that sort of low prices which has so grievously depressed
+       British shipping, from the disastrous competition of the
+       Baltic vessels under the reciprocity system. It is in vain
+       for the consumers to say, we will separate our case from
+       that of the producers, and care not, so as we get low
+       prices, what comes of them. Where will the consumers be, and
+       that erelong, if the producers are destroyed? What will be
+       the condition of the landlords if their farmers are ruined?
+       or of bondholders if their debtors are bankrupt? or of
+       railway proprietors if traffic ceases? or of owners of bank
+       stock if bills are no longer presented for discount? or of
+       the 3 per cents if Government, by the failure of the
+       productive industry of the country, is rendered bankrupt?
+       The consumers all rest on the producers, and must sink or
+       swim with them.</p>
+    <hr class="full" />
+    <a name="bw341-footnotes"
+          id="bw341-footnotes"></a>
+
+    <h2>FOOTNOTES</h2>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote1"
+           name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag1">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p><i>The Highlands of Ethiopa.</i> by Major W. CORNWALLIS
+        HARRIS, H.E. I.C. Engineers. 3 vols.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote2"
+           name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag2">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>Reunell, p. 682.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote3"
+           name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag3">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>The Turks, finding their own troops not well adapted to
+        the irregular and desperate kind of warfare waged by the
+        Uzcoques, and also unable to compete with them in the
+        rapidity of their movements, formed a corps expressly for
+        the pursuit of the freebooters, which was composed of men
+        as wild and desperate as themselves. With these
+        <i>Martellossi</i>, as they were called, the Uzcoques had
+        frequent and sanguinary conflicts. Minucci says of the
+        Martellossi, in his <i>Historia degli Uscochi</i>, that
+        they were "Scelerati barbari anco 'ordine de' medesime
+        Scochi."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote4"
+           name="footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag4">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>In Minucci's History of the Uzcoques, continued by Paola
+        Sarpi, we find the following:&mdash;"Segna, through its
+        position on a cragged rock, was unapproachable by carts or
+        horses, and consequently by artillery. The harbour
+        appertaining to it, however, was tolerably good, but
+        exceedingly difficult of access on account of the north
+        wind, (vento di Buora,) which blew almost incessantly in
+        the channel leading to it. According to popular belief, the
+        Segnarese had the power of causing this wind to blow at
+        will, by merely kindling a fire in a certain hollow of the
+        cliffs. The mysterious operation of this fire was to heat
+        the veins of the earth, which then, through pain or fury,
+        sent out the raging hurricanes that rendered those narrow
+        seas in the highest degree dangerous, and indeed
+        untenable."</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote5"
+           name="footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag5">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p><i>Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India</i>,
+        from Bareilly, in Rohilcund, to Hurdwar and Nahun, in the
+        Himalaya Mountains; with a Tour in Bundelcund, a Sporting
+        Excursion in the Kingdom of Oude, and a Voyage down the
+        Ganges. By C.J.C. DAVIDSON, Esq., late Lieut.-Col. of
+        Engineers, Bengal.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote6"
+           name="footnote6"></a> <b>Footnote 6</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag6">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>The year is not specified; but as the Ramazan is
+        subsequently said to have ended March 25, it must have been
+        in the year of the Hejra 1245, ansering to A.D. 1830.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote7"
+           name="footnote7"></a> <b>Footnote 7</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag7">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>Rambles in the South of Ireland; ii. 143.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote8"
+           name="footnote8"></a> <b>Footnote 8</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag8">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>In the original "bulkh," which we have ventured to amend
+        as above. The Oriental words and phrases are, in several
+        instances, very incorrectly printed; but whether the fault
+        rests with the colonel's "undecipherable" MS., or the
+        correctors of the press, it is not for us to decide.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote9"
+           name="footnote9"></a> <b>Footnote 9</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag9">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>The Indian gipsies are several times mentioned in the
+        journal of Bishop Heber, who says they are called Kunjas in
+        Bengal. Colonel Davidson also mentions a race in Bundelcund
+        called Kunjurs who were in the habit, as he was informed by
+        the Bramins, of "catching lizards, scorpions, snakes, and
+        foxes," which, if it is meant that they use them for food,
+        is analogous to the omnivorous propensities of the
+        gipsies.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote10"
+           name="footnote10"></a> <b>Footnote 10</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag10">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>May 1841.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote11"
+           name="footnote11"></a> <b>Footnote 11</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag11">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>At Naples, it is customary to carry two handkerchiefs,
+        one of silk, and the other of cambric; the latter being
+        used to wipe the forehead.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote12"
+           name="footnote12"></a> <b>Footnote 12</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag12">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>See No. CCCXL, <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i>, p. 261.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote13"
+           name="footnote13"></a> <b>Footnote 13</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag13">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>"Arantur Gallicana rura <i>barbaris bobus</i>, et juga
+        Germanica captiva praebent colla nostris
+        cultoribus."&mdash;<i>Probi Epist. ad Senatum in
+        Vopesio</i>.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote14"
+           name="footnote14"></a> <b>Footnote 14</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag14">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>"Quingena viginti octo millia quadringinta duo jugera,
+        quae Campania provincia, juxta inspectorum relationem, in
+        desertis et squalidis locis habero dignoscitur, iisdem
+        provincialibus concessum."&mdash;<i>Cod. Theod</i>. lxi. i.
+        2382.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote15"
+           name="footnote15"></a> <b>Footnote 15</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag15">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>GIBBON, chap. i. 68.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote16"
+           name="footnote16"></a> <b>Footnote 16</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag16">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>"Verumque confitentibus <i>latifundia perdidere
+        Italiam</i>."&mdash;PLINY, <i>Hist. Nat</i>.xviii. 7.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote17"
+           name="footnote17"></a> <b>Footnote 17</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag17">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>MICHELET, i. 96.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote18"
+           name="footnote18"></a> <b>Footnote 18</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag18">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, c. xvi.&mdash;See also GIBBON, vi.
+        264.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+
+    <blockquote class="footnote">
+        <p><a id="footnote19"
+           name="footnote19"></a> <b>Footnote 19</b>: (<a href=
+           "#footnotetag19">return</a>)</p>
+
+        <p>GIBBON, vi. 262.</p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <hr class="full" />
+
+    <h4><i>Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's
+    Work.</i></h4>
+    <hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+341, March, 1844, Vol. 55, by Various
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 341,
+March, 1844, Vol. 55, 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. 341, March, 1844, Vol. 55
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: January 24, 2005 [EBook #14778]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jon Ingram, Internet Library of Early Journals, Allen
+Siddle and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.
+
+NO. CCCXLI. MARCH, 1844. VOL. LV.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+    ETHIOPIA,
+    A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES. BY LORGNON,
+    THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. PART I.,
+    COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA,
+    BELFRONT CASTLE. A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW,
+    DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE,
+    MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN. PART IX.,
+    THE OLYMPIC JUPITER,
+    A ROMAN IDYL,
+    GOETHE,
+    HYMN OF A HERMIT,
+    THE LUCKLESS LOVER,
+    FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION--THE CORN LAWS,
+
+            *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ETHIOPIA[1]
+
+    [1] _The Highlands of Ethiopa._ by Major W. CORNWALLIS HARRIS, H.E.
+    I.C. Engineers. 3 vols.
+
+
+From the various circumstances of our day, the impression is powerfully
+made upon intelligent men in Europe, that some extraordinary change is
+about to take place in the general condition of mankind. A new ardour of
+human intercourse seems to be spreading through all nations. Europe has
+laid aside her perpetual wars, and seems to be assuming a _habit_ of peace.
+Even France, hitherto the most belligerent of European nations, is
+evidently abandoning the passion for conqest, and begining to exert her
+fine powers in the cultivation of commerce. All the nations of Europe are
+either following her example, or sending out colonies of greater or less
+magnitude, to fill the wild portions of the world. Regions hitherto
+utterly neglected, and even scarcely known, are becoming objects of
+enlightened regard; and mankind, in every quarter, is approaching, with
+greater or less speed, to that combined interest and mutual intercourse,
+which are the first steps to the true possession of the globe.
+
+But, we say it with the gratification of Englishmen, proud of their
+country's fame, and still prouder of its principles--that the lead in this
+noblest of all human victories, has been clearly taken by England. It is
+she who pre-eminently stimulates the voyage, and plants the colony, and
+establishes the commerce, and civilizes the people. And all this has been
+done in a manner so little due to popular caprice or national ambition, to
+the mere will of a sovereign, or the popular thirst of possession, that it
+invests the whole process with a sense of unequaled security. Resembling
+the work of nature in the simplicity of its growth, it will probably also
+resemble the work of nature in the permanence of its existence. It is not
+an exotic, fixed in an unsuitable soil by capricions planting; but a seed
+self-sown, nurtured by the common air and dews, assimilated to the climate,
+and strikig its roots deep in the ground which it has thus, by its own
+instincts, chosen. The necessities of British commerce, the urgency of
+English protection, and the overflow of British population, have been the
+great acting causes of our national efforts; and as those are causes which
+regulate themselves, their results are as regular and unshaken, as they
+are natural and extensive. But England has also had a higher motive. She
+has unquestionably mingled a spirit of benevolence largely with her
+general exertions. She has laboured to communicate freedom, law, a feeling
+of property, and a consciousness of the moral debt due by man to the Great
+Disposer of all, wherever she has had the power in her hands. No people
+have ever been the worse for her, and all have been the better, in
+proportion to their following her example. Wherever she goes, oppression
+decays, the safety of person and property begins to be felt, the sword is
+sheathed, the pen and the ploughshare commence alike to reclaim the mental
+and the physical soil, and civilization comes, like the dawn, however
+slowly advancing, to prepare the heart of the barbarian for the burst of
+light, in the rising of Christianity upon his eyes.
+
+The formation of a new route between India and Europe by the Red Sea--a
+route, though well known to the ancient world, yet wholly incapable of
+adoption by any but an Arab horseman, from the perpetual tumults of the
+country--compelled England to look for a resting-place and depot for her
+steam-ships at the mouth of the Red Sea. Aden, a desolated port, was the
+spot fixed on; and the steam-vessels touching there were enabled to
+prepare themselves for the continuance of their voyage. We shall
+subsequently see how strikingly British protection has changed the
+desolateness of this corner of the Arab wilderness, how extensively it has
+become a place of commerce, and how effectually it will yet furnish the
+means of increasing our knowledge of the interior of the great Arabian
+peninsula.
+
+It is remarkable that Africa, one of the largest and most fertile portions
+of the globe, remains one of the least known. Furnishing materials of
+commerce which have been objects of universal desire since the
+deluge--gold, gems, ivory, fragrant gums, and spices--it has still
+remained almost untraversed by the European foot, except along its coast.
+It has been circumnavigated by the ships of every European nation, its
+slave-trade has divided its profits and its pollutions among the chief
+nations of the eastern and western worlds; and yet, to this hour, there
+are regions of Africa, probably amounting to half its bulk, and possessing
+kingdoms of the size of France and Spain, of which Europe has no more
+heard than of the kingdoms of the planet Jupiter. The extent of Africa is
+enormous:--5000 miles in length, 4600 in breadth, it forms nearly a
+square of 13,430,000 square miles! the chief part solid ground; for we
+know of no Mediterranean to break its continuity--no mighty reservoir for
+the waters of its hills--and scarcely more than the Niger and the Nile for
+the means of penetrating any large portion of this huge continent.
+
+The population naturally divides itself into two portions, connected with
+the character of its surface--the countries to the north and the south of
+the mountains of Kong and the Jebel-al-Komr. To the north of this line of
+demarcation, are the kingdoms of the foreign conquerors, who have driven
+the original natives to the mountains, or have subjected them as slaves.
+This is the Mahometan land. To the south of this line dwells the Negro, in
+a region a large portion of which is too fiery for European life. This is
+Central Africa; distinguished from all the earth by the unspeakable
+mixture of squalidness and magnificence, simplicity of life yet fury of
+passion, savage ignorance of its religious notions yet fearful worship of
+evil powers, its homage to magic, and desperate belief in spells,
+incantations and the _fetish_. The configuration of the country, so far as
+it can be conjectured, assists this primeval barbarism. Divided by natural
+barriers of hill, chasm, or river, into isolated states, they act under a
+general impulse of hostility and disunion. If they make peace, it is only
+for purposes of plunder; and, if they plunder, it is only to make slaves.
+The very fertility of the soil, at once rendering them indolent and
+luxurious, excites their passions, and the land is a scene alike of
+profligacy and profusion. To the south of this vast region lies a
+third--the land of the Caffre, occupying the eastern coast, and, with the
+Betjouana and the Hottentot, forming the population of the most promising
+portion of the continent. But here another and more enterprising race have
+fixed themselves; and the great English colony of the Cape, with its
+dependent settlements, has begun the first real conquest of African
+barbarism. Whether Aden may not act on the opposite coasts of the Red Sea,
+and Abyssinia become once more a Christian land; or whether even some
+impulse may not divinely come from Africa itself, are questions belonging
+to the future. But there can scarcely be a doubt, that the existence of a
+great English viceroyalty in the most prominent position of South Africa,
+the advantages of its government, the intelligence of its people, their
+advancement in the arts essential to comfort, and the interest of their
+protection, their industry, and their example, must, year by year, operate
+in awaking even the negro to a feeling of his own powers, of the enjoyment
+of his natural faculties, and of that rivalry which stimulates the skill
+of man to reach perfection.
+
+The name of Africa, which, in the Punic tongue, signifies "ears of corn,"
+was originally applied only to the northern portion, lying between the
+Great Desert and the shore, and now held by the pashalics of Tunis and
+Tripoli. They were then the granary of Rome. The name Lybia was derived
+from the Hebrew _Leb_, (heat,) and was sometimes partially extended to the
+continent, but was geographically limited to the provinces between the
+Great Syrtis and Egypt. The name Ethiopia is evidently Greek, (burning, or
+black, visage.)
+
+There is strong reason to believe that the Portuguese boast of the
+sixteenth century--the circumnavigation of Africa--was anticipated by the
+Phoenician sailors two thousand years and more. We have the testimony of
+Herodotus, that Necho, king of Egypt, having failed in an attempt to
+connect the Nile with the Red Sea by a canal, determine to try whether
+another route might not be within his reach, and sent Phoenician vessels
+from the Red Sea, with orders to sail round Africa, and return by the
+Mediterranean. It is not improbable that, from being unacquainted with the
+depth to which it penetrates the south, he had expected the voyage to be a
+brief one. It seems evident that the navigators themselves did not
+conceive that it could extend beyond the equator, from their surprise at
+seeing the sun rise on their _right hand_. The narrative tells us--"The
+Phoenicians, taking their course from the Red Sea, entered into the
+Southern Ocean on the approach of autumn; they landed in Lybia, planted
+corn, and remained till the harvest. They then sailed again. After having
+thus spent two years, they passed the Columns of Hercules in the third,
+and returned to Egypt." Herodotus doubted their story--"Their relation,"
+says the honest old Greek, "may obtain belief from others, but to me it
+seems incredible; for they affirmed, that, having sailed round Africa,
+they _had the sun on their right hand_. Thus was Africa for the first time
+known."
+
+Thus the very circumstance which the old historian regarded as throwing
+doubt on the discovery, is now one of the strongest corroborations of its
+truth.[2] There appear to have been several attempts to sail along the
+west coast, by ancient expeditions; but to the Portuguese is due the
+modern honour of having first sailed round the Cape. From 1412, the
+Portuguese, under a race of adventurous princes, had extended their
+discoveries; but it occupied them sixty years to reach the Line, and
+nearly thirty years more to reach the Cape, which they first called Cabo
+Tormentoso, (Stormy Cape.) But the king gave it the more lucky, though the
+less poetical, title which it now bears.
+
+    [2] Reunell, p. 682.
+
+The triumph of Columbus, in his discovery of the New World in 1493, raised
+the emulation of the Portuguese, then regarded as the first navigators in
+the world; yet it was not until four years after, that their expedition
+was sent, to equalize the stupendous accession to the Spanish domains, by
+the possession of the East. In July 1497, Gama sailed, reached Calicut May
+2, 1498, and returned to Portugal, covered with well-earned renown, after
+a voyage of upwards of two years.
+
+Having given this brief outline of the divisions and character of the
+mighty continent, which seemed important to the better understanding of
+the immediate subject, we revert to the intelligent and animated volumes
+of Captain (now Major) Harris.
+
+A letter from the Bombay government, 29th April 1841, gave him this
+distinguished credential:--
+
+"SIR--I am directed to inform you that the Honourable the Governor in
+Council, having formed a very high estimate of your talents and
+acquirements, and of the spirit of enterprise and decision, united with
+prudence and discretion, exhibited in your recently published travels
+through the territories of the Maselakatze to the Tropic of Capricorn, has
+been pleased to select you to conduct the mission which the British
+Government has resolved to send to Sahela Selasse, the king of Shoa, in
+Southern Abyssinia, whose capital, Ankober, is supposed to be about four
+hundred miles inland from the port of Tajura, on the African coast."
+
+[Then followed the mention of the vessels appointed to carry the mission.]
+
+    (Signed) "J.P. WILLOUGHBY,"
+
+    "Secretary to Government."
+
+The persons comprising the mission were Major W.C. Harris, Bombay
+Engineers, Captain Douglas Graham, Bombay army, principal assistant, with
+others, naturalists, draftsmen, &c., and an escort of two sergeants and
+fifteen rank and file, volunteers from H.M. 6th foot and the Bombay
+Artillery.
+
+On the afternoon of a sultry day in April, Major Harris, with his gallant
+and scientific associates, embarked on board the East India Company's
+steam ship Auckland, in the harbour of Bombay, on their voyage to the
+kingdom of Shoa in Southern Abyssinia, in the year 1841. The steam frigate
+pursued her way prosperously through the waters, and on the ninth day was
+within sight of Cape Aden, after a voyage of 1680 miles. The Cape, named
+by the natives, Jebel Shemshan, rises nearly 1800 feet above the ocean, is
+frequently capped with clouds, a wild and fissured mass of rock, and
+evidently intended by nature for one of those great beacons which announce
+the approach to an inland sea. On rounding the Cape, the British eye was
+delighted with the sight of the Red Sea squadron, riding at anchor within
+the noble bay. The arrival of the frigate also caused a sensation on the
+shore; and Major Harris happily describes the feelings with which a new
+arrival is hailed by the British garrison on that dreary spot, their only
+excitement being the periodical visits of the packets between Suez and
+Bombay. In the dead of the night a blue light shoots up in the offing. It
+is answered by the illumination of the block ship, then the thunder of her
+guns is heard, then, as she nears the shore, the flapping of her paddles
+is heard through the silence, then the spectral lantern appears at the
+mast-head, and then she rushes to her anchorage, leaving in her wake a
+long phosphoric train.
+
+Wherever England drops an anchor a new scene of existence has begun. At
+Aden, the supply of coals for the steam-ships has introduced a new trade;
+gangs of brawny Seedies, negroes from the Zanzibar coast, but fortunately
+enfranchised, make a livelihood by transferring the coal from the depots
+on shore to the steamers. Though the most unmusical race in the world,
+they can do nothing without music, but it is music of their own--a
+tambourine beaten with the thigh-bone of a calf; but their giant frames go
+through prodigious labour, carry immense sacks, and drink prodigious
+draughts to wash the coal-dust down. Such is the furious excitement with
+which they rush into this repulsive operation, that Major Harris thinks
+that for every hundred tons of coal thus embarked, at least one life is
+sacrificed; those strong savages, at once inflamed by drink, and overcome
+with toil, throwing themselves down on the dust or the sand, to rise no
+more. This shows the advantage of English philosophy: our coal-heavers in
+the Thames toil as much, are nearly as naked, nearly as black, and
+probably drink more; but we never hear of their dying in a fit of rapture
+in the embrace of a coal-sack. When the day is done, drunk or sober,
+washed or unwashed, they go home to their wives, sleep untroubled by the
+cares of kings, and return to fresh dust, drink, and dirt, next morning.
+
+The coast of Arabia has no claims to the picturesque: all its charms, like
+those of the oyster, lie within the roughest of possible shells. Its first
+aspect resembles heaps of the cinders of a glass-house--a building whose
+heat seems to be fully realized by the temperature of this fearful place.
+England has a resident there, Captain Haynes, named as political agent.
+That any human being, who could exist in any other place, would remain in
+Aden, is one of the wonders of human nature. An officer, of course, must
+go wherever he is sent; but such is the innate love for a post, that if
+this gallant and intelligent person were roasted to death, as might happen
+in one of the coolest days of the Ethiopian summer, there would be a
+thousand applications before a month was over, to the Foreign Office, for
+the honour of being carbonaded on the rocks of Aden.
+
+The promontory has all the marks of volcanic eruption, and is actually
+recorded, by an Arab historian of the tenth century, to have been thrown
+up about that period. "Its sound, like the rumbling of thunder, might then
+be heard many miles, and from its entrails vomited forth redhot stones,
+with a flood of liquid fire." The crater of the extinguished volcano is
+still visible, though shattered and powdered down by the tread under which
+Alps and Appennines themselves crumble away--that of Time. The only point
+on which we are sceptical is the late origin of the promontory. Nothing
+beyond a sandhill or a heap of ashes has been produced on the face of
+nature since the memory of man. That a rock, or rather a mountain chain,
+with a peak 1800 feet high, should have been produced at any time time
+within the last four thousand years, altogether tasks our credulity. The
+powers of nature are now otherwise employed than in rough-hewing the
+surface of the globe. She has been long since, like the sculptor, employed
+in polishing and finishing--the features were hewn out long ago. Her
+master-hand has ever since been employed in smoothing them.
+
+Aden's reputation for barrenness is an old one--"Aden," says Ben Batuta of
+Tangiers, "is situate upon the sea-shore; a large city without either seed,
+water, or tree." This was written five hundred years ago; yet the ruins of
+fortifications and watch-towers along the rocks, show that even this human
+oven was the object of cupidity in earlier times; and the British guns,
+bristling among the precipices, show that the desire is undecayed even in
+our philosophic age.
+
+Yet the Arab imagination has created its wonders even in this repulsive
+scene; and the generation of monkeys which tenant the higher portion of
+the rocks, are declared by Arab tradition to be the remnant of the once
+powerful tribe of Ad, changed into apes by the displeasure of Heaven, when
+"the King of the World," Sheddad, renowned in eastern story,
+presumptuously dared to form a garden which should rival Paradise. The
+prophet Hud remonstrated; but his remonstrances went for nothing, and the
+indignant monarch and his courtiers suddenly found their visages simious,
+their tongues chattering, and their lower portions furnished with tails--a
+species of transformation, which, so far as regards visage and tongue, is
+supposed to be not unfrequent among courtiers to this day. But this showy
+tradition goes further still. The Bostan al Irem (Garden of Paradise) is
+believed still to exist in the deserts of Aden; though geographers differ
+on its position. It still retains its domes and bowers--both of
+indescribable beauty; its crystal fountains, and its walks strewed with
+pearls for sand. It is true, that no living man can absolutely aver that
+he has seen this place of wonders; but that is a mere result of our very
+wicked age. This has not been always the case; for Abdallah Ibn Aboo
+Kelaba passed a night in its palace in the reign of Moowiych, the prince
+of the Faithful. Lucky the man who shall next find it, but unlucky the
+world when he does; for then the day of the general conflagration will be
+at hand. In the mean time, it remains, like the top of Mount Meru, covered
+with clouds, or, like the inside of a Chinese puzzle, a work of unrivaled
+art, conceivable but intangible by man.
+
+In this pleasant mingling of fact, visible to his shrewd eye, and fiction
+drawn from ancient fancy, Major Harris leads us on. But Aden is not yet
+exhausted of wonders--an island in its bay, Seerah, (the fortified black
+isle,) is pronounced to have been the refuge of Cain on the murder of Abel;
+and its volcanic and barren chaos is no unequal competitor for the honour
+with the rocks of the Caucasus.
+
+But England, which changes every thing, is changing all this. Within the
+next generation, the railway will run down the romances of Nutrib; a
+cotton manufactory will send up its smokes to blot out the celestial blue
+by day, and shoot forth its sullen illumination by night, over the
+anointed soil; the minstrel will turn policeman, and the sheik be a
+justice of peace; political economy will have its itinerant lecturers,
+enlightening the Bedouins on the principles of rent and taxes; the city
+will have a lord mayor and corporation of the deepest black; the volcano
+will be planted with villas; turnpikes will measure out the sands; a hotel
+will flourish on the summit of Jebel Shemshan; and Aden will differ from
+Liverpool in nothing but being two thousand miles further from the smoke
+and multitudes of London.
+
+The Arab is still the prominent person among the native population of this
+territory. Major Harris describes him well. The bronzed and sunburnt
+visage, surrounded by long matted locks of raven hair; the slender but
+wiry and active frame, and the energetic gait and manner, proclaimed the
+untamable descendant of Ishmael. He nimbly mounts the crupper of his now
+unladen dromedary, and at a trot moves down the bazar. A checked kerchief
+round his brows, and a kilt of dark blue calico round his frame, comprise
+his slender costume. His arms have been deposited outside the Turkish wall;
+and as he looks back, his meagre, ferocious aspect, flanked by that
+tangled web of hair, stamps him the roving tenant of the desert. It is
+curious to find in this remote country a custom similar to that of the
+fiery cross, which in old times summoned the Celtic tribes to arms. On the
+alarm of invasion, a branch, torn by the priest from the _nebek_, (a tree
+bearing a fruit like the Siberian crab,) is lighted in the fire, the flame
+is then quenched in the blood of a newly slaughtered ram. It is then sent
+forth with a messenger to the nearest clan. Thus, great numbers are
+assembled with remarkable promptitude. In the invasion under Ibrahim Pasha,
+sixteen thousand of these wild warriors were assembled from one tribe.
+They crept into the Egyptian camp by night, and, using only their daggers,
+made such formidable slaughter, that the Pasha was glad to escape by a
+precipitate retreat.
+
+The Jews form an important part of the population, as artizans and
+manufacturers. Feeling the natural veneration for the Chosen People in all
+their misfortunes, and convinced that the time will come when those
+misfortunes will be obliterated, it is highly gratifying to find, that
+even in this place of their ancient sufferings, they are beginning to feel
+the benefit of British protection. Hitherto, through their indefatigable
+industry, having acquired opulence in Arabia as elsewhere, they were
+afraid either to display or to enjoy it; but now, under the protection of
+the British flag, they not merely enjoy their wealth, but they publicly
+practise the rights of their religion. Stone slabs with Hebrew
+inscriptions mark the place of their dead. They have schools for the
+education of their children; and their men and women, arrayed in their
+holiday apparel, sit fearlessly in the synagogue, and listen to the
+reading of the law and the prophets, as of old. It is a great source of
+gratification to the philanthropist to find, that wherever England extends
+her power, industry, commerce, and peace are the natural result. Aden,
+barren as the soil is, is evidently approaching to a prosperity which it
+never possessed even in its most flourishing days. Emigrants from Yemen
+and from both shores of the Red Sea, are daily crowding within the walls,
+through the security which they offer against native oppression. In the
+short space of three years, the population has risen to twenty thousand
+souls. Substantial dwellings are rising up in every quarter, and at all
+the adjacent ports hundreds of native merchants are only waiting the
+erection of permanent fortifications, in token of our intending to remain,
+to flock under the guns with their families and wealth. The opinion of
+this intelligent writer is, that Aden, as a free port, whilst she pours
+wealth into a now impoverished land, must erelong become the queen of the
+adjacent seas, and rank amongst the most useful dependencies of the
+British crown.
+
+The mission having remained some time at Aden, to purchase horses and
+stores, sailed on the 15th May; and, on losing sight of Aden, the members
+of the mission characteristically took the "Pilgrims' vow" not to shave
+until their return. On the 17th they opened the town of Tajura, on the
+verge of a broad expanse of blue water, over which a gossamerlike fleet of
+fishing catamarans already plied their craft. Their pilot, an old Arab,
+was a man of fun, and the specimens of his tongue are good. In some
+reference to the anchorage, he said, "Now if we only had two-fathom Ali
+here, you would not have all these difficulties. When they want to lay out
+an anchor, they have nothing to do but to hand it over to Ali, and he
+walks away with it into six or eight feet without any ado. I went once
+upon a time in the dark to grope for a berth on board of his buggalow, and,
+stumbling over some one's toes, enquired to whom they belonged. 'To Ali,'
+was the reply. 'And whose knees are these?' said I, after walking half
+across the deck. 'Ali's.' 'And this head in the scuppers, pray whose is
+it?' 'Ali's; what do you want with it?' 'Ali again!' I exclaimed; 'then I
+must even look for stowage elsewhere.'"
+
+The sight of a shark in the harbour let loose the old jester again. "A
+friend of mine," said he, "pilot of a vessel almost as fast a sailer as my
+own, which is acknowledged to be the best in these seas, was bound to
+Mocha with camels on board. When off the high table-land betwixt the Bay
+of Tajura and the Red Sea, one of the beasts dying, was hove overboard. Up
+came a shark ten times the size of that fellow there, and swallowed the
+camel, leaving only his hinder legs sticking out of his jaws; but before
+he had time to think where he was to find stowage for it, up came another
+tremendous fellow and bolted the shark, camel, legs, and all."
+
+In return for this anecdote, the major gave him the story of the two
+Kilkenny cats in the saw-pit, which fought, until nothing remained of
+either but the tail and a bit of the flue. The old pilot doubted. "How can
+that be?" said he, revolving the business seriously in his mind. "As for
+the story I have told you, it is as true as the Koran."
+
+After a short stay and presentation to the Sultan of Tajura, a slave-port,
+with a miserable old man for its master, the mission once more set forth
+for Shoa; yet even here we glean a specimen of Arab speech. "Trees attain
+not to their growth in a single day," said an Arab, when remonstrating
+with the sultan on his inordinate love of lucre. "Take the tree as your
+text, and learn that property is to be gathered only by slow degrees."
+"True," said the old miser; "but, sheik, you must have lost sight of the
+fact, that my leaves are already withered, and that, if I would be rich, I
+have not a moment to lose."
+
+The packing up for the journey was a new source of trouble; every
+camel-driver found fault with his load. However, at length every article
+was stowed, except a hand-organ and a few stand of arms. At length, a
+great hulking savage offered to take the arms, provided they were cut in
+two to suit the back of his animals. We have then another instance of Arab
+drollery. "You are a tall man," said the old pilot; "suppose we shorten
+you by the legs." "No, no," said the barbarian, "I am flesh and blood, and
+shall be spoiled." "So will the contents of these cases, you offspring of
+an ass," said the old man, "if you divide them."
+
+The progress to the interior from the port of Tajura, led them over
+immense ranges of basaltic cliffs, where the heat of the sun was felt with
+an intensity scarcely conceivable by European feelings. In this land of
+fire, the road skirting the base of a barren range covered with heaps of
+lava blocks, and its foot marked by piles of stones, the memorials of
+deeds of blood, the lofty conical peak of Jebel Seearo rose in sight, and
+not long afterwards the far-famed Lake Assad, surrounded by its dancing
+mirage, was seen sparkling at its base.
+
+The first glimpse of this phenomenon, "though curious, was far from
+pleasing"--"an elliptical basin, seven miles in its transverse axis,
+filled half with smooth water of the deepest cerulean hue, and half with a
+sheet of glittering snow-white salt, girded on three sides by huge
+hot-looking mountains, that dip their basins into its very bowl, and on
+the fourth by crude, half-formed rocks of lava, broken and divided by
+chasms. No sound broke on the ear, not a ripple played on the water. The
+molten surface of the lake lay like burnished steel, the fierce sky was
+without a cloud, and the angry sun, like a ball of metal at a white heat,
+rode in full blaze."
+
+It is scarcely wonderful, that among a people devoted to superstition,
+those terrible passes and sultry hollows should be marked as the haunts of
+the powers of evil. Adyli, a deep mysterious cavern at the extremity of
+one of those melancholy plains, is believed to be the especial abode of
+gins and _afreets_, whose voices are heard in the night, and who carry off
+the traveller to devour him without remorse. A late instance was mentioned
+of a man who was compelled by the weariness of his camel to fall behind
+the caravan, and who left no remnants behind him but his spear and shield.
+Major Harris well describes this spot as one which, from its desolate
+position, might be believed to be the last stage of the habitable world.
+"A close mephitic stench, impeding respiration, arose from the saline
+exhalations of the stagnant lake. A frightful glare from the white salt
+and limestone hillocks threatened extinction to the vision, and a
+sickening heaviness in the loaded atmosphere was enhanced rather than
+alleviated by the fiery breath of the north-westerly wind, which blew
+without interruption during the day. The air was inflamed, the sky
+sparkled, and columns of burning sand, which at quick intervals towered
+high into the atmosphere, became so illumined as to appear like tall
+pillars of fire. Crowds of horses, mules, and camels, tormented to madness
+by the poisonous gad-fly, flocked to share the only bush; and, disputing
+with their heels the slender shelter it afforded, compelled several of the
+party to seek refuge in caves formed below by fallen masses of volcanic
+rock, heated to the temperature of a potter's kiln, and fairly baking up
+the marrow in the bones." The heat in this place, with the thermometer
+under the shade of cloaks and umbrellas, was at 126 deg.. It is only
+surprising how any of the party survived. Certainly if Abyssinia is to be
+approached only by this road, the prospect of an intercourse with it from
+the east, appears among the most improbable things of this world.
+
+One of the advantages of continental travel has been long since said to be,
+its teaching us how many comfortable things we enjoy at home; and it
+appears that no Englishman can comprehend the value of that despised fluid,
+fresh water, until he has left the precincts of his own fortunate land:
+but it is in Africa, and peculiarly on this Abyssinian high-road, that the
+value of a draught of spring water is to be especially estimated. "Since
+leaving the shores of India," says Major Harris, "the party had gradually
+been in training towards a disregard of dirty water. On board a ship of
+any description, the fluid is seldom very clear or very plentiful. At Cape
+Aden, there was little perceptible difference between the sea water and
+the land water. At Tajura, the beverage obtainable was far from being
+improved in quality by the taint of the new skins in which it was
+transferred from the only well; and now, in the very heart of the
+scorching Tehama, where a copious draught of pure water seemed absolutely
+indispensable every five minutes, the mixture was the very acme of
+abomination. Fresh hides stript from the he-goat, besmeared inside as well
+as out with old tallow and strong bark tan, filled from an impure well at
+Sagallo, tossed and tumbled during two days and nights under a distilling
+heat," formed a drink which we should conclude to be little short of
+poison. However, the human throat learns to accommodate itself to every
+thing in time, and the time came when even this abomination was longed for.
+
+But the worst was not yet come. It was midnight when the party commenced
+the steep ascent of the south-eastern boundary of the lake, a ridge of
+volcanic rocks. "The north-east wind had scarcely diminished its parching
+fierceness, and in hot suffocating gusts swept over the glittering expanse
+of water and salt, where the moon shone brightly; each deadly puff
+succeeded by the stillness that foretells a tropical hurricane. The
+prospect around was wild--beetling, basaltic cones, and jagged slabs of
+shattered lava."
+
+The path itself was formidable, winding along the crest of the ridge over
+sheets of broken lava, with scarcely more than sufficient width to admit
+of the progress in single file. "The horrors of this dismal night set all
+description at defiance." The hope of water, though at the distance of
+sixteen miles, excited them for a while; but at length even this
+excitement failed. And "owing to the heat, fasting, and privation, the
+limbs of the weaker refused the task, and after the first two miles they
+dropped fast into the rear. Under the fiery blast of the midnight sirocco
+the cry for water, uttered feebly and with difficulty by numbers of
+parched throats, now became incessant; and the supply for the whole party
+falling short of a gallon and a half, it was not long to be answered. A
+tiny sip of diluted vinegar for a moment assuaged the burning thirst which
+raged in the vitals; but its effects were transient, and, after struggling
+a few steps, they sank again, declaring their days to be numbered, and
+their resolution to rise up no more. Dogs incontinently expired upon the
+road, horses and mules that once lay down were abandoned to their fate;
+while the lion-hearted soldier, who had braved death at the cannon's
+mouth, subdued and unmanned by thirst, lay gasping by the wayside, hailing
+approaching dissolution with delight, as the termination of tortures which
+were no longer to be endured. As another day dawned, and the "round red
+sun" again rose over the lake of salt, the courage even of those who had
+borne up against this fiery trial began to flag: "a dimness came before
+the drowsy eyes, giddiness seized the brain, and the hope held out by the
+guides, of water in advance, seemed like the delusion of a dream."
+
+In this crisis, at which our chief wonder is, that Major Harris and his
+explorers were ever heard of again, or had left any memorials of
+themselves but their bones, a wild Bedouin was seen, "like a delivering
+angel," hurrying forward with a large skin, filled with muddy water. This
+well-timed supply was divided among the fainting people: a quantity was
+poured over the face and down the throat of each; and at a late hour,
+"ghastly, haggard, and exhausted, like men who had escaped from the jaws
+of death, the whole had contrived to straggle into a camp, which, but for
+the foresight and firmness of the son of Ali Abi,(who had sent the water,)
+few individuals would have reached alive."
+
+After traversing this terrible desert of fifty miles--a barrier to all
+general and commercial intercourse, which we should think impassable,
+however it might be overcome by a small party of bold and hardy men, well
+led, furnished with every supply, water excepted, which could sustain them
+through its horrors, (and which yet, through that single want, had nearly
+perished)--they persued a long and dlifficult march through a dreary
+country, scantily peopled, dotted with robber clans, and exhibiting
+impediments of all kinds in the knavery and villany of the native
+authorities; until they reached the borders of Abyssinia. We had by no
+means been aware that volcanoes had made so large a share of this portion
+of Africa. The whole border seems to be volcanic, and to retain in its
+blasted and broken surface, evidence of its having been, in remote ages,
+perhaps in the earliest, the scene of most intense and general volcanic
+action.
+
+In Major Harris's animated description--"singular and interesting indeed
+is the wild scenery in the vicinity of the treacherous oasis of Sultelli.
+A field of extinct volcanic cones, vomited out of the entrails of the
+earth, and each encircled by a black belt of vitrified lava, environs it
+on three sides; and of these Mount Abida, three thousand feet in height,
+whose cup, enveloped in clouds, stretches some two and a half miles in
+_diameter_, would seem to be the parent. Beyond, the still loftier crater
+of Aiulloo, the ancient landmark of the now-decayed empire of Ethiopia, is
+visible in dim perspective; and, looming hazily in the extreme distance,
+is the great blue Abyssinian range."
+
+In any part of Africa a river of tolerable magnitude is an object of the
+most anxious interest; and the approach to the Hawash, the boundary river
+of the kingdom of Shoa, was looked to with eager speculation. At length
+the height was reached from which was obtained "an exhilarating prospect
+over the dark, lone valley of the long looked-for Hawash. The course of
+the river was marked by a dense belt of trees and verdure, stretching
+towards the base of the great mountain range, of which the cloud-capped
+cone, which frowns over the capital of Shoa, forms the most conspicuous
+feature." The mission now began to exalt:--"Though still far distant, the
+ultimate destination of the embassy appeared almost to have been gained,
+and none had an idea of the length of time that must elapse before his
+foot should press the soil of Ankober." A day of intense heat was as usual
+followed by a heavy fall of rain, which, owing to the unaccommodating
+arrangement of striking the tents at sunset, thoroughly drenched the whole
+party.
+
+The new difficulty was, how to cross the Hawash, "second of the rivers of
+Abyssinia, and rising in the very heart of Ethipoia, at an elevation of
+8000 feet above the sea. It is fed by niggardly tributaries from the high
+bulwarks of Shoa and Efat, and flows, like a great artery, through the
+arid plains of the Adaiel, green and wooded throughout its long course,
+and finally absorbed in the lagoons of Aussa. The canopy of fleecy clouds,
+which, as mid-day dawned, hung thick and heavy over the lofty blue peaks
+beyond, gave sad presage of the deluge that was pouring between its
+verdant banks from the higher regions of the source."
+
+The party now descended to enjoy the real luxuries of shade and water, in
+a region where they had hitherto seen nothing but salt and lava. At first
+thinly wooded, they found the soil covered with tall rank grass, from
+which, however, the perpetual incursions of the robber tribes scare the
+flocks and herds. Deeper down, they entered among gum-bearing acacias and
+fruit-trees. "Guinea-fowl rose before them, groves of tamarisk, ringing to
+the voice of the bell-bird, flanked every open glade, and the fractured
+branches of the nobletrees gave proof of the presence of the most
+ponderous of the mammalia."
+
+Forcing their way, with some difficulty, through this jungle, they
+obtained their first near view of the river, a "deep volume of turbid
+water," covered with drift wood, and rolling, at the rate of three miles
+an hour, between clayey walls twenty-five feet in height. The breadth fell
+short of sixty yards, but the flood was not yet at its maximum. Willows,
+drooping over the stream, were festooned with recent drift, hanging many
+feet above the level of the banks; and it was evident that the waters had
+lately been out, to the overflowing of the country for many miles. The
+river, now upwards of 2200 feet above the level of the ocean forms, in
+this quarter, the nominal boundary of the kingdom of Shoa.
+
+They were now on "the spot which exhibited the forest life of Africa." In
+a lake adjoining the river, the hippopotamus "rolled his unwieldy carcass
+to the surface, and floating crocodiles, protruding his snout to blow a
+snort that might be heard at the distance of a mile." An unfortunate
+donkey, which had been partly drowned and partly strangled, was thrown out
+of the camp. No sooner had night fallen, than this prey roused the
+appetites of the whole forest, the howl and growl of wild beasts was heard
+at their banquet on the donkey throughout the night. Lightening played
+over the woods; the "violent snapping of the branches proclaimed the
+nocturnal movements of the elephant and hippopotamus;" the loud roar and
+startling snort were constantly heard; and by morning every vestige of the
+dead animal, even to the skull, had disappeared.
+
+Africa, in all its provinces, is the scene of the boldest field sports in
+the world--India and its tigers, perhaps, excepted. But Africa excels even
+India in the variety and multitude of its mighty savages--lions, elephants,
+panthers, and hippopotami; the sands, the forests, the jungles, the rivers,
+the marshes, every thing and place abounds with brute life, on the largest,
+the boldest, and the fiercest scale. Africa, with the human race on the
+lowest grade, has the brute on the highest, and its true name is the great
+kingdom of savage nature.
+
+A two-ounce ball had been lodged in the forehead of hippopotamus on the
+evening of reaching the Hawash; but the animal having dived, the natives,
+in some jealousy of the skill of the British rifle, declared that it had
+not been mortally struck. The next dawn, however, decided the question,
+for the "freckled pink sides of a dead hippopotamus were to be seen high
+above the surface, as the distended carcass floated like a monstrous buoy
+at anchor." Hawsers were carried out with all diligence, and the "colossus"
+was towed ashore amidst the acclamations of the whole caravan. Then came a
+native scene. A tribe of savages, who had waited, squatting, to see the
+arrival of the monster, threw aside their bows and arrows, and, stripping
+its thick hide from the ribs, attacked it with the vigour of an African
+horde. Donkeys and women were laden with incredible despatch, and,
+"staggering under huge flaps of meat," the savages went their way.
+
+The soil now became swampy, yet only the more filled with animal existence.
+LE ADO, (the White Water,) a lake which they skirted, of two miles'
+diameter, was the haunt of countless wild-fowl, geese, mallards, teal,
+herons, flamingoes. A party of Bedouin women deposed to having seen
+another "party" of elephants taking a bath in the spot half an hour before,
+and the prints of their huge feet in the moist sands corroborated the
+testimony. Hideously withered women followed the march of the mission,
+carrying curds, and covered over with marsh-flies. Above, vast flights of
+locusts, which had stripped the coast, were pouring in towards Abyssinia.
+"They quite darkened the air" where the caravan halted; and above them
+again were a host of adjutant birds, sometimes bursting down through the
+mass, and then stooping to the ground, and stalking along to devour the
+killed and wounded. This is the land, too, of the hurricane. Nature is
+queen or tyrant here; the thunder tears the sensorium; the lightning burns
+out the eyes; the rain is a cataract; the hall is a continued volley of
+ice; the clouds stoop to earth, and bury the daylight like a shroud; the
+rivers become torrents; the dry plain becomes first a swamp, and then a
+sea. Tents and tarpaulins are useless to keep out the deluge from above,
+or are beaten down by its weight on the heads of the unfortunates who
+trust to them for shelter, until at length the caravan, stripped of all
+covering, has no resource but to bide the pelting of the pitiless storm,
+and, shivering and shelterless, wait until the hurricane has howled itself
+away.
+
+At length they reached the city of Furri, loaded, for the thirty-fifth
+time, with the baggage of the British embassy. The caravan, escorted by a
+detachment of three hundred matchlock men, with flutes playing, and
+muskets echoing, and the heads of the warriors decorated with white plumes,
+on the 16th July entered the frontier town of the kingdom of Efat.
+Clusters of conical-roofed houses, covering the sides of twin hills, here
+presented the first permanent habitations that had greeted the eye since
+leaving the sea-coast--rude and ungainly, but right welcome signs of
+transition from depopulated waste to the abodes of man. The African seems
+a robber by nature, and the sight of the bales and boxes excited the
+national propensity in a most violent degree. Even the royal ministers and
+courtiers seem to have felt a passion for looking into those prohibited
+treasures, which evidently tempted their virtue in a most perilous degree.
+Meanwhile a special messenger arrived, bearing reiterated compliments from
+the Negoos, (king,) with a horse and a mule from the royal stud, attired
+in the peculiar trappings which belong to majesty. Those animals awoke all
+the loyal curiosity of the people. At the sight women and girls, enveloped
+in blood-red shifts, who had thronged to stare at the strangers, burst
+into a scream of acclamation. A group of hooded widows thrust their
+fingers into their ears and joined in the clamour. The escort and
+camel-drivers placed no bounds to their hilarity. A fat ox, that had been
+promised, was turned loose among the spectators, pursued by fifty savages
+with their gleaming _creeses_, and hamstrung by a dexterous blow, which
+threw it bellowing to the earth in the height of its mad career, and
+tribes of lean curs commenced an indiscriminate engagement over the
+garbage.
+
+The neighbouring nations look upon the population of this province with
+great contempt. They say that their tongues are long for lying, their arms
+are long for stealing, and their legs are long for running away.
+
+The mission now approached another region, perhaps the finest in Africa.
+Every change in the climate and soil in Africa is in extremes, and
+barreness and unbounded fertility lie side by side.
+
+  "As if by the touch of the magician's wand, the scene now passes, in
+  an instant, from parched wastes to the geen, and lovely islands of
+  Abyssinia, presenting one scene of rich and thriving cultivation. The
+  baggage having at length been consigned to the shoulders of six
+  hundred grumbling Moslem porters--for here the camel, from the
+  steepness of the hills, was useless--and forming a line, which
+  extended upwards of a mile, the embassy, on the morning of the 17th,
+  comnenced the ascent of the Abyssinian Alps; the flutes again played,
+  the wild warriors of the escort again chanted their songs. It was a
+  cool and lovely morning, and an invigorating breeze played over the
+  mountains' side, on which, now less than ten degrees from the equator,
+  flourished the vegetation of northern climes. The rough and stony
+  road wound on, by a steep ascent, over hill and dale, now skirting
+  some precipitous ascent, now dipping into the basin of some verdant
+  hollow, where it suddenly emerged into a succession of shady lanes,
+  bounded by flowering hedgerows."
+
+All this is so like England, and so unlike Africa, that we should suspect
+the major's memory to have been as active at least as his observation. But
+the work contains so much internal evidence of accuracy, independently of
+the confidence attached to the character of the intelligent writer himself,
+that we must believe the heart of Ethiopa to possess secnes that would be
+worthy of the heart of our own fresh and flower-bearing island. The scene
+which follows is quite Arcadian.
+
+  "The wild rose, the fern, the lantana, and the honeysuckle, smiled
+  round a succession of highly cultivated terraces, and on every
+  eminence, stood a cluster of conically thatched houses, environed by
+  green hedges, and partially embowered amid dark trees As the troop
+  passed on, the peasant abandoned his occupation to gaze at the novel
+  procession; while merry groups of hooded women, decked in scarlet and
+  crimson left their avocations in the hut to welcome the king's guests
+  with a shrill _ziroleet_, which ran from every hand. Birds warbled
+  among the groves. At various turns of the road the prospect was
+  rugged, wild, and beautiful. The first Christian village was soon
+  revealed on the summit of a height. Three principal ranges of hills
+  were next crossed in succession. Lastly, the view opened upon the
+  wooded site of Ankober occupying a central position in a horseshoe
+  crescent of mountains, still high above which enclose a magnificent
+  amphitheatre of ten miles in diameter. This is clothed throughout
+  with a splendid vigorous, and varied vegetation."
+
+The embassy now halted, waiting for permission to enter the capital, and
+taking up their quarters in a town three thousand feet above Furri, on the
+frontier. The escort of the troop fired a salute on entering, and, as they
+marched along, performed the war dance. A veteran capered before the ranks
+with a drawn sword between his teeth, and the martial song was chorused by
+three hundred Christian throats. The prospect from this elevated point
+naturally struck the travellers with astonishment and admiration. The site
+of the town is only one of the thousand cones into which the mountain side
+is broken as it approaches the plain. The prospect over the plain was
+boundless, and countless villages met the eye upon the mountain slope.
+Wherever the plough could go, all was cultivated. Wheat, barley, Indian
+corn, beans, peas, cotton, and oil plant, throve luxuriantly round every
+hamlet. The regularly marked fields mounted in terraces to the height of
+three or four thousand feet, becoming, in their boundaries, more and more
+indistinct, until totally lost in the shadowy green side of Mamrat (the
+Mother of Grace.)
+
+This mountain is a wonder, shrouded in clouds whilst all was sunshine
+below. It is clothed with a dense forest, and ascends to an elevation of
+13,000 feet above the sea. Here are collected, for security, the treasures
+of the monarch which have been amassing since the re-establishment of the
+kingdom, one hundred and fifty years since.
+
+After remaining some time in the market-place, the governor of the town
+appeared, and conducted the mission to the house of an old Moslem woman,
+where they were to lodge for the night. The names of the three daughters,
+Major Harris observes, were worthy of the days of Prince Cherry and Fair
+Star. They were Eve, Sweet Limes, and Sunbeam. The ladies vacated the
+house with great good-humour; but it was low, intolerably filthy, and
+without bedding or food. The unfortunate mission had thus to spend a night,
+probably unequaled by their sufferings in the open field. Though so near
+the equator, they felt the cold severely; rain set in with great violence,
+pouring through the roof, and entering into the threshold. A fire was
+indispensable, yet they were nearly suffocated with smoke; they were
+devoured with insects, and in this torment and fever tossed till dawn. At
+the arrival of morning they received the disappointing message, that the
+king could not yet visit his capital, but that they might either seek him
+among the mountains, or wait for him  where they were.
+
+Major Harris imputes this disappointment to the accidental opening of one
+of the boxes of presents. Royal cupidity had been so strongly excited by
+the conjectures of their contents, that the king had evidently been
+anxious, in the first instance, to hasten their delivery as much as
+possible. Gold and jewels were probably uppermost in the royal conceptions;
+but the box happening to contain only the leathern buckets belonging to
+the "galloper guns," the spectators were loud in their derision. "These,"
+they exclaimed, "are but a poor people! What is their nation compared with
+the Amhara? for behold, in this trash, specimens of the offerings brought
+from their boasted land to the footstool of the mightiest of monarchs."
+
+The rainy season was now setting in, and the situation of the embassy
+became more comfortless from day to day. Notes were written, and answers
+received from the monarch, but the royal interview was still postponed,
+partly by the artifice of the knavish governors, who kept a longing eye on
+the presents, and partly by the barbarian etiquette of showing the natives
+the scorn with which their king was entitled to treat all the nations of
+the world.
+
+The residence of the mission in this comfortless place, however, gave a
+opportunity of acquiring considerable knowledge of the habits and commerce
+of the interior. The chief traffic is in slaves, but coffee is exported
+extensively from Hurrna, and large caravans three times in the year visit
+the ports, Zeyla and Barbara, laden with ivory, ostrich feathers, ghee,
+saffrons, gums, and myrrh. In return are brought blue and white calicoes,
+Indian piece goods, Indian prints, silks, and shawls, red cotton yarn,
+silk threads, beads, frankincense, copper wire, and zinc.
+
+A fortnight rolled away painfully in this detestable place, which was
+named Alio Amba, when a summons came from the monarch in these formal
+words:--"Tarry not by day, neither stay ye by night; for the heart of the
+father longeth to see his children, and let him not be disappointed."
+
+They now ascended through a country of romantic beauty, to Machalwan, the
+place appointed for the interview. The Abyssinian in charge of the embassy,
+was now sent forward to obtain permission to fire a salute of twenty-one
+guns on the arrival of the troop at the royal residence. This request
+seemed to have alarmed his majesty in no slight degree. The most romantic
+reports of the ordnance had gone before them. It was currently believed
+that their discharge was sufficient to set fire to the ground, to shiver
+rocks, and to dismantle mountain fastnesses. Men were said to have arrived,
+with "copper legs," who served those tremendous engines; and in alarm for
+the safety of his palace, capital, and treasures, the suspicious monarch
+still peremptorily insisted on withholding the desired license, until he
+should have seen the battery "with his own eyes." It rained incessantly
+during the night which preceded the day of presentation, and until the
+morning broke; when a great volume of white mist rose from the deep
+valleys, and drifted like a scene-curtain across the summit of the giant
+Mamrat. The whole troop now began to ascend the mountain; and, as they
+approached within sight of the stockaded palace, the escort commenced to
+fire their matchlocks. The view here is described as very lovely, and
+giving some conception of European variety of vegetation, with tropical
+luxuriance. Farm-houses, rich fields, foaming cascades, and bright green
+meadows covered with flowers, met the eye on every side; and above all
+towered the great Abyssinian range, some thousand feet perpendicularly
+overhead, with its summits crested with clouds. The crowd of spectators
+was immense, and were repelled only by strokes of the bamboo. At length a
+large tent was pitched for the reception of the embassy, the floor was
+strewed with heath, myrtles, and other aromatic shrubs; and the weather
+having cleared up, "the mission, radiant with plumes and gold embroidery,
+moved on." As they reached the precincts of the palace, the artillery
+fired a salute, which equally awed and astonished the multitude, the
+discharge being followed by universal shouts in the native tongue
+of--"Wonderful English! Well done, well done!"
+
+After several further stoppages, they entered the reception hall. It was
+circular, and showy. The lofty walls glittered with a profusion of silver
+ornaments, emblazoned shields, matchlocks, and double-barreled guns.
+Persian carpets and rugs of all sizes, colours, and patterns, covered the
+floors; and crowds of governors, chiefs, and officers of the court, in
+their holiday attire, stood in a posture of respect, uncovered to the
+girdle. Two wide alcoves receded on either side, in one of which blazed a
+cheerful wood fire, engrossed by indolent cats; while in the other, on a
+flowered satin ottoman, surrounded by withered slaves and juvenile pages,
+and supported by gay velvet cushions, lay "His most Christian majesty,
+Sahela Selasse!" The Dech Agulari (state doorkeeper,) as master of the
+ceremonies, stood with a rod of green rushes to preserve the exact
+distance of approach to royalty; and as the British entered and made their
+bows, pointed them to chairs, which done, it was commanded that all should
+be covered.
+
+The monarch was not unworthy of figuring in this pomp. Forty summers, of
+which eight-and-twenty had been passed on the throne, had slightly
+furrowed his forehead, and grizzled a full bushy head of hair, arranged in
+elaborate curls. But, though wanting the left eye, "the expression of his
+manly features, open, pleasing, and commanding, did not belie the
+character for impartial justice which he had obtained far and wide; even
+the robber tribes of the low country calling him a fine balance of gold."
+
+After the delivery of the ambassadorial letters, the exhibition commenced,
+which had so long been the envy of the courtiers, and probably the
+conversation of the kingdom. The presents were displayed. A rich Brussels
+carpet, which completely covered the hall, Cashmere shawls, and
+embroidered Delhi scarfs of resplendent hues, excited universal admiration.
+The finer specimens were handed to the king. As the various presents
+succeeded, the delight increased. A group of Chinese dancing figures,
+produced bursts of merriment; and when the European escort, in full
+uniform, with the sergeant at their head, marched into the hall, paced in
+front of the throne, and performed the manual and platoon exercises, amid
+ornamented clocks chiming, and musical boxes playing "God save the Queen,"
+his majesty appeared quite entranced. "But many and bright were the smiles
+that lighted up the royal features, as three hundred muskets, with
+bayonets fixed, were piled in front of the royal footstool. A buzz of
+mingled wonder and applause arose from the crowded courtiers; and the
+monarch's satisfaction now filled to overflowing. 'God will reward you,'
+he exclaimed--'for I cannot!'"
+
+But a more serious and a more striking display was still to follow. The
+artillery were to exhibit their powers; and the crowd rushed out, and
+scattered over the hill to see its practice. A sheet was attached to the
+opposite face of the ravine, the valley rang to the roar of the guns; and
+as the white cloth flew in shreds to the wind, under a rapid discharge of
+round shot, canister, and grape, amid the crumbling of the rock, and the
+rush of falling stones, shouts of admiration rang from hill to hill. This
+eventful evening was closed by testimonies of the king's satisfaction, in
+the shape of a huge pepper pie from the royal kitchen, with his commands
+that his children might feast; and a visit from the royal confessor, a
+dwarf enveloped in robes and turbans, and armed with silver cross and
+crosier. Seating himself in a chair, he delivered a speech, which affords
+as good a specimen of court oratory as any thing that we remember; and
+also shows the powerful effect of the presents on the courtly
+sensibilities. The speech was as follows:--
+
+  "Forty years have rolled away since Asfa Woosen, on whose memory be
+  peace! grandsire to our beloved monarch, saw in a dream that the red
+  men were bringing into his kingdom, curious and beautiful commodities
+  from countries beyond the great sea. The astrologers, on being
+  commanded to give an interpretation thereof, predicted with one
+  accord, that foreigners from the land of Egypt would come into
+  Abysinia during his majesty's most illustrious reign; and that yet
+  more and wealthier would follow in that of his son, and of his son's
+  son, who should sit next upon the throne. Praise be unto God, that
+  the dream and its interpretation have now been fulfilled! Our eyes,
+  though they be old, have never beheld wonders until this day; and
+  during the reign over Shoa of seven successive kings, no such
+  miracles as these have been wrought in Ethiopia!!"
+
+The embassy were now fixed under the protection of the monarch; and they
+were invited to join in the various displays and festivals of the new year,
+which the Abyssinians begin on the 10th of September. Of these, the
+cavalry review was by far the most showy, as well as the most suited to
+the gratification of the British officers. Some parts of this display
+seemed to have been borrowed from the days of European knighthood. The
+king's master of the horse advanced at the head of his squadrons of picked
+household cavalry, "the flower of the Christian lances." Ayto Melkoo,
+their leader, was arrayed in a party-coloured vest, surmounted by a
+crimson Arab fleece, handsomely studded with silver jets. A gilt embossed
+gauntlet encircled his right arm, from the wrist to the elbow; his targe
+and horse trappings glittered with a profusion of silver crosses and
+devices, and he looked a stately and martial figure, curveting at the head
+of his well-appointed lancers.
+
+This warrior, advancing with his line, galloped up in front, and made a
+speech in the manner of old heroic times, vaunting his past prowess and
+his present loyalty, his troopers accompanying the more succcessful parts
+of his speech by striking the lance upon the targe. At the close, he threw
+his spears upon the ground, unsheathed his two-edged falchion, gave a howl,
+which was answered by a roar from his horsemen, and a discharge of
+fire-arms; and the whole made a dash, and charged across the parade.
+
+At the royal command, the British now fired a salute of twenty-one guns,
+to the great wonder and astonishment of the wild Galla and the multitude
+of spectators. Thirteen governors, (of provinces, we presume,) clothed in
+the skins of lions and leopards and covered with silver chains, cuirasses,
+and gauntlets, emblems of their gallantry in the field, next passed before
+the king, each at the head of his troop, and each making a harangue.
+Abyssinia must be a very oratorical country. Last of all, came the tall,
+martial figure of Abegoz Moreteh, chief of the tributary Galla of the
+south, at the head of his legion, three thousand in number: this "sea of
+wild horsemen" moved in advance, to the sound of kettle-drums, their arms
+and decorations flashing in the sun, and their ample white robes and long
+sable hair streaming in the breeze. At the war-hoop of their leader, "with
+the rush of a hurricane the moving forest of lances disappeared under a
+cloud of dust." From _eight to ten thousand_ cavalry were in the field;
+and the spectacle, which lasted from nine in the morning until five in the
+afternoon, was "exceedingly wild and impressive." But the most impressive
+display of all was to be supplied by the British. With fire-arms the
+people were acquainted already. The "brass galloper," though viewed with
+"wonderful respect," was still only an engine on a larger scale than those
+to which they were familiarized. But the rocket was a formidable and
+splendid novelty. Night had now thrown her mantle round the field, and, by
+the king's command, the rocket practice began; the first brilliant rush
+into the air was matter of amazement to all. When the rocket started with
+a roar from its bed, men, women, and children fell on their faces--horses
+and mules broke from their tethers--and the warriors who had any heart
+remaining shouted aloud. The Galla tribes, who witnessed the explosion,
+ascribed the phenomenon to "potent medicines," and declared, that since
+the Gyptzis (British) could, at pleasure, produce comets in the sky and
+rain fire down heaven, there was nothing for them but submission to the
+king's command.
+
+The review was followed, at some interval of time, by a more substantial
+display. Thrice in the year the king summons his rude militia for an
+inroad into some of the neighbouring lands; and, as he was particularly
+anxious to have the presence of the embassy on this occasion, and as they
+conceived it to offer the best opportunity of seeing the country, they
+accordingly accepted the invitation. As it is to be presumed that they had
+no intention of taking any personal part in this marauding expedition, we
+are not disposed to criticise their acquiescence; otherwise there could be
+no doubt whatever, that they had no right to assist the king of Shoa in
+his foray on his neighbours, more than they would have had a right to
+assist his neighbours in their attacks upon the king of Shoa.
+
+The march was peculiar, and even pompous, in its kind. It was
+extraordinary to see it preceded by a copy of the Holy Scriptures, under a
+canopy of scarlet cloth, and borne on a mule; but, it must be owned,
+accompanied by the "Ark of the cathedral of St Michael," which works
+miracles, and is regarded as a pledge of victory. Then came the king on a
+specially caparisoned mule, surrounded by his guard of shield-bearers, and
+flanked by matchlock-men; then came forty damsels, royal cooks, painted
+with ochre, and muffled in crimson-striped robes of cotton--a troop
+rigorously guarded by attendants with long white wands. Beyond these, as
+far as the eye could penetrate the clouds of dust, every hill and valley
+teemed with horsemen, camp-followers, sumpter-mules, and men carrying
+sheaves of spears, and leading caparisoned horses, all mixed in the most
+picturesque confusion. After a march of fifteen miles, the female cooks
+halted, like a flight of flamingoes, in a pretty, secluded valley. It was
+evident that the day's march was now at an end, and the army halted to
+bivouac for the night. In the centre of this straggling camp, which could
+not be less than five miles in diameter, was raised a suite of royal tents,
+consisting of a gay party-coloured marquee of Turkish manufacture,
+surrounded by twelve ample awnings of black serge, over which floated five
+crimson pennons, surmounted respectively by silver globes. There was
+something of African, or perhaps European, pomp in this proceeding. Until
+the royal tents were enclosed from the vulgar eye, the Negoos, ascending
+an adjacent eminence with his chiefs and an escort of picked warriors,
+remained seated on cushioned _alga_, and under the crimson canopy of the
+state umbrella.
+
+When night fell, rockets were fired by the royal command, "to instil
+terror into the breasts of the Galla hordes;" and the peak which ran near
+the headquarters, was chosen as the most central spot for the display. The
+effect, brilliant every where, was here all that even Majesty could have
+desired. The "fire-rainers" (the picturesqe name which, we presune, Major
+Harris has adopted from the natives) produced delight, wonder, and terror,
+in all their degrees; and if the Galla nation were present, they must, to
+a man, have solicited chains, rather than be roasted alive by those flying
+monsters, which the people seem to have taken for the works of magic, if
+not magicians themselves. The display was followed by a repast in the old
+heroic style, and which will not be forgotten, should Abyssinia ever give
+the world a sable Homer.
+
+  "The chiefs and nobles sat down to their feast in the royal pavilion,
+  where hydromel, beer, and _raw_ flesh were in regal profusion!! After
+  supper, speeches were made in the Homeric style, boasting of what the
+  warriors had done, and intended to do. A fragment of one of the
+  speeches; addressed to the English as the party broke up, gives a
+  fair idea of Abyssinian table eloquence, 'You are the adorners,' (the
+  orator had been decorated with a scarlet cloak;) 'you have given me
+  scarlet broadcloth, and behold I have reserved the gift for this day.
+  This garment will bring me success; for the Pagan who sees a crimson
+  cloak on the shoulders of the Amhara,' (Abyssinian,) 'believing him
+  to be a warrior of distinguished valour, will take, like an ass, to
+  his heels, and be speared without the smallest danger.'"
+
+The march, and the foray into the country of one of the Galla tribes, are
+admirably told, and perhaps are among the best descriptions in the
+volumes--exact without being tedious, and deeply coloured without
+exaggeration. But we must hasten to other things. This was the monarch's
+eighty-fourth foray; and on this we may conceive something of the horrors
+of barbarian life, and of the tremendous evils which nations have escaped
+whose laws and principles tame down the original evil of man.
+
+We are glad to find that the embassy refused to take any share in this
+horrible work, though they fell into some disrepute with the troops, and
+even with the monarch, for their remissness. The king had even reserved an
+unlucky Galla in a tree, to be shot by his guests. But this they declined,
+first, on the pretext of its being the Sabbath, and next, more distinctly
+on the ground, that--"no public body was authorized by the law of nations,
+to draw a sword offensively in any country not at war with its own." They
+then offered the compromise, "that an elephant was esteemed equivalent to
+forty Gallas, and a wild buffalo to five, and that they were ready to
+shoot as many of both as his Majesty pleased." But the embassy did more
+effectual things; the sick and wounded received relief from them to the
+extent of their means, and they even prevailed on the king to liberate all
+his prisoners. The troops in the foray amounted to about 20,000.
+
+On the return of this destroying expedition, which seems to have turned a
+very fine country into a desert, the king made a kind of triumphal entry
+into his capital. His costume was splendidly savage. A lion's skin over
+his shoulders, richly ornamented, and half concealing beneath its folds an
+embroidered green mantle of Indian manufacture; on his right shoulder were
+three chains of gold, as emblems of the Holy Trinity,(!) and the
+fresh-plucked bough of asparagus, which denoted his recent exploit, rose
+from the centre of an embossed coronet of silver on his brow. His dappled
+war-horse, in housings of blue and yellow, was led beside him; and in
+front his "champion" rode a coal-black charger, bearing the royal shield
+of massive silver, with the cross upon it, and dressed in a panther's hide.
+The two chief officers of his army rode either side of the crimson
+umbrella; at the palace gates, a deputation of priests in white robes
+received the conqueror with a benediction and a volley of musketry
+announced his arrival. The leader of the royal matchlock-men performed a
+war dance before the Ark as it was borne along, and in the inner court the
+principal warriors, each carring some human fragment on his lance, flung
+then on the ground before the royal footstool, and shouted their war
+praise.
+
+The embassy at length attained personal distinction by the death of an
+elephant, which one of the party brought to the ground by a two-ounce ball.
+The "warriors" were all in astonishment at this feat, to which all had
+predicted the most disastrous termiration; and "Boroo, the brave chief of
+the Soopa," exclaimed in his delight, "The world was made for you, and no
+one else has any business in it!"
+
+The chief object of the embassy was still to be accomplished--the
+formation of something that approached to a treaty of commerce. Beads,
+cutlery, and trinkets, had been received from the coast; but the beggary
+of the nobles for those things was perpetual and intolerable. They called
+those ornanents pleasing things, and the cry was constant, "show me
+pleasing things," "give me delighting things," "adorn me from head to
+foot." It is scarcely surprising that the natives should be enamoured of
+European conmodities; for, though an old commerce had subsisted with
+Arabia, the supplies brought by the English were of the most exciting kind.
+Detonating caps were in great request; treble strong canister powder was
+also much in demand. Yet there was some ingenuity amongst themselves; for
+a young fellow was taken up for making dollars of pewter. Every spot and
+letter had been closely represented with punch and file. "Tell me," said
+the king, on the case of this culprit being mentioned to him, "how is that
+machine made which in your country pours out the silver crowns like a
+shower of rain?" The hand corn-mills, presented by the British Government,
+had been erected within the palace walls, and slaves were turning the
+wheels with unceasing diligence. "Demetrius, the Armenian, made a machine
+to grind corn," exclaimed his majesty in a transport of delight, as the
+flour streamed upon the floor; "and though it cost the people a year of
+hard labour to construct, it was useless when finished, because the priest
+declared it to be the devil's work, and cursed the bread. But, may the
+Sahela Selasse die--these engines are the work of clever hands."
+
+The monarch, elated with his knowledge, now determined to build a bridge,
+which in three days was completed; and, as was predicted by the quiet
+English spectators, in three hours fell down on the very first fresh
+produced by the annual rains.
+
+Weaving excepted, the people manufactured nothing; but British commerce
+has long been known, though evidently of the coarsest kind. At length, on
+his majesty's being told that five thousand looms would bring him more
+wealth than ten thousand soldiers, he gradually consented to form a
+commercial treaty. The crown had hitherto appropriated the property of
+strangers dying in the country. The purchase or display of costly goods by
+the subject had been interdicted, and a maxim exhibiting the whole
+jealousy of savage life had been established, that the stranger who once
+entered was never to depart from Abyssinia. By the articles of the
+commercial treaty, all those barbarous prohibitions have been abolished.
+
+As the monarch returned the deed, he made a short speech sufficiently able
+and appropriate: "You have loaded me with costly presents, the rainment
+that I  wear, the throne on which I sit, the curiosities in my
+store-houses, and the muskets which hang round my great hall--all are from
+your country. What have I to give in return for such wealth? My kingdom is
+as nothing."
+
+The hereditary provinces at this day subject to the King of Shoa, are
+comprised in a rectangular domain of 150 by 90 miles; an area traversed by
+five systems of mountains, of which the culminating point divides the
+basin of the Nile from that of the Hawash. The Christian population of
+Shoa and Efat are estimated at a million; and the Moslem and Pagan
+population at a million and a half. The royal revenues are said to amount
+to 80,000 or 90,000 German crowns, arising chiefly from import duties in
+slaves, merchandise, and salt. As the annual expenses of the state do not
+exceed 10,000 dollars; it is presumed that the king, during his thirty
+years' reign, has amassed much treasure, which is regularly deposited
+under ground.
+
+We recommend the enquirers into the truth of Herodotus, to examine the
+curious illustrations stated in these volumes; and, among the rest, the
+kingdom of pigmies. The geographer will find ample interest in tracing the
+course of the Gochob, a sort of central Nile; and the naturalist, botanist,
+and entomologist, will find abundant information in the very interesting
+and complete appendices on those subjects. The history of the Christian
+missions of early ages is an excellent chapter, and the general statistics
+of religion.
+
+The practical religion of the Abyssinian Christian is of the very lowest
+degree of formality. Fasts, penances, and excommunications, form the chief
+discipline; but the penitent can always provide a substitute for the two
+former, and the latter is always to be averted by money. Spiritual
+offences, however, are rare; for murder and sacrilege alone give umbrage
+to the easy conscience of the natives of Shoa. Abstinence and largesses of
+money are equivalent to wiping away every sin. Their creed advises the
+invocation of saints, confession to the priest, and faith in charms and
+amulets. Prayers for the dead, and absolution, are indispensable; and, as
+a more summary mode of relieving the burdens of the flesh, it is
+pronounced, that all sins are forgiven from the moment that the kiss of
+the pilgrim is imprinted on the stones of Jerusalem, and that even kissing
+the hand of a priest purifies the body from all sin. A creed of this order,
+which makes spiritual safety dependent, not upon personal purification of
+mind and divine mercy, but upon forms which are unconnected with either,
+and which even can be executed by a substitute, of course excludes the
+necessity for morals of any kind. All is corruption--"Born amid falsehood
+and deceit, cradled in bloodshed, and nursed in the arms of idleness and
+debauchery, the national character almost defies the missionary."
+
+There are some strange remnants of Judaism still lingering amongst the
+tribes of these highland regions. The Galla have a tradition, that their
+whole nation will one day be called on to march, _en masse_, and reconquer
+Palestine for the return of the Jews. The king of Shoa regards himself as
+a direct descendant of the house of Solomon, calls himself king of Israel,
+and the national standard bears the motto, "The Lion of the tribe of Judah
+hath prevailed." They believe the 45th Psalm to be a prophecy of Queen
+Magueda's visit to Jerusalem; whither she was attended by a daughter of
+Hiram, king of Tyre. The Jewish prohibitions against the flesh of unclean
+animals, are observed by the Abyssinians. The sinew which shrank, and the
+eating of which was prohibited to the Israelite, is also prohibited in
+Shoa. The Jewish Sabbath is strictly observed. The Abyssinians are said,
+by Ludolf, to be the greatest fasters in the world. The Wednesdays and
+Fridays are fasts; the forty days before Easter are rigidly observed as a
+fast; and from the Thursday preceding Easter till the Sunday, no morsel of
+meat is to enter the lips, and the prohibition against drink is equally
+rigorous. St Michael and the Virgin Mary are venerated in the highest
+degree; St Michael as the leader of the hosts of heaven, and the latter as
+the chief of all saints, and queen of heaven and earth, and both as the
+great intercessors of mankind.
+
+Like the Jews of old, the Abyssinians weep and lament on all occasions of
+death; and the shriek ascends to the sky, as if the soul could be recalled
+from the world of spirits. As with the Jews, the most inferior garments
+are employed as the weeds of woe; and the skin torn from the temples, and
+scarified on the cheeks and breast, proclaims the last extremity of grief.
+As the Rabbins believe that angels were the governors of all sublunary
+things, the Abyssinians adopt this belief: carrying it even further, they
+confidently implore their assistance in all concerns, and invoke and adore
+them in a higher degree than the Creator. The clergy enjoy the price of
+deathbed confession; and the churchyard is sternly denied to all who die
+without the rite, or whose relations refuse the fee and the funeral feast.
+Eight pieces of salt are the price of wafting a poor man's soul to the
+place of rest, and the feast for the dead places him in a state of
+happiness, according to the cost of the entertainment. For the rich, money
+procures the attendance of priests, who absolve, and pray continually day
+and night. The anniversaries of the deaths of the six kings of Shoa are
+held with great ceremony in the capital; and once every twelvemonth,
+before a splendid feast, their souls are absolved from all sin.
+
+Major Harris expresses himself ardently and eloquently on the hopes of
+commerce which might be maintained by Great Britain with this little-known
+but productive part of the world. It is notorious that gold and gold dust,
+ivory, ostrich feathers, peltries, spices, wax, and precious gums, form a
+part of the lading of every slave caravan; notwithstanding that the
+tediousness of the transport, and the penuriousness of the Indian and Arab
+merchant, offer but a small compensation for their labour. No quarter of
+the globe abounds to a greater extent in vegetable and mineral productions
+than tropical Africa; and in the populous, fertile, and salubrious
+portions lying immediately north of the equator, the very highest
+capabilities are presented for the employment of British capital. Coal has
+already been found; cotton, of a quality unrivaled in the whole world, is
+every where a weed, and might be cultivated to any extent. The coffee
+which is sold in Arabia as the produce of Mocha, is chiefly of wild
+African growth; and that species of the tea plant which is used by the
+lower orders of the Chinese, flourishes so widely, and with so little care,
+that the climate would doubtless be found well adapted for the
+higher-flavoured and more delicate species. If, at a very moderate
+calculation, a sum falling very little short of a hundred thousand pounds
+sterling, can be annually invested in European goods, to supply the wants
+of some of the poorer tribes adjacent to Abyssinia, what important results
+might not be anticipated from well-directed efforts, adopting the natural
+neans of communication in Africa?
+
+Another winter passed--a dreary time for the mission in Ankober. Torrents
+rushed down the mountains, every footpath had been converted into a stream,
+and every valley into a morass. The season was peculiarly tempestuous; the
+heavy white clouds constantly hung on the mountain pinnacles, and the
+torrents swelled the Hawash to such an extent, that the land for many
+miles on both sides was inundated. There must have been some difficulty in
+spending the time of this solitary confinement among the hills; but the
+author was well employed in writing his volumes, and engineers were
+employed in erecting a Gothic hall, to the great delight of his Abyssinian
+majesty. He would allow them to do every thing except paint his
+portrait--the national idea being, that whoever takes a likeness,
+immediately becomes invested with power over the original. "You are
+writing a book," he said. "I know this, because I never enquire what you
+are doing that they do not tell me you are using a pen, or gazing at the
+heavens. That is a good thing, and it pleases me. You will speak
+favourably of myself; but you shall not insert my portrait, as you have
+done that of the King of Zingero."
+
+The English had new wonders for him; they shaped planks out of trees in a
+fashion new to the Abyssinians, who waste a tree on every plank. "You
+English are indeed a strange people," said the king, as he saw the first
+plank formed in this economical style. "I do not understand your stories
+of the roads dug under rivers, nor of the carriages that gallop without
+horses; but you are a strong people, and employ wonderful inventions."
+
+At length the Gothic hall was complete. It may be presumed that nothing
+like it was ever seen in Abyssinia before; for the mission not merely
+built, but furnished it with couches, ottomans, chairs, tables, and
+curtains; doubtless a very showy affair, though we camot exactly
+comprehend the author's expression of its being furnished after the manner
+of an English cottage ornee. The king, however, was delighted with it. "I
+shall turn it into a chapel," said his majesty, patting his chief
+ecclesiastic on the back. "What say you to that plan, my father?"  As a
+last finishing touch, were suspended in the centre hall a series of large
+coloured engravings, representing the chase of the tiger in all its
+various phases. The domestication of the elephant, and its employment in
+war or in the pageant, had ever proved a stumbling block to the king; but
+the appearance of the hugest of beasts in his hunting harness struck the
+chord of a new idea. "I will have a nunber caught on the Roby," he
+exclaimed, "that you may tame then, and that I too may ride on an elephant
+before I die!"
+
+Another of those fearful displays of barbarian plunder and havoc took
+place at the end of September. Twenty thousand warriors, headed by the
+king, made an inroad on the Galla. Those unfortunate people were so little
+prepared, that they seem to have been slaughtered without resistance.
+Between four and five thousand were butchered, and forty-three thousand
+head of cattle were driven off. A thousand captives, chiefly women and
+children, were marched in triumph to the capital; but they were soon
+liberated, apparently on the remonstrance of the British mission.
+
+But a terrible disaster was to befall the palace and the people. The
+dweller amongst mountains must be always exposed to their dilapidation;
+and a season of unusual rain, continuing to a much later period than usual,
+produced an earth-avalanche.
+
+  "As the evening of an eventful night (Dec. 6th) closed in, not a
+  single breath of wind disturbed the thick fog which brooded over the
+  mountain. A sensible difference was perceptible in the atmosphere;
+  but the rain again began to descend, and for hours pelted like the
+  dischage of a waterspout. Towards morning, a violent thunder storm
+  careered along the crest of the range, and every rock and cranny
+  re-echoed from the crash of the thunder. Deep darkness again settled
+  on the mountains, and a heavy rumbling noise, like the passage of
+  artillery wheels, as followed by the shrill cry of despair. The earth,
+  saturated with moisture, had slidden from their steep slopes, houses
+  and cottages were engulfed in the debris, or shattered to fragments
+  by the descending masses, and daylight presented a strange scene of
+  ruin. Perched on the apex of the conical peak, the palace buildings
+  were now stripped of their palisades, or overwhelmed: the roads along
+  the hill were completely obliterated. The desolation had spread for
+  miles along the great range: houses, with their inmates, had been
+  hurried away."
+
+Before the mission took its departure, it did honour to the character of
+its country by one act which alone would have been worth its time and
+trouble. The horrid policy of African despotism condemns all the brothers
+of the throne to the dungeon, from the moment of the royal accession. The
+king had exhibited qualities of a very unexpected order in an African
+despot, and, under the guidance of the mission, had made some advances to
+justice, and even to clemency. At this period, he was suddenly seized with
+an alarming spasmodic disorder, and he apprehended that his constitution,
+enfeebled by the habits of his life, was likely to give way. On his
+recovery being despaired of by both priests and physicians, he suddenly
+sent for the British mission.
+
+  "'My children,' said his majesty in a sepulchral voice, as he
+  extended his burning hand towards them, 'behold I am sore stricken.
+  Last night they believed me dead, and the voice of mourning had
+  arisen within the palace walls; but God hath spared me until now.'"
+
+It seems to be the custom for the king's physician to taste the draught
+prescribed for him, and an attenpt being made to do this by the British,
+the sick monarch generously forbade it.
+
+  "'What need is there now of this?' he exclaimed reproachfully. 'Do I
+  not know that you would administer to Sahela Selasse nothing that
+  could do him mischief?'"
+
+The reader will probably remember an almost similar act of confidence of
+Alexander the Great in his physician. An opportunity was now taken of
+urging him to an act of humanity, however strongly opposed to the habits
+of the country, and to the interests of the man. It was represented to him
+that his uncles and brothers had been immured in a dungeon during the
+thirty years of his reign, and that no act could be more honourable to
+himself, or acceptable to Heaven, than the extinction of this barbarous
+custom.
+
+  "'And I will release them,' returned the monarch, after a moment's
+  debate within himself. 'By the Holy Eucharist I swear, and by the
+  Church of the Holy Trinity in Koora Gadel, that if Sahela Selasse
+  arise from this bed of sickness, all of whom you speak shall be
+  restored to the enjoyment of liberty.'"
+
+Fortunately he did arise from that bed of sickness, and he honourably
+determined to keep his promise. The royal captives were seven, and the
+British mission were summoned to see their introduction into the presence.
+They had been so exhausted by long captivity, that at first they seemed
+scarcely to comprehend freedom. They had been manacled, and spent their
+time in the fabrication of harps and combs, of which they brought
+specimens to lay at the feet of their monarch. This touching interview
+concluded with a speech of the king to the embassy--
+
+  "'My children, you will write all that you have seen to your country,
+  and will say to the British Queen, that, though far behind the
+  nations of the White Men, from whom Ethiopia first received her
+  religion, there yet remains a spark of Christian love in the breast
+  of the King of Shoa.'"
+
+We have thus given a rapid and bird's-eye view of a work, which we regard
+as rivaling in interest and importance any "book of travels" of this
+century.  The name of Abyssinia was scarcely more than a recollection,
+connected with the adventurous ramblings of Bruce, for the romantic
+purpose of discovering the source of the Nile. His narrative had also been
+wholly profitless--attracting public curiosity in a remarkable degree at
+he time, no direct foundation of European intercourse was laid, and no
+movement of European traffic followed. But giving Bruce all the credit,
+which was so long denied him, for fidelity to fact, and for the spirit of
+bold adventure which he exhibited in penetrating a land of violence and
+barbarism, the mission of Major Harris at once establishes its object on
+more substantial grounds. It is not a private adventure, but a public act,
+rendered natural by the circumstances of British neighbourhood, and
+important for the opening of Abyssinia and central Africa to the greatest
+civilizer which the world has ever seen--the commerce of England. There
+are still obvious difficulties of transit, between the coast and the
+capital, by the ordinary route. But if the navigation of the Gochob, or
+the route from Tajura, should once be secured, the trade will have
+commenced, which in the course of a few years will change the face of
+Abyssinia; limit, if not extinguish, that disgrace of human nature--the
+slave trade; and, if not reform, at least enlighten, the clouded
+Christianity of the people.
+
+As the author was commissioned, not merely as a discoverer, but a
+diplomatist, it is to be presumed that on many interesting points he
+writes under the restraints of diplomatic reserve. But he has told us
+enough to excite our strong interest in the beauty, the fertility, and the
+capabilities of the country which he describes; and more than enough to
+show, that it is almost a British duty to give the aid of our science, our
+inventions, and our principles, to a monarch and a people evidently
+prepared for rising in the scale of nations.
+
+We have a kind of impression, that some general improvement is about to
+take place in the more neglected portions of the world, and that England
+is honoured to be the chief agent in the great work. Africa, which has
+been under a _ban_ for so many thousand years, may be on the eve of relief
+from the misery, lawlessness, and impurity of barbarism; and we are
+strongly inclined to look upon this establishment of British feeling, and
+intercourse in Abyssinia, as the commencement of that proud and fortunate
+change. All attempts to enter Africa by the western coast have failed. The
+heat, the swamps, the rank vegetation, and the unhealthy atmosphere, have
+proved insurmountable barriers. The north is fenced by a line of burning
+wilderness. But the east is open, free, fertile, and beautiful. A British
+factory in Abyssinia would be not merely a source of infinite comfort to
+the people, by the communication of European conveniences and manufactures,
+but a source of light. British example would teach obedience and loyalty
+to the laws, subordination on the part of the people, and mercy on that of
+the sovereign.
+
+But we have also another object, sufficiently important to determine our
+Government in looking to the increase of our connexion with Eastern Africa.
+It is certainly a minor one, but one which no rational Government can
+undervalue. The policy of the present French King is directed eminently to
+the extension of commercial influence in all countries. To this policy,
+none can make objection. It is the duty of a monarch to develop all the
+resources of his country; and while France exerts herself only in the
+rivalry of peace, her advance is an advance of all nations. But her
+extreme attention, of late years, to Africa, ought to open our eyes to the
+necessity of exertion in that boundless quarter. On the western coast, she
+had long fixed a lazy grasp; but that grasp is now becoming vigorous, and
+extending hour by hour. Her flag flies at Golam, 250 miles up the Senegal.
+She has a settlement at Gori; she has lately established a settlement at
+the mouth of the Assinee, another at the mouth of the Gaboon, and is on
+the point of establishing another in the Bight of Benin; when she will
+command all Western Africa.
+
+She is not less active on the eastern shore. At Massawah, on the coast of
+Abyssinia, she is fast monopolizing the trade in gold and spices. She has
+purchased Edh, and is endeavouring to purchase Brava. Her attention to
+_Northern_ Abyssinia is matter of notoriety, and we must regard this
+system, not so much with regard to advantages which such possessions might
+give to ourselves, as to their prejudice to us in falling into rival hands.
+The possession of Algeria should direct the eye of Europe to the ulterior
+objects of France; the first change of masters in Egypt, must be looked to
+with national anxiety; and the transmission of the great routes of Africa
+into her hands, must be guarded against with a vigilance worthy of the
+interests of England and Europe.
+
+If the river shall be found navigable to any extent, what an opening is
+thus presented to both the Merchant and the philanthropist; a soil
+surpassed by none in the world, a climate varying only 1º in the mean
+temperature of summer and winter, and presenting an average of 55-1/2º,
+and a population who could hardly fail to feel the advantages of commerce
+and civilization. From such a point as Aden offers, access is promised to
+the very heart of Africa, and thence to the sources of the mighty rivers
+which find an outlet on the western side of the continent; thus not merely
+benefiting the British merchant in a remarkable degree, but rapidly
+abolishing the slave trade, by giving employment to the people, wealth to
+the native trader, and a new direction to the powers of the country and
+the mind of its unhappy population.
+
+On the whole consideration of the subject, we feel convinced, that Eastern
+Africa is the safe and the natural point for British enterprise; that it
+is the most direct and effective point for the extinction of the cruel
+traffic in human flesh; and that it is the most promising and productive
+point for the establishment of that substantial connexion with the
+governments of the interior, which alone can be regarded as worth the
+attention of the statesman.
+
+Insignificant stations on the coast, to carry on a peddling traffic, are
+beneath a manly and comprehensive policy. We must penetrate the mountains,
+ascend the rivers, and reach the seats of sovereignty. We must, by a large
+and generous self-interest, combine the good, the knowledge, and the
+virtue of the population with our own; and we must lay the foundation of
+our permanent influence over this fourth of the globe, by showing that we
+are the fittest to communicate the benefits, and establish the example of
+civilized society.
+
+To those who desire to go into more minute details, we recommend an
+accompanying volume by the missionaries Isenberg and Krapf--the latter of
+whom acted as interpreter to the embassy. A capital geographical memoir is
+also given by Mr M'Queen, the well-known African geographer.
+
+On the whole, it is highly gratifying to our respect for British
+soldiership; to see works of this rank proceeding from our military men.
+They have great opportunities, and may thus render national services in
+peace, not less important than their enterprise in war. The East India
+Company offers inducements of the most important order, to the
+accomplishment and scientific activity of its officers; and Major Harris
+must feel the distinction of having been selected for a mission of such
+interest, as well as the high gratification of having conducted it to so
+benevolent, solid, and satisfactory a close.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+A WORD OR TWO OF THE OPERA-TIVE CLASSES.
+
+BY LORGNON.
+
+
+      "Vai, ch'avete gl'intelletti sani,
+  Mirate la dottrina che s'asconde,
+  Sotto queste coperte, alte e profonde!"--BERNI.
+
+In the course of social transition, professions, like dogs, have their day.
+A calling honourable in one century, becomes infamous in the next; and
+vocations grow obsolete, like the fashioning of our garments or figures of
+speech. In barbarous communities, the strong man is king:--
+
+  "Le premier roi fut un soldat heureux."
+
+Where human statute is beginning to prize the general weal, the legist is
+of high account, and the priest paramount. Higher civilization engenders
+the influence of the man of letters, the artist, the dramatist, the wit,
+the poet, and the orator. Or when, with a wisdom surpassing the philosophy
+of the schools, we tumble down to prose, and assume the leathern apron of
+the utilitarian--the civil engineer, or operative chemist, starts up into
+a colossus. Sir Humphrey Davy, and Sir Isambert Brunel, are the true
+knights of modern chivalry; and Sir Walter--our Sir Walter--never showed
+himself more shrewd than in his exclamation to Moore--"Ah, Tam!--it's
+lucky, man, we cam' sae soon!" Great as was his influence, equaling that
+of the other two great Sir Walters, Manny and Raleigh, in their several
+epochs of valour and enterprise, it is likely enough, that, if born a
+century later, the MSS. of the Scotch novels would have been chiefly
+valuable to light the furnace of some factory!
+
+So much in exposition of the fact, that, so long as the world possessed
+only three of what we choose to call quarters, an executioner was an
+officer of state; and that, now it possesses five, the female of highest
+renown, and greatest power of self-enrichment, is the _danseuse_, or
+opera-dancer!
+
+Many intermediary callings have disappeared. The domestic chaplain of a
+lordly household is now nearly as superfluous as its archers or falconers;
+and the court calendars of former reigns record a variety of places and
+perquisites, which, did they still exist, would be unpalatable to modern
+courtiers, though compelled to earn their daily cakes, however dirty. Just
+as the last golden pippin of the house of Crenie was preserved in wax for
+the edification of posterity, a watchman has been deposited, with his
+staff and lantern, in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, or the Museum of the
+Zoological, or United Service Club, or some other of your grand national
+collections, as a specimen of the extinct Dogberry or Charley of the
+eighteenth century; and in process of time, as much and more also will
+probably be done to a parish beadle, a theatrical manager, a lord
+chamberlain--and other public functionaries whom it might not be
+altogether safe to enumerate.
+
+Among them, however, there is really some satisfaction in hinting at the
+hangman!--For, hear it, ye sanguinary _manes_ of our ancestors:--"_Les
+bourreaux s'en vont!_" Executioners are departing! We shall shortly have
+to commemorate in our obituaries, and signalize by the hands of our
+novelists--"the last of the Jack Ketches." In these days of
+ultra-philanthropy, the hangman scarcely finds salt to his porridge, or
+porridge to salt.
+
+_Exempli gratia_. In the course of last year, a patient of the lower class
+was admitted into the lunatic ward of the public hospital at Marseilles,
+whose malady seemed the result of religious depression. In that
+supposition, the usual means of relief were resorted to, and he was at
+length discharged as convalescent; when, to attest the perfectness of his
+cure, he went and hanged himself! A _proces verbal_ was, as usual, made
+out, and the supposed fanatic proved to be the ex-executioner of Lyons!
+Tender-hearted people instantly ascribed his melancholy to qualms of
+conscience. But it appeared in evidence, that, since the accession of the
+citizen king, the trade of the hangman had become a dead failure; and the
+disconsolate bankrupt was accordingly forced to take French leave of a
+world wherein _bourreaux_ can no longer turn an honest penny!
+
+Yet, less than three centuries ago, his predecessors were men of mark and
+consideration. Our own King Hal took more heed of his executioner than of
+half the counties over whose necks his axe was suspended; while Louis XI.,
+a _legitimate_ sovereign of France, used to dip in the dish with Tristan
+Hermite and Olivier le Dain. A few reigns later, and the hangman of the
+French metropolis (who shares with its diocesan the honour of being styled
+"Monsieur de Paris") was respected as the most accomplished in Europe. The
+treasons of its civil wars had created so many executions, that a Gascon,
+wishing to prove that his father had been beheaded as a nobleman, instead
+of hanged like a dog or a citizen, asserted the decollation to have been
+so expertly executed _en Greve_, that the sufferer was unconscious of his
+end. "Shake yourself," exclaimed the executioner; and, on his lordship's
+making the attempt, his head rolled into the dust.
+
+This adroitness was the result of competition. In that day there were
+degrees of hangmen, and promotion might be accomplished. Not only had the
+king his executioner, and the Lorraines theirs--the court and the
+city--the abbot of St Germain des Pres--the abbot of this, and the abbot
+of that--but various communities and Signories, having right of life and
+death over their vassals, kept an executioner for purposes of domestic
+torture, as they kept a seneschal to carve their meats; or as people now
+keep a _chef_ or a_ maitre d'hotel_. In those excellent olden times of
+Europe, hangmen, doubtless, carried about written characters from lord to
+lord, certifying their experience with rope and axe--branding-iron and
+thong. So long as the Inquisition afforded constant work for able hands, a
+good hangman out of place must have been a treasure! Had there been
+register-offices or newspaper advertisements, there probably would have
+appeared--
+
+"WANTS A SITUATION--An able-bodied, middle-aged man, without encumbrance,
+who can have an undeniable character from his last situation, as headsman,
+hangman, and general executioner. He is accustomed to the use of
+thumbikins and the most approved and fashionable modes of torture; and
+officiated for many years as superintendent of the wheel of a foreign
+prince, renowned for the neatness of his rack. Drawing and quartering in
+all their branches. Pressing to death performed in the most economical
+style. Impalement in the Turkish manner; and the pile, as practised by the
+best Smithfield hands, &c. &c. &c."
+
+Independent, indeed, of the high prosperity and vast perquisites of such
+posts as executioner of the Tower of London or the Greve of Paris, there
+was honour and satisfaction in the office. A royal master knew when he was
+well served. Henry III. stood by, in his chateau of Blois, to see, not
+only the heads severed from the dead bodies of the Duke and Cardinal de
+Guise, but their _flesh cut into small pieces_, preparatory to being
+burned, and the ashes scattered to the winds. "His majesty," says an
+eyewitness, "stood in a pool of blood to witness the hacking of the
+bodies."
+
+This Italian _gusto_ for the smell of blood, appears to have been
+introduced into the palaces of France from those of Italy by alliance with
+the Medici--those ennobled pawnbrokers of the middle ages, whose _parvenu_
+taste engendered the fantastic gilding of the _renaissance_, which they
+naturalized in the Tuileries and at Fontainbleau, in common with the
+stiletto and acqua tofana of their poisoners, and the fatalism of their
+judicial astrology.
+
+But enough of Catharine de Medicis and her sanguinary son--enough of Henry
+Tudor and his savage daughters--enough of the monstrous professions
+flourishing in their age of monstrosities. And turn we for relief to the
+exquisite vocation completing the antithesis--the vocation whose execution
+is that of _pas de zephyrs_, and the tortures of whose infliction are the
+tortures of the tender heart!
+
+The calling of the _danseuse_, we repeat, is among the most lucrative of
+modern times, and nearly the most influential. The names of Taglioni and
+Elssler are as European, nay, as universal, as those of Wellington and
+Talleyrand-Metternich or Thiers; and modern statesmanship and modern
+diplomacy show pale beside the Machiavelism of the _coulisses_.
+
+With what pomp of phraseology are the triumphs and movements of these
+_danseuses_ announced, by the self-same journal which despatches, with a
+stroke of the pen, the submission of a province or revolution of a kingdom!
+One poor halfpenny-worth, or half a line, suffices for the death of a
+sultana; while fiery columns precede the departure and arrival of the
+steamer honoured by conveying across the Atlantic some ethereal being,
+whose light fantastic toe is to give the law to the United States. Her
+appearance in the Ecclesiastic States, on the other hand, is announced in
+Roman capitals; and her triumphal entry into St Petersburg received with
+regiments of notes of admiration!!!
+
+Were Taglioni, by the malediction of Providence, to break her leg, what
+corner of the civilized earth but would sympathize in the casualty? Or
+were Elssler epidemically carried off, on the same day with the Pope, the
+Archbishop of Dublin, a chancellor of an university, an historiographer,
+or astronomer-royal--_which_ would be most cared for by society at large,
+or to which would the public journals distribute the larger share of their
+dolefuls?
+
+Nor is it alone the levities of Europe which have encompassed with a
+gaseous atmosphere of enthusiasm these idols of the day. We appeal to our
+sober, plodding, painstaking brother Jonathan. We move for returns of the
+sums he has expended on his beloved Fanny, and for notes of the honours
+conferred upon her, not only on the boards of his theatres and in the
+publicity of his causeways, but amid the august nationalities of his
+senate! "Fanny Elssler in Congress" has become as historical as the name
+of Washington! As if for the purpose of proving that extremes meet, the
+democrats of the New World were demonstrating the wildest infatuation in
+favour of one dancer, while the great autocrat of the Old was exhibiting a
+similar fervour in honour of another. La Gitana became all but
+presidentess of the Transatlantic republic; La Bayadere depolarized the
+tyrant of the Poles! But, above all, the Empress of Russia--albeit, the
+lightest of sovereigns and coldest of women--was carried so far by her
+enthusiasm as to fasten a bracelet of gems on the fair arm of Taglioni;
+while the Queen-Dowager of England conferred a similar honour on the
+Neapolitan dancer Cerito!
+
+Now, what queen or princess, we should like to know, has lavished necklace,
+or bracelet, or one poor pitiful brooch, on Miss Edgeworth or Miss Aitkin,
+Mrs Somerville or Joanna Baillie, or any other of the female illustrations
+of the age, saving these aerial machines which have achieved such enviable
+supremacy? Mrs Marcet, who has taught the young idea of our three kingdoms
+how to shoot; Miss Martineau, who has engrafted new ones on our oldest
+crab-stocks, might travel from Dan to Beersheba without having a fatted
+calf or a fatted capon killed for them, at the public expense. But let
+Taglioni take the road, and what clapping of hands--what gratulation--what
+curiosity--what expansion of delight!
+
+The only wonder of all this is, that we should wonder about the matter.
+Dancing constitutes that desideratum of the learned of all ages--an
+universal language. Music, which many esteem much, is nearly as
+nationalized in its rhythm as dialect in its words; whereas the organs of
+sight are cosmopolitan. The eye of man and the foot of the dancer include
+between them all nations and languages. The poetry of motion is
+interpreted by the lexicon of instinct; and the unimpregnable grace of a
+Taglioni becomes omnipotent and catholic as that of
+
+  "The statue that enchants the world!"
+
+Who can doubt that the names of these sorceresses of our time will reach
+posterity, as those of the Aspasias and Lauras of antiquity have reached
+our own--as having held philosophers by the beard, and trampled on the
+necks of the conquerors of mankind--as being those for whom Solon
+legislated, and to whom Pericles succumbed?
+
+Pausanius tells us of the stately tomb of the frail Pythonice in the Vica
+Sacra; and we know that Phryne offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes, by
+Alexander overthrown. And surely, if modern guide-books instruct us to
+weep in the cemetery of Pere la Chaise over the grave of Fanny Bias,
+history will say a word or two in honour of Cerito, who proposed through
+the newspapers, last season, an alliance offensive and defensive with no
+less a man than Peter Borthwick, Esq. M.P., (_Arcades ambo_!) to relieve
+the distress of the manufacturing classes of Great Britain! It is true
+such heroines can afford to be generous; for what lord chancellor or
+archbishop of modern times commands a revenue half as considerable?
+
+Why, therefore--O Public! why, we beseech thee, seeing that the influence
+of the operative class is fairly understood, and undeniably established
+among us--why not at once elevate choriography to the rank of one of the
+fine arts?--Why not concentrate, define, and qualify the calling, by a
+public academy?--since all hearts and eyes are amenable to the charm of
+exquisite dancing, why vex ourselves by the sight of what is bad, when
+better may be achieved? Be wise, O Pubic, and consider! Establish a
+professor's chair for the improvement of pirouetters. We have hundreds of
+professor's chairs, quite as unavailable to the advancement of the
+interests of humanity, and wholly unavailable to its pleasures. Neither
+painters nor musicians acquire as much popularity as dancers, or amass an
+equal fortune. Why should they be more highly protected by the state?
+
+To disdain this exquisite art, is a proof of barbarism. The nations of the
+East may cause their dances to be performed by slaves; but two of the
+greatest kings of ancient and modern times, the kings after God's own
+heart and man's own heart--David and Louis le Grand--were excellent
+dancers, the one before the ark, the other before his subjects.
+
+Never, perhaps, did the art of dancing attain such eminent honours in the
+eyes of mankind, as during the _siecle dore_ of the latter monarch. At an
+epoch boasting of Moliere and Racine, Bossuet and Fenelon, Boileau and La
+Fontaine, Colbert and Perrault, (the fairy talisman of politics and
+architecture,) the court of Versailles could imagine no manifestation of
+regality more august, or more exquisite, than that of getting up a royal
+ballet; and the father of his people, Louis XIV., was, in his youth, its
+_coulon_.
+
+How amusing are the descriptions of these _entrees de ballet_,
+circumstantially bequeathed us by the memoirs of the regency of Anne of
+Austria! The cardinal himself took part in them; but the chief performers
+were the young King, his brother Gaston d'Orleans, and the maids of honour,
+figuring as Apollo and the Muses, or Hamadryads adoring some sylvan
+divinity. Who has not sympathized in the joy of Madame de Sevigne, at
+seeing her fair daughter exhibit among the _coryphees_! Who has not felt
+interested in the _jetees_ and _pas de bourrees_ of the _ancien regime_,
+when accomplished at court by Condes, Contis, Montpensiers, Montmorencys,
+Rohans, Guises! The Marquis de Dangeau first recommended himself to the
+favour of the royal master whose courts he was destined to journalize for
+posterity, by the skill of his _pas de basques_; and long before the all
+but conjugal influence of the lovely La Valliere commenced over the heart
+of the _grand monarque_, his early love, and more especially his passion
+for the beautiful niece of the Cardinal, may be traced to the rehearsals
+and _rondes de jambes_ of Maitz and Fontainbleau.
+
+The reign of Madame de Maintenon (_la raison meme_) over his affections,
+declared itself by the sudden transfer of a ballet-opera, expressly
+composed by Rameau and Quinault for the beauties of the court, to the
+public theatre of the Palais Royal. No more noble figurantes at Versailles!
+Louis le Pirouettiste's occupation was gone; and the _maitre des ballets
+du roi_ arrayed himself in sackcloth and ashes. But, lo! the glories of
+his throne took wing with the loves and graces; ballets and victories
+being effaced on the same page from the annals of his reign.
+
+During the minority of Louis XV., the same royal dansomania was renewed.
+The regent, Duke of Orleans, entertained the same notions of kingly
+education, on this head, as his predecessor the cardinal; and Louis _le
+Bien-aime_, like his great-grandfather before him, was the best dancer of
+his realm. Such dancing as it was! such exquisite footing! In the upper
+story of the grand gallery at Versailles, hang several pictures
+representing these court ballets; Cupids in coatees of pink lustring, with
+silver lace and tinsel wings, wearing full-bottomed wigs and the riband of
+the St Esprit; or Venuses in hoops and powder, whose _minauderies_ might
+afford a lesson to the divinities of our own day for the benefit of the
+omnibus box.
+
+Some of these groups, by Mignard, Boucher, and their imitators, are
+charming studies as _tableaux de genre_. But in nothing, by the way, are
+they more remarkable than in their _decency_. The nudities of the present
+times appear to have been undreamed of in the philosophy of Versailles.
+That simple-hearted, though strong-minded American writer, Miss Sedgwick,
+who has published an account of her consternation as she sat with Mrs
+Jameson in the stalls of our Italian opera, might have witnessed the royal
+performance unabashed. On being told, as she gazed upon the intrepid
+self-exposure of Taglioni, "_qu'il fallait etre sage pour danser comme
+ca_," Miss S. observes, that it requires to be more or less than woman,
+and proposes to divide the human species into men, women, and
+OPERA-DANCERS, little suspecting that half her readers translate such a
+classification into "men, women, and ANGELS;" or that they would see
+herself and her sister moralist go down in the _President_ without a pang,
+provided Elssler and Taglioni were saved from the deep!
+
+Natural enough! we repeat it--natural enough! To create a good dancer,
+requires the rarest combination of physical and mental endowments.
+Graceful as the forms transmitted to us by the pottery of Etruria and the
+frescoes of Herculaneum, she must unite with the strength of an athlete,
+the genius of a first-rate actress. That even moderate dancing demands
+immoderate abilities, is attested by the exhibition of human ungainliness
+disfiguring all the court balls of Europe. There may be seen the
+representatives of the highest nobility, tutored by the highest education,
+shuffling over the polished floor with stiffened arms and bewildered
+legs--often out of time--always out of place--as if acting under the
+influence of a galvanic battery. Not one in ten of them rises even to
+mediocrity as a dancer. A few degrees lower in the social scale, and it
+would be not one in twenty. Amid the shoving, shouldering, shuffling mob
+of dancers in an ordinary ball-room, the absence of all grace amounts even
+to the ludicrous. Forty years long have people been dancing the quadrilles
+now in vogue, which consist of six favourite country-dances, fashionable
+in Paris at the close of the last century, and then singly known by the
+names they still retain--"La Poule, L'Ete, Le Pantalon, Le Trenis," &c. &c.
+To avoid the monotony of dancing each in succession, for hours at a time,
+down a file of forty couple, it was arranged that every eight couple
+should form a square, and perform the favourite dances, in succession,
+with the same partner--a considerable relief to the monotony of the
+ball-room. Yet, after all this experience, if poor Monsieur le Trenis
+(after whom one of the figures was named, and who, during the consulate,
+died dancing-mad in a public lunatic asylum) could rise, sane, from the
+dead, it would be enough to drive him mad again to see how little had been
+acquired, in the way of practice, since his decease. The processes and
+varieties of the ball-room are just where he left then on his exit!
+
+Previous to the introduction of quadrilles and country dances or
+_contredanses_, the inaptitude of nine-tenths of mankind for dancing was
+still more eminently demonstrated in the murders of the minuet. For (as
+Morall, the dancing-master of Marie Antoinette, used passionately to
+exclaim)--_que de choses dans un minuet_! What worlds of modest
+dignity--of alternate amenity and scorn! The minuet has all the tender
+coquetry of the bolero, divested of its licentious fervour. With the
+minuet and the hoop, indeed, disappeared that powerful circumvallation of
+female virtue, rendering superfluous the annual publication of a dozen
+codes of ethics, addressed to the "wives of England" and their daughters.
+All was comprehended in the _pas grave_. That noble and right Aulic dance
+was expressly invented in deference to the precariousness of powdered
+heads; and its calm sobrieties, once banished from the ball-room,
+revolutionary _boulangeres_ succeeded--and chaos was come again! The
+stately _pavon_ had possession of the English court, with ruffs and
+farthingales, in the reign of Elizabeth. With the Stuarts came the wild
+courante or corante--
+
+  "Hair loosely flowing, robes as free"--
+
+and if the House of Hanover, and minuets, reformed for a time the
+irregularities of St James's--what are we to expect now that waltzes,
+galops, and the eccentricities of the cotillon have possession of the
+social stage? WHAT NEXT? as the pamphlets say--"What will the lords
+do?"--what the ladies?
+
+Thus much in proof, that the boss of pirouettiveness is strangely wanting
+in human conformation, and that there is consequently all the excuse of
+ignorance for the wild enthusiasm lavished by London on the operative
+class. Ten guineas per night--five hundred for the season--is the price
+exacted for a first-rate opera-box; and as the exclusives usually arrive
+at the close of the opera, or, if earlier, keep up a perpetual babble
+during its performance, they clearly come for the dancing.--"_On voit
+l'opera, et l'on ecoute le ballet_," used to be said of the Academie de
+Musique. But it might be asserted now, with fully as much truth, of the
+Queen's Theatre, where the evolutions of Carlotta Grisi, Elssler, and
+Cerito, keep the audience in a state of breathless attention denied to
+Shakspeare.
+
+In two out of these instances, it may be advanced that they are consummate
+actresses as well as graceful and active dancers. Elssler's comedy is
+almost as piquant as that of Mademoiselle Mars. Nor is the ballet
+unsusceptible of a still higher order of histrionic display. We never
+remember to have seen a stronger _levee en masse_ of cambric handkerchiefs
+in honour of O'Neill's _Mrs Haller_, or Siddons's _Isabella_, than of the
+ballet of "Nina;" while the affecting death-dance in "Masaniello" is still
+fresh in the memory of the admirers of Pauline Leroux. We have heard of
+swoons and hysterics along the more impressionable audiences of La Scala,
+during the performance of the ballet of "La Vestale;" and have witnessed
+with admiration the striking effect of the fascinative scene in "Faust."
+
+Of late years, the union of Italian blood and a French education has been
+found indispensable to create a _danseuse_--"Sangue Napolitano in scuola
+Parigiana;"--and Vesuvius is the Olympus of all our recent divinities.
+Formerly, a Spanish origin was the most successful. The first dancer who
+possessed herself of European notoriety was La Camargo, whose portraits,
+at the close of a century, are still popular in France, where she has been
+made the heroine of several recent dramas. To her reign, succeeded that of
+the Gruinards and Duthes--in honour of whose bright eyes, a variety of
+noblemen saw the inside both of Fort St Eveque and St Pelagie; the opera
+being at that time a fertile source of _lettres de cachet_. To obtain
+admittance to the private theatricals of the former dancer, in her
+magnificent hotel in the Chaussee d'Antin, the ladies of fashion and of
+the court had recourse to the meanest artifices; while the latter has
+obtained historical renown, by having excited the jealousy, or rather envy,
+of Marie Antoinette. Mademoiselle Duthe appeared at the fetes of
+Longchamps, in the Bois de Boulogne, in a gorgeous chariot drawn by six
+milk-white steeds, with red morocco harness, richly ornamented with cut
+steel; and thus accomplished the object of incurring the resentment of the
+court, from the prodigality of one of whose married princes these
+splendours were supposed to emanate--splendours exceeding those of the
+Rhodopes of old.
+
+But the greatest triumph ever achieved by _danseuse_, was that of
+Bigottini! The Allied sovereigns, after vanquishing the victor of modern
+Europe, were by _her_ vanquished in their turn. At her feet, fresh
+trembling from an _entre-chat_, did
+
+  "Fiery French and furious Hun"
+
+lay down their arms! The Allied armies appeared to have entered Paris only
+to become the slaves of Bigottini!
+
+In our own country, devotees of the _danseuse_ have done more, by
+promoting her to the decencies of the domestic fireside. In our own
+country, also, even Punch was once purchased by an eccentric nobleman for
+the diversion of his private life. But as Demosthenes observed of the cost
+of such a pleasure, "that is buying repentance too dear!"
+
+We are perhaps offending the gravity of certain of our readers by the
+extent of this notice; albeit, we have striven to propitiate their
+prejudices by the peculiar combination and juxtaposition of professions,
+selected for consideration. But we are not acting unadvisedly. Close its
+eyes as it may, the public cannot but perceive, that the legitimate drama
+is banished by want of encouragement from the national theatres, and that
+the ballet is brandishing her cap and bells triumphantly in its room.
+
+Such changes are never the result of accident. The supply is created by
+the demand. It is because we prefer the Sylphide to Juliet, that the
+Sylphide figures before us. Shakspeare was played to empty benches; the
+Peri and Gisele fill the houses.
+
+We repeat, therefore, since such is the bent of public appetite, let it be
+gratified in the least objectionable way. Let us have a royal academy of
+dancing. We shall easily find some Earl of Westmoreland to compose its
+ballets, and lady patronesses to give an annual ball for the benefit of
+the institution. Do not let some eighty thousand a-year be lost to the
+country. An idol is as easily carved out of one block of wood as another.
+Let us make unto ourselves goddesses out of the haberdashers' shops of
+Oxford Street; and qualify the youthful caprices of Whitechapel to command
+the homage of Congress, and of the great autocrat of all the Russias.
+Properly instructed, little Sukey Smith may still obtain an enameled
+brooch or bracelet from her Majesty the Queen-Dowager! Let us "people this
+whole isle with sylphs!" Let Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden flourish;
+but--thanks to Great Britain pirouettes!--the art of giving ten guineas
+for a couple of hours spent in an opera-box, will then become less
+criminal; and we shall have no fear of the influence of some Herodias's
+daughter in our domestic life, when we see the Cracovienne announced in
+the bills "by Miss Mary Thomson." The charm will be destroyed. The
+unfrequented _coulisses_, like Dodona, will cease to give forth oracles.
+
+Under the influence of an "establishment," we shall have to record of
+opera-dancers as of other professions, that "the goddesses are departing!"
+The _danse a roulades_ of Fanny Elssler will be voted vulgar, when
+attempted by a Buggins. Let Mr Bunn look to himself. He may yet survive
+his immortality. We foresee a day in which he will be no longer styled
+Alfred the Great. With the aid of George Robins, and other illustrious
+persons interested in the destinies of theatrical property, we do not
+despond of hearing attached to "a bill for the legalization of the Royal
+and National Academy of Dancing of the United Kingdom," the satisfactory
+decree of "LA REINE LE VEUT!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE PIRATES OF SEGNA.
+
+A TALE OF VENICE AND THE ADRIATIC. IN TWO PARTS.
+
+PART I.
+
+CHAPTER I.--THE STUDIO.
+
+
+It was on a bright afternoon in spring, and very near the close of the
+sixteenth century, that a handsome youth, of slender form and patrician
+aspect, was seated and drawing before an easel in the studio of the aged
+cavaliere Giovanni Contarini--the last able and distinguished painter of
+the long-declining school of Titian. The studio was a spacious and lofty
+saloon, commanding a cheerful view over the grand canal. Full curtains of
+crimson damask partially shrouded the lofty windows, intercepting the
+superabundant light, and diffusing tints resembling the ruddy, soft, and
+melancholy hues of autumnal foliage; while these hues were further
+deepened by a richly carved ceiling of ebony, which, not reflecting but
+absorbing light, allayed the sunny radiance beneath, and imparted a sombre
+yet brilliant effect to the pictured walls, and glossy draperies, of the
+spacious apartment. Above the rich and lofty mantelpiece hung one of the
+last portraits of himself painted by the venerable Titian, and on the dark
+pannels around were suspended portraits of great men and lovely women by
+the gifted hands of Giorgione, Paul Veronese, Paris Bordone, and
+Tintoretto. Regardless, however, of all around him, and almost breathless
+with eagerness and impatience, the student pursued his object, and with
+rapid and vigorous strokes had half completed his sketch--totally
+unconcious the while that some one had opened the folding-doors, crossed
+the saloon, and now stood behind his chair.
+
+"But tell me, Antonello mio!" exclaimed old Contarini, after gazing awhile
+in mute astonishment at the sketch before him; "tell me, in the name of
+wonder, what kind of face do you mean to draw around that lean and
+withered nose and that horribly wrinkled mouth?"
+
+Antonio, however, was so unconcious of the "world without," that he
+started not at this sudden interruption of the previous stillness.
+Regardless, too, of the serious and indeed reproving tone of the old man's
+voice, he hastily replied without averting his gaze from the canvass.
+"Hush, maestro! I beseech you. Question me not, for Heaven's sake! I
+cannot spare a word in reply. The original," continued he, after a brief
+interval of close attention to his object, and drawing as he spoke; "the
+original is still firmly fixed in my memory. I see its sharp outlines
+clear within me, and, as you well know and oft have told me, a feature
+lost is lost for ever. Alas! alas! those lines and angles around the mouth
+are already fading into shadow."
+
+After he had thrown out these words, from time to time, like interjections,
+and with Venetian rapidity of utterance, nothing was audible in the saloon
+for some minutes but the young artist's sharp and rapid strokes upon the
+canvass.
+
+"No more of this, Antonio!" at length exclaimed the old painter with
+energy, after gazing for some time at the gradual appearance of an old
+woman's lean and winkled features, dried up and yellow as if one of the
+dead, and yet lighted up by a pair of dark deep-set eyes, which seemed to
+blaze with supernatural life and lustre. At each touch of the artist, this
+mummy-like and unearthly visage was brought out into sharper and more
+disgusting relief, when Contarini, no longer able to control his
+indignation, dashed the charcoal from his pupil's hand. "Apage, Satanas!"
+he shouted, "thy talent hath a devil in it. I see his very hoof-print in
+that horrible design."
+
+Startled by this unexpected violence, the young artist turned round, and
+beheld with amazement the usually benign featutes of his venerable teacher
+flashing upon him with irrepressible anger, which was the more impressive
+because the Cavaliere had just returned from a visit to the Doge, and was
+richly attired in the imposing patrician costume of the period. Around his
+neck was the golden chain hung there by the imperial hands of Rodolph the
+Second, and he wore the richly enameled barret, and lofty heron's plume,
+which the same picture-loving emperor had placed upon his head when he
+knighted him as a reward for the noble pictures he had painted in Germany.
+There was a true and fine air of nobility in his lofty form and
+well-marked features--a character of matured thought and intellectual
+power in the expansive brow, and in the firm gaze of his large dark eyes,
+as yet undimmed by age--with evidence of decision and self-respect, and
+habitual composure in the finely formed mouth and chin. Thus splendidly
+arrayed, and thus dignified in form, features, and expression, this
+distinguished man recalled so powerfully to the memory of his imaginative
+pupil the high-minded doges of the heroic period of Venice, and the
+imposing portraits of Titian's senators, that, with a deep sense of his
+own moral inferiority, he obeyed in silence, and with starting tears
+removed the offending sketch. Then placing before him a small picture of a
+weeping and lovely Magdalen by Contarini, which he had undertaken to copy,
+he began the sketch, patiently awaiting a voluntary explanation of this
+unwonted vehemence in his beloved teacher, who, seated in his armchair,
+leaned his head upon his hand and seemed lost in thought.
+
+And now again for some time was the deep stillness of the studio
+interrupted only by the strokes of Antonio's charcoal, which, unlike his
+rapid and feverish efforts when sketching the old woman, were now subdued
+and tranquil. As he gazed into the upraised and pleading eyes of the
+beautiful Magdalen, his excitement gradually yielded to the pacifying
+influence of her mute and eloquent sorrow. This salutary change escaped
+not the observation of Contarini, whose benevolent features softened as he
+gazed upon these tokens of a better spirit in his pupil.
+
+"I rejoice to see, Antonio," he began, "that you already feel, how ever
+imperfectly, the soothing and hallowed influence of the Beautiful in Art
+and Nature, and the peril to soul and body of delighting in imaginary
+forms of horror. If you indulge these cravings of a distempered fancy, you
+will sink to the base level of those Flemish artists who delight in
+painting witches and demons, and in all fabulous and monstrous forms. You,
+who are nobly born, devoted to poetry and fine art, and possess manifest
+power in portraiture, should aim at the Heroic in painting. Make this your
+first and steadfast purpose. Devote to it your life and soul; and, should
+the power to reach this elevation be wanting, you may still achieve the
+Beautiful, and paint lovely women in lovely attitudes. But tell me,
+Antonello!" continued he, resuming his wonted kindness, "how came that
+horrid visage across thy path, or rather across thy fancy? for surely no
+such original exists. Say, didst thou see it living, or was it the growth
+of those distempered dreams to which painters, more than other men, are
+subject?"
+
+"No, padre mio! it was no dream," eagerly answered his pupil. "Yesterday I
+went in our gondola, as is my wont on festivals, to the beautiful church
+of San Moyses, which I love for its oriental and singular architecture.
+When near the church I heard a melodious voice calling to Jacopo, my
+gondolier, the only boatman in sight, and begging a conveyance across the
+canal. Issuing from the cabin, I saw a tall figure, closely veiled,
+standing on the steps of the palace facing the church and occupied by the
+Archduke's ambassador. Approaching the steps, Jacopo placed a plank for
+the stranger; but, as she stepped out to reach it, a sudden gust caught
+her large loose mantle, which, clinging to her shape, displayed for a
+moment a form of such majestic and luxuriant fulness--such perfect and
+glorious symmetry, as no man, still less an artist, could look on unmoved.
+In trembling and indescribable impatience, I awaited the raising of her
+veil. Another gust, and a slight stumble as she bounded rather than
+stepped into the boat, befriended me; the partial shifting of her veil,
+which she hastily replaced, permitted a glimpse of her features--brief,
+indeed, but never to be forgotten. Yes, father! the face which surmounted
+that goddess-like and splendid person, was the horrid visage I have
+sketched, lean and yellow, drawn up into innumerable wrinkles, and with
+black eyes of intolerable brightness, blazing out of deep and faded
+sockets. Staggered by this unearthly contrast, I fell back upon the bench
+of the gondola, and gazed in silent horror at the stranger, who answered
+not the blunt questions of Jacopo; and, as if ashamed of her astounding
+ugliness, sat motionless and shrouded from head to foot in her capacious
+mantle. I followed her into the church; but, unable to hold out during the
+mass, I left her there and hastily returned to sketch this sublime example
+of the hideous before any of its points had faded from my memory. Forgive
+me, father, for yielding to an impulse so strong as to overwhelm all power
+of resistance. Yet why should I abandon this rare opportunity of
+displaying any skill I may have gained from so gifted a teacher? Pictures
+of Madonnas and of lovely women so abound in all our palaces, that a young
+artist can only rise above the common level by representing something
+extraordinary, something rarely or never seen in life."
+
+Contarini gazed with sorrowing and affectionate interest upon the flushed
+features of his pupil, again excited as before by his own description of
+the mysterious stranger. One less acquainted with human nature, would have
+mistaken the flashing eyes and animated features of the youthful artist
+for the sure tokens of conscious and advancing talent; but the aged
+painter, whose practised eye was not dazzled by the soft harmony of
+features which gave a character of feminine beauty to Antonio, saw in the
+excitement which failed to give a more intellectual character to his
+countenance, sad evidence of a soul too feeble and infirm of purpose to
+achieve eminence in any thing, and with growing alarm he inferred a
+predisposition to mental disease from those morbid and uncontrolled
+impulses, which delighted in portraying objects revolting to all men of
+sound and healthy feelings.
+
+He arose in evident emotion, and after pacing the studio some time in
+silence, he approached Antonio, who, yielding to his eccentric longings,
+had seized the sketch of the old woman's head, and was gazing on it with
+evident delight. "Give me the sketch, Antonio!" resumed the painter in his
+kindest tone, "'Tis finished, and the hunter cares not for the hunted
+beast when stricken. What wouldst thou with it?" "What would I, maestro?"
+exclaimed the alarmed youth, hastily removing his sketch from the extended
+hand of the painter, "Finish the subject of course, and place this
+wonderful old head upon the magnificent form to which it belongs."
+
+"But, saidst thou not, Antonio, that the poor creature in the gondola
+hastily concealed her features when accident revealed them, as if ashamed
+of her unnatural ugliness? And canst thou be so heartless as to publish to
+the world that strange deformity she is doomed to bear through life, and
+which she is evidently anxious to conceal? Wouldst thou add another pang
+to the existence of one to whom life is worse than death, and whose
+eternal veil is but a foretaste of the winding-sheet and the grave? Thou
+wilt not, canst not, my Antonio, make such unheard-of misery thy
+stepping-stone to fame and fortune." This impassioned appeal to all his
+better feelings at length reached the heart of Antonio. For a short time
+he continued to withhold the drawing; but his kindly nature triumphed.
+Tearing his sketch into fragments, he threw himself into the extended arms
+of his beloved teacher, who with deep emotion placed his trembling hand on
+the curling locks of his pupil, and implored the blessing of Heaven on his
+better feelings and purposes.
+
+With a view to improve the impression he had made, the painter led Antonio
+round the studio, and sought to fix his attention upon several portraits
+of lovely women which adorned it. "Here," said he, "are heads worthy to
+crown that striking figure in the gondola. Behold that all-surpassing
+portrait by Giorgione, of such beauty as painters and poets may dream of
+but never find, and yet not superhuman in its type. Too impassioned for an
+angel; too brilliant for a Madonna; and with too much of thought and
+character for a Venus--she is merely _woman_. Belonging to no special rank
+or class in society, and neither classical nor ideal, she personifies all
+that is most lovely in her sex; and, whether found in a palace or a
+cottage, would delight and astonish all beholders. This rarely gifted
+woman was the daughter of Palma Vecchio, and the beloved of Giorgione, one
+of the handsomest men of his time; but her sympathies were not for him,
+and he died of grief and despair in his prime. She was the favourite model
+of Titian and his school, and the type that more or less prevails in many
+celebrated pictures.
+
+"How different and yet how beautiful of its kind, is that portrait of a
+Doge's daughter, by Paris Bordone! Less dazzling and luxuriant in her
+beauty than Palma's daughter, she is in all respects intensely
+aristocratic. In complexion not rich and glowing, but of a transparent and
+pearly lustre, through which the course of each blue vein is visible. In
+shape and features not full and beautifully rounded, but somewhat taller
+and of more delicate symmetry. In look and attitude not open, frank, and
+natural; but astute, refined, courteous, and winning to a degree
+attainable only by aristocratic training and the habits of high society.
+In apparel, neither national nor picturesque, but attired with studied
+elegance. Rich rows of pearls wind through her braided hair, in colour
+gold, in texture soft as silk. A band of gold forms the girdle of her
+ruby-coloured velvet robe, which descends to the wrist, and there reveals
+the small white hand and tapering fingers of patrician beauty. All this
+may captivate the fastidious noble; but, to men less artificial in their
+tastes and habits, could such a woman be better than a statue--and could
+love, the strongest of human passions, be ever more to her than a
+short-lived and amusing pastime?
+
+"From these immortal portraits, my Antonio, you may learn that _colour_
+was the grand secret of the great Venetian painters. _Their_ pale forms
+are never white, nor their blooming cheeks rose-colour, but the true
+colour of life--mellow, rich, and glowing; both men and women strictly
+true to nature, and looking as if they could turn pale with anger or blush
+with tender passion. From these great men can best be learned how much
+charm may be conveyed by _colour_, and what life and glow, what passion,
+grace, and beauty it gives to _form_.
+
+"But I weary thee, Antonio; and after such excitement thou hast need of
+repose. To-morrow, let me see thee early."
+
+The exhausted youth gladly departed from a scene of so much trial; and,
+hastening to his gondola, sought refreshment in an excursion to the Lido.
+Returning after nightfall, he landed on the Place of St Mark's, and
+wandered through its cool arcades until they were deserted. In vain,
+however, did he strive to banish the graceful form and grisly features of
+the stranger. The strong impression he had received became so vivid and
+absorbing, that at every turn he thought he saw her gazing at him as if in
+mockery, and lighting up the deep shadows beneath the arches with her
+glowing orbs, which seemed to his disordered fancy to emit sparks and
+flashes of fire. No longer able to resist the impulse, forgetting alike
+the paternal admonitions of the old painter, and the promises so sincerely
+given, he quitted the piazza and hastened to the palace of his father, the
+Proveditore Marcello, then absent on state affairs in the Levant.
+
+Retiring to his own apartment, he fixed an easel with impetuous haste, and
+by lamp-light again began to sketch the Medusa head of the old woman.
+Yielding himself up to this new frenzy, he succeeded beyond his hopes; a
+supernatural power seemed to guide his hand, and soon after midnight he
+had drawn to the life not only the appalling head, but the commanding and
+beautiful person, of the mysterious personage in the gondola. After gazing
+awhile upon his work with triumphant delight, he retired to bed; but slept
+not until long after sunrise, and then the extraordinary incidents of the
+past day haunted his feverish dreams. A female form, youthful and of
+surpassing beauty, hovered around his couch, but ever changing in
+appearance. At first her head was invisible and veiled in mist, from which,
+at intervals, flashed features of resplendent loveliness, and eyes of
+heavenly blue, which beamed upon him with thrilling tenderness; and then
+the mist dispersed, and the beauteous phantom stooped down to kiss his
+cheek, when suddenly her blooming face darkened and withered into the
+death-like visage of that fearful stranger, and her long bright hair was
+converted into hissing sepents. Starting with a scream of horror from his
+troubled and exhausting slumbers, he again sought refuge in his gondola,
+but returned, alas! to make his sketch into a picture, which the hues of
+life made still more hideous and repulsive. After several days thus
+occupied, he sketched in various attitudes the imposing figure of the old
+woman, and endeavoured to fit this beautiful Torso with a head not
+unworthy of it. But herein, after many attempts, he failed. His excitement,
+so long indulged, had risen into fever. His diseased fancy controlled his
+pencil, and blended with features of the highest order of beauty so many
+touches of the old woman's ghastly visage, that he threw down his pencil,
+and abandoned all further efforts in despair.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE CAVERN.
+
+
+The shores of Austrian Dalmatia south of the port of Fiume, are of so
+rugged and dangerous a nature, that although broken into numerous creeks
+and bays, there are but few places where vessels, even of small dimensions,
+dare to approach them, or indeed where it is possible to effect a landing.
+A long experience of the coast, and of the adjacent labyrinth of islands
+which block up the gulf of Carnero, is necessary in order to accomplish in
+safety the navigation of the shallow rocky sea; and even when the mariner
+succeeds in setting foot on land, he not unfrequently finds his progress
+into the interior barred by precipices steep as walls, roaring torrents,
+and yawning ravines.
+
+It was on a mild evening of early spring, and a few days after the
+incidents recorded in the preceding chapter, that a group of wild-looking
+figures was assembled on the Dalmatian shore, opposite the island of
+Veglia. The sun was setting, and the beach was so overshadowed by the
+beetling summits of the high chalky cliffs, that it would have been
+difficult to discover much of the appearance of the persons in question,
+but for an occasional streak of light that shot out of a narrow ravine
+opening among the rocks in rear of the party, and lit up some dark-bearded
+visage, or flashed on the bright barrel of a long musket. High above the
+ravine, and standing out against the red stormy-looking sky behind it, the
+outline of a fortress was visible, and in the hollow beneath might be
+distinguished the small closely-built mass of houses known as the town of
+Segna.
+
+This castle, which, by natural even more than artificial defences, was
+deemed impregnable, especially on its sea face, was the stronghold of a
+handful of hardy and desperate adventurers, who, although their numbers
+never exceeded seven hundred men, had yet, for many years preceding the
+date of this narrative, made themselves a name dreaded throughout the
+whole Adriatic. The inhabitants of the innumerable Dalmatian islands, the
+subjects of the Grand Turk, the people of Ancona--all, in short, who
+inhabited the shores of the Adriatic, and were interested in its commerce,
+or in the countless merchant vessels that skimmed over its
+waters--trembled and turned pale when the name of these daring freebooters
+was mentioned in their hearing. In vain was it that the Sultan, who in his
+sublimity scarcely deigned to know the names of some of the great European
+powers, had caused his pachas to take the field with strong armaments for
+the extermination of this nest of pirates. These expeditions were
+certainly not disadvantageous to the Porte, which seized the opportunity
+of annexing to its dominions some large slices of Hungarian and Venetian
+territory; but their ostensible object remained unaccomplished, and the
+proverbial salutation of the time, "God save you from the Uzcoques!" was
+still on the lips of every one.
+
+The word "Uzcoque," by which this dreaded people was known, had grown into
+a sound of mourning and panic to the inhabitants of the shores and islands
+of the Adriatic. At the utterance of that fearful name, young girls
+crowded together like frightened doves; the child hid its terrified face
+in its mother's lap; the eyes of the matron overflowed with tears as the
+images of murdered sons and outraged daughters passed before her mind's
+eye, and, like Banquo's ghost, filled the vacant seats at the table; while
+the men gazed anxiously out, expecting to see their granaries and
+store-houses in flames. Nor were the seaman's apprehensions less lively,
+when night surprised him with some valuable cargo in the neighbourhood of
+the pirates' haunts. Every rock, each tree, and bush became an object of
+dread; the very ripple of the waves on the shingle a sound of alarm. To
+his terrified fancy, a few leafless and projecting branches assumed the
+appearance of muskets, a point of rock became the prow of one of those
+light, sharp-built boats in which the Uzcoques were wont to dart like
+seabirds upon their prey; and, invoking his patron saint, the frightened
+sailor crossed himself, and with a turn of the rudder brought his vessel
+yet nearer to the Venetian galleys that escorted the convoy.
+
+At the cry "Uzcoque" the slender active Albanian grasped his fire-lock,
+with rage and hatred expressed on his bearded countenance: the phlegmatic
+Turk sprang in unwonted haste from his carpet; his pipe and coffee were
+neglected, his women and treasures secured in the harem, while he shouted
+for the Martellossi,[3] and slipping them like dogs from a leash, sent
+them to the encounter of their foes on the devastated plains of Cardavia.
+In the despatches from Madrid, from the ministers of that monarch on whose
+dominions the sun never set, to his ambassadors, the name of these seven
+hundred outlaws occupied a frequent and prominent place. But by none were
+the Uzcoques more feared and detested than by the greyheaded doge and
+senators of the Ocean Queen, the sea-born city, before whose cathedral the
+colours of three kingdoms fluttered from their crimson flagstaffs; and the
+few young Venetians in whose breasts the remembrance of their heroic
+ancestors yet lived, blushed for their country's degradation when they
+beheld her rulers braved and insulted by a band of sea-robbers.
+
+    [3] The Turks, finding their own troops not well adapted to the
+    irregular and desperate kind of warfare waged by the Uzcoques, and
+    also unable to compete with them in the rapidity of their movements,
+    formed a corps expressly for the pursuit of the freebooters, which
+    was composed of men as wild and desperate as themselves. With these
+    _Martellossi_, as they were called, the Uzcoques had frequent and
+    sanguinary conflicts. Minucci says of the Martellossi, in his
+    _Historia degli Uscochi_, that they were "Scelerati barbari anco
+    'ordine de' medesime Scochi."
+
+To this band belonged the wild figures, whose appearance on the shore has
+been noticed, and who were busily employed in rummaging a number of sacks
+and packages which lay scattered on the ground. They pursued their
+occupation in profound silence, except when the discovery of some object
+of unusual value elicited an exclamation of delight, or a disappointment
+brought a grumbling curse to their lips. They seemed carefully to avoid
+noise, lest it should draw down upon them the observation of the castle
+that frowned above their heads, and at the embrasures and windows of which
+they cast frequent and frightened glances, although the darkness of the
+ravine, at the entrance of which they had stationed themselves, and the
+rapidly deepening twilight, rendered it almost impossible to discover them.
+
+"By the beard of the prophet, Hassan!" exclaimed in a suppressed tone a
+young Turk, who lay bound hand and foot at a short distance from the
+pirates, "why do these mangy curs keep us lying so long on the wet grass?
+Why do they not seek their kennel up yonder?"
+
+The person addressed was a little, round, oily-looking Turk, a Levant
+merchant, whose traffic had called him to one of the neighbouring islands,
+and who had been laid hold of on his passage by the Uzcoques. He was
+sitting up, being less strictly manacled than his more youthful and
+energetic-looking companion; and his comical countenance wore a most
+desponding expression, as, in reply to the question put to him, he shook
+his head slowly from side to side, at the same time gravely stroking his
+beard.
+
+"By Allah!" exclaimed the young man impatiently, as he saw the pirates
+rummaging more eagerly than ever, and now and then concealing something of
+value under their cloaks, "could not the greedy knaves wait till they got
+home before they shared the plunder? May their fathers' souls burn!"
+
+"What saith the sage Oghuz?" quoth old Hassan slowly, "'As people grow
+rich their maw widens.'"
+
+"Silence, unbelieving hound!" exclaimed a harsh voice behind him, and a
+thump between the shoulders warned the old Turk to keep his proverbs for a
+more fitting season. The pirate was about to repeat the blow, when
+suddenly his hand fell, and the curses died away upon his lips.
+
+The clouds that had hitherto veiled the setting sun had suddenly broken,
+and a broad stream of golden light poured down the ravine, flashing upon
+the roofs and gables of the town, and making the castle appear like a huge
+and magnificent lantern. The ravine was lighted up as though by
+enchantment, and the unexpected illumination caused an alarm among the
+group of pirates, not unlike that of an owl into whose gloomy
+roosting-place a torch is suddenly intruded. Terror was depicted upon
+their countenances as they gazed up at the castle. For a moment all was
+still and hushed as the grave, and the Uzcoques scarcely seemed to breathe
+as they drew their greedy hands in silent haste out of the sacks; then,
+suddenly recovering from their stupefaction, they snatched up their
+muskets and crowded into a dark cavern in the rock, which the beams of the
+setting sun had now for the first time rendered visible, without, however,
+lighting up its deep and dark recesses. In their haste and alarm, more
+than one of the freebooters had his tattered mantle caught by the thorny
+arms of some of the bushes scattered over the shore, and turned in terror,
+thinking himself in the grasp of a foe. A few only had the presence of
+mind to throw their cloaks over the varied and glittering plunder that lay
+scattered about on the ground; and strange was the contrast of the
+sparkling jewellery, the rich stuffs, and embroidered robes, strewed on
+the beach, with the mean and filthy garments that partially concealed them,
+and the wild and squalid figures of their present possessors.
+
+A number of the Uzcoques now threw themselves with brutal violence upon
+the two prisoners, muffled their heads in cloaks to prevent their crying
+out, and carried them with the speed of light into the cave, in the
+innermost recess of which they bestowed them. They then rejoined their
+companions, who were grouped together at the entrance of the cavern like a
+herd of frightened deer, and gazing anxiously up at the castle. After the
+lapse of a very few minutes, the bright glow again faded away, the
+fortress reassumed its black and frowning aspect, the roofs of Segna
+relapsed into their dull grey hue, and shadows, deeper than before,
+covered the ravine.
+
+Reviving under the influence of the darkness, so congenial to their habits
+and occupations, the Uzcoques began to recover from their alarm, and the
+murmur of voices was again heard as they seized the sacks, and hastily
+filled them with the various objects lying on the beach. Every thing being
+collected, the pirates commenced toiling their way up the steep mountain
+path leading to the castle, with the exception of a few who still lingered
+at the entrance of the cavern, and whom the prisoners could hear disputing
+about some point on which there seemed to exist much difference of opinion.
+
+"Hell and the devil!" at last exclaimed an impatient voice, in a louder
+tone than had yet been employed. "There's little chance that we have not
+been seen from the castle; for the warder would expect us back about this
+time, and doubtless was on the look-out. These Turkish hounds have seen
+every thing, and might easily betray us. Let us leave them here till
+to-morrow, till I have spoken to the warder, and arranged that they be
+sent on at once to Gradiska without coming to speech of the captain. I
+will join the escort myself to make it still surer."
+
+After some slight opposition on the part of the others, this proposal was
+adopted, and the remaining pirates took their departure. The sound of
+their footsteps along the rocky path had scarcely died away on the ears of
+the anxiously listening captives, when loud acclamations and cries of joy
+announced the arrival of the first detachment at the castle. The heavy
+gates of the fortress were opened with much din and rattle; after a short
+space they were again slammed to, the portcullis fell, and then no further
+sound broke the deep silence that reigned in the ravine.
+
+The collection of the plunder, the discussion among the pirates, and their
+departure, had passed so rapidly, that the young Turk had scarcely had
+time to recover from the giddy, half-stunned state into which the rough
+usage he had received had thrown him, when he found himself alone with his
+old fellow-captive.
+
+"Well, Hassan," said he at last, in a voice of suppressed fury, "what
+think you of all this?"
+
+The old man made no verbal reply, but merely stroked his beard, shrugged
+his shoulders, and opened his eyes wider than before, as much as to say,
+"I don't think at all; what do you think?"
+
+"It is not the prospect of passing the night in this damp hole, bound hand
+and foot, that chafes me to madness, and makes my very blood boil in my
+veins," resumed the young man after a pause. "That is a small matter,
+ but"--
+
+"A small matter!" interrupted Hassan with unusual vivacity. "That is,
+because you have forgotten the most dreadful part of our position. Bound
+hand and foot as we are, we can expect nothing less than to fall, ere
+cock-crow, into the power of Satan."
+
+"Of Satan!" repeated the other. "Has terror turned thy brain?"
+
+"Of a truth, the Evil One has already tied the three fatal nooses which he
+hangs over the head of the sleeping believer," replied the old Mahometan
+in a lachrymose tone. "He who awakes and forthwith invokes the holy name
+of Allah, is thereby delivered from the first noose; by performing his
+ablutions, the second becomes loosened; and by fervent prayer he unties
+the third. Our bonds render it impossible for us to wash, and the second
+noose, therefore, will remain suspended over our devoted heads."
+
+"Runs it so in the Koran, old man?" asked the youth.
+
+"In the Koran! What Mussulman are you? It is the hundred and forty-ninth
+passage of the Suna."
+
+"The Suna!" repeated the other, in a tone of indifference. "If that is all,
+it will not break my slumbers."
+
+"Allah protect me!" exclaimed the old man, as he made an attempt to pluck
+out his beard, which the shackles on his wrists rendered ineffectual.
+"Allah protect me! Is it not enough that I have fallen into captivity? Am
+I also doomed to pass the night under the same roof with an unbeliever,
+even as the Nazarenes are?"
+
+"May the bolt of Heaven fall on thy lying tongue!" exclaimed the youth in
+great wrath. "I an unbeliever! I, Ibrahim, the adopted son of Hassan,
+pacha of Bosnia!"
+
+In deepest humility did the old merchant bow his head, and endeavour to
+lay hold of the hem of the young man's crimson caftan, in order to carry
+it to his lips.
+
+"Enough! enough!" said Ibrahim, whose good temper had returned. "You spoke
+in haste and ignorance. I am well pleased when I break no commandment of
+the Koran; and trouble my head little about the sayings of those babbling
+greybeards, the twelve holy Imaums."
+
+"But the nooses," expostulated Hassan, not a little scandalized by his
+companion's words.
+
+"You have nothing to do but to sleep all night without awaking," replied
+the young Turk laughing. "Then you will have no need either to wash or
+pray."
+
+The superstitious old man turned his face to the wall in consternation and
+anguish of spirit.
+
+"This night have I seen with my own eyes what we have hitherto refused to
+believe," resumed Ibrahim after a pause, and in a tone of indignation that
+echoed through the cavern. "I am now convinced that the shameless
+scoundrels do not rob on their own account, since they are obliged to
+pilfer and conceal a part of their plunder in order to get a profit from
+their misdeeds. Marked you not, Hassan, how they trembled when the sun lit
+up the ravine, lest their tricks should be espied by some sentry on the
+battlements; and how their panic fear made them carry every thing up to
+the castle?"
+
+The old Turk bowed his head assentingly.
+
+"Glory be to God and the Sultan!" continued the youth. "Before the bright
+countenance of the prophet's vicegerent, who reigneth in Stamboul, no
+misdeed can remain hidden that occurs in the remotest corner of his vast
+dominions. Nay, much of what happens in the land of the Giaour is also
+manifest to his penetrating vision. Witness the veil of turpitude and
+cunning which has long been seen through by the clear eyes of our holy
+mollahs, and of the council at the Seraglio, and which has just now been
+torn away from before me, like a mist dispersing in the sunshine of truth.
+Truly spoke the Christian maiden, whom but a few weeks back I took captive
+in a fight with the Uzcoques, but who was shortly after rescued by another
+band of those raging fiends."
+
+"Saw you the maiden," exclaimed Hassan, "the good maiden that accompanies
+the pirates, like an angel walking among demons?"
+
+"What know you of the Houri?" eagerly demanded the youth, in vain
+endeavouring to raise his head from the damp stones.
+
+"That it was the hand of Allah that rescued her from you," replied the
+other. He chastiseth his creatures with rods, but even in his chastisemcnt
+is mercy. "How many more had not the dogs and the ravens devoured, had the
+Christian maiden been taken from among the Uzcoques? She belongs to them,
+she is the daughter of their leader, the terrible Dansowich, beside whom
+she is ever to be found, instilling the musk and amber of mildness into
+his fierce soul, and pouring healing into the wounds he makes. I know her
+not, but often have I heard the Christians, with whom my traffic brought
+me acquainted, include her in the prayers they addressed to their God."
+
+"Her eyes were as brilliant stars, and they blinded my very soul,"
+exclaimed Ibrahim impetuously; "the honey of her words dropped like balm
+into my heart! As the sound of bubbling fountains, and the rustle of
+flowery groves to the parched wanderer in the desert, fell her sweet voice
+upon my ear. So gentle and musical were its tones, that I thought not of
+their meaning, and it is only to-day that I understand them."
+
+"I know not," quoth Hassan, "what you may have seen; but doubtless, Satan,
+who wished to inspire you with an unholy desire for a Nazarene woman,
+began by blinding you. According to all I have heard, the Uzcoque maiden
+is good and compassionate, but as ugly as night."
+
+"Ugly!" cried Ibrahim, "Then there must be two of them; for the one I saw
+was blooming as the spring, her eyes like the morning star, and her cheeks
+of velvet. Oh, that I could again behold her! In that hope it was that I
+pressed so rashly forward in the fight, and was made prisoner; but yet
+have I not beheld the pearl of mine eyes."
+
+"She cannot be amongst them," said Hassan; "and thence comes it that the
+pirates have this year committed greater cruelties than ever, and done
+deeds that cry out to Allah for vengeance."
+
+"Instead of her silver tones," continued Ibrahim, "I hear the shrieks of
+the tortured; instead of her words of peace and blessing, the curses of
+the murderer."
+
+"But what did the maiden tell you?" enquired Hassan, who was getting
+impatient at the transports of the enamoured youth.
+
+"Her words flowed like a clear stream out of the well of truth. It is not
+the Uzcoques alone," said she, "who are to blame for the horrors that"--
+
+"Hark!" interrupted the old Turk.
+
+A clamour of voices and splashing of oars became audible, a keel grated on
+the beach, and then hurried footsteps were heard in the ravine.
+
+"It is another vessel with Uzcoques!" exclaimed Ibrahim; "but these are
+not laden with plunder, their movements are too rapid."
+
+As he spoke, the tumult and murmur of voices and trampling of feet
+increased, and above all a noise like distant musketry was heard.
+
+"Holy Virgin!" suddenly exclaimed a clear and feminine voice, apparently
+close to the mouth of the cavern. "They are already at the castle--the
+gates, no doubt, are shut, the drawbridge raised. Before they could come
+down it would be too late."
+
+The young Turk started.
+
+"It is she, Hassan!" he exclaimed. "It is Strasolda, the Christian maiden!"
+
+"Oh, my father!" cried the same voice in tones of heart-rending anguish.
+"How shall we deliver thee? Alas! alas! who can tell the tortures they
+will make thee suffer in their dreadful dungeons?"
+
+The noise of the musketry became more and more distinct. Some of the newly
+arrived Uzcoques who had hurried up the winding path, were soon heard
+clamouring furiously for admittance at the castle gates.
+
+"They will be too late!" exclaimed the maiden, wringing her hands in
+despair. The next moment a sudden thought seemed to flash across her mind,
+lending her fresh hope and energy.
+
+"Gracious Heaven!" she exclaimed in joyful tones. "Have we not here the
+cave, from which, invoked by fire, the storm and the hurricane, the north
+wind and the tempest, come forth and shatter the most stately vessels
+against our iron-bound coast.[4] Up, Uzcoques, and fire the cavern! Let
+the elements do battle for us. Perchance by their aid the bark of your
+leader Dansowich may yet escape its foes and reach the haven."
+
+    [4] In Minucci's History of the Uzcoques, continued by Paola Sarpi,
+    we find the following:--"Segna, through its position on a cragged
+    rock, was unapproachable by carts or horses, and consequently by
+    artillery. The harbour appertaining to it, however, was tolerably
+    good, but exceedingly difficult of access on account of the north
+    wind, (vento di Buora,) which blew almost incessantly in the
+    channel leading to it. According to popular belief, the Segnarese
+    had the power of causing this wind to blow at will, by merely
+    kindling a fire in a certain hollow of the cliffs. The mysterious
+    operation of this fire was to heat the veins of the earth, which
+    then, through pain or fury, sent out the raging hurricanes that
+    rendered those narrow seas in the highest degree dangerous, and
+    indeed untenable."
+
+Immediately after these words, which made the two Moslems quail, the
+pirate's daughter hastily entered the cavern with a blazing torch, the
+flashes of which awakened from slumber into life and glow the various tints
+of mosses, lichens, and stalactites innumerable that studded the ample
+vault. In this flitting and singular illumination, the appearance of the
+Uzcoque maiden was awful. Above the common stature of woman, and finely
+formed, she was attired in a white woollen garment, carelessly adjusted
+and confined at the waist by broad red girdle, from which it fell in long
+and graceful folds to her feet. Her face was a perfect oval; her features
+of regular and striking beauty; her complexion, naturally of that clear
+rich brown, which lends more lustre to the eyes than the purest red and
+white, was now ghastly with intense alarm; and this death-like paleness
+imparted a more prominent and commanding character to her well-defined,
+jet-black brows, and the full, dark, humid eyes, which gleamed like
+brilliants through their long lashes. Heavy tresses of raven hair,
+escaping beneath her turban-like head-dress, streamed out like a sable
+banner as she rushed into the cavern, then fell and flowed in waving
+luxuriance over neck and shoulders to her girdle. The Turks in the
+interior of the cavern, gazed in speechless wonder at this beautiful
+apparition standing erect in the strong red light. Waving her torch with
+energetic and graceful action, she appeared like an antique sybil at the
+moment of inspiration, or some Arabian enchantress preparing for an
+incantation. Their admiration, however, yielded to alarm, when they beheld
+her dash the torch upon the ground, and her attendants pile upon it straw
+and fagots, which blazed up instantly to the cavern roof, emitting volumes
+of smoke that made the captives invisible, and by its suffocating
+influence deprived them erelong of all power of utterance.
+
+The evening was serene and still, with scarcely a breath of wind stirring,
+and the flames blazed upward to the cavern roof; only now and then a light
+breeze from the sea wafted them on one side, and, at the sane time,
+dispersing the smoke, gave the Turks a momentary glimpse of the maiden,
+standing with uplifted hands, expectation, anxiety, and grief, depicted on
+her speaking countenance, as she invoked the spirit of the storm, while
+around her stood the few remaining Uzcoques, with sorrowing and downcast
+faces.
+
+"They come not!" she exclaimed after a pause, during which the fire began
+to burn low for lack of fuel, and the noise of the musketry diminished and
+finally ceased. "Uzcoques!" she cried in a louder voice, and with
+inspiration in her thrilling tones--"Take heed and warning, for your hour
+is come. Your crags and caverns, your rocky shores and howling storms,
+refuse you further service!"
+
+She paused, and at that moment was heard the rush of a rapidly approaching
+boat.
+
+"Speak not, ye messengers of evil!" exclaimed Strasolda in piercing
+accents. "Utter not a word. You have left Dansowich in the hands of the
+Venetians."
+
+There was no reply to her half frantic exclamation, and the deep silence
+was only broken by the footsteps of the new-comers, as with dejected looks
+they joined their companions. Just then some damp branches that had lain
+smouldering and smoking on the fire, burned brightly up, and by their
+light Ibrahim and Hassan beheld the maiden kneeling in the midst of the
+pirates, her tearful face covered by her fair and slender fingers. The
+next moment she raised her head and gazed into the cavern.
+
+As she did so, the sorrowful expression of her features changed, and her
+countenance was lighted up with a look of rapture, while a loud cry burst
+from her lips. Through the opening in the smoke, the prisoners became
+visible to her as they lay motionless in the interior of the cave, the
+light from the flames glowing on their red garments, and giving them the
+appearance of two statues of fire. In the handsome countenance of one of
+the figures thus suddenly revealed to her, Strasolda recognized the young
+Moslem, whose prisoner she had been, and whose noble person and bearing,
+courteous manners, and gentle treatment, had more than once since the day
+of her captivity, occupied the thoughts and fancy of the Uzcoque maiden.
+Unaware of Ibrahim's capture, Strasolda did not for an instant suppose
+that she beheld him in flesh and blood before her. To her excited and
+superstitious imagination, the figures of the Turks appeared formed out of
+fire itself, and she doubted not that the spirits of the cave had chosen
+this means of presenting to her, as in a prophetic mirror, a shadowy
+fore-knowledge of future and more favourable events.
+
+While she yet gazed eagerly on what she deemed a supernatural appearance,
+the rent in the veil of smoke suddenly closed, the flame sank down, and
+again all was gloom and darkness in the cavern. The thick stifling vapour
+of the damp wood, augmenting as the flame diminished, was now so
+overpowering that the Turks were in imminent danger of suffocation. In
+their extremity, making a violent effort, their pent up voices found vent
+in a cry of such startling wildness, that the Uzcoques, struck with terror,
+sprang back from the mouth of the cave, hurrying the maiden with them. The
+cry was not repeated, for the Turks had lost all consciousness from the
+stifling effects of the smoke.
+
+"Banish your fears, Uzcoques!" exclaimed Strasolda, staying the fugitives.
+"The voice that to you is a sound of dismay, gives me hope and confidence.
+I see the golden crescent rising in irresistible might, and shedding its
+rays over all the lands of the earth. Happy they on whom it casts its mild
+and favouring beams, and truer far the safeguard it affords to those who
+serve it, than that which is found beneath the shadow of the cross. Better
+the sharp cimeter and plighted word of the Moslem, than the fair promises
+of the lying Christian, who, in the hour of peril, abandons those by whose
+courage he has profited. But enough!" cried she in an altered tone. "Our
+first duty is to rescue my father from the hands of the Venetians. Go not
+into Segna. There are traitors there who might reveal what we most wish
+kept secret. The Venetians know not the person of Dansowich, and that may
+save him if no time be lost in plotting his deliverance. Let none even of
+our own people hear of his captivity. Now to the castle!"
+
+She led the way, and in silence and sadness the pirates followed the
+daughter of their captive chief.
+
+The fire was quite out, the smoke had cleared away, the moon poured its
+silvery light into the cavern, and the stillness was unbroken, save by the
+ripple of the waves on the beach, when Ibrahim recovered from the state of
+insensibility into which he had been thrown by the suffocating influence
+of the smoke, and heard his companion snoring at his side. For some time
+the young Turk lay, revolving in his mind the eventful scene he had
+witnessed, and the strange and startling circumstances that had come to
+his knowledge during the few preceding hours. The capture of Dansowich was
+an event of much importance; nor was there less weight in the discovery
+Ibrahim had made of the dependence of the Uzcoques upon a higher power,
+which, in secret, aided and profited by their depredations. Although
+Austria had been frequently accused of abetting the piracies of the
+Uzcoques, the charge had never been clearly proved, and to many appeared
+too improbable to obtain credence. Ibrahim had hitherto been among the
+incredulous; but what he had this day seen and heard, removed every doubt,
+and fully convinced him of the justice of those imputations.
+
+Turning in disgust from the contemplation of the labyrinth of crime and
+treachery to which he had seized the clue; the young Moslem sought and
+found a far pleasanter subject of reflection in the remembrance of the
+maiden, whose transcendent beauty and touching devotion to her captive
+parent, shone out the more brightly from their contrast with the vice and
+degradation by which she was surrounded. With much interest did he
+endeavour to solve the problem, and explain what appeared almost
+miraculous, how so fair a creature--such a masterpiece of Heaven's
+handiwork--could have passed her childhood and youth amongst the refuse of
+humanity assembled on the island, and yet have retained the spotless
+purity which was apparent in every look and gesture. But, however
+interesting these reflections were to the enamoured Ibrahim, his recent
+fatigues had been too great for nature not to assert her claims, and the
+wearied body finished by triumphing over the rebellious restlessness of
+the excited spirit. The graceful form of Strasolda, and the wild figures
+of the Uzcoques, swam more and more indistinctly before his closing eyes,
+until he sank at last into a deep and refreshing slumber.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE JEWELS.
+
+
+The tribe of the Uzcoques, or Scochi, derived their name from _scoco_, a
+refugee or fugitive, a word bearing reference to their origin. Towards the
+commencement of the sixteenth century, a band of hardy and warlike men
+abandoned the the provinces of Southern Hungary, Bulgaria, and Servia, and
+took refuge in Dalmatia from the tyranny and ill usage of the Turks, who
+had overrun the first-named provinces. Accompanied by their wives and
+families, and recruiting their numbers as they went along, they at last
+reached the fortress of Clissa, situated in the mountains, a few miles
+from the old Roman town of Spalatro. There, with the permission of its
+owner, Pietro Crosichio, they established themselves, forming one of the
+outposts of Christendom, and thence carried on a war of extermination
+against the Turks, to whom they did a degree of injury that would appear
+quite incommensurate with the smallness of their numbers. The name of
+Uzcoque soon became known throughout the Adriatic as the synonyme of a
+gallant warrior, till at length the Turks, driven nearly frantic by the
+exploits of this handful of brave men, fitted out a strong expedition and
+laid siege to Clissa, with the double object of getting rid of a
+troublesome foe, and of advancing another step into Christian Europe.
+
+The different powers who had benefited greatly, although indirectly, by
+the enterprising valour of the Uzcoques, neglected to give them the
+smallest assistance in their hour of peril. After an heroic defence,
+Clissa fell into the hands of the Turks, and a scanty and disheartened
+remnant of its brave defenders fled northward to seek some new place of
+refuge. This they found in the fortress of Segna, then belonging to a
+Count Frangipani, who allowed them to occupy it; and, at the same time,
+Ferdinand the First of Austria bethought himself, although somewhat
+tardily, that the Uzcoques had deserved better at his hands, and at those
+of other Christian princes, than to be left to their own resources when
+assailed by the overwhelming power of the Porte. As a sort of atonement,
+he took them formally into his pay, to assist him in his wars against the
+infidel. But from this day forward the Uzcoques gradually declined in
+valour and in moral worth. From a race of heroes they degenerated into a
+horde of mercenary adventurers, and finally, of cruel and cowardly pirates.
+Their primitive customs and simple virtues were exchanged for the vices of
+refugees and criminals from Venice and other neighbouring states, who came
+in crowds to fill up the frequent vacancies occurring in their ranks.
+
+At length the military value of the Uzcoques being much impaired, and
+their services also less required, Austria became irregular in her
+payments, and at last entirely discontinued them. The barren mountains
+round Segna produced nothing, and the unfortunate Uzcoques were in danger
+of dying of hunger. This they felt by no means inclined to do, and erelong
+complaints began to be made of piracies and depredations committed by the
+Segnarese on the vessels and territory of Venice. For some time no
+application on the subject was made to Austria, and when made it was found
+to be of little avail.
+
+At the period to which this narrative refers, Austria had already formed
+those designs upon her southern neighbour, which in more modern times she
+has carried out with complete success. The fertile plains of Northern
+Italy, the convenient ports on the Adriatic, the rich commerce with the
+Levant, were tempting baits to what was then the most ambitious power in
+Europe; and with an undeviating steadiness did she follow up the policy
+which promised to place such desirable acquisitions within her grasp.
+Venice, whose power and importance were already on the decline, was the
+state against which her most strenuous efforts were directed; and nothing
+that could injure the trade, or lower the dignity and importance of the
+republic, was omitted by the Austrian Machiavels of the day. Insignificant
+as such a means of annoyance may appear, the band of Uzcoques was one of
+the prime engines employed to undermine the bulwarks of Venetian
+independence. Through her commerce had Venice achieved her greatness, and
+through her commerce was she to be assailed and overthrown. Whilst the
+Venetians, for the sake of their trade, had formed alliances with the
+Turks, the Austrians, professing great religious zeal, and hatred of the
+infidels, as well as a dread of further encroachments upon European
+territory, did all in their power to ruin the traffic and break the
+connexion between the republic and the Porte. The Uzcoques, who, although
+asserting a sort of independence, still dwelt on Austrian territory, and
+were reckoned as Austrian subjects, were secretly encouraged in the
+piracies which they committed indiscriminately against Turkish and
+Venetian vessels. These acts of piracy usually took place in the night,
+and could rarely be brought home to their perpetrators, although there
+could be no moral doubt as to the identity of the latter; but, even when
+proved, it was found impossible to obtain any substantial redress. At the
+time now referred to, the evil was at its height. Nominally peace both
+with Venice and the Porte, Austria, nevertheless, stimulated the Uzcoques
+to aggressions upon the subjects of both. The Archduke Ferdinand, a
+well-intentioned and virtuous prince, but young and inexperienced, was
+completely led and deceived by the wily and unprincipled politicians who
+governed in his name. He was kept entirely in the dark as to the real
+character of the Segnarese, and thus prevented from giving credence to the
+frequent complaints made against them by neighbouring states. His corrupt
+ministers, moreover, not content with making the pirates instrumental in
+this tortuous policy, were not ashamed to squeeze from them a portion of
+their illicit gains; and a lion's share of the spoil found its way into
+the coffers of the archducal counsellors, who welcomed the golden Pactolus,
+utterly regardless of the foul channel through which it flowed. The
+Uzcoques, on their part, who were no longer the race of brave and hardy
+soldiers they had been some half century before, clung to the protection
+of Austria, conscious that, in their degenerate state, and with their
+diminished numbers, they must soon fall a prey to their numerous foes,
+should that protection be withdrawn. Thus, although inwardly chafing at
+being compelled to disgorge a large part of the hard-won booty for which
+they frequently periled their lives, they did not dare to withhold the
+tribute, nor to omit the rich presents which they were in the habit of
+making to certain influential persons about the archducal court. In return,
+the ports of Austria on the Adriatic, were open to them to build and
+repair vessels, or obtain supplies of provisions; every species of
+indirect assistance was afforded them, and more than once, when some of
+their number had fallen into the hands of the Venetians, their release, as
+subjects of Austria, had been demanded and obtained by the authorities at
+Gradiska. On the other hand, the claims of Venice for satisfaction, when
+some of her richly laden merchant-ships had been captured or pillaged,
+were slightly attended to, the applicants put off from day to day, and
+from year to year, with promises and excuses, until the weak and cowardly
+republic, seeing that no satisfaction was to be obtained by peaceable
+means, and being in no state to declare war against her powerful neighbour,
+usually ended the matter by ceasing to advance claims, the prosecution of
+which only tended to her further humiliation.
+
+It was Easter Sunday in the town of Gradiska. The strict religious
+ceremonies with which the Passion week was commemorated at the court of
+the youthful but pious Archduke Ferdinand were at an end; the black
+hangings disappeared from the church walls, and the bells rang out a merry
+peal in joyful commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. The nobles and
+ladies of the court, wearied with the vigils and fasting which the
+religious zeal of the time rendered imperative, betook themselves with
+lightened hearts to their apartments, the elder portion to repose, the
+younger ones to prepare for the brilliant festival and ball which the
+following day was to witness.
+
+In a richly furnished apartment of the castle, the young and handsome wife
+of one of the archducal counsellors was pacing up and down, her full and
+voluptuous form reflected on every side by the tall Venetian mirrors that
+covered the walls of the apartment. The lady was apparently in no gentle
+mood; her step was hurried and impatient, her face flushed, her lips
+peevishly compressed, and her irritation seemed to increase each time that
+she passed before a table on which were displayed a number of jewel-boxes
+and caskets, all open, and nearly all empty. Since the Easter festival of
+the preceding year, the caprices and necessities of this spendthrift
+beauty had abstracted one by one the rich kernels from these now worthless
+husks, and the recollection of the follies, or worse, in which their value
+had been squandered, now came to aggravate the vexation which the want of
+the jewels occasioned her. So absorbed was she in the consideration of her
+annoyances and perplexities, that for some time she took no notice of the
+presence of a young and graceful female in plain attire, who stood
+apparently in deep thought in the embrasure of one of the windows. The
+maiden had her back turned to the room; but the admirable contours of her
+fine figure, and the rich luxuriance of the jet-black locks that flowed
+over her shoulders, gave promise of a perfection that was not belied, when,
+on an exclamation of impatience from her mistress, she suddenly turned
+round, and revealed the beauteous features of Dansowich's daughter. She it
+was who formed the usual medium of communication between the pirates and
+their archducal allies; and during her frequent sojourns at Gradiska, she
+assumed the character of attendant on the counsellor's lady.
+
+"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the court dame, stamping her foot violently on
+the polished floor. "What can detain the knaves? Say, girl! where can they
+be lingering?"
+
+Strasolda made no reply to this impetuous enquiry. She was no longer the
+excited and impetuous Uzcoque heroine, invoking the spirit of the storm
+amidst the precipices and caverns of her native shores. A total change had
+come over her. Her look was subdued, her cheek pale, her eyes red and
+swollen with weeping. She cast an humble and sorrowful glance at the lady,
+and a tear trembled on her long dark lashes.
+
+"Why come they not?" repeated the angry dame in a voice half-choked with
+passion. "By all the saints!" she continued, with a furious look at
+Strasolda, "I believe thy father, Dansowich, to be the cause of this delay;
+for well I know it is with small good-will he pays the tribute. But if the
+thieving knaves thus play me false, if the Easter gift is wanting, and for
+lack of jewels I am compelled to plead sickness, and pass to-morrow in my
+apartment, instead of, as heretofore, eclipsing every rival by the
+splendour of my jewels, rest assured, maiden, that thy robber friends
+shall pay dearly for their neglect. A word from me, and thy father,
+brethren, and kinsmen grace the gallows, and their foul eyrie is leveled
+with dust."
+
+Strasolda pressed her hands upon her heart, and burst into a flood of
+tears. Then throwing herself at the lady's feet--
+
+"That word you will never have the cruelty to utter," cried she. "Bethink
+you, noble lady, of the perils to which they are exposed. The bravest
+cannot command success, and you know not yet whether their last expedition
+may not have been unprosperous."
+
+"I!" replied her irritated mistress. "How should I be privy to their
+proceedings? But _you_ ought to be able to give some tidings: Wherefore
+did you not accompany your father this last voyage?"
+
+"I told you, lady," answered Strasolda, "that I was busied with plans for
+the deliverance of the Uzcoques now held captive in Venice. I have
+brothers amongst those unfortunate prisoners, and it is the uncertainty of
+their fate which thus afflicts me."
+
+The maiden gazed tearfully and imploringly at the angry lady. It was not
+without good reason that she concealed from her the fact of her father's
+captivity. The stern and inflexible Dansowich had ever viewed with an eye
+of disapproval the connexion between his people and the counsellors at
+Gradiska; and the latter, aware of this, would not have been likely to
+take much pains for the release of one who was unfavourable to their
+interests. It was only, therefore, by representing the captive Uzcoques as
+less nearly connected with her, that Strasolda could hope for aid to
+rescue them from the hands of the Venetians.
+
+"So much the more should you desire the arrival of the tribute!" exclaimed
+the lady. "Did I not, at your request, make interest with our ambassador
+at Venice, that he should insist upon the surrender of the Uzcoques as
+Austrian subjects? Assuredly the feeble signoria will not venture to
+refuse compliance. A casket of jewels is but a paltry guerdon for such
+service, and yet even that is not forthcoming. But it is not too late to
+alter what has been done. If I say the word, the prisoners linger in the
+damp and fetid dungeons of the republic, until they welcome death as a
+blessing."
+
+"Alas, alas!" sobbed Strasolda; "have you the heart thus to add to my
+sorrow? Is it not enough to know those I love in captivity, to behold my
+people, once so noble and heroic, degraded to the very refuse of humanity
+despised and detested of all men, having their dwelling on a barren rock,
+and earning by crime and bloodshed a precarious existence and doubtful
+freedom? Is it not enough"--
+
+"Hush!" interrupted the lady in a quick sharp whisper, raising her finger,
+and glancing towards the door of the apartment. There was a noise as of
+stealthy footsteps in the corridor. Strasolda sprang from the kneeing
+posture which she had maintained during her conversation with her mistress,
+and resumed her station in the recess of a window, while the counsellor's
+lady snatched up a rich shawl from a damask covered ottoman, and threw it
+over the caskets spread out upon the table. Scarcely were these
+arrangements completed, when the door was partially opened, and a wild
+sunburnt and bearded countenance showed itself at the aperture.
+
+"Heaven and the saints be praised!" exclaimed the lady. "They are come at
+last. In with you, Jurissa Caiduch: there is no one but Strasolda here."
+
+The person thus addressed, was a strongly built and active man, rather
+under the middle size, muffled in a coarse brown cloak, which was drawn
+over the lower part of his face, apparently with a view to concealment. A
+broad-brimmed felt hat was slouched over his small black eyes, which
+glittered through its shadow like those of a snake, never fixing
+themselves on an object, but casting restless and suspicious glances, as
+though apprehensive of danger or treachery. Gliding into the room, and
+closing the door noiselessly behind him, he approached the table, and
+placed upon it a tolerably large casket, which he produced from under his
+cloak; then retreating a step or two, he removed his hat, and stood in an
+attitude of silent respect, his eyes still gleaming, however, with their
+habitual expression of mistrust and cunning.
+
+Without uttering a word, the lady seized the casket, and impatiently
+forced open its delicate silver lock. A cry of joyful surprise burst from
+her lips on beholding the rich contents of the jewel-case. Diamond chains,
+golden girdles and bracelets, combs and hair ornaments studded with orient
+pearls, passed in rapid succession through the white and eager fingers of
+the gratified dame, who seemed to lack words to express her pleasure and
+astonishment at the sight of such costly gems. At last she turned to the
+bearer.
+
+"Of a truth, Jurissa" cried she, "you are unusually liberal this time, and
+you must have great need of the good offices of myself and Father Cipriano,
+to be willing to purchase our influence with the archduke at so high a
+price."
+
+"Our last expedition was a successful one, noble lady," replied the
+Uzcoque. "The tender-hearted Strasolda," added he with a spiteful glance
+at the maiden, who still kept her station by the window, "that guardian
+angel, who so often steps between us and our prey, was absent, and we had
+no need to stay our hands."
+
+As he spoke, the door was again hastily opened as softly as before, but
+somewhat wider, and the burly figure of a monk entered the room. This was
+no other than the Father Cipriano Guido Lucchese, whom the lady had
+alluded to, and who, by his pleadings at the papal court, in favour of the
+Uzcoques, had earned himself the honourable cognomen of Ambassador de
+Ladri, or the Thieves' Envoy. He had expiated his discreditable
+intercession by a sojourn in the prisons of the Inquisition, which did not,
+however, present his being in high favour with the Archduke Ferdinand, at
+whose court he filled the triple office of theologian, confessor, and
+privy counsellor.
+
+The sleek and unctuous physiognomy of the monk wore an expression of
+unusual care and anxiety. Without bestowing a salutation or a look upon
+the lady whose apartment he thus unceremoniously entered, he addressed
+himself at once to the Uzcoque Jurissa.
+
+"Away with you!" cried he. "Out of the palace; and quietly, too, as your
+own shadow. Thumbscrews are waiting for you if you linger."
+
+Strasolda gazed in alarm at Father Cipriano. Jurissa thrust his right hand
+under his cloak, and seemed to clutch some weapon. Even the counsellor's
+dame for a moment turned her eyes from the jewels she was admiring to the
+anxious countenance of the padre.
+
+"Your last exploit will bring you into trouble," continued the latter to
+Jurissa. "You have gone beyond all bounds; and a special ambassador has
+arrived here from Venice."
+
+"Well!" replied the Uzcoque surlily, "was not the sack of doubloons
+sufficient fee to keep you at your post?"
+
+"I have but just left it," answered the monk, "and you may thank me if the
+storm is averted for the moment, although it must burst erelong. Before
+the ambassador could obtain his audience, I hurried to the archduke, and
+chanted the old ditty; told him you were the Maccabees of the century--the
+bulwarks of Christendom: that without you the Turks would long since have
+been in Gradiska--that the Venetians, through fear and lust of gain, were
+hand and glove with the followers of Mahomet--and that it was their own
+fault if you had to strike through them to get at the infidel: that they
+cared little about religion, so long as the convenience of their traffic
+was not interfered with--and that it would be a sin and a shame to deprive
+himself of such valiant defenders for the sake of obliging the republic.
+This, and much more, did I say to his highness, Signor Jurissa," concluded
+the fat priest, wiping away the perspiration which his eagerness and
+volubility had caused to start out on his brow; "and, in good truth, I
+think your paltry bag of doubloons but poor reward for the pains I took,
+and the zeal I have shown in your defence."
+
+"And wherein consists the danger, then," interrupted Jurissa, "since your
+eloquence has sped so well on our behalf?"
+
+"You do not hear me out, my son," replied the priest. "The greybeards at
+Venice have chosen an envoy who is right well informed of your small
+numbers, bad equipment, and cowardice in broad daylight. Nay, man, never
+grind your teeth. I do but repeat the ambassador's words; for I had
+stationed myself in an adjoining room, and heard all that passed between
+him and the archduke. He said, moreover, that, far from being of use as a
+bulwark against Turkish encroachments, it was you who had afforded to the
+infidels a pretext to wrest more than one rich province from Christian
+potentates. All this seemed to make some impression upon the archduke, and
+to plant suspicions in his mind which bode no good to you and your race.
+For the present, the capture of those two Turks, one of whom is a person
+of rank, is testimony in your favour with his highness, to whom the
+crescent is an abomination. Could he follow his own inclinations, he would,
+I fully believe, start a new crusade against the followers of Mahoun. But
+come, Jurissa, this is no time for gossip. You must not be seen in
+Gradiska. Away with you!"
+
+"And the Venetian," cried Jurissa, "what is his name?"
+
+"It is the Proveditore Marcello, who has lately returned from a long
+absence in the East."
+
+The Uzcoque started. The name seemed to have some potent and mysterious
+effect upon him, and he stood for a few moments with his eyes fixed upon
+the ground, apparently forgetful of the necessity for his immediate
+departure. The priest took him by the arm, and drew him towards the door,
+which he was about to open, when Jurissa shook off his grasp and hastily
+approached the counsellor's wife, who had thrown herself into a large
+gilded chair before one of the pier-glasses, and was busily engaged in
+trying on the ornaments that had just been brought her.
+
+"Have a care, noble lady!" cried the Uzcoque. "You will do well to let a
+couple of weeks elapse before you appear in public with those pretty gauds.
+At any rate, wear them not at to-morrow's ball, lest, perchance, they find
+an owner. Beware, lady, of the Proveditore Marcello!"
+
+With a look of peculiar meaning he left the room, accompanied by Father
+Cipriano. But his warning fell faintly upon the lady's ear, who, though
+she heard the words, was far too much engrossed in arranging and admiring
+the costly gems so lately become her own, to give much heed to their
+import. She remained before her mirror, loading her white neck and arms
+with chains and jewels, and interweaving diamonds and pearls in her
+tresses, regardless of the grief of Strasolda who sat in tears and sadness,
+deploring her father's increasing peril, and the cloud that menaced the
+future fortunes of her people.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE BALL.
+
+
+The ancient burg, or castle, of Gradiska had been originally on a larger
+scale, but, at this period, consisted only of a centre, flanked at right
+angles by two wings ending in square towers, large, grey, and massive, and
+embattled, with overhanging galleries for sentinels to pace along, while
+similar galleries, on a smaller scale, extended along the entire front and
+wings of the castle. The central edifice contained, on the ground-floor,
+numerous apartments and offices for menials; above which arose a spacious
+saloon and other lofty apartments, lighted by windows high above the
+flooring, and terminating in the round-headed arches so commonly seen in
+the castellated mansions of northern Italy. In this palatial hall
+preparation had been busy for the ball, to which the wife of the archducal
+counsellor so impatiently looked forward, as an opportunity to eclipse all
+rivals by the splendour of her jewels. The hour of reception by the
+archduke had arrived. The exterior of the spacious edifice was illuminated
+from end to end by nunerous torches, and the capacious staircase was
+lighted by a double rank of torch-bearers, in splendid apparel. In the
+interior of the vast apartment huge waxen tapers were fixed above the
+_chevron_, or zig-zag moulding, which ran round the walls, and connected
+the casement of each window. Large crystal lamps, pendant from the point
+of each inverted pinnacle on the lofty roof, diffused a flood of brilliant
+light, and imparted life and colour to the rich tapestries, portraying
+stirring scenes from the Crusades, which covered the walls from floor to
+window. Complete suits of armour, exhibiting every known device of harness,
+and numerous weapons, fancifully arranged, decorated the spaces between
+the windows. And now began to appear, in this scene of splendour, groups
+of knights and nobles, arrayed in velvet and cloth of gold, and attending
+upon fair dames, sparkling with jewels, and bearing nodding plumes upon
+their braided hair. Conspicuous amidst these, and towering above all in
+stature, appeared the haughty mistress of Strasolda, attired in a robe of
+dark green velvet, which well relieved the fairness of her complexion, and
+displaying upon her finely moulded neck and arms a collar and bracelets of
+large and lustrous oriental pearls. Her firlgers were bedecked with costly
+rings, and upon her head she wore an ornament of singular device, which
+soon attracted universal attention. Above the rim of a golden comb, richly
+chased and studded with brilliants, arose a peacock with expanded tail.
+The body was of chased gold in imitation of feathers, the arching neck was
+mosaic work of precious stones, the eyes were sparkling diamonds of the
+purest water, and the feathers of the tail glittered with emeralds, rubies,
+and sapphires of singular beauty and lustre. So great was the curiosity
+excited by the dazzling splendour of these jewels, that the fair wearer
+was followed round the room by a train of ladies, anxious to observe at
+leisure a display of ornaments so extraordinary, and whispering to
+sympathizing ears conjectures not over charitable to the counsellor's wife.
+When, at length, she had seated herself upon one of the sofas which lined
+the walls, a circle of admiring gazers was formed, whose numbers were
+rapidly increased by the attendant cavaliers. While the lady was enjoying
+her triumph, a bustle at the entrance of the hall turned every head in
+that direction, when the cause appeared in the person of the young
+archduke, who entered in full costume, followed by a group of courtiers,
+and accompanied by a Venetian cavalier, of tall and commanding person,
+with whom he appeared to be in earnest discourse. The stranger was a
+large-boned, spare, and powerful man, of middle age, and attired in a
+black vest and pantaloons of woven silk, with a short cloak, of the same
+hue. The golden hilt of his rapier, and a gold chain and medallion round
+his neck, were his only ornaments. His features were large, regular, and
+grand, and the gaze of his full dark eyes serene, yet firm and potent; his
+complexion pale, and contrasting strongly with a dark beard which circled
+his visage like a frame. His high and massive forehead, and well closed
+lips, had a character of thought and decision, while his mien and tread
+were those of one long accustomed to authority. He seemed a man born after
+his time, and worthy to have lived and acted in the high and palmy days of
+Venice. After attending the archduke to the steps of the dais at the upper
+end of the hall, he made his bow, and began to pace the floor in seeming
+abstraction from the gay scene around him. Arrested in his progress by the
+numerous groups which, after saluting the archduke, had again collected
+around the counsellor's lady, he paused in returning conciousness; and,
+looking for the cause of such unwonted attraction, was enabled, by his
+lofty stature, to obtain a glimpse of the jewelled lady within the circle.
+Her features were unknown to him; but when his careless gaze fell upon the
+rare ornament which crowned her redundant tresses, his countenance became
+suddenly darkened by some strong emotion. Again, he looked more earnestly,
+and with increasing wonder and curiosity. Controlling, by a sudden effort,
+all outward evidence of feeling, he watched his opportunity, and at length
+penetrating within the crowd, stood for some moments before the object of
+attraction, and gazed, as if admiringly, upon her various adornments in
+succession; then, bowing gracefully, he addressed to her some words of
+compliment upon the splendour and value of the dazzling bird upon her head.
+"Fair lady," he continued, "I have a daughter whom I fondly love, and fain
+would I bestow upon her youthful beauty such ornaments as yours. But say,
+I pray you, where can the cunning hand be found which fashions such
+glorious birds? Was it in Venice or Vienna that you bought this materpiece
+of art?" Unsuspicious of evil, and bridling at gratified vanity at this
+attention from a stranger of such distinguished mien, the spoil-bedecked
+fair one replied to him as she had done to others.
+
+"I bought this ornament, some weeks back, in Venice, at the store of a
+Greek trader from the Levant."
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed the stranger; "and where dwelt this Greek, that I may see
+and ask him for another such?"
+
+The concious lady, embarrassed by such close questioning, and somewhat
+alarmed by the kindling glances of the questioner, replied in haste--"Nay,
+signor, now I remember better, it was not a Greek I bought these gauds,
+but of a trading Jew, who walks the Merceria with a box of jewellry."
+
+"Just now, methinks, you said a Greek, fair lady; and now you say a Jew.
+What next? Why not a Moslem, or perchance _an Uzcoque?_"
+
+At this ominous conclusion, which the stranger muttered in tones of marked
+significance, the alarmed culprit started to her feet; and her fierce
+temper getting the better of her prudence, she boldly faced the cavalier,
+exclaiming, in a louder key than beseemed a courtier's wife--
+
+"And who are you, signor, that dare thus question the lady of an archducal
+counsellor?"
+
+"Lady!" he sternly answered, "here I am known to none save your husband's
+master; but in Venice men call me the Proveditore Marcello."
+
+And now flashed upon the indignant signora a fearful reminiscence of
+Jurissa's unheeded and forgotten warning, to hide her jewels for a time,
+and to beware of the Proveditore Marcello. In utter dismay, and nearly
+fainting with alarm, she sank upon the sofa, and her eyes expanded into
+the wide stare of terror as she gazed at the menacing visage of the
+Venetian noble. Unwilling to expose the conscience-striken woman before so
+numerous an assemblage, he seated himself beside her, and in tones
+inaudible to others thus whispered in her ear--"Lady! but eight days back
+the jewels that you wear were mine. That peacock was my own design, and
+made for my daughter by a cunning artificer in Candia. Its like exists not
+in the world; for the mould was made by my order, and broken as soon as
+used. 'Twas mine until the base Uzcoques plundered my baggage. How thus
+quickly it passed from them to you, is as well known to me as to yourself.
+But mark me, lady! if all these jewels are not delivered at my apartments
+in the west wing of the castle ere midnight, I will denounce your husband
+and his colleagues as long-suspected and now-proved partakers with the
+Pirates of Segna. And, should redress be denied me here, the ambassador of
+Venice shall report this infamous collusion before a higher tribunal in
+Vienna."
+
+Struck dumb by this terrible denunciation, the fair culprit gasped for
+breath, and her evident distress having been watched in growing wonder by
+the assembled ladies and cavaliers, the latter began to mutter threats of
+vengeance. One of them now stepped forward, and, grasping the hilt of his
+rapier, accused the Venetian of having insulted the wife of a nobleman
+high in the councils of the archduke, when the Proveditore, looking down
+upon the courtier with that riveted and intensely piercing gaze which
+staggers the beholder like a sudden blow, and may still be noted in many
+of Titian's portraits, answered with brief and startling emphasis--
+
+"Signor! you do me grievous wrong. 'Tis I, and not the lady, who am the
+injured party."
+
+Awed by his gathering brow, and the settled, stern, unsparing resolution
+which flashed from every feature, and indicated a man confident in his own
+resources, the courtiers did involuntary homage to his loftier spirit, and
+gave way. The proud Venetian strode through the yielding circle and
+quitted the hall, while the counsellor's wife, pleading illness and
+fatigue in reply to the pointed and numerous questions of surrounding
+friends and enemies, summoned her husband to attend her, and retired to
+her apartments.
+
+Meanwhile the young Moslem and his companion in misfortune, who had been
+brought prisoners to Gradiska, were confined in one of the massive towers
+which flanked the castle. They had arrived not long before the comencement
+of the festival, and when going under guard along a corridor in the east
+wing, Ibrahim passed the open door of an apartment in which Strasolda was
+adjusting the rich jewels of the counsellor's lady before her appearance
+in the ball-room. Startled by the approaching tramp of armed men, the
+Uzcoque maiden raised her eyes, and beheld the noble and well-remembered
+features of the young Turk, whose captive she had been, and whose image
+had so strangely reappeared to her through the flitting cloud of smoke in
+the cavern. "Mother of Heaven!" she exclaimed, covering her eyes with her
+hands; "do I again behold that Moslem youth, ever appearing when least
+expected?" Again she gazed; but the prisoners, hurried onward by their
+guards, had proceeded to the end of the corridor, where a narrow winding
+staircase, fashioned in the immense thickness of the tower wall, led to
+their appointed prison, a large square apartment, the sides of which were
+panneled to a considerable height, and imperfectly lighted by small
+windows, or rather embrasures, perforating a wall many feet in thickness.
+Here they were left to their reflections, and to what comfort they could
+derive fron a lamp and a supply of provisions. Hassan, wearied with his
+journey, hastily swallowed his supper, and, stretching himself upon a
+paillasse, soon forgot his calamities in sound repose. Ibrahim, more
+vigilant and less apprehensive of future evil, as the Turks and Austrians
+were then at peace, paced awhile along the floor of his spacious prison,
+musing on the peerless charms of the Uzcoque maiden. From time to time he
+gazed upon the walls and windows as if calculating the chances of escape,
+when gradually the peculiar and regular design of the panneling caught and
+fixed his attention. It was divided by prominent mouldings into oblong
+squares, from the centres of which projected large diamond-shaped bosses
+of carved oak. This peculiarity at length roused into action some
+reminiscences of the early life and adventures of his beloved patron, the
+pacha of Bosnia, to the recital of which he had often, in his boyhood,
+listened with eager delight. These recollections, at first shadowy and
+indistinct, became gradually more vivid and accurate, until finally the
+full conviction flashed upon him that his benefactor, when taken prisoner
+in his youth by the Austrians, had been confined in this very tower and
+room, and, by a singular discovery, had been enabled to liberate himself
+and his fellow-prisoners. The pacha, then a subordinate in rank, in
+endeavouring to reach the level of one of the embrasures, had mounted upon
+the shoulders of a comrade, and was supporting himself by a firm grasp of
+the large boss in the centre of the pannel, when suddenly he felt it
+turning round in his hand. Surprised to find it not a fixture, he pulled
+it towards him, and found that it slowly yielded to the impulse. Drawing
+it out of the socket, he saw it followed by an iron chain, which for a
+time resisted all his efforts, but at length gave way, and he heard a
+grating sound like the drawing of a rusty bolt. Suddenly the entire pannel
+shook, and then the lower end started back sufficiently to betray a recess
+in the wall. Hastily descending on his comrade's shoulders, and pushing
+back the pannel, he discovered that it was supported by hinges, and was
+doubtless intended to conceal a secret issue from the castle, which he
+soon ascertained, and effected his escape. These facts were all that the
+memory of Ibrahim could supply; but they were enough to guide him in his
+search, and he immediately proceeded to sound the pannels in succession
+with his fist. Commencing with the southern or outer wall, which he
+supposed more massive and more likely to contain a secret passage, he
+sounded each pannel, and perceiving in the corner one more reverberation
+than in the others, he roused Hassan from his slumbers. "Hassan! Hassan!"
+he exclaimed, "Arouse thee, man! and listen to good tidings." The awakened
+sleeper gazed with half-opened eyes upon his excited companion, and would
+have dropped to sleep again had not a few words of explanation and the
+hope of escape fully roused him. Having with some difficulty perched his
+rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibrahim, he followed his
+directions and grasped the wooden boss, which, to the inexpressible
+delight of both, yielded, as it had done forty years before to the captive
+Turk, and displayed the iron chain. Bidding Hassan replace the boss,
+Ibrahim determined to postpone his attempt until the festival had
+collected all the guards and menials into the central edifice and its
+approaches. An hour before midnight, when the young Moslem expected the
+revelry would be at its height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders,
+and after many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded in drawing up the
+bolt. The pannel receded some inches, and Ibrahim raising it still further,
+seized the lamp and entered a small oblong recess in the wall, which was
+not less than ten or twelve feet in thickness. Perceiving no outlet, he
+examined the wooden flooring, and soon discovered a trap, which, when
+raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a steep and narrow descending
+staircase, leading apparently to some sally-port beyond the castle ditch.
+After carefully trimming his lamp, he was about to lead the way into this
+dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and sudden, as of something falling in the
+adjacent prison, caught his ear. Retracing his steps, he re-entered the
+apartment, where, after a brief search, he found beneath one of the
+embrasures a paper folded round a large pebble. Hastily opening it, the
+following lines, written in the _lingua Franca_ so common in the Levant,
+were visible.
+
+"Moslem! If thy soul belie not thy noble form and features, thou wilt not
+withhold thine aid from a bereaved and sorrowing daughter. Before
+to-morrow's sunset thou wilt be free, for Austria wars not with the Turk.
+Then straight repair to Venice, and there await the Battle of the Bridge.
+Take thy stand beneath the portal of St Barbara, and follow the man who
+whispers in thine ear,
+
+    "STRASOLDA."
+
+"Mashallah!" shouted the enraptured youth, "these lines are from the
+Uzcoque maiden; and by the gates of Paradise I'll do her bidding, though
+it perils life."
+
+For a time he was tempted to follow her guidance implicitly, and await the
+promised release from the authorities of Gradiska; recollecting, however,
+the proverbial slowness of Austrian counsellors, and too restless and
+ardent to endure suspense, he resumed his purpose of exploring the secret
+passage. After he had secured the pannel and replaced the boss, he bade
+Hassan follow him and began to descend. The staircase ended in a small
+passage round an angle, beyond which he discovered a similar descent,
+followed by another angle and staircase, proving that this secret issue
+from the castle penetrated through each of the four massive walls which
+formed the tower. At length their further progress was stopped by a door,
+originally strong and plated with iron, but now so much decayed, that
+although fastened by bolts without, the joint strength of the two captives
+forced it from its hinges. They now entered a vaulted passage of hewn
+stone, low and narrow, and with no visible termination. As they advanced,
+the long pent-up and dank unwholesome vapours made it difficult to breathe,
+and compelled Ibrahim to pause repeatedly and trim his lamp, which burned
+so dimly in this oppressive atmosphere as to be nearly extinguished. After
+a while the path began to slope upwards, and erelong they distinguished
+moonlight faintly streaming through a tangled mass of ivy which concealed
+the remains of an iron grating, broken probably in his patron's successful
+attempt to escape by this secret passage from the prison above. Gazing
+through the aperture, they perceived not many feet below what had once
+been the castle ditch, now dry, and forming a portion of the archduke's
+gardens. With a joyous heart and an elastic bound, Ibrahim reached the
+soft turf beneath. The more timid and helpless Hassan lowered himself by
+clinging to a remaining iron bar, and with the aid of his companion was
+soon on his feet, enjoying, with many thanks to Allah, the fresh air of
+heaven and the consciousness of escape from captivity. The gates of the
+palace gardens being unguarded during the festival, the liberated
+prisoners reached the coast without an obstacle, compelled a fisherman to
+take them in his bark across the Adriatic, and land them on the Lido,
+which forms the outward limit of the port of Venice. Then making free with
+an unwatched gondola, they sped across the bay, and were soon in safety,
+beneath the roof of a Turkish trader and correspondent of Hassan.
+
+Before their escape was discovered on the following morning, the indignant
+Proveditore had departed for Venice, and Strasolda had disappeared.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+COLONEL DAVIDSON'S TRAVELS IN INDIA.[5]
+
+
+    [5] _Diary of Travels and Adventures in Upper India_, from Bareilly,
+    in Rohilcund, to Hurdwar and Nahun, in the Himalaya Mountains;
+    with a Tour in Bundelcund, a Sporting Excursion in the Kingdom of
+    Oude, and a Voyage down the Ganges. By C.J.C. DAVIDSON, Esq.,
+    late Lieut.-Col. of Engineers, Bengal.
+
+The appearance of this work was heralded some three months since, as
+divers of our readers may possibly remember, by a species of
+puff-preliminary, for which even the annals of Great Marlborough Street
+afforded no precedent--being nothing less than the appearance of Mr
+Colburn, _in propria persona_, at the bar of the police-office adjoining
+his premises, to answer the complaint of the gallant and irate author for
+what he was pleased to consider the unwarrantable detention of the MS.
+from which his narrative had been printed. It was alleged, in extenuation,
+that "the gallant colonel's MS. was so nearly undecipherable, that Mr
+Colburn had been put to considerable expense in revising the press;"--and
+a mysterious and curiosity-provoking hint was further thrown out, that "it
+was the custom of the trade, that, until a work was published, the MS.
+should not be parted with by the publisher, as it might turn out that some
+part of it was libellous, and in such case the publisher must produce the
+MS." In the end the gallant colonel (whom the newspaper reports described
+as "very much excited,") took nothing by his motion in regard to the
+recovery of the MS.; but though in this respect he may have been somewhat
+scurvily treated, we cannot equally sympathize with his complaints of the
+work not having been duly _advertised_; for surely all the little "neatly
+turned paragraphs" that ever proceeded from Mr Colburn's laboratory, could
+not have been so effectual as the method struck out by the impromptu
+genius of the colonel himself, in intimating to the public that something
+quite out of the common way might be expected from the forthcoming
+production thus brought before its notice.
+
+And verily those who have been prepared for a queer volume, will not be
+disappointed in the diary of our choleric and corpulent colonel. If ever
+the assurance, which seems to be regarded as indispensable in the preface
+to works of this class, that the author "wrote the following pages purely
+for his own amusement," bore the stamp of unequivocal truth, it is in the
+present instance; and, notwithstanding the asseverations of Mr Colburn and
+his literary employes, it is difficult to conceive that any revision
+whatever can have been bestowed on the rough notes of the writer, since
+they were first hastily committed to paper amidst the scenes which they
+describe. The style is as rambling and unconnected as the incidents to
+which it refers; but wherever the author's devious footsteps lead us, from
+the jungles of Bundelcund to the holy ghats of Hurdwar, the principal
+figure is always that of the colonel himself, who, in the portly
+magnificence of twenty stone minus two pounds, fills up the whole
+foreground with himself and his accessories of servants, elephant, stud,
+Nagoree cows, and other component parts of the _suwarree_ or suite of a
+_Qui-hye_, who can afford to make himself comfortable after the fashion of
+the country. The quantity (sometimes not trifling) and quality of his
+meals, the consequent state of his digestion, and his endless rows on the
+score of accommodations and forage with thannadars, darogahs, kutwals, and
+all the other designations for Hindoo and Hindoostani jacks-in-office,
+(for to Feringhi society he appears to have been not very partial,) may
+doubtless have been points of peculiar interest to the colonel himself,
+but are not likely to engage the attention of the world in general, and
+had better have been omitted in the revision of the diary, instead of
+being chronicled, as they are on all occasions, with wearisome minuteness
+of detail. But with all these drawbacks, a man who, as he says of himself,
+"has dwelt in India twenty-five years, and traversed it from the snowy
+range to Bombay on the west, must have seen something of the country, and
+may be supposed to know something of the natives"--among whom, by the way,
+he seems to have mingled more familiarly than most Feringhis; and in spite
+of all the egotism and rigmarole with which his pages abound, the rambles
+of this "stout gentleman" through Upper India, and some other parts of the
+country not much visited by Europeans, present us with a good deal of
+plain sense and sterling matter, viewed, it is true, with the eccentric
+eye of a humorist, and frequently couched in very odd phraseology; but not
+the less true on that account. His opinions on all men and all things are
+expressed with the same honesty and candour with which he narrates the
+various scrapes in which he was involved, while pushing right a-head like
+an elephant through a jungle;--and though laughing at him quite as often
+as with him, we have found the colonel, on the whole, far from an
+unpleasant travelling companion.
+
+Bareilly, on the fronters of Oude and Rohilcund, was the colonel's
+starting-point;--and thence on St Patrick's day[6] he set forward for
+Hurdwar, at the head of a retinue, the members of which, both quadruped
+and biped, he enumerates seriatim, giving the _pas_ to the former--a
+precedence perhaps well merited by steeds up to such a welter weight under
+the climate of India, over such a set of unredeemed and thriftless knaves
+as he describes his native attendants. Accordingly, he gives the names and
+pedigrees of the whole stud, from "the buggy mare Maiden-head and my
+wicked little favourite Fish-Guts," up to "my favourite brood-mare Fair
+Amelia, purchased at a prize sale on the frontier, and bred by the king of
+Bokhara, with his royal stamp on her near flank--stands nearly fifteen and
+a half hands high, with magnificent action and great show of blood--had,
+when taken, four gold rings in her nostrils, now removed and replaced by
+silver, which will be stolen by her groom one by one." His first day's
+march was to Futtehgunge, ("the mart of victory," being the scene of the
+memorable battle in 1774, in which the English, as the bought allies of
+the Nawab Shoojah-ed-dowlah, defeated and slew the gallant Rohilla chief,
+Hafez-Rehmut;) and here he oracularly announced a discovery in gastronomy,
+of which it would be unpardonable not to give our readers the benefit. "I
+used my farourite condiment, tomata sauce, with my beef; and _to all who
+are ignorant_ of this delicious vegetable I may venture to recommend its
+sauce, as at once both wholesome and savoury, if eaten with anything but
+cranberry tart or apple pie!" It is melancholy to reflect how often the
+best efforts of genius are anticipated and rendered of no avail. The
+colonel, when he penned this sentence with a heart overflowing with
+Epicurean philanthropy, was evidently unconscious that "chops and tomata
+sauce" were already familiar to the British public from the immortal
+researches of Mr Pickwick!
+
+    [6] The year is not specified; but as the Ramazan is subsequently
+    said to have ended March 25, it must have been in the year of the
+    Hejra 1245, ansering to A.D. 1830.
+
+Rampore, in the territory of which the colonel now found himself, is still
+a semi-independent state, the Nawab of which has a revenue of sixteen lacs
+of rupees, (L160,000,) while the city, being without the pale of English
+law, is "a city of refuge, a very Goshen of robbers, ... the streets are
+crowded with a mob of very handsome, idle, lounging fellows, having
+generally the fullest and finest jet-black beards and black mustaches in
+the world. Many of these were handsomely dressed, and many (which struck
+me as a very curious fact) appeared clean!" These were the Pathans and
+Rohillas, partly descended from the original Moslem conquerors of India,
+and partly from those who have more recently migrated from Affghanistan
+and the adjoining countries. The most athletic and warlike race among the
+Indian Mahommedans, and too proud of their blood to exercise any
+profession but that of arms, they are found in every town throughout Upper
+India, swaggering about with sword, shield, and matchlock, in the retinues
+of the native princes, and ready to join any enterprise, or flock to the
+standard of any invader, through whose means any prospect is afforded of
+shaking off the Feringhi yoke, and resuming their ancient predominance in
+the country which their forefathers won by their swords from the idolaters.
+"They hate us with the most intense bitterness, and can any one be
+surprised at it? We have taken their broad lands foot by foot." Few if any
+of these turbulent spirits are found in our European regular native army;
+their dislike to the cumbrous accoutrements and awkward European saddles
+operating equally, perhaps, with the severity of the drill and discipline
+to deter them; but they form the strength of the various corps of
+irregular horse--a force which, of late years, has most judiciously been
+greatly increased in numbers, and the uniform dashing bravery of which in
+the field, strongly contrasts with the misconduct of one at least of the
+regular native cavalry regiments in the late Affghan war. "I have seen,"
+(says the colonel,) "a lineal descendant of Pathan Nawab's serving in the
+ranks of Hearsay's horse, as a common trooper on twenty rupees a-month,
+out of which he had merely to buy and feed his horse, procure clothes,
+arms, and harness, and sustain his hereditary dignity! By his commander
+and his fellow-soldiers he was always addressed by his title of Nawab
+Sahib!"
+
+The small-pox was committing dreadful ravages in Rampore and its
+neighbourhood; and though vaccination was performed gratis at Bareilly,
+the fatalist prejudices of the natives, even of those of rank and
+education, prevented them from availing themselves of the boon. All the
+instances of the colonel, in behalf of a charming little girl, four years
+old, whose mother and sister had already taken the infection, could get
+from her father nothing more than a promise "to think of it! If it's her
+fate----" said he. "'You fool!' said I, in my civil way," (and the
+colonel's _brusquerie_ was here, at least, not misplaced,) "'if a man
+throws himself into the fire or a well, or in the path of a tiger, is he
+without blame?'" Such apathy seems almost unaccountable to English minds;
+but it may find a parallel in Lady Chatterton's story of the Irish parents,
+[7] who, after refusing to spend fourpence in nourishment for a dying
+child, came in deep grief after its death to their employer, to solicit an
+advance of thirty shillings to _wake the corpse_! Perhaps some ingenious
+systematists might hence deduce a fresh argument in favour of the alleged
+oriental origin of the Irish.
+
+    [7] Rambles in the South of Ireland; ii. 143.
+
+The colonel's next stage was to Moradabad, another Pathan city, but under
+the _raj_ of the Company, where, in a visit to a native original, named
+Meer Mahommed, he was greatly delighted by his new friend's introduction
+of the English word _swap_ into a sentence of Hindoostani. And on the 25th
+he reached Dhampore, where the welcome proclamation, "that the new moon
+had been seen," terminated the fast of the Ramazan, to the uncontrollable
+joy of the Mussulmans, who would have been subjected to another day's
+abstinence if it had not been perceived till the succeeding evening. The
+colonel, however, slyly remarks, that "it was very odd that the _Hindoos_
+could not see the new moon," and hints that their imperfection of vision
+was shared by himself, but it was otherwise decided by the Faithful; and
+he proceeded, amid the noisy rejoicings of the Moslem feast of _Bukra-Eed_,
+(called by the Turks Bairam,) by Najeena, the Birmingham of Upper India,
+to Nujeebabad. Here resided, on a pension of 60,000 rupees (L6000) a-year
+from the English government, the Nawab Gholam-ed-deen, better known by the
+nickname of Bumbo Khan, a brother of the once famous Rohilla chief
+Gholam-Khadir. Though past eighty years of age, and weighing upwards of
+twenty stone, he had not lost, any more than the equiponderant colonel,
+his taste for the good things of this world; and our traveller, on
+partaking of the Nawab's hospitality, records with infinite zest the
+glories of a peculiar preparation of lamb, called _nargus_, or the
+narcissus. But, alas! the reminiscences of the nargus were less grateful
+than the fruition, and the remorse of the colonel's guilty stomach (as
+poor Theodore Hooke, or some one else, used to call indigestion) continued
+to afflict him all the way to Hurdwar; and may probably account, by the
+consequent irritation of his temper, for various squabbles in which he was
+involved on the route.
+
+The great fair of Hurdwar was in full swing at the colonel's arrival, with
+its vast concourse of Hindoo devotees from all parts of India, to whom it
+is in itself a spot of peculiar sanctity, besides lying in the way to the
+shrine of Gungotree, (the source of the Ganges,) in the Himmalaya--its
+crowds of merchants and adventurers of all sorts, even from Uzbek Tartary
+and the remote regions of Central Asia--Seiks by thousands from the Punjab,
+with their families--Affghan and Persian horse-dealers--and numerous
+grandees, both of the Hindoo and Moslem faith, who repair hither as to a
+scene of gaiety and general resort. The colonel found quarters in the tent
+of a friend employed in the purchase of horses for government, and seems
+to have entered with all his heart into the humours of the scene; his
+description of which, and of the varied characteristics of the motley
+groups composing the half million of human beings present, is one of the
+most graphic and picturesque sketches in his work. "Huge heaps of
+assafoetida, in bags, from the mountains beyond Cabool--tons of raisins of
+various sorts--almonds, pistachio nuts, sheep with four or five
+horns--Balkh[8] cats, with long silken hair; of singular beauty--faqueers
+begging, and abusing the uncharitable with the grossest and most filthy
+language--long strings of elderly ladies, proceeding in a chant to the
+priests of the Lingam, to bargain for bodily issue--Ghat priests
+presenting their books for the presents and signatures of the European
+visitors--groups of Hindoos surrounding a Bramin, who gives each of them a
+certificate of his having performed the pilgrimage"--such are a few of the
+component parts of the scene; but the colonel's attention seems to have
+been principally fixed upon the horses, and the tricks of the _dulals_ or
+brokers, to whom the purchase is generally confided, it being almost
+hopeless for an European to make a personal bargain with a native dealer.
+But among the greatest curiosities in this way were some _tortoiseshell_
+ponies--for we can call them nothing else--a peculiar race from Uzbek
+Tartary, which we never remember to have heard of before. "They were under
+thirteen hands high, and the most curious compound of colours and marks
+that can be imagined. Suppose the animal pure, snowy white; cover the
+white with large, irregular, light bay spots through which the white is
+visible; in the middle of these light bay let there be dark bay marbled
+spots; at every six or eight inches plant rhomboidal patches of a very
+dark iron-grey; then sprinkle the whole with dark flea-bites! There's a
+_phooldar_, ( flower-market,) as they call them;" and we agree with the
+colonel that such an animal would be a fortune at Bartlemy fair.
+
+    [8] In the original "bulkh," which we have ventured to amend as
+    above. The Oriental words and phrases are, in several instances,
+    very incorrectly printed; but whether the fault rests with the
+    colonel's "undecipherable" MS., or the correctors of the press, it
+    is not for us to decide.
+
+Among the distinguished visitors to Hurdwar at this season of festivity
+was the noted Begum Sombre, or Sumroo, whose face the colonel compares to
+that of an old Scotch highlander, and her person to a sackful of shawls,
+and who declared "that the Duke of Wellington _must_ be at heart a
+Catholic, _because_ he emancipated the Catholics!" He also renewed his
+gastronomic friendship with his friend Bumbo Khan, with whom the
+recollections of past indigestion did not prevent him from feasting on
+_mahaseer_, a delicious fish found in this part of the Ganges; and on this
+occasion his Apician ecstasies are not alloyed by subsequent
+regrets--"even now the recollection soothes me"--and he recommends such of
+his readers as are yet ignorant of this luxury to start forthwith for
+Hurdwar and repair the omission. The fair ended April 13; and the colonel
+having previously succeeded in disposing of his buggy to a potentate whom
+he calls "the Kheerea Thunnasir Rajah," (we believe, the ruler of one of
+the Seik protected states,) and buying a stout Turcomani pony for the
+hills, started the same day on the road to Suharunpoor. He favours his
+readers, _en passant_, with some exceedingly original speculations
+touching the Mosaic deluge, in reference to the hills about Hurdwar, which
+do not speak very highly for his attainments in geology, though in some
+other branches of natural history, and particularly in botany, he appears
+to be no mean proficient. The journey was disturbed by attempts to steal
+the colonel's new purchase, (which was not, like the rest of the stud,
+distinguished from the horses of the country by having its tail cut,) and
+by a quarrel at Secunderpore with a thannadar, or native police magistrate,
+whose European superior's neglect of the colonel's complaint he charitably
+attributes to "some (I hope slight) derangement of the stomach." At
+Suharunpore he visited the well-known botanist Dr Royle, the curator of
+the Company's botanic garden there, then engaged in those labours on the
+Flora of the Himmalayas which have been since given to the world; and at
+Boorea, leaving the British territory, he entered that of the protected
+Seik states, whose petty chieftains are secured in their semi-independence
+by the treaty with Runjeet in 1809, which confined the ruler of Lahore to
+the right bank of the Sutlej. But their reception of the colonel did not
+appear to indicate any great degree of gratitude for these favours to the
+British nation, as represented in his person; for not one of the five Seik
+chiefs, "each of whom has his own snug little fort close to the city,"
+would supply him with a lodging; and it was only by perseverance and
+ingenuity that he secured a place to lay his head, after long wrangling
+with the subordinate functionaries. Matters improved, however, as he
+advanced further into the country; and, at the little mountain-city of
+Nahun, he was most hospitably received and entertained by the young rajah,
+Futteh Pur Grass Sing, "who had been educated almost entirely under the
+kind and fatherly superintendence of Captain Murray," the commissioner of
+the Seik states, and whose frank and gentlemanlike manners, "so unlike
+those of the ghee-fed wretches of the plains," did honour to his guardian's
+precepts. The town of Nahun, which is 3600 feet above the level of the
+sea, is described as clean and well paved; and the rajah, whose revenue
+had been increased under the management of Captain Murray from 37,000 to
+53,000 rupees, was highly popular, and by the colonel's account deservedly
+so, with his subjects. He earnestly pressed "the fat gentleman" (whose
+caution in mounting an elephant, while two men on the other side of the
+howdah balanced his weight, vehemently excited his risibility) to return
+to the plains through Nahun, and have a month's shooting with him in the
+valley; but whether the invitation was accepted or not remains untold,
+as--"Alas for the literature of the age! when I was ordered to Bundelcund,
+a vile thief entered my tents at night, and robbed me of my second volume;
+and thus did I lose my carefully written account of the sub-Himmalayan
+range, which cost me fully eight months' labour."
+
+Thus abruptly terminates the first part of the colonel's travels, and at
+the commencement of the second we find him crossing the Jumna to Calpee,
+the frontier town of Bundelcund, a wild and unsettled province, prolific
+in Thugs and bad characters of all sorts, and principally inhabited by a
+peculiar race called Bundelas, who have never been perfectly reconciled to
+the British supremacy, and who, at this present writing, are kept quiet
+only by the presence of a force of 15,000 men. Calpee is said to be the
+hottest place in India, the thermometer in June, according to the colonel,
+standing even on a cloudy day at 145 degrees--a degree of heat almost
+incredible; and it is also the principal mart for the cotton, which the
+rich black soil of Bundelcund produces of finer quality than any other
+part of Hindostan. But, notwithstanding its commercial inportance, the
+town was at this time left to the government of a native Darogah or chief
+of police, the nearest European courts being at Hameerpore, thirty miles
+distant, and the state of society seems to have been somewhat singular.
+Among its most conspicuous members is "Gopal, the celebrated robber,
+murderer, and smuggler, a tall athletic man about forty-two years of age,
+with a most hideous muddy eye, having the glare of hell itself. It is said
+that he has always fifteen servants in stated pay, and can in a few hours
+command the services of three hundred armed and desperate men; and the
+strength and vigour of the Calpee police may be estimated by the fact,
+that he has been known to walk into the house of a rich merchant in the
+centre of the town, when he was surrounded by his servants and family; he
+has very coolly selected the gold bangles of his children, and silenced
+the trembling remonstrances of the Mahajun by threats of vengeance; nor is
+this a solitary instance. When he murders, he is equally above all
+concealment; as in the recent case of a sepahee returning home with his
+savings, who was waylaid and murdered by our hero in open day. He very
+coolly gave himself up, acknowledging that he had killed the sepahee, who
+had first assaulted him. It was proved on the trial, that the sepahee was
+wholly unarmed, and he was condemned to be hung by the court of Hameerpore
+on his own confession, but released, _from want of evidence_, by the
+Sudder Court at Calcutta. Their objection was excellent, though curious;
+that if his confession was taken, it must be taken altogether, and not
+that part only which could lead to his conviction. He was released, and
+now walks about in his Sunday clothes, a living evidence of British
+tenderness."
+
+Gopal was not the only amiable character with whom the colonel became
+acquainted at Calpee, as he sought and obtained an interview with a famous
+Thug approver, who had retired from the active exercise of his profession,
+and was travelling the country in company with a party of police,
+denouncing his former associates to justice. We cannot help suspecting,
+both from the traits recorded of him, and from the vicinity of Calpee to
+his former residence at Jalone, that this personage was no other than the
+celebrated Ameer Ali, whose adventures formed the ground of Captain
+Meadows Taylor's well-known "Confessions of a Thug;" and as a pendant to
+the already published descriptions of him, we here quote the impression he
+made upon the colonel. "I expected to see a great man, but at the first
+glance I saw that I was in the presence of a master. The Thug was tall,
+active, and slenderly formed; his head was nearly oval; his eye most
+strongly resembled that of a cobra di capello; its dart was perfectly wild
+and maniacal, restless, brilliant, metallic, and concentrated." The
+colonel had a narrow escape from irretrievably affronting this eminent
+professor of murder, by unguardedly enquiring whether he was in any way
+cognizant of a trifling robbery by which the colonel himself had been a
+sufferer. "No, sir!" he exclaimed with a look which might have frozen a
+less innocent querist; "murder, not robbery, is my profession ... and none
+but the merest novices would descend so low as to rob a tent or a
+dwelling-house." The colonel, however, expresses a shrewd suspicion, from
+circumstances which had come to his knowledge, that his distinguished
+visitor's _esprit de corps_ led him to deviate from truth in this
+particular--a belief in which Captain Taylor's pages fully bear him out.
+
+The colonel's movements, after quitting Calpee and its attractive circles,
+appear to have been somewhat desultory. We find him, successively, at
+Murgaon or Murgong, Julalpore, Keitah, &c., without being told what
+decided his route; but from some subsequent remarks, it appears probable
+that he was engaged on engineering service by order of Government. Between
+Julalpore and Keitah he fell in with a gang of _nutts_[9] or gipsies,
+whom the beauty of their women (a point to which the colonel is always
+alive) did not prevent him from suspecting of an intention to practise
+_thuggee_ on his own portly person--a belief in which he was confirmed by
+hearing them speak _in another tongue_ among themselves--no doubt the
+_Ramasee_, or cant language of the Thugs, subsequently made known to the
+world at large by the investigations of Major Sleeman. At Goraree he
+purchased some small cups, carved from the variegated serpentine of the
+rock on which the town is built; but, on proposing to employ the artist in
+making some larger vases, "he told me that he was a very poor man, and his
+efforts had never been directed to larger patterns; meaning to infer that
+it was impossible he could either try or succeed!" Such is Hindoo nature!
+
+    [9] The Indian gipsies are several times mentioned in the journal of
+    Bishop Heber, who says they are called Kunjas in Bengal. Colonel
+    Davidson also mentions a race in Bundelcund called Kunjurs who
+    were in the habit, as he was informed by the Bramins, of
+    "catching lizards, scorpions, snakes, and foxes," which, if it is
+    meant that they use them for food, is analogous to the omnivorous
+    propensities of the gipsies.
+
+Churkaree, the capital of Ruttun Sing Buhadoor, one of the principal of
+the numerous rajahs among whom Bundelcund is divided, is described as
+"prettily situated on the side of the hill, over a lake covered with the
+white lotus flower, and having a very fine appearance from a distance, as
+most of the houses have their upper stories whitewashed, and are seen
+peeping through the dark-green leafy trees of the country, but the town,
+which contains perhaps 15,000 souls, of whom 1000 may be Mussulmen, is
+very straggling, irregular, and dirty." The male population were all
+fiercely mustached, and loaded with arms; but their repulsive exterior was
+more than compensated by the charms of the other sex, all of whom wore
+immense hollow ankle bangles of zinc, filled with bits of gravel, which
+tinkled as they walked. "I have never seen so many well-formed and
+handsome women together as I did at the wells outside the town, drawing
+water _a la Rebecca_. Some of their faces were strikingly intelligent, and
+their figures eminently graceful. The population is almost purely Hindoo;
+and I think the Hindoo females are more delicate in their forms than the
+Mussulmanees." The Rajah was, however, absent on a sporting excursion, and
+the darogah refused to provide the colonel with lodgings, alleging his
+master's orders that no Feringhis should be allowed in the town; and it
+was not till after a long altercation, of which the colonel gives himself
+greatly the best, that he succeeded in finding quarters in the house of a
+_bunneea_ or grocer. But the next day's march (for Bundelcund is almost as
+thickly set with sovereign princes as Saxony itself) carried him out of
+the realm of this inhospitable potentate into the territories of the Rajah
+of Jalone, the once noted patron and protector of Thuggee, by whose agent
+he was most politely received at Mahoba, a once splendid but now ruined
+city, celebrated for its artificial lakes, which in long-past times were
+formed by a famous Rajpoot prince named Purmal, by damming up the narrow
+gorges of the hills. "Never had I seen, in the plains of India, a prospect
+more enchanting! Conceive a beautiful sheet of calm, clear, silvery water,
+of several miles in circumference, occasionally agitated by the splashing
+leaps of large fishes, or the gradual alighting of noble swan-like aquatic
+birds: its margin broken as if by the most skilful artist; now running
+into the centre, and ending in most romantic low rocky hills, covered with
+trees and embellished with black, antique Jain temples, deserted probably
+for hundreds of years, and at present the retreat of the elegant peafowl;
+in other places embanked with huge blocks of cut granite, embrowned by the
+shade of magnificent trees, under which small bright Hindoo temples,
+carefully whitewashed, might be seen in the shade; or bounded by abrupt
+rocky promontories, surmounted by many-pillared temples in ruins, hanging
+in the sky. A fine rich sunset gave an exquisite richness and classic
+magnificence to the scene. Many little boys with rod and line were
+ensnaring the sweet little _singhee_, or the golden _rohoo_ or
+carp--bringing back to my heart the days, when, stealing from school, I
+was wont to sit on the rocks of the Dee, at Craglug, near Aberdeen,
+watching the motion of a float that was not under water once in the
+twenty-four hours."
+
+The colonel's laudable habit of associating freely, whenever opportunity
+occurred, with the natives, gave him considerable insight into the state
+of the country, where the caprices of the native princes were not then
+much interfered with, and which consequently, as he says, "was pretty much
+in the situation of the Emerald Isle;" and verily if the tale told him by
+the Hindoo _gosain_ or priest at Jourahoo, of the murder of his
+predecessor in the temple, and the impunity of the robbers, were correctly
+related, the Bundelas have not much to learn in the arts of bloodshed and
+depredation. "This village being a sort of corner to the territories of
+several Rajahs, robberies, murders, and all other diversions, are of daily
+occurrence; and when enquiries are made; each territory throws the blame
+on its neighbour." The maxim of government most current in Bundelcund,
+both with rulers and ruled, seems indeed to have been--
+
+  "The good old rule, the simple plan,
+  That those should take who have the power,
+  And those should keep who can;"
+
+for while this strange confusion of _meum_ and _tuum_ prevailed among the
+peasantry, the country was ruined by the oppressive and irregular
+exactions of the rajahs, both zemindars and cultivators flying from their
+habitations to escape the levying of the rents, which were often demanded
+more than once by different collectors. At Chundla, the colonel was lodged
+in the house of an opulent zemindar, who had absconded for the reason just
+given; "and one of the thanna servants told me, that, by those means,
+Bundelcund was depopulated"--a statement corroborated by the numerous
+ruined brick houses remaining in the towns among the miserable hovels of
+the present day. The rajahs of Bundelcund are, almost without exception,
+of Rajpoot lineage, and thus of a different race from their Bundela
+subjects; but the condition of the country is much the same wherever it is
+left under the sway of the Hindoo princes, who are exempt even from the
+partial restraint which the Koran imposes on the despotism of Mahommedan
+rulers. The only effectual cure for the evils reigning in Bundelcund will
+be its formal incorporation with the dominions of the Company--a
+consummation which, from the refractory spirit shown in the province after
+our losses in Affghanistan, is probably not far distant.
+
+The remainder of the colonel's notes on Bundelcund relate principally to
+his visits to the ancient hill-fortresses of Ajeegur and Kalingur, both
+formerly occupied in force by the British, but now--with the exception of
+a havildar's (sergeant's) party of sepoys posted at the former, and a
+single company at the latter--garrisoned solely by the _lungoors_, or
+large black monkeys, whom the colonel found holding solemn assembly in the
+Jain temples and the hall of audience, built by the famous Rajah Purmal at
+Ajeegur. While exploring his way along the ruined and overgrown ramparts,
+he had a narrow escape from the fangs of a large venomous serpent, ("the
+_Katula Rekula Poda_, No. 7 of Russell,") on which he was on the point of
+treading, and which, in commendable gratitude for its forbearance; he
+allowed to glide off unharmed by his fowling-piece; "but he was the first
+reptile that ever escaped without the chance of losing his life at my
+hands." On the road to Kalingur he had an interview with a petitioner, who
+offered him 400 rupees in cash, or a large diamond, for his interest in a
+certain case then pending before the judge at Bandah; "but I explained to
+my client that I was not in that line of business, and as I saw he had no
+intention of insulting me, we parted friends." Kalingur, which was taken
+by the British after a long siege in 1812, stands on a rock towering
+"upwards of 850 feet above the plain below, and probably about 3000 feet
+above the level of the sea;" but its strength as a fortress is as nothing
+in comparison to its sanctity, which entitles every one, who resides there
+only as long as it takes to milk a cow, to especial beatitude--the object
+of veneration being a _lingam_ of black stone enshrined in a temple, the
+guardianship of which is jointly vested in five resident families of
+Bramins. "At this time," says the colonel, "the place is not worth keeping,
+the country being so thoroughly impoverished and desolate;" and he
+accordingly, after viewing the marvels of the locality, pursued his way to
+Banda, and thence _laid a dak_ (or travelled by palanquin with relays of
+bearers) to Calpee, "there to sit from nine to four, writing filthy
+accounts of bricks and mortar, square feet, cubic feet, and running feet,
+rupees, annas, and pie; squabbling with wrinkled unromantic villains,
+whose cool-tempered and overwhelming patience amply deserve their unlawful
+gains--I mean as labourers in the vineyard of villany."
+
+"A sporting excursion in Oude," in the spring of 1836, comes next in order
+of time; and in regular order we accordingly take it, though it has
+pleased either Mr Colburn or the colonel to place it after the voyage down
+the Ganges. The colonel left Lucknow, March 2; and three days later the
+whole party rendezvoused at Khyrabad, consisting of "Mrs, Miss, and
+Brigadier Churchill, Colonel Arnold, Major Cureton, Lieut. Waugh, Dr Ross
+of her Majesty's 16th Lancers, and the writer of these amiable records;"
+to whom was soon after added, in the capacity of guide and hanger-on, "Sam
+Lall, by birth a Chuttree or Rajpoot, by profession a zemindar, and by
+inclination a sycophant and shikarree, (hunter.)" Indian field sports,
+with their concomitants of hogs, hogdeer, jungles, elephants, tigers, and
+nullahs, have been of late years rendered so familiar to stay-at-home
+travellers, that we shall but concisely notice the colonel's exploits in
+this forest campaign, which present no remarkable novelty, though detailed
+_con amore_, and with the two-fold zest of a sportsman and an epicure.
+With all deference, indeed, to the colonel, we have shrewd doubts whether
+the latter feeling was not the predominant one; for the death of a tiger,
+nine of which fell during the three weeks' foray before the rifles of
+himself and his companions, is evidently chronicled with less of
+heart-felt enthusiasm than characterises his encomiums on the hogdeer soup,
+the delicate floricans and black partridges, (in the preparation of bread
+sauce, for which, with his own hands, he earned immortal renown,) and the
+other materials for good living poured forth from the cornucopia of an
+Indian game-bag. His gastronomic fervour during this jaunt reaches at
+times an ecstatic pitch, which, as old Weller says, "werges on the
+poetical." "For him (the gastronomist) the dark rocks and arid plains of
+the dry Dekkan produce their purple grapes, and cunning but goodly bustard;
+for him burning Bundelcund its wonderful rock pigeon and ortolan
+inimitable; the Jumna, most ancient of rivers, its large rich Kala banse,
+and tasty crabs; for him yields the low and marshy Terace her elegant
+florican; the mighty Gunga its melting mahaseer; the Goomtee its exquisite
+mullet. And shall he not eat and delight in her fruits? ... Let the ass eat
+its thistles, and the swallow its flies _au naturel_; you and I, reader,
+know better!"
+
+One day, while wading on their elephants through a deep marsh in pursuit
+of a tiger, the chasseurs suddenly stumbled upon a pleasant family
+party--"a labyrinth of huge boa-constrictors or pythons, sound asleep,
+floating on a bed of crushed _nurkool_, (a gigantic species of reed,) the
+least of them twenty feet long, and two feet in circumference. A more
+beautiful natural mosaic cannot be imagined: they appeared, from being wet,
+as if recently varnished. Perhaps they were from twenty to thirty in
+number, and occupied a spot of about twenty feet square. No sooner did the
+dreadful glistening reptiles hear the click of my rifle, and feel its ball,
+than they shot forth with all their vigour, and diving, disappeared in an
+instant under the matted roots of the tall nurkool, and, although I tried,
+I could not get another glimpse." One of these giant serpents, seventeen
+feet long, and eighteen inches in circumference, which the colonel calls a
+small one, was shot a few days afterwards by Colonel Arnold. The marsh and
+jungle swarmed with peacocks, jungle-fowl, and wild-fowl of all sorts,
+affording glorious sport; and, besides the smaller kinds of deer, several
+specimens occurred of a magnificent species of stag with twelve-tyned
+horns, called _baru-singa_--apparently allied to the _sambur_ and _rusa_
+of the Dekkan. The comparatively small number of tigers killed was,
+however, a source of disappointment; since the utility of these battues,
+in which the superior fire-arms and appliances of the English are brought
+into action for the destruction of these ferocious animals, may be
+estimated from the damage done by them in the wilder parts of India,
+"which is beyond the belief even of Indo-European residents, and must,
+consequently, appear an exaggeration to distant Englishmen. General (then
+Captain) Briggs, when resident at Dhoolia in Candeish, in 1821, where his
+potails, or head men, were obliged to keep a register of the oxen
+(exclusive of sheep and goats) destroyed in their villages, reported that
+no less than 21,000 had been killed in three years! As no register is kept
+in Oude, it is impossible to register the number."
+
+On the banks of the Mohun-nuddee the party was joined by Rajah Ruttun Sing,
+a chief holding a considerable tract of country under the suzerainte of
+Oude, who favoured them with his company while they remained in his
+district--a compliment which he expected to be acknowledged, as he
+distinctly intimated on taking leave, by the gift of a valuable
+fowling-piece; but this modest request was parried by the rejoinder, that
+none of their guns were good enough for his highness! During one of the
+halts, an incident occurred which strongly illustrates the inhuman apathy
+of the Hindoos towards any one not connected with them by the ties of
+caste. A man was found sitting under a tree near the camp, uttering
+strange cries, and the servants were desired to order him to withdraw;
+"they returned, saying carelessly that he was a _nutt_, or gipsy, who had
+been robbed." A robbery _from_ a gipsy was such a strange contradiction of
+terms, that the colonel went personally to enquire into the matter, when
+he was horror-struck by finding, that the man had been, not only plundered
+of his earnings by a band of Bunjarras, but frightfully mutilated and
+wounded, a trifle which the Hindoo servants had not thought worth
+mentioning. The poor wretch's arm was amputated by Dr Ross; and, being
+carried with the camp and carefully tended, he was at last dismissed, with
+a fair prospect of recovery, and with a gift of sixty rupees subscribed
+among the party; but not even the example of the _sahibs_ could teach the
+Hindoos humanity, and only the peremptory commands of Dr Ross could
+prevail upon his bearer to place a mattress under the sufferer! On their
+return march, the party were further honoured by visits from several
+rajahs and zemindars, all of whom were "loud in complaint against the
+extortions of the aumils, who constantly attempted to gather more, and
+sometimes twice and a half as much, as the stipulated rent, in consequence
+of which the zemindars were compelled to rebel;" a view of the political
+condition of Oude which naturally results from its anomalous position,
+under a sovereign nominally independent, who is at once too weak to
+control his own subjects, and fearful of diminishing the shadow of
+authority left to him by calling in the only available aid. On the 29th of
+March the party again reached Khyrabad, the appointed place of their
+separation, as it had been of their meeting; and here the narrative, as
+before, breaks off abruptly.
+
+The concluding part, in order of time, of the colonel's lucubrations,
+contains his narrative of a voyage on the Ganges, from Allahabad, by
+Dhacca, to Calcutta; but the features and incidents of this navigation
+have been so frequently described by travellers of all sorts and kinds,
+from Bishop Heber and Captain Bellew to our own much-esteemed Kerim Khan,
+that we shall devote but brief space to it. He quitted Allahabad, as he
+informs us, December 5, 1839, so deeply regretted by the native population,
+that they determined to perpetuate his memory by the erection of a new
+ghat or landing-place, every brick of which was to be stamped with the
+letter D--a distinction which he had, no doubt, deserved by the
+_bonhommie_ towards both Hindoo and Moslem, which forms one of the most
+favourable traits in the jovial colonel's character. The Tribeenee Ghat,
+immediately below Allahabad, where the streams of the Jumna and the Ganges
+unite, is one of the holiest spots in India; to which pilgrims resort from
+all quarters, in the hope of securing paradise by dying at the junction of
+the sacred waters. The spirit of religious exclusiveness prevails here as
+well as in other places; and the colonel mentions his having been once an
+eyewitness of some rough treatment received by a _chumar_, or
+leather-dresser, (one of the lowest castes,) at the hands of some high
+caste sepoys, who were highly indignant that so mean a carcass should
+presume to defile the holy ground! Leaving the ghats and devotees behind
+him, however, and floating down the stream in his capacious three-roomed
+budgerow, he passed Mirzapoor, Chunar, and even the holy city of Benares,
+(which he perversely spells Bunarus,) without halting; and reached without
+adventure or mishap the mouth of the Goomtee, where his attention was
+attracted by a party of eighteen young elephants, the property of the king
+of Oude, bathing in the river. "Of all animals, saving the Bundela goat,
+there is none that suffers more from change of climate than the elephant:
+of the numbers caught on the eastern frontier, probably not one in four
+survives a journey to Delhi. Bred in the darkest and most gloomy forests,
+they are in a great measure sheltered from heat by the eternal moisture of
+the cool shady bower under which they rove; and are then expected to bear
+all on a sudden the most intense heat, acting directly on their jet-black
+skins, when brought into the plains of Upper India. A very clever native
+told me he could make money by any thing but young elephants." Another
+curious fact relative to the elephant, mentioned in a subsequent chapter
+on the authority of Captain Broadfoot of the Madras commissariat, is, that
+both wild and tame elephants are extremely subject to a pulmonary disease,
+which proved on dissection to be tubercular--in fact, consumption! It was
+found to yield, however, to copious bleedings, if taken in its early
+stages.
+
+The colonel's pages, at this point, are filled with digressions and
+dissertations on subjects somewhat miscellaneous--Aberdeen pale ale--the
+enormities of Warren Hastings' government--the late James Prinsep and the
+moral precepts of the Rajah Piyadasee--and a most incomprehensible
+rhapsody about "a red mustached member of the Bengal civil service," of
+which we profess ourselves utterly incompetent to make either head or tail,
+and strongly recommend the colonel to expunge it if the work reaches
+another edition. The voyage presents no incidents but the usual ones of
+pelicans, alligators, and porpoises: and on January 15, he arrived at
+Dhacca, "the once famous city of muslins." But the muslin trade has now
+almost wholly disappeared; and with it "the thousands of families of
+muslin weavers, who, from the extreme delicacy of their manufacture, were
+obliged to work in pits, sheltered from the heat of the sun and changes of
+the weather; and even after that precaution, only while the dew lay on the
+ground, as the increasing heat destroyed the extremely delicate thread."
+The jungle is in consequence advancing close upon the city, which is thus
+rendered almost uninhabitable from malaria--the only manufacturers which
+continue to flourish being those of violins, bracelets, made from a
+peculiar shell resembling the _Murex tulipa_, and--idols for Hindoo
+worship!
+
+The colonel remained at Dhacca till February 4, awaiting ulterior orders
+from headquarters, and had, consequently, abundance of leisure for making
+himself acquainted with the place and its people. These researches,
+however, were not always unattended with danger; for on one occasion,
+while viewing the city from an elevated building, a piece of plaster was
+struck from the cornice near where he stood by a matchlock ball--a
+delicate hint that the Mussulmans disliked being overlooked. The Nawab,
+apparently the son of Bishop Heber's acquaintance, Shumseddowlah, still
+resides in the palace of his ancestors, but is described as an extravagant,
+uneducated youth, who has mortgaged away his income from 5000 to 200
+rupees per mensem--that is, from L.6000 to L.240 per annum. The
+inhabitants were a mixture of almost all the creeds and nations of
+Asia--Chinese, Thibetans, Mugs from Arracan, Burmese, Malays, etc.; but
+the great majority are Hindoos, whose sanguinary goddess Kalee is adored
+in not less than fifty temples. The Greeks and Armenians also have each a
+church, the services of which, as described by the colonel, are conducted
+in much the same form as at Constantinople:--"But among the (Armenian)
+matrons only was any appearance of devotion visible; one of them, most
+gorgeously appareled in the Armenian fashion, with a magnificent tiara of
+jewels on her brow, and wearing a superb shawl, threw herself on the
+ground, with her head sunk between her arms, towards the altar, and
+remained in that position nearly five minutes. The others, being dressed
+_a l'Anglaise_, with stiff stays and fashionable bonnets, could not afford
+to indulge in such a position." The Armenians were formerly numerous in
+Dhacca, and are still an influential and wealthy body; the Greeks are now
+"few and far between," but in the palmy days of Dhacca they were a
+flourishing community.
+
+Dhacca was a place abounding in strange characters from all parts of the
+world; and among others whom the colonel encountered, was a singular
+specimen of a cosmopolite, a native of Fez, who called himself a Moslem,
+but whom our friend vehemently suspected of being a Jew. He had been
+almost as great a traveller as his countryman the famous Sheikh Ebn Batuta,
+whose wanderings are immortalized in the pages of Maga,[10] and came last
+from Moulmein, with a cargo of black pepper and rubies. He had resided
+seventeen years in India, and proposed to the colonel, whom he claimed as
+a brother, "since from his own home he could reach England in ten days,"
+that they should jointly freight a vessel with valuables, and go _home_
+together! And, among other scattered facts, a casual encounter with some
+Chinese in the employ of the Assam Tea Company, whom the colonel
+considerably astonished by addressing them in their own language,
+introduces "the very curious fact," that at Tipperah, a civil station not
+more than fifty or sixty miles from Dhacca, the natives have from time
+immemorial used the tea which grows there abundantly, and is prepared
+after a fashion of their own. "And yet" (continues the colonel--and we
+fear there is too much truth in his remarks) "the existence of the
+tea-plant is but a recent discovery! Any other nation would have
+established a tea-manufactory at Tipperah, immediately after the first
+settlement, and the Yankees would have 'progressed' railroads and
+steam-boats for its success. India is at this moment a mine of unexplored
+wealth. No sooner had steam-boats appeared than coal has been discovered
+in every direction!" The manufacture of native iron in Bengal, which had
+been pressed upon Lord Hastings, as the colonel seems to imply, by himself,
+and at first warmly adopted by him, was objected to in the council, and
+ultimately abandoned, "on the grounds that it would militate against the
+commercial interests of Great Britain--that is, against the profits of
+those India stockholders, possessing votes, who followed the trade of
+ironmongers!" There is many a true word spoken in jest; and this and other
+side-cuts of the colonel at the shortsighted proceedings of the Bahadurs
+at Calcutta, though sometimes queerly worded, contain now and then some
+unpalatable facts. The administration of the present Governor-General has
+shown at least some _promise_ of a better state of things--and if the
+impulse now given to the development of the resources of India be steadily
+followed up, this reproach will erelong be taken away. The receipt of his
+final orders, however, which pointed out China as his destination, put an
+end to the colonel's speculations; and re-embarking on the stream of the
+Booree Gunga, he passed, with little incident worth noticing, through the
+numerous branches of the river, and the picturesque jungles of the
+Soonderbunds, and arrived safely, after an absence of twenty-one years, at
+the city of palaces--and there we leave him.
+
+    [10] May 1841.
+
+The subject of the manufactures and products of India, is not, however,
+the only point connected with the internal administration, respecting
+which some inconvenient facts find their way to light in the colonel's
+pages--and with one or two of these revelations, we shall conclude our
+extracts. The majority of those Anglo-Indian employes, who have favoured
+the world with "Reminiscences" and "Narratives," are singularly free from
+the charge of what is familiarly termed "telling tales out of school."
+According to their account, nowhere is justice so efficiently administered,
+or its functionaries so accessible, as in our Indian empire; but here,
+whether from the native frankness of the colonel's disposition, or from
+his having nothing more to hope or fear from the old Begum in Leadenhall
+Street, we find this important subject placed, on several occasions, in
+rather a different light from that in which it is usually represented. It
+is well known that Sir David Ochterlony, a short time before his death,
+discovered by mere accident that he was enrolled as a pensioner to a large
+amount on the civil list of almost every native prince in Upper India,
+from the emperor of Delhi downwards--his principal moonshee, or native
+secretary, having thrown out intelligible hints, as though from his master,
+that such douceurs would not be without their use in securing his powerful
+interest at Calcutta--the moonshee himself quietly pocketing the proceeds.
+This was certainly an outrageous instance; but it is the direct interest
+of every native subordinate to screen his own misdeeds and extortions, by
+promoting to the utmost, in his European superior, that inaccessibility to
+which he is naturally but too much inclined--and the extent to which this
+system of exclusion is carried, may be inferred from the following
+anecdote. The colonel had been requested by a native landholder of high
+respectability, to introduce him to the house of a civilian; and on asking
+why he could not go by himself, was told, "I dare not approach the very
+compound of the house he lives in! If his head man should hear that I
+ventured to present myself before the gentleman without his permission, he
+would immediately harass me by some false complaint, or even by
+instituting an enquiry into the very title-deeds of my estate, which might,
+however falsely, terminate in my ruin. It is not long since I paid eleven
+hundred rupees to ---- to suppress false claims, which, if they had
+actually gone into court, would have cost me ten times the sum."
+
+Of the practical effects of criminal punishments, the colonel does not
+speak more highly. "In the real Hindoostanee view of the subject, a
+convict in chains is nearly a native gentleman--a little roue,
+perhaps--employed on especial duties in the Company's service, for which
+he is well fed, and has little labour. A jail-bird can easily be
+distinguished after the first six months, by his superior bodily condition.
+On his head maybe seen either a kinkhab (brocade) or embroidered cap, or
+one of English flowered muslin, enriched with a border of gold or silver
+lace. Gros de Naples is coming into fashion, but slowly.... Was he
+low-spirited, he could, for a trifling present, send to the bazar, and
+enjoy a nautah from the hour the judge went to sleep till daybreak next
+morning--nay, under proper management, he might be gratified by the
+society of his wife and family.... See him at work, the burkandauze
+(policeman) is smoking _his_ chillum, while he and his friends are sound
+asleep, _sub tegmine fagi_. All of a sudden there is an alarm--the judge
+is coming! up they all start, and work like devils for ten or fifteen
+seconds, and then again to repose. This is working in chains on the roads!
+In fact, after a man is once used to the comforts of an Indian prison,
+there's no keeping him out!"
+
+All this, no doubt, is broad caricature--but "ridentem dicere verum quid
+vetat?" a motto which the colonel could not do better than adopt for any
+future edition of his eccentric lucubrations. And so Rookhsut! Colonel
+Sahib! may your favourite tomata sauce never pall upon your palate; and
+though perhaps you would hardly thank us for the usual oriental good wish,
+that your shadow may continue to increase, may it at least never be
+diminished by that worst of all fiends, indigestion!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+BELFRONT CASTLE.
+
+A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.
+
+
+One half of the world was surprised that Reginald Belfront married Jane
+Holford--and the other half was equally surprised that Jane Holford
+married Reginald Belfront; for, considering the experience that both
+halves of the world must have had, it is amazing how subject they still
+are to surprise. To us, who have not the pleasure to belong to either half,
+there is very little surprising in the matter. Reginald had been for some
+time on a visit at the house of a distant relation--old Sir Hugh de Mawley.
+He had wandered through the great woods of the estate, and found them very
+tiresome; had strolled in the immense park, and found it dull; and, in the
+long evenings, had sat in the stately hall, and listened to the endless,
+whispered anecdotes of his host, and found them both intolerable. No
+wonder he started with joyful surprise when, one day in the drawing-room,
+he heard the rustle of a silk gown; caught the glancing of some beautiful
+real flowers on the top of a bright-green bonnet; and, more wonderful than
+all, the smile of the prettiest lips, and the glances of the clearest eyes
+he had ever seen in his life. The gown, the bonnet, the smiles, and eyes,
+all belonged to Jane Holford; and Reginald, who had, up to this time, made
+no great progress in the study of comparative physiology, now made such
+rapid strides, that he could have told you every point in which the
+possessor of the above-named attributes differed from the stiff and prim
+Miss de Mawley, who had hitherto been the sole representative of the
+female sex in Mawley Court. The neck and shoulders--the chin--nose--arms--
+ankles--feet--not to mention the hair and eyebrows--of the new specimen,
+were minutely studied; and, in spite of the usual antipathy he entertained
+against all scientific pursuits, he felt a strong inclination to be the
+owner of it himself, in order to pursue his investigations at full leisure.
+He was no genius--hated books--disliked clever people--but prided himself
+on his horsemanship, his play at quarterstaff, his personal strength, and,
+above all, in his fine old castle in a somewhat inaccessible part of
+Yorkshire, which had remained in the possession of his family ever since
+the Conquest. Jane, on the other hand, had no castle to boast of; and
+probably had no ancestor whatever at any period preceding the year 1750,
+when her grandfather had bought an estate near Mawley Court--which had
+gone on improving with the improvement of the times, till her father found
+himself the possessor of a rent-roll of fifteen hundred a year, four sons,
+and six grown-up daughters. It will easily be believed that no objections
+to the match were raised on the part of a middle-aged gentleman, with so
+many reasons for agreeing to the marriage settlement proposed by Reginald
+Belfront; consisting, as it did, of a jointure to the widow, and the use
+of Belfront Castle for life, without the remotest allusion to any portion
+or other contingent advantage on the other side; and as Jane herself was,
+if possible, still more satisfied on the subject than her father, all the
+arrangements were rapidly made, and in less than three months after the
+apparition of the silk gown and other etceteras in the drawing-room, the
+indissoluble knot was tied, and Miss Cecilia, the second daughter, was
+advanced to the dignity of Miss Holford, vice Jane--promoted.
+
+The church was all decked out with roses and other pleasing emblems of the
+unfading nature of connubial bliss; wreaths of sunflowers, with the same
+comfortable moral, were hung up over the great gate of Mawley Court; while
+Miss de Mawley, representing in her own person the evergreens omitted in
+the garlands, received the happy couple on their return from the ceremony
+at the head of all the female domestics, from the housekeeper down to the
+kitchenmaid, and led the bride and bridegroom to the table in the great
+hall, where old Sir Hugh was sitting in great state. They kneeled down
+before his chair; and, laying his hand on their heads, he began blessing;
+but not having practised that style of oratory so much as he ought, it
+rapidly degenerated into a grace--and, as lunch in the mean time was
+brought in, and the Holford family, and one or two of the neighbours who
+had been present at the ceremony, had now arrived, the eloquence of Sir
+Hugh was not altogether thrown away. There were several speeches and
+toasts, and sundry attempts at jocularity; and Sir Hugh began the story of
+the French countess and the waterfall at Fountainbleau; and Reginald
+availed himself of the somnolency of the rest of the party to slip out
+with his bride without being observed, just as the royal family began to
+suspect the secret--and, long before the incensed husband sent the
+challenge, the happy pair were careering onward as fast as the postboy
+could drive, on the first stage of their wedding tour.
+
+A month afterwards they were in a country inn in Wales. The window at
+which they sat commanded a view of the beautiful vale of Cwmcwyllchly--a
+small river glided down in winding mazes, hiding itself behind wooded
+knolls, and brawling over rocks in the most playful and picturesque manner
+imaginable. The sun had begun to set, and was taking a last look at the
+prospect, with his vast chin rested on the top of Penchymcrwm, presenting
+to the poetical mind an image of a redfaced farmer looking over a
+five-barred gate--every thing, in short, that is generally met with in
+Tourists' Guides, as constituting a splendid view, was assembled on this
+favoured spot; and yet Jane heaved a deep sigh, and appeared to take no
+notice of the landscape.
+
+"You're tired, my love," said Reginald; "you have walked too far up these
+Welsh mountains."
+
+"I hope to get used to climbing," answered Jane; "there are plenty of
+hills at Belfront--aren't there?"
+
+"Yes, we have plenty of hills; but why don't you call it home, Jane?"
+
+"Because I have never lived there," she replied; "and a place can scarcely
+be called home that one has never seen."
+
+"But you have never said you wished to see it."
+
+"Oh, but I have wished it all the same--may we--may we go--home?"
+
+She said the word at last, and Reginald was delighted.
+
+"Home! to be sure--to-morrow, at daybreak; for, to tell you the truth, I
+don't care sixpence for fine views--in fact, I don't think there is any
+difference between any two landscapes--except that there may be hills in
+one, and none in another, or woods, or a river--but they are all exactly
+the same in reality. So, let us go home, my love, as fast as we can, or
+I'm very much afraid Mr Peeper won't like it."
+
+"Mr Peeper?" enquired Jane. "Who is Mr Peeper?"
+
+"You will know him in good time," said Reginald; "and I hope he will like
+you."
+
+"I hope he will--I hope all your friends will like me--I will do every
+thing in my power to please them."
+
+"You're a very good girl, Jane; and Mr Peeper can't help but be pleased,
+and I am glad of it; for it ought to be our first study to make ourselves
+agreeable to _him_."
+
+"Agreeable to Mr Peeper!" thought Jane. "How strange that I never was told
+about him before this moment! Does he live in the castle, Reginald?" she
+asked.
+
+"Certainly. One of his family has lived there ever since one of mine did;
+so there is a connexion between us of a few hundred years."
+
+"Have you any other friends who live in the castle?" enquired the bride.
+
+"I don't know whether Phil Lorimer is there just now or not; he has a room
+whenever he comes; and a knife and fork at table."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"A capital fellow--full of wit--and makes funnier faces and better songs
+than any man in Yorkshire. You will like Phil Lorimer."
+
+"And I hope he will like me!"
+
+"If he don't, I'll break every bone in his body."
+
+"Oh! I beg you won't," said the bride with a smile, and looking up in
+Reginald's face to assure herself he spoke in joke. It was as earnest a
+face as if it had been of cast-iron; and she saw that Mr Lorimer's only
+chance of preserving a whole skin was to like her with all his might.
+
+"Is there any one else?"
+
+"There's Mr Peeper's assistant, Mark Lutter--a clever man, and a great
+scholar. I hate scholars, so he dines in the servants' hall, or far down
+the table--below the salt."
+
+"Are you serious?" enquired Jane.
+
+"Do you not like scholars?"
+
+"What's the use of them? I never could see what they were good for--and,
+besides, Mr Peeper hates them too."
+
+"Then why does he keep this man as his assistant?"
+
+"Because if he didn't, the fellow would rebel."
+
+"Well, you could turn him off."
+
+"We never turn any body off at Belfront Castle. If they go of their own
+accord, we punish them for it if we can--if they stay, they are welcome.
+Mr Peeper must look to it, or Lutter will make a disturbance."
+
+"What a curious place this castle must be," thought Jane, "and what odd
+people they are that live in it!" She asked no more questions, but
+determined to restrain her curiosity till she could satisfy it on the spot;
+and, luckily, she had not long to wait. Next day they started on their
+homeward way. As they drew nearer their destination, Jane's anxiety to
+gain the first glimpse of her future home increased with every mile. She
+had, of course, formed many fancy pictures of it in her own mind; and, as
+love lent the brush and most obligingly compounded the colours, there can
+be no doubt they made out a very captivating landscape of it between them.
+
+"At the top of the next hill," said Reginald, "you will see the keep."
+
+Jane stretched her head forward, and looked through the front window as if
+she could pierce the hill that lay between her and home. On went the
+horses; but the next hill seemed an incredible way off; it was now getting
+late, and the shadows of evening, like a flock of tired black sheep, began
+to lie down and rest thenselves on the vast dreary moor they were
+travelling over. At last Jane felt that they were beginning an ascent; and
+a sickly moon, that seemed to have undergone a severe operation, and lost
+nearly all her limbs, lifted up her pale face in the sky. The wind, too,
+began to whistle in long low gusts, and Reginald, who was not of a
+poetical temperament, as we have already observed, was nearly asleep. They
+reached the hill top at last, and a great expanse of rugged and broken
+country lay before them.
+
+"Where is it?--on which hand?" said Jane.
+
+"Straight before you," replied the husband; "it is only three miles off;
+the high-road turns off to the left, but we go through fields right on."
+
+Jane looked with almost feverish anxiety. At a good distance in front,
+rose a tall black structure, like the chimney of a shot manufactory--a
+single, square, gigantic tower--throwing a darker mass against the
+darkened sky, and sicklied o'er on one of the faces with the yellow-green
+moonlight. There were no lights in it, nor any sign of habitation; and
+Jane would have indulged in various enquiries and exclamations, if the
+carriage had allowed her; but it had by this time left the main road, and
+sank up to the axles in the ruts; it bounded against stones, and wallowed
+in mire alternately; and all that she could do, was to hold on by one of
+the arm rests, as if she had been in the cabin of a storm-toss'd ship.
+
+"For mercy's sake, Reginald, will this last long?" she said, out of breath
+with her exertions.
+
+"We are about a mile from the drawbridge. I hope they have not drawn it
+up."
+
+"Could we not get into the castle if they have?"
+
+"We might fall into the moat if we tried the postern."
+
+"Oh, gracious!--is there a moat?"--and instinctively she put her hand to
+her throat, for her mother had brought her up with a salutary dread of
+colds, and she felt a sensation of choking at the very name.
+
+At this moment, the agonized carriage, after several groans that would
+have moved the heart of a highway commissioner, gave a rush downward, and
+committed suicide in the most determined manner, by dashing its axle on
+the ground--the wheels endeavouring in vain to fathom the profundity of
+the ruts, and the horses totally unable to move the stranded equipage. The
+sudden jerk knocked Reginald's hat over his eyes against the roof of the
+carriage, and Jane screamed when she felt the top of her bonnet squeezed
+as flat as a pancake by the same process, but neither of them, luckily,
+was hurt.
+
+"We must get out and walk," said the husband; "it isn't more than half a
+mile, and we will send Phil Lorimer, or some of them, for the trunks."
+
+He put his arm round Jane's waist, and helped her over the almost
+impassable track.
+
+"We must try to get the road mended," said Jane.
+
+"It has never been mended in our time," was the reply; and it was said in
+a tone which showed that the fact so announced was an unanswerable
+argument against the proposition of the bride.
+
+"A few stones well broken would do it all," she urged.
+
+"We never break stones at Belfront," was the rejoinder; and in silence,
+and with some difficulty, they groped their unsteady way. At last they
+emerged from a thick overgrown copse, in which the accident had happened,
+and, after sundry narrow escapes from sprained ankles and broken arms,
+they reached the gate. It was an immense wooden barrier, supported at each
+end by little round buildings--like a slice of toast laid lengthways
+between two half pounds of butter. It was thickly studded with iron nails,
+and the round piers were of massive stone, partly overgrown with ivy, and
+as solid as if they had been formed of one mass.
+
+"Does any body live in those lodges?" enquired Jane.
+
+"There is a warder in the inner court," said Reginald. "These are merely
+the supporters of the outer gate."
+
+"And how are we to get in?"
+
+"We must blow, I suppose." And so saying, Reginald lifted up a horn that
+was hung by an iron chain from one of the piers, and executed a flourish
+that made Jane put her fingers to her ears.
+
+In a short time the creaking of an iron chain--whose recollection of oil
+must have been of the most traditionary nature--gave intimation that its
+intentions were decidedly hospitable; and with many squeaks and grunts the
+enormous portal turned at last on its hinges, and exposed to view a narrow
+winding road between two walls, which, in a short time, conducted the
+visitors to a long wooden bridge over a piece of stagnant water--the said
+bridge having only that moment been let down from the lofty position in
+which its two halves were kept by an immense wooden erection, which bore
+an awful resemblance to a scaffold. When they got over the bridge,
+Reginald turned round, and, imprinting a kiss on the pale cheek of the
+astonished bride, said--
+
+"Welcome home, dear Jane. This is Belfront Castle!"
+
+Jane looked round a spacious courtyard, and saw a square of low
+dark-looking buildings, with the enormous tower she had seen from the top
+of the hill rearing its thick head above all at one corner. They proceeded
+across the roughly-paved quadrangle, and entered a low door; ascended
+three steps, and opened another door. They then found themselves in a
+large and lofty hall, with fitful flashes of red light flickering on the
+walls, as the flame of the wood fire on the hearth rose or fell beneath
+the efforts of a half distinguishable figure, extended at full length on
+the floor, and puffing the enormous log with a pair of gigantic bellows.
+In the palpable obscure, Jane could scarcely make out the persons of the
+occupants of the apartment; but when the flame burnt up a little more
+powerfully than usual, she observed the figure of a tall man dressed in
+black, who shook hands with Reginald, and bowed very coldly and formally
+to her, when he was introduced as Mr Peeper. He seemed about fifty or
+sixty years of age, but very much enfeebled. He stooped and coughed, and
+was very infirm in his motions; but when the red glare from the hearth
+fell upon his eyes, they fixed themselves on Jane with such a piercing
+expression, that she turned away her face almost in fear. His hair was
+snow-white, and yet it was impossible to decide whether he was a man of
+the years we have stated, with the premature appearance of age, or a
+person of extraordinary longevity, retaining the vigorous eyes and active
+spirit of youth. However it was, Mr Peeper was too harsh and haughty in
+his approaches, and exacted too much deference from the youthful bride, to
+be very captivating at first. He said no welcome to the new-comer, and was
+stiff and unkind even to the owner of the castle. Candles were soon
+brought in, and Jane took the opportunity of looking round. The individual
+who had been busy blowing the fire now rose from his humble position, and
+was presented to the lady as Phil Lorimer. He bowed and smiled, and was
+proceeding with a compliment, in which, however, he advanced no further
+than the summer sun bringing out the roses, when Reginald pushed him out
+of the hall, with orders to get the luggage brought in from the carriage,
+and to be back in time for supper. Phil Lorimer seemed a man of thirty,
+strongly built, with a sweet voice and friendly smile; but what station he
+filled in the household--whether a servant, a visitor, a poor relation, or
+what he could be, Jane could not make out, either from his manner or the
+way he was treated.
+
+"Mr Lorimer is very good-natured--very obliging, to take care of the
+luggage, I am sure," said Jane.
+
+"Better that than talking nonsense about roses," replied Reginald. "Did
+you expect us this evening, Mr Peeper?"
+
+"I did, Mr Reginald, and have invited a few of the neighbours to meet you."
+
+"Who are coming?"
+
+"Sir Bryan De Barreilles, Hasket of Norland, Maulerer of Phascald, and old
+Dr Howlet. They will be here soon, so you had better make haste."
+
+"I had better not appear, love," said Jane; "no ladies are coming, and
+among so many gentlemen my presence might be awkward."
+
+"By no means," replied the husband. "It wouldn't be right, Mr Peeper, for
+my wife to be absent from the supper-table?"
+
+"Certainly not. It is to see _her_ the neighbours are coming."
+
+Is this Mr Peeper to have the control of all my actions? thought Jane. Who
+can he be?
+
+She took another glance at the object of her thoughts, but caught his eye
+fixed on her with the same penetrating brightness as before; and she cast
+her looks on the ground; and, whether from anger or fear, she felt her
+cheeks glowing with blushes.
+
+"You will not be long gone, if you please," he said to Jane as she retired
+to change her dress.
+
+"You don't seem pleased to see us, Mr Peeper," said Reginald, when Jane
+had gone to her room under the guidance of a very tall old woman, who
+walked before her, holding out a tremendously long candle, as if it were a
+sword, and she was at the head of a military procession.
+
+"No, sir," replied Mr Peeper; "I am not pleased with the person you have
+brought here. You have gone too far from home for a wife. None of the
+Belfronts have ever married out of Yorkshire, and it may give rise to
+troubles."
+
+"I am very sorry my wife's relations would not allow me to send for you to
+perform the ceremony."
+
+"It is a bad omen," said the old man; "my predecessors have married your
+predecessors without a break since the conquest. It bodes no good."
+
+"I trust no harm will happen, and that you will soon forget the
+disappointment."
+
+"None of my family forget, but we will not _talk_ of it." So saying, he
+turned away, and arranged a goodly array of bottles on the sideboard.
+Reginald sat down on an oak chair beside the fire, and gazed attentively
+into the log.
+
+In the mean time, Jane had followed her gigantic conductor through half a
+mile of passages, and reached a small room at one end of the quadrangle,
+and through the window (of which half the panes were broken, as if on
+purpose) she caught the melodious murmur of a rapid river, that chafed
+against the foundation walls of the castle. On looking round, the prospect
+was not very encouraging. Tattered tapestries hung down the walls, and
+waved in a most melancholy and ghost-like fashion in the wind; the floor
+was thinly littered over with some plaited rushes, to supply the place of
+a carpet; and a few long high-backed oak chairs kept guard against the
+wall. The fire had died an infant in its iron cradle, the grate; and the
+curtain of the bed waved to and fro in mournful sympathy with the tapestry
+round the room. Jane was so cold that she could hardly go through her
+toilette, simple as it was; but having at last achieved a very slight
+alteration in her dress, and left her bonnet on the head of an owl, which
+formed the ornament of one of the high-backed chairs, she endeavoured to
+retrace her steps; and after a few pauses and mistakes, she found her way
+once more into the hall.
+
+The guests in the mean time were assembled and had seated themselves at
+table. On Jane's entrance they all rose, and on being respectively named
+by their host, bowed with cold and stately courtesy, and sat down again.
+The four strangers seemed all of the same ages, fifty or thereabouts--tall,
+hale, and dignified in their manners. Sir Bryan de Barreilles had a patch
+on his right eye; Hasket of Norland a deep scar on his forehead, that cut
+his left eyebrow into two parts, and gave a very extraordinary expression
+to his rigid countenance; Maulerer of Phascald had the general effect of
+very handsome features, marred by the want of his nose; not that there was
+actually no nose, but that it did not occupy the prominent position it
+usually holds on the human face divine, but was inserted deep between the
+cheeks--in fact, was a nose not set on after the fashion of a knocker, but
+a fine specimen of _basso-relievo_, indented after the manner of Socrates's
+head on a seal, and would probably have made a very fine impression. Dr
+Howlet was perfectly blind, and from the tone in which he was addressed by
+the other gentlemen, Jane concluded he was also very nearly deaf. Besides
+these, there were present Mr Peeper, at the foot of the table next to
+Reginald, and on the other side of him a thick square-built man, with a
+fine hilarious open countenance, who was perhaps of too low a rank to be
+introduced to the lady of the castle--no other in fact than the
+redoubtable Mr Lutter, of whom Jane had heard on her journey home.
+
+After the serving men, with some difficulty, had brought in the supper,
+consisting of enormous joints of meat, hot and cold, and deposited on the
+sideboard vast tankards of strong ale and other potent beverages, Mr
+Peeper rose, and folding his hands across his breast, and bending forward
+his head with every appearance of devotion, muttered some words evidently
+intended to represent a grace; but so indistinct that it was utterly
+impossible to make the slightest guess at their meaning, whereupon they
+all fell to with prodigious activity, and cut and slashed the enormous
+dishes as if they had been famished for a year. Mr Lutter, after making an
+observation that true thankfulness was as much shown by moderate enjoyment
+of good gifts as by long prayers said over them, made a most powerful
+assault on the cold sirloin, and, of all the party, was the only one who
+had the politeness to send a helping to Jane. She was tired and hungry,
+and felt really obliged by the attention, but could scarcely do justice to
+the viands from surprise at the conversation of the guests.
+
+"Ho, ho!" said Sir Bryan de Barreilles, "I once knew a thing--such a thing
+it was too--ho! ho!" And partly the vividness of the recollection, and
+principally an enormous mouthful of beef, produced a long fit of
+coughing--"'twill make you laugh," he continued--"'twas a rare feat--ho!
+ho!--even this lady will be pleased to hear it."
+
+Jane bowed in expectation of an amusing anecdote.
+
+"One of my tenants was going to be married; his bride was a very young
+creature, not more than eighteen, and on the wedding-day, as I always was
+ready for a joke in those days--ah! 'tis thirty years ago, or more--I
+asked the bridal party to the Tower. Ho! ho! such laughing we had!--Giles
+Mallet and Robin Henslow fought with redhot brands out of the fire, till I
+thought we should all have died; and Giles--the cleverest fellow and the
+wittiest, ho! ho!--such a fellow was Giles!--he took up the poker instead
+of the fir-log, and watched his opportunity, ho! ho!--it was redhot too--a
+good stout poker as ever you saw--and ran it clean through his cheek--you
+heard the tongue fizz! as it licked the hot iron--'twas a famous play. How
+Robin roared, to be sure, and couldn't speak plain--ho! ho! Well, the
+games went on; and nothing would please some of the young ones but we
+should see the Oubliette. 'Twas a dark hole where my forefathers
+imprisoned their refractory vassals, and sad stories were told about
+it--how that voices were heard from the bottom of it, and groans, and
+sometimes gory heads were seen at the top of it, looking up to the
+skylight, and struggling to escape, but ever tumbling back into the deep
+dark hole, with screams and smothered cries; a rare place for a man's
+enemies--but it had not been used for many years. Well--nothing would do,
+but when we were all merry with ale, we should all go and see the
+Oubliette, and a kiss of the bride was promised to the one who should go
+down the furthest. Now, the stone steps were very narrow at best; and were
+all worn away--and that was the best of it--all along the passages we went,
+and past the dungeon grating, till we came to the open mouth of the
+Oubliette. Ho! ho! how you'll laugh. Down a step went one--no kiss from
+the bride for him--two steps went another--some went down six steps, and
+one bold fellow went down so far that we lost sight of him in the darkness.
+Then the bridegroom, a stout young yeoman--thought it shame to let anyone
+beat him in daring, for so rich a prize as a kiss from the rosy lips of
+his bride, and down--down--he went--step after step--till finally, far
+down in the gloom, we heard a loud scream--such a scream--ho! ho! I can't
+help laughing yet when I think of it--and in a minute or two, whose voice
+should we hear but Giles Mallet's! _There_ was Giles, hollowing and
+roaring for us to send down a rope but _how_ he had got down, or _when_ he
+had gone down, nobody knew. However, a rope was got, and merrily, stoutly,
+we all pulled, but no Giles came up. Instead of him, we drew forth the
+bridegroom! but such a changed man. His eyes were fixed, and his face as
+white as silver--his mouth was wide open, and his great tongue went
+lolling about from side to side--and he shook his head, and mumbled and
+slavered--he was struck all of a sudden into idiocy, and knew nobody; not
+even his bride. She was sinking before him, but he never noticed her, but
+went moaning, and muttering, and shaking his head. Ho! ho! 'twas the
+comicalest thing I ever saw. And when Giles came up he explained it all.
+Giles had gone down deeper than any of them, and waited for the others on
+a ledge in the cavern; and just when the bridegroom reached it, Giles
+seized him by the leg, and said--'Your soul is mine'--ho! ho! 'Your soul
+is mine,' said Giles--and the bridegroom uttered only the loud, long
+scream we had all heard, and stood and shook and trembled. 'Twas a rare
+feat; and if you had come down last year"--he added, turning to Jane--"you
+would have seen the bridegroom going from door to door, followed by all
+the boys in the village--he never recovered. There he went, shake, shaking
+his head--and gape gaping with his mouth. "Twas good sport to teaze him.
+I've set my dogs on him myself; but he never took the least notice. 'Twas
+a good trick--I never knew better."
+
+"And the bride?" enquired Jane.
+
+"Oh, she died in a week or two after the adventure! A silly hussy--I
+wished to marry her, by the left hand, to my forester, but she kept on
+moping and looking at the idiotical bridegroom, and died--a poor fool."
+
+"Ah! we've grown dull since those merry times," said Hasket of Norland,
+looking, round the empty hall, and then towards Reginald, as if
+reproaching him with the absence of the ancient joviality. "There were
+three men killed at my marriage--in fair give and take fight--in the hall,
+at the wedding supper. There is the mark of blood on the floor yet."
+
+"I lost my eye at the celebration of a christening," said Sir Bryan de
+Barreilles. "My uncle of Malmescott pushed it in with the handle of his
+dagger."
+
+"I got this wound on my forehead at a feast after a funeral," said Hasket
+of Norland. "I quarreled with Morley Poyntz, and he cut my eyebrow with an
+axe. 'Twas a merry party in spite of that."
+
+"The Parson of Pynsent jumped on my face at a festival in honour of the
+birth of Sir Ranulph Berlingcourt's heir," said Maulerer of Phascald. "I
+had been knocked on the floor by the Archdeacon of Warleileigh, and the
+Parson of Pynsent trode on my nose. He was the biggest man in Yorkshire,
+and squeezed my nose out of sight--a rare jovial companion, was the Parson
+of Pynsent, and many is the joke we have had about the weight of his foot.
+Ah! we have no fun now--no fighting, no grinning through a horse-collar,
+no roasting before a fire, no singing"--
+
+"Yes," said Reginald, "we have Phil Lorimer."
+
+"Let him come--let us hear him," said some of the party.
+
+"I hate songs," said Dr Howlet; "and think all ballads should be burned."
+
+"And the writers of them, too," added Mr Peeper, with a fierce glance
+towards the fireplace, from which Phil Lorimer emerged.
+
+"Oh no! I think songs an innocent diversion," said Mr Lutter, "and
+softening to the heart. Sit near me, Mr Lorimer."
+
+"Make a face, Phil," cried the knight; "I would rather see a grin than
+hear your ballad."
+
+"Jump, Phil," said Hasket of Norland, applying his fork to Phil's leg as
+he passed, "you are a better morris-dancer than a poet."
+
+Phil, who was imperturbably good-natured, did as he was told. He opened
+his mouth to a preternatural size, turned one eye to the ceiling, and the
+other down to the floor, till Sir Bryan was in ecstasies at his
+achievement. He then sprang to an incredible height in that air, and
+danced once or twice through the hall, throwing himself into the most
+grotesque attitudes imaginable, and the table was nearly shaken in pieces
+by the thumpings with which the party showed their satisfaction.
+
+"Now then, Phil; here's a cup of sherry-wine--drink it, boy, and sing a
+sweet song to the lady," said Reginald.
+
+"Songs are an invention of the devil," said Mr Peeper.
+
+"Unless they are sung through the nose," said Mr Lutter, with a sneer.
+
+"You approve of songs then?" inquired Mr Peeper, with a fierce look.
+
+"Certainly," said Mr Lutter, "when their subject is good, and the language
+modest."
+
+"Then you are an atheist," retorted Mr Peeper.
+
+"What has a ballad to do with atheism?" enquired Mr Lutter, looking angry.
+
+"You approve of wicked songs, and therefore are an atheist."
+
+"A man is more like an atheist," retorted Mr Lutter, "who is ungrateful to
+God for the gift of song, and shuts up the sweetest avenue by which the
+spirit approaches its Creator. I admire poetry, and respect poets."
+
+"Any one who holds such diabolic doctrines is not fit to remain in
+Belfront Castle."
+
+"Nay," replied Mr Lutter, "Belfront Castle would be infinitely improved if
+such doctrines were adopted in it."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Reginald, "you are both learned men; and I know nothing
+about the questions you discuss."
+
+"Your lady shall judge between us," said Mr Lutter.
+
+"She shall not," said Mr Peeper; "I am the sole judge in matters of the
+kind."
+
+"Let us hear Phil's song in the mean time," said Reginald. "Come, Lorimer."
+
+"What shall it be?" said Phil.
+
+"Something comic," said Sir Bryan.
+
+"Something bloody," said Hasket of Norland.
+
+"Something loving," said Maulerer of Phascald.
+
+"Will the lady decide for us?" said Phil, with a smile. "Will you have the
+'Silver Scarf,' madam; or 'the Knight and the Soldan of Bagdad?' They are
+both done into my poor English from the troubadours of Almeigne."
+
+The lady fixed, at haphazard, on "the Knight and the Soldan of Bagdad:"
+and Phil prepared to obey her commands. He took a small harp in his hand,
+and sate down in the vacant chair next to Sir Bryan de Bareilles. The rest
+of the company composed themselves to listen; and, after a short prelude,
+Lorimer, in a fine manly voice, began--
+
+  "Oh, brightly bloom'd the orange flow'r,
+    And fair the roses round;
+  And the fountain, in its marble bed,
+    Leapt up with a happy sound;
+  And stately, stately was the hall,
+    And rich the feast outspread;
+  But the Soldan of Bagdad sigh'd full sore,
+    And never a word he said.
+  Never a word the Soldan said,
+    But many a tear let fall;
+  He had tried all the joys that life could give,
+    And was weary of them all.
+  The Soldan lift up his heavy eye--
+    And to that garden fair,
+  A stranger enter'd with harp in hand,
+    And with a winsome air;
+  Long locks of yellow molten gold
+    Hung over his cheek so brown,
+  And a red mantle of Venice silk
+    Fell from his shoulders down.
+  A weary wanderer he did seem,
+    Come from a distant land;
+  And over the harpstrings thoughtfully,
+    He moveth his cunning hand.
+  He opes his lips, and he poureth forth
+    Such a sweet stream of sound,
+  That the Soldan's heart leaps up in his breast,
+    And his eye he casts around.
+  'Was never a voice,' the Soldan said,
+    'So sweet--nor so blest a song;--
+  Sing on, kind minstrel,' the Soldan said,
+    'I have been sad too long.'
+  The minstrel sang, and soft and sweet
+    The Soldan's tears fell free;
+  'Oh, tell me, thou minstrel dear,' he said,
+    'What boon shall I give to thee?
+  Oh, stay with me but a year and a day,
+    And sing sweet songs to me;
+  And whatever the boon, by Allah, I swear,
+    I will freely give it to thee.'
+  The minstrel stay'd a year and a day,
+    And the Soldan loved him well;
+  'Now what is the boon thou askest of me--
+    I prithee, dear minstrel, tell.'
+  'A Christian knight in thy dungeon pines,
+    And his hope is nearly o'er;
+  His freedom is the boon I ask--
+    Oh, open his prison door!'
+  The minstrel went--and no more was seen;
+    And the Christian knight, set free,
+  Found a stately ship, that bore him safe
+    Home to his own countrie.
+  And his lady met him at the gate,
+    His lady fair and young;
+  And with a scream of pride and joy,
+    She in his bosom hung.
+  Oh, glad, glad was the Christian knight,
+    And glad was his lady fair,
+  And her pale cheek flush'd as he cast aside
+    The locks of her raven hair,
+  And kiss'd her brow, and told the tale
+    Of his dungeon, deep and strong;
+  And of the minstrel, too, he told
+    And of the power of song.
+  And they blest the minstrel, and blest his song,
+    And soon the feast was dight;
+  And prince and noble crowded in,
+    To welcome home the knight.
+  And when the brimming cup went round,
+    Spoke out an evil tongue,
+  And blamed that lady to her lord,
+    That lady fair and young;
+  And told, with many a bitter sneer,
+    How that, for many a day,
+  When he was prison'd in Paynim land,
+    That dame was far away,
+  And none knew where; but all could guess--
+    Up rose the knight, and kept
+  His hand close clutch'd on his dagger heft,
+    And down the hall he stept;
+  And onwards with the dagger bared,
+    He rush'd to the lady's bower--
+  'Thou hast been false, and left thy home--
+    Thou diest this very hour!'
+  'Oh! it is true, I left my home;
+    But yet, before I die,
+  Oh! look not on me with face so changed,
+    Nor with so fierce an eye!
+  Oh! let me, but for a minute's space,
+    Into my chamber hie;
+  One prayer I would say for thee and me--
+    One prayer--before I die!'
+  She left the bower; and as he stept
+    To and fro in ireful mood,
+  A stranger from the chamber came,
+    And close behind him stood.
+  Long locks of molten yellow gold
+    Hung over his cheek so brown,
+  And a red mantle of Venice silk,
+    Fell from his shoulder, down.
+  Dark frown'd the knight--'Vile churl!' he said;
+    But ere he utter'd more,
+  The stranger let the mantle fall
+    Unclasp'd upon the floor,--
+  And off he cast the yellow locks--
+    And, lo! the lady fair,
+  Blushing and casting from her cheek
+    Her glossy raven hair!
+  Down fell the dagger; down the knight
+    Sank kneeling and opprest;
+  And the lady oped her snow white arms,
+    And wept upon his breast!"
+
+"A foul song!--a wanton woman!"--exclaimed Sir Bryan de Barreilles--"he
+should have stabbed her for living so long with a Jew villain like the
+Soldan of Bagdad."
+
+"Was the villain a Jew?" enquired Dr Howlet, who had caught the word. "I
+did not know Bagdad was in Jewry. Is a heathen the same as a Jew, Mr
+Peeper?"
+
+The gentleman thus appealed to, coughed as if to clear his throat, and
+though he usually spoke with the utmost clearness, he mumbled and muttered
+in the same unintelligible manner as he had done when he was saying grace;
+and it was a very peculiar habit of the learned individual, whenever he
+was applied to for an explanation, to betake himself to a mode of speech
+that would have puzzled a far wiser head than Dr Howlet's, to make head or
+tail of it.
+
+Dr Howlett, however, appeared to be perfectly satisfied with the
+information; and by the indignant manner in which he struck his long
+gold-headed ebony walking-stick on the floor, seemed entirely to agree
+with the worthy knight in his estimate of the heroine of Phil Lorimer's
+ballad.
+
+"I like the ballad about the jousting of Romulus the bold Roman, with
+Judas Maccabaeus in the Camp at Ascalon far better," said Hasket of
+Norland. "Sing it, Phil."
+
+"No, no," cried Maulerer, who was far gone in intoxication. "Sing us the
+song of the Feasting at Glaston, when Eneas the Trojan married Arthur's
+daughter.--Sing the song, sirrah, this moment, or I'll cut your tongue in
+two, to make your note the sweeter.--Sing."
+
+Thus adjured, Phil once more began:--
+
+  "There was feasting high and revelry
+    In Glaston's lofty hall;
+  And loud was the sound, as the cup went round,
+    Of joyous whoop and call;
+  And Arthur the king, in that noble ring,
+    Was the merriest of them all.
+  No thought, no care, found entrance there,
+    But beauty's smiles were won;
+  No sour Jack Priest to spoil the feast"--
+
+"Ha!" cried Howlet, interrupting Mr Lorimer in a tremendous passion, "what
+says the varlet? He is a heathen Turk, and no Christian. How dares he talk
+so of the church?" The old man rose as he spoke, and, suddenly catching
+hold of the enormous ebony walking-stick, which generally reposed at the
+side of his chair, he aimed a blow with all his force at the unfortunate
+songster; but, being blind, and not calculating his distance, his staff
+fell with tremendous effect on the left eye of Sir Bryan de Barreilles.
+
+"Is it so?" cried the Knight, stunned; but resisting the tendency to
+prostration produced by the stroke, and flinging a large silver flagon
+across the table, which missed Dr Howlet, and made a deep indentation in
+the skull of Maulerer of Phascald--"Now, then!"
+
+Hasket of Norland attempted to hold Sir Bryan, and prevent his following
+up his attack; and Mr Maulerer recovered sufficiently to fling the heavy
+candlestick at his assailant; the branches of which hit the cheek of
+Hasket, while the massive bottom ejected the three front teeth of Sir
+Bryan.
+
+There was now no possibility of preventing the quarrel; and while the four
+strangers were pounding each other with whatever weapons came first to
+hand, and Mr Peeper crept under the table for safety, and Reginald essayed
+to talk them into reason, Mr Lutter politely handed Jane to the door of
+the hall.
+
+"Permit me, madam, to rescue you from this dreadful scene."
+
+"Is it thus always?" enquired Jane, nearly weeping with fright.
+
+"There are many things that may be improved in the castle," said Mr Lutter.
+"I have seen the necessity of an alteration for a long time, and, if you
+will favour me with your assistance, much may be done."
+
+"Oh! I will help you to the utmost of my power."
+
+"We must upset the influence of Mr Peeper," said Mr Lutter. "May I speak
+to you on the subject to-morrow?"
+
+A month had passed since Jane's arrival at Belfront Castle, and she had
+had many private and confidential conversations with Mr Lutter. The
+ominous eyes of Mr Peeper grew fiercer and fiercer, and she many times
+thought of coming to an open rupture with him at once; but was deterred
+from doing so, by not yet having ascertained whether her influence over
+Reginald was sufficiently established to stand a contest with the
+authority of his ancient friend. She could not understand how her husband
+could have remained hoodwinked so long; or how he had submitted to the
+despotic proceedings of his former tutor, who persisted in assembling the
+same airs of authority over him, as he had exercised when he was a child.
+Such, however, was evidently the case; and Reginald had never entertained
+a thought of rescuing himself from the thraldom in which he had grown up.
+A look from Mr Peeper; a solemn statement from him, that such and such
+things had never been heard of before in Belfront; and, above all, the use
+of the muttered and unintelligible jargon to which Mr Peeper betook
+himself in matters of weight and difficulty, were quite sufficient:
+Reginald immediately gave up his own judgment, and felt in fact rather
+ashamed of himself for having hinted that he had a judgement at all. Under
+these circumstances, Mr Lutter had a very difficult part to play; and all
+that Jane could do, was to second him whenever she had the opportunity.
+One day, in the lovely month of April, Phil Lorimer sat on a sunny part of
+the enornous wall that guarded the castle, and leaning his back against
+one of the little square towers that rose at intervals in the circuit of
+the fortifications, sang song after song, as if for the edification of a
+number of crows that were perched on the trees on the other side of the
+moat. The audience were grossly inattentive, and paid no respect whatever
+to the performer, who still continued his exertions, as highly satisfied
+as if he were applauded by boxes, pit, and gallery of a crowded
+theatre:--Among others, he sang the ballad of the "Silver Scarf."
+
+  "It was a King's fair daughter,
+    With eyes of deepest blue,
+  She wove a scarf of silver
+    The whole long summer through--
+
+  "A stately chair she sat on
+    Before the castle door,
+  And ever in the calm moonlight
+    She work'd it o'er and o'er.
+
+  "And many a knight and noble
+    Went daily out and in,
+  And each one marvell'd in his heart
+    Which the fair scarf might win.
+
+  "She took no heed of questions,
+    From her work ne'er raised her head,
+  And on the snow-white border
+    Sew'd her name in blackest thread.
+
+  "Then came a tempest roaring,
+    From the high hills it came,
+  And bore the scarf far out to sea
+    From forth its fragile frame:
+
+  "The maiden sate unstartled,
+    As if it _must_ be so--
+  She stood up from her stately chair,
+    And to her bower did go.
+
+  "She took from forth her wardrobe
+    Her dress of mourning hue--
+  Whoever for a scarf before
+    Such weight of sorrow knew?
+
+  "In robes of deepest mourning,
+    Three nights and days she sate;
+  On the third night, the warder's horn
+    Was sounded at the gate--
+
+  "A messenger stands at the door,
+    And sad news bringeth he;
+  The king and all his gallant ships
+    Are wreck'd upon the sea.
+
+  "And now the tide is rising,
+    And casts upon the shore
+  Full many a gallant hero's corse,
+    And many a golden store.
+
+  "Then up rose the king's daughter,
+    Drew to her window near;
+  'What is it glitters on thine arm,
+    In the moonlight so clear?'
+
+  "'It is a scarf of silver,
+    I brought it from the strand;
+  I took it from the closed grasp
+    Of a strong warrior's hand.'
+
+  "That feat thou ne'er shouldst boast of
+    If but alive were he;
+  Go take him back thy trophy
+    To the blue rolling sea.
+
+  "And when that knight you've buried,
+    The scarf his grave shall grace;
+  And next to where you've laid him,
+    Oh, leave a vacant place!"
+
+"Here, you cursed old piper! leave off frightening the crows, and open the
+gate this moment. Who the devil, do you think, is to burst a bloodvessel
+by hollowing here all day?"
+
+Mr Lorimer, though used to considerable indignities, as we have already
+seen, had still a little of the becoming poetical pride about him, and
+looked rather angrily over the wall. "Nobody wishes you to break
+bloodvessels, or have their own ears disturbed by your screaming," he said.
+"What do you want?"
+
+"To get into your infernal house, to be sure. Where did you get such
+unchristian roads? My bones are sore with the jolting. Send somebody to
+open the gate."
+
+"The drawbridge is up, and Mr Peeper must have his twopence."
+
+"Who the devil is Mr Peeper?" said the stranger. "I sha'n't give him a
+fraction. Who made the drawbridge his? Is Mr Belfront at home?"
+
+"Yes, he is in Mr Peeper's study."
+
+"And Mrs Belfront?"--
+
+"Pickling cod. It is Mr Peeper's favourite dish; so we all live on it
+sometimes for weeks together."
+
+"With such a trout-stream at your door? He'll be a cleverer fellow than I
+think him if he gets me to eat his salted carrion. Open the door, I say,
+or you'll have the worst of it when my stick gets near your head. Tell Mrs
+Belfront her uncle is here--her Uncle Samson."
+
+Phil Lorimer saw no great resemblance to the Jewish Hercules in the little,
+dapper, bustling-mannered man in a blue coat with bright brass buttons,
+pepper-and-salt knee-breeches, and long gaiters, who thus proclaimed his
+relationship to the lady of the castle. He hurried down from the wall to
+make the required announcement.
+
+"My uncle Samson, the manufacturer, from Leeds! Oh, let him in, by all
+means!" exclaimed Jane; "he was always so kind to me when I was a child!"
+
+"He can't get in, madam, unless Mr Peeper orders the drawbridge to be
+lowered; and he is now busy with Mr Belfront."
+
+"Go for Mr Lutter; he will be glad to hear of uncle Samson's arrival."
+
+Mr Lorimer discovered Mr Lutter comfortably regaling himself in the
+buttery; but on hearing in what respect his services were required, he
+left unfinished a large tankard of ale, with which he was washing down an
+enormous quantity of bread and cheese, and proceeded to the moat.
+
+"Don't disturb Mr Peeper," he said, "but help me to launch the little
+punt."
+
+By dint of a little labour, the small vessel was got into the water, and
+Mr Lutter, taking a scull in his hand, paddled over to the other side, and
+embarked the gentleman in the blue coat. Paddling towards an undefended
+part of the castle, he taught him how to clamber up the wall; and Mr
+Samson, wiping the stains of his climbing from the knees of his nether
+habiliments, looked round the castle-yard. "Well! who'd have thought that
+such a monstrous strong-looking place should be stormed by a middle-aged
+gentleman in a punt!"
+
+"You've a friend in the garrison, you'll remember, sir, and the
+battlements have never been repaired."
+
+"They ain't worth repairing. It's a regular waste of building materials to
+make such thick walls and pinnacles. Blowed, if them stones wouldn't build
+a mill; and a precious water-power, too," he added, as he saw the river
+sparkling downward at the northern side. "Oho! I must have a talk with
+Jane. Will you take me to Mrs Belfront? I haven't seen her for five years.
+She must be much changed since then, and I must prepare her for the
+arrival of her cousins."
+
+Jane was sitting in the great hall, feeling disconsolate enough. Often, in
+her father's comfortable parlour, she had read accounts of baronial
+residences of the olden time; and one of the greatest pleasures she had
+felt in becoming Mrs Belfront, was to be the possessor of a real _bona
+fide_ castle that had been actually a fortress in the days of knighthood.
+She had studied long ago the adventures of high-born dames and stately
+nobles, till she was nearly as far gone in romance as Don Quixote; and
+many questions she had asked about Belfront, and donjon-towers, and keeps,
+and tiltyards, and laboured very hard to acquire a correct idea of the
+mode of life and manners of the days of chivalry. Her imagination, we have
+seen, was too lively to be restrained by the more matter-of-fact nature of
+her husband; and she now felt with great bitterness the difference between
+presiding at a tournament, or being present at the Vow of the Peacock, and
+the slavish submission in which she, with the whole household, was held by
+Mr Pepper. Deeply she now regretted the feelings of superiority she had
+experienced over her own relations by her marriage into such an ancient
+race as the Belfronts. She felt ashamed of the contempt she had felt for
+the industrious founders of her own family's wealth, and at that moment
+would have preferred the blue coat and brass buttons of her uncle Samson,
+to all the escutcheons and shields of the Norman conquest; and at that
+moment, luckily, the identical coat and buttons made their appearance.
+
+"Well, niece, here's a go!" exclaimed the angry uncle. "Is this a way to
+receive a near relation after such a journey?"
+
+"Oh, uncle!"
+
+"Why, did ye never hear tell of such a place as Kidderminster?--have you
+no carpets?"
+
+"Mr Belfront says there were no carpets in his ancestor's time"--
+
+"And no railroads, nor postchaises, nor books, nor nothing; and is that
+any reason why we shouldn't have lots of every thing now? By dad, before
+I've been here a week I'll have a reg'lar French Revolution! No Bastille!
+says I; let's have a Turkey carpet, and a telescope dining-table, good
+roads, and no infernal punts--and, above all, let's get quit of the
+villain Peeper."
+
+"Oh! if Reginald would only consent!"
+
+"Why not? by dad, I'll make his fortune. I'll give him a thousand a-year
+for the water-power that's now all thrown away. I'll have a nice village
+built down in the valley. I'll get him two guineas an acre for his land
+that's now lying waste. I'll dig for coal. We'll build a nice comfortable
+house, and leave this old ruin to the crows."
+
+"And the neighbours, uncle Samson?"
+
+"Why, we'll build a church, and the parson will be a good companion. When
+the roads are made, you'll give a jolly dinner once a-week to every squire
+within ten miles. You'll have a book club. You'll help in the Sunday
+school. You'll go to the county balls. Your husband will join the
+agricultural society, and act as a magistrate. He'll subscribe to the
+hounds. He'll attend to the registrations. He'll have shooting-parties in
+September. And as to any old-world, wretched talks about chivalry and
+antiquity, we'll show him that there never was a time like the
+present--commerce, land, property, and intelligence, all in the very best
+condition. We'll make Lutter superintendent of the whole estate, and send
+old Peeper about his business. And in all this you must help; for there's
+nothing to be done without the help of the ladies: so give me your hand,
+dear niece, and don't cry."
+
+"It would make me so happy! I would never look into Amadis de Gaul again!"
+
+"Hang Amadis de Gall and Amadi de Spurzheim, too! Where is your husband?"
+
+"I seldom see him now. He is always in the oratory with Mr Peeper."
+
+"The deuce he is!" said the uncle. "And how do you get on in other
+respects? Are you comfortable--happy--contented?" Jane told him all she
+had encountered since she had come to the castle, and the uncle seemed
+thunderstruck at the recital.
+
+"Well! bold measures are always the best," he said at last; "I'll kick
+Peeper into the moat!" and before his niece could interfere, the uncle had
+rushed across the quadrangle, guided, we are sorry to say, by Mr Lutter,
+and, grasping the venerable Peeper, whom he met near the drawbridge, he
+dragged him towards the water.
+
+Jane ran to get assistance for the unfortunate victim; and crying "Help!
+help!" as she saw the wretched man forced over the walls, she looked in a
+state of distraction towards her husband. "Dear Jane," said that
+individual, smiling blandly, "I told you you had overtired yourself with
+walking." Jane gazed round; there was Reginald sitting beside her, with
+her head reclining on his shoulder, at the open window of the inn in Wales.
+The vale of Cwmcwyllchly was spread in a beautiful landscape below. They
+were still on their wedding tour.
+
+"You have been asleep, Jane," said Reginald.
+
+"And have had such dreadful dreams. Oh, Reginald! I have had such visions
+of horrid things and people. I shall never be romantic again about
+chivalry. Such coarseness!--such slavery!--such ignorance! Ah, how happy
+we ought to be that we are born in a civilized time, with no Mr Peepers
+for father confessors, nor fighting with firebrands for amusement!"
+
+"You have been reading _Hallam's Middle Ages_--a present from your uncle
+Samson--till you have become a right-down Utilitarian. Come, let us ring
+for tea; and to-morrow we must start for Yorkshire! The Quarter-sessions
+are coming on."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+DUMAS IN HIS CURRICLE.
+
+
+We left M. Dumas at Marseilles: we find him again at Naples. Three volumes
+are the result of his visit to the last named city--volumes in which he
+manages to put a little of every thing, and a good deal of some things.
+Antiquarian, historian, virtuoso, novelist, he touches upon all subjects,
+flying from one to the other with a lightness and a facility of transition
+peculiarly his own, and peculiarly agreeable. English travellers and
+Italian composers, St Januarius and the opera, Masaniello and the
+_gettatura_, Pompeii, princes, police spies, Vesuvius, all have their
+turn--M. Dumas, with his usual tact, merely glancing at those subjects
+which are known and written about by every tourist, but giving himself
+full scope when he gets off the beaten track. His book is literally
+crammed with tales and anecdotes, to such a degree indeed, and most of
+them so good, that our principal difficulty in commencing a notice of it,
+is to know where to pick and choose our extracts; _l'embarras des
+richesses_, in short. The best way will probably be to begin at the
+beginning, and go as far as our limits allow us, referring our readers to
+the original for the many good things that want of space will compel us to
+exclude.
+
+M. Dumas calls his book the _Corricolo_, and devotes a short and
+characteristic preface to an explanation of the title. This explanation we
+must give in his own words. It is so highly graphic, that, after reading
+it, we fancied we had seen a picture of what it describes.
+
+"A _corricolo_ is a sort of tilbury or gig, originally intended to hold
+one person, and be drawn by one horse. At Naples they harness two horses
+to it; and it conveys twelve or fifteen individuals, not at a walk nor at
+a trot, but at full gallop, and this, notwithstanding that only one of the
+horses does any work. The shaft horse draws, but the other, which is
+harnessed abreast of him, and called the _bilancino_, prances and curvets
+about, animates his companion, but does nothing else.
+
+"Having said that the gig built to carry one is made to carry fifteen, I
+am, of course, expected to explain how this is accomplished. There is an
+old French proverb, according to which, when there is enough for one there
+is enough for two; but I am not aware of any proverb in any language which
+says, that when there is enough for one, there is enough for fifteen.
+Nevertheless, it is the case with the _corricolo_. In the present advanced
+state of civilization, every thing is diverted from its primitive
+destination. As it is impossible to say at what period, or in how long a
+time, the capacity of the vehicle in question was extended in the ratio of
+one to fifteen, I must content myself with describing the way of packing
+the passengers.
+
+"In the first place, there is almost invariably a fat greasy monk seated
+in the middle, forming the centre of a sort of coil of human creatures. On
+one of his knees is some robust rosy-cheeked nurse from Aversa or Nettuno;
+on the other, a handsome peasant woman from Bauci or Procida. On either
+side of him, between the wheels and the body of the vehicle, stand the
+husbands of these two ladies. Standing on tiptoe behind the monk is the
+driver, holding in his left hand the reins, and in his right the long whip
+with which he keeps his horses at an equal rate of speed. Behind _him_ are
+two or three lazzaroni, who get up and down, go away, and are succeeded by
+others, without any body taking notice of them, or expecting them to pay
+for their ride. On the shafts are seated two boys, picked up on the road
+from Torre del Greco or Pouzzoles, probably supernumerary _ciceroni_ of
+the antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Finally, suspended under the
+carriage, in a sort of coarse rope network with large meshes, which swings
+backwards and forwards at every movement of the vehicle, is a shapeless
+and incomprehensible mass, which cries, laughs, sings, screams, shouts,
+and bellows, all by turns and none for long together, and the nature of
+which it is impossible to distinguish, dimly seen as it is through the
+clouds of dust raised by the horses' feet. This mass consists of three or
+four children, who belong to Heaven knows who, are going Heaven knows
+where, live Heaven knows how, and are there Heaven knows wherefore.
+
+"Now then, put down, one above the other, monk, women, husbands, driver,
+lazzaroni, boys and children; add them up, include the infant in arms,
+which has been forgotten, and the total will be fifteen.
+
+"It sometimes happens that the _coricolo_ passes over a big stone, and
+upsets, pitching out its occupants to a greater or less distance,
+according to their respective gravity. But, on such occasions, nobody
+thinks of himself; the attention of every one is immediately turned to the
+monk. If he is hurt, the journey is over for the day; they carry him to
+the nearest house; the horses are put into the stable, and he is put to
+bed; the women nurse him, make much of him, cry and pray over him. If, on
+the other hand, the monk is safe and sound, nobody has a right to complain;
+he resumes his seat, the nurse and the peasant woman resume theirs, the
+others climb up into their respective places--a crack of the long whip,
+and a shout from the driver, and the _corricolo_ is off again full speed."
+
+From this we learn what a _corricolo_ is, but we have not yet been told
+why M. Dumas should christen his book after the degenerate descendant of
+the Roman curriculum. Patience--we shall get to it in time. Materials
+crowd upon our traveller, and it is only in the second chapter that the
+desired explanation is given. In the first we are informed of M. Dumas's
+installation at the Hotel Vittoria, kept by M. Martin Zill, who, besides
+being an innkeeper, is a man of much taste in art, a distinguished
+antiquary, an amateur of pictures, a collector of autographs and
+curiosities. Apropos of the hotel we have an anecdote of the ex-dey of
+Algiers, who, on being dispossessed of his dominions by the French, took
+refuge at Naples, and established himself under M. Zill's hospitable roof.
+The third floor was entirely occupied by his suite and attendants, the
+fourth was for himself and his treasures, the fifth, or the garrets, he
+converted into his harem. The curious arms, costumes, and jewels which
+Hussein Pacha had brought with him, were a godsend to the virtuoso weary
+of examining and admiring them; and, before the African had been a week in
+the house, he and his host were sworn friends. Unfortunately this harmony
+was not destined to last very long.
+
+"One morning Hussein Pacha's cook (a Nubian as black as ink, and as
+shining as if he had been polished with a shoe-brush) entered the kitchen
+of the hotel, and asked for the largest knife they had. The head-cook gave
+him a sort of carving-knife, some eighteen inches long, sharp as a razor,
+and pliant as a foil. The negro looked at it, shook his head as if in
+doubt whether it would do, but nevertheless took it up stairs with him.
+Presently he brought it down again, and asked for a larger one. The cook
+opened all his drawers, and at last found a sort of cutlass, which he
+hardly ever used on account of its enormous size. With this the Nubian
+appeared more satisfied, and again went up stairs. Five minutes afterwards
+he came down for the third time, and returned the knife, asking for a
+bigger one still. The cook's curiosity was excited, and he enquired who
+wanted the knife, and for what purpose.
+
+"The African told him very coolly that the dey, having left his dominions
+rather in a hurry, had forgotten to bring an executioner with him, and had
+consequently ordered his cook to get a large knife and cut off the head of
+Osmin, chief of the eunuchs, who was convicted of having kept such
+negligent watch and ward over his highness's seraglio, that some
+presumptuous Giaour had made a hole in the wall, and established a
+communication with Zaida, the dey's favourite _odalisque_. Accordingly
+Osmin was to be decapitated; and as to the offending lady, the next time
+the dey took an airing in the bay of Naples, she would be put into the
+boat in a sack, and consigned to the keeping of the kelpies. Thunderstruck
+at such summary proceedings, the cook desired his Nubian brother to wait
+while he went for a larger knife; then hastening to M. Martin Zill, he
+told him what he had just heard.
+
+"M. Martin Zill ran to the minister of police, and laid the matter before
+him. His excellency got into his carriage and went to call upon the dey.
+
+He found his highness reclining upon a divan, his back supported by
+cushions, smoking latakia in a chibouque, while an icoglan scratched the
+soles of his feet, and two slaves fanned him. The minister made his three
+salaams; the dey nodded his head.
+
+"'Your highness,' said his excellency, 'I am the minister of police.'
+
+"'I know you are,' answered the dey.
+
+"'Then your highness probably conjectures the motive of my visit.'
+
+"'No. But you are welcome all the same.'
+
+"'I come to prevent your highness from committing a crime.'
+
+"'A crime! And what crime?' said the dey, taking the pipe from his mouth,
+and gazing at his interlocutor in the most profound astonishment.
+
+"'I wonder your highness should ask the question,' replied the minister.
+'Is it not your intention to cut off Osmin's head?'
+
+"'That is no crime,' answered the dey.
+
+"'Does not your highness purpose throwing Zaida into the sea?'
+
+"'That is no crime,' repeated the dey. 'I bought Osmin for five hundred
+piasters, and Zaida for a thousand sequins, just as I bought this pipe for
+a hundred ducats.'
+
+"'Well,' said the minister, 'what does your highness deduce from that?'
+
+"'That as this pipe belongs to me, as I have bought it and paid for it, I
+may break it to atoms if I choose, and nobody has a right to object.' So
+saying, the pacha broke his pipe, and threw the fragments into the middle
+of the room.
+
+"'All very well, as far as a pipe goes,' said the minister; 'but Osmin,
+but Zaida?'
+
+"'Less than a pipe,' said the dey gravely.
+
+"'How! less than a pipe! A man less than a pipe! A woman less than a pipe!'
+
+"'Osmin is not a man, and Zaida is not a woman: they are slaves. I will
+cut off Osmin's head, and throw Zaida into the sea.'
+
+"'No!' said the magistrate. 'Not at Naples at least.'
+
+"'Dog of a Christian!' shouted the dey, 'do you know who I am?'
+
+"'You are the ex-dey of Algiers, and I am the Neapolitan minister of
+police; and, if your deyship is impertinent, I shall send him to prison,'
+added the minister very coolly.
+
+"'To prison!' repeated the dey, falling back upon his divan.
+
+"'To prison,' replied the minister.
+
+"'Very well,' said Hussein. 'I leave Naples to-night.'
+
+"'Your highness is as free as air to go and to come. Nevertheless, I must
+make one condition. Before your departure, you will swear by the Prophet,
+that no harm shall be done to Osmin or Zaida.'
+
+"'Osmin and Zaida belong to me, and I shall do what I please with them.'
+
+"'Then your highness will be pleased to deliver them over to me, to be
+punished according to the laws of the country; and, until you do so, you
+will not be allowed to leave Naples.'
+
+"'Who will prevent me?'
+
+"'I will.'
+
+"The pacha laid his hand on his dagger. The minister stepped to the window
+and made a sign. The next moment the tramp of heavy boots and jingle of
+spurs were heard upon the stairs; the door opened, and a gigantic corporal
+of gendarmes made his appearance, his right hand raised to his cocked hat,
+his left upon the seam of his trouser.
+
+"'Gennaro,' said the minister of police, 'if I gave you an order to arrest
+this gentleman, would you see any difficulty in executing it?'
+
+"'None, your excellency.'
+
+"'You are aware that this gentleman's name is Hussein Pacha.'
+
+"'I was not, your excellency.'
+
+"'And that he is dey of Algiers.'
+
+"'May it please your excellency, I don't know what that is.'
+
+"'You see?' said the minister, turning to the dey.
+
+"'The devil! exclaimed Hussein.
+
+"'Shall I?' said Gennaro, taking a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, and
+advancing a pace towards the dey, who, on his part, took a step backwards.
+
+"'No,' replied the minister, 'it will not be necessary. His highness will
+do as he is bid. Go and search the hotel for a man named Osmin, and a
+woman named Zaida, and take them both to the prefecture.'
+
+"'What!' cried the dey; 'this man is to enter my harem?'
+
+"'He is not a man,' replied the minister; 'he is a corporal of gendarmes.
+But if you do not wish him to go, send for Osmin and Zaida yourself.'
+
+"'Will you promise to have them punished?' enquired the dey.
+
+"'Certainly; according to the utmost rigour of the law.'
+
+"Hussein Pacha clapped his hands. A door concealed behind a tapestry was
+opened, and a slave entered the room.
+
+"'Bring down Osmin and Zaida,' said the dey.
+
+"The slave crossed his hands on his breast, bowed his head, and
+disappeared without uttering a word. The next instant he came back with
+the two culprits.
+
+"The eunuch was a little round fat fellow, with beardless face, and small
+hands and feet. Zaida was a beautiful Circassian, her eyelids painted with
+kool, her teeth blackened with betel, her nails reddened with henna. On
+perceiving Hussein Pacha, the eunuch fell upon his knees; Zaida raised her
+head. The dey's eyes flashed, and he clutched the hilt of his kangiar.
+Osmin grew pale; Zaida smiled. The minister of police made a sign to the
+gendarme, who stepped up to the two captives, handcuffed them, and led
+them out of the room. As the door closed behind them, the dey uttered a
+sound between a sigh and a roar.
+
+"The magistrate looked out of the window, till he saw the prisoners and
+their escort disappear at the corner of the Strada Chiatamone. Then
+turning to the dey--
+
+"'Your highness is now at liberty to leave Naples, if he wishes so to do,'
+said the imperturbable functionary with a low bow.
+
+"'This very instant!' cried Hussein. 'I will not remain another moment in
+such a barbarous country as yours.'
+
+"'A pleasant journey to your highness,' said the minister.
+
+"'Go to the devil!' retorted Hussein.
+
+"Before an hour had elapsed, the dey had chartered a small vessel, on
+board of which he embarked the same evening with his suite, his wives, and
+his treasures; and at midnight he set sail; cursing the tyranny that
+prevented a man from drowning his wife and cutting off the heads of his
+slaves. The next day the minister of police had the culprits brought
+before him and examined. Osmin was found guilty of having slept when he
+ought to have watched, and Zaida of having watched when she ought to have
+slept. But, by some strange omission, the Neapolitan code allots no
+punishment to such offences; and, consequently, Osmin and Zaida, to their
+infinite astonishment, were immediately set at liberty. Osmin took to
+selling pastilles for a livelihood, and the lady got employment as _dame
+de comptoir_ in a coffeehouse. As to the dey, he had left Naples with the
+intention of going to England, in which country, as he had been informed,
+a man is at liberty to sell his wife, if he may not drown her. He was
+taken ill, however, on the road, and obliged to stop at Leghorn, where he
+died."
+
+M. Dumas, not being in good odour with the Neapolitan authorities, on
+account of some supposed republican tendencies of his, is at Naples under
+an assumed name; and, as it is uncertain how long he may be able to
+preserve his incognito, he is desirous of seeing all that is to be seen in
+as short a time as possible. He finds that Naples, independently of its
+suburbs, consists of three streets where every body goes, and five hundred
+streets where nobody goes. The three streets are, the Chiaja, the Toledo,
+and the Forcella; the five hundred others are nameless--a labyrinth of
+houses, which might be compared to that of Crete, deducting the Minotaur,
+and adding the Lazzaroni. There are three ways of seeing Naples--on foot,
+in a _corricolo_ or in a carriage. On foot, one goes every where, but one
+sees too much; in a carriage, one only goes through the three principal
+streets, and one sees too little--the _corricolo_ is the happy medium, the
+_juste milieu_, to which M. Dumas for once determines to adhere. Having
+made up his mind, he sends for his host, and enquires where he can hire a
+_corricolo_ by the week or month. His host tells him he had better buy one,
+horse and all. To this plan M. Dumas objects the expense.
+
+"'It will cost you,' said M. Martin, after a momentary calculation in his
+head, 'it will cost you--the _corricolo_ ten ducats, each horse thirty
+carlini, the harness a pistole; in all, eighty French francs.'
+
+"'What! for ten ducats I shall have a _corricolo_?'
+
+"'A magnificent one.'
+
+"'New?'
+
+"'Oh! you are asking too much. There are no such things as new _corricoli_.
+There is a standing order of the police forbidding coachmakers to build
+them.'
+
+"'Indeed! How long has that order been in force?'
+
+"'Fifty years, perhaps.'
+
+"'How comes it, then, that there is such a thing as a _corricolo_ in
+existence?'
+
+"'Nothing easier. You know the story of Jeannot's knife?'
+
+"'To be sure I do; it is one of our national chronicles. The blade had
+been changed fifteen times, and the handle fifteen times, but it was still
+the same knife.'
+
+"'The case of the _corricolo_ is exactly similar. It is forbidden to build
+new ones, but it is not forbidden to put new wheels to old bodies, and new
+bodies on old wheels. By these means the _corricolo_ becomes immortal.'
+
+"'I understand. An old body and new wheels for me, if you please. But the
+horses? Do you mean to say that for thirty francs I shall have a pair of
+horses?'
+
+"'A superb pair, that will go like the wind.'
+
+"'What sort of horses?'
+
+"'Oh, dead ones, of course!'
+
+"'Dead ones!'
+
+"'Certainly. At that price you could hardly expect any thing better.'
+
+"'My dear M. Martin, be kind enough to explain. I am travelling for my
+improvement, and information of all kinds is highly acceptable.'
+
+"'You are acquainted with the history of the horse, I suppose?'
+
+"'The natural history? Buffon's? Certainly. The horse is, after the lion,
+the noblest of all the beasts.'
+
+"'No, no; the philosophical history. The different stages and vicissitudes
+in the existence of those noble quadrupeds.'
+
+"'Oh yes! first the saddle, then a carriage or gig, thence to a
+stage-coach or omnibus, hackney-coach or cab, and finally--to the
+knacker's.'
+
+"'And from the knacker's?'
+
+"'To the Elysian fields, I suppose.'
+
+"'No. Not here, at least. From the knacker's they go to the _corricoli_.'
+
+"'How so?'
+
+"'I will tell you. At the Ponte della Maddalena, where horses are taken to
+be killed, there are always persons waiting, who, when a horse is brought,
+buy the hide and hoofs for thirty carlini, which is the price regulated by
+law. Instead of killing the horse and skinning him, these persons take him
+with the skin on, and make the most of the time he yet has to live. They
+are sure of getting the skin sooner or later. And these are what I mean by
+dead horses.'
+
+"'But what can they possibly do with the unfortunate brutes?'
+
+"'They harness them to the _corricoli_.'
+
+"'What! those with which I came from Salerno to Naples'--
+
+"'Were the ghosts of horses; spectre steeds, in short.'
+
+"'But they galloped the whole way.'
+
+"'Why not? _Les morts vont vite._'"
+
+_Et cetera, et cetera_. For the price stated by his host, M. Dumas finds
+himself possessor of a magnificent _corricolo_ of a bright red colour,
+with green trees and animals painted thereon. Two most fiery and impatient
+steeds, half concealed by harness, bells, and ribands, are included in his
+purchase. After a vain attempt to drive himself, the phantom coursers
+having apparently a supreme contempt for whipcord, he gives up the reins
+to a professional charioteer, and commences his perambulations. His first
+visit is to the Chiaja, the favourite promenade of the aristocracy and of
+foreigners; his second to the Toledo, the street of shops and loungers;
+his third to the Forcella, frequented by lawyers and their clients. He
+makes a chapter, and a long one too, out of each street; but not in the
+way usually adopted by those pitiless tour-writers who overwhelm their
+readers with dry architectural details, filling a page with a portico, and
+a chapter with a chapel--not letting one off a pane of a painted window or
+line of worm-eaten inscription however often those things may have been
+described already by previous travellers. M. Dumas prefers men to things
+as subjects for his pen; and the three chapters above named are filled
+with curious illustrations of Neapolitan manners, customs, and character.
+Apropos of the Toledo, we are introduced to the well-known _impresario_,
+Domenico Barbaja, who had his palazzo in that street, and who, from being
+waiter in a coffeehouse at Milan, became the manager of three theatres at
+one time, namely, San Carlo, La Scala, and the Vienna opera. He appears to
+have been a man of great energy and originality of character, concealing
+an excellent heart under the roughest manners and most choleric of tempers.
+
+"It would be impossible," says M. Dumas, "to translate into any language
+the abuse with which Barbaja used to overwhelm the singers and musicians
+at his theatres when they displeased him. Yet not one of them bore him
+malice for it, knowing that, if they had the least triumph, Barbaja would
+be the first to embrace and congratulate them: if they were unsuccessful,
+he would console them with the utmost delicacy: if they were ill, he would
+watch over them with the tenderness of a father or brother. The fortune
+which he had amassed, little by little, and by strenuous exertions, he
+spent in the most generous and princely manner. His palace, his villa, and
+his table, were open to all.
+
+"His genius was of a peculiar and extraordinary kind. Education he had
+none: he was unable to write the commonest letter, and did not know a note
+of music; yet he would give his composers the most valuable hints, and
+dictate with admirable skill the plan of a libretto. His own voice was of
+the harshest and most inharmonious texture; but by his advice and
+instructions he formed some of the first singers in Italy. His language
+was a Milanese patois; but he found means to make himself excellently
+understood by the kings and emperors, with whom he carried on negotiations
+upon a footing of perfect equality. It was a great treat to see him seated
+in his box at San Carlo, opposite that of the King of Naples, on the
+evening of a new opera; with grave and impartial aspect, now turning his
+face to the actors, then to the audience. If a singer went wrong, Barbaja
+was the first to crush him with a severity worthy of Brutus. His '_Can de
+Dio_!' was shouted out in a voice that made the theatre shake and the poor
+actor tremble. If, on the other hand, the public disapproved without
+reason, Barbaja would start up in his box and address the audience.
+'_Figli d'una racca_!' 'Will you hold your tongues? You don't deserve good
+singers.' If by chance the King himself omitted to applaud at the right
+time, Barbaja would shrug his shoulders and go grumbling out of his box.
+
+"With all his peculiarities, he it was who formed and brought forward
+Lablache, Tamburini, Rubini, Donzelli, Colbran, Pasta, Fodor, Donizetti,
+Bellini, and the great Rossini himself, whose masterpieces were composed
+for Barbaja. It is impossible to form an idea of the amount of entreaties,
+stratagems, and even violence, expended by the _impresario_ to make
+Rossini work. I will give an example of it, which is highly characteristic
+both of the manager and of the greatest and happiest, but most
+_insouciant_ and idle, musical genius that ever drew breath under the
+bright sky of Italy."
+
+We are sorry to tantalize our readers, but we have not space for the story
+that follows. It relates to the opera of _Othello_, which was composed by
+Rossini in an incredibly short time, whilst a prisoner in an apartment of
+Barbaja's house. For nearly six months had the composer been living vith
+the manager, entertaining his friends at his well-spread table, drinking
+his choicest wines, and occupying his best rooms--all this under promise
+of producing a new opera within the half-year, a promise which he showed
+little disposition to fulfil. Barbaja was in a fever of anxiety, and
+finding remonstrance unavailing, had recourse to stratagem. One morning,
+when Rossini was about to start on a party of pleasure, he found his doors
+secured outside; and, on putting his head out of the window, was informed
+by Barbaja that he must remain captive until his ransom was paid. The
+ransom, of course, was the opera.
+
+Rossini subsequently revenges himself on his tyrant in a very piquant
+manner; and, finally, the morning after _Othello_ has been performed with
+triumphant success, he starts for Bologna, taking with him, as travelling
+companion, the _prima donna_ of the San Carlo theatre, Signora Colbran,
+whom he had privately married. All this is related very amusingly by M.
+Dumas, but at too great length for our limits.
+
+We have a naval combat in the second volume, in which a French frigate is
+attacked by two English line-of-battle ships, one of which she sinks, and
+receives in return the entire point-blank broadside of the other, a
+three-decker; which broadside, we in our ignorance of nautical matters,
+should have thought sufficient to blow her either out of the water or
+under it. It has not that effect, however, and the frigate is captured;
+the captain of her, when he has hauled down his flag in order to save the
+lives of his men, stepping into his cabin and blowing his brains out. All
+this is very pretty, whatever may be said of its probability. But there
+are two subjects on which the majority of Frenchmen indulge in most
+singular delusions. These are, their invincibility upon the sea, and the
+battle of Waterloo. M. Dumas has not escaped the national monomania.
+
+Our author is very hard upon the poor English in this book. He attacks
+them on all sides and with all weapons. Nelson and Lady Hamilton occupy a
+prominent position in his pages. The execution of Admiral Carraciolo, an
+undoubted blot on the character of our naval hero, is given in all its
+details, and with some little decorations and embellishments, for which we
+suspect that we have to thank our imaginative historian. Nelson's weakness,
+the ascendency exercised over him by Lady Hamilton, or Emma Lyonna, as M.
+Dumas prefers styling her, her intimacy with the Queen of Naples, and
+subservient to the wishes and interests of the Neapolitan court, are all
+set forth in the most glowing colours. This is the heavy artillery, the
+round-shot and shell; but M. Dumas is too skilful a general to leave any
+part of his forces unemployed, and does not omit to bring up his
+sharpshooters, and open a pretty little fire of ridicule upon English
+travellers in Italy, who, as it is well known, go thither to make the
+fortunes of innkeepers and purchase antiquities manufactured in the
+nineteenth century. Strange as it may appear, we should be heartily sorry
+if M. Dumas were to exchange his evident dislike of us for a more kindly
+feeling. We should then lose some of his best stories; for he is never
+more rich and amusing than when he shows up the sons and daughters of _le
+perfide Albion_. In support of our assertion, take the following sketch:--
+
+"During my stay at Naples an Englishman arrived there, and took up his
+quarters at the hotel at which I was stopping. He was one of those
+phlegmatic, overbearing, obstinate Britons, who consider money the engine
+with which every thing is to be moved and all things accomplished, the
+argument in short which nothing can resist. Money was every thing in his
+estimation of mankind; talent, fame, titles, mere feathers that kicked the
+beam the moment a long rent-roll or inscription of three per cents were
+placed in the opposite scale. In proportion as men were rich or poor, did
+he esteem them much or little. Being very rich himself, he esteemed
+himself much.
+
+"He had come direct to Naples by steam, and during the voyage had made
+this calculation: With money I shall say every thing, do every thing, and
+have every thing I please. He had not long to wait to find out his mistake.
+The steamer cast anchor in the port of Naples just half an hour too late
+for the passengers to land. The Englishman, who had been very sea-sick,
+and was particularly anxious to get on shore, sent to offer the captain of
+the port a hundred guineas if he would let him land directly. The
+quarantine laws of Naples are very strict; the captain of the port thought
+the Englishman was mad, and only laughed at his offer. He was therefore
+obliged to sleep on board in an excessively bad humour, cursing alike
+those who made the regulations and those who enforced them.
+
+"The first thing he did when he got on shore, was to set off to visit the
+ruins of Pompeii. There happened to be no regular guide at hand, so he
+took a lazzarone instead. He had not forgotten his disappointment of the
+night before, and all the way to Pompeii he relieved his mind by abusing
+King Ferdinand in the best Italian he could muster. The lazzarone, whom he
+had taken into his carriage, took no notice of all this so long as they
+were on the high-road. Lazzaroni, in general, meddle very little in
+politics, and do not care how much you abuse king or kaiser so long as
+nothing disrespectful is said of the Virgin Mary, St Januarius, or Mount
+Vesuvius. On arriving, however, at the _Via dei Sepolchri_, the ragged
+guide put his finger on his lips as a signal to be silent. But his
+employer either did not understand the gesture, or considered it beneath
+his dignity to take notice of it, for he continued his invectives against
+Ferdinand the Well-beloved.
+
+"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone at last, placing his hand
+upon the side of the barouche, and jumping out as lightly as a harlequin.
+'Pardon me, Eccellenza, but I must return to Naples.'
+
+"'And why so?' inquired the other in his broken Italian.
+
+"'Because I do not wish to be hung.'
+
+"'And who would dare to hang you?'
+
+"'The king.'
+
+"'Why?'
+
+"'Because you are speaking ill of him.'
+
+"'An Englishman has a right to say whatever he likes.'
+
+"'It may be so, but a lazzarone has not.'
+
+"'But you have said nothing.'
+
+"'But I hear everything.'
+
+"'Who will tell what you hear?'
+
+"'The invalid soldier who accompanies us to visit Pompeii.'
+
+"'I do not want an invalid soldier.'
+
+"'Then you cannot visit Pompeii.'
+
+"'Not by paying?'
+
+"'No.'
+
+"'But I will pay double, treble, four times, whatever they ask.'
+
+"'No, no, no.'
+
+"'Oh!' said the Englishman, and he fell into a brown study, during which
+the lazzarone amused himself by trying to jump over his own shadow.
+
+"'I will take the invalid,' said the Englishman after a little reflection.
+
+"'Very good,' replied the lazzarone, 'we will take him.'
+
+"'But I shall say just what I please before him.'
+
+"'In that case I wish you a good morning.'
+
+"'No, no; you must remain.'
+
+"'Allow me to give you a piece of advice then. If you want to say what you
+please before the invalid, take a deaf one.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, delighted with the advice, 'by all means a
+deaf one. Here is a piaster for you for having thought of it.' The
+lazzarone ran to the guard-house, and soon returned with an old soldier
+who was as deaf as a post.
+
+"They began the usual round of the curiosities, during which the
+Englishman continued calling King Ferdinand any thing but a gentleman, of
+all which the invalid heard nothing, and the lazzarone took no notice.
+They visited the Via dei Sepolchri, the houses of Diomedes and Cicero. At
+last they came to Sallust's house, in one of the rooms of which was a
+fresco that hit the Englishman's fancy exceedingly. He immediately sat
+down, took a pencil and a blank book from his pocket, and began copying it.
+He had scarcely made a stroke, however, when the soldier and the lazzarone
+approached him. The former was going to speak, but the latter took the
+words out of his mouth.
+
+"'Eccellenza,' said he, 'it is forbidden to copy the fresco.'
+
+"'Oh!' said the Englishman, 'I must make this copy. I will pay for it.'
+
+"'It is not allowed, even if you pay.'
+
+"'But I will pay ten times its value if necessary; I must copy it, it is
+so funny.'
+
+"'If you do, the invalid will put you in the guard-room.'
+
+"'Pshaw! An Englishman has a right to draw any thing he likes.' And he
+went on with his sketch. The invalid approached him with an inexorable
+countenance.
+
+"'Pardon me, Eccellenza,' said the lazzarone; 'but would you like to copy
+not only this fresco, but as many more as you please?'
+
+"'Certainly I should, and I will too.'
+
+"'Then, let me give you a word of advice. Take a blind invalid.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, still more enchanted with this second hint
+than with the first. 'By all means, a blind invalid. Here are two piasters
+for the idea.'
+
+"They left Sallust's house, the deaf man was paid and discharged, and the
+lazzarone went to the guard-room, and brought back an invalid who was
+stone-blind and led by a black poodle.
+
+"The Englishman wished to return immediately to continue his drawing, but
+the lazzarone persuaded him to delay it, in order to avoid exciting
+suspicion. They continued their rambles, therefore, guided by the invalid,
+or rather by his dog, who displayed a knowledge of Pompeii that might have
+qualified him to become a member of the antiquarian society. After
+visiting the blacksmith's shop, Fortunata's house, and the public oven,
+they returned to the abode of Sallust, where the Englishman finished his
+sketch, while the lazzarone chatted with the blind man, and kept him
+amused. Continuing their lounge, he made a number of other drawings, and
+in a couple of hours his book was half full.
+
+"At last they arrived at a place where men were digging. There had been
+discovered a number of small busts and statues, bronzes, and curiosities
+of all kinds, which, as soon as they were dug up, were carried into a
+neighbouring house, and had his attention speedily attracted by a little
+statue of a satyr about six inches high. 'Oh!' cried he, 'I shall buy this
+figure.'
+
+"'The king of Naples does not wish to sell it,' replied the lazzarone.
+
+"'I will give its weight in sovereigns--double its weight even.'
+
+"'I tell you it is not to be sold,' persisted the lazzarone; 'but,' added
+he, changing his tone, 'I have already given your excellence two pieces of
+advice which you liked, I will now give you a third: Do not buy the
+statue--steal it.'
+
+"'Oh--oh! that will be very original, and we have a blind invalid too.
+Capital!'
+
+"'Yes, but the invalid has a dog, who has two good eyes and sixteen good
+teeth, and who will fly at you if you so much as touch any thing with your
+little finger.'
+
+"'I'll buy the dog, and hang him.'
+
+"'Do better still; take a lame invalid. Then, as you have seen nearly
+every thing here, put the figure in your pocket and run away. He may call
+out as much as he likes, he will not be able to run after you.'
+
+"'Ooh!' cried the Englishman, in convulsions of delight, 'here are three
+piasters for you. Fetch me a lame invalid.'
+
+"And in order not to excite the suspicions of the blind man and his dog,
+he left the house, and pretended to be examining a fountain made of
+shell-work, while the lazzarone went for a third guide. In a quarter of an
+hour he returned, accompanied by an invalid with two wooden legs. They
+gave the blind man three carlini, two for him and one for his dog, and
+sent him away.
+
+"The theatre and the temple of Isis were all that now remained to be seen.
+After visiting them, the Englishman, in the most careless tone he could
+assume, said he should like to return to the house in which were deposited
+the produce of the researches then making. The invalid, without the
+slightest suspicion, conducted them thither, and they entered the
+apartment in which the curiosities were arranged on shelves nailed against
+the wall.
+
+"While the Englishman lounged about, pretending to be examining every
+thing with the greatest interest, the lazzarone busied himself in
+fastening a stout string across the doorway, at the height of a couple of
+feet from the ground. When he had done this, he made a sign to the
+Englishman, who seized the little statue that he coveted from under the
+very nose of the astounded invalid, put it into his pocket, and, jumping
+over the string, ran off as hard as he could, accompanied by the lazzarone.
+Darting through the Stabian gate, they found themselves on the Salerno
+road--an empty hackney-coach was passing, the Englishman jumped in, and
+had soon rejoined his carriage, which was waiting for him in Via dei
+Sepolchri. Two hours after he had left Pompeii he was at Torre del Greco,
+and in another hour at Naples.
+
+"As to the invalid, he at first tried to step over the cord fastened
+across the door, but the height at which the lazzarone had fixed it was
+too great for wooden legs to accomplish. He then endeavoured to untie it,
+but with no better success; for the lazzarone had fastened it in a knot
+compared to which the one of Gordian celebrity would have appeared a mere
+slip-knot. Finally, the old soldier, who had perhaps read of Alexander the
+Great, determined to cut what he could not untie, and accordingly drew his
+sword. But the sword in its best days had never had much edge, and now it
+had none at all; so that the Englishman was halfway to Naples whilst the
+invalid was still sawing away at his cord.
+
+"The same evening the Englishman left Naples on board a steamboat, and the
+lazzarone was lost in the crowd of his comrades; the six plasters he had
+got from his employer enabling him to live in what a lazzarone considers
+luxury for nearly as many months.
+
+"The Englishman had been twelve hours at Naples, and had done the three
+things that are most expressly forbidden to be done there. He had abused
+the king, copied frescoes, and stolen a statue, and all owing, not to his
+money, but to the ingenuity of a lazzarone."
+
+The lazzarone is a godsend for M. Dumas, an admirable peg upon which to
+hang his quaint conceit and sly satire; and he is accordingly frequently
+introduced in the course of the three volumes. We must make room for one
+more extract, in which he figures in conjunction with his friend the
+sbirro or gendarme, who before being invested with a uniform, and armed
+with carbine, pistols, and sabre, has frequently been a lazzarone himself,
+and usually preserves the instincts and tastes of his former station. The
+result of this is a coalition between the lazzarone and the
+sbirro--law-breaker and law-preserver uniting in a systematic attack upon
+the pockets of the public.
+
+"I was one day passing down the Toledo, when I saw a sbirro arrested. Like
+La Fontaine's huntsman, he had been insatiable, and his greediness brought
+its own punishment. This is what had happened.
+
+"A sbirro had caught a lazzarone in the fact.
+
+"'What did you steal from that gentleman in black, who just went by?' he
+demanded he.
+
+"'Nothing, your excellency,' replied the lazzarone. A lazzarone always
+addresses a sbirro as _eccellenza_.
+
+"'I saw your hand in his pocket.'
+
+"'His pocket was empty.'
+
+"'What! Not a purse, a snuff-box, a handkerchief?'
+
+"'Nothing, please your excellency. It was an author.'
+
+"'Why do you go to those sort of people?'
+
+"'I found out my mistake too late.'
+
+"'Come along with me to the police-office.'
+
+"'But, your excellency--since I have stolen nothing?'
+
+"'Idiot, that's the very reason. If you _had_ stolen something, we might
+have arranged matters.'
+
+"'Only wait till next time. I shall not always be so unfortunate. I
+promise you the contents of the pocket of the next person who passes.'
+
+"'Very good; but I will select the individual, or else you will be making
+a bad choice again.'
+
+"'As your excellency pleases.'
+
+"The sbirro folded his arms in a most dignified manner, and leaned his
+back against a post; the lazzarone stretched himself on the pavement at
+his feet. A priest came by, then a lawyer, then a poet; but the sbirro
+made no sign. At last there appeared a young officer, dressed in brilliant
+uniform, who passed gaily along, humming between his teeth a tune out of
+the last opera. The sbirro gave the signal. Up sprang the lazzarone and
+followed the officer. Both disappeared round a corner. Presently the
+lazzarone returned with his ransom in his hand.
+
+"'What have you got there?' said the sbirro.
+
+"'A handkerchief,' replied the other.
+
+"'Is that all?'
+
+"'That all! It is of the finest cambric.'
+
+"'Had he only one?'[11]
+
+    [11] At Naples, it is customary to carry two handkerchiefs, one of
+    silk, and the other of cambric; the latter being used to wipe the
+    forehead.
+
+"'Only one in that pocket.'
+
+"'And in the other?'
+
+"'In the other he had a silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'Why didn't you bring it?'
+
+"'I keep that for myself, excellency. It is fair that we should divide the
+profits. One pocket for you, the other for me.'
+
+"'I have a right to both, and I must have the silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'But, your excelleilcy'----
+
+"'I must have the silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'It is an injustice.'
+
+"'Ha! Do you dare speak ill of his majesty's sbirri? Come along to prison.'
+
+"'You shall have the silk handkerchief, your excellency.'
+
+"'How will you find the officer again?'
+
+"'He is gone to pay a visit in the Strada de Foria. I will go and wait for
+him at the door.'
+
+"The lazzarone walked away, turned the corner of the street, and
+established himself in the recess of a doorway. Presently the young
+officer came out of a house opposite, and before he had gone ten paces,
+put his hand in his pocket, and found he was minus a handkerchief.
+
+"'Pardon me, excellency,' said the lazzarone, stepping up to him; 'you
+have lost something, I think?'
+
+"'I have lost a cambric handkerchief.'
+
+"'Your excellency has not lost it; it has been stolen from him.'
+
+"'And who stole it?'
+
+"'What will your excellency give me if I find him the thief?'
+
+"'I will give you a piastre.'
+
+"'I must have two.'
+
+"'You shall. Hallo! What are you doing?'
+
+"'I am stealing your silk handkerchief.'
+
+"'In order to find my cambric one?'
+
+"'Yes.'
+
+"'And where will both of them be?'
+
+"'In the same pocket. The person to whom I shall give this handkerchief is
+the same to whom I have already given the other. Follow me, and observe
+what I do.'
+
+"The officer followed the lazzarone, who gave the handkerchief to the
+sbirro, and walked away. The latter had hardly put his prize in his pocket
+when the officer came up and seized him by the collar. The sbirro fell on
+his knees, but the officer was inexorable, and he was sent to prison. As
+the sbirro had himself been a lazzarone, he saw at once the trick that had
+been played him. He wanted to cheat his confederate, and his confederate
+had cheated him; but far from bearing him malice for having done so, the
+sbirro views the conduct of the lazzarone in the light of an exploit, and
+feels an additional respect for him in consequence. When he is released
+from prison, he will seek him out, and they will be hand and glove
+together. When that time comes, look to your pockets."
+
+We are introduced to Ferdinand IV. of Naples, King Nasone, as the
+lazzaroni nicknamed him; also to Padre Rocco, a popular preacher, and the
+idol of the lower classes of Neapolitans; and to Cardinal Perelli,
+remarkable for his simplicity, which quality, as may be supposed, loses
+nothing in passing through the hands of his present biographer. With his
+usual skill, M. Dumas glides from a ticklish story of which the cardinal
+is the hero, (a story that he does _not_ tell, for which forbearance we
+give him due credit, since he is evidently sorely tempted thereto,) to an
+account of the Vardarelli, a band of outlaws which for some time infested
+Calabria and the Capitanato.
+
+"Gaetano Vardarelli was a native of Calabria, and one of the earliest
+members of the revolutionary society of the Carbonari. When Murat, after
+for some time favouring that society, began to persecute it, Vardarelli
+fled to Sicily, and took service under King Ferdinand. He was then
+twenty-six years of age, possessing the muscles and courage of a lion, the
+agility of a chamois, the eye of an eagle. Such a recruit was not to be
+despised, and he was made sergeant in the Sicilian guards. On Ferdinand's
+restoration in 1815, he followed him to Naples; but finding that he was
+not likely ever to rise above a very subordinate grade, he became
+disgusted with the service, deserted, and took refuge in the mountains of
+Calabria. There two of his brothers, and some thirty brigands and outlaws,
+assembled around him and elected him their chief, with right of life and
+death over them. He had been a slave in the town; he found himself a king
+in the mountains.
+
+"Proceeding according to the old formula observed by banditti chiefs both
+in Calabria and in melodramas, Vardarelli proclaimed himself redresser
+general of wrongs and grievances, and acted up to his profession by
+robbing the rich and assisting the poor. The consequence was, that he soon
+became exceedingly dreaded by the former, and exceedingly popular among
+the latter class; and at last his exploits reached the ears of King
+Ferdinand himself, who was highly indignant at such goings on, and gave
+orders that the bandit should immediately be hung. But there are three
+things necessary to hang a man--a rope, a gallows, and the man himself. In
+this instance, the first two were easily found, but the third was
+unfortunately wanting. Gendarmes and soldiers were sent after Vardarelli,
+but the latter was too cunning for them all, and slipped through their
+fingers at every turn. His success in eluding pursuit increased his
+reputation, and recruits flocked to his standard. His band soon doubled
+its numbers, and its leader became a formidable and important person,
+which of course was an additional reason for the authorities to wish to
+capture him. A price was set on his head, large bodies of troops sent in
+search of him, but all in vain. One day the Prince of Leperano, Colonel
+Calcedonio, Major Delponte, with a dozen other officers, and a score of
+attendants, were hunting in a forest a few leagues from Bari, when the cry
+of '_Vardarelli_!' was suddenly heard. The party took to flight with the
+utmost precipitation, and all escaped except Major Delponte, who was one
+of the bravest, but, at the same time, one of the poorest, officers of the
+whole army. When he was told that he must pay a thousand ducats for his
+ransom, he only laughed, and asked where he was to get such a sum.
+Vardarelli then threatened to shoot him if it was not forthcoming by a
+certain day. The major replied that it was losing time to wait; and that,
+if he had a piece of advice to give his captor, it was to shoot him at
+once. The bandit at first felt half inclined to do so; but he reflected
+that the less Delponte cared about his life, the more ought Ferdinand to
+value it. He was right in his calculation; for no sooner did the king
+learn that his brave major was in the hands of the banditti, than he
+ordered the ransom to be paid out of his privy purse, and the major
+recovered his freedom.
+
+"But Ferdinand had sworn the extermination of the banditti with whom he
+was thus obliged to treat as from one potentate to another. A certain
+colonel, whose name I forget, and who had heard this vow, pledged himself,
+if a battalion were put under his command, to bring in Vardarelli, his two
+brothers, and the sixty men composing his troop, bound hand and foot, and
+to place them in the dungeons of the Vicaria. The offer was too good to be
+refused; the minister of war put five hundred men at the disposal of the
+colonel, who started with them at once in pursuit of the outlaw. The
+latter was soon informed by his spies of this fresh expedition, and _he_
+also made a vow, to the effect that he would cure his pursuer, once and
+for all, of any disposition to interfere with the Vardarelli.
+
+"He began by leading the poor colonel such a dance over hill and dale,
+that the unfortunate officer and his men were worn out with fatigue; then,
+when he saw them in the state that he wished, he caused some false
+intelligence to be conveyed to them at two o'clock one morning. The
+colonel fell into the snare, and started immediately to surprise
+Vardarelli, whom he was assured was in a little village at the further
+extremity of a narrow pass, through which only four men could pass abreast.
+He made such haste that he marched four leagues in two hours, and at
+daybreak found himself at the entrance of the pass, which, however, seemed
+so peculiarly well adapted for an ambuscade, that he halted his battalion,
+and sent on twenty men to reconnoitre. In a quarter of an hour the twenty
+men returned. They had not met a single living thing. The colonel
+hesitated no longer, and entered the defile; but, on reaching a spot about
+halfway through it, where the road widened out into a sort of platform
+surrounded by high rocks and steep precipices, a shout was suddenly heard,
+proceeding apparently from the clouds, and the poor colonel looking up,
+saw the summits of the rocks covered with brigands, who levelled their
+rifles at him and his soldiers. Nevertheless, he began forming up his men
+as well as the nature of the ground would permit, when Vardarelli himself
+appeared upon a projecting crag. 'Down with your arms, or you are dead
+men!' he shouted in a voice of thunder. The bandits repeated his summons,
+and the echoes repeated their voices, so that the troops, who had not made
+the same vow as their colonel, and who thought themselves surrounded by
+greatly superior numbers, cried out for quarter, in spite of the
+entreaties and menaces of their unfortunate commander. Then Vardarelli,
+without leaving his position, ordered them to pile their arms, and march
+to two different places which he pointed out to them. They obeyed; and
+Vardarelli, leaving twenty of his men in their ambush, came down with the
+remainder, who immediately proceeded to render the Neapolitan muskets
+useless (for the moment at least) by the same process which Gulliver
+employed to extinguish the conflagration of the palace at Lilliput.
+
+"The news of this affair put the king in very bad humour for the first
+twenty-four hours; after which time, however, the love of a joke
+overcoming his anger, he laughed heartily, and told the story to every one
+he saw; and as there are always lots of listeners when a king narrates,
+three years elapsed before the poor colonel ventured to show his face at
+Naples and encounter the ridicule of the court."
+
+The general commanding in Calabria takes the matter rather more seriously,
+and vows the destruction of the banditti. By offers of large pay and
+privileges, they are induced to enter the Neapolitan service, and prove
+highly efficient as a troop of gendarmes. But the general cannot forget
+his old grudge against them; although, for lack of an opportunity, and on
+account of the desperate character of the men, he is obliged to defer his
+revenge for some time. At last he succeeds in having their leaders
+assassinated, and by pretending great indignation, and imprisoning the
+perpetrators of the deed, he lulls the suspicions of the remaining bandits,
+who elect new officers, and on an appointed day, proceed to the town of
+Foggia to have their election confirmed. Only eight of them, apprehensive
+of treachery, refuse to accompany their comrades. The remaining thirty-one,
+and a woman who would not leave her husband, obey the general's summons.
+
+"It was a Sunday, the review had been publicly announced, and the square
+was thronged with spectators. The Vardarelli entered the town in perfect
+order, armed to the very teeth, but giving no sign of hostility or
+mistrust. On reaching the square, they raised their sabres, and with one
+voice exclaimed--'_Viva il Re_!' The general appeared on his balcony to
+acknowledge their salute. The aide-de-camp on duty came down to receive
+them, and after complimenting them on the beauty of their horses and good
+state of their arms, desired them to file past under the general's window,
+which they did with a precision worthy of regular troops. They then formed
+up again in the middle of the square, and dismounted.
+
+"The aide-de-camp went into the house again with the list of the three new
+officers; the Vardarelli were standing by their horses, when suddenly
+there was a great confusion and movement in the crowd, which opened in
+various places, and down every street leading to the square, a column of
+Neapolitan troops was seen advancing. The Vardarelli were surrounded on
+all sides. Perceiving at once that they were betrayed, they sprang upon
+their horses and drew their sabres; but at the same moment the general
+took off his hat, which was the signal agreed upon; the command, '_Faccia
+in terra_,' was heard, and the spectators, throwing themselves on their
+faces, the soldiers fired over them, and nine of the brigands fell to the
+ground, dead or mortally wounded. Those who were unhurt, seeing that they
+had no quarter to expect, dismounted, and forming a compact body, fought
+their way to an old castle in which they took refuge. Two only, trusting
+to the speed of their horses, charged the group of soldiers that appeared
+the least numerous, shot down two of them, and succeeded in breaking
+through the others and escaping. The woman owed her life to a similar
+piece of daring, effected, however, on another point of the enemy's line.
+She broke through, and galloped off, after having discharged both her
+pistols with fatal effect.
+
+"The attention of all was now turned to the remaining twenty Vardarelli,
+who had taken refuge in the ruined castle. The soldiers advanced against
+them, encouraging one another, and expecting to encounter an obstinate
+resistance; but, to their surprise, they reached the gate of the castle
+without a shot being fired at them. The gate was soon beaten in, and the
+soldiers spread themselves through the halls and galleries of the old
+building. But all was silence and solitude; the bandits had disappeared.
+
+"After an hour passed in rummaging every corner of the place, the
+assailants were going away in despair, convinced that their prey had
+escaped them; when a soldier, who was stooping down to look through the
+air-hole of a cellar, fell, shot through the body.
+
+"The Vardarelli were discovered; but still it was no easy matter to get at
+them. Instead of losing men by a direct attack, the soldiers blocked up
+the air-hole with stones, set a guard over it, and then going round to the
+door of the cellar, which was barricadoed on the inner side, they heaped
+lighted fagots and combustibles against it, so that the staircase was soon
+one immense furnace. After a time the door gave way, and the fire poured
+like a torrent into the retreat of the unfortunate bandits. Still a
+profound silence reigned in the vault. Presently two carbine shots were
+fired; two brothers, determined not to fall alive into the hands of their
+enemies, had shot each other to death. A moment afterwards an explosion
+was heard; a bandit had thrown himself into the flames, and his cartridge
+box had blown up. At last the remainder of the unfortunate men being
+nearly suffocated, and seeing that escape was impossible, surrendered at
+discretion, were dragged through the air-hole, and immediately bound hand
+and foot, and conveyed to prison.
+
+"As to the eight who had refused to come to Foggia, and the two who had
+escaped, they were hunted down like wild beasts, tracked from cavern to
+cavern, and from forest to forest. Some were shot, others betrayed by the
+peasantry, some gave themselves up, so that, before the year was out, all
+the Vardarelli were dead or prisoners. The woman who had displayed such
+masculine courage, was the only one who finally escaped. She was never
+heard of afterwards."
+
+M. Dumas finds that the climate of Naples, delightful as it is, has
+nevertheless its little drawbacks and disadvantages. He returns one night
+from an excursion in the environs, and has scarcely got into bed, when he
+is almost blown out of it again by a tornado of tropical violence.
+
+"At midnight, when we returned to Naples, the weather was perfect, the sky
+cloudless, the sea without a ripple. At three in the morning I was
+awakened by the windows of my room bursting open, their eighteen panes of
+glass falling upon the floor with a frightful clatter. I jumped out of bed,
+and felt that the house was shaking. I thought of Pliny the Elder, and
+having no desire for a similar fate, I hastily pulled on my clothes and
+hurried out into the corridor. My first impulse had apparently been that
+of all the inmates of the hotel, who were all standing, more or less
+dressed, at the doors of their apartments; amongst others, Jadin, who made
+his appearance with a phosphorus box in his hand, and his dog Milord at
+his heels. 'What a terrible draught in the house!' said he to me. This
+same draught, as he called it, had just carried off the roof of the Prince
+of San Feodoro's palace, including the garrets and several servants who
+were sleeping in them.
+
+"My first thought had been of an eruption of Vesuvius, but there was no
+such luck for us; it was merely a hurricane. A hurricane at Naples,
+however, is rather different from the same thing in any other European
+country.
+
+"Out of the seventy windows of the hotel, three only had escaped damage.
+The ceilings of seven or eight rooms were rent across. There was a crack
+extending from top to bottom of the house. Eight shutters had been carried
+away, and the servants were running down the street after them, just as
+one runs after one's hat on a windy day. The broken glass was swept away;
+as for sending for glaziers to mend the windows, it was out of the
+question. At Naples nobody thinks of disturbing himself at three in the
+morning. Besides, even had new panes been put in, they would soon have
+shared the fate of the old ones. We were obliged, therefore, to manage as
+well as we could with the shutters. I was tolerably lucky, for I had only
+lost one of mine. I went to bed again, and tried to sleep; but a storm of
+thunder and lightning soon rendered that impossible, and I took refuge on
+the ground-floor, where the wind had done less damage. Then began one of
+those storms of which we have no idea in the more northern parts of Europe.
+It was accompanied by a deluge such as I had never witnessed, except
+perhaps in Calabria. In an instant the Villa Reale appeared to be a part
+of the sea; the water came up to the windows of the ground-floor, and
+flooded the parlours. A minute afterwards, the servants came to tell M.
+Zill that his cellars were full, and his casks of wine floating about and
+staving one another. Presently we saw a jackass laden with vegetables come
+swimming down the street, carried along by the current. He was swept away
+into a large open drain, and disappeared. The peasant who owned him, and
+who had also been carried away, only saved himself from a like fate by
+clinging to a lamp-post. In one hour there fell more water than there
+falls in Paris during the two wettest months in the year.
+
+"Two hours after the cessation of the rain, the water had disappeared, and
+I then perceived the use of this kind of deluge. The streets were clean;
+which they never are in Naples except after a flood of this sort."
+
+One short anecdote, and we have done. After a long account of St Januarius,
+including the well-known miracle of the liquefaction of his blood, and
+some amusing illustrations of his immense popularity with the Neapolitans,
+M. Dumas, in two pithy lines, gives us the length, breadth, and thickness
+of a lazzarone's religion.
+
+"I was one day in a church at Naples," he says, "and I heard a lazzarone
+praying aloud. He entreated God to intercede with St Januarius to make him
+win in the lottery."
+
+On the whole, we think this one of the most amusing of M. Dumas's works,
+very light and sketchy, as is evident from our extracts; but at the same
+time giving a great deal of information concerning Naples, its environs,
+inhabitants, and customs, of much interest, and calculated to be highly
+useful to the traveller. It is also very free from a fault with which we
+taxed its author in a former paper, and we can scarcely call to mind a
+single line which it would be necessary to expunge, in order to render it
+fit reading for the most fastidious. As far as we ourselves are concerned,
+we heartily wish M. Dumas would travel over all the kingdoms of the earth,
+and write a book about each of them; and if he is as good company in a
+post-chaise as his books are at the chimney-corner, there are few things
+we should like better than to accompany him on his pilgrimage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+MARSTON; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A STATESMAN.
+
+PART IX.
+
+
+  "Have I not in my time heard lions roar?
+  Have I not heard the sea, puft up with wind,
+  Rage like an angry boar chafed with sweat?
+  Have I not heard great ordnance in the field,
+  And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies?
+  Have I not in the pitched battle heard
+  Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpets clang?"
+
+        SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+The market-place was lighted up, and filled with dragoons. Leaving my
+hulans under cover of a dark street, and riding forward to reconnoitre, I
+saw with astonishment the utter carelessness with which they abandoned
+themselves to their indulgences in the midst of an irritated population.
+Some were drinking on horseback; some had thrown themselves on the benches
+of the market, and were evidently intoxicated. The people stood at the
+corners of the streets looking on, palpably in terror, yet as palpably
+indignant at the outrage of the military. From the excessive blaze in some
+of the windows, and the shrieks of females, I could perceive that plunder
+was going on, and that the intention was, after having ransacked the place,
+to set it on fire. Yet a strong body of cavalry mounted in the middle of
+the square, and keeping guard round a waggon on which a guillotine had
+been already erected, still made me feel that an attack would be hopeless.
+I soon saw a rush of the people from one of the side streets; a couple of
+dragoon helmets were visible above the crowd; and three or four carts
+followed, filled with young females in white robes and flowers, as if
+dressed for a ball. I gazed intently, to ascertain the meaning of this
+strange and melancholy spectacle. At this moment I felt my horse's bridle
+pulled, and saw the old noble at his head. "Now or never!" he cried, in a
+voice almost choked with emotion. "Those are destined for the guillotine.
+Barbarians! brigands!--they will murder my Amalia." He sank before me.
+"What! is this an execution?" I exclaimed. His answer was scarcely above a
+whisper, for he seemed fainting. "The villains have been sent," said he,
+"to burn the town; they have seized those children of our best families,
+compelled them to dress as they were dressed for the Prussian ball, and
+are now about to murder them by their accursed guillotine." Pointing to
+one lovely girl, who, pale as death, stood in the foremost of those
+vehicles of death, he exclaimed "Amalia! O, my Amalia!" The cart was
+already within a few feet of the scaffold when I gave the word to my
+troopers. The brave fellows answered my "Forward!" with a shout, charged
+sabre in hand, and in an instant had thrown themselves between the victims
+and the scaffold. Their escort, taken completely by surprise, was broken
+at the first shock; we dashed without loss of time on the squadrons
+scattered round the market, and swept it clear of them. Surprised,
+intoxicated, and unacquainted with our force--which they probably thought
+to be the advance of the whole Prussian cavalry--after having lost many
+men, for the peasantry showed no mercy on the dismounted, the regiment
+turned at full gallop to the open country. The townspeople now performed
+their part. The victims were hurried away by their families, among a storm
+of lamentations and rejoicings, tears and kisses. The old noble's daughter,
+half dead, was carried off in her father's arms, with a thousand
+benedictions on me. The guillotine was hewn down with a hundred axes, and
+I saw the fragments burning in the square. Its waggon was made to serve
+its country as a portion of a barricade; and with every vehicle, wheeled
+or unwheeled, which could be rolled out, the entrance to the streets was
+fortified with the national rapidity in any deed, good or ill, under the
+stars.
+
+After having appeased our hunger and that of our famishing horses, and
+being offered all the purses, which the French dragoons, however, had
+lightened nearly to the last coin, we finished the exploit by a general
+chant in honour of the ladies, and marched on our route, followed by the
+prayers of the whole community. This ended the only productive skirmish of
+the retreat. It fed us, broke the monotony of the march, and gave us
+something to talk of--and the soldier asks but little more. A gallant
+action had certainly been done; not the less gallant for its being a
+humane one; and even my bold hulans gave me credit for being a "smart
+officer," a title of no slight value in their dashing service.
+
+Yet what, as the poet Saadi says, is fortune but a peacock "a showy tail
+on a frightful pair of legs?" Our triumph was to be followed by a reverse.
+The burgundy and champagne of the old count's cellar had made us festive,
+and our voices were heard along the road with a gaiety imprudent in a
+hostile land. The sound of a trumpet in our front brought us to our senses
+and a dead stand. But we were in a vein of heroism and instead of taking
+to our old hussar habits, and slipping round the enemy's flanks, we
+determined to cut our way through them, if they had the whole cavalry of
+France as their _appui_. The word was given, and the spur carried us
+through a strong line of cavalry posted across the road. The moon had just
+risen enough to show that there was a still stronger line a few hundred
+yards beyond, which it would be folly to touch. There was now no resource
+but to return as we went, which we did at full speed, and again broke up
+our antagonists. But again we saw squadron after squadron blocking up the
+road. All was now desperate. But Frederick's law of arms was well
+known--"the officer of cavalry who _waits to be charged_, must be broke."
+We made a plunge at our living circumvallation; but the French dragoons
+had now learned common sense--they opened for us--and when we were once
+fairly in, enveloped us completely; it was then a troop to a brigade;
+fifty jaded men and horses to fifteen hundred fresh from camp. What
+happened further I know not. I saw for a minute or two a great deal of
+pistol firing and a great deal of sabre clashing; I felt my horse stagger
+under me, at the moment when I aimed a blow at a gigantic fellow covered
+all over with helmet and mustache; a pistol exploded close at my ear as I
+was going down, and I heard no more.
+
+On opening my eyes again, I found the scene strangely altered. I was lying
+in a little chamber hung round with Parisian ornament--a sufficient
+contrast to a sky dark as pitch, or only illumined by carbines and the
+sparkles of sabres delving at each other. I was lying on an embroidered
+sofa--an equally strong contrast to my position under the bodies of fallen
+men and the heels of kicking horses. A showy Turkish cloak, or _robe de
+chambre_, had superseded my laced jacket, purple pantaloons, and hussar
+boots. I was completely altered as a warrior; and, from a glimpse which I
+cast on a mirror, surrounded with gilt nymphs and swains enough to have
+furnished a ballet, I saw in my haggard countenance, and a wound, which a
+riband but half concealed, across my forehead, that I was not less altered
+as a man.
+
+All round me looked so perfectly like the scenes with which I had been
+familiar in my romance-reading days, that, bruised and feeble as I was, I
+almost expected to find my pillow attended by some of those slight figures
+in long white drapery with blue eyes, which of old ministered to so many
+ill-used knights and exhausted pilgrims. But my reveries were broken up by
+a rough voice in the outer chamber insisting on an entrance into mine, and
+replied to by a weak and garrulous female one, refusing the admission. The
+dialogue was something of this order--
+
+"Strong or weak, well or ill, able or not able, I must send him, before
+twelve o'clock this night, to Paris."
+
+"But the poor gentleman's wounds are still unhealed."
+
+"Still he must set out. The '_malle poste_' will be at the door; and, if
+he had fifty wounds on him, he must go. The marquis is halfway to Paris by
+this time; perhaps more than halfway to the guillotine."
+
+This was followed by a burst of sobs and broken exclamtions from the
+female, whom I discovered, by her sorrowing confessions, to have been a
+nurse in the family.
+
+"Well," was the ruffian's reply; "women of all ages are fools: what is it
+to you whether this young fellow is shot or hanged? He was taken in arms
+against the Republic--one and indivisible. All the enemies of France must
+perish!"
+
+The old woman now partially opened the door, to see whether I slept; and I
+closed my eyes, for the purpose of hearing all that was to be heard
+without interruption. The speaker, whom I alternately took for the
+_gendarme_ of the district, and the executioner, gave went to his swelling
+soul in the national style.
+
+"What! leave _me_! leave Jean Jacques Louis Gilet in charge of this
+wretched aristocrat, while I should be marching with my battalion, and at
+its head too, if merit meets its reward, to sweep the foes of the Republic
+from the face of the earth. No; I shall not remain in this paltry place,
+solicitor of a village, when I ought to be on the highest seat of
+justice--or playing the part of arresting aristocrats, when I might be
+commandant of a brigade, marching over the bodies of the crowned tyrants
+of the earth to glory!"
+
+As his harangue glowed, his pace quickened, and his voice grew more
+vehement; at length, probably impatient of the time which lay between him
+and the first offices of the Republic, he overpowered the resistance of
+the nurse, and rushed into the chamber. Throwng himself into a theatrical
+attitude before a mirror--for what Frenchman ever passes one without a
+glance of happy recognition?--"Rise, aristocrat!" he cried, in the tone of
+Talma calling up the shade of Caesar. "Rise, and account to the world for
+your crimes against the liberty of man!"
+
+I looked with such surprise on this champion of the sons of Adam--a little
+meagre creature, who seemed to be shaped on the model of one of his own
+pens, stripped, withered, and ink-dried--that I actually burst into
+laughter. His indignation rose, and, pulling out a pistol with one hand,
+and a roll of paper from his bosom with the other, he presented them
+together. I perceived, as I lay on my pillow, that the pistol was without
+a lock, and thus was comforted; but the paper was of a more formidable
+description. It was the famous decree of "Fraternization," by which France
+pronounced the fall of her own monarchy, declared "that she would grant
+succour to every people who wished to recover their liberty," and
+commanded her generals "to aid all such, and to defend all citizens who
+might be troubled in the cause of freedom."
+
+This paper indeed startled me; it was the consummation which I had dreaded
+so long. I saw at once that France, in those wild words, had declared war
+against every throne in Europe, and that we were now beginning the era of
+struggle and suffering which Mordecai's strong sense had predicted, and of
+which no human sagacity could foresee the end. My countenance probably
+showed the impression which this European anathema had made upon me; for
+Monsieur Gilet became more heroic than ever, tore his grizzled curls,
+throwing aside his pistol, which he had at length discovered to be _hors
+de combat_, and drawing the falchion which clattered at his heels, and was
+nearly as long as himself, flourished it in quick march backward and
+forward before the mirror--that mirror never forgotten!--in all the
+whirlwind of his rage, and panted for the conquest of "perfidious Albion,"
+the "traitor" Pitt, and the whole brood of hoary power. I was too feeble
+to turn him out of the room, and too contemptuous to reply. But his
+overthrow was not the further off. The old nurse, who, old as she was,
+still retained some of the sinews and all the irritability of a stout
+Champenoise peasant, roused by his insults to the aristocracy, one of whom
+she probably regarded herself, from having lived so long under their roof,
+watched her opportunity, made a spring at him like a wild-cat, wrested the
+sabre from his hand, and, grasping the struggling and screaming little
+functionary in her strong arms, carried him like a child out of the room.
+
+She then returned, and having locked the door to prevent his second inroad,
+sat down by the side of my couch, and, with the usual passion of women
+after strong excitement, burst into exclamations and tears. What I could
+collect from her broken narrative, was little more than the commonplace of
+national misery in that fearful time. She had been a servant in the family
+of the nobleman whose daughter I had saved from death. She had been the
+nurse of the young countess; and all the blessings that sorrow and
+gratitude ever gathered together, could not be exceeded by the praises
+which she poured upon my head. It had been rumoured in the town that I was
+attacked and killed by a body of cavalry sent to revenge the rout of their
+comrades. And the Marquis Lanfranc--I now first learned the name of my
+noble entertainer--had gone forth to look for my remains in the field. I
+was found still breathing, and to avoid further danger was carried to this
+dwelling, a hunting-lodge in the heart of the forest; there I had been
+attended by the family physician only, and, after a week of insensibility,
+had given signs of recovery. The marquis's humanity had brought evil on
+himself. His visits to the lodge had been remarked, and on this very
+morning he had been arrested, and conveyed with his daughter, in a
+carriage escorted by _gendarmes_ to the capital. My detection followed of
+course; papers found on my person had proved that I was an agent of
+England; and the officious M. Gilet had spent the morning in exhibiting to
+the peasantry of the neighbourhood the order of the "Committee of Public
+Safety," a name which froze the blood, to take me under his charge, and
+conduct me forthwith to their tribunal. I tell all this in my own way; for
+the dame's sighs, sobs, and vehement indignation, would have defied all
+record.
+
+My prospect was now black enough, for justice was a word unheard of in the
+present condition of things; and my plea of being an Englishman, and in
+the civil service of my country, would have been a death-warrant. I must
+acknowledge, too, that I had fairly thrown it away by my adoption of the
+Prussian sabre. I might well be now in low spirits; for the guillotine was
+crushing out life at that moment in every province of France, and the
+thirst of public curiosity was to be fed by nothing but blood. Yet, even
+in that moment, let me give myself credit for the recollection, my first
+enquiry was for the fate of my squadron. The old woman could tell me but
+little on the subject; but that little was consolatory. The French
+troopers, who had come back triumphing into the town, had not brought any
+Prussian prisoners: two or three foreigners, who had lost their horses,
+were sheltered in her master's stables until they could make their escape;
+and of them she had heard no more. The truth is, that nothing is more
+difficult in war than to catch a hussar who understands his business; and
+the probability was, that the chief part of them had slipped away, leaving
+the French to sabre each other in the dark. The fall of my horse had
+brought me down, otherwise I might have escaped the shot which stunned me,
+and been at that hour galloping to Berlin.
+
+Monsieur Gilet, with some of the civic authorities, paid me a second visit
+in the evening, to prepare me for my journey. To me it was become
+indifferent whether I died in the carriage or by the edge of the
+guillotine; the journey was short in either case, and the shorter and
+sooner the better. I answered none of their interrogatories; told them I
+was at their disposal; directed the old woman to pack up whatever
+travelling matters remained to me, and to remember me to her master and
+mistress, if she ever should see them in this world; shook her strong old
+hand, and bade God bless her. In return, she kissed me on both cheeks,
+whispered a thousand benedictions, and left the room violently sobbing;
+yet with a parting glance at Monsieur Gilet and his _collaborateurs_, so
+mingled of wrath and ridicule, that it was beyond all my deciphering.
+
+  "Time and the hour run through the longest day,"
+
+says the great poet; and, with the coming of midnight, a _chaise de poste_
+drew up at the door. As I was a prisoner of importance, M. Gilet was not
+suffered to take all the honour of my introduction to the axe on himself;
+and the mayor and deputy-mayor of the district insisted on this
+opportunity of making themselves known to the supreme Republic. They
+mounted the box in front, a couple of gendarmes sat behind, M. Gilet took
+his seat at my side, and, with an infinite cracking of whips, we rushed
+out upon the causeway.
+
+I soon discovered that my companion was by no means satisfied with
+existing circumstances. The officiousness of the pair of mayors
+prodigiously displeased him. He broke forth--
+
+"See these two beggars," he exclaimed, "pretending to patriotism! They
+have no energy, no courage, no civism. Why, _you_ might have remained for
+a twelvemonth under their very nostrils before they would have found you
+out. Gilet is the man for the service of his country." Merely to stop the
+torrent of his complainings, I asked him some vague questions relative to
+the nobleman whom I was now following to Paris. But the patriot was not to
+be moved from his topic.
+
+"Hah! Citizen Lanfranc. All is over with him. He once held his head high
+enough, but it will soon be as low as ever it was high. Yet I could have
+forgiven his aristocracy, if he had not put these two 'chiens' above me."
+
+The position in which the mayor and his deputy sat, on the box of the
+chaise, continually presenting them to the eye of my companion, kept his
+choler peculiarly active.
+
+"One of these fellows," he exclaimed, "was the Marquis's cook, another his
+perruquier! _I_ was his tailor. Every man of taste and talent knows the
+superiority of _my_ profession; for what is the first of noblemen without
+elegance of costume, or what indeed would man himself be without my art,
+the noblest and the earliest art of mankind? And yet he made these two
+'brigands' mayor and deputy--_peste_! I did my duty. I denounced him on
+the spot. I did more. The aristocrat had a faction in the town. It was
+filled with his dependents. In fact, it had been built on his grounds, and
+tenanted by the old hangers-on of the family. So, to make a clear stage, I
+denounced the town." He clapped his hands with exultation at this civic
+triumph.
+
+My recollection of the miseries which his malice had caused roused me into
+wrath, and, rash as the act was, I grasped him by the collar, with the
+full intent of throwing the little writhing wretch out of the window; but,
+while I was lifting him from the seat to which he clung screaming for help,
+and had already forced him halfway outside, a shot whistled close by the
+head of the postilion, which brought him to a full stop. "Mon
+Dieu!--Brigands!" exclaimed Monsieur Gilet; and, dropping back into the
+carriage, attempted to make a screen of my body by slipping his adroitly
+behind me. Two or three more discharges rattled through the trees,
+followed by a rush of peasants, who unceremoniously knocked down the two
+officials in front, and began a general scuffle with the gendarmes. The
+night was so dark, that I could discover nothing of the _melee_ but by the
+blaze of the fusils. All, however, was quiet in a few moments, by the
+disappearance of the gendarmes, and the complete capture of the convoy--M.
+Gilet, mayors, and all. Whether we had fallen into the hands of highwaymen,
+or of stragglers from the French army, was doubtful for a while, as not a
+syllable was spoken, nor a sound uttered, except by the unhappy
+functionaries, who grumbled prodigiously as they were dragged along
+through "rough and smooth, moss and mire," and whose pace was evidently
+quickened by many a kick and blow of the fusil. This was a rude march for
+me, too, with my unhealed wound, and my week's sojourn in bed; but I was
+treated, if not with tenderness, without incivility, while my _compagnons
+de voyage_ were insulted with every contemptuous phrase in a vocabulary at
+least as rich in those matters as any other in Europe. At length, after
+about an hour's rapid movement, we reached an open ground, and the door of
+one of the wide, old, staring, yet not uncomfortable farmhouses which are
+to be found in the northern provinces of France.
+
+Signs of comfort within were visible even at a distance, and the light of
+a huge wood fire had been seen for the last quarter of an hour gleaming
+through the woods, and leaving us in doubt whether we were approaching a
+horde of gipsies, or about to realize the classic scenes of Gil Blas.
+
+
+But it was only a farm-house after all. The good dame of the house, with
+an enormous cap, enormous petticoats, enormous earrings, and all the
+glaring good-humour of a countenance of domestic plenty and power, came to
+meet us on the threshold; and her reception of me was ardent, to the very
+verge of stranglulation. Nothing could exceed her rapture at the sight of
+me, or the fierceness of her embraces, except her indignation at the sight
+of my traveling companions. Her disgust at the mayor and his deputy--and
+certainly after their night trip they were not figures to charm the
+eye--was pitched in the highest key of scorn, so as to be surpassed only
+by the torrent of contempt which her well-practised elocution poured upon
+the "_traitre tailleur._" I really believe, that, if she could have
+boiled him in the huge soup-kettle which bubbled upon the fire, without
+spoiling our supper, she would have flung him in upon the spot. The
+peasants who had captured us--bold, tall fellows, well dressed and well
+armed with cutlass and fusil, in the style of the
+_gardes-de-chasse_--could scarcely be kept from taking them out to the
+next tree, to make marks of them; and it was probably by my intercession
+alone that they were consigned to an outer house for the night. How the
+scene was to end with me, I knew not; though the jovial visage of my
+protectress showed me that I was secure. But the prisoners had no sooner
+been flung out of the door than I was ushered into an inner room, prepared
+with somewhat more of attention; where, to my great surprise and delight,
+the Marquis Lanfranc came forward to shake my hand, and, with a thousand
+expressions of gratitude, made me known to his daughter. The adventure was
+of the simplest order. The arrest of the Marquis was, of course, known in
+an instant, and a party of his foresters had immediately determined to
+take the law into their own hands--had posted themselves on the road by
+which his carriage was to pass, and had released him without difficulty.
+My release was merely a sequel to the drama. I had been left in the
+hunting-lodge by its owner, under the impression that an individual who
+could not be moved without hazard to life, would escape the vengeance of
+village patriotism. But the nurse, whom he had placed in charge of me, had
+no sooner ascertained that I was arrested, than she sent an express to the
+farm-house. The consequence naturally followed in my liberty; and the
+night which I expected to have spent freezing on my way to the dungeon,
+presented me with the pleasant exchange of hospitable shelter, the society
+of a most accomplished man, and his graceful handsome daughter; and last,
+not least, a couple of kisses from my late nurse, according to the custom
+of the country, as glowing and remorseless as those of my portly landlady
+herself.
+
+We sat for some hours, and scarcely felt them pass in the anxious topics
+which engrossed us; the perils of France, the prospects of the Allies, and
+the captivity of the unhappy Bourbons. Now and then the conversation
+turned on their own hair-breadth escapes, and those of their relatives and
+friends. Among the rest, the hazards of the De Tourville family were
+mentioned, and I heard the name of Clotilde pronounced with a sensation
+indescribable. The name was connected with such displays of fortitude,
+nobleness of spirit, and deep devotion to the royal cause, that, if I had
+loved before, I now honoured her. She had saved the lives of her household;
+she had, by an act of extraordinary, but most perilous affection, saved
+the life of her mother, at the moment when the first insurgency broke out;
+and, young as she was, she had exhibited so noble a union of generosity
+and strength of mind, that the Marquis's eyes filled with tears as he told
+it, and Amalia buried her forehead in her hands to conceal her convulsive
+emotions: what must have been mine!
+
+Our conversation was not unfrequently interrupted by bursts of merriment
+from the outer room, where the peasants were at supper provided by the
+Marquis for his bold rescuers--an indulgence which they seemed to enjoy
+with the highest zest imaginable. Songs were sung with very various kinds
+of merit in the performer, but all well received. Healths were proposed,
+in which the existing Government was certainly not much honoured; and, if
+the good wishes of the party could have sent the "Committee of Public
+Safety," the butcher cabinet of France, to the darkest spot on earth, or
+under it, its time would have been brief. But even this died away; the
+laugh subsided, the mirth grew silent, and at length the
+_gardes-de-chasse_ went away, making the forest ring with their
+professional whoops and holloas, the remnants of their honest revel. At
+length the Marquis and his daughter, who were to be on the wing at
+daybreak for the German frontier, and who had generously offered to take
+charge of my invalid frame in the same direction, retired; and wrapping
+myself up in a dark cloak, furnished by my mistress and formed to her
+showy proportions, I threw myself on the sofa, and was in the land of
+dreams.
+
+But though I slept, I did not rest. My fever, or my lassitude, or probably
+some presentiment of the troubled career into which I was to be plunged,
+made "tired nature's sweet restorer" a stepmother to me. I can never
+endure hearing the dreams of others, and thus I cannot suffer myself to
+inflict them on my hearers; but on that night, Queen Mab, like Jehu, drove
+her horses furiously. Every possible kind of disappointment, vexation, and
+difficulty; every conceivable shape of things, past and present, rushed
+through my brain; and all pale, fierce, disastrous, and melancholy. I was
+beckoned along dim shades by shapeless phantoms; I was trampled in battle;
+I was brought before a tribunal; I was on board a ship which blew up, and
+was flung strangling down an infinite depth in a midnight ocean. But this
+exceeded the privilege even of dreams. I made one desperate effort to rise,
+and awoke with a bound on the floor. There I found a real obstacle--a
+ruffian in a red cap. One strong hand was on my throat; and by the glimmer
+of the dying lantern, which hung from the roof, I saw the glitter of a
+pistol-barrel in the other. "Surrender in the name of the Republic!" were
+the words which told me my fate. Four or five wearers of the same ominous
+emblem, with sabres and pistols, were round me at the moment, and after a
+brief struggle I was secured. Cries were now heard outside the door, and a
+wounded gendarme was carried in, borne in the arms of his comrades. From
+their confused clamour, I could merely ascertain that the gendarmes who
+had escaped in the original _melee_, had obtained assistance, and returned
+on their steps. The farm-house had been surrounded, and the Marquis was
+indebted only to the vigilance of his peasantry for a second escape with
+his daughter. The _gardes-de-chasse_ had kept the gendarmes at bay until
+their retreat was secure; and the post-chaise which had brought M. Gilet
+and his coadjutors, was, by this time, some leagues off, at full speed,
+beyond the fangs of Republicanism.
+
+This at least was comfort, though I was left behind. But it was clear that
+the gallant old noble was blameless in the matter, and that nothing was to
+be blamed but my habitual ill luck. "_En route_ for Paris," was the last
+order which I heard; and with a gendarme, in the strange kind of
+post-waggon which was rolled out from the farmer's stable, I was
+dispatched, before daybreak, on my startling journey.
+
+I found my gendarme a facetious fellow; though his merriment might not be
+well adapted to cheer his prisoner. He whistled, he sang, he screamed, he
+stamped, to get rid of the ennui of travelling with so silent a companion.
+He told stories of his own prowess; libeled M. Gilet, who had got him
+beaten on this service in the first instance, and who seemed to be in the
+worst possible odour with man and woman; and abused all, mayors,
+deputy-mayors, and authorities, with the tongue of a leveler. But my
+facetious friend had his especial _chagrins_.
+
+"I have all my life," said he, "been longing to see Paris, and have never
+been able to stir a step beyond this stupid province. Yet I have had my
+chances too. I was once valet to a German count, and we were on the way to
+Paris together when the post-chaise was stopped, the baron was arrested as
+a swindler, and I was charged as his accomplice. He was sent to the
+galleys; I got off. I then had a second chance. I enlisted in a regiment
+of dragoons which was to be quartered in Versailles. But such was my fate,
+I had no sooner passed the first drill, when we were ordered off to
+Lorraine to watch old King Stanislaus, the Pole, who lived there like one
+of his own bears, frozen and fat. Still I was determined to see Paris. I
+asked leave of absence; the adjutant laughed at me, the colonel turned on
+his heel, and the provost-marshal gave me a week of the black-hole. But a
+week is but seven days after all, and on my seeing the parade again--I--"
+
+"You deserted?"
+
+"Not quite that," was the reply. "I took leave, and, as I had seen enough
+of the black hole already, I took good care to give the provost-marshal no
+notice on the subject. A fortnight's march brought me within sight of the
+towers of Notre-Dame. But as I was resting myself on the roadside, our
+adjutant, as ill luck would have it, came by in the _coupe_ of the
+diligence. He jumped out. I was seized, given up to the next guard-house,
+and after fitting me with a pair of fetters, by way of boots, I was
+ordered to take my passage with a condemned regiment for the West Indies.
+There I served ten years; I saw the regiment reduced to a skeleton by
+short rations and new rum; and returned the tenth representative of
+fifteen hundred felons. At last I have a chance; the gendarme of the
+village was so desperately mauled by the foresters in the attempt to carry
+you prisoner, that he has been forced to take to his bed, and let me take
+his place. The thing is certain now. _You_ will be guillotined, but I
+shall see Paris."
+
+Yet what is certain in this most changeful of possible worlds?
+
+  "Fate granted half the prayer,
+  The rest the gods dispersed in empty air."
+
+We had toiled through our long journey, rendered doubly long by the
+dreariest and deepest roads on earth, and were winding round the spur of
+Montmartre, when a troop of citizen heroes, coming forth to sweep the
+country of the retreating Prussians, and whose courage had risen to the
+boiling point by the news of the retreat, surrounded the carriage. My
+Prussian uniform was proof enough for the brains of the patriots; and the
+quick discovery of Parisian ears, that I had not learned my French in
+their capital, settled the question of my being a traitor. The gendarme
+joined in the charge with his natural volubility; but rather insisted
+rashly on his right to take his prisoner into Paris on his own behalf. I
+saw a cloud gathering on the brow of the _chef_, a short, stout, and
+grim-looking fellow, with the true Faubourg St Antoine physiognomy. The
+prize was evidently too valuable not to be turned to good account with the
+authorities; and he resolved on returning at the head of his brother
+patriots to present me as the first-fruits of his martial career. The
+dispute grew hot; my escort was foolish enough to clap his hand on the
+hilt of his sabre--an affront intolerable to a citizen, at the head of
+fifty or sixty _braves_ from the counter or the shambles; the result was,
+a succession of blows from the whole troop, which closed in my seeing him
+stripped of every thing, and flung into the _cachot_ of the _corps de
+garde_, from which his only view of his beloved Paris must have been
+through an iron _grille_.
+
+My captor, determined to enter the capital for once with eclat, seated
+himself beside me in the _chaise de poste_, and, surrounded by his
+pike-bearers, we began our march down the descent of the hill.
+
+My new friend was communicative. He gave his history in a breath. He had
+been a clerk in the office of one of the small tribunals in the south;
+inflamed with patriotism, and indignant at the idea of selling his talents
+at the rate of ten sous a-day, "in a rat-hole called a bureau," he had
+resolved on being known in the world, and to Paris he came. Paris was the
+true place for talent. His _civisme_ had become conspicuous; he had
+"assisted" at the birth of liberty. He had carried a musket on the 10th of
+August, and had "been appointed by the Republic to the command of the
+civic force," which now moved, before and behind me. He was a "_grand
+homme_" already. Danton had told him so within the last fortnight, and
+France and Europe would no sooner read his last pamphlet on the "Crimes of
+Kings," than his fame would be fixed with posterity.
+
+I believe that few men have passed through life without experiencing times
+when it would cost them little to lay it down. At least such times have
+occurred to me, and this was among them. Yet this feeling, whether it is
+to be called nonchalance or despair, has its advantages for the moment; it
+renders the individual considerably careless of the worst that man can do
+to him; and I began to question my oratorical judge's clerk on the events
+in the "city of cities." No man could take fuller advantage of having a
+listener at his command.
+
+"We have cut down the throne," said he, clapping his hands with exultation,
+"and now you may buy it for firewood. But you are an aristocrat, and of
+course a slave; while we have got liberty, equality, and a triumvirate
+that shears off the heads of traitors at a sign. Suspicion of being
+suspected is quite sufficient. Away goes the culprit; a true patriot is
+ordered to take possession of his house until the national pleasure is
+known; and thus every thing goes on well. Of course, you have heard of the
+clearance of the prisons. A magnificent work. Five thousand aristocrats,
+rich, noble, and enemies to their country, sent headless to the shades of
+tyrants. _Vive la Republique_! But a grand idea strikes me. You shall see
+Danton himself, the genius of liberty, the hero of human nature, the
+terror of kings." The thought was new, and a new thought is enough to turn
+the brain of the Gaul at any time. He thrust his head out of the window,
+ordered a general halt; and, instead of taking me to the quarters of the
+National, resolved to have the merit of delivering up an "agent of Pitt
+and English guineas" to the master of the Republic alone. "_A l'Abbaye_!"
+was his cry. But a new obstacle now arose in his troop; they had reckoned
+on a civic supper with their comrades of the guard; and the notion of
+bivouacking in front of the Abbaye, under the chilling wind and fierce
+showers which now swept down the dismal streets, was too much for their
+sense of discipline. The dispute grew angry. At length one of them, a huge
+and savage-looking fellow, who, by way of illustration, thrust his pike
+close to the little commandant's shrinking visage, bellowed out--
+
+"The people are not to be insulted. The people order, and all must obey!"
+Nothing could be more unanswerable, and no attempt was made to answer. The
+captain dropped back into the chaise, the troop took their own way, and my
+next glance showed the street empty. But the Frenchman finds comfort under
+all calamities. After venting his wrath in no measured terms on "rabble
+insolence," and declaring that laws were of no use when "_gueux_" like
+these could take them into their hands, he consoled himself by observing
+that, stripped as he was of his honours, the loss might be compensated by
+his profits; that the "vagabonds" might have expected to share the reward
+which the "grand Danton would infallibly be rejoiced to give for my
+capture, and that both the purse and the praise would be his own." "_A
+l'Abbaye_!" was the cry once more.
+
+We now were in motion again; and, after threading a labyrinth of streets,
+so dreary and so dilapidated as almost to give me the conception that I
+had never been in Paris before, we drove up to the grim entrance of the
+Abbaye. My companion left me in charge of the sentinel, and rushed in.
+"And is this," thought I, as I looked round the narrow space of the four
+walls, "the spot where so many hundreds were butchered; this the scene of
+the first desperate triumph of massacre; this miserable court the last
+field of so many gallant lives; these stones the last resting-place of so
+many whose tread had been on cloth of gold; these old and crumbling walls
+giving the last echo to the voices of statesmen and nobles, the splendid
+courtiers, the brilliant orators, and the hoary ecclesiastics, of the most
+superb kingdom of Europe!" Even by the feeble lamp-light, that rather
+showed the darkness than the forms of the surrounding buildings, it seemed
+to me that I could discover the colour of the slaughter on the ground; and
+there were still heaps in corners, which looked to me like clay suddenly
+flung over the remnants of the murdered.
+
+But my reveries were suddenly broken up by the return of the little
+captain, more angry than ever. He had missed the opportunity of seeing the
+"great man," who had gone to the Salpetriere. And some of the small men
+who performed as his jackals, having discovered that the captain was
+looking for a share in their plunder, had thought proper to treat him, his
+commission, and even his civism, with extreme contempt. In short, as he
+avowed to me, the very first use which he was determined to make of that
+supreme power to which his ascent was inevitable, would be to clear the
+_bureaux_ of France, beginning with Paris, of all those insolent and idle
+hangers-on, who lived only to purloin the profits, and libel the services,
+of "good citizens."
+
+"_A la Salpetriere_." There again disappointment met us. The great man had
+been there "but a few minutes before," and we dragged our slow way through
+mire and ruts that would have been formidable to an artillery waggon with
+all its team. My heart, buoyant as it had been, sank within me as I looked
+up at the frowning battlements, the huge towers, more resembling those of
+a fortress than of even a prison, the gloomy gates, and the general grim
+aspect of the whole vast circumference, giving so emphatic a resemblance
+of the dreariness and the despair within.
+
+"_Aux Carmes_!" was now the direction; for my conductor's resolve to earn
+his reward before daybreak, was rendered more pungent by this interview
+with the _gens de bureau_ at the Abbaye. He was sure that they would be
+instantly on the scent; and if they once took me out of his hands, adieu
+to dreams, of which Alnaschar, the glassman's, were only a type. He grew
+nervous with the thought, and poured out his whole vision of hopes and
+fears with a volubility which I should have set down for frenzy, if in any
+man but a wretch in the fever of a time when gold and blood were the
+universal and combined idolatries of the land.
+
+"You may think yourself fortunate," he exclaimed, "in having been in my
+charge! That brute of a country gendarme could have shown you nothing. Now,
+_I_ know every jail in Paris. I have studied them. They form the true
+knowledge of a citizen. To crush tyrants, to extinguish nobles, to avenge
+the cause of reason on priests, and to raise the people to a knowledge of
+their rights--these are the triumphs of a patriot. Yet, what teacher is
+equal to the jail for them all? _Mais voila les Carmes_!"
+
+I saw a low range of blank wall, beyond which rose an ancient tower.
+
+"Here," said he, "liberty had a splendid triumph. A hundred and fifty
+tonsured apostles of incivism here fell in one day beneath the two-handed
+sword of freedom. A cardinal, two archbishops, dignitaries, monks, hoary
+with prejudices, antiquated with abuses, extinguishers of the new light of
+liberty, here were offered on the national shrine! _Chantons la
+Carmagnole_."
+
+But he was destined to be disappointed once more. Danton had been there,
+but was suddenly called away by a messenger from the Jacobins. Our
+direction was now changed again. "Now we shall be disappointed no longer.
+Once engaged in debate, he will be fixed for the night. _Allons_, you
+shall see the 'grand patriote,' 'the regenerator,' 'the first man in the
+world.' _Aux Jacobins_!"
+
+Our unfortunate postilion falling with fatigue on his horses' neck,
+attempted to propose going to an inn, and renewing our search in the
+morning; but the captain had made up his mind for the night, and, drawing
+a pistol from his breast, exhibited this significant sign pointed at his
+head. The horses, as tired as their driver, were lashed on. I had for some
+time been considering, as we passed through the deserted streets, whether
+it was altogether consistent with the feelings of my country, to suffer
+myself to be dragged round the capital at the mercy of this lover of lucre;
+but an apathy had come over my whole frame, which made me contemptuous of
+life. The sight of his pistol rather excited me to make the attempt, from
+the very insolence of his carrying it. But we still rolled on. At length,
+in one of the streets, which seemed darker and more miserable than all the
+rest, we were brought to a full stop by the march of a strong body of the
+National Guard, which halted in front of an enormous old building,
+furnished with battlement and bartizan. "_Le Temple_!" exclaimed my
+companion, with almost a shriek of exultation. I glanced upward, and saw a
+light with the pale glimmer which, in my boyish days, I had heard always
+attributed to spectres passing along the dim casements of a gallery. I
+cannot express how deeply this image sank upon me. I saw there only a huge
+tomb--the tomb of living royalty, of a line of monarchs, of all the
+feelings that still bound the heart of man to the cause of France. All now
+spectral. But, whatever might be the work of my imagination, there was
+terrible truth; enough before me to depress, and sting, and wring the mind.
+Within a step of the spot where I sat, were the noblest and the most
+unhappy beings in existence--the whole family of the throne caught in the
+snare of treason. Father, mother, sister, children! Not one rescued, not
+one safe, to relieve the wretchedness of their ruin by the hope that there
+was an individual of their circle beyond their prison bars--all consigned
+to the grave together--all alike conscious that every day which sent its
+light through their melancholy casements, only brought them nearer to a
+death of misery! But I must say no more of this. My heart withered within
+me as I looked at the towers of the Temple. It almost withers within me,
+at this moment, when I think of them. They are leveled long since; but
+while I write I see them before me again, a sepulchre; I see the mustering
+of that crowd of more than savages before the grim gate; and I see the
+pale glimmer of that floating lamp, which was then, perhaps, lighting the
+steps of Marie Antoinette to her solitary cell.
+
+Of all the sights of that melancholy traverse, this the most disheartened
+me, whatever had been my carelessness of life before. It was now almost
+scorn. The thoughts fell heavy on my mind. What was I, when such victims
+were prepared for sacrifice? What was the crush of my obscure hopes, when
+the sitters on thrones were thus leveled with the earth? If I perished in
+the next moment, no chasm would be left in society; perhaps but one or two
+human beings, if even they, would give a recollection to my grave. But
+here the objects of national homage and gallant loyalty, beings whose
+rising radiance had filled the eye of nations, and whose sudden fall was
+felt as an eclipse of European light, were exposed to the deepest
+sufferings of the captive. What, then, was I, that I should murmur; or,
+still more, that I should resist; or, most of all, that I should desire to
+protract an existence which, to this hour, had been one of a vexed spirit,
+and which, to the last hour of my career, looked but cloud on cloud?
+
+Some of this depression may have been the physical result of fatigue, for
+I had been now four-and-twenty hours without rest; and the dismal streets,
+the dashing rain, and the utter absence of human movement as we dragged
+our dreary way along, would have made even the floor of a dungeon welcome.
+I was as cold as its stone.
+
+At length our postilion, after nearly relieving us of all the troubles of
+this world, by running on the verge of the moat which once surrounded the
+Bastile, and where nothing but the screams of my companion prevented him
+from plunging in, wholly lost his way. The few lamps in this intricate and
+miserable quarter of the city had been blown out by the tempest, and our
+only resource appeared to be patience, until the tardy break of winter's
+morn should guide us through the labyrinth of the Faubourg St Antoine.
+However, this my companion's patriotism would not suffer. "The Club would
+be adjourned! Danton would be gone!" In short, he should not hear the
+Jacobin lion roar, nor have the reward on which he reckoned for flinging
+me into his jaws. The postilion was again ordered to move, and the turn of
+a street showing a light at a distance, he lashed his unfortunate horses
+towards it. Utterly indifferent as to where I was to be deposited, I saw
+and heard nothing, until I was roused by the postilion's cry of "Place de
+Greve."
+
+A large fire was burning in the midst of the gloomy square, round which a
+party of the National Guard were standing, with their muskets piled, and
+wrapped in their cloaks, against the inclemency of the night. Further off,
+and in the centre, feebly seen by the low blaze, was a wooden structure,
+on whose corners torches were flaring in the wind. "_Voila, la
+guillotine_!" exclaimed my captor with the sort of ecstasy which might
+issue from the lips of a worshipper. As I raised my eyes, an accidental
+flash of the fire showed the whole outline of the horrid machine. I saw
+the glitter of the very axe that was to drop upon my head. My first
+sensation was that of deadly faintless. Ghastly as was the purpose of that
+axe, my imagination saw even new ghastliness in the shape of its huge
+awkward scythe-like steel; it seemed made for massacre. The faintness went
+off in the next moment, and I was another man. In the whole course of a
+life of excitement, I have never experienced so total a change. All my
+apathy was gone. The horrors of public execution stood in a visible shape
+before me at once. I might have fallen in the field with fortitude; I
+might have submitted to the deathbed, as the course of nature; I might
+have even died with exultation in some great public cause. But to perish
+by the frightful thing which shot up its spectral height before me; to be
+dragged as a spectacle to scoffing and scorning crowds--dragged, perhaps,
+in the feebleness and squalid helplessness of a confinement which might
+have exhibited me to the world in imbecility or cowardice; to be grasped
+by the ruffian executioner, and flung, stigmatized as a felon, into the
+common grave of felons--the thought darted through my mind like a jet of
+fire; but it gave me the strength of fire. I determined to die by the
+bayonets of the guard, or by any other death than this. My captor
+perceived my agitation, and my eye glanced on his withered and malignant
+visage, as with a smile he was cocking his pistol. I sprang on him like a
+tiger. In our struggle the pistol went off, and a gush of blood from his
+cheek showed that it had inflicted a severe wound. I was now his master,
+and, grasping him by the throat with one hand, with the other I threw open
+the door and leaped upon the pavement. For the moment, I looked round
+bewildered; but the report of the pistol had caught the ears of the guard,
+whom I saw hurrying to unpile their muskets. But this was a work of
+confusion, and, before they could snatch up their arms, I had made my
+choice of the darkest and narrowest of the wretched lanes which issue into
+the square. A shot or two fired after me sent me at my full speed, and I
+darted forward, leaving them as they might, to follow.
+
+How long I scrambled, or how often I felt sinking from mere weariness in
+that flight, I knew not. In the fever of my mind, I only knew that I
+twined my way through numberless streets, most of which have been since
+swept away; but, on turning the corner of a street which led into the
+Boulevard, and when I had some hope of taking refuge in my old hotel, I
+found that I had plunged into the heart of a considerable crowd of persons
+hurrying along, apparently on some business which strongly excited them.
+Some carried lanterns, some pikes, and there was a general appearance of
+more than republican enthusiasm, even savage ferocity, among them, that
+gave sufficient evidence of my having fallen into no good company. I
+attempted to draw back, but this would not be permitted; the words, "Spy,
+traitor, slave of the Monarchiques!" and, apparently as the blackest
+charge of all, "Cordelier!" were heaped upon me, and I ran the closest
+possible chance of being put to death on the spot. It may naturally be
+supposed that I made all kinds of protestations to escape being piked or
+pistoled. But they had no time to wait for apologies. The cry of "Death to
+the traitor!" was followed by the brandishing of half a dozen knives in
+the circle round me. At that moment, when I must have fallen helplessly, a
+figure stepped forward, and opening the slide of his dark lantern directly
+on his own face, whispered the word Mordecai. I recognised, I shall not
+say with what feelings, the police agent who had formerly conveyed me out
+of the city. He was dressed, like the majority of the crowd, in the
+republican costume; and certainly there never was a more extraordinary
+costume. He wore a red cap, like the cap of the butchers of the Faubourgs;
+an enormous beard covered his breast, a short Spanish mantle hung from his
+shoulders, a short leathern doublet, with a belt like an armoury, stuck
+with knives and pistols, a sabre, and huge trousers striped with red, in
+imitation of streams of gore, completed the patriot uniform. Some wore
+broad bands of linen round their waists, inscribed, "2d, 3d and 4th
+September,"--the days of massacre. These were its heros. I was in the
+midst of the _elite_ of murder.
+
+"Citizens," exclaimed the Jew in a voice of thunder, driving back the
+foremost, "hold your hands up; are you about to destroy a friend of
+freedom? Your knives have drunk the blood of aristocrats; but they are the
+defence of liberty. This citizen, against whom they are now unsheathed, is
+one of ourselves. He has returned from the frontier, to join the brave men
+of Paris, in their march to the downfall of tyrants. But out friends await
+us in the glorious club of the Jacobins. This is the hour of victory.
+Advance, regenerated sons of freedom! Forward, Frenchmen!"
+
+His speech had the effect. The rapid executors of public vengeance fell
+back; and the Jew, whispering to me, "You must follow us, or be
+killed,"--I chose the easier alternative at once, and stepped forward like
+a good citizen. As my protector pushed the crowd before him, in which he
+seemed to be a leader, he said to me from time to time, "Show no
+resistance. A word from you would be the signal for your death--we are
+going to the hall of the Jacobins. This is a great night among them, and
+the heads of the party will either be ruined to-night, or by morning will
+be masters of every thing. I pledge myself, if not for your safety, at
+least for doing all that I can to save you." I remained silent, as I was
+ordered; and we hurried on, until there was a halt in front of a huge old
+building. "The hall of the Jacobins," whispered the Jew, and again
+cautioned me against saying or doing any thing in the shape of reluctance.
+
+We now plunged into the darkness of a vast pile, evidently once a convent,
+and where the chill of the massive walls struck to the marrow. I felt as
+if walking through a charnel-house. We hurried on; a trembling light,
+towards the end of an immense and lofty aisle, was our guide; and the
+crowd, long familiar with the way, rushed through the intricacies where so
+many feet of monks had trod before them, and where, perhaps, many a deed
+that shunned the day had been perpetrated. At length a spiral stair
+brought us to a large gallery, where our entrance was marked with a shout
+of congratulation; and tumbling over the benches and each other, we at
+length took our seats in the highest part, which, in both the club and the
+National Assembly, was called, from its height, the Mountain, and from the
+characters which generally held it, was a mountain of flame. In the area
+below, once the nave of the church, sat the Jacobin club. I now, for the
+first time, saw that memorable and terrible assemblage. And nothing could
+be more suited than its aspect to its deeds. The hall was of such extent
+that a large portion of it was scarcely visible, and few lights which hung
+from the walls scarcely displayed even the remainder. The French love of
+decoration had no place here; neither statues nor pictures, neither
+gilding nor sculpture, relieved the heaviness of the building. Nothing of
+the arts was visible but their rudest specimens; the grim effigies of
+monks and martyrs, or the coarse and blackened carvings of a barbarous age.
+The hall was full; for the club contained nearly two thousand members, and
+on this night all were present. Yet, except for the occasional cries of
+approval or anger when any speaker had concluded, and the habitual murmur
+of every huge assembly, they might have been taken for a host of spectres;
+the area had so entirely the aspect of a huge vault, the air felt so thick,
+and the gloom was so feebly dispersed by the chandeliers. All was
+sepulchral. The chair of the president even stood on a tomb, an antique
+structure of black marble. The elevated stand, from which the speakers
+generally addressed the assembly, had the strongest resemblance to a
+scaffold, and behind it, covering the wall, were suspended chains, and
+instruments of torture of every horrid kind, used in the dungeons of old
+times; and though placed there for the sake of contrast with the mercies
+of a more enlightened age, yet enhancing the general idea of a scene of
+death. It required no addition to render the hall of the Jacobins fearful;
+but the meetings were always held at night, often prolonged through the
+whole night. Always stormy, and often sanguinary, daggers were drawn and
+pistols fired--assassination in the streets sometimes followed bitter
+attacks on the benches; and at this period, the mutual wrath and terror of
+the factions had risen to such height, that every meeting might be only a
+prelude to exile or the axe; and the deliberation of this especial night
+must settle the question, whether the Monarchy or the Jacobin club was to
+ascend the scaffold. It was the debate on the execution of the unhappy
+Louis XVI.
+
+The arrival of the crowd, among whom I had taken my unwilling seat,
+evidently gave new spirits to the regicides; the moment was critical. Even
+in Jacobinism all were not equally black, and the fear of the national
+revulsion at so desperate a deed startled many, who might not have been
+withheld by feelings of humanity. The leaders had held a secret
+consultation while the debate was drawing on its slow length, and Danton's
+old expedient of "terror" was resolved on. His emissaries had been sent
+round Paris to summon all his banditti; and the low _cafes_, the Faubourg
+taverns, and every haunt of violence, and the very drunkenness of crime,
+had poured forth. The remnant of the Marseillois--a gang of actual
+galley-slaves, who had led the late massacres--the paid assassins of the
+Marais, and the _sabreurs_ of the Royal Guard, who after treason to their
+king, had found profitable trade in living on the robbery and blood of the
+nobles and priests, formed this reinforcement; and their entrance into the
+gallery was recognised by a clapping of hands from below, which they
+answered by a roar, accompanied with the significant sign of clashing
+their knives and sabres.
+
+Danton immediately rushed into the Tribune. I had seen him before, on the
+fearful night which prepared the attack on the palace; but he was then in
+the haste and affected savageness of the rabble. He now played the part of
+leader of a political sect; and the commencement of his address adopted
+something of the decorum of public council. In this there was an artifice;
+for, resistless as the club was, it still retained a jealousy of the
+superior legislative rank of the assembly of national representatives, the
+Convention. The forms of the Convention were strictly imitated; and even
+those Jacobins who usually led the debate, scrupulously wore the dress of
+the better orders. Robespierre was elaborately dressed whenever he
+appeared in the Tribune, and even Danton abandoned the _canaille_ costume
+for the time. I was struck with his showy stature, his bold forehead, and
+his commanding attitude, as he stood waving his hand over the multitude
+below, as if he waved a sceptre. His appearance was received with a
+general shout from the gallery, which he returned by one profound bow, and
+then stood erect, till all sounds had sunk. His powerful voice then rang
+through the extent of the hall. He began with congratulating the people on
+their having relieved the Republic from its external dangers. His language
+at first was moderate, and his recapitulation of the perils which must
+have befallen a conquered country, was sufficiently true and even touching;
+but his tone soon changed, and I saw the true democrat. "What!" he cried,
+"are those perils to the horrors of domestic perfidy? What are the ravages
+on the frontier to poison and the dagger at our firesides? What is the
+gallant death in the field to assassination in cold blood? Listen,
+fellow-citizens, there is at this hour a plot deeper laid for your
+destruction than ever existed in the shallow heads of, or could ever be
+executed by the coward hearts of, their soldiery. Where is that plot? In
+the streets? No. The courage of our brave patriots is as proof against
+corruption as against fear." This was followed by a shout from the gallery.
+"Is it in the Tuileries? No; there the national sabre has cut down the
+tree which cast its deadly fruits among the nation. Where then is the
+focus of the plot--where the gathering of the storm that is to shake the
+battlements of the Republic--where that terrible deposit of combustibles
+which the noble has gathered, the priest has piled, and the king has
+prepared to kindle? Brave citizens, that spot is ----," he paused, looking
+mysteriously round, while a silence deep as death pervaded the multitude;
+then, as if suddenly recovering himself, he thundered out--"The Temple!"
+No language can describe the shout or the scene that followed. The daring
+word was now spoken which all anticipated; but which Danton alone had the
+desperate audacity to utter. The gallery screamed, howled, roared,
+embraced each other, danced, flourished their weapons, and sang the
+Marseillaise and the Carmagnole. The club below were scarcely less violent
+in their demonstrations of furious joy. Danton had now accomplished his
+task; but his vanity thirsted for additional applause, and he entered into
+a catalogue of his services to Republicanism. In the midst of the detail,
+a low but singularly clear voice was heard, from the extremity of the hall.
+
+"Descend, man of massacre!"
+
+I saw Danton start back as if he had been shot. At length, recovering his
+breath, he said feebly--
+
+"Citizens, of what am I accused?"
+
+"Of the three days of September," uttered the voice again, in a tone so
+strongly sepulchral, that it palpably awed the whole assemblage.
+
+"Who is it that insults me? who dares to malign me? What spy of the
+Girondists, what traitor of the Bourbons, what hireling of the gold of
+Pitt, is among us?" exclaimed the bold ruffian, yet with a visage which,
+even at the distance, I could observe had lost its usual fiery hue, and
+turned clay-colour. "Who accuses me?"
+
+"I!" replied the voice, and I saw a thin tall figure stalk up the length
+of the hall, and stand at the foot of the tribune. "Descend!" was the only
+word which he spoke; and Danton, as if under a spell, to my astonishment,
+obeyed without a word, and came down. The stranger took his place, none
+knew his name; and the rapidity and boldness of his assault suspended all
+in wonder like my own. I can give but a most incomplete conception of the
+extraordinary eloquence of this mysterious intruder. He openly charged
+Danton with having constructed the whole conspiracy against the
+unfortunate prisoners of September; with having deceived the people by
+imaginary alarms of the approach of the enemy; with having plundered the
+national treasury to pay the assassins; and, last and most deadly charge
+of all, with having formed a plan for a National Dictatorship, of which he
+himself was to be the first possessor. The charge was sufficiently
+probable, and was not now heard for the first time. But the keenness and
+fiery promptitude with which the speaker poured the charge upon him, gave
+it a new aspect; and I could see in the changing physiognomies round me,
+that the great democrat was already in danger. He obviously felt this
+himself; for starting up from the bench to which he had returned, he cried
+out, or rather yelled--
+
+"Citizens, this man thirsts for my blood. Am I to be sacrificed? Am I to
+be exposed to the daggers of assassins!" But no answering shout now arose;
+a dead silence reigned: all eyes were still turned on the tribune. I saw
+Danton, after a gaze of total helplessness on all sides, throw up his
+hands like a drowning man, and stagger back to his seat. Nothing could be
+more unfortunate than his interruption; for the speaker now poured the
+renewed invective, like a stream of molten iron, full on his personal
+character and career.
+
+"Born a beggar, your only hope of bread was crime. Adopting the profession
+of an advocate, your only conception of law was chicanery. Coming to Paris,
+you took up patriotism as a trade, and turned the trade into an imposture.
+Trained to dependence, you always hung on some one till he spurned you.
+You licked the dust before Mirabeau; you betrayed him, and he trampled on
+you; you took refuge in the cavern of Marat, until he found you too base
+even for his base companionship, and he, too, spurned you; you then clung
+to the skirts of Robespierre, and clung only to ruin. Viper! known only by
+your coils and your poison; like the original serpent, degraded even from
+the brute into the reptile, you already feel your sentence. I pronounce it
+before all. The man to whom you now cling will crush you. Maximilien
+Robespierre, is not your heel already lifted up to tread out the life of
+this traitor? Maximilien Robespierre," he repeated with a still more
+piercing sound, "do I not speak the truth?" "Have I not stripped the veil
+from your thoughts? Am I not looking on your heart?" He then addressed
+each of the Jacobin leaders in a brief appeal. "Billaud Varennes, stand
+forth--do you not long to drive your dagger into the bosom of this new
+tyrant? Collot d'Herbois, are you not sworn to destroy him? Couthon, have
+you not pronounced him perjured, perfidious, and unfit to live? St Just,
+have you not in your bosom the list of those who have pledged themselves
+that Danton shall never be Dictator; that his grave shall be dug before he
+shall tread on the first step of the throne; that his ashes shall be
+scattered to the four winds of heaven; that he shall never gorge on
+France?"
+
+A hollow murmur, like an echo of the vaults beneath, repeated the
+concluding words. The murmur had scarcely subsided when this extraordinary
+apparition, flinging round him a long white cloak, which he had hitherto
+carried on his arm, and which, in the dim light, gave him the look of one
+covered with a shroud, cried out in a voice of still deeper solemnity,
+"George Jacques Danton, you have this night pronounced the death of your
+king--I now pronounce your own. By the victims of the 20th of June--by the
+victims of the 10th of August--by the victims of the 2d of September--by
+the thousands whom your thirst of blood has slain--by the tens of
+thousands whom your treachery has sent to perish in a foreign grave--by
+the millions whom the war which you have kindled will lay in the field of
+slaughter--I cite you to appear before a tribunal, where sits a judge whom
+none can elude and none can defy. Within a year and a month, I cite you to
+meet the spirits of your victims before the throne of the Eternal."
+
+He stopped; not a voice was heard. He descended the steps of the Tribune,
+and stalked slowly through the hall; not a hand was raised against him. He
+pursued his way with as much calmness and security as if he had been a
+supernatural visitant, until he vanished in the darkness.
+
+This singular occurrence threw a complete damp on the regicidal ardour;
+and, as no one seemed inclined to mount the Tribune, the club would
+probably have broken up for the night, when a loud knocking at one of the
+gates, and the beating of drums, aroused the drowsy sitters on the benches.
+The gallery was as much awake as ever; but seemed occupied with evident
+expectation of either a new revolt, or a spectacle; pistols were taken out
+to be new primed, and the points and edges of knives duly examined. The
+doors at length were thrown open, and a crowd, one half of whom appeared
+to be in the last stage of intoxication, and the other half not far from
+insanity, came dancing and chorusing into the body of the building. In the
+midst of their troop they carried two busts covered with laurels--the
+busts of the regicides Ravaillac and Clement, with flags before them,
+inscribed, "They were glorious; for they slew kings!" The busts were
+presented to the president, and their bearers, a pair of _poissardes_,
+insisted on giving him the republican embrace, in sign of fraternization.
+The president, in return, invited them to the "honours of a sitting;" and
+thus reinforced, the discussion on the death of the unhappy monarch
+commenced once more, and the vote was carried by acclamation. The National
+Convention was still to be applied to for the completion of the sentence;
+but the decree of the Jacobins was the law of the land.
+
+I had often looked towards the gallery door, during the night, for the
+means of escape; but my police friend had forbade my moving before his
+return. I therefore remained until the club were breaking up, and the
+gallery began to clear. Cautious as I had been, I could not help
+exhibiting, from time to time, some disturbance at the atrocities of the
+night, and especially at the condemnation of the helpless king. In all
+this I had found a sympathizing neighbour, who had exhibited marked
+civility in explaining the peculiarities of the place, and giving me brief
+sketches of the speakers as they rose in succession. He had especially
+agreed with me in deprecating the cruelty of the regicidal sentence. I now
+rose to bid my gentlemanlike _cicerone_ good-night; but, to my surprise, I
+saw him make a sign to two loiterers near the door, who instantly pinioned
+me.
+
+"We cannot part quite so soon, Monsieur l'Aristocrat," said he; "and,
+though I much regret that I cannot have the honour of accommodating you in
+the Temple, near your friend Monsieur Louis Capet, yet you may rely on my
+services in procuring a lodging for you in one of the most agreeable
+prisons in Paris."
+
+I had been entrapped in the most established style, and I had nothing to
+thank for it but fortune. Resistance was in vain, for they pointed to the
+pistols within their coats; and with a vexed heart, and making many an
+angry remark on the treachery of the villain who had ensnared me--matters
+which fell on his ear probably with about the same effect as water on the
+pavement at my feet--I was put into a close carriage, and, with ny captors,
+carried off to the nearest barrier, and consigned to the governor of the
+well-known and hideous St Lazare.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+The Olympic Jupiter.
+
+  Calm the Olympian God sat in his marble fane,
+  High and complete in beauty too pure and vast to wane;
+  Full in his ample form, Nature appear'd to spread;
+  Thought and sovran Rule beam'd in his earnest head;
+  From the lofty foliaged brow, and the mightily bearded chin,
+  Down over all his frame was the strength of a life within.
+
+  Lovely a maid in twilight before the vision knelt,
+  Looking with upturn'd gaze the awe that her spirit felt.
+  Hung like the skies above her was bow'd the monarch mild,
+  Hearing the whisper'd words of the fair and panting child.
+  --Could she be dear to him as dews to ocean are,
+  Be in his wreath a leaf, on his robes a golden star!
+  Could she as incense float around his eternal throne,
+  Sound as the note of a hymn to his deep ear alone!
+
+  Lo! while her heart adoring still to the God exhales,
+  Speech from his glimmering lips on the silent air prevails:
+  --"Child of this earth, bewilder'd in thine aerial dream,
+  Turn thee to Powers that are, and not to those that seem.
+  All of fairest and noblest filling my graven form
+  First in a human spirit was breathing alive and warm.
+  Seek thou in him all else that he can evoke from nought,
+  Seek the creative master, the king of beautiful thought."
+
+  --Down the eyes of the maiden sank from the Thunderer's look,
+  Pale in her shame and terror, and yet with delight she shook
+  Swift on her brow she felt a crown by the God bestow'd,
+  Shading her face that now with a hope too lively glow'd.
+  Bending the Sculptor stood who wrought the work divine,
+  Godlike in voice he spake--Ever, oh, maid be mine!
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+A ROMAN IDYL.
+
+
+  Oh! blame not, friend, with scoff unfeeling,
+    The gentle tale of grief and wrong,
+  Which, all the pain of life revealing,
+    Yet teaches peace by thoughtful song.
+
+  The landscape round us wide expanded
+    As ere was heard the name of Rome;
+  And Rome, though fallen, our souls commanded,
+    In this her empire's earliest home.
+
+  Her brightness beam'd on each far mountain,
+    Her life made green the grass we trode,
+  Her memory haunted still the fountain,
+    And spread her shadows o'er the sod.
+
+  Her ruins told their tale of glory,
+    Decreed to that eternal sky;
+  And through that ancient grove, her story
+    With sibyl whisper seem'd to sigh.
+
+  The pile her wealthiest mourner builded,
+    In glimpse we caught through ilex gloom--
+  Metella's Tower, by sunshine gilded,
+    That beams alike on feast or tomb.
+
+  And on this plain, not yet benighted,
+    'Mid awful ages mouldering there,
+  Young hands in new-bloom flowers delighted,
+    Young eyes look'd bright in sunniest air.
+
+  Till we, Viterbo's wine-cup quaffing,
+    Which fairer lips refused to grace,
+  Could win by jest those lips to laughing,
+    And veil'd in folly wisdom's face.
+
+  But say, my friend, thou sage mysterious,
+    What Nymph, what Muse disown'd the strain
+  Which bade our heedless mirth be serious,
+    And woke our ears to nobler pain?
+
+  That region grave of plain and highland,
+    With Rome's grey ruin strewn around,
+  Is not a soft Calypso's island,
+    Nor fades at Truth's evoking sound.
+
+  High thoughts in words of quiet beauty
+    Accord with visions grand as these,
+  And song's imperishable duty
+    Has holier aims than but to please.
+
+  By word and image deeply wedded,
+    By cadence apt and varied rhyme,
+  To rouse the soul in sloth imbedded,
+    And tune its powers to life sublime.
+
+  By loftier shows of man's large being
+    Than man's dim actual hour displays,
+  To clear our eyes for purer seeing,
+    And nerve the flagging spirit's gaze.
+
+  By strains of bold heroic pleasure,
+    And action strong as thought conceives,
+  By many a doom-resounding measure
+    That best our selfish woes relieves;
+
+  By these to stir, by these to brighten,
+    By these to lift the soul from earth,
+  The Poet dares our joys to frighten,
+    And thrills the dirge of lazy mirth.
+
+  Ye Ruins, dust of empires vanish'd,
+    Ye mountains, clad with countless years,
+  From your great presence ne'er be banish'd
+    Sad songs that live in earnest ears:
+
+  Sad songs, the music of all sorrow,
+    Profound and calm as night's blue deep:
+  Accurst the dreams of any morrow
+    When man will feel he cannot weep.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+GOETHE
+
+
+  Alas! on earth his marvels done,
+    The noble German bosom lies,
+  His fatherland's Athenian son,
+    Amid the sage must largely rise!
+
+  Amid the sage the generous race
+    Of soaring thought and steadfast glow,
+  He breathes no more who gave a grace
+    To all our daily lot below.
+
+  He gave to man's encumber'd hours
+    The tuneful joys of truth serene,
+  And twined our life's neglected flowers
+    With nature's holiest evergreen.
+
+  Alas! for him the soul of fire,
+    For him of fancy's golden rays,
+  For him whose aims ascended higher
+    Than all that won a nation's praise!
+
+  We pause and ask--Why gloom'd the grave
+    For one of light so broadly mild?
+  And wonder beauty could not save
+    From death's deep night her eager child.
+
+  But could the lyre be heard again,
+    Its widow'd notes would seem to cry--
+  In all was he a man of men,
+    For them to live, like them to die.
+
+  What life inspires 'twas his to feel,
+    With ampler soul than all beside;
+  What earth's bright shows to few reveal,
+    His art for all expanded wide.
+
+  With earnest heed from hour to hour,
+    Through all his years of striving hope,
+  He fed his lamp, its light to shower
+    On paths where myriads dimly grope.
+
+  He taught nankind by toil, by love,
+    To cheer the world that must be theirs;
+  And ne'er to look for peace above,
+    By scorning earthly joys and cares.
+
+  Ah! pages full of grief and fear,
+    But all attuned to melody,
+  Vesuvio's flame reflected clear
+    In glassy seas of Napoli.
+
+  And on that sea we seem to float
+    In amber light, and catch from far,
+  'Mid ocean's boundless Voice, the note
+    Of girl who hymns the evening-star.
+
+  The sweetest word, the melting tone,
+    The pictured wisdom bright as day,
+  And Faust's remorse, and Tasso's groan,
+    And Dorothea's morning lay,
+
+  Glad Egmont, light of Clara's eyes,
+    Free Goetz, the warmth of manhood's noon,
+  And Mignon, all a tune of sighs,
+    And lorn Ottilia crush'd so soon.
+
+  Ah! tale that tells the life of all
+    To lovelier truth by fancy wrought,
+  And songs that e'en to us recall
+    The bliss a poet's vision caught!
+
+  All these are ours, yes, all--but he.
+    And who that lives can find a strain
+  Of worth like his the soul to free
+    From bonds of sublunary pain?
+
+  A strain like his we vainly seek
+    To sound above the singer's grave,
+  A voice empower'd like his to speak
+    The word our aching bosoms crave.
+
+  That word is not--Oh! not, farewell!
+    To thee whom all thy lays restore;
+  But deeply longs the heart to tell
+    A love thy smile accepts no more.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+HYMN OF A HERMIT.
+
+
+  Long the day, the task is longer;
+  Earth the strong by heaven the stronger.
+  Still is call'd to rise and brighten,
+    But, alas! how weak the soul;
+  While its inbred phantoms frighten,
+    While the past obscures the whole.
+
+  Shadows of the wise departed,
+  Be the brave, the loving-hearted;
+  Deathless dead, resounding, rushing,
+    From the morning-land of hope
+  Come, with viewless footsteps, crushing
+    Dreams that make the wing'd ones grope.
+
+  Socrates, the keen, the truthful,
+  In thy hoary wisdom youthful;
+  Smiling, fear-defying spirit,
+    From beside thy Grecian waves,
+  Teach us Norsemen to inherit
+    Thoughts whose dawn is life to graves.
+
+  Rome's Aurelius, thou the holy
+  King of earth, in goodness lowly,
+  From thy ruins by the Tiber,
+    Look with tearless aspect mild,
+  Till each agonizing fibre
+    Like thine own is reconciled.
+
+  Augustinus, bright and torrid,
+  Isles of green in deserts horrid
+  Once thy home, thy likeness ever!
+    We with sword no less divine
+  Would the good and evil sever,
+    In a larger world than thine.
+
+  Soft Petrarca, sweet and subtle,
+  Weaving still, with silver shuttle,
+  Moony veils for human feeling--
+    Thine the radiance from above,
+  Half-transfiguring, half-concealing,
+    Wounds and tears of earthly love.
+
+  Saxon rude, of thundering stammer,
+  Iron heart, by sin's dread hammer
+  Ground to better dust than golden,
+    May thy prophecy be true.
+  Melt the stern, the weak embolden;
+    Teach what Luther never knew.
+
+  Pale Spinosa, nursed in fable,
+  Painted hopes and portent sable,
+  Then an opener wisdom finding,
+    Let thy round and wintry sun
+  Chase the lurid vapour, blinding
+    Souls that seek the Holy One.
+
+  Thou from green Helvetia roaming,
+  Meteor pale in misty gloaming,
+  With a breast too fiercely burning;
+    Generous, tuneful, frail Rousseau!
+  Would that all to truth returning,
+    Gave, like thee, a tear to woe!
+
+  Eye of clear and diamond sparkle,
+  Where the Baltic waters darkle,
+  Lonely German seer of Reason,
+    Great and calm as Atlas old;
+  Through our formless foggy season,
+    Short thine adamantine cold.
+
+  Shelley, born of faith and passion,
+  Nobler far than gain and fashion;
+  Daring eaglet arm'd with lightning,
+    Firing soon thy native nest,
+  Still the eternal blaze is brightening
+    Ocean where thy pinions rest.
+
+  Heroes, prophets, bards, and sages,
+  Gods and men of climes and ages,
+  Conquerors of lifelong sorrow,
+    Torment that ye made your throne,
+  Help, Oh! help in us the morrow,
+  Full of triumph like your own.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE LUCKLESS LOVER
+
+
+    "If aught on earth assault may bide
+  Of ceaseless time and shifting tide,
+    Beloved! I swear to thee
+  It is the truth of hearts that love,
+  United in a world above
+    The moment's misty sea.
+
+    "Oh! sweeter than the light of dawn,
+  Than music in the woods withdrawn
+    From clamours of the crowd,
+  A new creation all our own,
+  Unvisited by scoff or groan,
+    Is faith in silence vow'd.
+
+    "Two hearts by reason nobly sad,
+  Nor rashly blind, nor lightly glad,
+    Possess they not a bliss
+  In their communion, felt and full,
+  Beyond all custom's deadly rule?
+    For life is only this.
+
+    "In sighs we met, in sighs and sobs,
+  Such grief as from the wretched robs
+    The hope to heaven allied:
+  Great calm was ours, a strength severe,
+  Though wet with many a scalding tear,
+    When soul to soul replied.
+
+  "Of thy dark eyes and gentle speech,
+  The memory has a power to teach
+    What know not many wise.
+  New stars may rise, the ancient fade,
+  But not for us, my own pale maid,
+    Be lost that pure surprise--
+
+  "The pure delight, the awful change,
+  Chief miracle in wonder's range,
+    That binds the twain in one;
+  While fear, foes, friends, and angry Fate,
+  And all that wreck our mortal state
+    Shall pass, like motes i' the sun.
+
+  "In his fine frame the throstle feels
+  The music that his note reveals;
+    And spite of shafts and nets,
+  How better is the dying bird
+  Than some dumb stone that ne'er was heard,
+    That arrow never threats?
+
+  "Disdaining man, the mountains rise;
+  Is love less kindred with the skies,
+    Or less their Maker's will?
+  The strains, without a human cause,
+  Flow on, unheeding lies and laws--
+    Will hearts for words be still?
+
+  "What cliffs oppose, what oceans roll,
+  What frowns o'ershade the weeping soul,
+    Alas! were long to tell.
+  But something is there more than these,
+  Than frowns and coldness, rocks and seas:
+    Until its hour--farewell!"
+
+  So sang the vassal bard by night,
+  Beneath his high-born lady's light
+    That from her turret shone.
+  Next morning in the forest glade
+  His corpse was found. Her brother's blade
+    Had cut his bosom's bone.
+
+  What reap'd Lord Wilfrid by the stroke?
+  Before another morning broke,
+    She, too, was with the blest:
+  And 'twas her last and only prayer,
+  That her sweet limbs might slumber where
+    The minstrel had his rest.
+
+J.S.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FREE TRADE AND PROTECTION
+
+THE CORN LAWS.
+
+
+It is remarkable that, while we hear so much of the advantages of free
+trade, the reciprocity of them is always in _prospect_ only. By throwing
+open our harbours to foreign nations, indeed, we give _them_ an immediate
+and obvious advantage over ourselves; but as to any corresponding
+advantages we are to gain in our intercourse with them, we are still
+waiting, in patient expectation of the anticipated benefit. Our patience
+is truly exemplary; it might furnish a model to Job himself. We resent
+nothing. No sooner do we receive a blow on one cheek, than we turn up the
+other to some new smiter. No sooner are we excluded, in return for our
+concessions, from the harbours of one state, than we begin making
+concessions to another. We are constantly in expectation of seeing the
+stream of human envy and jealousy run out:--
+
+  "Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis: at ille
+  Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum."
+
+We are imitating the man who made the experiment of constantly reducing
+the food on which his horse is to live. Let us take care that, just as he
+is learning to live on nothing, we do not find him dead in his stall.
+
+This, however, is no joking matter. The total failure of the free trade
+system to procure any, _even the smallest return_, coupled with the very
+serious injury it has inflicted on many of the staple branches of our
+industry, has now been completely demonstrated by experience, and is
+matter of universal notoriety. If any proof on the subject were required,
+it would be furnished by _Porter's Parliamentary Tables_, to which we
+earnestly request the attention of our readers. The first exhibits the
+effect of the reciprocity system, introduced by Mr Huskisson in Feb. 1823,
+in destroying our shipping with the Baltic powers, and quadrupling theirs
+with us. The second shows the trifling amount of our exports to these
+countries during the five last years, and thereby demonstrates the entire
+failure of the attempt to, extend our traffic with them by this gratuitous
+destruction of our shipping. The third shows the progress of our whole
+exports to Europe during the six years from 1814 to 1820, before the free
+trade began, and from 1833 to 1839, after it had been fifteen years in
+operation, and proves that it had _declined_ in the latter period as
+compared with the former, despite all our gratuitous sacrifices by free
+trade to augment our commerce.[12]
+
+    [12] See No. CCCXL, _Blackwood's Magazine_, p. 261.
+
+The free traders fully admit, and deeply deplore, as we have shown on a
+former occasion, these unfavourable results; but they say that it is to be
+hoped they will not continue: that foreign nations must, in the end, come
+to see that they are as much interested as we are in enlightened system of
+free trade; and that, meantime, it is for our interest to continue the
+system; or even though it totally fails in producing any augmentation in
+our exports, it is obviously for our advantage to continue it, as it
+brings in the immediate benefit of purchasing articles imported at a
+cheaper rate. Supposing, say they, we obtain no corresponding advantage
+from other states, there is an immense benefit accrues to ourselves from
+admitting foreign goods at a nominal duty, from the low price at which
+they may be purchased by the British consumer. To that point we shall
+advert in the sequel; in the mean time, it may be considered as
+demonstrated, that the free trade system has entirely failed in procuring
+for us the slightest extension of our foreign exports, or abating in the
+slightest degree the jealousy of foreign nations at our maritime and
+manufacturing superiority. Nor is there any difficulty in discovering to
+what this failure has been owing. It arises from laws inherent in the
+nature of things, and which will remain unabated as long as we continue a
+great and prosperous nation.
+
+It is related of the Lacedemonians, that while all the other citizens of
+Greece were careful to surround their towns with walls, they alone left a
+part open on all sides. Thus, superiority in the field rendered them
+indifferent to the adventitious protection of ramparts. It is for a
+similar reason that England is now willing to throw down the barriers of
+tariffs, and the impediments of custom-houses; and that all other nations
+are fain to raise them up. It is a secret sense of superiority on the one
+side, and of inferiority on the other, which is the cause of the
+difference. We advocate freedom of trade, because we are conscious that,
+in a fair unrestricted competition, we should succeed in beating them out
+of their own market. They resist it, and loudly clamour for protection,
+because they are aware that such a result would speedily take place, and
+that the superiority of the old commercial state is such, that on an open
+trial of strength, it must at once prove fatal to its younger rivals. As
+this effect is thus the result of permanent causes affecting both sides,
+it may fairly be presumed that it will be lasting; and that the more
+anxiously the old manufacturing state advocates or acts upon freedom of
+commercial intercourse, the more strenuously will the younger and rising
+ones advocate protection. Reciprocity, therefore, is out of the question
+between them: for it never could exist without the destruction of the
+manufactures of the younger state; and if that state has begun to enter on
+the path of manufacturing industry, it never will be permitted by its
+government.
+
+But this is not all. If free trade must of necessity prove fatal to the
+manufactures of the younger state, it as certainly leads to the
+destruction _of the agriculture of the older;_ and it is this double
+effect this RECIPROCITY OF EVIL, which renders it so disastrous and
+impracticable an experiment for both the older and the younger community.
+The reason of this has not hitherto been generally attended to; but when
+once it is stated, its force becomes obvious, and it furnishes the true
+answer on principle to the delusive doctrines of free trade.
+
+Nature has established, and, as it will immediately be shown, for very
+wise and important purposes, a permanent and indelible distinction between
+the effect of civilization and opulence on the production of food, and on
+the preparation of manufactures. In the latter, the discoveries of science,
+the exertions of skill, the application of capital, the introduction of
+machinery, are all-powerful, and give the older and more advanced state an
+immediate and decisive advantage over the younger and the ruder. In the
+former, the very reverse takes place: the additions made to productive
+power are comparatively inconsiderable, even by the most important
+discoveries; and as this capital and industry have in the end a powerful
+effect, and always enable the power of raising food for the human race to
+keep far a-head of the wants of mankind; yet this effect takes place very
+slowly, and the annual addition that can be made to the produce of the
+earth by such means is by no means considerable. The introduction of
+thorough draining will probably increase the productive power of the soil
+in Great Britain a third: scientific discovery may perhaps add another
+third; but at least ten years must elapse in the most favourable view
+before these effects generally take place--ere the judicious and
+well-directed labours of our husbandmen have formed rivulets for the
+superfluous wet of our fields, or overspread the soil with the now wasted
+animal remains of our cities. But our manufactures can in a few years
+quadruple their produce. So vast is the power which the steam-engine has
+made to the powers of production in commercial industry, that it is
+susceptible to almost indefinite and immediate extension; and the great
+difficulty always felt is, not to get hands to keep pace with the demand
+of the consumers, but to get a demand to keep pace with the hands employed
+in the production. Manchester and Glasgow could, in a few years, furnish
+muslin and cotton goods for the whole world.
+
+Nor is the difference less important and conspicuous in the _price_ at
+which manufacturing and agricultural produce can be raised in the old and
+the young state. This is the decisive circumstance which renders
+reciprocity between them impossible. The rich old state is as superior to
+the young one in the production of manufactures, as the poor young state
+is to the rich old one in that of subsistence. The steam-engine, capital,
+and machinery, have so enormously increased the power of manufacturing
+production, that they have rendered the old commercial state omnipotent in
+the foreign market in the supply of its articles. Nothing but fiscal
+regulations and heavy duties can protect the young state from ruin in
+those branches of industry. Heavy taxes, high wages, costly rents, dear
+rude produce, all are at once compensated, and more than compensated, by
+the gigantic powers of the steam-engine. Cotton goods are raised now in
+Great Britain at a fifth of the price which they were during the war. A
+gown, which formerly was cheap at L2, 10s., is now sold for ten shillings.
+Silks, muslins, and all other articles of female apparel, have been
+reduced in price in the same proportion. Colossal fortunes have been made
+by the master manufacturers, unbounded wealth diffused through the
+operative workmen in Lancashire and Lanarkshire, even at these extremely
+reduced prices. This is the real reason of the universal effort made by
+all nations which have the least pretensions to commercial industry, of
+late years to exclude, by fixed duties, our staple manufactures; of which
+the President of the Board of Trade so feelingly complains, and which the
+advocates of free trade consider as so inexplicable. A very clear
+principle has led to it, and will lead to it. It is the instinct of
+SELF-PRESERVATION.
+
+But there is no steam-engine in agriculture. The old state has no
+superiority over the young one in the price of producing food; on the
+contrary, it is decidedly its inferior. There, as in love, the apprentice
+is the master. The proof of this is decisive. Poland can raise wheat with
+ease at fifteen or twenty shillings a quarter, while England requires
+fifty. The serf of the Ukraine would make a fortune on the price at which
+the farmer of Kent or East Lothian would be rendered bankrupt. The Polish
+cultivators have no objection whatever to a free competition with the
+British; but the British anticipate, and with reason, total destruction
+from the free admission of Polish grain. These facts are so notorious,
+that they require no illustration; but nevertheless the conclusion to
+which they point is of the highest importance, and bears, with
+overwhelming force, on the theory of free trade as between an old and a
+young community. They demonstrate that that theory is not only practically
+pernicious, but on principle erroneous. It involves an oblivion of the
+fundamental law of nature as to the difference between the effect of
+wealth and civilization on the production of food and the raising of
+manufactures. It proceeds on insensibility to the difference in the age
+and advancement of nations, and the impossibility of a reciprocity being
+established between them without the ruin of an important branch of
+industry in each. It supposes nations to be of the same genus and age,
+like the trees in the larch plantation, not of all varieties and ages, as
+in the natural forest. If established in complete operation, it would only
+lead to the ruin of the manufactures of the younger state, and of the
+agriculture of the old one. The only reciprocity which it can ever
+introduce between such states is the reciprocity of evil.
+
+Illustrations from everyday life occur on all sides to elucidate the utter
+absurdity, and, in fact, total impracticapability of the system of free
+trade, as applied to nations who are, or are becoming, rivals of each
+other in manufacturing industry. Those who have the advantage, will always
+advocate free competition; those who are labouring under impediments, will
+always exclaim against them. In some cases the young have the advantage,
+in others the old; but in all the free system is applauded by those in the
+sunshine, and execrated by those in the shade. The fair _debutante_ of
+eighteen, basking in the bright light of youth, beauty, birth, and
+connections, has no sort of objection to the freedom of choice in the
+ball-room. If the mature spinster of forty would divulge her real opinion,
+what would it be on the same scene of competition? Experience proves that
+she is glad to retire, in the general case, from the unequal struggle, and
+finds the system of established precedence and fixed rank at dinner
+parties, much more rational. The leaders on the North Circuit--Sir James
+Scarlett or Lord Brongham--have no objections to the free choice, by
+solicitors and attorneys, for professional talent; but their younger
+brethren of the gown are fain to take shelter from such formidable rivals
+in the exclusive employment of the Crown, the East India Company, the Bank
+of England, or some of the numerous chartered companies in the country.
+England is the old lawyer on the Cirucuit in manufactures--but Poland is
+the young beauty of the ball-room in agriculture. We should like to see
+what sort of reciprocity could be established between them. Possibly the
+young belle may exchange her beauty for the old lawyer's guineas, but it
+will prove a bad reciprocity for both.
+
+It is usual for both philosophers and practical men to ascribe the
+superior cheapness with which subsistence can be raised in the young state
+to the old one, to the weight of taxes and of debt, public and private,
+with which the latter is burdened, from which the former is, in general,
+relieved. But, without disputing that these circumstances enter with
+considerable weight into the general result, it may safely be affirmed
+that the main cause of it is to be found in two laws of nature, of
+universal and permanent application. These are the low value of money in
+the rich state, in consequence of its plenty, compared with its high value
+in the poor one, in consequence of its poverty, and the experienced
+inapplicability of machinery or the division of labour to agricultural
+operations.
+
+Labour is cheap in the poor state, such as Poland, Prussia, and the
+Ukraine, becuase guineas are few.--"It is not," as Johnson said of the
+Highlands, "that eggs are many, but that pence are few." Commercial
+transactions being scanty, and the want of a circulating medium
+inconsiderable, it exists to a very limited extent in the country. People
+do not need a large circulating medium, therefore they do not buy it; they
+are poor, therefore they cannot. In the opulent and highly advanced
+community, on the other hand, the reverse of all this takes place.
+Transactions are so frequent, the necessities of commerce so extensive,
+that a large circulating medium is soon felt to be indispensable. In
+addition to a considerable amount of specie, the aid of bank-notes, public
+and private, of Government securities and exchequer bills, and of private
+bills to an immense ammount, bcomes necessary. McCulloch calculates the
+circulating medium of Great Britain, including paper and gold, at
+L.72,000,000. The bills in circulation are probably in amount nearly as
+much more. A hundred and forty, or a hundred and fifty millions, between
+specie, bank-notes, exchequer bills, Government securities, on which
+advances are made, and private bills, constitute the ordinary circulating
+medium of twenty-seven millions in the British empire. The total
+circulation of Russia, with sixty millions of inhabitants, is not forty
+millions sterling. The effect of this difference is prodigions. It is no
+wonder, whten it is taken into account, that wages are 5-1/2d. or 6d.
+a-day in Poland or the Ukraine, and 2s. or 2s. 6d. a-day in England.
+
+The clearest proof that this is the great cause of the superior cost of
+raising subsistence in the old than the young state, is afforded by the
+different value which money bears in different parts of the _same_
+community. Ask any housekeeper what is the difference between the expense
+of living in London, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and he will answer, that
+L.1500 a-year in Edingburgh, or L.750 in Aberdeen. Yet these different
+places are all situated in the same community, and their inhabitants pay
+the same public taxes, and very nearly the same of local ones. It is the
+vast results arising from the concentration of wealth and expediture in
+one place, compared with its abstraction from others, which occasions the
+difference. But if this effect is conspicuous, and matter of daily
+observation, in different parts of the same compact and moderately sized
+country, how much more must it obtain in regard to different countries,
+situated in different latitudes and politcal circumstances, and in
+different stages of wealth, civilization, and commercial opulence? Between
+England for example, and Poland or the Ukraine? The difference is there
+important and durable. Wheat can be raised with as good a profit to the
+cultivator for sixteen shillings per quarter in Poland, as for forty-eight
+shillings in England or Scotland.
+
+This superior weight of wages, rent and all the elements of cost, in the
+old, when compared with the young community, affects the manufacturer as
+well as the farmer; and in some branches of manufactures it does so with
+an overwhelming effect. But, generally speaking, the advantages of capital,
+machinery, and the division of labour, render the old state altogether
+predominant over the young one in these particulars. It would seem to be a
+fixed law of nature, that the progress of society adds almost nothing to
+the application of machinery to agriculture, but indefinitely to its
+importance in manufactures. Observe an old man digging his garden with a
+spade--that is the most productive species of cultivation; it is the last
+stage of agricultural progress to return to it. No steam engines or steam
+ploughs will ever rival it. But what is the old weaver toiling with his
+hands, to the large steam-power mill, turning at once ten thousand
+spindles? As dust in the balance. Man, by a beneficent law of his Maker,
+is permanently secured in his first and best pursuit. It is in those which
+demoralize and degrade, that machinery progressively encroaches on the
+labour of his hands.  England can undersell India in muslins and printed
+goods, manufactured in Lancashire or Lanarkshire, out of cotton which grew
+on the banks of the Ganges; for England though younger in years compared
+to India, is old in civilization, wealth, and power. We should like to see
+what profit would be made by exporting wheat from England, raised on land
+paying thirty shillings an acre of rent, by labourers paid at two
+shillings a-day, to Hindostan, where rice is raised twice a-year, on land
+paying five shillings an acre rent, by labourers receiving twopence a-day
+each.
+
+It is the constant operation of this law of nature which ensures the
+equalization of empires, the happiness of society, and the dispersion of
+mankind. To be convinced of this, we have only to reflect on the results
+which would ensue if this were not the case; if no unvarying law gave man
+in remote situations an advantage in raising subsistence over what they
+enjoy in the centres of opulence; and agriculture, in the aged and wealthy
+community, was able to acquire the same decisive superiority over distant
+and comparatively poor ones, which we see daily examplified in the
+production of manufactures. Suppose, for example, that in consequence of
+the application of the steam-engine, capital, and machinery to the raising
+of subsistence, Great Britian could undersell the cultivatiors of Poland
+and the Ukraine as effectually as she does their manufacturers in the
+production of cotton goods; that she could sell in the Polish market wheat
+at five shillings a quarter, when they require fifteen shillings to
+remunerate the cost of production. Would not the result be, that commerce
+between them would be entirely destroyed; that subsistence would be
+exclusively raised in the old opulent community; that mankind would
+congregate in fearful multitudes round the great commercial emporium of
+the world; and that the industry and progress of the more distant nations
+would be irrevocably blighted? Whereas, by the operation of the present
+law of nature, that the rich state can always undersell the poor one in
+maufactures, and the poor one always undersell the rich one in subsistence,
+those dangers are removed, a check is provided to the undue multiplication
+of the species in particular situations, and the dispersion of mankind
+over the globe--a vital object in the system of nature--is secured, from
+the very necessities and difficulties in which, in the progress of society,
+the old and wealthy community becomes involved.
+
+These considerations point out an important limitation to which, on
+principle, the doctrines of free trade must be subjected. Perfectly just
+in reference to a single community, or a compact empire of reasonable
+extent, they wholly fail when applied to separate nations in different
+degrees of civilization, or even to different provinces of the same empire,
+when it is of such an extent as to bring such different nations, in
+various degrees of progress, under one common dominion. They were
+suggested, in the first instance, to philosophers, by the absurd
+restrictions on the commerce of grain which existed in France under the
+old monarchy, and which Turgot and the Economists laboured so assiduously
+to abolish. There can be no doubt that they were perfectly right in doing
+so; for France is a compact, homogeneous country, in which the cost of
+producing subsistence is not materially different in one part from another,
+and the interests of the whole community are closely identified. The same
+holds with the interchange of grain between the different provinces of
+Spain, or for the various parts of the British islands. But the case is
+widely different with an empire so extensive as, like the British in
+modern or the Roman in ancient times, to embrace separate kingdoms, in
+wholly different circumstances of climate, progress, and social condition.
+Free trade, in such circumstances, must lead to a destruction of important
+interests, and a total subversion of the balance of society in both the
+kingdoms subjected to it. To be conviced of this, we have only to look at
+the present condition of the British, or the past fate of the Roman empire.
+
+It is the boast of our manufacturers--and such a marvel may well afford a
+subject for exultation--that with cotton which grew on the banks of the
+Ganges, they can, by the aid of British capital, machinery, and enterprise,
+undersell, in the production of muslin and cotton goods, the native Indian
+manufacturers, who work up their fabrics in the close vicinity of the
+original cotton-fields. The constant and increasing export of Britsh goods
+to India, two-thirds of which are cotton, demonstrates that this
+superiority really exists; and that the muslin manufacturers in Hindostan,
+who work for 3d. a-day on their own cotton, cannot stand the competition
+of the British operatives, who receive 3s. 6d. a-day, aided as they are by
+the almost miraculous powers of the steam-engine. Free trade, therefore,
+is ruinous to the manufacturing interests of India; and accordingly the
+Parliamentary proceedings are filled with evidence of the extreme misery
+which has been brought on the native manufacturers of Hindostan by that
+free importation of British goods, in which our political economists so
+much and so fully exult.
+
+The great distance of India from the British islands, the vast expense of
+transporting bulky articles eight thousand miles accross the ocean, have
+prevented the counterpart of this effect taking place; and the British
+farmers feeling the depressing influence of the Indian plough, in like
+manner as the Indian manufacturers have the ruinous competition of the
+British steam-engine. But it is clear that, if India had been nearer, the
+former effect would have taken place as well as the latter. If the shores
+of Hindostan were within a few days sail of London and Liverpool, and the
+Indian cultivators, labouring at 2d. or 3d. a-day, had been brought into
+direct competition with the British farmers, employing labourers who
+received two or three shillings, can there be a doubt that the British
+farmers would have been totally destroyed in the struggle? The English
+farmers would have been prostrated by the same cause which has ruined the
+Indian muslin manufacturers. Cheap grain, the fruit of free trade, would
+have demolished British agriculture as completely as cheap cotton goods,
+the fruits of unlimited importation, has ruined Indian manufacturing
+industry.
+
+Is, then, commercial intercourse impossible, on terms of mutual benefit,
+between states in widely different circumstatnces of commercial or
+agricultural advancement; and is the only reciprocity which can exist
+between them and reciprocity of evil? It is by no means necessary to rest
+in so unsatisfatory a conclusion. A most advantageous commercial
+intercourse to both parties may be carried on, but it must not be on the
+footing of free trade. The foundation of such an intercourse should be,
+that each should take, on the most favourable terms, the articles which
+_it wants and does not produce_, and impose restrictions on those which
+_it wants and does produce_. On this priciple, trade would be conducted so
+as to benefit both countries, and injure neither. Thus England may take
+from India to the utmost extent, and with perfect safety, sugar, indigo,
+cotton, tea, spices, cinnamon, and the more costly species of shawls;
+while India might take from England some species of cotton manufacture in
+which they have no fabrics of their own, cutlery, hardware, and all of the
+various luxuries of European manufacture. But a paternal and just
+government, equally alive to the interests of all its provinces, how far
+removed soever from the seat of power, would impose restrictions to
+prevent India being deluged with British cottons, to the ruin of its
+native manufactures, and to prevent Britian--if the distance did not
+operate, which it certainly would, as a sufficient protection--from being
+flooded with Indian grain. The varieties of climate, productions, and
+wants, in different countries, are such, that commerce, regulated on these
+principles, might be carried to the greatest extent consistent with the
+paramount duty of providing in each state for the preservation of its
+staple articles of industry.
+
+The Roman empire in ancient times afforded the clearest demonstration of
+the truth of these principles; and the fate of their vast dominion shows,
+in the most decisive manner, what is the inevitable consequence to which
+the free trade principles, now so strongly contended for by a party in
+this country, must lead. Alison is the first modern author with whom we
+are acquainted, who has traced the decline of the Roman empire in great
+part to this source. In the tenth volume of his "History of Europe,"
+p. 752, we find the following passage:--
+
+  "No nation can pretend to independence which rests for any sensible
+  protion of its subsistence in ordinary seasons on foreign, who may
+  become hostile, nations. And if we would see a memorable example of
+  the manner in which the greatest and most powerful nation may, in the
+  course of ages, come to be paralysed by this cause, we have only to
+  cast our eyes on imperial Rome, when the vast extent of the empire
+  had practically established a free trade in grain with the whole
+  civilized world; and the result was, that cultivation disappeared
+  from the Italian plains, that the race of Roman agriculturists, the
+  strength of the empire, became extinct, that the fields were laboured
+  only by slaves and cattle. The legions could no longer be recruited
+  but from foreign bands, vast tracts of pasturage overspread even the
+  fields of Lombardy and the Compagna of Naples, and it was the
+  plaintive confession of the Roman annalist, that the mistress of the
+  world had come to depend for her subsistence on the floods of the
+  Nile."
+
+This observation has excited, as well it might, the vehement indignation
+of the free trade journals. The example of the greates and most powerful
+nation that ever existed being weakened, and at length ruined by a free
+trade in corn, afforded too cogent an argument, and was too striking a
+warning, not to excite the wrath of those who would precipitate Great
+Britain into a similar course of policy. They have attacked the author,
+accordingly, with unwonted asperity; and, while they admint the ruin of
+Italian agriculture in the later stages of the Roman empire, endeavour to
+ascribe it to the gratuitous distribution of grain to the Roman populace,
+not the effect of a free importation of grain from its Egyptian and
+African provinces. The vast importance of the subject has induced us to
+look into the original authorities to whom Alison refers in support of his
+observation, and from among them we select three--Tacitus, Gibbon, and
+Michelet. Tacitus says,
+
+  "At Hercule _olim ex Itaila_ legionibus longinquas in provincias
+  commeatus portabantur, _nec nunc infecunditate laboratur_; sed Africam
+  _potius et Egyptum exercemus_, navibusque et casibus vita populi
+  Romani permissa est."--TACITUS, _Annal_. xii. 43.
+
+Antiquity does not contain a more pregnant and important passage, or one
+more directly bearing on the present policy of the Britsh emprire, than
+this. It demonstrates: 1, That in former times Italy had been an exporting
+country: "_olim_ ex Italia commeatus in longinquas provincias portabantur."
+2, That at the time when Tacitus wrote, in the days of the Emperor Trajan,
+it had ceased to be so, and had come to import largely from Africa and
+Lybia, "sed _nunc_ Africam potius et Egyptum exercemus." 3, That this was
+not the result of any supervening sterility or unfruitfulness, "nec nunc
+infecunditate laboratur," but was from causes which made it more
+profitable to purchase grain in the Egyptian or Lybian markets, "sed
+Africam POTIUS et Egyptum exercemus."
+
+Of the extent to which this decay of agriculture in the central
+provinces of the Roman empire went, in the latter stages of its history,
+we have the following striking account in the authentic pages of
+Gibbon:--
+
+
+  "Since the age of Tiberius _the decay of agriculture had been felt in
+  Italy_; and it was a just subject of complaint that the life of the
+  Roman people depended on the accidents of the winds and the waves. In
+  the division and decline of the empire, _the tributary harvests of
+  Egypt and Africa_ were withdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants
+  continually diminished with the means of subsistence; and the country
+  was exhausted by the irretrievable losses of war, pestilence, and
+  famine. Pope Gelasius was a subject of Odoacer, and he affirms, with
+  strong exaggeration, that, in Emilia, Tuscany, and the adjacent
+  provinces, the human species was almost extirpated."--GIBBON, vol. vi.
+  c. xxxvi. p. 235.
+
+Of the progress and extent of this decay, Gibbon gives the following
+account in another part of his great work:--
+
+  "The agriculture of the Roman provinces _was insensibly ruined_; and
+  in the progress of despotism, which tends to disappoint its own
+  purpose, the emperors were obliged to derive some merit from the
+  forgiveness of debts, or the remission of tributes, which their
+  subjects were utterly incapable of paying. According to the new
+  division of Italy, the fertile and happy province of Campania, the
+  scene of the early victories and of the delicious retirements of the
+  citizens of Rome, extended between the sea and the Apennines, from
+  the Tiber to the Silarius. Within sixty years after the death of
+  Constantine, and on the evidence of an actual survey, an exemption
+  was granted in favour of 330,000 English acres _of desert and
+  uncultivated land, which amounted to one-eighth of the whole surface
+  of the province_. As the footsteps of the barbarians had not yet been
+  seen in Italy, the cause of this amazing desolation, which is
+  recorded in the laws, (Cod. Theod. lxi. t. 38, l. 2,) can be ascribed
+  only to the administration of the Roman emperors."--GIBBON, vol. iii.
+  c. xviii. p. 87. Edition in 12 volumes.
+
+Michelet observes, in his late profound and able History of France--
+
+  "The Christian emperors could not remedy the growing depopulation of
+  the country any more than their heathen predecessors. All their
+  efforts only showed the impotence of government to arrest that
+  dreadful evil. Sometimes, alarmed at the depopulation, they tried to
+  mitigate the lot of the farmer, to shield him against the landlord;
+  upon this the proprietor exclaimed he could no longer pay the taxes.
+  At other times they abandoned the farmer, surrendered him to the
+  landlord, and strove to chain him to the soil; but the unhappy
+  cultivators perished or fled, _and the land became deserted_. Even in
+  the time of Augustus, efforts were made to arrest the depopulation at
+  the expense of morals, by encouraging concubinage. Pertinax granted
+  an immunity from taxes to those who could occupy the desert lands of
+  Italy, _to the cultivators of the distant provinces, and the allied
+  kings_. Aurelian did the same. Probus was obliged to transport from
+  Germany men and oxen to cultivate Gaul.[13] Maximian and Constantius
+  transported the Franks and Germans from Picardy and Hainault into
+  Italy: but the depopulation in the towns and the country alike
+  continued. The people surrendered themselves in the fields to despair,
+  as a beast of burden lies down beneath his load and refuses to rise.
+  In vain the emperor strove, by offers of immunities and exemptions,
+  to recall the cultivator to his deserted fields. Nothing could do so.
+  The desert extended daily. At the commencement of the fifth century
+  there was, in the _happy_ Campania, the most fertile province of the
+  empire, 520,000 _jugera_ in a state of nature."--MICHELET, _Histoire
+  de France_, i. 104-108.
+
+    [13] "Arantur Gallicana rura _barbaris bobus_, et juga Germanica
+    captiva praebent colla nostris cultoribus."--_Probi Epist. ad
+    Senatum in Vopesio_.
+
+Pursued to its very grave by the same deep-rooted cause of evil, the
+strength of Italy, even in the last stages of its decay, was still
+prostrated by the importation of grain from Egypt and Lybia. "The Campagna
+of Rome," says Gibbon, "about the close of the sixth century, was reduced
+to the state of _a dreary wilderness_, in which the land was barren, the
+waters impure, and the air infectious. Yet the number of citizens _still
+exceeded the measure of subsistence; their precarious food was supplied
+from the harvests of Egypt and Lybia_; and the frequent repetitions of
+famine betray the inattention of the emperors to a distant
+provice."--GIBBON, vil. viii. c. xlv. 162.
+
+Nor was this desolating scourge of foreign importation confined to Italy;
+it obtained also in Greece equally with the Ausonian fields, the abode of
+early riches, opulence, and prosperity. "In the later stages of the
+empire," says Michelet, "Greece was almost entirely _supported by corn
+raised in the fields of Podolia_," (Poland.)--MICHELET, i. 277.
+
+Now let it be recollected that this continual and astonishing decline of
+agriculture, and disappearance of the rural cultivators in the latter
+stages of the Roman empire, took place in an empire which contained, as
+Gibbon tells us, 120,000,000 of inhabitants, and 1600 great cities, was
+3000 miles long and 2000 miles broad, contained 1,600,000 square miles,
+chiefly fertile and well cultivated land, which embraced the fairest and
+most fertile portions of the earth, and which had been governed for eighty
+yers under the successive sway of Nerva, Adrian, Trajan, and the two
+Antonines, with consummate wisdon and the most paternal spirit.[14] The
+scourge of foreign war, the devastation of foreign armies, were alike
+unknown; profound tranquillity pervaded every part of the empire; and a
+vast inland lake, spreading its ample waters through the heart of the
+dominion, afforded to all its provinces the most perfect facility of
+intercourse with the metropolis and the central parts of the empire. Yet
+this period--the period which Mr Hume has told us the philosophers would
+select as the happiest the human race had ever known--was precisely that
+during which agriculture so rapidly declined in the Italian and Grecian
+fields, during which the sturdy race of free cultivators disappeared, and
+the plains of Italy were entirely absorbed by pasturage, and maintained
+only vast herds of cattle tended by slaves.
+
+    [14] "Quingena viginti octo millia quadringinta duo jugera, quae
+    Campania provincia, juxta inspectorum relationem, in desertis et
+    squalidis locis habero dignoscitur, iisdem provincialibus
+    concessum."--_Cod. Theod_. lxi. i. 2382.
+
+What was it, then, which in an empire containing so immense a population,
+and such boundless resources, drawn forth and developed under so wise and
+beneficent a race of emperors, occasioned this constant and uninterrupted
+decay of agriculture, and at length the total destruction of the rural
+population in the heart of the empire? How did it happen that Italian
+cultivation receded, as Tacitus and Gibbon tell us it did, _from the time
+of Tiberius_; and equally under the wisdom of the Antonines, as the
+tyranny of Nero, or the civil wars of Vitellius? Some general and durable
+cause must have been in operation during all this period, which at firest
+depressed, and at length totally destroyed, the numerous body of free
+Italian cultivators who so long had constituted the strength of the
+legions, and had borne the Roman eagles, conquering and to conquer, to the
+very extremities of the habitable earth. The cause is apparent. It was the
+free importation of Egyptian and Lybian grain, consequent on the extension
+of the Roman dominion over their fertile fields, which effected the result.
+Were England to extend its conquering arms over Poland and the Ukraine,
+and, as a necessary consequence, expose the British farmer to the
+unrestrained competition of Polish and Russian wheat, precisely the same
+result would ensue. If the shores of Hindostan were within three or four
+days' sail of the Tiber, this result would long ago have taken place. Let
+Polish and Russian grain be admitted without a protecting duty into the
+British harbours, as Lybian and Egyptian were into those of Italy, and we
+shall soon see the race of cultivators disappear from the fields of
+England as they did from those of old Rome, and the words of Tacitus will,
+by a mere change of proper names, become a picture of our condition; three
+hundred thousand acres will soon be reduced to a state of nature in Kent
+and Norfolk, as they were in the Campania Felix. "Nec nunc infecunditate
+laboramur, _Podoliam_ potius et _Scythiam_ exercemus, navibusque et
+casibus vita populi _Anglici_ permissa est."
+
+The free traders allege that the decay of agriculture in the central
+provinces of the Roman empire, to which, by the concurring testimony of
+all historians, the ruin of the dominion of the Caesars was chiefly owing,
+is to be ascribed, not to the free importation of grain from Egypt,
+Podolia, and Lybia, but to the tyranny of the emperors, the gratuitous
+distribution of grain to the Roman populace, and the dreadful evils of
+domestic slavery. A very slight consideration, however, must be sufficient
+to show that these causes, how powerful soever in producing _general_
+evils over the empire, could not have been instrumental in occasioning
+those _peculiar_ and separate causes of depression, which so early began
+to check, and at length totally destroyed, the agriculture of its central
+provinces.
+
+The tyranny of the Caesars, the oppression of the Proconsuls, the avarice
+of the Patricians, were general evils, affecting alike every part of the
+empire; or rather they were felt with more severity in the remote
+provinces than the districts nearer home, in consequence of the superior
+opportunities of escape which distance from the central government
+afforded to iniquity, and the lesser chance of success which the
+insurrection of a remote province held forth to the "wild revenge" of
+rebellion. Muscovite oppression, accordingly, is more severely felt at
+Odessa or Taganrog than St Petersburg; and British rule is far from being
+restrained by the same considerations of justice on the banks of the
+Ganges or the Indus, as on those of the Thames. The gratuitous
+distribution of grain by the emperors to the populace of Rome, could never
+have occasioned the ruin of the Italian _cultivators_. Supposing that the
+two or three hundred thousand lazy and turbulent plebeians, who were
+nourished by the bounty or fed by the terrors of the Caesars, were the
+most useless, worthless, and dangerous set of men that ever existed,
+(which they probably were,) that circumstance could never have uprooted
+the race of cultivators from the plains of Lombardy, Umbria, or the
+Campania Felix. The greatest possible good to a nation, according to the
+free trader, is cheap grain, and never more so than when it is purchased
+or imported from foreign growers. If this be true, the importation of the
+harvests of Egypt and Africa into the Italian harbours, either by the
+voluntary purchase of the Roman emperors, or the forced tribute in grain
+which they exacted from those provinces, must have been the greatest
+possible benefit to the Italian people. How then, if there be no mischief
+in such foreign importations, is it possible to ascribe the ruin of
+Italian cultivation, and with it of the Roman empire, to these forced
+contributions? If the free traders have recourse to such an argument, they
+concede the very point in dispute, and admit that the introduction of
+foreign grain is injurious, and may in the end prove fatal, to the
+agriculture and existence of a state.
+
+Slavery, though a great evil, will as little explain the peculiar and
+extraordinary decline of Italian and Grecian cultivation in the later
+stages of the Roman empire. The greater part of the labour of the ancient
+world, as every one knows, was conducted by means of slaves. They were
+slaves who held the plough, and tilled the land, and tended the flocks,
+equally in Lybia, in Campania, in Egypt, as in Umbria. Nay, the number of
+freemen, at least in the days of the Roman Republic, and the earlier
+periods of the empire, was incomparably _greater_ in Italy and Greece, the
+abode of celebrated, powerful, and immortal republics, than in Lybia and
+Egypt, which from the earliest times had been subject to the despotic sway
+of satraps, kings, and tyrants. So numerous were the free citizens of Rome
+in the early days of the empire, that, by the census of Claudius, we are
+told by Gibbon they amounted to 6,945,000 men,[15] the greater proportion
+of whom, of course, were residents in Italy, the seat of government, and
+the centre of wealth, power, and enjoyment. While so great was the
+multitude of free citizens which the Republic bequeathed to the empire,
+resident and exercising unfettered industry in Italy, the cultivators of
+Africa and Egypt were all serfs and slaves, toiling, like the West Indian
+negroes, beneath the lash of a master. How, then, did it happen that the
+labour of the Italian freeman was disused, and at length extinguished,
+while that of the African and Egyptian slaves continued to furnish grain
+for Italy down to the very latest period of the empire? We are told that
+the labour of freemen is cheaper than that of slaves; and the free traders
+will probably not dispute that proposition. It could not, therefore, have
+been the slavery of antiquity which ruined Italian agriculture, carried on,
+in part at least, by freemen; since African agriculture, the fruits
+entirely of slavery, continued to flourish down to the very last days of
+the Roman world.
+
+    [15] GIBBON, chap. i. 68.
+
+The severe taxation of the emperors is justly stated by Gibbon and
+Sismondi, as well as Michelet, as a principal cause of the decline of
+Italian agriculture: but very little consideration is required to show,
+that this cause is inadequate to explain this ruin of cultivation in the
+Italian plains, when it continued to flourish and maintain the chief
+cities of the empire with food, in Egypt and Lybia. Heavy as it was, and
+oppressive as it ultimately became, _it was equal_; it was the same every
+where; it might, therefore, satisfactorily explain the _general_ decline
+of rural industry through the empire, and doubtless had a large share in
+contributing to its downfall; but it cannot explain the _particular_ ruin
+of it, in the central provinces of this vast dominion, while it continued,
+down to the very last moment, to flourish in its remote dependencies.
+
+But the taxation of the empire, _when coupled with the free importation of
+grain_ from these distant dependencies, does afford a most satisfactory,
+and, in truth, the true explanation of the ruin of Italian and Grecian
+cultivation. It was a fixed principle of Roman taxation, that the duties
+allotted on a particular district should remain fixed, how much lower the
+inhabitants or industry of the province might decline. When, therefore, by
+the constant importation of Egyptian and African grain, raised at half the
+cost at which they could produce it, the Italian cultivators were deprived
+of a remunerating return, and the taxes exacted from each district
+underwent no diminution, it is not surprising that the small farmers and
+proprietors were ruined; that they took refuge in the industry and crowds
+of cities, and that the race of freemen disappeared from the country. A
+similar process is now going on in the Turkish provinces. But without
+undervaluing--on the contrary, attaching full weight to this
+circumstance--nothing can be clearer than that it was the ruinous
+competition of foreign grain, raised cheaper than they could produce it,
+which rendered the same taxation crushing on the Italian farmers, which
+was borne with comparative facility in the remoter provinces, where land
+was more fertile, and labour less expensive. An example, _a fortiori_,
+applied to the British empire, where the free traders wish us to admit a
+free importation of grain from Poland and the Ukraine, where not only is
+labour cheap but taxation trifling, into the British islands, where not
+only is labour dear but taxation is five times more burdensome.
+
+And for a decisive proof that it was the superior advantages which Egypt
+and Lybia enjoyed in the production of grain, and not any other causes,
+which occasioned the ruin of Italian agriculture, and with it the fall of
+the Roman empire, we have only to look to the condition of the Italian
+fields in the last stages of the government of the Caesars. Already, in
+the time of the elder Pliny, it had become a subject of complaint that the
+_great properties_ were ruining Italy[16]--a sure proof, when the great
+division of estates in the days of the Republic--when, literally speaking,
+"every rood had its man"--that some general and irresistible cause,
+affecting the remuneration of their industry, was exterminating the small
+proprietors. Erelong, cultivators ceased entirely in the country, and
+the huge estates of the nobles were cultivated exclusively in pasturage,
+and by means of slaves. "La classe," says Michelet, "_des petits
+cultivateurs peu a pee a disparu_; les grands proprietaires qui leur
+succederent y suppleerent par des esclaves."[17] It is recorded by Ammianus
+Marcellinus, that when Rome was taken by the Goths, it contained 1,200,000
+inhabitants, and was mainly supported by 1780 great families, who
+cultivated their ample estates in Italy in pasturage, by means of
+slaves.[18] For centuries before, the threat of blockading the Tiber had
+been found to be the most effectual way of coercing the Roman populace;
+and whenever it took place, famine ensued, not only in Rome, but the
+Italian provinces. The diminution of its agricultural produce had, long
+before, been stated by Columella at _nine-tenths_, and by Varro at
+_three-fourths_, of what at one period had been raised. Yet such was the
+wealth of the Roman nobles, derived from pasturage, that some of them had
+L.160, 000 a-year.[19] Agriculture, therefore, was destroyed; grain was no
+longer raised in Italy; Rome was wholly dependent on foreign supplies--but
+pasturage was undecayed; and colossal fortunes were enjoyed by a wealthy
+race of great proprietors, who managed their vast estates by means of
+slaves, and had bought up and absorbed the properties of the whole free
+cultivators in the country. Such was the effect--such was the result--of a
+free trade in grain in ancient times.
+
+    [16] "Verumque confitentibus _latifundia perdidere Italiam_."--PLINY,
+    _Hist. Nat_.xviii. 7.
+
+    [17] MICHELET, i. 96.
+
+    [18] AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, c. xvi.--See also GIBBON, vi. 264.
+
+    [19] GIBBON, vi. 262.
+
+The free traders seem not insensible to these inevitable results of their
+favourite principles; but they meet them by describing such consequences
+as rather advantageous than injurious. If England, say they, can raise
+iron and cotton goods cheaper than Poland, and Poland and Russia grain
+cheaper than England, then the interest of each require that they should
+follow out these branches of industry, and it is impolitic to strive
+against it. Let, then, England admit foreign grain on a nominal duty, and
+this will in the end induce Russia and Prussia to admit English
+manufactured goods on equally favourable terms; and thus the real
+interests of both countries will in the end be promoted.
+
+There are two objections to this system. In the first place, it is
+impracticable if it were expedient. In the second, it is inexpedient if it
+were practicable.
+
+It is impracticable if it were expedient. Theoretical writers may coolly
+discuss in their closets the total destruction of various important
+branches of industry, the "absorption" of the persons engaged in them in
+other pursuits, and the transference of national capital and industry from
+agriculture to manufactures, and _vice versa_; but it is impossible to
+effect such changes by the voluntary act of government, even in the most
+despotic country. We say by the voluntary act of government; because there
+is no doubt that it may be effected, though at an enormous sacrifice of
+life, wealth, and happiness, by the silent and unobserved operation of the
+laws of nature, which are irresistible; as was the case with the
+transference of industry from agriculture to pasturage, under the effect
+of free trade in grain in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, in
+the later stages of the Roman empire; or from manufactures to agriculture,
+from the consequences of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in the
+Italian republics in modern times. But no government, not even that of the
+Czar Peter or Sultaun Mahmoud, could succeed in destroying or nipping in
+the bud brances of national industry, by simple acts of the legislature or
+sovereign authority, not imposed by external and irresistible authority.
+The Emperor Paul tried it, and got a sash twisted about his neck,
+according to the established fashion of that country, for his pains. The
+Whigs tried it, and were turned out of office in consequence. All the
+governments of Europe, despotic, constitutional, and democratic, meet our
+concessions, in favour of free trade, by increased protection to their
+manufacturers. They dare not destroy their rising commercial wealth any
+more than we dare destroy our old colossal agricultural investments. The
+republicans of America even exceed them in the race of tariffs and
+protection. Sixty-two per cent has lately been laid on our British iron
+goods in return for Sir Robert Peel's tariff; a similar duty on iron and
+cotton goods, it is well known, is contemplated in the Prussian leagues in
+Germany. The British government has at length, through its prime minister,
+spoken out firmly in support of the existing corn-laws. The feeling of the
+agricultural counties, as evinced at the late meetings, left them no
+alternative. All nations, under all varieties of government, situation,
+race, and political circumstances, concur in rising up to resist the
+doctrines of free trade. Necessity has enlightened, experience has taught
+them: a very clear motive urges them on, which is not likely to decline in
+strength with the progress of time--it is the instinct of
+self-preservation.
+
+Such a system as the free traders advocate, if practicable, would be to
+the last degree inexpedient.
+
+What would be the result? Why, that one country would become wholly, or in
+great part, agricultural, and the other wholly, or in great part,
+manufacturing. Is this a result desirable to either? Admitting that a city
+or small state, which has no territory which can furnish any considerable
+proportion of the subsistence which it requires, like Holland, may do well
+to attend exclusively to manufactures and commerce; or a country which, by
+the rigour of nature, or the remoteness of its situation, cannot attain to
+commercial or manufacturing greatness, would do well to attend exclusively
+to the cultivation or productions of the earth; the question which here
+occurs--Is such a system advisable or expedient for a nation which has
+received from the bounty of nature the means of rising to greatness in
+_both_--such as Great Britain, Russia, or Prussia? The free traders would
+have England sacrifice its agriculture to its manufactures, and Russia
+sacrifice its manufactures to its agriculture. Would such a system benefit
+either? Would England be happier or richer, more stable or more moral, if
+the already colossal amount of its manufactures were trebled; or Russia,
+if its rising iron and woolen fabrics were destroyed, and its industry
+confined exclusively to the slow return of agricultural labour? Is it
+desirable that the zone of tall chimneys, sickly faces, brick houses, and
+crowded jails, which at present spans across the whole of England and part
+of Scotland, should be doubled and trebled in breadth; and the fertile
+fields of Kent, Norfolk, and East Lothian, be reduced to vast unenclosed
+pastures, such as overspread Italy in the later stages of the Roman
+empire? Or is it desirable to Russia and Prussia that they should be for
+ever chained to the labour of boors, serfs, and shepherds, and all the
+vivifying and unimportant effects of commercial wealth be denied to their
+exertions? Nature has designed, experience recommends, a very different
+system. History tells us in all parts of the world, that it is in the
+_intermixture_ of commerce and agriculture that the best security is to be
+found for social happiness and advancement, and the most effectual
+antidote provided to the evils with which either, when existing alone, is
+so prone. Mr McCulloch has told us, that the commerce and manufactures of
+Great Britain have now risen to such a prodigious height, that any further
+extension of them is undesirable, and that no real patriot would have
+desired them to have become so extensive as they already are. Is it
+desirable, in such a state of matters, to go on increasing the same
+splendid but perilous system, and to do so at the expense of the great
+pillar of national wealth, security, and independence--the land of the
+state?
+
+Further, the proposed system is pernicious even with reference to the
+national wealth and interests of the manufacturers themselves, as tending
+to undermine the main branches of our national resources, and substitute
+encouragement to an inferior, to upholding of the superior market for our
+manufacturing industry.
+
+Although in the meetings where they address the agricultural
+constituencies, the free traders hold out that their measures would
+benefit the manufacturers, and _not injure the agriculturists_; yet
+nothing can be clearer than that this is a mere shallow pretext, put forth
+to conceal their real objects and the effect of their measures, and that
+the result they _really_ anticipate is as different from that as the poles
+are asunder. What is the benefit they hold out to the community as an
+inducement to go into their measures? Cheap grain. What is the motive
+which stimulates all their efforts, and which, among themselves and in
+private conversation with all men of sense, they at once admit is their
+ruling object? _Reduced wages_; the hope of extending our export in
+foreign countries by taking an additional quantity of their rude produce;
+and diminishing the cost of production to our manufacturers by lowering
+the price of food, and with it the wages of labour. The whole strength of
+their case rests in these propositions. Their influence over the urban
+multitudes arises solely from the continual reiteration of these alluring
+hopes. If these effects are not to follow free trade and the efforts of
+the League, in the name of Heaven, what good are they to do, and why do
+they agitate the country and subscribe to the League fund? Sensible men do
+not throw away L100,000 for nothing, for no benefit to themselves or
+others. But these prospects are as fallacious as they are alluring, and so
+a very few observations will demonstrate.
+
+Considered in a _national_ point of view, if the matter is brought to this
+issue, the great question is--Whether agriculture or manufactures are the
+superior interests in the production of national wealth. Admitting that
+the true policy for government is to protect _all_ the branches of
+national industry, and stoutly contending, as we do, and ever shall do,
+that the real and ultimate interests of all is the same, and cannot be
+separated--the question comes to be, if one fiercely demands the sacrifice
+of the other, and insists that its interests are so weighty and momentous
+that all others must be sacrificed to them, which of the two thus placed
+in jeopardy is the most momentous? which brings in most to the national
+treasury? Now, on this point the facts are as adverse to the arguments of
+the League, as on all other branches of their case.
+
+Take the sum total of manufactures in Great Britain and Ireland,
+accompanied with the sum total of agricultural production, in order to
+discover which of the two is the more valuable interest--in order that it
+may be discovered, if matters are brought to that issue that one or other
+must be abandoned, which is to be sacrificed. The choice of a wise
+government could not be doubtful, if it were necessary to make the
+selection. The agricultural productions of the British islands amount to
+L.300,000,000 a-year, while the sum total of manufactures of every
+description is only L.180,000,000. Nor can it be said, with any degree of
+truth, that the agriculture of the country is dependent for its existence
+on its manufactures, and would decline if they were materially injured;
+for the example of modern Italy and Flanders proves, that three centuries
+_after_ a country has ceased to be the chief in manufacturing or
+commercial industry, it may advance with undiminished vigour and success
+in the production of agricultural riches.
+
+But this is not all. The statistical documents which have now been
+prepared with so much care by Parliament, and published by the accurate
+and indefatigable Mr Porter, himself a decided free trader, demonstrate
+that, of the manufacturing productions, nearly three-fourths are taken off
+by the home market, and _four-fifths_ by the home and colonial market
+taken together, leaving only ONE-FIFTH for _the whole foreign markets of
+the world put together_--
+
+  "The total amount of British manufactures annually produced is about
+  L180,000,000 worth, of which only L47,000,000 is taken off by the
+  whole external trade of the world put together, while no less than
+  L133,000, 000 is consumed in the home market; and of the foreign
+  consumption, fully a third is absorbed by the British Colonies, in
+  different parts of the world. So that the home and colonial trade is
+  to the whole foreign put together as 5 to 1. And, whle the total
+  produce of manufactures is L180,000,000 annually, and of mines and
+  minerals L13,776,000, the amount of agricultural produce annually
+  extracted from the soil is not less than L300,000,000; or a half more
+  than the whole manufactures and mines put together."
+
+Further, if we compare the proportion purchased of our manufactures, which
+is taken off by foreign nations, for the export to whom we are required to
+make the sacrifice of our domestic agriculture, with what is consumed by
+our own native population, whether in the British islands or in our
+colonies of British descent, the difference is prodigious, and such as
+might well, even for their own sake, make the Anti-corn-law League pause
+in their career of violence. From the tables compiled from Porter's
+_Parliamentary Tables_, and the population of the different states to whom
+we export, taken from Malte Brun and Balbi, it appears, that while the
+British population, whether at home or abroad, consume from L3 to L5
+a-head worth of our manufactures, the foreign nations to whom we are
+willing to sacrifice the British agriculturists, take off per head ONLY AS
+MANY PENCE. In preferring the one to the other, therefore, we are,
+literally speaking, penny wise and pound foolish.
+
+We have shown how agriculture was ruined in the Roman empire in Italy, by
+the free importation of grain from the Lybian and Egyptian provinces of
+the empire. As a contrast to that woful progress, the main cause of the
+destruction of the empire of the Caesars, we request the attention of our
+readers to the progress of British exports in official value, which
+indicates their amount from 1790 to 1840, premising that the _whole_ of
+that period was one of protection to the British agriculturist; during the
+first twenty years of the period, by the effects of the war--during the
+last twenty-five, by the operation of the corn law and sliding scale,
+introduced in 1814. We recommend the advocates of free trade to search the
+annals of the world for a similar instance of progress and prosperity
+flowing from, or co-existent with, the practical adoption of their
+principles.
+
+These facts, which, in truth, are altogether decisive of the present
+question, point to the great source from which the errors of the free
+trade party are derived, and which appears, in an especial manner, their
+favourite position, that cheap prices is an unmitigated blessing, and that
+the great thing to attend to is to increase our imports. Cheap prices of
+grain are like the Amreeta cap in Kehama; the greatest of all blessings is
+the greatest of all curses, _according as they arise from magnitude of
+domestic production, or magnitude of foreign importation_. Of the first we
+had an example during the five fine years in succession, from 1830 to 1835,
+during which the foreign importation was practically abolished by the
+abundant harvests, and consequent high duty on grain under the sliding
+scale. This was a period, as all the world knows, of universal and
+unexampled commercial prosperity. Of the second we had a memorable example
+during the five bad years in succession, which elapsed fiom 1836 to 1840,
+in the course of which the corn laws, from the effect of the same sliding
+scale, and the continued low prices, were practically abolished; and
+importations, at the close of the period, amounted to 2,500,000 quarters,
+and, on an average of the whole, was little short of 2,000,000 of quarters.
+And what was the result? The exportation of 6,000,000 of sovereigns in a
+single year to buy grain; an unexampled pressure on the money market;
+commercial embarrassments, long-continued, and severe beyond all former
+precedent; the contraction of ten millions of additional debt in four
+years, and the creation of a deficit which at length rose to the
+formidable amount, in 1842, of L.4,000,000 sterling! And what first
+dispelled this distress, and arrested this downward and disastrous
+progress? The fine harvests of 1842--the blessed sun of its long summer,
+followed by the more checkered, but also fine summer of 1843, which again
+gave us plenty, derived from domestic production, and consequent general
+and increasing manufacturing as well as rural prosperity.
+
+It is in vain, therefore, to say, cheap prices are a blessing in
+themselves, and the consumers at least are ever benefited by a fall in the
+cost of grain. Cheap prices are a real blessing if that effect consists
+with prosperity to the producer, as by improved methods of cultivation or
+manufacture, or the benignity of nature in giving fine seasons. But cheap
+prices are the greatest of all evils, and to none more shall the consumers,
+if they are the result, not of the magnitude of domestic production, but
+of the magnitude of foreign importation. It was that sort of cheap prices
+which ruined the Roman empire, from the destruction of the agriculture of
+Italy; it is that sort of cheap prices which has ruined the Indian weavers,
+from the disastrous competition of the British steam-engine; it is that
+sort of low prices which has so grievously depressed British shipping,
+from the disastrous competition of the Baltic vessels under the
+reciprocity system. It is in vain for the consumers to say, we will
+separate our case from that of the producers, and care not, so as we get
+low prices, what comes of them. Where will the consumers be, and that
+erelong, if the producers are destroyed? What will be the condition of the
+landlords if their farmers are ruined? or of bondholders if their debtors
+are bankrupt? or of railway proprietors if traffic ceases? or of owners of
+bank stock if bills are no longer presented for discount? or of the 3 per
+cents if Government, by the failure of the productive industry of the
+country, is rendered bankrupt? The consumers all rest on the producers,
+and must sink or swim with them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Edinburgh: Printed by Ballantyne and Hughes, Paul's Work._
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No.
+341, March, 1844, Vol. 55, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH ***
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