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diff --git a/19078.txt b/19078.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f92ad1 --- /dev/null +++ b/19078.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10943 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Red Book of Heroes, by Leonora Blanche Lang + +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: The Red Book of Heroes + +Author: Leonora Blanche Lang + +Editor: Andrew Lang + +Release Date: August 19, 2006 [EBook #19078] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RED BOOK OF HEROES *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Colin Bell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration: "'Go back,' he said."] + +THE RED BOOK OF HEROES + +BY MRS. LANG + +EDITED BY ANDREW LANG + +[Illustration] + +WITH 8 COLOURED PLATES AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS +BY A. WALLIS MILLS + +LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. +39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON +NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA + +1909 + +All rights reserved + + + + +PREFACE + + +'Life is not all beer and skittles,' said a reflective sportsman, and +all books are not fairy tales. In an imperfect state of existence, 'the +peety of it is that we cannot have all things as we would like them.' +Undeniably we would like all books to be fairy tales or novels, and at +present most of them are. But there is another side to things, and we +must face it. '"Life is real, life is earnest," as Tennyson tells us,' +said an orator to whom I listened lately, and though Longfellow, not +Tennyson, wrote the famous line quoted by the earnest speaker, yet there +is a good deal of truth in it. The word 'earnest,' like many other good +words, has been overdone. It is common to sneer at 'earnest workers,' +yet where would we be without them, especially in our climate? + +In a Polynesian island, where the skies for ever smile, and the blacks +for ever dance, earnestness is superfluous. The bread-fruit tree +delivers its rolls punctually every morning, strawberries or other +fruits, as nice, spring beneath the feet of the dancers; the cavern in +the forest provides a roof and shelter from the sun; the sea supplies a +swimming-bath, and man, in time of peace, has only to enjoy himself, eat +and drink, laugh and love, sing songs and tell fairy tales. His drapery +is woven of fragrant flowers, nobody is poor and anxious about food, +nobody is rich and afraid of losing his money, nobody needs to think of +helping others; he has only to put forth his hand, or draw his bow or +swing his fishing-rod, and help himself. To be sure, in time of war, man +has just got to be earnest, and think out plans for catching and +spearing his enemies, and drill his troops and improve his weapons, in +fact to do some work, or have his throat cut, and be put in the oven and +eaten. Thus it is really hard for the most fortunate people to avoid +being earnest now and then. + +The people whose stories are told in this book were very different from +each other in many ways. The child abbess, Mere Angelique, ruling her +convent, and at war with naughty abbesses who hated being earnest, does +not at once remind us of Hannibal. The great Montrose, with his poems +and his scented love-locks, his devotion to his cause, his chivalry, his +death, to which he went gaily clad like a bridegroom to meet his bride, +does not seem a companion for Palissy the Potter, all black and shrunk +and wrinkled, and bowed over his furnaces. It is a long way from gentle +Miss Nightingale, tending wounded dogs when a child, and wounded +soldiers when a woman, to Charles Gordon playing wild tricks at school, +leading a Chinese army, watching alone at Khartoum, in a circle of cruel +foes, for the sight of the British colours, and the sounds of the +bagpipes that never met his eyes and ears. + +But these people, and all the others whose stories are told, had this in +common, that they were in earnest, though we may be sure that they did +not go about with talk of earnestness for ever in their mouths. It came +natural to them, they could not help it, they liked it, their hearts +were set on two things: to do their very best, and to keep their honour. +The Constant Prince suffered hunger and cold and long imprisonment all +'to keep the bird in his bosom,' as the old Cavalier said, to be true to +honour. 'I will carry with me honour and fidelity to the grave,' said +Montrose; and he kept his word, though his enemies gave him no grave, +but placed his head and limbs on spikes in various towns of his country. +But now his grave, in St. Giles's Church in Edinburgh, is the most +beautiful and honourable in Scotland, adorned with his stainless +scutcheon, and with those of Napiers and Grahams, his kindred and his +friends. + + "The grave of March, the grave of Gwythar, + The grave of Gugann Gleddyvrudd, + A mystery to the world, the grave of Arthur," + +says the old Welsh poem, and unknown as the grave of Arthur is the grave +of Gordon. The desert wind may mingle his dust with the sand, the Nile +may sweep it to the sea, as the Seine bore the ashes of that martyr of +honour, the Maid of France. 'The whole earth is brave men's common +sepulchre,' says the Greek, their tombs may be without mark or monument, +but 'honour comes a pilgrim grey' to the sacred places where men cannot +go in pilgrimage. + +We see what honour they had of men; the head of Sir Thomas More, the +head of Montrose, were exposed to mockery in public places, the ashes of +Jeanne d'Arc were thrown into the river, Gordon's body lies unknown; but +their honour is eternal in human memory. It was really for honour that +Sir Thomas More suffered; it was not possible for him to live without +the knowledge that his shield was stainless. It was for honour rather +than for religion that the child Angelique Arnauld gave up amusement and +pleasure, and everything that is dear to a girl, young, witty, +beautiful, and gay, and put on the dress of a nun. Later she worked for +the sake of duty and religion, but honour was her first mistress, and +she could not go back from her plighted word. + +These people were born to be what they were, to be examples to all of us +that are less nobly born and like a quiet, easy, merry life. We cannot +all be Gordons, Montroses, Angeliques, but if we read about them and +think about them, a touch of their nobility may come to us, and surely +our honour is in our own keeping. We may try never to do a mean thing, +or a doubtful thing, a thing that Gordon would not have been tempted to +do, though we are tempted, more tempted as we grow older and see what +the world does than are the young. I think honour is the dearest and the +most natural of virtues; in their own ways none are more loyal than boys +and girls. Later we may forget that no pleasure, no happiness, not even +the love that seems the strongest force in our natures, is worth having +at the expense of a stain on the white rose of honour. Had she been a +few years older, Angelique might have failed to keep the word which was +extorted from her as a child, but, being young, she kept it the more +easily. What we have to do is to try to be young always in this matter, +to be our natural selves and unspotted from the world. Certainly some +people are a little better, and so far a little happier, because they +have seen the light from Charles Gordon's yet living head, and been half +heart-broken by his end, so glorious to himself, so inglorious to his +fellow countrymen. For his dear sake we may all do a little, sacrifice a +little, to help the Homes for Boys which have been built to his memory, +and to help the poor boys whom he used to help, making himself poor, and +giving his time for them. + +We read in the book, 'A Child's Hero,' how the brave Havelock won the +heart of a little child who never saw him. She heard the words 'Havelock +is dead,' and laid her head against the wall and burst into tears. Other +children may feel the same devotion for these splendid people, for +Hannibal, so far away from us, giving his whole heart and whole genius +and his life for his wretched country, for men who would not understand, +who would not aid him: + + "Their old art statesmen plied, + And paltered, and evaded, and denied" + +till their country was vanquished. Bad as that country was, for +Hannibal's own sake we are all on the side of Hannibal, as we are on the +side of Hector of Troy. 'Well know I this in heart and soul,' said +Hector to his wife, when she would have kept him out of the battle, +'that the day is coming when holy Ilios shall perish, and Priam, and the +people of Priam of the ashen spear, my father with my mother, and my +brothers, many and brave, dying in the dust at the hands of our foemen; +but most I sorrow for thee, my wife, when they lead thee weeping away, a +slave to weave at thy master's loom and bear water from thy master's +well, and the passers-by, as they see thee weeping, shall say, "This was +the wife of Hector, the foremost in fight of the men of Troy, when they +fought for their city." But may I be dead, and the earth be mounded +above me, ere I hear thy cry and the tale of thy captivity.' + +So he went back into the battle, and never again saw his wife and child. +It was in the spirit of Hector that Hannibal planned and fought and +toiled, till as an old man he bit on the poison ring, and died, and was +free from the Roman captivity that threatened him. + +Honour and courage were the masters of the men and women whose stories +are told in this book, but of them all none dared a risk so horrible as +brave Father Damien in the Isle of Lepers. For his adventure among +dreadful people who must give him their own dreadful disease, a Montrose +or a Havelock might have had little heart, for his task had none of the +excitement and glitter of the soldier's duty in war. But they are all, +these men and women, good to live with, good to know, good to go with, +weary camp followers as we are of the Noble Army of Martyrs, and +unworthy of a single leaf from the laurel crown. + + A. Lang. + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + + The Lady-in-Chief 1 + + Prisoners and Captives 25 + + Hannibal 43 + + The Apostle of the Lepers 95 + + The Constant Prince 109 + + The Marquis of Montrose 135 + + A Child's Hero 169 + + Conscience or King 222 + + The Little Abbess 246 + + Gordon 281 + + The Crime of Theodosius 334 + + Palissy the Potter 352 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +COLOURED PLATES + +(Engraved and Printed by Andre & Sleigh, Ltd., Bushey.) + +'Go back!' he said [See page 350] Frontispiece + + to face p. +Fifteen thousand Romans fell that day 74 + +Father Damien went out and sat in a lonely + place by the sea 106 + +A great army of Irishmen have swooped down + on the Atholl country 150 + +The place was swarming with rats 208 + +She took all her nuns for a solemn walk 258 + +They saw a man in uniform shining with gold + flying towards them 316 + +A jar of water in the figure's right hand + emptied itself on his head 364 + + +FULL-PAGE PLATES + + to face p. +Roger could hardly believe his eyes 6 + +She came forth with a golden circlet round + her head 44 + +Hannibal was determined not to stir until + the elephants were safely over 58 + +Under the eyes of the army the combat began 68 + +In vain Guedelha implored him to wait till + the fatal hour was past 114 + +About thirty or forty of our honestest + women did fall a railing on Mr. William + Annan 140 + +'You will soon have no caste left yourself' 194 + +Often ... he had felt that a terrible death + was very near 218 + +Sir Thomas sat silent 232 + +'What now, Mother Eve?' he answered 240 + +'You are mistaking me for somebody else' 248 + +The archers set a ladder against the wall, + which the lady instantly threw down 274 + +Gordon found time to attend to an old dying + woman 310 + +A shot ended his life 330 + +'Do not delay an instant,' he cried, 'or it + will be too late' 338 + +'Let him die!' he said 344 + +The bright-eyed lizards he especially loved 354 + + +ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT + + PAGE +'Tell me what you want to say, and I will + say it' 17 + +They sprang on the food like wolves 28 + +He brushed down the walls without hindrance + from anyone 41 + +All three were apt pupils 51 + +The Gauls poured out of their camp shouting + and screaming with delight 56 + +He found right in front of him a huge + precipice 64 + +The whole four thousand climbed the ridge 77 + +'Let me release the Romans from their + anxiety,' he said 93 + +He found the Prince lying unconscious on + the ground 130 + +For two days they sought in vain for a road + to take them to Caithness 162 + +He managed to crawl over the floor 179 + +The Captain obligingly did as he was asked 183 + +Suddenly the table began to rock 189 + +In another moment he would have been trampled + under the feet of the Afghan cavalry 191 + +Not one of their movements passed unnoticed + by her 201 + +A tired horseman rode into camp 204 + +The young Aide-de-camp did not waste time in + arguing 213 + +Erasmus was astonished to notice More present + Prince Henry with a roll 228 + +'Go away! you have no business here.' 253 + +She fell fainting to the ground 266 + +He told them stories from English history 303 + +He cleaned his gun while the men stood by and + stared 314 + +Fancy poor Madame Palissy's feelings 359 + + + + +THE LADY-IN-CHIEF + + +Everybody nowadays is so used to seeing in the streets nurses wearing +long floating cloaks of different colours, blue, brown, grey, and the +rest, and to having them with us when we are ill, that it is difficult +to imagine a time when there were no such people. In the stories that +were written even fifty years ago you will soon find out what sort of +women they were who called themselves 'nurses.' Any kind of person seems +to have been thought good enough to look after a sick man; it was not a +matter which needed a special talent or teaching, and no girl would have +dreamed of nursing anybody outside her own home, still less of giving up +her life to looking after the sick. It was merely work, it was thought, +for _old_ women, and so, at the moment when the patient needed most +urgently some one young and strong and active about him, who could lift +him from one side of the bed to the other, or keep awake all night to +give him his medicine or to see that his fire did not go out, he was +left to a fat, sleepy, often drunken old body, who never cared if he +lived or died, so that _she_ was not disturbed. + + * * * * * + +The woman who was to change all this was born in Florence in the year +1820 and called after that city. Her father, Mr. Nightingale, seems to +have been fond of giving his family place-names, for Florence's sister, +about a year older than herself, had the old title of Naples tacked on +to 'Frances,' and in after life was always spoken of as 'Parthy' or +'Parthenope.' By and by a young cousin of these little girls would be +named 'Athena,' after the town Athens, and then the fashion grew, and I +have heard of twins called 'Inkerman' and 'Balaclava,' and of an +'Elsinora,' while we all know several 'Almas,' and may even have met a +lady who bears the name of the highest mountain in the world--of course +you can all guess what _that_ is? + + * * * * * + +Mr. and Mrs. Nightingale did not stay very long in Italy after +Florence's birth. They grew tired of living abroad, and wanted to get +back to their old home among the hills and streams of Derbyshire. Here, +at Lea hall, Florence's father could pass whole days happily with his +books and the beautiful things he had collected in his travels; but he +looked well after the people in the village, and insisted that the +children should be sent to a little school, where they learned how to +read and write and count for twopence a week. If the poor villagers were +ill or unhappy, his wife used to visit them, and help them with advice +as well as with money, and we may be quite sure that her little +daughters often went with her on her rounds. + +So the early years of Florence's childhood passed away amidst the +flowery fields and bare hills that overlooked the beautiful river +Derwent. The village, built of stone like so many in the North Country, +lay far below, and on Sundays the two little girls, dressed in their +best tippets and bonnets, used to walk with their father and mother +across the meadows to the tiny church at Dethick. Here nearly two +hundred and fifty years ago one Anthony Babington knelt in prayer, +though his thoughts often wandered to the beautiful Scottish queen, shut +up by order of Elizabeth in Wingfield manor, only a few miles away. Of +course Parthy and Florence knew all about him, and their greatest treat +was a visit to his house, where they could see in the kitchen a +trap-door leading to a large secret chamber, in which a conspirator +might live for weeks without being found out. A great deal of the house +had been pulled down or allowed to fall into decay, but the bailiff, who +lived in the rest, was always glad to see them, and would take them to +all kinds of delightful places, and up little dark narrow winding +stairs, at the end of which you pushed up another trap-door and found +yourself in your bedroom. What a fascinating way of getting there, and +how very, very silly people are now to have wide staircases and straight +passages and stupid doors, which you _know_ will open, instead of never +being sure if the trap-door had not stuck, or some enemy had not placed +a heavy piece of furniture upon it! + + * * * * * + +But much as the Nightingales, big and little, loved Lea hall, it was +very bare and cold in winter, and Florence's father determined to build +a new house in a more sheltered place. Lea Hurst, as it was called, was +only a mile from the hall, and, like it, overlooked the Derwent; but +here the hills were wooded and kept out the bitter winds which had +howled and wailed through the old house. Mr. Nightingale was very +careful that all should be done exactly as he wished, therefore it took +some time to finish, and _then_ the family could not move in till the +paint and plaster were dry, so that Florence was between five and six +when at last they took possession. + +No doubt the two little girls had much to say about the laying out of +the terraced gardens, and insisted on having some beds of their own, to +plant with their favourite flowers. They were greatly pleased, too, at +discovering a very old chapel in the middle of the new house, and very +likely they told each other many stories of what went on there. Then +there was a summer-house, where they could have tea, and if you went +through the woods in May, and could make up your mind to pass the +sheets of blue hyacinths without stopping to pick them till you were too +tired to go further, you came out upon a splendid avenue, with a view of +the hills for miles round. This was the walk which Florence loved best. + + * * * * * + +It seems, however, that Mr. Nightingale could not have thought Lea Hurst +as pleasant as he expected it to be, for a few months later he bought a +place called Embley, near the beautiful abbey of Romsey, in Hampshire. +Here they all moved every autumn as soon as the trees at Lea Hurst grew +bare; and when the young leaves were showing like a green mist, they +began the long drive back again, sometimes stopping in London on the +way, to see some pictures and hear some music, and have some talk with +many interesting people whom Mr. Nightingale knew. And when they got +home at last, how delightful it was to ride round to the old friends in +the farms and cottages, and listen to tales of all that had happened +during the little girls' absence, and in their turn to tell of the +wonderful sights they had witnessed, and the adventures that had +befallen them! Best of all were the visits to the families of puppies +and kittens which had been born during their absence, for Florence +especially loved animals, and was often sent for by the neighbours to +cure them when they were ill. The older and uglier they were, the +sorrier Florence was for them, and she would often steal out with sugar +or apples or carrots in her pocket for some elderly beast which was +ending its days quietly in the fields, stopping in the woods on the way +to play with a squirrel or a baby rabbit. The game was perhaps a little +one-sided, but what did that matter? As the poet Cowper says, + + Wild, timid hares were drawn from woods + To share her home caresses, + And looked up to her human eyes + With sylvan tendernesses. + +Beasts and birds were Florence's dear friends, but dearest of all were +her ponies. + +While she was at Embley, the vicar, who was very fond of her, used often +to take her out riding when he went on his rounds to see his people. +Florence enjoyed this very much; she knew them all well, and never +forgot the names of the children or their birthdays. Her mother would +often give her something nice to carry to the sick ones, and when the +flowers came out, Florence used to gather some for her special +favourites, out of her own garden. + + * * * * * + +One day when she and the vicar were cantering across the downs, they saw +an old shepherd, who was a great friend of both of them, attempting to +drive his flock without the help of his collie, Cap, who was nowhere to +be seen. + +'What has become of Cap?' they asked, and the shepherd told them that +some cruel boys had broken the dog's leg with a stone, and he was in +such pain that his master thought it would be more merciful to put an +end to him. + +Florence was hot with indignation. 'Perhaps _I_ can help him,' she said. +'At any rate, he will like me to sit with him; he must feel so lonely. +Where is he?' + +'In my hut out there,' answered the shepherd; 'but I'm afraid it's +little good you or anyone else can do him.' + +But Florence did not hear, for she was galloping as fast as she could to +the place where Cap was lying. + +'Poor old fellow, poor old Cap,' whispered she, kneeling down and +stroking his head, and Cap looked up to thank her. + +'Let me examine his leg,' said the vicar, who had entered behind her; +'he does not hold it as if it were broken. No, I am sure it is not,' he +added after a close inspection. 'Cheer up, we will soon have him well +again.' + +Florence's eyes brightened. + +'What can I do?' she asked eagerly. + +'Oh, make him a compress. That will take down the swelling,' replied the +vicar, who was a little of a doctor himself. + +'A compress?' repeated Florence, wrinkling her forehead. 'But I never +heard of one. I don't know how.' + +'Light a fire and boil some water, and then wring out some cloths in it, +and put them on Cap's paw. Here is a boy who will make a fire for you,' +he added, beckoning to a lad who was passing outside. + +While the fire was kindling, Florence looked about to find the cloths. +But the shepherd did not seem to have any, and her own little +handkerchief would not do any good. Still, cloths she must have, and +those who knew Miss Nightingale in after years would tell you that when +she _wanted_ things she _got_ them. + +'Ah, there is Roger's smock,' she exclaimed with delight. 'Oh, _do_ tear +it up for me; mamma will be sure to give me another for him.' So the +vicar tore the strong linen into strips, and Florence wrung them out in +the boiling water, as he had told her. + +'Now, Cap, be a good dog; you know I only want to help you,' she cried, +and Cap seemed as if he _did_ know; for though a little tremble ran +through his body as the hot cloth touched him, he never tried to bite, +nor even groaned with the pain, as many children would have done. By and +by the lump was certainly smaller, and the look of pain in Cap's eyes +began to disappear. + +Suddenly she glanced up at the vicar, who had been all this time +watching her. + +'I can't leave Cap till he is _quite_ better,' she said. 'Can you get +that boy to go to Embley and tell them where I am? Then they won't be +frightened.' So the boy was sent, and Florence sat on till the setting +sun shot long golden darts into the hut. + +Then she heard the shepherd fumbling with the latch, as if he could not +see to open it; and perhaps he couldn't, for in his hand he held the +rope which was to put an end to all Cap's sorrows. But Cap did not know +the meaning of the rope and only saw his old master. He gave a little +bark of greeting and struggled on to his three sound legs, wagging his +tail in welcome. + +Roger could hardly believe his eyes, and Florence laughed with delight. + +'Just look how much better he is,' she said. 'The swelling is very +nearly gone now. But he wants some more compresses. Come and help me +make them.' + +'I think we can leave Roger to nurse Cap,' said the vicar, who had just +returned from some of the neighbouring cottages. 'Your patient must have +some bread and milk to-night, and to-morrow you can come to see how he +is.' + +'Yes, of course I shall,' answered Florence, and she knelt down to kiss +Cap's nose before the vicar put her up on her pony. + +[Illustration: Roger could hardly believe his eyes.] + +Now, though Florence was so fond of flowers and animals and everything +out of doors, she was never dull in the house on a wet day. In the first +place, nothing was ever allowed to interfere with her lessons, and +though the little girls had a good governess, their father chose the +books they were to read and the subjects they were to study. Greek, +Latin, and mathematics he taught them himself, and besides he took care +that they could read and speak French, German, and Italian. They were +fond of poetry, and no doubt some of the earliest poems of young Mr. +Tennyson were among their favourites, as well as 'Lycidas' and the +songs of the cavaliers. Parthy was a better artist and a cleverer +musician than Florence, though _she_ could sing and sketch; but both +were good needlewomen, and could make samplers as well as do fine work +and embroidery. When school-time was over and the rain was still coming +down, they would run away to their dolls, who, poor things, were always +ill, so that Florence might have the pleasure of curing them. And though +before Cap's accident she had never heard of a compress, she could make +nice food for them at the nursery fire, and bandage their broken arms +and legs while Parthy held the wounded limb steady. + + * * * * * + +When they grew older, they went abroad now and then with their parents, +but Florence liked best being at home with her friends in the village, +who were very proud of her wishing to take their pictures with her new +photographic camera. If they had only known it, the children in their +best clothes standing up very stiff and straight did not look half as +pretty as the baskets of kittens with eyes half-innocent, half-wise, or +the funny little pups, so round and fat. But the parents thought the +portraits of their children the most beautiful things in the world, and +had them put into hideous gilt frames and hung on the walls, where +Florence could see them on her frequent visits. + +Welcome as she was to all, it was the sick people who awaited her coming +the most eagerly. She was so quiet in her movements, and knew so exactly +what to do without talking or fussing about it, that the invalids grew +less restless in her presence, and believed so entirely that she really +_could_ cure them that they were half cured already! Then before she +left she would read them 'a chapter' or a story to make them laugh, or +anything else they wished for; and it was always a pleasure to listen to +her, for she never stammered, or yawned, or lost her place, or had any +of the tricks that often make reading aloud a penance to the victim. + +For the young people both in Derbyshire and Hampshire she formed singing +classes, and some of her 'societies' continue to-day. She was full of +interest in other people's lives, and not only was _ready_ to help them +but _enjoyed_ doing so, which makes all the difference. + + * * * * * + +There is much nonsense talked in the world about 'born' actors, and +'born' artists, and 'born' nurses. No doubt some are 'born' with greater +gifts in these matters than others, but the most famous artists or +actors or nurses will all tell you that the only work which is lasting +has been wrought by long hours of patient labour. Miss Nightingale knew +this as well as anybody, and as soon as she began to think of doing what +no modern lady had ever done before her, and devoting her life to the +care of the sick, she set about considering how she could best find the +training she needed. She tried, to use her own words, 'to qualify +herself for it as a man does for his work,' and to 'submit herself to +the rules of business as men do.' + +So she spent some months among the London hospitals, where her quick eye +and clever fingers, aided by her cottage experience, made her a welcome +help to the doctors. From the first she 'began at the beginning,' which +is the only way to come to a successful end. A sick person cannot get +well where the floor is covered with dirt, and the dust makes him cough; +therefore his nurse must get rid of both dirt and dust before her +treatment can have any effect. After London, Miss Nightingale went to +Edinburgh and Dublin, and then to France and Italy, where the nursing +was done by nuns; and after that she visited Germany, where at the town +of Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine, she found what she wanted. + +The hospital of Kaiserswerth, where Miss Nightingale had decided to do +her training, had been founded about sixteen years earlier by Pastor +Fliedner, who was a wise man, content with very small beginnings. At the +time of her arrival it was divided into a number of branches, and there +was also a school for the children, who were taught entirely by some of +the sisters, or deaconesses, as they were called. On entering, everyone +had to go through the same work for a certain number of months, whether +they meant to be hospital nurses or school teachers. All must learn to +sew, cook, scrub, and read out clearly and pleasantly; but as Miss +Nightingale had practised most of these things from the time she was a +child, she soon was free to go into the hospital and attend to the sick +people. The other nurses were German peasant women, but when they found +that she could speak their language, and was ready to work as hard as +any of them, they made friends at once. In her spare hours Miss +Nightingale would put on her black cloak and small bonnet, and go round +to the cottages with Mr. Fliedner, as long ago she had done with the +vicar of Embley, and we may be sure any sick people whom she visited +were always left clean and comfortable when she said good-bye. + +But at Kaiserswerth Miss Nightingale had very little chance of learning +any surgery, so she felt that she could not do better than pass some +time in Paris with the nursing sisterhood of St. Vincent de Paul, which +had been established about two hundred years earlier. Here, too, she +went with the sisters on their rounds, both in the hospitals and in the +homes of the poor, and learnt how best to help the people without +turning them into beggars. Every part of the work interested her, but +the long months of hard labour and food which was often scanty and +always different from what she had hitherto had, began to tell on her. +She fell ill, and in her turn had to be looked after by the sisters, +and no doubt in many ways she learned more of sick nursing when she was +a patient than she did when she was a nurse. + + * * * * * + +It was quite clear that it would be necessary for her to have a good +rest before she grew strong again, and so she went back to Embley, and +afterwards to Lea, and tried to forget that there was any such thing as +sickness. But it is not easy for people who are known to be able and +willing to have peace anywhere, and soon letters came pouring in to Miss +Nightingale begging for her help in all sorts of ways. As far as she +could she undertook it all, and often performed the most troublesome of +all tasks, that of setting right the mistakes of others. In the end her +health broke down again, but not till she had finished what she had set +herself to do. + + * * * * * + +It was in March 1854 that war broke out between England, France, and +Turkey on the one side, and Russia on the other. The battle-ground was +to be the little peninsula of the Crimea, and soon the Black Sea was +crowded with ships carrying eager soldiers, many of them young and quite +ignorant of the hardships that lay before them. + +At first all seemed going well; the victory of the Alma was won on +September 20, 1854, and that of Balaclava on October 25, the anniversary +of Agincourt. But while the hearts of all men were still throbbing at +the splendid madness of the charge when, owing to a mistaken order, the +Light Brigade rode out to take the Russian guns and were mown down by +hundreds, the rain began to fall in torrents and a winter of unusual +coldness was upon them. Nights as well as days were passed in the +trenches that had been dug before the strong fortress of Sebastopol, +which the allies were besieging, and the suffering of our English +soldiers was far greater than it need have been, owing to the +wickedness of many of the contractors who had undertaken to supply the +army with boots and stores, and did not hesitate to get these so cheap +and bad as to be quite useless, while the rest of the money set aside +for the purpose was put into their pockets. The doctors gave themselves +no rest, but there were not half enough of them, while of nurses there +were none. The men did what they could for one another, but they had +their own work to attend to, and besides, try as they would it was +impossible for them to fill the place of a trained and skilful woman. So +they, as well as their dying comrades lying patiently on the sodden +earth, looked longingly at the big white caps of the French sisters, who +for their part would gladly have given help and comfort had not the +wounded of their own nation taken all their time. One or two of the +English officers had been followed to the Crimea by their wives, and +these ladies cooked for and tended the sick men who were placed in rows +along the passages of the barracks, but even lint for bandages was +lacking to them, and after the Alma they wrote letters to their friends +in England entreating that no time might be lost in sending out proper +aid. + +These letters were backed by a strong appeal from the war correspondent +of the _Times_, Dr. W. H. Russell, and from the day that his plain +account of the privations and horrors of the suffering army appeared in +the paper, the War Office was besieged by women begging to be sent to +the Crimea by the first ship. The minister, Mr. Sidney Herbert, did not +refuse their offers; though they were without experience and full of +excitement, he saw that most of them were deeply in earnest and under a +capable head might be put to a good use. But where was such a head to be +found? Then suddenly there darted into his mind the thought of Miss +Nightingale, his friend for years past. + +It was on October 15 that Mr. Sidney Herbert wrote to Miss Nightingale +offering her, in the name of the government, the post of Superintendent +of the nurses in the East, with absolute authority over her staff; and, +curiously enough, on the very same day _she_ had written to _him_ +proposing to go out at once to the Black Sea. As no time was to be lost, +it was clear that most of the thirty-eight nurses she was to take with +her must be women of a certain amount of training and experience. Others +might follow when they had learnt a little what nursing really meant, +but they were of no use now. So Miss Nightingale went round to some +Church of England and Roman Catholic sisterhoods and chose out the +strongest and most intelligent of those who were willing to go, the +remainder being sent her by friends whose judgment she could trust. Six +days after Sidney Herbert had written his letter, the band of nurses +started from Charing Cross. + +When after a very rough passage they reached the great hospital of +Scutari, situated on a hill above the Bosphorus, they heard the news of +the fight at Balaclava and learnt that a battle was expected to take +place next day at Inkerman. The hospital was an immense building in the +form of a square, and was able to hold several thousand men. It had been +lent to us by the Turks, but was in a fearfully dirty state and most +unfit to receive the wounded men who were continually arriving in ships +from the Crimea. Often the vessels were so loaded that the few doctors +had not had time to set the broken legs and arms of the men, and many +must have died of blood poisoning from the dirt which got into their +undressed wounds. Oftener still they had little or no food, and even +with help were too weak to walk from the ship to the hospital. And as +for rats! why there seemed nearly as many rats as patients. + +The first thing to be done was to unpack the stores, to boil water so +that the wounds could be washed, to put clean sheets on the beds, and +make the men as comfortable as possible. The doctors, overworked and +anxious as they were, did not give the nurses a very warm welcome. As +far as their own experience went, women in a hospital were always in the +way, and instead of helpers became hinderers. But Miss Nightingale took +no heed of ungracious words and cold looks. She did her own business +quietly and without fuss, and soon brought order out of confusion, and a +feeling of confidence where before there had been despair. If an +operation had to be performed--and at that time chloroform was so newly +invented that the doctors were almost afraid to give it, Miss +Nightingale, 'the Lady-in-Chief,' was present by the side of the wounded +man to give him courage to bear the pain and to fill him with hope for +the future. And not many days after her arrival, her coming was eagerly +watched for by the multitudes of sick and half-starved soldiers who were +lying along the walls of the passages because the beds were all full. + +It is really hardly possible for us to understand all that the nurses +had to do. First the wards must be kept clean, or the invalids would +grow worse instead of better. Then proper food must be cooked for them, +or they would never grow strong. Those who were most ill needed special +care, lest a change for the worse might come unnoticed; and besides all +this a laundry was set up, so that a constant supply of fresh linen +might be at hand. In a little while, when some of the wounds were +healing and the broken heads had ceased to ache, there would come shy +petitions from the beds that the nurse would write them a letter home, +to say that they had been more fortunate than their comrades and were +still alive, and hoped to be back in England some day. + +'Well, tell me what you want to say, and I will say it,' the nurse would +answer, but it is not very easy to dictate a letter if you have never +tried, so it soon ended with the remark, + +'Oh! nurse, _you_ write it for me! You will say it much better than I +can.' + +[Illustration: 'Tell me what you want to say, and I will say it.'] + +Would you like to know how the nurses passed their days? Well, first +they got up very early, made their beds, put their rooms tidy, and went +down to the kitchen, where they had some bread, which was mostly sour, +and some tea without milk. Then arrowroot and beef tea had to be made +for the men, and when the night nurses took their turn to rest, those +who were on duty by day went into the wards and stayed there from +half-past nine till two, washing and dressing and feeding the men and +talking over their illnesses with the doctors, who by this time were +thankful for their aid. At two the men were left to rest or sleep while +their tired nurses had their dinner, and little as they might like it, +they thought it their duty to swallow a plateful of very bad meat and +some porter. At three some of them often took a short walk, but that +November the rains were constant and very heavy at Scutari as well as in +the Crimea, and as Miss Nightingale would allow no risk of catching +cold, on these days the nurses all stayed in the hospital, where there +was always something to be done or cooked for the patients, who required +in their weak state to be constantly fed. At half-past five the nurses +left the wards and went to their tea, but that did not take long, and +soon they were back again making everything comfortable for the night, +which began with the entrance of the night nurses at half-past nine. + +It was a hard life, and when one remembers how bad their own food was, +it is a marvel that any of them were able to bear it for so long. But, +as Shakespeare says, 'Nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so,' +and it is wonderful how far a brave spirit will carry one. Still, heavy +though the nurses' work was, that of Miss Nightingale was far more of a +strain. It was she on whom everything depended, who had to think and +plan and look forward, and write accounts of it all to Mr. Sidney +Herbert in London, and lord Raglan, the Commander-in-Chief, at the +Crimea. The orderlies of the regiment gave her willing aid, but they +needed to be taught what to do, and no doubt the Lady-in-Chief often +found that it is far quicker and easier to do things oneself than to +spend time in training another person. Luckily she was prompt to see the +different uses to which men and women could be put, so that there were +no wasted days or weeks, caused by setting them tasks for which they +were unfitted, and in a very short while the hospital, which had been a +scene of horror on her arrival from England, was a well-arranged and +most comfortable place. + +But not only were there soldiers to be cared for, there were also their +wives and children, who were almost forgotten and huddled together in a +corner of the barracks, with few clothes and hardly any food. Miss +Nightingale took them under her charge, and placed them in a clean house +close by, giving some of the women work in her laundry and finding +employment for the rest, with the help of the wife of one of the +chaplains. The children were taught for several hours in the day, and +thus their mothers were left free to earn money to support them, while +the widows were given clothes and money, and as soon as possible sent +home. + +One morning, as the Lady-in-Chief went her rounds, the men noticed that +her face was brighter than usual and looked as if something had pleased +her very much. So it had, and in the afternoon, when they were all +resting comfortably, they knew what it was. One of the chaplains went +from ward to ward reading a letter which Queen Victoria had written to +Mr. Sidney Herbert, and this was how it ran:-- + + Windsor Castle, December 6, 1854. + +'Would you tell Mrs. Herbert that I begged she would let me see +frequently the accounts she received from Miss Nightingale or Mrs. +Bracebridge, as I hear no details of the wounded, though I see so many +from officers, &c., about the battlefield, and naturally the former must +interest me most. + +'Let Mrs. Herbert also know that I wish Miss Nightingale and the ladies +would tell those poor noble wounded and sick men that no one takes a +warmer interest or feels more for their sufferings or admires their +courage and heroism more than their queen. Day and night she thinks of +her beloved troops. So does the Prince. + 'Victoria.' + +'God save the Queen,' said the chaplain when he had finished, and from +their hearts the men raised a feeble shout, 'God save the Queen.' + + * * * * * + +Soon another detachment of nurses arrived from home and undertook the +charge of other hospitals along the shores of the Bosphorus. They were +led by Miss Stanley, sister of the famous dean of Westminster, and the +band consisted partly of ladies who gave their services and partly of +nurses who were paid. Some Irish sisters of mercy also accompanied them, +and these were allowed to wear their nun's dress, but the others must +have looked very funny in the Government uniform--loose gowns of grey +tweed, worsted jackets, short woollen cloaks, and scarves of brown +holland with 'Scutari Hospital' in red letters across them. They were +all made the same size, and 'in consequence,' adds sister Mary Aloysius, +who was thankful that _she_ did not need to present such an odd figure, +'the tall ladies appeared to be attired in short dresses, and the short +ladies in long.' + +Clad in these strange clothes they reached their destination and were +placed by Miss Nightingale wherever she thought they were most needed. +Cholera was now raging and the rain in the Crimea had turned to bitter +cold, so that hundreds of men were brought in frost-bitten. Often their +garments, generally of thin linen, were frozen so tightly to their +bodies that they had first to be softened with oil and then cut off. The +stories of their sufferings are too terrible to tell, but scarcely one +murmured, and all were grateful for the efforts to ease their pain. If +death came, as it often did, Miss Nightingale was there to listen to +their last wishes. + + * * * * * + +All through the spring the cholera raged, and at length some of the +nurses, weakened by the strain on mind and body, and the lack of +nourishing food, fell victims. One of them was a personal friend of Miss +Nightingale's, others were Irish nuns working in Balaclava, and their +graves were kept gay with flowers planted by the soldiers. Thus the +Lady-in-Chief found them when in May 1855 she set out to inspect the +hospitals in the Crimea. + +What a rest it must have been to be able to lie on deck and watch the +blue waters without feeling that every moment of peace was stolen from +some duty. She had several nurses with her; also her friend Mr. +Bracebridge, whose wife had taken charge of the stores at Scutari, and a +little drummer of twelve, called Thomas, who got amusement out of +everything and kept up their spirits when the outlook seemed gloomiest. + +The moment she landed Miss Nightingale, accompanied by a train of +doctors, went at once to the hospitals, thus missing lord Raglan who +came to give her a hearty welcome. Next day, when as in duty bound she +returned his visit, she had the pleasure once more of feeling a horse +under her, and old memories came back and it seemed as if she was again +a child riding with the vicar. As we are told by a Frenchman that she +wore a regular riding-dress, she probably borrowed this from one of the +four English ladies then in the Crimea, for she is not likely to have +had a habit of her own. Her horse was fresh and spirited and nervous, +after the manner of horses, and the noise and confusion of the road that +led to the camp was too much for his nerves. He plunged and kicked and +reared and bucked, and did all that a horse does when he wants to be +unpleasant, but Miss Nightingale did not mind at all--in fact she quite +enjoyed it. + +All day long the Lady-in-Chief went about, visiting the hospitals and +even penetrating into the trenches while sharp firing was going on. The +weather was intensely hot--for it is the greatest mistake to look on +the Crimea, which is as far south as Venice or Genoa, as being always +cold--and one day Miss Nightingale was struck down with sudden fever. +She was at once taken to the Sanatorium on a stretcher, which was +followed by the faithful Thomas, and great was the dismay and sorrow of +the whole camp. Fortunately after a fortnight she began to recover, +thanks to the care that was taken of her, but she absolutely refused to +go home, as the doctors wished her to do, and, weak though she was, +returned to Scutari, where soon afterwards she heard of her friend lord +Raglan's death, which was a great shock to her. It was some time before +she was strong enough to go back to her work, and she spent many hours +wandering about the cypress-planted cemetery at Scutari, where so many +English soldiers lay buried, and in planning a memorial to them which +was afterwards set up. + + * * * * * + +In September Sebastopol fell and the war was over, but the sick and +wounded were still uncured. It was hard for them to hear of their +comrades going home proud and happy in the honours they had won, while +_they_ were left behind in pain and weariness, but it would have been +infinitely harder without the knowledge that Miss Nightingale would bear +them company to the end. After all they stood on English ground before +she did, as when she was well enough she sailed a second time for the +Crimea to finish the work which her illness had caused her to leave +undone. + +All through the winter of 1855 she stayed there, driving over the +snow-covered mountains in a little carriage made for the purpose, which +had been given her as a present. Sick soldiers there were in plenty in +the hospitals, and for some time there was an army also, to keep order +until the peace was signed. In order to give the soldiers occupation and +amusement, she begged her friends at home to send out books and +magazines to them, and this the queen and her mother, the duchess of +Kent, were the first to do. Nothing was too small for the Lady-in-Chief +to think of; she arranged some lectures, got up classes for the children +and for anyone who wanted to learn; started a _cafe_, in hopes to save +the men from drinking; and kept a money-order office herself, so that +the men could, if they wished, send part of their pay home to their +families. And when in July 1856 the British army set sail for England, +Miss Nightingale stayed behind to see a white marble cross twenty feet +high set up on a peak above Balaclava. It was a memorial from her to the +thousands who had died at the mountain's foot, in battle or in the +trenches. + + * * * * * + +Honours and gifts showered on Miss Nightingale on all sides, and +everybody was eager to show how highly they valued her self-sacrificing +labours. If money had been wanted, it would have poured in from all +quarters; but when the queen had made inquiries on the subject a year +before Miss Nightingale's return, Mr. Sidney Herbert replied that what +the Lady-in-Chief desired above everything was the foundation of a +hospital in which her own special system of nursing could be carried +out. The idea was welcomed with enthusiasm, but none of the sums sent +were as dear to Miss Nightingale's heart as the day's pay subscribed by +the soldiers and sailors. The fund was applied to founding a home and +training school for nurses, attached to St. Thomas' hospital, and Miss +Nightingale helped to plan the new buildings opposite the Houses of +Parliament, to which the patients were afterwards moved. + + * * * * * + +Miss Nightingale came home with her aunt, Mrs. Smith, calling herself +'Miss Smith' so that she might travel unrecognised, but that disguise +could not be kept up when she got back to Lea Hurst. Crowds thronged to +see her from the neighbouring towns, and the lodge-keeper had a busy +time. However, her father would not allow her to be worried. She needed +rest, he said, and she should have it; and if addresses and plate and +testimonials should pour in (as they did, in quantities) someone else +could write thanks at her dictation. All round Lea Hurst her large +Russian dog was an object of reverence, and as for Thomas the +drummer-boy--well, if you could not see Miss Nightingale herself, you +might spend hours of delight in listening to Thomas, who certainly could +tell you far more thrilling tales than his mistress would ever have +done. + +We should all like to know what became of Thomas. + + * * * * * + +Miss Nightingale is still living, but the privations and over-work of +those terrible months had so broken her down that for the last forty +years she has been more or less of an invalid. Still, her interest is as +wide as ever in all that could help her fellows, and though she was +unable to go among them as of old, she was ready to help and advise, +either personally or by letter. If she had given her health and the +outdoor pleasures that she loved so much in aid of the sick and +suffering, she had won in exchange a position and an influence for good +such as no other woman has ever held. + + * * * * * + +Since this little account was written, the king has conferred on her the +highest honour he could bestow on a woman, the Order of Merit, while the +lord mayor of London and the corporation have given her the freedom of +the City. Thus her life will end in the knowledge that she has gained +the only honours worth having, those which have not been sought. + + + + +PRISONERS AND CAPTIVES + + +I am afraid you will think this a sad story, and so it is, but things +would have been sadder still but for the man I am going to tell you +about. His name was John Howard, and if you were to ask, 'Which John +Howard?' the answer would be, 'John Howard the Philanthropist,' which +means 'a lover of men.' + + * * * * * + +It is a great title for anyone to win, and no one ever earned it more +truly than this son of the rich upholsterer of Smithfield, born in +Clapton, then a country village of the parish of Hackney, in 1727. As +you will see by and by, Howard spent the last seventeen years of his +life in fighting three giants who were very hard to beat, named +Ignorance, Sloth, and Dirt; and it is all the more difficult to overcome +them because they are generally to be met with together. Unfortunately, +they never can be wholly killed, for when you think they are left dead +on the field after a hard struggle, they always come to life again; but +they have never been quite so strong since the war waged on them by John +Howard, who died fighting against them in a Russian city. + + * * * * * + +Howard had always been a delicate boy, which made it all the more +wonderful that he could bear the fatigue of the long journeys which he +undertook to help people who could not help themselves. He was married +twice, but neither of his wives lived long, and he had only one little +boy to look after. But when the child was four years old, Howard felt +that it was dull for him to be alone with his father, and without any +play-fellows, so he sent him to a small school kept by some ladies, +where little John, or 'Master Howard,' as it was the fashion to call +him, would be well taken care of. + +Howard was a quiet man, and very religious, but, what was rare in those +times, he did not believe everybody in the wrong who thought differently +from himself. He lived quietly among his books on a small estate he +owned near Bedford, called Cardington, where he studied astronomy and +questions about heat and cold, and when only twenty-nine was elected a +Fellow of the Royal Society. Medicine always interested him, and he +learned enough of it to be very useful to him during his travels; +indeed, it was owing to his fame as a doctor that he was summoned to see +a young Russian lady dying of fever, which, according to many, infected +him, and caused his own death. In his studies and in the care of his +tenants many peaceful years passed away. The man who afterwards became +known as the champion of 'prisoners and captives, and all who were +desolate and oppressed,' did not allow his own tenants to live in +unhealthy and uncomfortable cottages crowded together in tiny rooms with +water dropping on to their beds from the badly thatched roofs, like many +other landlords both in his day and ours. He opened schools for the +children, and drew up rules for them. The girls were taught reading and +needlework, the boys reading and a little arithmetic. Writing does not +seem to have been thought necessary, as none of the girls learned it, +and only a few of the boys--probably the cleverer ones. On Sundays they +were all expected to go to church or chapel, whichever their parents +preferred. + + * * * * * + +In spite of the generosity which made John Howard ready to give money or +time to any scheme that seemed likely to be of use to the poor, he was +not popular with his neighbours, and saw very little of them. They +thought him 'odd' because he did not care for races, or cock-fights, or +long dinners that lasted far into the night, where the gentlemen often +drank so much that they could not get home at all. Year by year Howard +was teaching himself to do without things, and by and by he was able to +live on green tea and a little bread and vegetables, with fruit now and +then as a great treat. No wonder he was considered eccentric by the +Bedfordshire country gentlemen! + + * * * * * + +But, in spite of his quiet ways, Howard had a passion for travelling, +and when a youth threw up the position of grocer's apprentice which his +father had obtained for him, and started for France and Italy. +Immediately after the death of his first wife he determined to go for a +change to Lisbon, then lying in ruins after the recent earthquake. +Before, however, his ship was out of the English Channel it was attacked +and overpowered by a French privateer, and both crew and passengers were +left without anything to eat or drink for nearly two days. They were +then taken to the prison at Brest, thrown into a dark and horribly dirty +dungeon, and apparently forgotten. Besides hunger and thirst, they went +through terrible pangs, fearing lest they were to be left to starve; but +at length the heavy bolts of the iron door were shot back, and a leg of +mutton was thrust inside. Nobody had a knife, every weapon had been +taken from them, and if they had, they were all too hungry to wait to +use it. They sprang on the food like wolves and gnawed it like dogs. + +For a week they all remained in their dungeon, and then Howard, at any +rate, was allowed to leave it, and was sent first to Morlaix and then to +Carpaix, where he was kindly treated by the gaoler, in whose house he +lived. Howard gave his word that he would not try to escape, and for +two months he remained there--a prisoner on parole, as it is +called--writing letters to prisoners he had left behind him, who had not +been so fortunate as himself. From what he had gone through he could +easily guess what they were suffering, and determined that when once he +got back to England he would do everything in his power to obtain their +freedom. + +[Illustration: They sprang on the food like wolves.] + +In two months Howard was informed by his friend the gaoler that the +governor had decided that he should be sent to England, in order that he +might arrange to be exchanged for a French naval officer, after swearing +that in case this could not be managed, he would return as a prisoner to +Brest. It was a great trial of any man's good faith, but it was not +misplaced, and happily the exchange was easily made. No sooner were his +own affairs settled than Howard set about freeing his countrymen, and +very shortly some English ships were sent to Brest with a cargo of +French prisoners and came back with an equal number of English ones, all +of whom owed their liberty to Howard's exertions. + +His captivity in France first gave him an idea of the state of prisons +and the sufferings of prisoners, but eighteen years were to pass before +the improvement of their condition became the business of his life. + + * * * * * + +Mr. Howard was appointed high sheriff for the county of Bedford in 1773, +and as such had the prisons under his charge. The high sheriffs who had +gone before him were of course equally bound to see that everything +inside the gaol was clean and well-ordered, but nobody really expected +them to trouble their heads about the matter, and certainly they never +did. However, Mr. Howard's notion of his duty was very different. He at +once visited the county prison in Bedford, and the misery that he found +there was repeated almost exactly in nearly every prison in the British +Isles. The gaoler in Bedford--and in many other places--had no salary +paid him, and therefore screwed all he could out of his prisoners; and +no matter if a man were innocent or guilty, if a jury had condemned him +or not, he must pay fifteen shillings and fourpence to the gaoler, and +two shillings to the warder who brought him his food--when he had +any--before he was set free. If, as often happened, the prisoners could +not find the money, well, they were locked up till they died, or till +the fees were paid. + +When Howard informed the magistrates of what he had found, they were as +much shocked as if it had not been their business to have known all +about it. + +'A dreadful state of things, indeed!' they said, 'and they were greatly +obliged to Mr. Howard for having discovered it. Yes, certainly, the +criminals and those who had been confined for debt alone ought to be +placed in different parts of the prison, and the men and women should be +separated, and an infirmary built for the sick. Oh! they were quite +willing to do it, but the cost would be very heavy, and the people might +decline to pay it, unless the high sheriff could point to any other +county which supported its own gaol.' + + * * * * * + +At the moment, the high sheriff could not, but he had no doubt that such +a county would be easily found, so he at once started on a visit to some +of the prisons, but, to his surprise, he did not discover _one_ in which +the gaoler was paid a fixed salary. And the more he saw of the prisons, +the more he was grieved at their condition. Almost all had dungeons for +criminals built underground, dark, damp, and dirty, and sometimes as +much as twenty feet below the surface; and often these dungeons were +very small and very crowded. Mats or, in a few of the better-managed +prisons, straw was given the prisoners to lie on, but no coverings, and +those who were imprisoned for debt were expected to pay for their own +food or go without it. + + * * * * * + +Sick at heart with all that he had seen, Howard went home for a short +rest, and then set out again on one of those tours on which he spent +the remaining years of his life, never thinking that the work was done +when he had reported on the terrible evils of the prison system, but +always returning to make sure that his advice had been carried out, +which it often was not. Curious to say, there are few instances of +difficulties being put in the way of his inspecting the prisons in any +of the countries which he visited, while about six months after his +labours began, he was called to the bar of the House of Commons, and +publicly thanked for his services in behalf of those who could not help +themselves. + +Mr. Howard was pleased and touched at the honour done him, and at the +proof that + + Evil is wrought by want of Thought, + As well as by want of Heart; + +but he was much more gratified by two laws that were passed during that +session, one for relieving innocent prisoners from paying fees, and the +other for insisting on certain rules being carried out which were +necessary to keep the prisoners in good health. + + * * * * * + +This last Act was greatly needed. The bad air, the dirt, and the +closeness of the rooms constantly produced an illness called gaol fever, +from which numbers of prisoners died yearly, one catching it from the +other. Nominally, a doctor was attached to every prison, but instead of +being ready, as doctors generally are, to risk their lives for their +patients, these men usually showed great cowardice. In Exeter, the +doctor when appointed had it set down in writing that he should not be +obliged to attend anyone suffering from gaol fever; in the county gaol +for Cornwall, every prisoner but one was ill of this disease when Howard +paid his first visit there. And no wonder, for here the prison consisted +of only one room with a small window, and three 'dungeons or cages,' +the one for women being only five feet long. The food was let down to +them through a hole in the floor of the room above. + +In Derby, Howard was thankful to see that things were far more what they +ought to be. The rooms were larger and lighter, there was an infirmary +for the sick, 'a neat chapel,' and even a bath, 'which the prisoners +were required occasionally to use.' Here the debtors, instead of being +nearly starved, were given the same allowance of food as the criminals. +They were also supplied with plenty of straw, and had fires in the +winter. Newcastle was still better managed, and here the doctor gave his +services free; but the Durham gaol was in a terrible state, and when +Howard went down into the dungeon he found several criminals lying there +half-starved and chained to the floor. The reason of these differences +probably lies in the fact that before Howard's time nobody had ever +taken the trouble to visit the prisons or to see if the rules were +carried out. If, as sometimes happened, the doctor and gaoler were +kind-hearted men, anxious to do their duty, then the prisoners were +tolerably well cared for. If, on the other hand, they were careless or +cruel, the captives had to suffer. This Howard saw, and was resolved, as +far as possible, to put the prisoners out of the power of the gaolers, +who should be made to undergo a severe punishment for any neglect of +duty. For in Howard's mind, though it was, of course, needful that men +should learn that if they chose to commit crimes they must pay for them, +yet he considered that so much useless misery only made the criminals +harder and more brutal, and that the real object of punishment was to +help people to correct their faults, and once more to become honest men +and women. + + * * * * * + +Having satisfied himself of the state of the English prisons, and done +what he could to improve them, Howard determined to discover how those +in foreign countries were managed. Paris was the first place he stopped +at, and the famous Bastille the first prison he visited. Here, however, +he was absolutely refused admittance, and seems, according to his friend +Dr. Aikin, to have narrowly escaped being detained as a prisoner +himself. But once outside the walls he remembered having heard that an +Act had been passed in 1717, when Louis XV. was seven years old and the +duke of Orleans was regent, desiring all gaolers to admit into their +prisons any persons who wished to bestow money on the prisoners, only +stipulating that whatever was given to those confined in the dungeons +should be offered in the presence of the gaoler. + +Armed with this knowledge and a quantity of small coins, Howard called +on the head of the police, who received him politely and gave him a +written pass to the chief prisons in Paris. These he found very bad, +with dungeons in some of 'these seats of woe beyond imagination horrid +and dreadful,' yet not apparently any worse than many on this side of +the Channel. + + * * * * * + +After Howard's dismal experiences in England, Scotland, Ireland, and +France, it must have given him heartfelt pleasure to visit the prisons +in Belgium, which, with scarcely an exception, were 'all fresh and +clean, no gaol distemper, no prisoners in irons.' The bread allowance +'far exceeds that of any of _our_ gaols. Two pounds of bread a day, soup +once, with a pound of meat on Sunday.' This was in Brussels, but when he +went on to Ghent, things were better still. + +Like most of the large towns of Flanders, Ghent had a stirring history, +and its townspeople were rich and prosperous. At the time of Howard's +visit, it was part of the dominions of the emperor Joseph II., brother +of Marie Antoinette, and by his orders a large prison was in course of +building. Though not yet finished, it already contained more than a +hundred and fifty men, and Howard felt as if he must be dreaming when he +saw that each of these prisoners had a room to himself, a bedstead, a +mattress, a pillow, a pair of sheets, with two blankets in winter and +one in summer. Everything was very clean, and the food plentiful and +wholesome. But, besides all this, Howard noted with a feeling of envy +two customs which so far he had tried in vain to introduce into England. +One was that the men and the women should be kept apart, and the other, +that they should be given useful work to employ their time. In England, +a prisoner was sometimes condemned to 'hard labour,' but this was a mere +form. There was no system arranged beforehand for the employment of +convicts, and indeed, till more light was admitted into the English +prisons, it was too dark to work at anything, so they just sat with the +other criminals in the dark, stifling dungeons, with nothing to do and +nothing to think of! + +A more horrible punishment could not have been invented, and if the +criminal left the prison at all, he was sure to come out even worse than +he went in. And how was anything else possible? + + * * * * * + +Now in Ghent, and in most of the Flemish prisons, it was all as +different as could be. The women sat in work-rooms of their own, when +they had finished cleaning and cooking, mending all their own and the +men's clothes, which it was part of their duty to wash. This done, wool +in what is called its 'raw state' was served out to them--that is, wool +as it had been taken off the sheep's fleece--and they had to comb out +all the tangles, and spin it into long skeins. Then the skeins were +taken to the men, many of whom were weavers by trade, and by them it was +woven into cloth which was sold. + +Thus, in doing work in which they could occupy themselves and take a +pride, the prisoners unconsciously ceased to think all day of the bad +lives they had led, and longed to lead again; and when they had served +the time of their sentences and were discharged, they had a trade to +fall back on, and, what was still more important, the _habit_ of +working. + +Besides this, the method of 'hard labour' carried out in the Ghent +prison had another great advantage for the prisoners. Every day each +person's work, which would take him a certain number of hours to finish, +was dealt out, and when it was done, and done _properly_, the prisoners +were allowed, if they chose, to go on working, and the profits of this +work were put aside to be given them when they were discharged. And in +Ghent the criminals were not left, as in England, to the mercy of the +gaoler, nobody knowing and nobody caring what became of them, for the +city magistrates went over the prison once every week, and also arranged +what meals the prisoners were to have till the next meeting. + +In a gaol in the beautiful old city of Bruges, the contrast between the +care taken of the sick criminals and the numberless deaths from gaol +fever in his own country filled Howard with the deepest shame. In +Bruges, the doctors did not make stipulations that they should not be +expected to visit infectious patients, but they wrote out their +prescriptions in a book for the magistrates to read. Thus it was +possible for the rulers of the city to judge for themselves how ill a +man might be, and how he was being treated; and as long as the doctor +considered him in need of it, fourteen pence daily--a much larger sum +then than now--was allotted to provide soup and other nourishing food +for the sick person. + + * * * * * + +When Howard passed from Belgium to Holland he found the same care, +though here the rules respecting the gaolers were stricter, because +they were responsible for the orderly state of the prison and the +conduct of the prisoners. + +The gaolers were forbidden, on pain of a fine, to be seen drinking in +public-houses, to quarrel with the prisoners, and to use bad language to +them, and, greatest difference of all from the prisons he was accustomed +to, no strong drink was allowed to be sold within the walls! Debtors +were few, while in England they were more numerous than the criminals; +and in Amsterdam not a single person had been executed for ten years, +whereas in Britain sheep-stealing and all sorts of petty offences were +punished by hanging. + +From Holland Mr. Howard travelled to Germany, where, as a whole, the +same sort of rules prevailed; and in Hamburg, the wives of the +magistrates went to the prisons every Saturday to give out the women's +work. In some places the men were set to mend the roads, clean the +bridges, clear away the snow, or do whatever the magistrates desired, +and a guard with fixed bayonets always attended them. But they much +preferred this labour, hard though it often was, to being shut up +indoors, and looked healthy and cheerful. + + * * * * * + +After three months Mr. Howard returned home and inspected the prison at +Dover, to find to his dismay everything exactly as before; and when, +after a little rest, he set out on a second English tour, scarcely +anywhere did he perceive an improvement. One small prison in the Forest +of Dean was inhabited by two sick and half-starved men, who had been +kept in one room for more than a year almost without water or fire or +any allowance for food. In another, at Penzance, which consisted of two +tiny rooms in a stable-yard, was one prisoner only, who would have died +of hunger had it not been for a brother, even poorer than himself, who +brought him just enough to keep him alive. Again and again Howard paid +out of his own pocket the debts of many of those miserable people, which +sometimes began by being no more than a shilling, but soon mounted up, +with all the fees, to several pounds. + + * * * * * + +With only short intervals for rest, Howard went on travelling and +inspecting, now in the British Isles and now abroad, and by slow degrees +he began to see an improvement in the condition of the prisoners in his +own country, whether criminals or debtors in gaols or convicts in the +'hulks,' as the rotten old ships used as prisons were called. He was +careful never to leave a single cell unvisited, and spoke his mind +freely both to the keepers and to the magistrates. The House of Commons +always listened with eagerness to all he had to tell, and passed several +Bills which should have changed things much for the better. But the +difficulty lay, not in making the law, but in getting it carried out. + +It is wonderful how, during all these travels and the hours spent in the +horrible atmosphere of the prisons, a delicate man like Howard so seldom +was ill. Luckily he knew enough of medicine to teach him to take some +simple precautions, and he never entered a hospital or prison before +breakfast. Dresden and Venice appear to have been the two cities on the +Continent where the prisoners were the worst treated, many of them +wearing irons, and few of them having enough food. + + * * * * * + +It would be impossible to give an account of all Howard's journeys, +which included Italy, Russia, Turkey, Germany, France, and Holland, but +I have told you enough for you to understand what a task he had +undertaken. When he was abroad he was sometimes entreated to attend +private patients, so widely had his fame spread; and though he did not +pretend to be a doctor, he never refused to give any help that was +possible, and it was through this kindness that he lost his life. Once, +during a visit to Constantinople, he received a message from a man high +in the Sultan's favour, begging him to come and see his daughter, as she +was suffering great pain and none of the doctors could do anything to +relieve her. Howard asked the girl some questions, and felt her pulse, +and then gave some simple directions for her treatment which soon took +away the pain, and in a few days she was nearly well. Her father was so +grateful that he offered Howard a large sum of money, just as he would +have done to one of his own countrymen, and was struck dumb when Howard +declined the gift, and asked instead for a bunch of the beautiful grapes +that he had seen hanging in the garden. As soon as the official had made +sure that his ears had not deceived him, he ordered a large supply of +the finest grapes to be sent to Howard daily as long as he stayed in +Constantinople. + +So for a whole month we can imagine him enjoying the Pasha's grapes, in +addition to the vegetables, bread, and water which formed his usual +meals, taken at any hour that happened to be convenient. If he wished to +go to visit a prison or hospital or lazaretto, there was no need to put +it off because 'it would interfere with his dinner-hour,' for his dinner +could be eaten any time. Not that there were any hospitals, properly +speaking, in Constantinople; for though there was a place in the Greek +quarter to which sick people were sent, hardly a single doctor could be +found to attend them, and the only real hospital in the capital was for +the benefit of cats. + + * * * * * + +Now in most of the great seaport towns along the Mediterranean, +lazarettos, or pest-houses, were built, so that passengers on arriving +from plague-stricken countries should be placed in confinement for forty +days, till there was no fear of their infecting the people. In England, +in spite of her large trade with foreign lands, there were no such +buildings, and it is only wonderful that the plague was so little heard +of. Howard determined to insist on the wisdom and necessity of the +foreign plan; but as he always made his reports from experience and not +from hearsay, he felt that the time had come when he should first visit +the lazarettos, and then go through the forty days' quarantine himself. + +This experiment was more dangerous than any he had yet tried, so instead +of taking a servant with him, as had generally been his habit, he set +out alone in November 1785. + + * * * * * + +As regards lazarettos, he found, as he had found with regard to prisons +and hospitals, that their condition depended in a great degree on the +amount of care taken by the ruler of the city. In Italy there were +several that were extremely well managed, especially in the dominions of +the grand duke of Tuscany; but he had made up his mind that when the +moment came for his quarantine it should be undergone in Venice, the +most famous lazaretto of them all. He took ship eastwards, and visited +the great leper hospital at the Island of Scio, where everything was +done to make the poor creatures as comfortable as possible. Each person +had his own room and a garden of his own, where he could grow figs, +almonds, and other fruit, besides herbs for cooking. + +From Scio Howard sailed to Smyrna, and then changed into another vessel, +bound for Venice, which he knew would be put in quarantine the moment it +arrived in the city. The winds were contrary and the voyage slow, and +off the shores of Greece they were attacked by one of the 'Barbary +corsairs' who infested the Mediterranean. The Smyrna crew fought hard, +for well they knew the terrors of the fate that awaited them if +captured, and when their shot was exhausted they loaded their biggest +gun with spikes and nails, and anything else that came handy. Howard +himself aimed it, and after it had fired a few rounds, the enemy spread +his black sails and retired. + + * * * * * + +At length, after two months, Venice was reached, and as a passenger on +board a ship from an infected port, Howard was condemned to forty days' +quarantine in the new lazaretto. His cell was as dirty as any dungeon in +any English prison, and had neither chair, table, nor bed. His first +care was to clean it, but it was so long since anyone had thought of +doing such a thing that it was nearly as long before the dirt could be +made to disappear, and meanwhile he was attacked by the same headache +which had always marked his visit to such places, and in a short time +became so ill that he was removed to the old lazaretto. Here he was +rather worse off than before, for the water came so close to the walls +that the stone floor was always wet, and in a week's time he was given a +third apartment, this time consisting of four rooms, but all without +furniture and as dirty as the first. + +Ordinary washing was again useless to remove the thick coating of filth +of all kinds, and at length Howard felt himself getting so ill that by +the help of the English consul he was allowed to have some brushes and +lime, which by mixing with water became whitewash. He then brushed down +the walls without hindrance from anyone, though he had made up his mind +that if the guard tried to stop him, he would lock him up in one of the +rooms. Almost directly he grew better, and was able to enjoy his tea and +bread once more. + +The rules for purification of the infected ships were most strict, but +it depended on the prior, or head of the lazaretto, whether they were +carried out or not. All woollen, cotton, and silk materials, which were +specially liable to carry infection, were carefully cleansed. The bags +in which they were packed were all emptied, and the men belonging to the +lazaretto were strictly forbidden to touch them with their hands, and +always used canes to turn over the contents of the bags. This was done +daily for forty days, when they were free from infection. Other things +were kept in salt water for forty-eight hours, and short-haired animals +were made to swim ashore. + +[Illustration: He brushed down the walls without hindrance from anyone.] + +On November 20, Howard was set free, his health having suffered from the +lack of air and exercise, and from anxiety about his son, whom he had +left in England. However, he still continued his tour of inspection, and +it was not till February 1787 that he reached home. After a short time +given to his own affairs, in making the best arrangements that he could +for his son, now completely out of his mind, he was soon busily employed +in putting a stop very vigorously to the erection of a statue to his +honour. The subscriptions to it had been large, for everybody felt how +much the country owed to his unwearied efforts in the cause of his +fellow-men, carried out entirely at his own cost. But Howard would not +listen to them for one moment. + +'The execution of your design would be a cruel punishment to me,' he +says in a letter to the subscribers. 'I shall always think the reform +now going on in several of the gaols of this kingdom, which I hope will +become general, the greatest honour and most ample reward I can possibly +receive.' + +It was Howard who was right, and his friends who were wrong, for though +after his death they would no longer be denied, it is not the picture of +the statue in St. Paul's which rises before us at the name of John +Howard, but that of the prison cell. + + + + +HANNIBAL + + +If we could go back more than three thousand years, and be present at +one of the banquets of Egypt or of the great kingdoms of the East, we +should be struck by the wonderful colour which blazed in some of the +hangings on the walls, and in the dresses of the guests; and if, +coveting the same beautiful colour for our own homes, we asked where it +came from, the answer would be that it was the famous Tyrian purple, +made at the prosperous town of Tyre, off the coast of Palestine, +inhabited by the Phoenician race. + + * * * * * + +The Phoenicians were celebrated traders and sent their goods all over +the world. Ships took them to the mouth of the Nile, to the islands in +the Cornish sea, to the flourishing cities of Crete almost as civilised +as our own; while caravans of camels bore Phoenician wares across the +desert to the Euphrates and the Tigris, most likely even to India +itself. Soon the Phoenicians began to plant colonies which, like Tyre +their mother, grew rich and beautiful, and far along the north African +coast--so runs the old story--the lady Dido founded the city of +Carthage, whose marble temples, theatres, and places of assembly were by +and by to vie with those of Tyre itself. + +But before these were yet completed, a wanderer, tall and strong and +sun-burned, towering nearly a head over the small Phoenician people, +landed on the coast and was brought before the queen, as Dido was now +called. + +His name, he said, was AEneas, and he had spent many years in fighting +before the walls of Troy for the sake of Helen, whom he thought the +loveliest woman in the world, till he had looked on Dido the queen. +After the war was ended he had travelled westwards, and truly strange +were the scenes on which his eyes had rested since he had crossed the +seas. + +Dido listened, and as she had talked with many traders from all +countries she understood somewhat of his speech, and bade him stay +awhile and behold the wonders of the city she was building. So AEneas +stayed, and the heart of the queen went out to him; but as the days +passed by he tired of rich food and baths made sweet with perfumes, and +longed for wild hills and the flocks driven by the shepherds. Then one +morning he sailed away, and Dido saw his face no more; and in her grief +she ordered a tall pyre to be reared of logs of sandalwood and cedar. +When all was prepared she came forth with a golden circlet round her +head, and a robe of scarlet falling to her feet, till men marvelled at +her fairness, and laid herself down on the top of the pyre. + +'I am ready,' she said to the chief of her slaves, who stood by, and a +lighted torch was placed against the pile, and the flames rose high. + +In this manner Dido perished, but her name was kept green in her city to +the end. + +[Illustration: She came forth with a golden circlet round her head.] + +But though Dido was dead, her city of Carthage went on growing, and +conquering, and planting colonies, in Sicily, Spain, and Sardinia. Not +that the Carthaginians themselves, though a fierce and cruel people, +cared about forming an empire, but they loved riches, and to protect +their trade from other nations it was needful to have strong fleets and +armies. For some time the various Greek states were her most powerful +enemies; but in the third century before Christ signs appeared to +those with eyes to read them that a war between Carthage and Rome was at +hand. + +Now it must never be forgotten for a moment that neither then, nor for +over two thousand years later, was there any such thing as Italy, as +_we_ understand it. + +The southern part of the peninsula was called 'Greater Greece,' and +filled, as we have said, by colonies from different Greek towns. In the +northern parts, about the river Po, tribes from Gaul had settled +themselves, and in the centre were various cities peopled by strange +races, who for long joined themselves into a league to resist the power +of Rome. But by the third century B.C. the Roman empire, which was +afterwards to swallow up the whole of the civilised world from the +straits of Gibraltar to the deserts of Asia, had started on its career; +the league had been broken up, the Gauls and Greeks had been driven +back, and the whole of Italy south of the river Rubicon paid tribute to +the City of the Seven Hills on the Tiber. + + * * * * * + +Having made herself secure in Italy, Rome next began to watch with +anxious eyes the proceedings of Carthage in Spain and in Sicily. The +struggle for lordship was bound to come, and to come soon. As to her +army, Rome feared nothing, but it was quite clear that to gain the +victory over Carthage she must have a fleet, and few things are more +striking in the great war than the determination with which Rome, never +a nation of sailors, again and again fitted out vessels, and when they +were destroyed or sunk gave orders to build more. And at last she had +her reward, and the tall galleys, with high carved prows and five banks +of oars, beat the ships which had been hitherto thought invincible. + + * * * * * + +It was in 263 B.C. that the war at last broke out in Sicily, and after +gaining victories both by land and sea, Rome in the eighth year of the +contest sent an army to Africa, under the consuls Regulus and Volso, +with orders to besiege Carthage. The invading army consisted of forty +thousand men, and was joined as soon as it touched the African shore by +some tributary towns, and also by twenty thousand slaves--for Carthage +was hated by all who came under her rule because of her savage cruelty. +At the news of the invasion the people seemed turned into stone. Then +envoys were sent to beg for peace, peace at any price, at the cost of +any humiliation. But the consuls would listen to nothing, and Carthage +would have fallen completely into her enemy's hands had the Romans +marched to the gates. But at this moment an order arrived from the Roman +senate, bidding Volso with twenty-four thousand men return at once, +leaving Regulus with only sixteen thousand. With exceeding folly Regulus +left the strongly fortified camp, which in Roman warfare formed one of +the chief defences, and arrayed his forces in the open plain. There +Carthage, driven to bay, gave him battle with her hastily collected +forces. The Carthaginians, commanded by Xanthippus, a better general +than Regulus, won the day, and only two thousand Romans escaped +slaughter. The victory gave heart to the men of Carthage, and when news +came from Sicily that Rome had been driven back and her fleets +destroyed, their joy knew no bounds. In her turn Rome might have lain at +the feet of the conqueror, but Carthage had no army strong enough to act +in a foreign land, and contented herself with destroying during the war +seven hundred five-banked Roman ships, which were every time replaced +with amazing swiftness. + + * * * * * + +The war had raged for sixteen years when Hamilcar Barca, father of the +most famous general before Caesar (except Alexander the Great), was given +command over land and sea. He was a young man, not more than thirty, and +belonged to one of the oldest families in Carthage. Unlike most of his +nation, he valued many things more highly than money, and despised the +glitter and show and luxury in which all the Carthaginians delighted. A +boy of fourteen when the first Punic war began (for this is its name in +history), his strongest passion was hatred of Rome and a burning desire +to humble the power which had defied his own beloved city. It did not +matter to Hamilcar that his ships were few and his soldiers +undisciplined. The great point was that he had absolute power over them, +and as to their training he would undertake that himself. + +So, full of hope he began his work, and in course of time, after hard +labour, his raw troops became a fine army. + +Hamilcar's first campaign in Sicily--so often the battleground of +ancient Europe--was crowned with success. The Romans were hemmed in by +his skilful strategy, and if he had only been given a proper number of +ships it would have been easy for him to have landed in Italy, and +perhaps marched to Rome. But now, as ever in the three Punic wars, +Carthage, absorbed in counting her money and reckoning her gains and +losses, could never understand where her real interest lay. She waited +until Rome, by a supreme effort, built another fleet of two hundred +vessels, which suddenly appeared on the west coast of Sicily, and gave +battle to the Carthaginian ships when, too late, they came to the help +of their general. The battle was lost, the fleet destroyed, and Hamilcar +with wrath in his soul was obliged to make peace. Sicily, which Carthage +had held for four hundred years, was ceded to Rome, and large sums of +money paid into her treasury for the expenses of the war. + + * * * * * + +Bitterly disappointed at the failure forced on him when victory was +within his grasp, Hamilcar was shortly after summoned back to Carthage +to put down a rebellion which the government by its greed and folly had +provoked. The neighbouring tribes and subject cities joined the foreign +troops whose pay had been held back, and soon an army of seventy +thousand men under a good general was marching upon Carthage. So +widespread was the revolt that it took Hamilcar, to whom the people had +insisted on giving absolute power, three years to quell the revolt; but +at length he triumphed, punishing the leaders, and pardoning those who +had only been led. + +Peace having been restored, Hamilcar was immediately despatched to look +after affairs in Spain, where both Carthage and Rome had many colonies. +Strange to say, he took with him his three little boys, Hannibal, +Hasdrubal, and Mago, and before they sailed he bade Hannibal, then only +nine, come with him into the great temple, and swear to the gods that he +would be avenged on Rome. + +If you read this story you will see how Hannibal kept his oath. + + * * * * * + +As this is a history of Hannibal, and not of his father, I have not room +to tell you how Hamilcar took measures to carry out the purpose of his +life, namely, the destruction of Rome. To this end he fortified the +towns that had hitherto only been used as manufactories or store-houses, +turned the traders into steady soldiers, sent for heavy armed African +troops from Libya, and the celebrated light horse from Numidia, made +friends with the Iberian (or Spanish) tribes, and ruled wisely and well +from the straits of Gibraltar to the river Ebro. But, busy as he might +be, he always had time to remember his three boys, and saw that they +were trained in the habits and learning of a soldier. All three were apt +pupils, and loved flinging darts and slinging stones, and shooting with +the bow, though in these arts they could not rival their masters from +the Balearic isles, however much they practised. + +[Illustration: All three were apt pupils.] + +When Hannibal was eighteen, Hamilcar was killed in a battle with some of +the native tribes who had refused to submit to the sway of Carthage. In +spite of the hatred that he cherished for everything Roman, he had +earned the undying respect of the noblest among them. 'No king was +equal to Hamilcar Barca,' writes Cato the elder, and the words of Livy +the historian about Hannibal might also be applied to his father. + +'Never was a genius more fitted to obey or to command. His body could +not be exhausted nor his mind subdued by toil, and he ate and drank only +what he needed.' He had failed in his aim, but, dying, he left it as a +heritage to his son, who, on the point of victory, was to fail also. + +Under Hamilcar's son-in-law, Hasdrubal, the work of training the army, +encouraging agriculture, and fostering trade was carried on as before. +It was not long before Hasdrubal made his young brother-in-law commander +of the cavalry, and often sought counsel from him in any perplexity. +Hannibal was much beloved, too, by his soldiers of all nations, and to +the end they clung to him through good and ill. He gave back their +devotion by constant care for their comfort--very rare in those +days--seeing that they were fed and warmed before entering on a hard +day's fighting, and arranging that they had proper time for rest. To the +Iberians he was bound by special ties, for before he quitted Spain for +his death-struggle with Rome he married a Spanish princess, little +thinking, when he started northwards in May 218 B.C., that he was +leaving her and her infant son behind him for ever. + + * * * * * + +All this time Rome had been growing both in her influence and her +dominions, when for a while her very existence was threatened by the +sudden invasion of seventy thousand Gauls, who poured in from the north. +They were defeated in a hard-fought battle and beaten back, but the +struggle with the barbarians was long and fierce, and Rome remained +exhausted. Her attention was occupied with measures needful for her own +defence and in raising both men and money, and except for warning the +Carthaginians not to cross the Ebro, she left them for a time pretty +much to themselves, thinking vainly that, as long as her navy gave her +command of the sea, she had no need to trouble herself about affairs in +Spain or Africa. Indeed, after the severe strain of the Gallic war, the +Roman senate thought that they were in so little danger either from +Carthage or from Greece that their troops might take a sorely needed +rest, and the army was disbanded. + +This was Hannibal's chance, and with the siege and fall of the Spanish +town of Saguntum in 218 B.C. began the second Punic war. + + * * * * * + +For years the young general had been secretly brooding over his plans, +and had prepared friends for himself all along the difficult way his +army would have to march. Unknown to Rome, he had received promises of +help from most of the tribes in what is now the province of Catalonia, +from Philip of Macedon, ruler in the kingdom of Alexander the Great, and +from some of the Gauls near the Rhone and along the valley of the Po. +Many of these proved broken reeds at the time of trial, when their help +was most needed, and even turned into enemies, and Hannibal was too wise +not to have foreseen that this might happen. Still, for the moment all +seemed going as he wished; war was declared, and Rome made ready her +fleet for the attack by sea which she felt was certain to follow. + +In our days of telephones and telegrams and wireless telegraphy, it is +very nearly _impossible_ for us to understand how an army of ninety +thousand foot, twelve thousand horse, and thirty-seven elephants could +go right through Spain from Carthagena in the south-east to the Pyrenees +in the north, and even beyond them, without a whisper of the fact +reaching an enemy across the sea. Yet this is what actually occurred. +Rome sent a large force under one consul into Sicily, the troops were +later to embark for Carthage, another to the Po to hold the Gauls in +check, while a third, under Publius Scipio, was shortly to sail for +Spain and there give battle to the Carthaginians. That Hannibal was +fighting his way desperately through Catalonia at that very moment they +had not the remotest idea. + + * * * * * + +Not only did Hannibal lose many of his men in Catalonia, but he was +obliged to leave a large body behind, under Hanno, his general, to +prevent the Catalans rising behind him, and cutting off his +communications with Spain. + +The Pyrenees were crossed near the sea without difficulty, and for a +time the march was easy and rapid along the great Roman road as far as +Nismes, and then on to the Rhone between Orange and Avignon. By this +time the consul, Publius Scipio, who had been prevented for some reason +from going earlier to Spain, and was now sailing along the gulf of Genoa +on his way thither, heard at Marseilles that Hannibal was advancing +towards the river Rhone. The Roman listened to the news with incredulity +and little alarm. How could Hannibal have got over the Pyrenees and he +not know it? A second messenger arrived with the same tale as the first, +but Scipio still refused to believe there was any danger. Why, the late +rains had so swollen the river that it was now in high flood, and how +could any army ford a stream so broad and so rapid? And if it _did_, had +not the envoy said that some Gallic troops were drawn up on the other +side to prevent the enemy landing? So Scipio disembarked his troops in a +leisurely manner, and contented himself with sending out a scouting +party of horse to see where the Carthaginians might be encamped--if they +really were there at all! + + * * * * * + +Now all the way along his line of march Hannibal had followed his usual +policy, and had gained over to his side most of the Gauls who lay in his +path, and when they seemed inclined to oppose him, a bribe of money +generally made matters smooth. But on reaching the right bank of the +river he found the Gallic tribes, of whom Scipio had heard, assembled in +large numbers on the left bank, just at the very place where he wished +to cross. He knew at once that it was useless to persist in making the +passage here, and some other plan must be thought of. + +The first thing Hannibal did was to buy at their full value all the +boats and canoes used by the natives in carrying their goods down to the +mouth of the Rhone, there to be sold to foreign traders. The people, +finding that the army of strange nations with dark skins and curious +weapons did not intend to rob them, but to pay honestly for all they +took, became ready to help them, and offered themselves as guides if +they should be needed. And to prove their good will, they began to help +the soldiers to cut down trees from the neighbouring forests, and to +scoop them into canoes, one for every soldier. + +It was the third night after the Carthaginians had reached the river +when Hannibal ordered Hanno, one of his most trusted generals, to take a +body of his best troops up the stream, to a place out of sight and sound +of the Gallic camp, where one of the friendly guides had told him that a +passage might be made. The country at this point was lonely, and the +detachment met with no enemies along the road, and no one hindered them +in felling trees and making rafts to carry them to the further bank. +Early next morning they all got across, and then by Hannibal's express +orders rested and slept, for he never allowed his soldiers to fight when +exhausted. Before dawn they started on their march down the left bank, +sending up, as soon as it was light, a column of smoke to warn Hannibal +that everything had gone smoothly, and that he might now begin to cross +himself. + +His men were all ready, and without hurry or confusion took their +places. The heavy-armed cavalry, with their corselets of bronze, and +swords and long spears, entered the larger vessels; two men, standing in +the stern of every boat, holding the bridles of three or four horses +which were swimming after them. It must have required great skill on the +part of the oarsmen to allow sufficient space between the boats, so that +the horses should not become entangled with each other, but no accident +happened either to the larger vessels or to the canoes which contained +the rest of the foot. + +[Illustration: The Gauls poured out of their camp shouting and screaming +with delight.] + +Exactly as Hannibal expected, for he always seemed to know by magic the +faults that his enemy would commit, at the sight of the Carthaginian +army on the river the Gauls poured out of their camp, and crowded to the +bank, shouting and screaming with delight and defiance. There they +stood, with eyes fixed on the advancing boats, when suddenly Hanno's men +came up and attacked them from behind. They turned to grapple with this +unexpected enemy, thus giving Hannibal time to land his first division +and charge them in the rear. Unable to stand the twofold onslaught, the +Gauls wavered, and in a few minutes disappeared in headlong flight. + +When the rest of the army was safe on the left bank a camp was pitched, +and orders given for the morrow. Hannibal's great anxiety was for the +passage of the elephants, still on the other side, for the great +creatures on whose help he counted, perhaps more than he should, were +terribly afraid of water. But no man ever lived who was cleverer at +forming schemes than Hannibal, and at last he hit on one which he +thought would do. Five hundred of his light-armed horsemen from the +African province of Numidia were despatched down the river to find out +how many soldiers Scipio had with him, the number and size of the ships +that had arrived, and, if possible, the consul's future plans. Then the +general chose out some men who were specially fitted to manage the +elephants, and bade them recross the river immediately, giving them +exact directions what they were to do when they were once more on the +right bank. + +The plan Hannibal had invented for the passage of the elephants was +this. + +The men whom he had left on the other side of the Rhone were ordered to +cut down more trees as fast as possible, and chop them into logs, which +were bound firmly together into rafts about fifty feet broad; when +finished, these rafts were standing on the bank, lashed to trees and +covered with turf, so that they looked just like part of the land. The +rafts stretched a long way into the river, and the two furthest from the +bank were only tied lightly to the others, in order that their ropes +might be cut in a moment. By this means Hannibal felt that it would be +possible for the elephants to be led by their keepers as far as the +outermost rafts, when the ropes would be severed, and the floating +platform rowed towards the further shore. The elephants, seeing the +water all round them, would be seized with a panic, and either jump into +the river in their fright and swim by the side of the raft, guided by +their Indian riders, or else from sheer terror would remain where they +stood, trembling with fear. But though the rafts were to be built +without delay, the passage was on no account to be attempted till the +signal was given from Hannibal's camp. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile the Numidians on their way down the left bank of the Rhone had +nearly reached the Roman headquarters when they met the party of cavalry +whom Scipio, on his side, had sent out to reconnoitre. The two +detachments at once fell upon each other and fought fiercely, and then, +as Hannibal had directed, the Numidians retreated, drawing the Romans +after them, till they were in sight of the Carthaginian entrenchments. +Here the cavalry pulled up, and returned unpursued to Scipio with the +news that they had defeated the famous Numidian horsemen in a hot +skirmish, and that Hannibal was entrenched higher up the river. +Immediately Scipio broke up his camp and began his march northwards, +which was just what Hannibal wanted. + +But at sunrise that same morning the signal had been given for the +passage of the elephants, and the Carthaginians had started on their way +to the Alps, the heavy-armed infantry in front, with the cavalry in the +rear to protect them. Hannibal himself was determined not to stir till +the elephants were safely over, but everything fell out as he expected, +and the whole thirty-seven were soon safe beside him on dry land, +snorting and puffing with their trunks in the air. + +Then he followed his main body, and when Scipio, thirsting to give +battle to the enemy he felt sure of conquering, arrived at the spot +where three days before the Carthaginian army had been encamped, he +found it empty. + +[Illustration: Hannibal was determined not to stir until the elephants +were safely over.] + +Nothing is so necessary to the success of a campaign as having correct +maps and information about the country through which your army has to +pass. Hannibal, who thought of everything, had thought of this also, and +had paid native guides well to lead him to the nearest passes over the +Alps. For four days the Carthaginians marched along the Rhone, till they +reached the place where the river Isere flows into it. The Gallic chief +of the tribes settled in this part of Gaul, being at war with his +brother, was easily gained over by some assistance of Hannibal's in +securing his rights, and in return he furnished the Carthaginians with +stores from the rich lands he ruled, with new clothes and strong leather +sandals, and, more precious than all, with fresh weapons, for their own +had grown blunted and battered in many a grim fight since the soldiers +left Carthagena. + +At the foot of the pass leading over the Mont du Chat, or Cat Mountain, +in a lower range of the Alps, the chief bade them farewell, and returned +to his own dominions. It was then that Hannibal's real difficulties +began. His army consisted of many races, all different from each other, +with different customs and modes of warfare, worshippers of different +gods. There were Iberians from Spain, Libyans and Numidians from Africa, +Gauls from the south of France; but they one and all loved their +general, and trusted him completely, and followed blindly where he led. +Still, the plunge into those silent heights was a sore trial of their +faith, and in spite of themselves they trembled. + +As they began their climb they found the pass occupied by numbers of +Gallic tribes ready to hurl down rocks on their heads, or attack them at +unexpected places. Perceiving this, Hannibal called a halt, while his +native scouts stole away to discover the hiding-places of the enemy, +and, as far as possible, how they intended to make their assault. + +The guides came back bringing with them the important news that the +tribes never remained under arms during the night, but retired till +daylight to the nearest villages. Then Hannibal knew what to do. As soon +as it was dark he seized upon the vacant posts with his light-armed +troops, leaving the rest, and the train of animals, to follow at +sunrise. + + * * * * * + +When they returned and saw what had happened in their absence the Gallic +tribes were filled with rage, and lost no time in attacking the +baggage-horses, which were toiling painfully over the rough ground. The +animals, stung by their wounds, were thrown into confusion, and either +rolled down the precipice themselves or pushed others over. To save +worse disasters, Hannibal sounded a charge, and drove the Gauls out of +the pass, even succeeding in taking a town which was one of their +strongholds, and full of stores and horses. + +After a day's rest he started again, this time accompanied by some of +the enemy, who came with presents of cows and sheep, pretending to wish +for peace, and offered themselves as guides over the next pass. But +Hannibal feared them 'even when they bore gifts,' and did not put much +faith in their promises. He determined to keep a close watch on them, +but guides of some sort were necessary, and no others were to be had. +However, he made arrangements to guard as far as possible against their +treachery, placing his cavalry and baggage train in front, and his heavy +troops in the rear to protect them. + +The Carthaginian army had just entered a steep and narrow pass when the +Gauls, who had kept pace with them all the way, suddenly attacked them +with stones and rocks. Unlike their usual custom, they did not cease +their onslaughts, even during the dark hours, and did great harm; but at +sunrise they had vanished, and without much more trouble the +Carthaginians managed to reach the head of the pass, where for two days +the men and beasts, quite exhausted, rested amidst the bitter cold of +the November snows, so strange to many of the army, who had grown up +under burning suns and the sands of the desert. + + * * * * * + +Cold and tired though they were, hundreds of miles from their homes, one +and all answered to Hannibal's words, entreating them to put their trust +in him, and they should find ample reward for their sufferings in the +rich plains of Italy which could be seen far below them. + +'You are now climbing,' he said, 'not only the walls of Italy, but also +those of Rome. The worst is past, and the rest of the way lies downhill, +and will be smooth and easy to travel. We have but to fight one, or at +most two, battles, and Rome will be ours.' + +And so perhaps it might have been if Carthage had only supported the +greatest of her sons, and sent him help when he needed it so badly. + + * * * * * + +Hannibal was wrong when he told his soldiers that their difficulties +were over, for as all accustomed to mountain-climbing could have +informed him, it was much harder to go down the pass than it had been to +come up it. A fresh fall of snow had covered the narrow track, but +beneath it all was frozen hard and was very slippery. The snow hid many +holes in the ice or dangerous rocks, while landslips had carried away +large portions of the path. No wonder that men and beasts unused to such +ground staggered and fell and rolled down the sides of the precipice. At +length the path, barely passable before, grew narrower still; the army +halted, and an active, light-armed soldier offered to go forward, and +discover if the track became wider, and whether it was possible for even +the men to go on. But the further he went the worse matters seemed. For +some distance he managed, by clinging to a few small bushes which had +wedged themselves into clefts of the rock, to lower himself down the +side of the cliff, which was as steep as the wall of a house. Then he +found right in front of him a huge precipice nearly a thousand feet +deep, formed by a recent landslip, which entirely blocked what was once +a path. As long as this rock remained standing it was plain that no man, +still less an army, could get round it. + +[Illustration: He found right in front of him a huge precipice.] + +Climbing painfully back the way he had come, the soldier at once went +with his report to Hannibal, who instantly made up his mind what to do. +He carried supplies of some sort of explosive with him--what it was we +do not know--and with this he blew up the rocks in front till there was +a rough pathway through the face of the precipice. Then the soldiers +cleared away the stones, and after one day's hard work the oxen, bearing +the few stores left, and the half-starved, weary horses, were led +carefully along, and down into a lower valley, where patches of grass +could be seen, green amidst the wastes of snow. Here the beasts were +turned loose to find their own food, and a camp was pitched to protect +them. + +Still, though the path had proved wide enough for horses and oxen, it +was yet far too narrow for the elephants, and it took the Numidian +troops three more days to make it safe for the great creatures which had +struck such terror into the hearts of the mountain tribes. But weak as +they were, the skin hanging loose over their bones, they made no +resistance, and soon the whole army was marching towards the friendly +Gauls, in the valley of the Po. + +This was how in fifteen days Hannibal made the passage of the Little St. +Bernard five months after he had set out from Carthagena. But the +journey had been accomplished at a fearful cost, for of the fifty +thousand men whom he had led from the city there remained only eight +thousand Iberians or Spaniards, twelve thousand Libyans, and six +thousand cavalry, though, strange to say, not one elephant had been +lost. + +It was well indeed for the Carthaginians that Scipio was not awaiting +them at the foot of the Alps, but was making his way northwards from +Pisa to the strong fortress of Placentia on the Po. + + * * * * * + +Among the friendly Gallic tribe of the Insubres, to whom Hannibal was +united by the bond of hate of Rome, the troops rested and slept, and the +horses and elephants grew fat once more. The men had had no time to +think of themselves during those terrible weeks, and their health had +suffered from the bitter cold and the wet clothes, which were often +frozen on them. To add to this, their food had been as scanty as their +labour had been hard, for most of their stores lay buried under the +snows of the Alps. But in the rich, well-watered plains of Italy, 'the +country and the inhabitants being now less rugged,' as the historian +Livy tells us, they soon recovered their strength, and besieged and took +by assault the city of Turin, capital of the territory of the Taurini, +who were always at war with the Gallic allies of Hannibal. + +With two Roman armies so near at hand the Gauls did not dare to join him +in any great numbers, though they would gladly have flocked to his +standard. Rome itself was filled with consternation at the news that +Hannibal, whom they had expected to fight in Spain, was really in Italy, +and hastily recalled the troops intended for Carthage, which were still +at the Sicilian town of Lilybaeum. On receipt of the order, the general +Tiberius instantly sailed with part of the men for Rome, and ordered the +rest of the legions to proceed to Rimini on the Adriatic, bidding each +man swear that he would reach the city by bedtime on a certain day. + +If you look at the map and see the distance they had to go, you will be +amazed that they kept their oaths, and arrived at Rimini in four weeks, +marching daily sixteen miles. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile Scipio was encamped in Placentia, and Hannibal, who had no +time to lose in besieging such a strong position, was doing his best to +tempt his enemy into the plain, where his own cavalry could have room to +manoeuvre. But instead of remaining in Placentia, and allowing +Hannibal to wear himself out in waiting, the Roman general left the +town, crossed the Po, and advanced towards the river Ticino, where he +ordered his engineers to build a bridge. + +It was quite clear that with the two armies so near each other a battle +could not be long delayed, and both commanders took what measures they +thought necessary. + +The way which Hannibal took to 'encourage' his army, as the Greek +historian Polybius calls it, was rather a curious one, and reminds us of +the manner in which lessons were taught in some of the old Bible +stories. + +While crossing the Alps he had captured a number of young Gauls in the +very act of hurling rocks on the head of his army. Most commanders, both +in that age and for very long after, would have put them to death at +once, but Hannibal, unlike the Carthaginians, was never unnecessarily +cruel, though he put his prisoners in chains and took care they should +not escape. He now ordered these young men to be brought before him and +placed in the centre of his troops, which were drawn up all round. On +the ground near him lay some suits of armour, once worn by Gallic +chiefs, and a pile of swords, while horses were tethered close by. +Making a short speech, he then offered the young men a chance of saving +their lives with honour, or meeting an honourable death at each other's +hands. Would they take it, or would they rather remain prisoners? + +A shout of joy answered him. + +'Well, then,' said Hannibal, 'you will each of you draw lots which shall +fight with the other, and the victor of every pair shall be given +armour, a horse, and a sword, and be one of my soldiers.' + +Pressing eagerly forward towards the urns which held the lots, the +captives stopped to hold up their hands, as was their custom, praying to +their gods for victory. After the lots were all drawn, they took their +places, and under the eyes of the army the combat began. And when it was +finished, and half the fighters lay dead on the field, it was they, and +not the victors, who were envied by the soldiers, for having gloriously +ended the misery of their lives. For in the old world death was welcomed +as a friend, and seldom was a man found who dared to buy his life at the +cost of his disgrace. + +[Illustration: Under the eyes of the army the combat began.] + +'The struggle between the captives,' said Hannibal to his army, 'is an +emblem of the struggle between Carthage and Rome. The prize of the +victors will be the city of Rome, and to those who fall will belong the +crown of a painless death while fighting for their country. Let every +man come to the battlefield resolved, if he can, to conquer, and if not +to die.' + + * * * * * + +It was in this spirit that Hannibal trained his troops and led them to +battle. He never made light of the difficulties that lay before him, or +the dogged courage of the Romans, who rose up from every defeat with +a fresh determination to be victorious. One advantage they had over +Hannibal, and it could hardly be valued too highly. Though the councils +of the senate who sent forth the troops might be divided, though the +consuls who commanded them might be jealous of each other, yet the great +mass of the army consisted of one nation, who together had fought for +years under the eagles of Rome. + +Hannibal, on the other hand, had to deal with soldiers of a number of +different races, and his latest recruits, the Gauls, though eager and +courageous, could not be depended upon in battle. When to this is added +the fact that Hannibal was in a country which he did not know, among a +people who feared Rome even while they hated her, and would desert him +at the first sign of defeat; that he had to provide daily for the wants +of both men and animals, and that for sixteen years he remained in Italy +with a dwindling army, striking terror into the hearts of the bravest of +the Romans, you may have some little idea of the sort of man he was. + +Well may an historian say that the second Punic war was the struggle of +a great man against a great nation. Take away Hannibal, and the +Carthaginian forces were at the mercy of Rome. + +We have no space to describe the various battles in the valley of the +Po, in which Hannibal was always the victor. At the river Trebia he +defeated Scipio in December 218, by aid of the strategy which never +failed, till he taught his enemies how to employ it against himself. +Hannibal was a man who never left anything to chance, and whether his +generals were trusted to draw the enemy from a strong position into the +open field, or to decoy it into an ambuscade, everything was foreseen, +and as far as possible provided against. He took care that his troops +and his animals should go into action fresh, well-fed, and well-armed, +and more than once had the wounds of both horses and men washed with +old wine after a battle. That tired soldiers cannot fight was a truth he +never forgot or neglected. + +During the winter months following the victory of Trebia, Hannibal +pitched his camp in the territories of his Gallic allies, and busied +himself with making friendly advances to the Italian cities which had +been forced to acknowledge the headship of Rome. 'He had not come to +fight against them,' he said, 'but against Rome, on their behalf.' So +the Italian prisoners were set free without ransom, while the Roman +captives were kept in close confinement. He also sent out spies to +collect all the information they could as to the country through which +he had to travel. He was anxious, for other reasons, to break up his +camp as soon as he was able, as he saw signs that the Gauls were weary +and rather afraid of having him for a neighbour. + + * * * * * + +Therefore, in the spring of 217 B.C. he marched southwards, placing the +Spaniards and Libyans in front, with the baggage and stores behind them, +the Gauls, whom he never quite trusted, in the centre, and the Numidian +light horse and cavalry in the rear, under his brother Mago. There were +no elephants to be thought of now, for they had all died of cold after +the battle of Trebia. North of the Arno was a wide tract of marshland, +which had to be crossed before the Apennine mountains could be reached. +Never, during all his campaigns, did Hannibal's army have to undergo +such suffering. In many ways it was worse than the passage of the Alps, +for once in the midst of the morasses, swollen by the melting snows, it +was hardly possible to snatch a moment of sleep. Many of the oxen fell +and died, and when this happened the wearied men stretched themselves on +their still warm bodies, and closed their eyes for a short space. + +At length, after three nights and four days of incessant marching, till +the troops were nearly numb with cold, firm ground was reached, and for +a while they rested in peace on the hill of Fiesole, above the Arno. + +Here Hannibal formed his plans for the next campaign. He found out that +Flaminius the consul was a vain, self-confident man, with neither +experience nor skill in war. It would be easy, he thought, by laying +waste the rich country to the south, to draw the Roman general from his +camp at Arretium; and so it proved. Flaminius, greedy of glory he could +never gain, refused to listen to the advice of his officers and wait for +the arrival of the other consul, and set out in pursuit of Hannibal, who +felt that victory was once more in his hands. + +The place which Hannibal chose for his battle was close to lake +Thrasymene, a reedy basin in the mountains not far from the city of +Cortona. At this spot a narrow valley ran down to the lake, with lines +of hills on both sides, and a very steep mountain at the opposite end of +the lake. At the lake end the hills came so close together that there +was only a small track through which a few men could pass at a time. + +Making sure that his enemy was following in his footsteps, Hannibal +placed his steady heavy armed Spaniards and Libyans on the hill at the +end of the valley opposite the lake, in full view of anyone who might +approach them. His Balearic slingers and archers, and light-armed +troops, were hidden behind the rocks of the hills on the right, and the +Gauls and cavalry were posted in gorges on the left, close to the +entrance of the defile, but concealed by folds in the ground. Next day +Flaminius arrived at the lake, and, as Hannibal intended, perceived the +camp on the hill opposite. It was too late to attack that night, but the +next morning, in a thick mist, the consul gave orders for the advance +through the pass. Grimly smiling at the success of his scheme, Hannibal +waited till the Romans were quite close to him, and then gave the +signal for the assault from all three sides at once. + +Never in the whole of history was a rout more sudden and more complete. +Flaminius' army was enclosed in a basin, and in the thick fog could get +no idea from which direction the enemy was coming. The soldiers seemed +to have sprung right out of the earth, and to be attacking on every +quarter. All that the Romans could do was to fight, and fight they did +with desperation. But there was no one to lead them, for their generals, +like themselves, were bewildered, and Flaminius speedily met with the +fate his folly deserved. Fifteen thousand Romans fell that day in the +fierce battle, during which even an earthquake passed unheeded. +Multitudes were pushed back into the lake and were dragged down to the +bottom by the weight of their armour. Some fled to the hills and +surrendered on the promise of their lives being spared, and a few +thousands found their way back to Rome. + +The victory being won, Hannibal charged the soldiers to seek for the +body of Flaminius, so that he might give it honourable burial, by which +nations in ancient times set special store. But, search as they might, +they could not find it, nor was it ever known what became of him. Very +differently did the Roman general Nero behave eleven years later on the +banks of the Metaurus, when Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal, seeing that +the day was lost, rode straight into the ranks of the enemy. When he +fell, Nero, with savagery worthy of his namesake the emperor, cut off +the head of the Carthaginian and threw it into Hannibal's camp. + +[Illustration: Fifteen thousand Romans fell that day.] + +There was silence in Rome when bands of wounded and weary soldiers came +flying to the gates, bearing the news of this fresh disaster. Fifteen +thousand men slain, fifteen thousand men taken prisoners! Hardly a +family in Rome that was not stricken, and who could tell when the +banners of the Carthaginians might not be seen on the crests of the +hills? But as the troubles of life show the stuff of which men are made, +Romans were never so great as when their cause seemed hopeless. The city +was at once put in a state of defence, every boy and old man that could +bear arms was sent to the walls, the bridges over the Tiber were +destroyed, and the senate, putting aside the consuls, elected a +dictator, who for six months had absolute power over the whole state. + +The man who in this hour of sorest need was chosen to save the city was +Quintus Fabius, whose policy of 'waiting' has become a proverb even to +this day. He was already old, and was never a brilliant general, but, +like most Romans, possessed great common-sense. + +Alone among the senate he saw that there was no hope of conquering +Hannibal in a pitched battle. Rome had not then--and, except for Caesar, +never has had--a single general with a genius equal to his; but there +was one way, and one only, by which he might be vanquished, and that was +to leave him where he was, in the midst of a hostile country, till his +troops grew weary of expecting a battle which never was fought, and his +Gallic allies became tired of inaction and deserted him. + +Such was the plan of warfare which Fabius proposed, but his own +countrymen put many obstacles in the way of its success. Many times he +was called a coward for declining a battle which would certainly have +been a defeat; but he let such idle cries pass him by, and hung on +Hannibal's rear, keeping his soldiers, many of whom were raw and +untrained, under his own eye. In vain Hannibal drew up his men in order +of battle and tried by every kind of insult to induce Fabius to fight. +The old general was not to be provoked, and the enemy at length +understood this and retired to his camp. + + * * * * * + +Immediately after the battle of Thrasymene, Hannibal, knowing quite well +that he was not strong enough to attack Rome, had taken up his +headquarters on the shores of the Adriatic, so as to be at hand if +Philip of Macedon made a descent upon Italy, or Carthage sent the +reinforcements her general had so frequently asked for. But it was as +useless to trust to the promises of the one as to the patriotism of the +other, and having laid waste the country nearly as far south as +Tarentum, he suddenly crossed the Apennines to the plain on the western +sea, where he hoped to gain over some of the cities to his cause. In +this again he was doomed to disappointment, for the rich Campanian +towns, notably Capua, richest of all, held aloof till they knew for +certain who would be conqueror. + +In all Hannibal's campaigns nothing is more surprising than the way he +managed to elude his enemies, who were always close to him and always on +the look-out for him; yet he went wherever he wished. + + * * * * * + +Seeing that he could not hope for support in Campania, Hannibal +determined to carry off the stores and booty he had collected into a +safe place east of the Apennines, in order that his troops might be +well-fed during the winter. This Fabius learned through a spy, and, +knowing that there was only one pass through the mountains, sent a body +of four thousand men to occupy a position in ambush from which they +might fall upon the Carthaginians as they entered the gorge, while he +himself encamped with a large force on a hill near at hand. + +We can imagine the old dictator's satisfaction when he had completed his +arrangements for crushing the Carthaginians, and felt that _this_ time +he would put to silence the grumblings of the people in Rome. + +Fabius passed the day in preparing his plan of the attack which was to +take place on the morrow, perhaps now and then allowing his secret +thoughts to linger a little on the triumph awaiting him at Rome. But +that very night Hannibal ordered one of his generals to fell some trees +and split them into faggots, which were to be piled close to where two +thousand oxen were tethered outside the camp. The men wondered a little +what was going to happen, but did as they were bid, and then, by +Hannibal's directions, had supper and lay down to sleep. Very early in +the morning they were awakened by Hannibal himself, who bade them follow +him out of the camp and tie the faggots on to the horns of the oxen. +This was soon done, and then the faggots were kindled by a burning +torch, and the oxen were driven up a low ridge which stretched before +the pass. + +'Help the drivers get them on to the ridge,' he said to his light +troops, 'and then pass them, shouting and making all the noise you +can.' + +The march was conducted silently for some distance, but no sooner did +the soldiers break out into shrieks and yells than the oxen grew +frightened and wildly rushed hither and thither. The Romans in the +defile below heard the shouts and saw the bobbing lights, but could not +tell what they meant. Leaving their post, the whole four thousand +climbed the ridge, where they found the Carthaginians. But it was still +too dark for the Romans to see what these strange lights really were, so +they drew up on the ridge to wait till daybreak, by which time Hannibal +and most of his army were safe through the pass, when he sent back some +of his Spanish troops to help the force he had left behind him. The +troops speedily defeated the entire army of Fabius, who had now come up, +and then, joining Hannibal, pushed on to Apulia. + +[Illustration: The whole four thousand climbed the ridge.] + +A howl of rage rang through Rome at the news that they had once more +been outwitted, and all Fabius' wise generalship was forgotten in this +fresh defeat. Yet, had they stopped to think, the fault did not lie with +the dictator, whose plans had been well laid, but with the commander of +the troops in the pass, who, instead of sending out scouts to find out +the cause of the disturbance on the ridge, moved his whole body of men, +leaving the defile unguarded. Perhaps Hannibal, in arranging the +surprise, had known something of the commander and what to expect of +him; or he may merely have counted--as he had often done before--on the +effects of curiosity. But time after time he traded on the weakness of +man, and always succeeded. + + * * * * * + +It was in June 216 B.C. that Hannibal gained his last great battle in +Italy. He had remained for many months near the river Ofanto, which runs +into the Adriatic, but in the beginning of summer he threw himself into +the town of Cannae, used by the Romans as a storehouse for that part of +Italy. + +A Roman army of ninety thousand men amply supplied was coming swiftly to +meet him along the splendid roads, and he had only fifty thousand to +cope with them, the greater number being Gauls, and not to be depended +on. Of the original troops that he had brought from Spain, many were +dead, but he was able to muster ten thousand cavalry, mostly consisting +of the Numidian horse, and in this respect he was superior to the +Romans. There was also to be reckoned to his advantage the fact that the +two consuls, Varro and Paulus, hated each other bitterly, and that +neither of them had any instinct of command, though Paulus was a capable +soldier and a brave man. + +There was a custom among the Romans, dating back from ancient days, that +when the two consuls were serving on the same campaign, each should +command on alternate days. It seems strange that such a very practical +nation should have made such a foolish law, but so it was; and on this +occasion it once more led, as it was bound to do, to an utter defeat. +Hannibal played his usual game of sending Numidians across the river to +insult and tease his enemy, till at length Varro exclaimed in wrath that +the next day the command would be his, and that he would give the +Carthaginians battle and teach them something of the majesty of Rome. + +In vain the wiser Paulus, who had followed the counsels of Fabius, +reasoned and protested. Varro would listen to nothing, and orders were +given to the army to be ready on the morrow for the attack. + +The day before the battle Hannibal spent 'in putting the bodies of his +troops into a fit state to fight,' as the historian tells us--that is, +he made them rest and sleep, and prepare plenty of food for their +breakfast. Early next morning the Romans began to cross the river, which +took several hours, thus leaving their strong camp on the southern bank +with only a small force to defend it, and took up their position in the +plains, where Hannibal's cavalry had ample room to manoeuvre. And, to +make matters worse, the consul formed his men into such close columns +that they could not avoid being hampered by each other's movements. + + * * * * * + +The two armies when facing each other in order of battle must have +presented a curious contrast. The Roman legions and their allies, +amounting in all to seventy-six thousand men, wore helmets and cuirasses +and carried swords and short throwing-spears. In front, the Carthaginian +troops looked a mere motley crowd, so various were the dress and weapons +of the different nations. It is true that the black-skinned Libyans +might at first sight have been taken for deserters from the Roman camp, +as they, like their enemies, were clad in the same armour and bore the +same arms, the spoils of many a victory; and the young men of the +legions trembled with rage as they beheld the glittering line, and +thought of what it betokened. But the Gauls were almost naked, and their +swords, unlike those of the Romans, could only cut, and were useless for +thrusting, while the Spanish troops were clothed in a uniform of short +linen tunics striped with purple. In the van, or front of the army, were +the small remainder of the contingent from the Balearic Isles, with +their slings and bows. + +In spite of the faults committed by Varro in placing his troops, +Hannibal's lines were once broken by the heavy-armed Roman soldiers, +while the cavalry on the wing by the river were fighting in such deadly +earnest that they leaped from their horses and closed man to man. But at +Cannae, as at Trebia, the honours of the day fell to the Numidians and to +the Spanish and Gallic horse commanded by Hasdrubal. The Romans had been +again routed by an army weaker by thirty thousand men than their own; +the consul Paulus, and Servilius and Atilius, consuls of the year +before, were all dead: only Varro saved his life by a disgraceful +flight. + + * * * * * + +Still Hannibal did not march to Rome, as the senate expected. Though the +battle of Cannae decided the wavering minds of those who had been waiting +to see on which side lay the victory; though the southern half of Italy +and many cities of Campania were now anxious to throw in their lot with +him; though Philip of Macedon promised once more to send ships and men +to his support, and thousands of Gauls swarmed into his camp, the army +on which he could actually rely was too small to besiege the city with +any chance of success. He did, indeed, send ambassadors to Rome, with +powers to treat for the ransoming of some Roman prisoners, but as before +in the case of the Gauls, the envoys were not even given a hearing by +the senate. + +Till he got reinforcements from Carthage, Hannibal felt he must remain +where he was; but surely she would delay no longer when she knew that +the moment for which Hannibal was waiting had come, and his allies were +ready. So he sent his brother Mago to tell the story of his triumphs and +his needs to the Carthaginian senate, never doubting that a few weeks +would see the tall-prowed ships sailing up the coast of the Tyrrhene +sea, where he now had his headquarters. He did not reckon on the +jealousy of his success which filled the breasts of the rulers of his +country, a jealousy which even self-interest was unable to overcome. +From the first he had borne their burden alone, and owing to the +treachery and baseness of his own nation in the end it proved too heavy +for his shoulders. + + * * * * * + +Soon Hannibal began to understand that he would get help from no one, +and from Carthage least of all, and the knowledge was very bitter. The +Romans had gathered together a fresh army of eighty or ninety thousand +men, and had armed a large number of their slaves, offering them +freedom. Any check, however slight, to the Carthaginian army was the +cause of joy and thankfulness in Rome, for, as Livy says, 'not to be +conquered by Hannibal then was more difficult than to vanquish him +afterwards.' + +In spite of Thrasymene and Cannae things were now changed, and it was +Hannibal who was on the defensive. The Romans had learned their lesson, +and the legions always lying at the heels of Hannibal's army were +commanded by experienced generals, who adopted the policy of Fabius and +were careful never to risk a battle. + +Thus three years passed away, and Carthage, absorbed in the difficult +task of keeping Spain, from which she drew so much of her wealth, in her +hands, sent thither all the troops she could muster to meet the Romans, +who were gradually gaining ground in the peninsula. + +In Italy the war was shifting to the south, and about 213 B.C. Hannibal +was besieged in the town of Tarentum by a Roman fleet which had blocked +the entrance to the gulf on which the city was situated. The alarm in +Tarentum was great; escape seemed impossible; but Hannibal ordered +boards to be placed in the night across a little spit of land that lay +between the gulf and the open sea. When darkness fell, the boards were +greased, and ox-hides stretched tightly over them. Then one by one the +imprisoned Tarentine fleet was dragged along the boards and launched on +the other side, and when all the ships were afloat, they formed in a +line and attacked the Roman vessels, which were soon sunk or destroyed. + +It was deeds such as these which showed the power Hannibal still +possessed, and kept alive the Roman dread of him; yet he himself knew +that the triumph of Rome was only a work of time, and that the kingdom +of Carthage was slipping from her. + +In Sicily, which had once been hers, and even now contained many towns +which were her allies, a strong Roman party had arisen. Syracuse in the +south was besieged by Appius Claudius by land and by Marcellus by sea, +and its defence is one of the most famous in history. The Greek +engineer, Archimedes, invented all sorts of strange devices new to the +ancient world. He made narrow slits in the walls, and behind them he +placed archers who could shoot through with deadly aim, while they +themselves were untouched. He taught the smiths in the city how to make +grappling irons, which were shot forth from the ramparts and seized the +prows of the ships. By pressing a lever the vessels were slowly raised +till they stood nearly upright, when the grapplers were opened, and the +ships fell back with a splash that generally upset the crew into the +sea, or were filled with water and sunk to the bottom. Of course you +must remember that these were not great vessels with four masts like our +old East Indiamen, but were long, high boats, worked by banks of oars, +the shortest row being, of course, the lowest, nearest the water. + +After a while the Romans got so frightened, not knowing what Archimedes +might do next, that they thought every end of loose rope that was lying +about hid some machine for their destruction. For a long while the +engineer kept the enemy at bay, but in the end the power of Rome +conquered; the beautiful marble palaces were ruined, and the paintings +and statues which had been the glory of Syracuse were carried to Rome. + + * * * * * + +Just at this time news from Spain became more and more gloomy for the +Carthaginians. The young Scipio, who had saved his father's life nine +years before at the battle of the Ticinus, was, at the age of +twenty-six, made commander-in-chief in the peninsula. Though never a +great soldier, Scipio was a good statesman, and had the gift of winning +men to his side. Multitudes of natives flocked to his standard, and many +important places fell into his hands; and in his hour of victory he was +merciful, and caused his captives as little suffering as possible. In +the words of the people themselves, 'he had conquered by kindness.' + +Seeing that for the time, at any rate, all was lost in Spain, Hasdrubal +set out with an army to join his brother Hannibal. In Auvergne, in the +centre of Gaul, where he spent the winter, large numbers of Gallic +tribes joined him, and in the spring he crossed the Alps by the same +pass as Hannibal. But the difficulties of nine years earlier were now +absent, for the mountaineers understood at last that no evil to them was +intended, and let the Carthaginian army climb the defile without +attempting to hurt them. Traces of Hannibal's roads remained everywhere, +and thus the troops, consisting perhaps of sixty thousand men, marched +easily along and descended into the plains of the Po. But it was all +useless; before Hasdrubal could join Hannibal, who was still in Apulia, +the consul Nero, encamped near by at the head of a considerable force, +made prisoners some messengers sent by the general to his brother. + +Instantly taking steps to have the roads to the north watched by armies, +Nero set off at night with a picked detachment to meet the consul Livius +on the coast of the Adriatic, south of the river Metaurus. Night and day +his men marched, eating as they went food brought them by the peasants. +In less than ten days they had gone two hundred miles, and entered the +camp of Livius by night, so that the Carthaginian general might know +nothing of their arrival. Next morning Nero insisted, against the +opinion of the other generals, that battle should be given immediately, +as he must return and meet Hannibal at once. In vain they protested that +his troops were too tired to fight; he shut his ears, the signal was +sounded, and the army drawn up. + + * * * * * + +The Carthaginians had already taken their places at the time that the +Romans began to form, when Hasdrubal, riding down his lines to make sure +that everything was done according to his orders, noticed that among the +enemy's array clad in shining armour were a band with rusty shields, and +a bevy of horses which looked lean and ill-groomed. Glancing from the +horses to their riders, he saw that their skins were brown with the sun +of the south and their faces weary. No more was needed to tell him that +reinforcements had come, and that it would be madness to risk a fight. +He could do nothing during the day, but as soon as the night came he +silently broke up his camp and started for the river Metaurus, hoping to +put it between him and the Romans; but it was too late. + +Had the Carthaginian army only consisted of old and well-seasoned troops +all might have gone well with it; but the large body of Gauls were +totally untrained, and in their disappointment at not being allowed to +give battle, seized on all the drink in the camp, and fell along the +roadside quite unable to move. Before Hasdrubal could get his vanguard +across the Romans were close upon him, and there was nothing left for +him to do but to post his men as strongly as he could. + +For hours they fought, and none could tell with whom the victory would +lie: then a charge by Nero decided it. When the day was hopelessly lost, +Hasdrubal, who had always been in the fiercest of the struggle, cheering +and rallying his men, rode straight at the enemy, and died fighting. +Thus ended the battle of the Metaurus, the first pitched battle the +Romans had ever gained over the Carthaginian army. + +The next night Nero set off again for Apulia, bearing with him the head +of Hasdrubal, which, as we have said, he caused to be flung into +Hannibal's tent, staining for ever the laurels he had won. + + * * * * * + +With the triumph of Nero, and his reception in the Rome which he had +delivered, dates the last act of the second Punic war. At the news of +his brother's defeat, which was a great blow to him, Hannibal retreated +into the most southern province of Italy. His troops, whose love and +loyalty never wavered, were largely composed of foreign levies, and had +not the steadiness and training of his old Libyans and Spaniards. Never +for one moment did he think of abandoning his post till his country +called him, yet his quick eye could not fail to read the signs of the +times. The Roman senate was no longer absorbed by the thought of war. +Relieved by Nero's victory from the crushing dread which for so long had +weighed it down, it was taking measures to encourage agriculture and to +rebuild villages, to help the poor who had been ruined during these +years of strife, to _blot out_, he felt, the traces of the victories he +had won. And he had to watch it all and to know himself powerless, +though he still defied Rome for three years longer, and knew that she +still feared _him_. + + * * * * * + +It was in the year 204 B.C. that Scipio entreated the senate to allow +him to carry the war into Africa, which he had already visited, and +where he had already made many important allies, among them the famous +Numidian Massinissa, whom he promised to make king over his tribe. +Fabius, now ninety, declared it was folly to take an army to Africa +while Hannibal remained in Italy, and a large party agreed with him. The +people, however, who had absolute trust in the young general, insisted +that he should have his way; and after a long and fierce debate, the +senate with almost inconceivable foolishness consented that Scipio +should sail for Carthage, as he so much desired it, but that he must do +so at the head of no more than thirty thousand or forty thousand men. + +That so practical and sensible a nation should not have remembered the +lesson of the defeat of Regulus, and have known the dangers which must +be run by a small army in a foreign land, is truly surprising, and had +Massinissa, with his priceless Numidian horse, not joined the Romans, +Scipio's army would more than once have been almost certainly cut to +pieces. + + * * * * * + +When it became known that Scipio had landed and was besieging the old +town of Utica, the rich and pleasure-loving citizens of Carthage were +filled with despair. But this did not last long, for one of the leading +men of the city, called Hanno, collected a small force, while Hasdrubal +Gisco and Syphax the Numidian raised another, and between them both +Scipio was forced to retreat. If only Hannibal had been there----But +Hannibal was still in Italy, and no tidings of the struggle had reached +him. + +Winter had now set in, and though it was only the mild winter of North +Africa, Scipio entrenched himself securely on rising ground, and +Hasdrubal Gisco with Syphax made their camps close by. The +Carthaginians, who had several times been defeated, now wished to make +peace, and Syphax, whom the Roman general was most anxious to gain over +to his side, was the messenger chosen. While discussing the terms, +Scipio suddenly learned that the Carthaginian and Numidian huts were +built solely of wood and reeds, covered with hastily woven +mats--materials which they had gathered from the woods and streams close +by. + +'A spark would set them on fire, and _how_ they would burn,' said the +general to himself, and the evil thought took root, till one night +orders were given to surround the camps stealthily and put flaming +torches against the walls. In a few minutes the country round was +lighted up with a fierce blaze, and the Carthaginians, wakened from +their sleep and not knowing what was happening, were cut down on all +sides before they could defend themselves. This piece of wicked +treachery may be said to have turned the scales in favour of Rome. A +battle followed in a place called 'the great plains,' when Hasdrubal was +beaten and Syphax soon after fell into the hands of the enemy. The +Numidian chief was sent to Rome, and Sophonisba, his wife, took poison +rather than bear the humiliation of walking behind the triumphal car of +the Roman victor. + + * * * * * + +Massinissa obtained the reward promised for his help--or his +treason--and was made king of Numidia. Again Scipio offered peace, and +the terms he proposed were as good as Carthage had any right to expect; +but, favourable as they were, a few citizens were left to reject them +with scorn. The fastest ship in the Carthaginian navy was sent to Italy +to summon Hannibal from Bruttium and Mago from Milan. When the message +arrived, Mago was already dead, but his troops embarked immediately and +joined Hannibal and his twenty-five thousand men who had landed in +Africa. + +It was in this way that Hannibal came back to his native city, after an +absence of thirty-six years. When he had last seen it he had been a boy +of nine, and the events that had since happened crowded into his memory. + +Notwithstanding his recent defeats, he had 'left a name at which the +world grew pale,' and during the sixteen years he had spent in Italy +none had dared to molest him. Single-handed he had fought; was it +possible that at last his hour of triumph was at hand? + + * * * * * + +Now that Hannibal, whom they had deserted and betrayed, was really in +Africa the weak and foolish citizens of Carthage sent orders to him to +fight without delay. For answer he bade the messengers 'confine their +attention to other matters, and leave such things to him, for he would +choose for himself the time of fighting,' and without more ado he began +collecting a number of elephants and all the Numidian horse that had not +gone over to Rome with Massinissa. + +He was labouring night and day at this task when again his plans were +spoilt by some citizens of Carthage, who broke the truce which had been +made by seizing some Roman ships. Scipio lost no time in avenging +himself by burning all the towns and villages on the plain, and +occupying the passes on a range of mountains where Hannibal had hoped to +take up his position. Baulked in this project, Hannibal sent to Scipio +to beg for an interview, and tried to obtain for Carthage better terms +than the Roman was inclined to grant. + +'You have broken the truce by capturing the vessel containing the Roman +envoys,' he said, 'and now you and your country must throw yourselves on +our mercy, or else conquer us.' + + * * * * * + +So the armies drew up opposite each other on the field of Zama, on the +bright spring morning of 202 B.C. which was to decide whether +Carthaginians or Romans were to be masters of the world. Hannibal had +about five thousand men more than his enemy, but he was weak in cavalry, +and the eighty elephants which he had placed in front were young and +untrained. The cavalry of the Romans was under the command of Massinissa +and of Laelius, friend of the historian Polybius, and it was this strong +body of Numidian horse which ultimately turned the fate of the day. As +for the elephants, the sound of the Roman trumpets frightened them +before the battle had begun, and threw them into confusion. They charged +right into the middle of the Carthaginian cavalry, followed by +Massinissa and by Laelius, who succeeded in breaking the ranks of the +horse and putting them to flight. For a moment it seemed as if the heavy +armed foreign troops which Hannibal then brought up would prevail +against the Roman legions, but at length they were forced back on to +their own lines, which took them for deserters. + +With a cry of 'Treachery!' the foreign soldiers fell on the +Carthaginians, and fighting hard they retreated on Hannibal's reserve, +the well-trained Italians. + + * * * * * + +At this point there was a pause, and both commanders made use of it to +re-form their armies. Then the battle began afresh, and the generals +left their posts and fought for hours in the ranks of the common +soldiers. At last the cavalry returned from pursuit and threw itself on +the rear of the Carthaginians. This time they gave way, and Hannibal, +seeing that the battle was lost, quitted the field, in the hope that +somehow or other he might still save his country from destruction. + +How bitter, in after years, must have been his regret that he had not +died fighting among his men at Zama! + + * * * * * + +Though Hannibal and the Romans hated each other so much, they were alike +in many respects, and in nothing more than in the way that no defeat +ever depressed them or found them without some plan to turn it into +victory. In truth, in spite of his love for his country, which was +dearer to him than wife or child, Hannibal was far, far more of a Roman +than a Carthaginian. + + * * * * * + +Peace was made, and, as was inevitable, the terms were less favourable +than when the fate of both countries hung in the balance. Naturally, the +Carthaginians threw the blame on Hannibal, and naturally also, being +filled with the meanest qualities that belong to mankind, when they +found that all was in confusion and no one knew where to turn, they sent +for the man they had abandoned and abused, and bade him set them on +their feet again. In a moment all the wrongs he had suffered at their +hands were forgotten; he accepted the position of dictator or _suffete_, +he caused more humane laws to be passed, and not only saved the people +from ruin and enabled the merchants again to sell their goods, but paid +the large sum demanded as a war indemnity by Rome within the year. + +Having done what no other man in Carthage, probably no other man in his +age, could possibly have done, it is needless to remark that his +fellow-citizens grew jealous of him, and listened without anger to +Rome's demand for his surrender, made, it is just to say, in spite of +the indignation of Scipio. To save himself from the people for whom he +had 'done and dared' everything he escaped by night, leaving a sentence +of banishment to be passed on him and the palace of his fathers to be +wrecked. Perhaps--who knows?--he may have wished to save his country +from the crowning shame of giving him up to walk by the chariot wheels +in the triumph of Scipio Africanus. + + * * * * * + +The remaining years of his life--nearly twenty-five, it is said--are so +sad that one can hardly bear to write about them. The first place at +which he sought refuge was at Ephesus, with Antiochus the Great, lord, +at least in name, of a vast number of mixed races from Asia Minor to the +river Oxus. Here, still keeping in mind the master passion of his life, +he tried to induce Antiochus to form a league by which Rome could be +attacked on all sides. But the king, who had little in him of greatness +but his name, made war before his preparations were half finished, and +gave the chief commands to incapable men, leaving Hannibal to obey +orders instead of issuing them. One by one the allies forsook the king +and joined Rome--even Carthage sending help to the Roman fleet. In 196 +B.C. the battle of Magnesia put an end to the war, and the dominions of +Antiochus became a Roman province. + +Once more the surrender of Hannibal was made one of the terms of the +treaty, and once more he escaped and spent some time first in Crete, and +then in Armenia, and finally, for the last time, returned to Asia Minor +on the invitation of Prusias, king of Bithynia. + + * * * * * + +The hearty welcome of Prusias gave Hannibal a feeling of pleasure and +rest that he had not known for long; but he was never destined to be at +peace, and soon after a Roman envoy arrived at the palace of Prusias and +demanded that the enemy of Rome should instantly be given up. To a brave +soldier like Flaminius the mission was highly distasteful, which is +another proof, if one were wanted, how great even in his downfall was +the dread the Carthaginian inspired. 'Italy will never be without war +while Hannibal lives!' had been the cry long, long ago, and it still +rang proudly in his ears. He knew, and had always known, that his life +would end by his own hand, and most likely he was not sorry that the +moment had come. + +'Let me release the Romans from their anxiety, since they cannot wait +for the death of one old man,' he said, when he heard that soldiers had +surrounded his house, and drawing from his tunic some poison that he +carried, he swallowed it and fell back dead. He had escaped at last. + +[Illustration: 'Let me release the Romans from their anxiety,' he said.] + +His last words had told truly the story of his life. It was the one old +man who had held at bay the whole of the great nation. + + * * * * * + +On reading the tale of his steadfastness, his unselfishness, his +goodness to his soldiers, and the base ingratitude and wickedness with +which his countrymen treated him, more than ever do we instinctively +long that the lost cause had proved the winning one, and again and again +we have to remind ourselves of the terrible evil it would have been to +the world if Carthage had overcome Rome. For Carthage was possessed of +almost every bad quality which could work ill to the human race. Greed +for money was her passion, and in order to obtain wealth she proved +herself fickle, short-sighted, lawless, and boundlessly cruel. The +government of Rome, which the Eternal City handed on to the countries +she conquered, was founded not only on law, but on common-sense. +Considering the customs of the world during the thousand years of her +greatest glory, she was seldom cruel, and her people were ready at all +times to sacrifice themselves for the good of the state. + +So it was well for us now and here that Hannibal was overthrown at Zama, +and was banished from Carthage; yet our hearts will always cry out with +Othello, 'Oh, the pity of it!' + + + + +THE APOSTLE OF THE LEPERS + + +No one can travel through the countries of the East or sail about the +lovely islands of the South Seas without constantly seeing before him +men and women dying of the most terrible of all diseases--leprosy. The +poor victims are cast out from their homes, and those who have loved +them most, shrink from them with the greatest horror, for one touch of +their bodies or their clothes might cause the wife or child to share +their doom. Special laws are made for them, special villages are set +apart for them, and in old times as they walked they were bound to utter +the warning cry, + +'Room for the leper! Room!' + +From time to time efforts have been made to help these unfortunate +beings, and over two hundred years ago a beautiful island in the AEgean +Sea, called Leros, was set apart for them, and a band of nuns opened a +hospital or lazar-house, as it was called, to do what they could to +lessen their sufferings, and sooner or later to share their fate. +Nobody, except perhaps the nuns' own relations, thought much about +them--people in those days considered illness and madness to be shameful +things, and best out of sight. The world was busy with discoveries of +new countries and with wars of conquest or religion, and those who had +no strength for the march fell by the wayside, and were left there. +Nowadays it is a little different; there are more good Samaritans and +fewer Levites; the wounded men are not only picked up on the road, but +sought out in their own homes, and are taken to hospitals, where they +are tended free of cost. + +It is the story of a man in our own times, who gave himself up to the +saddest of lives and the most lonely of deaths, that I am now going to +tell you. + +On a cold day in January 1841 a little boy was born in the city of +Louvain, in Belgium, to Monsieur and Madame Damien de Veuster. He had +already a brother a few years older, and for some time the children grew +up together, the younger in all ways looking up to the elder, who seemed +to know so much about everything. We have no idea what sort of lives +they led, but their mother was a good woman, who often went to the big +church in the town, and no doubt took her sons with her, and taught them +that it was nobler and better to serve Christ by helping others and +giving up their own wills than to strive for riches or honours. Their +father, too, bade them learn to endure hardness and to bear without +complaints whatever might befall them. And the boys listened to his +counsel with serious faces, though they could be merry enough at times. + +The lessons of their early years bore fruit, and one day the elder boy +informed his parents that he wished to become a priest. It was what both +father and mother had expected, and most likely hoped, and they at once +agreed to his desire. Arrangements were soon made for his entering a +training college, where he would have to live until he was old enough to +be ordained. + +Joseph, the younger, missed his brother greatly. He loved his father and +mother dearly, but they seemed far too old to share the thoughts and +dreams which came to him in the night-time, or during the quiet moments +that he passed in church. Yet, from what we know of his after-life, we +may be quite certain that he was no mere dreamer, standing aloof from +his fellows. He was fond of carpentering and building; he watched with +interest while the workmen were laying down the pipes which were to +carry the water from the river to some dry field; he noted how the +doctor bound up wounds and treated sores; and indeed no sort of +knowledge that a man may gather in his everyday existence came amiss to +young Damien. As to what he would do when he was a man, he said nothing, +and his parents said nothing either. + +On January 3, 1860, Joseph was nineteen, and Monsieur Damien proposed to +take him as a birthday treat to see his brother, and to leave the two +together while he went to the town on some business. It was a long time +since they had met, and there was much to ask and hear. We do not know +exactly what took place, but when Monsieur Damien returned to fetch +Joseph, his son told him that he had made up his mind to follow in his +brother's steps, and to be a priest also. + +Monsieur Damien was not surprised; he had long seen whither things were +tending. He would perhaps have liked to keep one son with him, but +Joseph was old enough to judge for himself and he did not intend to make +any objection. Still, he was hardly prepared for the boy's announcement +that farewells were always painful, and that he thought he would best +spare his mother by remaining where he was until she had grown +accustomed to doing without him. Then he would beg permission to come to +see her for the last time before he became a priest. + +Very reluctantly Monsieur Damien gave his consent to this plan. He tried +in vain to induce Joseph to think it over and to go back with him; but +the young man was firm, and at length the father took leave of both his +sons, and with a heavy heart returned home to break the news to his +wife. + +In this way Joseph Damien set about the work which was by and by to make +his name so famous, though to that he never gave a thought. He does not +seem to have dreamed dreams of greatness, like so many boys, or of +adventures of which he was always the hero. As far as we can guess, +Joseph Damien just did the thing that came next and lay ready to his +hand, and thus fitted himself unconsciously for what was greater and +better. Just now he had to study hard, and as soon as his father had +written to say that neither he nor his mother wished to hold back their +son from the life he had chosen, Joseph entered the same college where +his brother had received his training for the priesthood. + + * * * * * + +For some time--we do not know if it was years or only months--Joseph +studied hard, hoping that the harder he worked the sooner he would be +ready to go forth on 'active service' against the sin and misery of the +world. His brother's plans were already formed. He was to make one of a +band of priests starting for the islands in the South Seas, which more +than forty years before had been visited by a band of American +missionaries. + +It was a strange state of things that prevailed in the lovely group of +the Sandwich Islands when the missionaries arrived there. The isles had +been discovered during the eighteenth century by Captain Cook, but from +the white men, chiefly merchants and traders, who followed him the +natives learned nothing but evil, and fell victims to horrible diseases +hitherto unknown there. To the Americans, who had left snow and ice +behind them, the islands of Hawaii--to use their native name--appeared +fairyland itself. Though the sun beat fiercely on them, cool streams +rushed down the mountain-side, and in the great forests there was +silence as well as darkness. Here the trees were bound together by ropes +of flowery creepers, while outside, in the light and air, were groves of +towering cocoa palms, standing with their roots almost in the water, and +sheltering the huts, which could hardly be seen for the huge clusters +of heliotropes, roses, and lilies that overshadowed them. But the sea! +the sea! it was there that the greatest marvels were to be found! +Fishes, orange, blue and scarlet; corals, seaweeds of every colour, +creatures of every form and shape, whose names no white man knew. +Afterwards, the missionaries learned that volcanoes were scattered over +the islands, some extinct and only showing wide black mouths, others +still blazing and throwing up jets of burning lava, which even in the +sunshine take on a scarlet hue, and in the night gleam a yellowish +white. Besides these wonders, there were also the curious customs of the +people to be studied; and it was very necessary to know these, or a man +might break the law and incur the penalty of death without having the +slightest idea that he was doing any harm. For instance, he might go to +pay a friendly visit to a chief, on whom the shadow of the visitor might +fall; he might lose his way, and seeing a hut surrounded by a palisade +would hasten to ask the shortest road to his tent, not guessing that he +was entering the sacred home of a chieftain. If he offered a tired child +a drink of cocoa-nut milk or a ripe banana, and she took it, he had +brought about her death as certainly as if he had put the rope round her +neck. But shortly before the arrival of the Americans a great king had +abolished these iron rules, though no doubt they still lingered in +out-of-the-way places. + +The reigning monarch, son of the late king, was bathing in the +marvellous blue sea with his five wives when a messenger brought him +word that the white strangers had landed. Full of politeness, like all +the islanders, the king at once hastened to greet them, followed by the +ladies. The missionaries felt a little awkward, which was foolish, as +the Hawaiians seldom wore clothes, being more comfortable without them; +but the king noticed that his guests were ill at ease, and determined +that he would be careful not to hurt their feelings again. So when they +had taken leave of him, he sent for one of his servants and bade him +seek for some clothes belonging to a trader who had died in the palace. +A pair of silk stockings was found and a tall and curly brimmed hat, +such as in pictures you may see the duke of Wellington wearing after the +battle of Waterloo. The king smiled and nodded, and the very next +afternoon he put on the hat and the stockings, and highly pleased with +himself set out to call upon his visitors. The missionary whose tent he +entered was sitting inside with his wife, having just put up in one +corner a bed which they had brought with them. They were so amazed at +the sight of this strange figure that they stood silently staring; but +when, in the act of greeting them, Liholiho's glance fell upon the bed, +he completely forgot the object of his visit. 'What a delicious +soft-looking thing, to be sure!' he said to himself, and with a spring +he landed upon the bed, and jumped up and down, while the tall hat +rolled away and settled in a corner. + +Like many people, when once he had begun to imitate the customs of other +nations, king Liholiho was very particular in seeing that he was not put +to shame by his own family. The missionary's wife wore clothes, and it +was necessary, therefore, that his own ladies should not go uncovered; +so orders were given accordingly, and when the white lady came to pay +her respects at the palace--a somewhat larger hut than the rest--she +found the brown ladies sitting up in great state to receive her, one of +the widows of the late king being dressed in a garment made of seventy +thicknesses of bark from the trees. + + * * * * * + +Such were the islands to which Joseph's elder brother longed to go. His +own Church had sent out missionaries over twenty years before, who had +now written home appealing for helpers. He had given in his name among +the first, and had been accepted, when he was suddenly stricken with +fever, and forbidden by the doctor to think of carrying out his plan. In +vain did he argue and entreat; the doctor was firm. 'You would be a +hindrance, and not a help,' he said, and in a paroxysm of grief the +young man hid himself among the bedclothes, where Joseph found him. + +'Yes, the doctor is right; you cannot go,' sighed the boy, when his +brother had poured out the tale of his disappointment. 'You might get +the fever again, you know, and only strong men are wanted there. But let +_me_ go instead; I dare say I shall not do as well, but, at any rate, I +will do my best.' + + * * * * * + +Now there was a strict rule in the college that no student should post a +letter without the superior having first read it. Joseph knew this as +well as anyone, but was far too excited and too much afraid of what the +superior might say to pay any attention to it. So he wrote secretly to +the authorities who were preparing to send out the missionaries, and +begged earnestly that he might be allowed to take his brother's place, +although he had not yet passed the usual examinations for the +priesthood. Perhaps candidates for the South Sea Islands were not very +plentiful just then, or there may have been something uncommon about +Joseph's letter. At all events he was accepted, and when the news was +told him by the superior he could not contain his delight, but rushed +out of doors, running and jumping in a manner that would have greatly +astonished his bishop, could he have seen it. + + * * * * * + +For several years he worked hard among the islands making friends with +the people, to whom he soon was able to talk in their own language. The +young priest knew something about medicine, and could often give them +simple remedies, so that they learned to look up to him, and were +willing to listen to his teaching of Christianity. He was sociable and +pleasant, and always ready to help in any way he could, and he was +welcomed by many whose religious views differed from his own. Of course +he had not been long there without finding out that the disease of +leprosy was terribly common, and that the Government had set apart the +island of Molokai as a home for the lepers, in order to prevent the +spread of the disease; but the work given him to do lay in other +directions, and in spite of the intense pity he felt for these poor +outcasts he did not take any part in actual relief. + +In the year 1873 Father Damien happened to be sent to the island of +Maui, where the great volcano has burnt itself out, and while he was +there the bishop came over to consecrate a chapel which had just been +built. In his sermon he spoke of the sad condition of the colony at +Molokai, and how greatly he wished to spare them a priest who would +devote himself entirely to them. But there was much to do elsewhere, and +it was only occasionally that one could go even on a visit. Besides, +added the bishop, life in Molokai meant a horrible death in a few years +at latest, and he could not take upon himself to send any man to that. + +Father Damien heard, and a rush of enthusiasm came over him. He had done +the work which he had been given faithfully and without murmuring, and +now something higher and more difficult was offered. Without a moment's +hesitation he turned to the bishop, his face glowing as it had done more +than ten years before, when the letter which had decided his career had +come to him. + +'Some fresh priests have arrived at Hawaii,' he said; 'they can take my +place. Let _me_ go to Molokai.' + +And he went, without losing an hour, for a cattle-boat was sailing that +very day for the island of the outcasts. + + * * * * * + +Every Monday a small steamer left Honolulu for Molokai, bearing any +fresh cases of leprosy that had broken out since the departure of the +last boat. On the shore were the friends and relations of the doomed +passengers, weeping tears as bitter as those of the Athenians in the old +story, when the ship each ninth year left the port with the cargo of +youths and maidens for the Minotaur. Molokai was only seven hours +distance from Hawaii, and on the north side, where the two leper +villages lie situated, are high precipices guarded by a rough sea. +Inland there are dense groves of trees, huge tree-ferns, and thick +matted creepers. Here brilliant-plumaged birds have their home, while +about the cliffs fly the long-tailed white bo'sun birds; but as a whole +Molokai cannot compare in beauty with the islands which Father Damien +had left behind him. + +A hospital had been built for the worst cases, and when Father Damien +arrived it was quite full. He at once went to see the poor people and +did all he could to relieve them a little; and when that was impossible, +he sat by their bedsides, speaking to them of the new life they were +soon to enjoy, and often he dug their graves, if nobody else could be +found to do so. The rest of the lepers had taken fright, and had built +themselves wretched houses, or, rather, sheds, of branches of the +castor-oil trees, bound together with leaves of sugar-cane or with +coarse grass. They passed their time in playing cards, dancing, and +drinking, and very rarely took the trouble to wash either themselves or +their clothes. But this was not altogether their fault. Molokai, unlike +many of the other islands, was very badly off for water, and the lepers +had to carry from some distance all that they used. Under these +circumstances it was perhaps natural that they should use as little as +possible. + +Such was the state of things when Father Damien reached Molokai, and in +spite of his own efforts, aided sometimes by a few of the stronger and +more good-natured of the lepers, such it remained for many months. The +poor creatures seem to have grown indifferent to their miseries, or only +tried to forget them by getting drunk. Happily the end was at hand; for +when a violent gale had blown down all their huts it was plain, even to +them, that something must be done, and Father Damien wrote at once to +Honolulu the news of the plight they were in. + +In a very short time a ship arrived with materials to enable the lepers +to have comfortable houses, and carpenters to put them up. Of course +these carpenters lived quite separate from the inhabitants of the +island, and as long as they did not touch the lepers, or anything used +by them, were in no danger of catching the disease; while in order to +hasten matters the Father turned his own carpentering talents to +advantage, and with the help of some of the leper boys built a good many +of the simpler houses, in which the poorer people were to live. Those +who were richer, or who had rich friends, could afford more comforts; +but all the houses were made after one pattern, with floors raised above +the ground, so that no damp or poisonous vapours might affect them. + +But while all this was being done, Father Damien knew that it was +impossible to keep the village clean and healthy unless it had a better +supply of water. He had been too busy since he came to the island to +explore the country in search of springs, but now he began to make +serious inquiries, and found to his joy that there existed at no very +great distance a large and deep lake of cold fresh water, which had +never been known to run dry. At his request, pipes were sent over from +Honolulu by the next steamer, and Father Damien was never happier in +his life than when he and some of the stronger men were laying them down +from the lake to the villages with their own hands. Of course there were +still some who preferred to be dirty, but for the most part the lepers +were thankful indeed for the boon. + +Little by little things began to improve, and the king and queen of the +islands were always ready and eager to do all they could to benefit the +poor lepers and to carry out Father Damien's wishes. Regular allowances +of good food were sent weekly to the island, a shop was opened, some +Sisters of Mercy came to nurse the sick and look after the children, a +doctor established himself in the island, and one or two more priests +and helpers arrived to share Father Damien's labours and to comfort him +when he felt depressed and sad; while from time to time a ship might be +seen steaming into Molokai from Honolulu filled with the relations and +friends of the poor stricken people. The sick and the healthy could not, +of course, touch each other--_that_ was forbidden--but they might sit +near enough to talk together, and what happiness it must have been to +both! Late in the evening the ship weighed anchor, and good-byes were +shouted across the water. No doubt hearts were heavy both on deck and on +the shore, where the green cliffs remained crowded as long as the ship +was in sight. But it gave the exiles something to look forward to, which +meant a great deal in their lives. + + * * * * * + +Now anyone would have thought that, after all Father Damien had done and +obtained for them, the lepers of Molokai would have been filled with +gratitude to their priest. But among the inhabitants of the island there +was a large number who met him sullenly, with downcast faces, and spoke +evil of him behind his back. The priest took no notice, and greeted them +as cheerfully as he did the rest, but he knew well the cause of their +dislike, and he could take no steps to remove it. The reason was not far +to seek; he had tried, and at last succeeded, in putting down the +manufacture of spirits from the ki-tree, which grew all over the island, +and made those who drank it, not stupid, but almost mad. He had been at +Molokai for ten years before their enmity died out, and that was only +when they knew that he, like themselves, was a leper! + +For the doom, though long delayed, fell upon him. When he first +suspected it he consulted some of the doctors then on the island, as, +besides the one always living there, there were others who came for a +few months to study the disease under great precautions. They laughed at +his words, and told him that he was as strong as ever he was, and that +no one else could have done what he had done for ten years without +catching the disease, but as he had escaped so far he was probably safe +to the end. Father Damien did not contradict them. He saw that they +really believed what they stated, and were not seeking to soothe his +fears; but he went to a German doctor who had not been present with the +rest and told him the symptoms he had himself noticed. 'You are right,' +said the doctor after a pause, and Father Damien went out and sat in a +lonely place by the sea. + +[Illustration: Father Damien went out and sat in a lonely place by the +sea.] + +In a little while he had faced it all and was master of himself +again--and more; as his condition became known he felt that he was +working with a new power. Those who had turned a deaf ear to him before +listened to him now; he was no longer a man apart from them, whose +health had been preserved by some sort of charm, but one of themselves. +And the awful curse had not fallen on him by accident, as it had fallen +upon _them_, but he had sought it, wilfully, deliberately, for their +sakes. Thus, out of his very distress, came a new joy to Father +Damien. + +Armed with this knowledge he grew more cheerful than he had ever been +before, till the people wondered at him. He held more frequent services +in the churches which had sprung up, held classes for the boys, and +taught them some of the games that he himself had played in the far-away +days in Belgium. The boys were pleasant, well-mannered children, with +the strangest names, some native nicknames, others picked up by their +fathers from the white people and given to their sons, whereas often +they should have been kept for their daughters. In the class of Father +Conradi there were Mrs. Tompkins, The Emetic, Susan, Jane Peter, Eyes of +Fire, The River of Truth, The First Nose, The Window; while in Honolulu, +from which many of them had come, lived their friends, Mrs. Oyster, The +Man who Washes his Dimples, Poor Pussy, The Stomach, and The Tired +Lizard. We should like to know what their sisters were called, but they +were not Father Conradi's business. The Father also took the greatest +interest in the experiments which the Sisters of Mercy were carrying on +in their school, not only to stop the spread of the disease, but to cure +it, for a healing oil had been discovered which had worked marvels in +many people. He encouraged the love of music and singing which existed +among the exiles, whose most precious possession was a kind of +barrel-organ which could play forty tunes, a present from a Scotch lady. +This barrel-organ was never absent from any of the entertainments which, +with the priests and doctors for audience, the lepers got up from time +to time. It even played its part in a performance on one Christmas Day, +which consisted of scenes from Belshazzar's feast. Unluckily it was so +dark that it was not easy for the audience to know exactly what was +going on, but they _did_ perceive that the Babylonish king sat the whole +time with his head on his arms and his arms on the table, like the +Dormouse in the play of 'Alice in Wonderland.' However, the actors were +intensely pleased with themselves, and that was all that mattered. + + * * * * * + +Father Damien lived for nearly six years after he became a leper, and as +long as he was able he took his part in all that was going on, even +helping to build the churches (there were five of them now) with his own +hands. It was only three weeks before his death that his strength gave +out, and he laid himself on his bed, knowing that he would nevermore +rise from it. So he died, with his friends around him and the noise of +the sea in his ears. His task was done, for he had 'set alight a fire' +in Molokai 'which should never be put out.' + + + + +THE CONSTANT PRINCE + + +When, some years ago, a banquet was given at the Guildhall to king +Alfonso of Spain on the occasion of his marriage to an English princess, +the lord mayor said in his speech that four queens of England were +Spaniards by birth. Can any of you tell me without looking at your +history books what were their names? + +Yet in different ways three out of the four are very well known to us. +One flits through a delightful romance of the great deeds of the +Crusaders; a second is remembered for having risked her life to save her +husband from a speedy and painful death, and for the crosses which he +set up on every spot which her body touched on its road to its last +resting-place; while the fourth and latest had a troubled life and every +kind of insult heaped on her. + +_Now_ can you guess? + + * * * * * + +In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries marriages between England and +the countries south of the Pyrenees were very frequent, for in those +times Spain was our natural ally, and France our enemy. Two of Edward +III.'s sons, John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley, married the daughters +of Pedro the Cruel, king of Castile, and Constance, wife of John of +Gaunt, had the pleasure of seeing her own daughter reigning by-and-by in +her old home, while Philippa, John of Gaunt's elder daughter by his +first wife, became queen of Portugal. + +Philippa's husband had no real right to the kingdom of Portugal, for the +legal heir was the queen of Castile, the only child of Fernando. But her +uncle, grand master of the order of Aviz, was dear to the hearts of the +Portuguese, who would tell their children in low voices the sad story of +his father's first wife, the beautiful Inez de Castro, whose embalmed +body was crowned by her husband, many years after her cruel murder. And +besides their love for the master of Aviz, the Portuguese hated the +Castilians, as only near neighbours _can_ hate each other, and were +resolved to choose their own sovereign. So war followed, and John of +Gaunt fought with his English soldiers on the side of the master of +Aviz, or 'John I.,' against his wife's nephew, Henry III. of Castile, +and during the war he kept his daughters with him in the peninsula. + + * * * * * + +It was in 1378 that John I. married Philippa, the elder of the two +princesses. According to the notions of those times the bride must have +been 'quite old,' for she was twenty-seven, only a year younger than her +bridegroom, and very happy they were. The queen of Portugal had been +brought up in England amongst clever people, had heard grave questions +discussed from her childhood, and seen her father grow uneasy as fresh +reports of Richard II.'s follies and extravagance came to his ears. From +her stepmother, Constance of Castile, she had learned to speak Spanish, +and knew much of the customs of the kingdoms south of the Pyrenees; so +that it was easy for her to fall into the ways of her new country, +though she never ceased to love her old land, and to teach her children +to love it too. She trained her sons to bear hardships without +complaining, to be true to their word, and to be affectionate and +faithful to each other, while she had them taught something of the +histories of other countries, and saw that they could speak Latin and +English, as well as Spanish and French. As to the art of war, and all +knightly exercises, she left those to her husband. + + * * * * * + +When the eldest of the princes, dom Duarte, or Edward, was twenty years +old, he came one day to the king, telling him that he and his three next +brothers, Pedro, Enrique, and John, were burning to strike a blow +against the infidel Moors, and besought him to lead an expedition +against the town of Ceuta, on the African coast. In those days it was +considered a good deed to fight against the followers of Mahomet the +prophet, and king John agreed gladly to what his sons proposed; but he +was more prudent than they, and did not intend to raise the standard of +the Cross before he had made sure of defeating the Crescent. Therefore +he took means to find out secretly the exact position of Ceuta, the +extent of the fortifications, and other things it was needful for him to +know, and then he laid his plans before queen Philippa, who always gave +him good counsel. To his surprise and disappointment Philippa prayed him +to give it all up. + +The country, she said, was still poor from the wars of succession with +Castile, which had seated her husband on the throne, and if the men were +taken away across the seas, who would till the fields and reap the +crops? + +But, urged the king, he felt sure that the people would welcome the +crusade; he had bidden one of his trusted officers to go amongst them, +and had heard how their faces brightened at the bare idea that perhaps +_some_ day, no doubt in the future, the golden shores of Africa might be +snatched from the unbelievers' grasp. Oh, no, he had no fears about his +army, though of course he would take every care to make victory certain. + +Queen Philippa listened, but only shook her head. + +'At least you will not go yourself?' she answered after a pause; 'the +kingdom needs you'; then like a wise woman she held her peace and began +to talk of something else. + + * * * * * + +Although king John did not give up his cherished scheme, he hesitated +about carrying it out for three years longer, and then he succeeded in +blinding the eyes of Europe as to the real object of his preparations. A +large fleet was assembled in the mouth of the Tagus, 'to punish the +Dutch pirates,' it was said; but, just as it was ready to sail, the +queen caught the plague which was raging in Portugal. By this time she +had made up her mind to the war, though she was hardly convinced of its +wisdom, and as soon as she felt that she was nearing death she sent for +her sons, and giving them each a splendid sword which she had ordered to +be specially forged and beautifully inlaid, she added a few words of +counsel. Then she bade her husband farewell, and entreated him to leave +her, lest he also should catch the plague and be lost to his country. +Her sons she kept with her to the end. + +A week later, on July 25, 1415, the fleet sailed for Ceuta. + + * * * * * + +Only two of the king's five sons remained in Portugal, and they were the +youngest, dom John and dom Fernando. Fernando was a delicate boy of +thirteen, versed in Latin, and, like his brother Duarte, a passionate +lover of books, only happy when alone with some old manuscript or roll +of illuminated prayers, yet thirsting to do his duty by ridding the +world of as many infidels as possible. It was a blow when he found that +he was not allowed to join the army of Africa, but, as was his way, he +made no complaint; only when the news came of the fall of Ceuta his +heart burned, half with envy and half with triumph. How he longed to +make one of the group of brothers who had covered themselves with glory, +and had been knighted by their father in the mosque, which was now +consecrated and declared a cathedral. But he was getting stronger every +day, and by-and-by he felt that a halo of glory would enshrine his name +also. And so it has, and will for all time, only it was won in another +way from those of his brothers. + + * * * * * + +It was soon after his return from Africa that king John's health began +to break down, and though he lived for eighteen years longer, he left +the government of Portugal mostly to his son Duarte, who was guided in +military matters by the advice of his father's old friend, the constable +of the kingdom. Fighting still went on in the neighbourhood of Ceuta, +but though the other princes, or infantes, took part, Fernando stayed in +Portugal. + +We know little as to how he passed his time. Probably he shared the +studies of prince Duarte, who collected a large library and himself +wrote a book of philosophical maxims, which gained him the surname of +Duarte the Eloquent. The two brothers were bound together by the same +tastes, and we may be sure Duarte approved when by-and-by Fernando +refused the pope's offer of a cardinal's hat, on the ground--unheard of +at that period--that, not being a priest, he was quite unfitted to wear +it. For the same reason, though the cases were rather different, he +wished also to refuse the office of grand master of the order of Aviz, +which had been held by his father; but in the end Duarte's counsels +prevailed, and he kept it. + + * * * * * + +Fernando was thirty years old when his father died, and never yet had +his sword left its sheath, though he longed from his soul to join in the +frequent expeditions that went out from Ceuta to attack the strongholds +of the unbelievers scattered about the coast. But king John always +refused to let him leave the country, thinking he was too delicate to +bear the hardships of a soldier's life; and so Fernando stayed at home, +making himself as happy as he could with his books and his prayers, and +long philosophical talks with Duarte. Now Duarte was king, and perhaps +Fernando would be able to gain his heart's desire. + +The new king was putting on his robes for the ceremony of his +proclamation when his physician craved humbly an immediate audience. Dom +Duarte wondered what could have happened which made an interview so +necessary at that inconvenient moment, but master Guedelha was an old +friend, so orders were given to admit him at once. + +'Oh, senhor,' exclaimed the physician, as soon as they were alone, 'do +not, I beseech you, suffer yourself to be proclaimed before noon; the +hour you have fixed on is an evil one, and the stars which rule it are +against you.' + +Sad though he was, dom Duarte could hardly help smiling at the +earnestness of the man; but he answered gravely that, greatly as he +respected the knowledge of the stars, his faith in God was greater +still, and nothing could befall him that was contrary to His will. In +vain Guedelha fell on his knees and implored him to delay till the fatal +hour was past; Duarte refused to change his plans, and at length the old +man rose to his feet. + +[Illustration: In vain Guedelha implored him to wait till the fatal hour +was past.] + +'I have done all I could,' he said; 'on your own head be it. The years +of your reign will be short and full of trouble to yourself, and to +those you love, and to the country.' + +Although dom Duarte had so steadily declined to listen to the prayers of +Guedelha, he had enough 'respect,' as he had said, for the science of +astrology, as the study of the stars was called, to feel very +uncomfortable at the prophecy of the physician. But he could not draw +back now, even if he wished, and 'Eduarte, king of Portugal,' was +thrice proclaimed and the royal standard unfurled and raised. When this +was done, the nobles and officials kissed the king's hand and swore +allegiance to him. Then Duarte went back to his palace, and took off his +crown and robes of state, and put on deep mourning for his father. + + * * * * * + +For some time dom Duarte had been governing the kingdom under the +direction of John I., so affairs went on much as before. He and his +brothers were the best of friends, and he often sought their counsel, +especially that of dom Pedro, only a year younger than himself. Pedro +was one of the wisest princes in Europe, as well as one of the best, and +if his brothers had listened to his advice the prophecy of master +Guedelha might have come to naught. Like the rest, he loved books, and +even wrote poetry, and during his father's lifetime made many voyages +along the coast of Africa, though he was no discoverer of strange lands +like dom Enrique. But for the present his duty was in Portugal, where +Duarte wanted him. + +In this way things went on for two or three years, during which the +plague broke out in Portugal, and people died like flies, as they did in +those days when dirt and ignorance helped infection to spread and +prevented cure. The king and his brothers did all in their power to +check it and assist the poor people; but nothing was of much good, and, +as usual, the plague was left to wear itself out, which in time it did. + +Meanwhile the years were going by, and the physician's prophecy was +drawing near fulfilment. And this is how the disasters came about. + +The infante--so the Spaniards and Portuguese formerly called their +princes--the infante dom Fernando grew tired of remaining idle at home, +and besought Duarte to allow him to travel and take service under some +foreign king, most likely that of England, where his young cousin Henry +VI. was reigning. 'Of course,' he said, 'if his own country needed him +he would come back at once, but the Portuguese had ever been wanderers, +and it was his turn to go with the rest.' + +To his surprise Duarte's face clouded as he listened, and there was a +long pause before he spoke. Then he implored Fernando to think no more +of his cherished plan, but to remain quietly in Portugal, else wrong +would be done to both of them in the minds of men, for strangers would +hold that he, the king, treated his brother so ill that Fernando was +forced to seek his fortune elsewhere, or that Fernando was so possessed +by desire for gain that he was ready to give up all for its sake. + +Fernando heard him to the end without speaking; it was plain that even +this brother, who he thought knew him best, had judged him wrongly. For +years the young man had kept silence about his desire to see other +countries, and the ruins of the cities which had once given law to the +world, and the result was that he had been held by all to be a man of no +spirit, a bookworm, content with the little duties that every day +brought him. Ah, no! the hour for those had gone by, and a freer life +called to him! + +Seeing that his words made no impression on dom Fernando's resolve, the +king sought dom Enrique, praying him to use his eloquence in order to +prevail on Fernando to give up his plan. But he would have been wiser to +have left things alone, for Enrique merely turned his brother's thoughts +into a new and more alarming direction. Why take service under a foreign +king when there were Moors at hand to fight? Let them cross the sea and +deliver Tangier from the Moslem. + + * * * * * + +When the king heard of this new project he was nearly beside himself. +After the long wars which seated John on the throne, and the constant +expense of maintaining the fortress of Ceuta, the country was too poor +to be able to undertake a fresh expedition, and then the plague had +carried off so many men that he did not know where the army was to come +from. But the match had been put to the wood, and Enrique secretly went +to the queen and asked for her help to persuade the king, promising that +when he and Fernando should have conquered the north of Africa, they +would go and live there, and leave their possessions in Portugal to her +children. + +The bait took; queen Leonor promised to use all her influence, which was +great, with the king, but before she had a chance of doing so the wild +scheme of the two infantes received still stronger support from an +unexpected quarter. Some time earlier the king had asked the pope to +give him a Bull, or papal document, allowing him to raise a crusade +whenever he thought it would have a chance of success. At the moment the +pope was busy with several other affairs nearer home, and returned no +answer. When at last he had leisure to attend to the king of Portugal's +request, and sent over an abbot with the Bull, Duarte seems to have +forgotten all about the matter, and was filled with dismay. Of course +his brothers were delighted and declared that the king could no longer +resist! + +In spite, however, of wife, pope, and brothers, the king _did_ resist, +though he went as far as to say that any expedition which _might_ be +undertaken must be directed against Tangier, and that fourteen thousand +men would be the utmost that he could furnish. But when he had yielded +this much, it was difficult for him to refuse his consent, even though +dom John and dom Pedro spoke strongly in a family council of the folly +of beginning a war when the treasury was empty and the people unwilling +to bear the burden of taxation. + +Dom Pedro's words found their echo in the heart of Duarte. They said +what his own sense had told him, and he was filled with fears for the +future, though he could not break his promise. One last effort he made, +and this was an appeal to the pope as to whether it was lawful to impose +a tax for the purpose of making war against the infidels. The pope and +his cardinals decided that it was _not_, as the infidels had not made +war upon _him_, and Duarte, though more than ever cast down, had not the +courage to acknowledge that he had been hasty and foolish, and, bitterly +though he repented of his weakness, he allowed Enrique to equip fleets +in Lisbon and in Oporto. + + * * * * * + +But when, at the end of August 1436, the hour of departure arrived, the +king had recovered himself, and handed Enrique a paper of instructions +which would probably have changed the fate of the expedition had they +been followed. Unfortunately, Enrique was a headstrong man, and thought +that he _must_ know better than his stay-at-home brother, who had not +seen a battlefield for eighteen years. He had listened contemptuously to +dom Pedro when he pointed out that African conquests were both expensive +and useless, that the cities, even if taken, could never become part of +Portugal, and would always need garrisons to hold them, and smiled +scornfully at the statement that any Portuguese force besieging Tangier +would in its turn of a surety be besieged by a Moorish host, who would +gather men from all parts and have a supply of provisions constantly at +hand. + +'Those whom the gods will to destroy they first infatuate,' says the +proverb, and no man was ever more infatuated than the infante dom +Enrique. The fourteen thousand men of which the king had spoken had +dwindled down to six thousand, and these were but half-hearted. Small as +the force was, dom Duarte had instructed Enrique to divide it into +three, in order to prevent the Moors from concentrating large numbers +upon one place. This counsel Enrique declined to follow, nor did he +attempt to surprise and take Tangier by assault, which might possibly +have been successful. Instead, he allowed the Moors to assemble a large +army and to put the town in a state of defence. Finally, he totally +disobeyed the wise counsel of Duarte to make his camp close to the sea, +where his ships lay at anchor, in order that provisions and a retreat +might be secured to them. + + * * * * * + +Having thus done all in his power to ensure defeat, only one thing +remained, and that was 'to die like good men with constant souls,' in +the words which the poet Calderon puts into the mouth of Fernando. Too +late Enrique perceived the snare into which his folly had led them, and +assembling his little army, gave orders that at night, when the Moorish +camp was quiet, they should cut their way through to the ships and put +to sea. Their attacks on Tangier had been repulsed with heavy losses, he +told them, and if the enterprise was ever to be carried through they +must first seek reinforcements. + +The men agreed with him, and prepared to sell their lives dearly. +Silently at the appointed time they crept up to the Moorish tents, +beyond which lay safety and the great galleons. But the chaplain, +unluckily, had been before them. As soon as darkness fell he had +deserted to the enemy, and the sight of the large force drawn up in +order of battle was the first sign of warning to the Christians that +they had been betrayed. + +Even Enrique felt that in the face of such numbers fighting was useless, +but he placed his men in the best position and awaited events. All the +next day the Moors made no sign, but on the following morning envoys +left the ranks and proposed terms of peace. Considering all things, they +were not hard. Ceuta must be surrendered, the Moorish captives in +Portugal be released, and the Christian camp with everything it +contained abandoned to the captors. But the infantes wished to deal +directly with the kings of Fez and Morocco, in order to make sure that +the terms offered would be loyally carried out. They were still +expecting the return of the envoys which they had sent when the Moors, +who had grown more and more impatient at the long wait so close to their +enemies, could be restrained no more and fell on the Portuguese. + + * * * * * + +In spite of their small numbers, the Portuguese, commanded by dom +Enrique and the bishop of Ceuta, fought so fiercely that after six hours +the Moors were beaten back. After a short rest dom Enrique ordered every +man to repair the trenches and to throw up earthworks to protect the +camp, in case of another assault. They worked hard the whole of that +night, which was Saturday, and when by sunrise on Sunday everything was +finished, the soldiers sank down exhausted where they were, and cried +for food and water. It was long in coming. Then a horrible suspicion, +which turned the men's faces white, ran, no one knew why, from end to +end of the camp. Was there _any_ food? and, worse still, any water? + +They had guessed truly; they had no provisions left, and the water had +been cut off by the Moors. For two days they held out, then dom Enrique +decided to accept the terms offered him. He would give up Ceuta and the +Moorish prisoners, would abandon the camp, and would undertake that +Portugal should sign a peace with the Barbary States lying along that +part of the African coast for a hundred years. In return the former +Moorish governor of Ceuta, Salat-ben-Salat, should hand over his son as +a hostage, in exchange for four Portuguese nobles, but the pledge for +the surrender of Ceuta was to be dom Fernando himself. + +Bitter were the shame and grief that filled dom Enrique when the results +of his folly were brought home to him, and he instantly begged that he +might be accepted as hostage instead of his brother. No doubt the Moors +would have agreed to this; it mattered little to them which of the +infantes remained captive, but the council of war which Enrique summoned +would not consent. Fernando knew nothing of war, they said, but Enrique, +their commander, could not be spared, though it is hard to see what +Enrique had done except lead them into traps which a recruit might have +foreseen. Dom Fernando was present with the rest of the council, and was +the first to declare that his brother's proposal was not to be thought +of. Then, with a heavy heart, Enrique signed the treaty, and a few hours +later Fernando and he had parted for the last time. + + * * * * * + +Thus ended the expedition for the taking of Tangier; and what had it +attained? As far as Portugal was concerned, the loss, as stipulated by +treaty, of Ceuta, by which the country set such store; the death of five +hundred out of the six thousand men under the walls of Tangier, which +held out in spite of the field guns used in war for the first time; the +waste of money which had been only raised by the oppression of the +people; and the delivery of the king's favourite brother into the hands +of a cruel race. + +Such was the tale which the fugitives had to tell on their arrival at +Lisbon. And while the king was debating the best means of rescuing the +captive, let us see how Fernando himself was faring. + +Accompanied by his chaplain, his doctor, his secretary, and a few +friends, who would seem to have gone with him of their own will, dom +Fernando was sent by his captors to the fortress of Tangier, and closely +imprisoned for several days. Perhaps the Moors may have been waiting +for Enrique, who had gone to Ceuta, to deliver up the keys of the town; +but as nothing was heard of him, the captives were taken next to the +little town of Arzilla, further down the coast. Here the Portuguese were +kindly treated by the governor, and Fernando, though the hardships he +had gone through had told heavily on his health, did all he could to +help his friends, who fared no better than himself, and devoted what +money was left to him to ransoming those who had been for some years in +captivity. + +For seven months Fernando and his companions remained in Arzilla, and +during all that time both he and his gaoler, Salat-ben-Salat, expected +to receive answers to the many letters the captive prince had been +suffered to write to Enrique respecting his promise to surrender Ceuta, +where he stayed for some time after the embarkation of the Portuguese +army. But after five months the only news that reached Arzilla was that +Enrique had returned to Portugal; so Fernando then wrote to the king +himself, imploring that he would redeem his pledge and set him free. It +seemed little to ask, seeing that a treaty is considered sacred, and +Duarte, from every point of view, was ready to fulfil the stipulation; +but there was a strong party in the state which held that a Christian +city should never be delivered up to the unbelievers, and even Enrique +advised him instead to offer a large ransom and the Moorish captives +then in Portugal in exchange for the infante. + + * * * * * + +Always distrustful of his own opinion, and fearful of taking any decided +action, Duarte next appealed for counsel to the pope and to the kings of +all the countries of Europe. They sent the politest and most sympathetic +answers to his questions. No words could express their admiration for +dom Fernando's patience under his sufferings, and their pity for his +hard lot, but--faith with Moslems need never be kept, and at all costs +Ceuta must be retained. + +Thus, after all, it was the Christians, and not the Moslems, who failed +to keep their word and were responsible for the death of Fernando. + + * * * * * + +At length news reached Fernando that dom John was starting with a fleet +for his rescue, and then the doom which he dreaded befell him, for he +was sent with his fellow-captives at once to Fez, a city far in the +interior, and delivered over to Lazuraque, the vizier of the young king, +a man whose name was a proverb of cruelty throughout the whole of +Barbary. On their arrival at Fez, after a journey in which the whole +population turned out to howl at and to stone them, they were thrust +into a tiny cell without a ray of light. The four months that they spent +in this black hole were bad enough, but worse was yet to follow. The +little money that Fernando had left was taken from him, and heavy chains +were fastened to the ankles of the prisoners, while their food was +hardly fit for dogs or enough to keep them alive. But Fernando at least +never grumbled, and tried to keep up the hearts of his friends. + +One morning a warder entered the cell and roughly informed the prince +that he was to go and clean out the vizier's stables, while the others +were to dig up the royal garden. Of course Fernando had never done such +a thing in his life, and now, hardly able to stand from weakness, and +with fetters on his legs, it seemed an impossible task. Still, only to +get out into the sunshine again was delightful to him, and he worked +away with a will. However, he could not have done his cleansing very +thoroughly, or else the vizier had merely wished to humiliate him, for +the next day he was sent to the gardens with the rest. Here he was +almost happy; he loved flowers, and he had the company of his friends, +to whom he could talk freely, for the gaolers, satisfied that they +could not escape, left them very much to themselves. As to food, each +man had two loaves a day, but no meat; however, in this respect Fernando +fared better than the others, for when the king of Fez and his wives +walked through the gardens, as they often did, they would speak to him +with the politeness to which he had long been a stranger, and bid their +slaves bring him fruit and wine from their own table. It seems curious +that king Abdallah did not insist on better treatment for the Portuguese +prince, but he was afraid of Lazuraque, who had ruled the kingdom from +Abdallah's childhood, and dared not interfere. + +When darkness fell the captives were taken back to their prison, and +here Fernando had a cell all to himself, and, tired out with his +labours, was glad enough to throw himself on the two sheepskins covered +by an old carpet which served him for a bed, and lay his head on the +bundle of hay which was his pillow. + + * * * * * + +Matters had gone on in this way for a few weeks, when one day the +captives were told that they were to work in the gardens no more; +heavier chains were fastened to their arms and legs, and they were all +thrust together into one tiny dungeon. Then a message came that dom +Fernando was to be brought before the vizier. With a beating heart the +infante gladly followed his gaoler. Surely Lazuraque would not have +troubled to send for him unless deliverance had been at hand? But his +hopes fell at the sight of Lazuraque's face, which was cruel and stern +as usual. + +'Your brother the king of Portugal is dead,' were the words that fell +upon Fernando's ears, and he sank fainting to the ground. When he came +to himself, he was lying chained in his cell, with his friends anxiously +bending over him. + +Dom Pedro was now regent, ruling for Duarte's little son, Alfonso V., +and besides the view which he had always held that the honour of the +country demanded the surrender of Ceuta, he felt bound to carry out the +late king's will, which directed him to deliver Fernando at any cost. +But now it was not Ceuta that Lazuraque wanted, but a huge ransom, +impossible for Portugal to raise, and till this was forthcoming the +horrors of the prisoners' captivity were increased. + +For some days after hearing the news Fernando's grief, together with the +stifling air of the cell, made him so ill that his companions expected +that every hour would be his last. Well he guessed that shame at the +result of the expedition, and sorrow for his own fate, had hastened the +end of dom Duarte, and the infante's thoughts flew back to the day of +the proclamation of the king, five years before, and to the prophecy of +master Guedelha. One thing, however, did not occur to him--that it was +Duarte's weakness in allowing the expedition which had brought about the +fulfilment of the prophecy. + + * * * * * + +After a while Lazuraque saw that unless he meant his captives to die, +which would not have suited him at all, he must free them from their +dungeon, so they were sent back to the gardens. Slowly the years 1439 +and 1440 wore away. The hearts of the poor prisoners grew sick, but +Fernando alone never lost his cheerfulness, and kept up the spirits of +the others when they were bowed down with despair. + +It was in 1441 that hope suddenly sprang into life again, for the news +reached them that some envoys had arrived from Portugal to treat for +their release, and that the governor of Arzilla was using his influence +on their behalf. Soon after they were removed from Fez near to Ceuta, +where they could once more see the blue Mediterranean and feel +themselves close to Portugal again. But everything came to an end +because neither side would trust the other. Lazuraque, though he still +preferred a ransom, part of which he could have put in his own pocket, +dared not refuse openly to exchange the prince for Ceuta, now that the +envoys had come for the express purpose of delivering up the fortress. +Still, he could place many obstacles in the way of the fulfilment of the +treaty, and declared that the keys of Ceuta must be in his possession +before the infante could be handed over to the envoys. They, on their +side, insisted on Fernando's release before the surrender of the +fortress. + +So the poor victim of ill-faith was carried back to Fez, and set to +break stones with his companions. Then the plague broke out among the +Moors, and each man shrank from his sick brother, and left him to die +alone. As far as he might, dom Fernando sought out the plague-stricken +people and nursed them night and day, often going without his own food +that they might be nourished. Perhaps Lazuraque had fled like other rich +men from the city, but at all events he seems to have permitted dom +Fernando to do as he liked till the pestilence had run its course. + + * * * * * + +It was in March 1442 that Fernando was again taken before Lazuraque, and +though the prisoner always told himself that he had given up hope, +nevertheless his heart beat faster than usual at the summons. The Moor +did not waste words, but went at once to the point. + +'I have sent for you to ask what price you will pay for your freedom and +that of your friends,' he said. + +Dom Fernando looked at him for an instant before he answered. Long ago +he and his companions had talked over the matter and decided what they +could offer, if they ever had the chance. But now that the moment had +come on which everything depended, his voice seemed choked, and he could +not utter a sound. + +'Are you deaf?' inquired Lazuraque impatiently. 'Be quick, or I shall +raise my terms.' + +Then Fernando stammered out, 'Fifty thousand doubloons and fifty Moorish +prisoners.' + +'Nonsense,' cried Lazuraque, with a scornful laugh. 'Fifty thousand +doubloons for a Portuguese prince! Why, it is a beggarly sum! Take him +away, gaoler, till he learns wisdom.' And the infante was led back to +his dungeon. + +It was no more than he had expected, yet he needed all his strength of +will to help him bear the blow. By order of Lazuraque he was allowed to +receive his fellow-prisoners in order to take counsel with them, and at +length it was agreed that amongst them, by the aid of the king and their +families, they would treble their former offer, and promise one hundred +and fifty thousand doubloons and one hundred and fifty captives. This +the vizier agreed to accept, and when they heard the news the prisoners +fell on each other's necks and wept for joy. But for Fernando the hour +of happiness was soon at an end, for till the ransom was paid and the +captives landed on Moorish soil his treatment was worse than ever. + +The dungeon into which he was now thrown was smaller and darker than +before, and even his gaoler was forbidden to speak to him. The +loneliness and silence put the finishing touch to the alternate hopes +and fears of the last few months, and one day, when the warder brought +his scanty supply of food, he found the prince lying unconscious on the +ground. Fearing the anger of Lazuraque should his prisoner escape him by +death before the money was received, he at once reported the matter, and +orders were given to remove the captive into a larger cell, where he +could feel the soft winds blowing and even see a ray of the sun. His +companions, who were once more working hard, with the least possible +allowance of sleep, were permitted to see him, and to carry him books +of prayer, as he had been deprived of his own. Greatest boon of all, he +was given a lamp by which he could read them. + +[Illustration: He found the prince lying unconscious on the ground.] + +Outside of his cell there was a sand-pit, in which some of the +Portuguese came to dig sand every morning to scatter over the floor of +the stables after they had been cleaned out. A tiny glimmer of light in +this part of the wall showed dom Fernando that a stone was loose, and +might with a little patience be moved away. It was hard work for one so +weak; still, it gave him something to do and to look forward to, and +prevented him, sitting all day in his prison, from wondering why no +answer to his letter had ever come, and if his brothers had forgotten +him altogether, little knowing that out of mere spite Lazuraque had kept +back everything they had written. When these thoughts came into his head +he worked away at the stone harder than ever, to deaden the pain which +was almost too bad to bear. At last one day his efforts were rewarded, +and he was able to take the stone in and out and speak to his +fellow-captives, who, with sun and air about them, were more fortunate +than he. + +Perhaps he may have heard from them (for outside a gaol news flies +quickly) that ever since Duarte's death his wife had given great trouble +to dom Pedro by interfering in matters of government, and that civil war +had actually broken out in Portugal, though happily it was soon put an +end to by the flight of the queen. The expenses entailed by all this +would, Fernando understood, have prevented the raising of the large +ransom required; and with the lightening of his despair at his apparent +abandonment came suspicions of Lazuraque. It was so much easier and +happier for him to believe that the vizier, whose cruelty he knew, +should be playing some trick on him than that Pedro should have left him +to die without a word. + + * * * * * + +We cannot tell how it really happened, and why the money used by dom +Enrique ('the Navigator' as he was called) in fitting out exploring +expeditions was not employed in setting free the brother who had been +made captive through Enrique's own folly. Certain it is that fifty +thousand doubloons were all the Portuguese would offer, and now +Lazuraque demanded four hundred thousand! This Fernando learnt after +fifteen months of waiting, and then his last remnant of hope flickered +out. + +When hope was gone he had nothing left to live for, and on June 1, 1443, +he was too weak even to kneel at his prayers. In vain did his companions +implore that he might be moved to a larger, healthier room; the vizier +refused all their petitions, and if he had granted them, most likely it +would have been too late. However, the prince's physician obtained leave +to see him, and his chaplain and secretary watched by him alternately, +so that he was not left alone in his last moments. + +Four days passed in this manner, and on the morning of June 5 he awoke +looking happier than he had done since he bade farewell to the shores of +Portugal five years before. + +'I have seen in a vision,' he said to his confessor, 'the archangel +Michael and Saint John entreating the Blessed Virgin to have pity on me +and put an end to my sufferings. And she smiled down on me, and told me +that to-day the gates of heaven should be thrown open, and I should +enter.' So saying he begged to confess his sins, and when this was done +he turned on his side and whispered, 'Now let me die in peace,' and with +the last rays of the sun he was free. + + * * * * * + +'He that is dead pays all his debts,' writes the poet who more than any +man knew the best and the worst of the human heart, but Lazuraque did +not agree with him. Fernando's body was stripped bare and hung for four +days from the battlements of the city, where, silent and uncomplaining +as in life, it was a prey to every insult the people could heap on it. +Then it was taken down and placed in a box, but still remained unheeded +on the walls. How long it might have stayed there we cannot guess, but +shortly after Fernando's death Lazuraque was stabbed by some victim of +his tyranny, and by-and-by the remnant of dom Fernando's fellow-captives +obtained their release on payment of a small ransom, leaving in Fez the +bones of three of their companions who had not long survived the +Constant Prince. It would seem as if his courage alone had sustained +them, and when he was gone they sank and died also. + + * * * * * + +In 1448 dom Pedro, who had never ceased to mourn the brother he had been +powerless to save, exchanged an important Moorish prisoner for father +John Alvaro, secretary to the infante. Owing to various delays, it was +three years before Alvaro reached Portugal, but when he arrived he +carried with him the heart of Fernando, which was borne at the head of a +long procession clad in black to the abbey of Batalha, where John and +Philippa, Duarte, and a little brother and sister lay buried. On the way +they met unexpectedly dom Enrique, master of the Order of Christ, +attended by his knights, and a messenger was sent by the prince to ask +the meaning of the train of mourners. + +'Senhor, it is the heart of the saintly infante,' was the answer he +received, and without a word Enrique turned his horse, and accompanied +by his knights rode on to Batalha, where he laid the casket in the grave +which awaited it. + +Twenty-seven years after his death Fernando's body was obtained from the +Moors, and was carried over to Portugal. With the pomp of a king +expecting his bride Alfonso V., surrounded by his nobles, was drawn up +on the banks of the Tagus, and behind him were the bishops and abbots of +Portugal and a dense throng of people. + +For long they watched and waited, and none that was present forgot the +dead silence that reigned in that multitude, more solemn than prayers, +more welcoming than the sound of guns. At length a ship came in sight +across the bar of the river; then, baring their heads, the crowd parted, +and the bones of the Constant Prince were borne to Batalha. + + + + +THE MARQUIS OF MONTROSE + + +Fighting was in the blood of the Grahams, and when James, hereafter to +be known as the 'great marquis of Montrose,' was a little boy he loved +to hear tales of the deeds of his ancestors, who had struck hard blows +for the liberty of Scotland in days of old. One, sir John Graham, a +friend of sir William Wallace's, had been killed at Falkirk more than +three hundred years before; another had died on Flodden field, and a +third had fallen at Pinkie, besides many who had taken part in less +famous battles. James knew all about them, and was proud to belong to +them, and did not guess that it was _his_ name and not _theirs_ which +would be best remembered through the centuries to come. + +But the Grahams were not only brave soldiers; they were for the most +part clever men. There was an archbishop among them and a bishop, while +James's grandfather had held the highest offices of the state under king +James VI., and was president of the Parliament when the king was far +away in Westminster talking broad Scotch to the great nobles and +servants of his dead cousin queen Elizabeth. Montrose's own father, +however, had no love either for war or statesmanship, and after he lost +his wife in 1618 stayed quietly at home in one of his many castles, +taking care of his family, keeping accounts of every penny he spent, and +shooting and playing golf with his friends and neighbours. + +James, his only son, was six years old when his mother died, but there +were five daughters of all ages, who were always ready to play with the +boy. To be sure, the two eldest, Lilias and Margaret, married early, and +before two years had passed by one was lady Colquhoun and the other lady +Napier of Merchiston. Still Dorothy and Katherine were left, and +Beatrix, who was only three years younger than her brother, and the one +he liked best of all. + + * * * * * + +When the great business of marrying his two eldest daughters was safely +over, lord Montrose took his little boy with him on a riding tour of +visits to his estates in Forfar, Perthshire, Dunbarton, and the +Lothians, stopping in the houses of his many friends on the way. James +loved horses all his life, and bills for 'shoes for naigs' were +constantly coming in to him. He spent a good deal of time practising +archery at the butts, and would make up matches with the boys who lived +in the different houses where he and his father went to stay; on wet +days they would get out their foils and fence in the hall, or even dance +solemnly with the young ladies. Of course, he did some lessons too, when +he was at home, probably with his sisters, but while his father only +puts down in his accounts the items of six shillings for books and seven +shillings for a 'pig [or stone bottle] of ink,' we read of nine +shillings for bowstrings and three pounds for '12 goiff balls.' As for +tobacco, the elder Montrose smoked the whole day, a new accomplishment +in those times, and an expensive one when tobacco was sometimes as much +as thirteen shillings and fourpence an ounce; but this habit was hated +by James, who never could bear the smell of a pipe all his life long. + + * * * * * + +After his son's twelfth birthday lord Montrose decided that his son must +go to college at Glasgow like other youths of his age and position. The +news filled the little girls with awe; it seemed to make their brother +a man at once, and they were sure he would never, never want to play +bowls or hide and seek with them again. But James, though in his secret +heart he may have agreed with them, was too kind to say so, and he +comforted them with the thought of the fine things he would bring them +from the great city, and the stories he would have to tell of its +strange ways. And, if they wished, they might even now come and see the +'stands' (or suits) of clothes that had been prepared for him. + +Drying their tears, the girls eagerly accepted his offer. The mixed grey +cloth English clothes were passed by in scorn, but the bright trimming +of a cloak was much admired by the young ladies, though they would have +liked James to have been dressed in red, like his two pages and +kinsfolk, Willy and Mungo Graham. Still, even in the despised grey suit +they thought he made a brave show as he rode away from the door on his +white pony, with his tutor, master Forrett, by his side, the pages and a +valet following. Bringing up the rear were some strong, broad-backed +'pockmanty naigs,' or baggage-horses, bearing the plate, linen and +furniture for the large house lord Montrose had taken for his son in +Glasgow. + +Gay indeed that house must have looked with its red and green and yellow +curtains and cushions and counterpanes. As for food, it seems to have +been simple enough, if we can judge by the bills sent in by the tutor +for bags of oatmeal and barrels of herrings. There are also, we are glad +to find, some bills for books, among them Raleigh's 'History of the +World,' only recently published, a Latin translation of Xenophon, and +Seneca's Philosophy. These last two James only read because he was +obliged to, but he would sit half the morning poring over the pages of +Raleigh, of whose own life and adventures master Forrett could tell him +much. + +For a short time his little sister Katherine lived with him. Probably +she had been ill, and the soft air of the west was thought good for her; +for Glasgow was only quite a small place then, and the sky over the +Clyde was bright and clear, instead of being dark with smoke, as it +often is now. But in two years' time James Graham's life at Glasgow came +to a sudden end, owing to the death of his father, and, distressed and +bewildered at the duties of his new position, he rode swiftly away one +November morning to Kincardine Castle, to make arrangements for the +funeral. + +The ceremonies attending the burial of a great noble were of vast +importance in the seventeenth century. The widow, if he had one, was +expected to spend weeks, or even months, in a room hung with black, in a +bed with black curtains and coverings, no ray of sunlight being suffered +to creep through the cracks of the shutters. The young earl of Montrose +had, as we are aware, no mother, but his sisters were kept carefully out +of sight, while he prepared the list of invitations, to be despatched by +men on horseback, to the friends and relations of the dead earl. For +seven weeks they stayed at Kincardine, every guest bringing with him a +large supply of game or venison, though the castle larders already held +an immense amount of food. Poor James must have felt the days terribly +long and dismal, and doubtless escaped, as often as he could, to take +counsel with his brother-in-law, sir Archibald Napier, who remained his +staunch friend to the end. + + * * * * * + +At length the old customs had been fulfilled; the last guest was gone, +and in January 1627 Montrose, not yet fifteen, set out for the +University of St. Andrews. Here he found many acquaintances, with whom +he played golf or tennis, or, what he loved still more, practised +archery at the butts. Bows instead of pictures hung on his walls, and +in the second year of his residence the place of honour was given to the +bow with which he gained the silver medal that may still be seen in the +college. On wet days he spent his free hours in chess and cards, or in +making verses like all young cavaliers, but he studied Caesar and other +Latin authors under his tutor master Lambe and worked at his Greek +grammar, so that he might read Plutarch's 'Lives' in the original +tongue. Everybody liked him in spite of his hot temper, he was so +kind-hearted and generous and free with his money, and though never a +bookworm, his mind was quick and thoughtful and his speech ready. His +vacations he either passed with the Napiers, or in visiting the houses +of his friends in Forfar or Fife, hunting, hawking, playing billiards or +attending races; but he never failed to go to the kirk on Sundays or +days of preachings in his best clothes with a nosegay in his coat, for +he was very fond of flowers, and always had them on his table. + + * * * * * + +At seventeen this pleasant college life came to an end, and Montrose +married Magdalen Carnegie, whose father was later created earl of +Southesk. We do not know very much about his wife, and most likely she +was not very interesting, but the young couple remained at lord +Carnegie's house of Kinnaird for some years, till in 1633 Montrose, now +twenty-one, set out on his journey to Rome, leaving lady Montrose and +two little boys behind him. In his travels 'he made it his work to pick +up the best of the qualities' of the foreigners whom he met, and learned +'as much of the mathematics as is required for a soldier,' but 'his +great study was to read men and the actions of great men.' + +What the foreigners in their turn thought of the young man with the long +bright brown hair and grey eyes, whose height was no more than ordinary, +yet whose frame was strong and spare, we do not know. They must have +admired his quickness and skill in games and exercises, and the grace of +his dancing; but his manner kept strangers at a distance, though he was +always kind to his servants and those dependent on him. + + * * * * * + +During the three years that Montrose spent abroad grave events took +place in Scotland. Charles I., who had already excited the angry +suspicion of his Scotch subjects by what they considered the 'popish' +ceremonies of his coronation at Holyrood, had lately been enraging them +still more by his measures for putting down the national Church and +supporting bishops throughout the country. The king, in spite of many +good qualities, could never be trusted, and was very obstinate. Also, +what was worse both for himself and his people, he could never +understand the signs of the times or the tempers of those with whom he +had to deal. The gatherings held in various parts of Scotland to express +discontent with the king's proceedings did, indeed, alarm him a little, +but not even some strange scenes that took place in 1637 taught him how +serious the matter really was. The Scottish Church then used no +prayer-book, but, by the royal commands, the bishop and dean of +Edinburgh were reading certain new prayers in the church of St. Giles' +on Sunday, July 23, when 'the serving-maids began such a tumult as was +never heard of since the Reformation.' This 'tumult' was no sudden burst +of feeling, but 'the result of a consultation in the Cowgate of +Edinburgh, when several gentlemen recommended to various matrons that +they should give their first affront to the [prayer] book, assuring them +that the men should afterwards take the business out of their hands.' + +We are not told why 'the men' did not do 'the business' to begin with, +but the matrons and serving-maids seemed to have enjoyed themselves so +much on this occasion that they were quite ready for a second effort +a month later. + +On August 28 Mr. William Annan preached in St. Giles', defending the +Litany, and when the news was spread about what the subject of his +sermon was to be there arose, says the chronicler, in the town and among +the women a great din. + +[Illustration: About thirty or forty of our honestest women did fall a +railing on Mr. William Annan.] + +'At the outgoing of the church, about thirty or forty of our honestest +women in one voice before the bishop and magistrates did fall a railing, +cursing, and scolding, with clamours on Mr. William Annan. Some two of +the meanest were taken to the Tolbooth,' or city prison, where Montrose +in after years was himself to lie. + +Mr. Annan got safely to his own house, but being troubled over these +events in his mind resolved to ask counsel of his bishop. So that +evening, 'at nine on a mirk night,' he set out in company of three or +four ministers to the bishop's dwelling, but no sooner had the little +party stepped into the street than they were surrounded by 'hundreds of +enraged women with fists and staves and peats, but no stones. They beat +him sore; his cloak, ruff, hat were rent. He escaped all bloody wounds, +yet he was in great danger even of killing.' + + * * * * * + +This was the beginning of the struggle which was to rend Scotland for so +many years. A bond or covenant was drawn up, part of which was copied +from one of the reign of James VI., fifty years before, guarding against +the establishment of 'popery.' But now new clauses were added, +protesting against the appointment of bishops, or allowing priests of +any sort power over the laws of the country. This document Montrose +signed with the rest, and consented to act if necessary as one of the +defenders of the religion and liberty of Scotland. + +Charles of course declined to give way on the smallest point, and +issued a proclamation, to be read at Edinburgh, declaring all who +opposed him to be traitors. In answer the malcontents raised a scaffold +beside the cross, and on it stood Warriston, with a reply written by the +nobles representing the people, which was received with shouts of +applause. Montrose sat at Warriston's side, his legs dangling from a +cask. + +'Ah, James,' cried old lord Rothes, as he saw him, 'you will never be at +rest till you be lifted up there above the rest, with a rope.' + +Strange words, which were exactly fulfilled twelve years later. + +So the first covenant was read, and afterwards it was laid on a flat +tombstone in Greyfriars churchyard, and signed by the earl of Sutherland +as the first noble of Scotland, and then by others according to their +degree. During two days it was borne round the city, followed by an +immense crowd, sobbing and trembling with excitement; from time to time +they all stopped for fresh signatures to be added, and copies were made +and sent over the country, so that each man should place his mark. Next, +subscription lists were opened, taxes apportioned, and a war committee +chosen. + +And Charles heard and grew frightened, though even yet he did not +understand. + +However, the king saw it was needful to do something, and, as was usual +with him, he did the wrong thing. He chose the earl of Hamilton (in whom +he believed blindly, though no one else did) to go down to Scotland as +his commissioner, with leave to yield certain points when once the +covenant had been retracted, but with secret orders to spin out as much +time as possible, so that Charles might be able to get ready an army. +Yet, secret as Hamilton's instructions were, old Rothes knew all about +them, and on his side made preparations. As each week passed it became +increasingly plain that the two parties could never agree. The General +Assembly, which had been held in November in Glasgow Cathedral, was +dissolved by Hamilton, who had presided over it. The covenanters +answered by deposing the bishops, and suppressing the liturgy, and then +dissolving itself; and the earl of Argyll, soon to be Montrose's +deadliest enemy, joined the covenanters. + + * * * * * + +One town only remained loyal, and this was Aberdeen, situated in the +country of the Gordons, whose chief, the marquis of Huntly, was Argyll's +brother-in-law. Huntly, like Leslie, who held a command in the +covenanting army under Montrose, had seen much foreign service, so +Charles appointed him his lieutenant in the north, though he bound him +hand and foot by orders to do nothing save with Hamilton's consent. +Chafing bitterly under these restrictions, Huntly was forced to disband +his army of two thousand men, and had the mortification of seeing the +covenanters enter Aberdeen the following week, wearing their badge of +blue ribbons in their Highland bonnets. + +The citizens were granted easy terms, and all pillage was strictly +forbidden. Huntly himself was given a promise of safe conduct, but was +afterwards held as a prisoner and sent with his son to Edinburgh castle. +It is not clear how far Montrose himself was guilty of this breach of +faith. The covenanters had always detested Huntly, and it is possible +that he found it difficult to act against them, but at any rate he does +not appear to have taken any active steps to stop their proceedings, and +in after days paid a heavy penalty for his weakness. + +Shortly after the English army, consisting of nineteen ships and five +thousand men, arrived in the Firth of Forth, but so dense were the +crowds on both shores that Hamilton, who commanded it, saw that landing +was impossible. Suddenly the multitude gathered at Leith (the port of +Edinburgh) parted asunder, and down the midst rode an old lady with a +pistol in her hand. Hamilton looked with the rest and turned pale at the +sight, for the old lady was his own mother, who in a voice that almost +seemed loud enough to reach the vessel where her son stood, declared she +would shoot him dead before he should set foot on land. + +The time was evidently not ripe for invasion, so the men encamped on the +little islands in the Forth, and spent their days in drill. + + * * * * * + +As often during Montrose's wars, Aberdeen was again the centre of +fighting, but again the general preserved the city from pillage, against +the express wishes, and even orders, of the covenanters. Then came the +news that a peace, or rather truce, had been signed at Berwick, by which +Charles had consented that a parliament should assemble in August in +Edinburgh, though, as he insisted that the fourteen Scottish bishops +should be present at its sittings, wise men shook their heads, and +prophesied that no good could come of the measure. Their fears were soon +justified. Riots broke out in the capital, and Aboyne, Huntly's son, +narrowly escaped violence; the people refused to allow the army to be +disbanded or the fortresses to be dismantled, as had been stipulated by +the peace, till the king had fulfilled the promise made by Hamilton at +the assembly at Glasgow of abolishing the bishops. + +This he showed no signs of doing, but merely desired a number of the +leading covenanters to appear before him. Six only obeyed, at the risk, +some thought, of imprisonment or death, but neither Rothes nor Montrose, +who headed them, was given to think of peril to themselves. + +The old covenanter seems to have told Charles some plain truths, and the +king in return forgot the courtesy which so distinguished him, and +retorted that Rothes was a liar. No man was present when Montrose was +summoned to confer with the king, and neither he nor Charles ever let +fall a word upon the subject; but after that day his friends noted that +he was no longer as bitter as before against his sovereign, nor so +entirely convinced that the covenanters were right in their acts. Yet, +whatever his feelings may have been, he strongly opposed the king's +desire of filling the bishops' vacant places with inferior clergy at the +meeting of Parliament, and, as might have been expected, the assembly +was prorogued, leaving matters precisely as they were. + + * * * * * + +After this the Scotch took on themselves the management of their own +affairs, and a Committee of Estates was formed, to which was entrusted +absolute power both in state and army. Leslie was one of this committee; +Montrose was another, and immediately he set about raising troops from +his own lands, and carried out the plan of campaign that had been agreed +on by attacking Airlie castle. On its surrender he garrisoned it with a +few men, and went away; but shortly after Argyll arrived, turned out the +garrison, and burned the castle, at the same time accusing Montrose of +treason to the covenant in having spared it. But the Committee of +Estates declared Montrose 'to have done his duty as a true soldier of +the covenant,' and the accusation fell to the ground. + +Montrose, however, though entirely cleared of the charge, was not slow +to read the signs of the times. He saw that the covenanters were no +longer content with guarding their own liberties of church and state, +but desired to set at naught the king's authority, perhaps even to +depose him. So he and certain of his friends, Mar, Almond, and Erskine +among them, formed a bond by which they swore to uphold the old covenant +which they had signed in 1638, 'to the hazard of their lives, fortunes, +and estates, against the particular perhaps indirect practising of a +few.' This was the covenant to which Montrose held all his life, and +for which he was hanged beside the city cross. + + * * * * * + +Having as he hoped taken measures to checkmate Argyll, Montrose joined +the army, which had now swelled to twenty-five thousand men, was the +first to cross the Tweed at Coldstream, and marched straight on +Newcastle. The town surrendered without firing a shot, and Montrose sent +a letter to the king again professing his loyalty. When later he was +imprisoned on a charge of treason to the covenant in so doing, he +answered that his conscience was clear in the matter, and that it was no +more than they had all declared in the covenant, which no man could +deny. But soon another storm was raised on account of the famous bond +which he and his friends had made a short time before they were put in +prison, and the clamour was so great that even his own party was +alarmed, and gave it up to be burned by the hangman. + + * * * * * + +Montrose's next object was to induce the king to come to Edinburgh in +order to persuade the Scotch that he was ready to keep his word, and to +grant the country the religious and civil liberties demanded by the +covenant. Charles came, and was gracious and charming as he knew how to +be, even going to the Presbyterian service, which he hated. This pleased +everyone, and hopes ran high; but the quarrel was too grave to be +soothed by a few soft words spoken or a few titles given. Plots and +rumours of plots were rife in Edinburgh, and the king was forced to +employ not the men he wished, but the men whom the Parliament desired. +In November he returned to England, first promising that he would never +take into his service Montrose, who had just been released after five +months spent in prison, where he had been thrown with the rest of his +party after the discovery of the bond. + +To one who knew Scotland as well as he it was apparent that the Scotch +Parliament and the English would speedily join hands, and he retired to +one of his houses to watch the course of events. The covenanters tried +to win him back, but Montrose felt that they disagreed among themselves, +and that it would be impossible for him to serve under them. Meanwhile +in England things marched rapidly: Edgehill had been fought; episcopacy +had been abolished by Parliament in England as well as Scotland; and +Hamilton's brother Lanark was using the Great Seal to raise a Scotch +army against the king, for, by a treaty called the Solemn League and +Covenant, Scotland was to fight with the English Parliament against the +king, and England was to abolish bishops and become presbyterian like +Scotland. England, however, did not keep her promise. + +It was then that Charles, in his desperation, turned to Montrose. +Montrose was too skilful and experienced a general to think lightly of +the struggle before him, but he formed a plan by which Scotland was to +be invaded on the west by the earl of Antrim from Ireland, while he +himself, reinforced by royalist troops, would fall on the Scotch who +were on the border. But the reinforcements he expected hardly amounted, +when they came, to one thousand one hundred men, and these being +composed of the two nations were constantly quarrelling, which added to +the difficulties of the commander. At Dumfries he halted, and read a +proclamation stating that 'he was king's man, as he had been covenanter, +for the defence and maintenance of the true Protestant religion, his +majesty's just and sacred authority, the laws and privileges of +Parliament, the peace and freedom of oppressed and thralled subjects.' +Adding that 'if he had not known perfectly the king's intention to be +such and so real as is already expressed' he would 'never have embarked +himself in his service,' and if he 'saw any appearance of the king +changing' from these resolutions he would continue no longer 'his +faithful servant.' + +Thus he said, and thus we may believe he felt, but none the less not a +man joined his standard as he marched along the border. He tried to +reach prince Rupert, the king's nephew, in Yorkshire, but Marston Moor +had been lost before he arrived there. Then, dressed as a groom, he +started for Perthshire, and after four days arrived at the house of his +kinsman Graham of Inchbrackie, where he learned that the whole of the +country beyond the Tay was covenanting, with the single exception of the +territory of the Gordons. No one knew of his presence, for he still wore +his disguise, and slept in a little hut in the woods, where food was +brought him. All day he wandered about the lonely hills, thinking over +the tangled state of affairs, and waiting for the right moment to +strike. + +One afternoon when he was lying on the heather, wondering if he ought +not to come out of his hiding, and join either the Gordons or prince +Rupert, he beheld a man running quickly over the moor, holding in his +hand the Fiery Cross, which, as every Highlander knew, was the call to +arms. Starting to his feet, Montrose stopped the man and asked the +meaning of the signal, and whither he was going. + +[Illustration: "A great army of Irishmen have swooped down on the +Atholl."] + +'To Perth,' answered the messenger, 'for a great army of Irishmen have +swooped down in the Atholl country, and Alastair Macdonald is their +leader. I myself have seen them, and I must not tarry,' so on he sped, +leaving Montrose with his puzzle solved. The Irishmen whom he expected +had arrived, and he would go to meet them. + +There was no need for hiding any more, and glad was he to throw off his +disguise and put on his Highland dress again. Then, accompanied by the +laird of Inchbrackie, he walked across the hills to join Macdonald, +bearing the royal standard on his shoulder. + +As soon as he reached the meeting-place where the clans and the Irish +were already waiting, he stuck the standard in the ground, and, standing +by it, he read aloud the king's commission to him as lieutenant-general. +Shouts of joy made answer when he had done, and next Montrose went round +the ranks to inspect the troops he was to fight with, and find out what +arms they had. The numbers only amounted to about two thousand three +hundred, and it was not long before the clans began to quarrel with each +other, and all with the Irish. As to their weapons, the Irish had +matchlock guns, which took a long time to load, and one round of +ammunition apiece, while the Highlanders had seized upon anything that +happened to be in their cottages and showed a medley of bows, pikes, +clubs, and claymores--a kind of broad sword. As to horses, they could +only muster three. + + * * * * * + +With this ragged army Montrose marched, and his first victory was gained +against lord Elcho, on the wide plain of Tippermuir, near Perth. The +covenanting force was nearly double that of the royalists, but many of +the troops were citizens of Perth, who thought more of their own skins +than of the cause for which they were fighting. When Montrose's fierce +charge had broken their ranks, they all turned and fled, and many of +them are said to have 'bursted with running' before they got safely +within the city gates. + +In Perth Montrose fitted out his army with stores, arms, and clothes, +and released some of the prisoners on their promising not to serve +against him, while others enlisted under the royal banner. Before he set +out for Aberdeen he was joined by his two eldest sons and their tutor, +master Forrett; and in Forfarshire he found lord Airlie and his sons +awaiting him, with the welcome addition of fifty horse, which formed his +entire cavalry. These, and one thousand five hundred foot, were all the +army he had when he crossed the Dee fifteen miles from Aberdeen, and the +covenanters mustered a thousand more. + +Two miles from the town the two armies met. As was his custom, Montrose +sent an envoy summoning the enemy to surrender, and with the envoy went +a little drummer-boy, who was wantonly shot down by a covenanter. When +Montrose heard of this deed of deliberate cruelty his face grew dark, +but he began to dispose his men to the best advantage. Both sides fought +well, and for a moment victory seemed uncertain; then Montrose brought +up reinforcements and decided the day by one of his rapid charges. + +He had already bidden the magistrates of Aberdeen to bring out the women +and children to a place of safety as he would not answer for their +lives, but, as he had twice preserved the city from pillage, it is +probable they looked on his words as a mere idle threat, and left them +where they were. After the battle the sack began; houses were burned and +robbed, and many fell victims, though the dead, including those who had +fallen in battle, did not exceed a hundred and eighteen. But his friends +lamented that this time also he had not restrained his soldiers, and a +price of 20,000 l. was set on his head by the enraged covenanters. + + * * * * * + +Never was Montrose's power of moving his men swiftly from one place to +another more greatly needed than now. The Gordons were all in arms +against him; Argyll was advancing from the south with a strong force, +and Montrose had been obliged to send a large body of men into the west +under Macdonald to raise fresh levies. With the remainder he retired +into the Grampians, and turned and twisted about among the mountains, +Argyll always following. + +At Fyvie Montrose suddenly learned that his enemy was within two miles +of him. Hastily ordering all the pewter vessels that could be found in +the castle to be melted down for bullets, he disposed his troops on a +hill, where a few trees and some outhouses gave them cover. Here they +waited while the covenanters gallantly made the best of their way +upwards. Then Montrose turned to young O'Gahan, who commanded the Irish, +and said gaily, 'Come, what are you about? Drive those rascals from our +defences, and see we are not troubled by them again.' + +Down came the Irishmen with a rush which scattered the covenanters far +and wide, and seizing some bags of powder that lay handy, the victors +retreated up the hill again, while Montrose with some musketeers +attacked Argyll's flank, till they retired hastily. + +After this defeat the covenanting leader went into Argyllshire, where +was his strong castle of Inverary, by the sea. But Montrose crossed the +pathless mountains, deep in snow, drove Argyll to Edinburgh, and when he +came back with all his clan, turned on them suddenly, destroyed them at +Inverlochy, and caused Argyll to escape in a boat. + +The hopes of the king's lieutenant rose high as he thought of all he had +done with the few undisciplined troops at his command. + +'I trust before the end of this summer I shall be able to come to your +majesty's assistance with a brave army,' he wrote; but meanwhile he +dared not go to Edinburgh, where he had been sentenced to death by the +Committee of Estates, and his property declared forfeited. But though +the campaign had been successful beyond his expectations, yet his heart +was heavy, for his eldest son had died of cold and exposure and the +second was a prisoner in Edinburgh castle. + + * * * * * + +Such was the state of things when he went west again into the country of +the Macdonalds, who flocked to his standard. On the other hand the +Lowlanders fell off, and began to cast longing eyes at the rewards +promised to those who joined the covenant. If Montrose could only have +forced a battle on Baillie, who commanded the covenanting army, another +victory would probably have been gained, but Baillie was wise, and +declined to fight. Then the Highlanders grew sullen and impatient, and +every day saw them striding over the hills to their own homes. By the +time he reached Dunkeld the royal army had shrunk to six hundred foot +and two hundred horse. + +With this small force he entered Dundee, the great fortress of the +covenant, and his men took to drinking. At that moment news was brought +him that Baillie was at the gates, and with marvellous rapidity he +collected his men and marched them out of the east gate as the English +entered by the west. The Grampians were within a long march, and once +there Montrose knew he was safe. + +And, far away in Sweden and in Germany, the generals who had been +trained under Wallenstein and under Gustavus Adolphus looked on, and +wondered at the skill with which Montrose met and defeated the armies +and the wealth arrayed against him. + + * * * * * + +But to those who had eyes to see the end was certain. It was to no +purpose that he, with the aid of the Gordons, now once more on his side, +gained a victory at Auldearn, between Inverness and Elgin, and another +at Alford, south of the Don, which cost him the life and support of +Huntly's son, lord Gordon. In vain did Ogilvies, Murrays, and Gordons +swell his ranks, and the covenanting committee play into his hands by +forcing Baillie to fight when the general knew that defeat was +inevitable. The battle of Kilsyth had been won near Glasgow on August +14, and the day was so hot that Montrose ordered his men to strip to +their shirts so that they might have no more weight to carry than was +strictly necessary. Baillie was not even allowed to choose his own +ground, but though he did all that man could do, the struggle was +hopeless, and the Fife levies were soon in flight. + +Only a year had passed since Montrose, now captain-general and viceroy +of Scotland, had taken the field, and yet the whole country was subdued, +largely by the help of the Irish, and of their leader Macdonald, whom he +had knighted after Kilsyth. But for the royalist cause Naseby had been +lost, Wales was wavering, Ireland was useless, and Montrose was not +strong enough to make up for them all. + + * * * * * + +From Kilsyth, which is near Glasgow, it was easy for Macdonald to lead +his men across the hills and lay waste the territories of his hereditary +enemy Argyll. He would, he said, return to Montrose if he was wanted; +but the marquis took the words for what they were worth, and waited to +see whose turn to desert would come next. It was young Aboyne, who was +tired of fighting, which had not brought him any of the rewards he +thought his due, and he took with him four hundred horse and many +infantry. At the end there only remained five hundred of Macdonald's +Irish, who had cast in their lot with Montrose, and about one hundred +horsemen. With these he marched to the south, trusting in the promises +of help freely given by the great border nobles, and hoping to enter +England and help the king. + + * * * * * + +And doubtless these promises would have been kept had the king's cause +showed signs of triumph, but the speedy advance of four thousand +horsemen under David Leslie, the best cavalry officer of the day, turned +the scale. Roxburgh and Home at once proclaimed themselves on the side +of the covenant, and only Douglas reached Montrose's camp on the river +Gala, and brought a few untrained and unwilling recruits with him. It +was the best he could do, yet he knew well enough how little reliance +could be placed on his country contingent, who had been taught to look +on the king and Montrose as monsters of evil, seeking to destroy +whatever they held most dear. + +It was on September 12 that Montrose drew up his forces at Philiphaugh +between a line of hills and the river Ettrick, while shelter was given +on the west by some rising ground covered with trees. Trenches had been +made still further to protect them, and the Irish foot soldiers were +ordered to occupy the position, which seemed secure against attack. But +on this day, which was destined to decide whether the king or the +covenant should rule Scotland, Montrose's military skill--even his good +sense--deserted him; he posted his horse and best generals at +Philiphaugh, on the other side of the river close to Selkirk, and he +himself slept in the town. More than this, instead of placing his +sentinels himself, as was his invariable custom, he allowed his officers +to do it, and also to send out whatever scouts they may have thought +necessary without orders from himself, while he sat undisturbed, writing +despatches, little knowing that Leslie was only three miles away, at +Sunderland Hall. + +So the night of the 12th passed, and Montrose took counsel with the +three men he most trusted, the earls of Crawford and Airlie, and his +brother-in-law, old lord Napier, as to what should be their next step +when the battle was won. The mist was thick and heavy over the land when +morning dawned, but in spite of the cold their hearts grew light as one +scout after another came in, reporting that there was not a sign of an +enemy within miles. Had they been bribed? We shall never know, yet it is +hardly possible that they could all have overlooked the presence of +several thousand men so close to their own camp. At that very moment +Leslie's army was crossing the river, and it began the attack while the +royalists were putting on their uniforms for an inspection. + +Montrose was at breakfast in Selkirk when a messenger burst in upon him +with the news, but before he could ford the river with his horse his +left wing had given way under Leslie's steady pressure. At the head of a +handful of troopers, and followed closely by his faithful friends, +Montrose twice charged the covenanters and forced them to retire. But a +detachment of Leslie's men which had crossed the river higher up fell +upon the right wing, composed of the Irish, who were placed in the wood. +Desperate was the fight and bravely and faithfully the king's men died +at their posts. Montrose seems to wish to die too, and bitterly he must +later have regretted that he listened to his friends, who bade him +remember his duty as a general, and besought him to fly. At length he +yielded, and with fifty comrades galloped off the field, bearing the +standards with him. + + * * * * * + +With the battle of Philiphaugh the cause of the king was hopelessly +lost, and with it also the fortunes of his followers. A hundred of the +Irish surrendered on promise of quarter, and were shot down next day, +while their wives and children were killed on the spot, or imprisoned, +and hanged later. Strange as it may appear to us, Montrose did not +recognise the meaning of the defeat, and, with the dash and energy that +marked him to the last, he collected a fresh army of Highlanders, and +prepared to set out for the south, hoping to rescue his personal +friends, who were now prisoners in Glasgow. Yet again his judgment +failed him, and instead of attacking the English general who was holding +Huntly in check in the north of Aberdeenshire, he left him alone, and +then found that without the Gordons he was not strong enough to cope +with Leslie's army. Once more the mountains were his refuge, and from +their shelter he crept out to attend the burial of his wife in the town +of Montrose. On his way he probably passed the ruins of his castles, +which had been burned by order of the covenanters. + +Owing to the special desire of the Scottish rulers every possible +degradation was heaped on the imprisoned nobles, and it was a rare +favour indeed when they were suffered to die on the block, and not by +the common hangman. Lord Ogilvy was saved by his sister, who, like lady +Nithsdale sixty years later, forced him to exchange his clothes for +hers, and remained in his cell, ready to take the consequences. + +Then came the rumour that the king, with cropped hair like a Puritan and +wearing a disguise, had ridden over Magdalen bridge at Oxford, attended +by lord Ashburnham and Hudson, his chaplain, and entered the Scottish +camp in the hope of softening his foes by submission. He was soon +undeceived as to the way in which they regarded him, for before he had +even eaten or rested he was begged--or bidden--to order the surrender of +Newark, which still held out, and to command Montrose to lay down his +sword. Charles, whose manhood returned to him in these hours of +darkness, positively refused; but at Newcastle he found he was powerless +to resist, and wrote to his faithful servant to disband his army and to +go himself to France. + +In the letter which the marquis sent in reply he asks nothing for +himself, but entreats the king to obtain the best terms possible for +those that had fought for him, and the conditions arranged by Middleton +were certainly better than either king or general expected. The men who +had served in Montrose's wars were given their lives and liberty, and +also were allowed to retain whatever lands had not been already handed +over to other people. As to Montrose himself, he, with Crawford and +Hurry the general, was to leave Scotland before September 1 in a ship +belonging to the Committee of Estates. Should they be found in the +country after that date death would be the penalty. + + * * * * * + +After disbanding his army--or what was left of it--in the king's name, +and thanking them for their services, Montrose went to Forfarshire to +await the ship which was to convey him to France. But day after day +passed without a sign of it, and the marquis soon became convinced that +treachery was intended, and took measures to prevent it. Leaving old +Montrose, he went to Stonehaven, another little town on the coast, and +settled with a Norwegian captain to lie off Montrose on a certain day. +So when, on August 31, the covenanting captain at last appeared, and +declared his ship would not be ready to sail for another eight days--by +which time, of course, Montrose's life would be forfeit--he found his +bird flown; for the exile and a friend had disguised themselves and put +off one morning in a small boat to the larger vessel that was waiting +for them, and in a week were safe across the North Sea at Bergen. + + * * * * * + +But Norway was merely a stepping-stone to Paris, where the queen of +England was living under the protection of her sister-in-law, Anne of +Austria, and of the young king Louis XIV. The handsome pension allowed +her in the beginning gradually ceased when the civil war of the Fronde +broke out in 1648, and, as we know, she was found one day by a visitor +sitting with her little girl, whom she had kept in bed because she could +not afford a fire. And even at this time, in 1647, she always spent +whatever she had, so from one cause or another no money was forthcoming +to help Montrose, who perhaps did not understand the situation, and +thought that she was unkind and careless of her husband's welfare. As +often before, he spoke out his feelings when he would have done better +to be silent, and pressed on the queen advice that was not asked for, +and may not have been possible to follow. Yet, if he felt that there was +no place for him in the little English court, ample evidence was given +him of the high respect in which he was held elsewhere. The all-powerful +minister, cardinal Mazarin, desired to enlist him in the French service, +and the greatest nobles paid court to him. Montrose, however, was not +the sort of man to find healing for his sorrows in honours such as +these. He gave a grateful and courteous refusal to all proposals, and +bidding farewell to his hosts, made his way to the Prague to offer his +sword to the emperor Ferdinand. Like the rest, the emperor received him +warmly, and created him a field-marshal, but there was no post for +Montrose in the Austrian army, and in the end he joined some friends in +Brussels, whence he kept up an intimate correspondence with Elizabeth of +Bohemia, Charles I.'s sister, who was staying at the Hague with her +niece, Mary of Orange, and the young prince of Wales. + +There in February arrived the news of the king's execution, and when he +heard it Montrose vowed that the rest of his life should be spent in the +service of his son, and in avenging his master. Charles II. did not like +him; he was too grave and too little of a courtier; and besides, the new +king had listened and believed the stories to his discredit brought by +men whose fortunes had been ruined in their own country, and who sought +to build them up in Holland! Charles soon found for himself how untrue +were these tales, and though the two never could become friends, he +recognised Montrose's loyalty and ability and appointed him +commander-in-chief of the royal forces and lieutenant-governor of +Scotland, and gave him leave to get what mercenaries he could from +Sweden and Denmark. + +Full of hope, Montrose at once set off on his recruiting journey, and +sent off some troops to the Orkneys to be drilled under the earls of +Kinnoull and Morton; but Morton in a very short time caught fever and +died. Meanwhile his friend, Elizabeth of Bohemia, looked on with +distrust and alarm at her nephew's proceedings, for well she knew--as +did Charles himself--that the surrender of Montrose would be the first +article of any treaty made by the covenant. She even wrote to put +Montrose on his guard; but he, judging the king by himself, believed the +assurances of help and support given in Charles' own letters, +accompanied by the gift of the garter, as a pledge of their fulfilment. +He was bidden to lose no time in opening the campaign, but one thousand +out of the one thousand two hundred men whom he despatched went down in +a great gale, and only two hundred reached the shore. So April had come +before the general had collected sufficient soldiers to march +southwards, and by that time the forces of the enemy were ready to meet +him. + +It was on April 27 that Montrose's last battle was fought at Carbisdale, +near the Kyle, where the rivers Shin and Oykel reach the sea. The earl +of Sutherland secured the passes of the hills, while colonel Strachan +and a large body of cavalry approached from the south. When they arrived +within a few miles of the royalist camp at the head of the Kyle, +Strachan ordered two divisions of his cavalry to proceed under cover of +some woods and broken ground, and only suffered a few horse, led by +himself, to remain visible. These were seen, as they were meant to be, +by Montrose's scouts, who, as at Philiphaugh, were either careless or +treacherous or very stupid, and they brought back the report that the +covenanting force was weak. Montrose, taking for granted the truth of +their report, disposed of his foot on a flat stretch of ground, and +ordered his horse to advance. Then the trees and the hills 'started to +life with armed men'; the Orkney islanders fled without striking a blow; +and though the foreign troops made a stout resistance, they were +overpowered by numbers, and those of their leaders who were not dead +were taken prisoners. Montrose, who was badly wounded, fought +desperately on foot, but at length after much entreaty accepted the +horse ridden by Sutherland's nephew and dashed away into the hills, +throwing away as he did so his star, sword and cloak--a fatal act, which +brought about his discovery and death. Their horses were next abandoned, +and Montrose changed clothes with a peasant, and with young lord +Kinnoull and Sinclair of Caithness plunged into the wild mountains that +lay on the west. + +[Illustration: For two days they sought in vain for a road to take them +to Caithness.] + +Now began for the three fugitives the period of bodily anguish that was +to cease only with their lives. The country was strange to them, and was +almost bare of inhabitants, so that for two days they sought in vain to +find a road which might take them to Caithness, whence they could escape +to France or Norway. During these two days they ate absolutely nothing, +and passed the cold nights under the stars. At length Kinnoull, who had +always been delicate, flung himself down on the heather, and in a few +hours died of exhaustion. There his friends were forced to leave him, +without even a grave, and wandered on, their steps and their hearts +heavier than before, till a light suddenly beamed at them out of the +dusk. It was a shepherd's cottage, where they were given some milk and +oatmeal, the first food they had eaten since the battle; but the man +dared not take them into his hut, lest he should bring on himself the +wrath of the covenant for harbouring royalists, even though he knew not +who they were. + +The reward offered for Montrose sharpened men's eyes and ears, and in +two days he was discovered lying on the mountain side almost too weak to +move. It was Macleod of Assynt to whom the deadly shame of his betrayal +is said to belong, and Montrose prayed earnestly that the mercy of a +bullet in his heart might be vouchsafed him. But the man who for many +years had defied all Scotland could not be dealt with like a common +soldier, so he was put on a small Shetland pony, with his feet tied +together underneath, and led through roaring, hissing crowds, which +pressed to see him in every town through which they had to pass. The +wounds that he had received in the battle were still untouched, and he +was feverish from the pain. This was another cause of rejoicing to his +foes; but they were careful to give him food lest he should escape them +as Kinnoull had done. And at each halting-place there came a minister to +heap insults and reproaches on his head, which he seldom deigned to +answer. But though the ministers of peace and goodwill had no words bad +enough for him, one is glad to think that Leslie the general did what he +could, and allowed his friends to see him whenever they asked to do so, +and also permitted him to accept and wear the clothes of a gentleman, +which were given him by the people of Dundee. It was to Leslie also that +he probably owed a last interview with his two little boys, when he +stopped for the night at the castle of Kinnaird, from which he had been +married. + + * * * * * + +From Dundee the prisoner was brought by ship to Leith, and taken to the +palace of Holyrood, where he was received by the magistrates of the city +in their robes of office, with the provost (or mayor) at their head. +Here the order of the Parliament was read, and he listened 'with a +majesty and state becoming him, and kept a countenance high.' Then his +friends, who, like himself, were prisoners, were ordered to walk, +chained two together, through the streets, and behind came Montrose, +seated bareheaded on a chair in a cart driven by the hangman. The +streets of the old town were crowded by people who came to mock and +jeer, but remained dumb with shame and pity. The cart slowly went on its +way, and at seven the Tolbooth prison was reached, with the gallows +thirty feet high standing as it had stood twelve years before beside the +city cross. + + * * * * * + +The last days of Montrose were disturbed by the constant visits of +ministers, who tried to force from him a confession of treachery to the +covenant, but in vain. + +'The covenant which I took,' he said, 'I own it and adhere to it. +Bishops I care not for. I never intended to advance their interest. But +when the king had granted you all your desires, and you were everyone +sitting under his vine and under his fig tree--that then you should have +taken a party in England by the hand and entered into a league and +covenant with them against the king was the thing I judged my duty to +oppose to the yondmost.' + +These words are the explanation of Montrose's conduct in changing from +one side to another; but little he guessed that the new king, by whose +express orders he had undertaken his present hopeless mission, had only +a few days before, at the conference of Breda, consented to bid his +viceroy disband his army and to leave Scotland. This knowledge, which +would have added bitterness to his fate, was spared him; as was the +further revelation of the baseness of Charles II., who gave orders to +his messenger not to deliver the document if he found Montrose likely to +get the upper hand. + + * * * * * + +As an act of extraordinary generosity the Parliament, which had voted to +colonel Strachan a diamond clasp for his share in the final defeat of +Montrose, permitted the prisoner's friends to provide him with a proper +dress, so that he might appear suitably before them. Their courtesy did +not, however, extend to a barber to shave him--a favour which, as he +said, 'might have been allowed to a dog.' But he must have looked very +splendid as he stood at the bar of the House, in black cloth trimmed +with silver, and a deep lace collar, with a scarlet cloak likewise +trimmed with silver falling over his shoulders, a band of silver on his +beaver hat, and scarlet shoes and stockings. + +A long list of his crimes was read to him, and these one by one he +denied. 'For the league,' he said, 'I thank God I never was in it, and +so could not break it. Never was any man's blood spilt save in battle, +and even then, many thousand lives have I preserved. As for my coming at +this time, it was by his majesty's just commands'--the commands of the +king who a week earlier had abandoned him! But of what use are words and +denial when the doom is already fixed? The chancellor's reply was merely +a series of insults, and then the prisoner was ordered to kneel and hear +the sentence read by Warriston, by whose side he had stood on the +scaffold in 1638 when the first covenant was read, and old Lord Rothes +had made his dark prophecy. + +He had known beforehand what it would be--hanging, drawing, and +quartering, with a copy of his last declaration and the history of his +wars tied round his neck, and no burial for his body unless he confessed +his guilt at the last. This did not trouble him. 'I will carry honour +and fidelity with me to the grave' he had said eight years before, and +that no grave was to be allowed him mattered little. + +The ceremony over, he was led back to the Tolbooth, where his gaoler +kept him free from the ministers who would fain have thrust their +sermons and reproaches on the dying man. + + * * * * * + +Soldiers were early under arms on the morning of May 21, for even now +the Parliament greatly dreaded a rescue. With the 'unaltered +countenance' he had borne ever since his capture Montrose heard the +beating of drums and trumpets, and answered calmly the taunt of +Warriston as to his vanity in dressing his hair. + +'My head is yet my own,' said Montrose, 'and I will arrange it to my +taste. To-night, when it will be yours, treat it as you please.' + +Every roof and window in the High Street and within sight of the city +cross was filled with people as Montrose, clad in scarlet and black, +walked calmly down at three that afternoon. 'Many of his enemies did +acknowledge him to be the bravest subject in the world,' writes one who +beheld him, and he walked up the steps as quietly as if he were taking +his place to see some interesting sight. + +They feared him too much to allow him to speak to the crowd, as was the +custom, but he addressed himself to the magistrates and the ministers +who were standing on the platform. Once more he confessed his faith and +his loyalty, and when, in accordance with the sentence, the hangman +suspended the two books round his neck, he said, 'they have given me a +decoration more brilliant than the garter.' Then he mounted the ladder, +and the hangman burst into tears as he gave the last touch. + + * * * * * + +So died Montrose, and eleven years later the king who had disowned him +bethought him of his fate. In January 1661 the Parliament, which had +been summoned by the restored monarch, Charles II., 'thought fit to +honour Montrose his carcase with a glorious second burial, to compensate +the dishonour of the first.' His limbs, which had been placed over the +gates of the cities made memorable by his victories, remained in state +at Holyrood for four months, and May 11 was fixed to lay them where they +now rest, in the church of St. Giles. Heralds in their many-coloured +robes arranged the procession, and the train-bands occupied the street +to keep off the dense crowds. The magistrates, headed by the provost, +walked two and two in deep mourning--had any of them taken part in that +brutal scene eleven years ago?--and behind them came the barons and the +burgesses. Next followed the dead man's kinsmen bearing his armour, the +order of the garter, and his field-marshal's baton, and behind the +coffin came his two sons and most of his kindred. Middleton, as lord +high commissioner and representative of the king, occupied the place of +honour, and brought up the rear in a coach drawn by six horses, with six +bareheaded gentlemen riding on each hand. + +Thus was Montrose lowered into his grave to the sound of the guns that +he loved, which thundered from the castle. He has a beautiful tomb in +the old church of St. Giles, adorned with the coats-of-arms of the +Grahams and Napiers and his other brothers-in-arms. + + + + +A CHILD'S HERO + + +On a dark January day in the year 1858 a little girl was running quickly +downstairs for her play-hour with her elders. Just as she reached the +foot of the staircase the drawing-room door opened, and her brother came +out with a grave face. 'Havelock is dead!' said he, and at the news the +little girl laid her head against the wall and burst into tears. + + * * * * * + +Who was this Havelock, that a strange child should care so much about +him? Well, he was a man who worked hard and fought hard all the days of +his life, never shirking his duty or envious of the good luck of others. +Again and again those who had shared the burden and heat of the day with +Havelock got rewards to which it might seem that he had an equal claim; +still, whatever his disappointment he showed no sign, but greeted his +fortunate friends cheerfully, and when it was required of him served +under them with all his might. Just at the end the chance came to him +also, and gloriously he profited by it. + +But if you want to know how that came about you must begin at the +beginning. + + * * * * * + +Henry Havelock was born at Bishop's Wearmouth, close to Sunderland, on +April 5, 1795. His grandfather was a shipbuilder in the flourishing +seaport town, and his son, Henry's father, became a partner in the +business. The Havelocks soon made a name in the trade, and were given a +commission to build the _Lord Duncan_, christened after the famous +admiral, the largest ship ever launched from the port. + +Money flowed in rapidly, and when Henry was about three years old his +father determined to leave the north and to go and settle at Ingress +Hall, near Dartford, in Kent, which became the birthplace of his two +youngest sons, Thomas and Charles. + +There was no school nearer than three miles, which was too far for them +to walk, so to the great delight of Henry and his elder brother William +ponies were given them, and even if they had disliked their lessons +instead of being fond of books, the pleasure of the ride through the +lanes would have made up for everything. As it was, they were always +hanging about the front door long before it was time to start, and the +moment the coachman brought out the ponies from the stable they would +spring into their saddles in a great bustle, and clatter away over the +grass, pretending that they were very late and would get bad marks if +they did not hurry. + +All through Havelock's childhood the continent of Europe was under the +foot of Napoleon, and was forced to submit to his rule. England only had +stood aloof and refused his advances; yet she waited, with the dread +that accompanies the expectation whose fulfilment is delayed, for an +invasion of her own coasts. No story was too bad to be believed of +'Boney,' and women are said to have frightened their naughty children +into good behaviour by threatening to send for 'Boney' to carry them +away. No doubt Havelock heard a great deal from his parents and +schoolfellows of the desperate wickedness of 'Boney,' but, in spite of +the terrible pictures that were drawn, the boy devoured eagerly all the +newspapers wrote of the ogre's campaigns and his battles, and never +joined in the outcry against him. + +Before Henry had passed his tenth birthday he was sent, with his brother +William, to the Charterhouse School in the City of London, where he +stayed for seven years. He was always bold and daring, so the other boys +respected him, even though he did not care much for games, and, what was +still worse in their eyes, was fond of Greek and Latin and always did +his work. Still, though it was, they said, very silly for a boy to do +more than he could possibly help, it must be admitted that Havelock +never minded risking his neck when he was dared to do so, would climb +trees or chimneys while others looked on awe-stricken, and would endure +any punishment sooner than betray 'a fellow' who was caught. + +During these years of school Havelock had many battles of Napoleon's to +study, and we may be sure that each one in its turn was thoroughly +discussed with the friends who afterwards became celebrated in many +ways--the historians, Grote and Thirlwall, Eastlake the painter, Yates +the actor, and Macnaghten, afterwards murdered at Cabul, while Havelock +was with the force on the way to relieve him. As they grew older they +used to talk over the future together, and not one of them doubted that +he would be in the front rank of whatever profession he might choose. +'My mother wants me to be a lawyer, and she is sure that one day I shall +be lord chancellor,' said Havelock, and no doubt every other mother was +equally convinced of her son's genius. But before his school-days were +over Mrs. Havelock died, to Henry's great grief, and then came the news +that their father had lost a great deal of money, and they must leave +Ingress Hall and move to a smaller house at Clifton. + + * * * * * + +It was in 1813--the year of the battle of Leipzig, Henry Havelock would +have told you--that the young man took the first step towards becoming +'lord chancellor,' and was entered at the Middle Temple. He set to work +with his usual energy, and when he was too tired to understand any more +of what the law books taught him, he would take down a volume of poetry +and read till he was soothed by the music of the words. But at the end +of a year a change came into his life. His father, whose temper seems to +have been ruined by the loss of his money, quarrelled with him about +some trifling matter. Henry's allowance was withdrawn, and as he could +not live in the Temple upon nothing he was forced to bid good-bye to the +dream of the chancellorship. + +At this time in his life he was perplexed and unhappy, though he never +gave up the strong religious faith which he had inherited from his +mother. It was necessary that he should earn his living in some way, but +he could not see what he was to do, and things were so uncomfortable at +home that he wished to leave it as soon as possible. + +Happily he had not long to wait, for William, who had joined the 43rd +Regiment and fought at Busaco and Salamanca and Waterloo, came home on +leave, and solved the puzzle. + + * * * * * + +In the great battle which finally broke the power of Napoleon, William +Havelock had been acting as aide-de-camp to baron von Alten, who had +succeeded to the command of general Craufurd's division. We are told +that William 'had done the baron a service' during the engagement, and +that the general was anxious to prove his gratitude. The special +'service' the young soldier had rendered is not mentioned, but we may +take it for granted that William Havelock had in some way saved his +life. However, in answer to the general's offer of reward, William said +that he had all he could possibly wish for, and so the matter ended for +the moment. But when he came home, and found Henry with all his plans +changed, and not knowing how to set about making a career for himself, +the baron von Alten's words flashed into his mind. + +'You were always fond of soldiering,' he said to Henry one day, 'and I +believe you could describe the battles I have fought in almost as well +as I could. If the baron can give me a commission for you, will you take +it? I am sure you would make a splendid soldier.' + +Henry's eyes beamed. Somehow he had never thought of that. At the +Charterhouse he had been laughed at for his love of books, and called +the 'Phlos.'--short for 'Philosopher'--by the boys. He had always, too, +been very religious, and after his mother's death (which occurred when +he was about fourteen) had gathered four of his special friends round +him once or twice a week in the big dormitory where they all slept, in +order that they might read the Bible together. Yet there was in Havelock +much of the spirit of the old crusader and of his enemy, the follower of +Mahomet the prophet, and though, unlike them, he did not deal out death +as the punishment of a rejected faith, still he positively delighted in +fighting, and indeed looked on it as a sacred duty. + +So the commission was obtained, and Henry, now second lieutenant in the +Rifle Brigade, then called the 95th, was sent to Shorncliffe, and +captain Harry Smith was his senior officer. The Boer war has made us +very well acquainted with the name of this gentleman, for in after years +it was given to the town of Harrismith in South Africa, while his wife's +has become immortal in 'Ladysmith.' + + * * * * * + +Young Havelock, who was still under twenty-one, made fast friends with +his captain, and listened eagerly to all he could tell of the Punjaub, +where Smith had seen much of service. How he longed to take part in such +deeds! But his turn was slow in coming, and for eight years he remained +inactive in England, while the nation was recovering as best it could +from the strain of the Peninsular War. Most of his messmates grumbled +and fretted at having 'nothing to do,' but this was never Havelock's +way, for if he could not 'do' what he wanted, he did something else. The +young man, only five feet six inches in height, with the long face and +eyes which looked as if they saw things that were hidden from other +people, spent his spare time in studying all that belonged to his +profession. For hours he would pore over books on fortification and +tactics, and try to find for himself why this or that plan, which seemed +so good, turned out when tried a hopeless failure. He had always a pile +of memoirs of celebrated soldiers round him, and often bored his +brother-officers by persisting in talking of the campaigns of +Marlborough or Frederick the Great, instead of discussing the balls or +races that filled their minds. Still, though he made the best of the +circumstances in which he found himself, he looked forward to the +prospect of going to India, where William and Charles already were. + + * * * * * + +But to get to India it was needful to exchange into another regiment, +and Henry was gazetted to the 13th Light Infantry. The process took some +time, but as usual he found some work for himself, and prepared for his +future life by taking lessons in Persian and Hindostanee. + +Now there is no better way of learning a language than to teach it to +somebody else, and on the voyage out to Calcutta, which then took four +months, some of the officers on board ship begged him to form a class in +these two languages. Havelock had passed in London the examination +necessary for the degree of a qualified Moonshee, or native tutor, and +his Persian was so good that regularly throughout his life, when his +superior officers wished to mark their appreciation of his services, +they recommended him for an interpretership! Therefore during those +tedious four months, when land was seldom seen, and the ship sailed on +from St. Helena, whose great captive had not been two years dead, to the +Cape of Good Hope and the island of Ceylon, the little band of students +met and struggled with the strange letters of the two tongues, and by +the time the ship _General Kyd_ arrived at Calcutta in May 1823, +Havelock's pupils could all talk a little, and read tolerably. + + * * * * * + +At first it seemed as if life in India was going to be as quiet as life +in England, but in 1824 the king of Ava, a Burmese city, demanded that +Eastern Bengal should be given up to him, or war would be instantly +declared. The answer sent to the 'Lord of the Great White Elephant' was +a declaration of war on the part of our viceroy in India. Sir Archibald +Campbell was given the command of the invading force, and he appointed +Havelock to be his deputy-assistant adjutant-general. + +It was the young man's first taste of warfare, and a very bitter one it +proved to be. The experiences of Marlborough and Frederick on the +battlefields of Europe were of little use in the jungle, where the +Burmese knew a thousand hiding-places undreamed of by the English, who +had the unhealthy climate to fight against as well. At last Havelock +fell ill like the rest, and was sent to his brother, then stationed at +Poonah, not far from Bombay, to recover his health. + +Havelock went very unwillingly; he was doing his work to the +satisfaction of the general, and he knew it; besides, he could not help +thinking that before he got better the war might have ended, or someone +else might be filling his place. However, there was no help for it, and +as soon as he was on board ship he began to feel for the first time how +ill he had really been. Once at Poonah he soon recovered, and in June +was able to return to the camp in Burmah. + +For a long while it had been Havelock's habit to hold a sort of Bible +class for any of the men whom he could persuade to come to it; and not +only did he give them religious teaching, but he made them understand +that he expected them to 'live soberly, righteously, and godly,' as the +Catechism says. They were not to quarrel, or to drink too much, or to do +as little work as possible. They were to tell the truth, even if it got +them into trouble, and they were to bear the hardships that fall to the +lot of every soldier--hunger and thirst, heat and cold--without +grumbling. And the men accepted his teaching, and tried to act up to it, +because they saw that Havelock asked nothing of them that he did not +practise himself. + +'Havelock's Saints' was their nickname among the rest of the camp, but +sometimes even their enemies were forced to admit that 'Havelock's +Saints' had their uses. One night sir Archibald Campbell ordered a +sudden attack to be made on the Burmese by a certain corps. The +messenger or orderly who was sent with the order returned saying that +the men were too drunk to be fit for duty. + +'Then call out Havelock's Saints,' said the commander-in-chief; '_they_ +are always sober and to be depended upon, and Havelock himself is always +ready.' + +So the night attack was made by the 'Saints,' and the position carried. + + * * * * * + +At the end of the Burmese war Havelock returned to his regiment, then +commanded by colonel Sale, who became his lifelong friend. All he had +gained in Burmah, except experience, was the rank of a Burmese noble, +conferred on him by the 'Golden King' on account of his services in +making the treaty of peace. This cost the 'Lord of the White Elephant' +nothing, and did no good to Havelock; and six months after the troops +left Burmah he was glad to accept the adjutancy of a regiment in a +pleasant part of India, near some friends. Here he became engaged to be +married to Miss Marshman, daughter of a missionary, and the wedding-day +was soon fixed. Early that morning the bridegroom received a message +that he must go up at once to Calcutta in order to attend a +court-martial to be held at twelve o'clock. Calcutta was a long way from +Chinsurah, and as he was bound to be present at the military trial most +men would have put off the marriage till the following day. But Havelock +was different from other people. He sent one messenger to order the +fastest boat on the river to be in waiting, and another to inform the +bride and her father that they must get ready as quickly as possible. +The ceremony was performed without delay, and as soon as it was over +Havelock ran down to his boat. For several hours he sat in the stifling +court, hearing witnesses and asking them questions as coolly as if there +had been no marriage and no bride, and when the proceedings were ended, +and the sentence passed, he stepped on board the boat again, and arrived +at Chinsurah in time for the wedding dinner. + + * * * * * + +After he had been at Chinsurah for four years the Government thought +they could do without an adjutant, and thus save money. This fell hardly +on Havelock, who was very poor, and when he went back to his regiment +his wife and child had to live in two tiny rooms on the ramparts. Mrs. +Havelock never complained, but in a hot climate like India plenty of +space and air are necessary for health, and both father and mother were +terrified lest the baby should suffer. However, very soon the new +governor-general gave him the adjutancy of his own regiment, then at +Agra, and things grew brighter. His days were passed in drilling and +looking after his men, but he still took thought for their welfare in +their spare hours, and managed to get some chapels put up for them, and +to open a coffee-house, with games and books, which he hoped might keep +them out of mischief. + + * * * * * + +Now at this date, and for many years after, it was the custom in the +English army that the officers should _buy_ their promotion, unless a +vacancy occurred by death. Havelock was a poor man, and like many +well-known Indian soldiers had to depend for luck on his 'steps,' or +advancement. If, like Havelock, officers exchanged into other regiments, +they were put back to the bottom of the list, and had to work their way +up all over again. + +Besides this there were _two_ armies in India, one belonging to the +English sovereign, and the other to the East India Company's Service, +under which near a hundred years before Clive had won his battles. It +was the officers serving under 'John Company,' as it was called, who had +all the 'plums' of the profession; who governed large provinces, made +treaties with the native princes, and gave orders even to the general +himself. Outram, who afterwards entered Lucknow side by side with +Havelock; sir Henry Lawrence, who died defending the city before Outram +and Havelock fought their way in; John Nicholson, who was killed in the +siege of Delhi, and hundreds of other well-known men, all wore the +Company's colours and received rewards. For the officers of the royal +army it was no uncommon thing for a man to wait fifty years before being +made a general, as lord Roberts's father waited; so, although it was +very disheartening for Havelock to see young men, with not half his +brains but with ten times his income, become captains and majors and +colonels over his head, he knew well what he had to expect, and also +that he possessed thousands of companions in misfortune. + +By-and-by the Company's army was done away with, and India is now ruled +in an entirely different way. + +It was in the autumn of 1836 that Havelock sent up his wife and little +children for a change to a hill station called Landour. The cool air and +quiet were very restful after the heat of the summer, and at last they +were all able to sleep, instead of tossing to and fro through the dark +hours, longing for the dawn. + +One night the moon was shining brightly, and Mrs. Havelock had stepped +out on her verandah before she went to bed, and thought how beautiful +and peaceful everything looked. A few hours later she was awakened by a +dense smoke, and jumping up found that the house was on fire all round +her. She snatched up her baby and opened the door to get to the room +where the two little boys were sleeping with their ayah, or nurse, but +such a rush of flames met her that she staggered back and fell. In an +instant her thin nightdress was on fire, and she was so blinded by the +glare and the smoke that she did not know which way to turn. Happily one +of the native servants heard the noise, and, wrapping a wet blanket +about him which was too damp to burn, he managed to crawl over the floor +and drag her through the verandah to a place of safety. He then ran back +and succeeded in reaching the two boys and putting them beside their +mother, but not before the eldest had been badly burnt. + +[Illustration: He managed to crawl over the floor.] + +As for the baby, she died in a few days, and it was thought that her +mother, who had been borne unconscious to the house of a neighbour, +could hardly survive her many hours. + +Such was the news which reached Havelock at Kurnaul, where the regiment +was now stationed. It was a crushing blow to him, but, with a violent +effort to control himself, he sent a hasty request to the colonel for +leave, and arranged the most important parts of his work, so that it +might be carried on by another officer. He had just finished and was +ready to start when a message was brought in from the men of his +regiment, who were waiting below, begging that he would speak to them +for one moment. Half dazed he hurried out to the courtyard, and then the +sergeant stepped forward from the ranks, and in a few words told him of +the sorrow with which all his company had heard of the terrible +calamity, and hoped that he would accept a month of their pay to go +towards replacing the burnt furniture. + +Havelock was touched to the heart, and his eyes filled with tears of +gratitude. His voice shook as he stammered out his thanks, but he could +not take their savings, though to the end of his life he never forgot +the kindness of their offer. Happily Mrs. Havelock did not die, and in a +few months was as well as ever. + + * * * * * + +In 1838, when Havelock had been twenty-three years a soldier, he +obtained his captaincy by the death of the man above him, and in the end +of the same year the war with Afghanistan gave him another chance of +distinguishing himself. + +It was a very unfortunate and badly managed business. The native ruler, +the Ameer or Dost Mohammed, who had for twelve years governed the +country fairly well, was deposed, and a weak and treacherous prince, +hated by all the Afghans, was chosen by us to replace him. This could +only be done by the help of our troops, and although Englishmen who knew +Cabul pointed out to the governor-general the folly of his course, lord +Auckland would listen to no one, and the expedition which was to finish +in disaster was prepared. + +Havelock's old friend sir Willoughby Cotton was given the command of the +part of the army destined for Afghanistan itself, while the other half +remained as a reserve in the Punjaub. Cotton appointed Havelock his +aide-de-camp, greatly to his delight, and at the end of December 1838 +the march began. As far as the Indus things went smoothly enough, but +after that difficulties crowded in upon them. They had deserts to cross, +and not enough animals to drag their guns and waggons, food grew scarcer +and scarcer, and at length the general ordered 'famine rations' to be +served out. It was winter also, and the country was high and bitterly +cold, and April was nearly at its close before the city of Candahar was +reached. Here sickness broke out among the troops, and they were obliged +to wait in the town till the crops had ripened and they could get proper +supplies for their march to Cabul. + +The first step towards winning Cabul was the capture of Ghuzni, a strong +fortress lying two hundred and seventy miles to the north of Candahar. +This was carried by assault during the night, the only gate not walled +up being blown open by the English. In the rush into the town which +followed, colonel Sale was thrown on the ground while struggling +desperately with a huge native, who was standing over him. + +'Do me the favour to pass your sword through the body of the infidel,' +cried Sale, politely, to captain Kershaw, who had just come up. The +captain obligingly did as he was asked, and the Afghan fell dead beside +his foe. + +[Illustration: The captain obligingly did as he was asked.] + +Early in August the British army reached the town of Cabul, on the river +of the same name, and found that the Dost Mohammed had fled into the +mountains of the Hindu Koosh, leaving the city ready to welcome the +British. As everything was quiet, and the army was to remain in Cabul +for the winter, Havelock obtained permission to go back to Serampore, +near Calcutta, in the hope of bringing out a book he had been writing +about the march across the Indus. Unluckily this book, like the two +others he wrote, proved a failure; which was the more unfortunate as, in +order to get it published, Havelock had been obliged to refuse sir +Willoughby Cotton's offer of a Persian interpretership. But he needed +money for his boy's education, and thought he might obtain it through +his book. Therefore this lack of a sale was a bitter disappointment to +him. + +Just at that time a company of recruits had been raised for service in +Cabul, and in June 1840 Havelock started in charge of them from +Serampore. He had the whole width of India to cross, and at Ferozepore, +on a tributary of the Indus, he joined general Elphinstone, the +successor of Cotton, who was retiring. Why Elphinstone should have been +chosen to conduct a war which the mountainous country was certain to +render difficult is a mystery, and another mystery is why Elphinstone +should have accepted the appointment, as he was so crippled with gout +that he could hardly move. However, there he was, commander-in-chief of +this part of the expedition, and from this unwise choice resulted many +of the calamities which followed. + + * * * * * + +The general could not travel fast, and it was more than six months +before they reached Cabul. Havelock, now Persian interpreter to +Elphinstone, was much disturbed at the condition of things that they +found on their arrival, and at the folly which had lost us the support +of the native hill tribes, who had hitherto acted as our paid police and +guarded the passes leading into the Punjaub. So when Sale's brigade, +with a native regiment, a small force of cavalry and artillery, and a +few engineers under the famous George Broadfoot, marched eastwards up +the river Cabul, they discovered that the passes had all been blocked by +the mountaineers, who were ready to spring out and attack the English +from all sorts of unsuspected hiding-places. + +Now Havelock had not drawn his sword since the end of the Burmese war, +and directly he saw a chance of fighting he had begged to be allowed to +accept the appointment of staff-officer offered him by Sale. This was +given him, and the troops had only gone a few miles from Cabul when the +fighting began, and Sale was severely wounded. + +It is impossible to tell all the details of the march, but much of the +burden of it fell on Havelock's shoulders, as Sale could not go about +and see after things himself. Here, as always, he proved himself, as +Kaye the historian says, 'every inch a soldier.' 'Among our good +officers,' wrote Broadfoot at the time, 'first comes captain Havelock. +The whole of them together would not compensate for his loss. He is +brave to admiration, invariably cool, and, as far as I can see or +judge, correct in his views.' + +All along the march up the Cabul these qualities were badly needed, for +it was necessary to watch night and day lest the little army should be +taken unawares by the hill tribes. At last the rocky country was left +behind, and they halted in the rich and well-wooded town of Gundamak, to +rest for a little and to wait Elphinstone's orders. The letters, when +they came, told a fearful tale. The Afghans had risen in Cabul; Burnes, +the East India Company's officer in Afghanistan, had been murdered, +together with other men, among them Broadfoot's brother, and though +there were five thousand British troops stationed only two miles away, +as Havelock well knew, they had never been called out to quell the +insurrection. + +Under these circumstances Elphinstone implored Sale to return without +delay to Cabul. + + * * * * * + +A council of war was held to decide what was to be done. They all saw +that if it had been difficult to get through the passes before, it would +be almost impossible now, when the success at Cabul had given fresh +courage and audacity to the hill-men, and thousands who had hung back +waiting to know if the insurrection would be successful or not would +have rushed to the help of their country. Besides, with five thousand +fresh troops close to the city, the English could hardly be in such +desperate straits. So Sale decided to disobey Elphinstone's orders and +to push on to Jellalabad further up the river. + +Jellalabad was not reached without much fighting, and when they entered +the town it was clear that it would not be easy to hold, and that the +walls stood in much need of repair. However, Broadfoot was the kind of +man who felt that whatever _had_ to be done _could_ be done, and he +turned out his corps, consisting of natives of every tribe, to work on +the fortifications. Happily he had brought with him from Cabul all the +tools that were necessary, and the Afghan fire which poured in upon them +was soon checked by Colonel Monteath, who scattered the enemy for the +time being. + +This left the garrison a chance of getting in supplies; but they were +short of powder and shot, and orders were issued that it should not be +used unnecessarily. + + * * * * * + +On the morning of January 8, 1842, three Afghans rode into the town, +bearing a letter from Cabul, signed both by sir Henry Pottinger and +general Elphinstone. This told them that a treaty had been concluded by +which the English had agreed to retire from Afghanistan, and bidding +Sale to quit Jellalabad at once and proceed to India, leaving behind him +his artillery and any stores or baggage that he might not be able to +carry with him. + +With one voice the council of war, which was hastily summoned, declined +once more to obey these instructions, which they declared had been wrung +out of Elphinstone by force. Jellalabad should be held at any cost, and +the news that they received during the following week only strengthened +their resolution. The British in Cabul were hemmed in by their enemies, +the cantonments or barracks were deserted, and the sixteen thousand +fugitives had been surrounded outside the city by Afghan troops led by +the son of the Dost Mohammed. These things gave the defenders of +Jellalabad enough to think of, and to fear. + + * * * * * + +Five days later some officers on the roof of a tall house were sweeping +the horizon with their field glasses to see if there was any chance of +an attack from the Afghans, who were always hovering about watching for +some carelessness on the part of the besieged. But gaze as they might, +nothing was moving in the broad valley, or along the banks of the three +streams which watered it. They were turning away satisfied that at +present there was no danger, when one of them uttered a sudden cry, and +snatching the glasses from his companion, exclaimed, 'Yes, I am right. A +man riding a pony has just come round that corner. It is the Cabul road, +and his clothes are English. Look!' + +The others looked, and saw for themselves. The pony's head drooped, and +he was coming wearily down the road, while it was clear that the rider +was urging the poor beast to his best speed. A chill feeling of disaster +filled the little group; they hastened down to the walls and gave a +shout of welcome, and the man waved his cap in answer. + +'Throw open the gate,' said the major, and they all rushed out to hear +what the stranger had to tell. + + * * * * * + +It was a fearful tale. The general in Cabul had listened to the promises +of the son of the Dost Mohammed, and had ordered the five thousand +troops and ten thousand other hangers-on of the British army to leave +their position, in which they were safe, and trust themselves solely to +the Afghans. Cold, hungry, and tired they struggled to the foot of the +mountains; then the signal was given, the Afghans fell on their victims, +and the few who escaped were lost among the snows of the passes. Only +Dr. Brydon had been lucky enough to strike a path where no one followed +him, and in spite of wounds and exhaustion had managed to reach the +walls of Jellalabad. + +In silence the men listened, horror in their faces. It seemed impossible +that Englishmen should have walked blindfold into such a trap, and +besides the grief and rage they felt at the fate of their countrymen +another thought was in the minds of all. The Afghans would be +intoxicated by their success, and at any moment might swoop down upon +the ill-defended Jellalabad. Instantly the gates were closed, the +horses saddled, and every man went to his post. At night bonfires were +lit and bugles sounded every half-hour to guide to the city any +fugitives that might be hiding in the woods or behind the rocks. But +none came--none ever came save Brydon. + + * * * * * + +Meanwhile Sale was daily expecting a relief force under Wild; but +instead there arrived the news that Wild had been unable to fight his +way through the terrible Khyber Pass--the scene of more than one tragedy +in Indian history. + +In face of this a council of war was again held to consider what was +best to be done. Most of the officers wished to abandon the city and +make terms with the Afghans, in spite of the lesson that had already +been given them of what was the fate of those who trusted to Afghan +faith. Only Broadfoot and Havelock opposed violently this resolution, +and in the end their views prevailed. Jellalabad was to be defended by +the garrison till general Pollock arrived from the East. + +So matters went for the next three months. By this time the raw troops +that had entered the city had become steady and experienced soldiers. +There was a little fighting every now and then, which served to keep up +their spirits, and though food needed to be served out carefully, they +were able sometimes to drive in cattle from the hills, which gave them +fresh supplies. On February 19 Sale received a letter from general +Pollock asking how long they could hold out, and he was writing an +answer at a table, with Havelock beside him, when suddenly the table +began to rock and the books slid on to the ground. Then a whirlwind of +dust rushed past the window, making everything black as night, and the +floor seemed to rise up under their feet. + +[Illustration: Suddenly the table began to rock.] + +The two men jumped up, and, blinded and giddy as they were, made their +way outside, where they were nearly deafened with the noise of tumbling +houses and the cries of hurt and frightened people. It was no use to +fly, for havoc was all round them, and they were no safer in one place +than another. At last the earth ceased to tremble and houses to fall; +the dust stopped dancing and whirling, and the sun once more appeared. + +During the first shock of the earthquake Broadfoot was standing with +another officer on the ramparts, his eyes fixed on the defences, which +had caused him so much labour, and were now falling like nine-pins. + +'This is the time for Akbar Khan,' he said, and if Akbar had not dreaded +the earthquake more than British guns the massacre of Cabul would have +been repeated in Jellalabad. But though Akbar feared greatly, he knew +that his soldiers feared yet more; he waited several days till the earth +seemed peaceful again, and then rode up to a high hill from which he +could overlook the city. + +'Why, it is witchcraft!' he cried, as he saw the defences all in their +places; for Broadfoot's men had worked so well that in a week everything +had been rebuilt exactly as before. + + * * * * * + +March passed with some skirmishes, but when April came the senior +officers told Sale that they strongly advised an attack on Akbar, who, +with six thousand men, had taken up a position on the Cabul river two +miles from Jellalabad, and had placed an outpost of three hundred picked +men only three-quarters of a mile outside the walls. Broadfoot had been +badly wounded in a skirmish a fortnight before, and could not fight, so +the attacking party, consisting of three divisions of five hundred each, +were led by Dennie, Monteath and Havelock. Dennie was mortally wounded +in trying to carry the outpost, and Havelock halted and formed some of +his men into a square to await Akbar's charge, leaving part of his +division behind a walled enclosure to the right. + +Having made his arrangements, Havelock stood outside the square and near +to the wall, so that he could command both parties, and told his troops +to wait till the Afghans were close upon them before they fired; but in +their excitement they disobeyed orders, and Havelock's horse, caught +between two fires, plunged and threw him. In another moment he would +have been trampled under the feet of the Afghan cavalry had not three of +his soldiers dashed out from the ranks and dragged him into the square. + +[Illustration: In another moment he would have been trampled under the +feet of the Afghan cavalry.] + +The enemy were thrown into confusion and retired to re-form. They +charged again, and were again repulsed, and by seven that morning +Akbar's camp was abandoned and his power broken. + +Pollock's assistance had not been needed; the garrison of Jellalabad had +delivered themselves. + + * * * * * + +There is no room in this story to tell of the many wars in which +Havelock took part during the next fifteen years, always doing good work +and gaining the confidence of his commanding officers. He fought in the +war with the Mahrattas in 1843, and was made lieutenant-colonel after +the battle of Maharajpore. The following year he was fighting by sir +Hugh Gough's side in the Punjaub against the Sikhs, who were the best +native soldiers in India, and had been carefully trained by French +officers. In this war four battles took place in fifty-five days, all +close to the river Sutlej, but the last action at the village of Sobraon +put an end to hostilities for two years to come. + +'India has been saved by a miracle,' writes Havelock, 'but the loss was +terrific on both sides.' + + * * * * * + +In 1849 Havelock, who had exchanged from the 13th into the 39th, and +again into the 53rd, applied for leave of absence to join his family in +England. It was his first visit home for twenty-six years, and +everything was full of interest to him. His health had broken down, and +if he had been rich enough he would certainly have retired; but he had +never been able to save a six-pence, and there were five sons and two +daughters to be educated and supported. Should he die, Mrs. Havelock +would have a pension of 70 l. a year, and the three youngest children +20 l. each till they were fourteen, when it would cease. This, in +addition to 1,000 l. which he possessed, was all the family had to +depend on. + +Therefore, leaving them at Bonn, on the Rhine, where teaching was good +and living cheap, he returned to India in December 1851, rested both in +mind and body, and in good spirits. To his great joy a few months later +his eldest son was given the adjutancy of the 10th Foot, and he himself +was promoted to various posts where the pay was good and the work light. +Now that he had some leisure he went back to his books, and in a letter +to his youngest son, George, on his fifth birthday, he bids him read all +the accounts he can find of the battles that had just been fought in the +Crimea--Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman--and when his father came home to +England again he would make him drawings, and show him how they were +fought. But little George had to understand the battles as best he +might, for his father never came back to explain them to him. + + * * * * * + +After serving in Persia during the early part of 1857, Havelock was +suddenly ordered to return to India to take part in the struggle which +gave him undying fame, and a grave at Lucknow before the year was out. +According to the testimony of Kaye the historian, for half a century he +had been seriously studying his profession, and knew every station +between Burmah and Afghanistan! 'Military glory,' says Kaye, 'was the +passion of his life, but at sixty-two he had never held an independent +command.' + +Now, in the mutiny which had shaken our rule to its foundation, all +Havelock's study of warfare and all his experience were to bear fruit. A +great many causes had led up to that terrible outbreak of the native +soldiers, or sepoys, early in 1857. India is, as you perhaps know, a +huge country made up of different nations, some of whom are Mahometans, +or followers of the prophet Mahomet, and worshippers of one God, while +most of the rest have a number of gods and goddesses. These nations are +divided into various castes or classes, each with its own rules, and +the man of one caste will not eat food cooked by the man of another, or +touch him, or marry his daughter, lest he should become unclean. + +It is easy to see how an army composed of all these races would be very +hard to manage, especially as it is impossible for any white man, who is +used to changes going on about him, really to understand the minds of +people who have followed the same customs from father to son for +thousands of years. And if it is difficult for the English officers to +understand the Hindoos, it is too much to expect that soldiers without +education should do so either. + +The true cause of the mutiny which wrought such havoc in so short a time +in the north of India was that the number of our British soldiers had +been greatly reduced, and some had been sent to the Crimea, some to +Persia, and some to Burmah. Besides this, the government had been very +weak for many years in its dealings with the native troops. Whenever the +sepoys chose to grumble, which was very often indeed, their grievances +were listened to, and they were generally given what they wanted--and +next time, of course, they wanted more. To crown all, our arsenals +containing military stores were mostly left unprotected, as well as our +treasuries, and from the Indus to the Ganges the native army was waiting +for a pretext to shake off the British rule. + + * * * * * + +This they found in an order given by the commander-in-chief that a new +sort of rifle, called the Enfield rifle, should be used throughout +India, and it was necessary that the cartridges with which it was loaded +should be greased. As early as the month of January an English workman +employed in the factory of Dumdum, near Calcutta, where the cartridges +were made, happened one day to ask a sepoy soldier belonging to the 2nd +Grenadiers to give him some water from his brass pot. This the sepoy +refused, saying that he did not know what caste the man was of, and his +pot might be defiled if he drank from it. 'That is all very fine,' +answered the workman, 'but you will soon have no caste left yourself, as +you will be made to bite off the ends of cartridges smeared with the fat +of pigs and cows'--animals which the Hindoos held to be unclean. + +[Illustration: 'You will soon have no caste left yourself.'] + +This story speedily reached the ears of the officer in charge at Dumdum, +and on inquiry he found that the report had been spread through the +native army that their caste was to be destroyed by causing them to +touch what would defile them. + +General Hearsey, the commander of the Bengal division, instantly took +what steps he could to prove to the sepoys that the government had no +intention of making them break their caste, but it was too late. +Chupatties, little cakes which are the common food of the people, were +sent from town to town as a signal of revolt, and on February 19, 1857, +the first troops mutinied. + +This was only the beginning; the message of the chupatties spread +further and further, but even now the government failed to understand +the temper of the people. The regiment which had been the earliest to +rebel were merely disarmed and disbanded, and even this sentence was not +carried out for five weeks, while they were allowed to claim their pay +as usual. It is needless to say that in a few weeks the whole of +Northern India was in a flame; the king of Delhi was proclaimed emperor, +and every European who came in the way of the sepoys was cruelly +murdered. + + * * * * * + +Such was the state of things found by Havelock when he landed in Bombay +from Persia, and was immediately sent on by the governor by sea to +Calcutta, to resume his appointment of adjutant-general to the royal +troops in Bengal. On the way his ship was wrecked, and he had to put in +to Madras, where he heard that the commander-in-chief was dead, and +that sir Patrick Grant, an old friend of Havelock's, had been nominated +temporarily to the post. + +As soon as possible Havelock hurried on to Calcutta in company with +Grant, and there the news reached them that Lucknow was besieged by the +celebrated Nana Sahib, the leader of the sepoys and a skilful general, +and that a force was being got ready to go to its relief. + +'Your excellency, I have brought you the man,' said Grant to lord +Canning as he presented Havelock, and the command of the 64th and the +78th Highlanders was entrusted to him. These last he knew well, as they +had been with him in Persia, and he thought them 'second to none' in the +service. + +But before you can understand all the difficulties Havelock had to fight +with I must tell you a little about the towns on his line of march. + + * * * * * + +The instructions given to Havelock were to go first to the important +city of Allahabad, situated at the place where the Ganges joins the +Jumna. Allahabad had revolted in May, and the English garrison now +consisted mainly of a few artillerymen between fifty and seventy years +of age. Benares, the 'Holy City' of the Hindoos, a little further down +the Ganges, had been saved by the prompt measures of the resident and +the arrival of colonel Neill with a detachment of the 1st Fusiliers. The +soldiers had come up from Madras and were instantly ordered to Benares, +but when they reached the Calcutta station they found that the train +which was to take them part of the way was just starting. + +The railway officials declared that there was no time for the troops to +get in, and they would have to wait for the next train--many hours +after. For all answer Neill turned to his troops, and told them to hold +the engine driver and stoker till the company was seated. But for this +the soldiers could not have got to Benares in time, for that very night +had been fixed for the revolt. + +Having put down the rising at Benares, Neill pushed on over the eighty +miles that separated him from Allahabad, the largest arsenal in India +except Delhi. For five days the sepoys had been killing and plundering +the British. On hearing of Neill's approach, two thousand of them +encamped near the fort in order to hold it, but an attack of the +Fusiliers soon dispersed them, and the commander ordered a large number +to be executed in order to strike terror into the rest. + +Bad as was the state of things at Allahabad, where the railway had been +destroyed and the garrison was weak, it was still worse in Cawnpore, a +hundred and twenty miles higher up the Ganges. Here sir Hugh Wheeler was +in command, and having spent his whole life among the sepoys it was long +before he would believe in the tales of their treason. Even when at +length his faith was partly shaken by the deeds done under his eyes, he +still did not take all the precautions that were needful. His little +fort, which was to be the last refuge of the sick and wounded, women and +children, in case of attack, was a couple of barracks one brick thick, +which had hitherto been used as a hospital, and in this he gave orders +that provisions for a twenty-five days' siege should be stored. This was +the place for which he intended to abandon the powder magazine, where he +could have held the enemy at bay for months. + + * * * * * + +With inconceivable carelessness nobody saw that the orders for +provisioning the fort were properly carried out, or the works of defence +capable of resisting an attack. By May 22, however, even sir Hugh +Wheeler was convinced that there was danger abroad, and he directed that +the women and children, whose numbers were now swelled by fugitives +from Lucknow and the surrounding towns, should be placed in it. +Altogether the refugees amounted to about five hundred, and the force of +men to defend them was about equal. + + * * * * * + +The expected siege did not begin till June 6, when the plain which +surrounds Cawnpore was black with sepoys, led by the treacherous Nana. +For three weeks the prisoners inside the fort underwent the most +frightful sufferings of every kind, and had it not been for the women +the garrison would have tried to cut their way through to the river. As +it was they felt they must stay--till the end. + +So the soldiers fought on, and the women helped as best they might, +giving their stockings as bags for grape-shot, and tearing up their +clothes to bind up wounds, till they had scarcely a rag to cover them. +One, the gallant wife of a private of the 32nd, Bridget Widdowson, +stood, sword in hand, over a number of prisoners tied together by a +rope. Not one of their movements passed unnoticed by her; her gun was +instantly levelled at the hand which was trying to untie the rope, and +not a man of them escaped while in her charge. By-and-by she was +relieved by a soldier, and in his care many of them got away. + +[Illustration: Not one of their movements passed unnoticed by her.] + +At length hope sprung up in their hearts, for Nana offered a +safe-conduct for the garrison down the Ganges to Allahabad, if only sir +Hugh Wheeler would surrender the city. It was a hard blow to the old +general, and but for the women and children he and his men would gladly +have died at their posts. But for their sakes he accepted the terms, +first making Nana swear to keep them by the waters of the Ganges, the +most sacred of all oaths to a Hindoo. + +The following morning a train of elephants, litters and carts was +waiting to carry the sick, the women, and children down to the river, a +mile away, for after their terrible imprisonment they were all too weak +to walk; and behind them marched the soldiers, each with his rifle. +Crowds lined the banks and watched them as they got into the boats, and +pushed off with thankful hearts into the middle of the stream, leaving +behind them, as they thought, the place where they had undergone such +awful suffering. Suddenly those looking towards the shore saw a blinding +flash and heard a loud report. Nana had broken his oath and ordered them +to be fired on. + +One boat alone out of the whole thirty-nine managed to float down the +stream, and the men in it landed and took refuge in a little temple, the +maddened sepoys at their heels. But the fourteen Englishmen were +desperate, and drove back their enemies again and again, till the sepoys +heaped wood outside the walls and set it on fire. It was blowing hard, +and the wind instead of fanning the flames put them out, and the +defenders breathed once more. But their hopes were dashed again as they +saw the besiegers set fire to the logs a second time, and, retiring to a +safe distance, lay a trail of powder to blow up the temple. Then the men +knew they had but one chance, and fixing their bayonets they charged +into the crowd towards the river. + +When they reached the banks, seven had got through, and flung themselves +into the stream. Half-starved and weak as they were, they could scarcely +make head against the swift current, and three sank and disappeared. The +other four were stronger swimmers, and contrived to hold out till they +arrived at the territory of an Oude rajah who was friendly to the +English. + +It was while they were resting here that they heard of the awful fate of +their countrymen. After a time Nana had desired that the women and +children should be spared, and the remnant were brought back to +Cawnpore. They were lodged, all of them, in two rooms, and here these +stayed, hardly able to breathe, and almost thankful when the expected +doom fell on them. After their sufferings death was welcome, even though +it came by the hand of Nana Sahib. + +All this time Havelock (now brigadier-general), ignorant of the horrors +that were taking place, was advancing towards Cawnpore, which he knew +must be in the hands of the English before it was possible to relieve +Lucknow, lying further away across the plain to the north-west of +Allahabad. Neill had sent forward a detachment of four hundred British +soldiers and three hundred Sikhs under major Renaud, and Havelock, who +had arrived in the town just as they were starting, promised to follow +in a day or two, as soon as he could get ready a larger force. Eager +soldier though he was, he had long ago laid to heart the truth of the +old saying, 'for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe +the horse was lost; for want of a horse the man was lost; for want of a +man the kingdom was lost,' and he always took care that his nails were +in their places. Therefore he waited a few days longer than he expected +to do, and spent the time in enlisting a body of volunteer cavalry, +formed partly of officers of the native regiments who had mutinied, of +ruined shopkeepers, of fugitive planters, and of anybody else that could +be taught to hold a gun. + +The general was still asleep in the hot darkness of July 1 when a tired +horseman rode into camp and demanded to see him without delay. He was +shown at once into the general's tent, and in a few short words +explained that he had been sent by Renaud with the tidings of the +massacre of Cawnpore. + +[Illustration: A tired horseman rode into camp.] + +Six days later 'Havelock's Ironsides,' numbering under two thousand men, +of whom a fourth were natives, began the march to Cawnpore, and five +days after the start they had won about half-way to the city the battle +of Futtehpore. It was the first time since the mutiny broke out that the +sepoys had been beaten in the field, and it shook their confidence, +while it gave fresh courage to sir Henry Lawrence and the heroic band +in the residency of Lucknow. But the relief which they hoped for was +still many months distant, and Havelock was fighting his way inch by +inch, across rivers, over bridges, along guarded roads, with soldiers +often half-fed, and wearing the thick clothes that they had carried +through the snows of a Persian winter. But they never flinched and never +grumbled--they could even laugh in the midst of it all! During a fierce +struggle for a bridge over the Pandoo river, one of the 78th Highlanders +was killed by a round shot close to where Havelock was standing. + +'He has a happy death, Grenadiers,' remarked the general, 'for he died +in the service of his country'; but a voice answered from behind: + +'For mysel, sir, gin ye've nae objection, I wud suner bide alive in the +service of ma cuntra.' And let us hope he did. + +The guns across the bridge were captured with a dash, and the sepoys +retreated on Cawnpore. In spite of their victory our men were too tired +to eat, and flung themselves on the ground where they were. Next +morning, July 16, they set out on a march of sixteen miles, after +breakfasting on porter and biscuits, having had no other food for about +forty hours. + +At the end of the sixteen miles march, which they had performed under a +burning sun, the bugles sounded a halt. For three hours the troops +rested and fed, and then two sepoys who had remained loyal to their salt +came in with the news that in front of us Nana Sahib, with five thousand +men and eight guns, was drawn up across the Grand Trunk road, down which +he expected our guns to pass; and doubtless they would have been sent +that way had it not been for the timely warning. Now Havelock, with a +strong detachment, crept round through some mango groves between the +enemy's left flank and the Ganges, and attacked from behind; the sepoys +wheeled round in a hurry and confusion, and the Nana dared not order his +right and centre to fire lest they should injure his own men, and before +he could re-form them the pipers of the 78th had struck up and the +Highlanders were upon them, the sound of the slogan striking terror into +the heart of the Hindoos. Once more the Scots charged, led this time by +Havelock himself, and the position was carried. + +Yet the Nana was hard to beat, and on the road to Cawnpore he halted +again, and fresh troops streamed out from the gates to his help. It was +his last chance; but he knew that the little British army was wearied +out, and he counted on his reinforcements from the city. But Havelock +noted the first sign of flagging as his men were marching across the +ploughed fields heavy with wet, and knew that they needed the spur of +excitement. 'Come, who is to take that village, the Highlanders or the +Sixty-fourth?' cried he, and before the words were out of his mouth +there was a rush forwards, and the village was taken. + +Still, even now the battle of Cawnpore was not ended. Once more the +sepoys re-formed, but always nearer the city, and their deadly fire was +directed full upon us. The general would have waited till our guns came +up to answer theirs, but saw that the men were getting restless. So +turning his pony till he faced his troops, while the enemy's guns were +thundering behind him, he said lightly: + +'The longer you look at it the less you will like it. The brigade will +advance, the left battalion leading.' + +The enemy's rout was complete, even before our guns had reached the +field of battle. Next morning the news was brought in that while the +battle for the deliverance was being fought the women and children +inside the walls had been shot by order of the Nana. And, as a final +blow, when, the day after, the victor rode through the gate of Cawnpore, +a messenger came to tell him that his old friend sir Henry Lawrence, the +defender of Lucknow, had been struck by a shell a fortnight previously, +and had died two days later in great agony. + +'Put on my tombstone,' he gasped in an interval of pain, 'here lies +Henry Lawrence, who tried to do his duty, and may God have mercy on +him.' + + * * * * * + +For a while it seemed to Havelock that his whole mission had been a +failure; and indeed he is said never to have recovered the two shocks +that followed so close on each other, though there was no time to think +about his feelings or indulge regret. Like Lawrence, he must 'try to do +his duty,' and the first thing was to put the town in a state of defence +lest the Nana should return, and sternly to check with the penalty of +death the plundering and drunkenness and other crimes of his victorious +army. Then, leaving Neill with three hundred men in Cawnpore, he +prepared to cross the Ganges, now terribly swollen by the late rains, +into the kingdom of Oude, of which Lucknow is the capital. + + * * * * * + +Not for a moment did Havelock make light of the difficulties that lay +before him. They would have been great enough with a large force, and +his was now reduced to twelve hundred British soldiers, three hundred +Sikhs, and ten guns, while cholera had begun to make its appearance. +However, the passage had to be made somehow, and there must be no delay +in making it. + +First, boats were collected, and as the boatmen secretly sided with the +sepoys, the hundreds of little craft generally to be seen on the river +had vanished. At length about twenty were found concealed, and as the +Ganges was dangerous to cross in its present state, the old boatmen were +bribed, by promises of safe-conduct and regular pay, to pilot the troops +to the Oude bank. Even under their skilled guidance the river was so +broad that a boat could not perform the passage under eight hours, and a +week passed before the whole force was over and encamped on a strong +position in Oude. + +Well, they were at last on the same side as Lucknow--that was something; +but they still had forty-five miles to march, wide rivers to cross, and +Nana to fight, and Havelock knew that the sepoy general had an instinct +for war as keen as his own. But Lucknow must be relieved, and the sooner +the work was begun the better. + + * * * * * + +Two days after the landing of the British a battle was fought at Onao +against the steady, well-disciplined soldiers of Oude, whose gunners +were said to be the best in India. The fighting was fiercer than any +Havelock had yet experienced, but in the end the enemy was beaten back +and fifteen guns taken. The next day there was another battle and +another victory, but the general had lost a sixth of his men and a third +of his ammunition--and he had only gone one-third of the way. Nana Sahib +was hovering about with a large body of troops, ready to fall on him; +how under the circumstances was it possible for him to reach Lucknow? + +Therefore, with soreness of heart, he gave the order to fall back till +the reinforcements which he had been promised came up, and to send the +sick and wounded, of which there were now many, across to Cawnpore. + + * * * * * + +Deep was the gloom and disappointment of the 'Ironsides' as they marched +back along the road they had come; but far deeper and more awful was the +disappointment of the garrison at Lucknow. They had looked on relief as +so near and so certain that their hardships seemed already things of the +past. Now it appeared as if they were abandoned, and the horrors of the +siege felt tenfold harder to bear. In the heat of an Indian summer the +women and children were forced to leave the upper part of the residency, +where at least there was light and air, and seek safety in tiny rooms +almost under ground, where shot and shell were less likely to penetrate. +These cellars were swarming with large rats, and, what was worse, there +was a constant plague of flies and other insects. Luckily, sir Henry +Lawrence had collected large stores before he died, and had hidden away +a quantity of corn so securely that colonel Inglis, the present +commander, had no idea of its existence, and not knowing how long the +siege might last, was very careful in dealing out rations. There was no +milk or sugar for the babies, and many of them died. + +[Illustration: The place was swarming with rats.] + +Meanwhile Neill sent over urgent requests that Havelock would come to +his assistance in Cawnpore, as he was threatened on all sides and could +not hold out in case of an attack. Most reluctantly the general gave +the order to recross the Ganges, but before doing so gave battle to a +body of troops entrenched in his rear, and caused them to retreat. This +raised the spirits of his soldiers a little, and they entered Cawnpore +in a better temper than they had been in since their marching orders had +been given. + +It was while he was in Cawnpore that Havelock received notice that +major-general Outram was starting from Calcutta to his assistance, and +owing to his superior rank in the army would naturally take command over +Havelock's head, as successor to major-general sir Hugh Wheeler. This +Havelock quite understood, and though disappointed, felt no bitterness +on the subject, welcoming Outram as an old friend, under whom he was +ready to serve cheerfully. + +Outram's answer to the generous spirit of Havelock's reception was a +proclamation which showed that he understood and appreciated the +services which seemed so ill-rewarded by the government, and that he too +would not be behindhand in generosity. Till Lucknow was taken Havelock +should be still in command, and it was Outram himself who would take the +lower position. + + * * * * * + +When Havelock had entered Cawnpore for the second time, he gave orders +to break down the bridges of boats which had been thrown across the +Ganges, so as to check any pursuit from the enemy. Therefore a floating +bridge must be built over which the troops might pass; and so hard did +the men work, that in three days the little army, consisting, with +Outram's reinforcements, of 3,179 soldiers, was once more in Oude. + +Here the sepoys were awaiting them, but they were soon put to flight and +some guns captured. In the confusion of the retreat the defeated army +quite forgot to destroy the bridge over the Sye, a deep river flowing +across the plain between the Ganges and the Goomtee, so that when the +British force arrived next day they found nothing to prevent their +crossing at once, as even the fortifications on this further bank had +been abandoned. Soon a faint noise, as of thunder, broke on their ears. +The men looked at each other and said nothing, but their eyes grew +bright and their feet trod more lightly. + +It was the sound of the guns of Lucknow, sixteen miles away. + + * * * * * + +On September 23 the British army reached the Alumbagh, the beautiful +park and garden belonging to the king of Oude. Opposite 12,000 sepoys +were drawn up, the right flank being protected by a swamp. In front of +them was a ditch filled with water from the recent heavy rains, and the +road itself was deep in mud, so that the passage of heavy guns was a +difficult matter. But the soldiers came along with a gallop and got +through the ditch somehow, following our cavalry, which were already on +the other side. On they flew, cavalry and gunners, wheeling so as to get +behind the right of the sepoys, while Eyre's artillery, stationed in the +road, raked with fire the centre and the left. The enemy wavered and +showed signs of giving way, but one gun manned by Oude artillerymen +remained steady. Then young Johnson, who led the Irregular Horse, dashed +along the road for half a mile, followed by a dozen of his men, killed +the gunners and threw the gun into the ditch. When he returned to his +post the enemy was flying to the Charbagh bridge across the canal, with +our army behind them. + + * * * * * + +It was no use attempting to take the bridge that day; the troops were +exhausted and wet through, and the position strongly fortified. The +order was given to encamp, but there were no tents and no baggage, and +after drinking some grog which was fortunately obtained, the men lay +down on the wet ground wrapped in their great-coats, the rain pouring +heavily on them. But wet, weary and hungry as they were, a great shout +of joy rent the air when Outram announced that he had just received news +that Delhi had been recaptured by the English. + + * * * * * + +The next day the sun was shining, and as the baggage waggons came up the +men changed the soaking clothes, and slept and rested while the generals +anxiously discussed the best plan for getting into Lucknow. There were +three ways to choose from, all full of danger and difficulty, but in the +end it was decided to force the passage of the Charbagh bridge over the +canal. + +This the enemy had evidently expected, for they had erected across it a +barrier seven feet in height, with six guns, one a 24-pounder. Beyond +the bridge, along the canal, were tall houses, and from every window and +loophole a deadly fire would pour. And even supposing that the bridge +was carried, the troops would have to pass through narrow streets and +gardens and palaces, under showers of bullets at every step. + +Yet this seemed the only way to Lucknow. + +As for the sick and wounded, they were left with the stores and a guard +of three hundred men at the Alumbagh. + + * * * * * + +Breakfast was over by half-past eight on the morning of September 25, +when the order was given to advance. The first opposition met with by +the leading column, headed by Outram, was near the Yellow House, which +lay along the road to the bridge. Here Maude, one of the best officers +in the army, who was to win his V.C. that day, charged the two guns +whose fire was so deadly, and silenced them, and the troops went on till +they were close to the canal. Then Outram took the 5th Fusiliers and +bore away to the right in order to clear the gardens of the sepoys +hidden in them, and to draw off the attention of the enemy; lieutenant +Arnold, with a company of the Madras Fusiliers, took his station on the +left of the bridge with orders to fire at the houses across the canal, +and right out in the open facing the bridge was Maude, with two light +guns straight in front of the battery. In a bend of the road on one side +some of the Madras Fusiliers supported him, and on the other side, a +little way off, stood Neill and his detachment, waiting for the +diversion to be made by Outram's movement. + +To Neill's surprise, not a trace of Outram was to be seen, and Maude +stood shelterless, his gunners falling before the continuous fire from +the bridge. Again and again the Fusiliers from behind filled their +places, only to be swept down like the rest, and now Maude and a +subaltern were doing the work. + +'You must do something,' called out Maude to young Havelock; 'I cannot +fight the guns much longer.' Havelock nodded and rode through the fire +that was raking the road to Neill, urging him to order a charge. But +Neill refused. He was not in command, he replied, and could not take +such a responsibility. The young aide-de-camp did not waste time in +arguing, but hurried on to Fraser-Tytler, only to receive the same +answer. Then, turning his horse's head, he galloped hard down the road, +in the direction of the spot where his father was stationed. In a few +minutes he was back and, reining up his horse at Neill's side, while he +saluted with his sword, he said breathlessly: + +'You are to charge the bridge, sir.' + +It did not occur to Neill that there had not been time for young +Havelock to have reached his father's position and come back so soon, +and therefore that no such order could have been given by the general, +and was simply the invention of the aide-de-camp himself. Quite +unsuspiciously, therefore, he bade the buglers sound the advance, and +Arnold, with twenty-five of his men, rushed on to the bridge and were +instantly shot down. For fully two minutes Harry Havelock on his horse +kept his position in front of the guns with only a private beside him, +and the dead lying in heaps on all sides. + +'Come on! Come on!' he cried, turning in his saddle and waving his +sword, while the fire from the houses was directed upon him, and a ball +went through his hat. + +And they 'came on' with a rush, wave upon wave, till the guns were +silenced and the barrier carried. + +The aide-de-camp had indeed 'done something.' + +[Illustration: The young Aide-de-camp did not waste time in arguing.] + + * * * * * + +The 78th Highlanders held the bridge for three hours till the whole +force was over, and desperate fighting was going on all the time, for +the enemy was coming up in dense numbers. At length a detachment +advanced to a little temple further up the road, which was held by the +sepoys, and succeeded in turning them out. But once inside, the +Highlanders could only defend it with their swords, for the cartridges +were so swelled by exposure to the rain that they would not go into the +guns. After an hour, young Havelock, whose duty lay at the bridge, sent +up some fresh cartridges, and then Webster, who from the shelter of the +temple had been impatiently watching the action of three small cannon +which had been firing down the Cawnpore road, exclaimed: + +'Who's for those guns?' + +'I'm for the guns!' they all shouted, and the temple door was opened and +Webster leaped out, Macpherson, the adjutant, and the men following. The +guns when captured were thrown into the canal, where those of the +Charbagh bridge were already lying. + + * * * * * + +Perhaps the most trying part of the whole campaign was the advance +towards the residency through the narrow streets, where the very women +flung down stones, and from the roofs and windows a ceaseless fire +poured upon our men. Deep trenches had been cut along the cross-roads in +order to make the horses stumble, and the smoke was so thick that men +and beasts were nearly blinded. It was here that Neill fell, shot in the +head, and Webster found a grave instead of the Victoria Cross, which +would certainly have been given him. Then there was a rush forward, and +they were within the gates. + +For the first few minutes the men did not know what they were saying or +doing, so great was the excitement on both sides; but soon it was plain +that the rescuing party were utterly exhausted, and needed rest, and +what food might be forthcoming, which was neither good nor plentiful. +Most of all they must have rejoiced in the possibility of changing their +clothes, stiff with mud and wet, for Havelock tells us that he himself +entered the city with one suit which had hardly been off his back for +six weeks. + + * * * * * + +Next day Outram resumed his proper position as commander, and Havelock +took a subordinate place as brigadier-general. But to him fell the task +of making up his despatches and recommending certain of his men for the +Victoria Cross. In this Havelock was especially begged by Outram to +mention his son Harry for his gallantry on the Charbagh bridge; corporal +Jakes, who was also worthy of the honour, had unhappily been killed +later in the day. Unluckily, young Havelock had, against his own will, +been previously recommended for the decoration by his father for an act +of extraordinary bravery, but one which he had no sort of right to +perform. + +In the battle of Cawnpore young Havelock, then a lieutenant in the 10th +Foot, and aide-de-camp to his father, was sent to order the 64th, who +had been under a heavy fire all day, and were now lying on the ground, +to advance with some other regiments, and take a gun of twenty-four +pounds, which was sweeping the road in front. The 64th at once formed +up, but before they had started their major's horse was shot under him, +and he was forced to dismount. Harry Havelock, carried away by +excitement, never gave him time to get another, but calling on the men +to follow him, rode straight to the mouth of the gun and stayed there +till it was captured. + +Now of course this was a deed of wonderful courage, and no man denied +it, but it is curious that so stern a supporter of discipline as +Havelock did not see that his son had put himself in a position where he +had no right to be, and in so doing had thrown a slur on the bravery of +the major, who except for the accident of his horse being shot would +have led the men himself. But Havelock, full of pride in his son's +action, insisted, to the great mortification of the 64th, on +recommending him for the Victoria Cross, though the young man himself, +when his excitement had calmed down, implored his father to leave out +his name, declaring that the recommendation would be put down to +affection. For a month he managed to delay the despatch, but in the end +it was sent and the Cross granted. Therefore Outram's recommendation +after the relief of Lucknow was disregarded, and only captain Maude's +V.C. is associated with the Charbagh bridge. + + * * * * * + +But although Havelock's force had successfully won its way into the +residency of Lucknow, the town was in no way 'relieved,' for the British +troops were few and the sepoys many. The besieging army crowded up as +before, and bored mines under the buildings, which kept our men +continually on the watch to hinder the town from blowing up. Every day +Havelock went round the entrenchments, and then he returned to the +house, to pass some hours in reading, for now that the frightful strain +of the last six weeks was over he felt tired and broken, and unfit for +work. Much of the time he spent in visiting the banqueting hall, which +had months before been made into a hospital for the soldiers, but there +was little that he or anyone else could do to help them, for all +medicines and bandages and food suited to sick people had been used up +long ago. + + * * * * * + +In this manner seven weeks went slowly by, while the garrison was +waiting for the arrival of sir Colin Campbell, commander-in-chief in +India, with an army of nearly five thousand men, a mere handful in +numbers compared with the enemy, but yet enough to compass what is known +in history as 'the second relief of Lucknow.' By November 9 news came +that the British troops had reached the Alumbagh, but it was absolutely +necessary that the commander-in-chief should know Outram's plans for the +defence of the city, and tell him the manner in which he himself +intended to attack. + +How was this to be done? The country lying between the two generals was +covered with small detachments of sepoys carefully entrenched, and it +seemed impossible for any man to pass through them. Yet without some +knowledge of the sort and of the state of affairs in the residency the +relief expedition could not advance without frightful loss, and might +perhaps end in failure. + +Then there entered the room where Outram and Havelock were gloomily +talking over the matter a man, Henry Cavanagh by name, who said that he +would undertake to get through the pickets of sepoys and carry any +message to the English camp. Outram was amazed. Brave though they all +were, not one soldier had volunteered for this forlorn hope, not because +they were afraid, but because if our maps and plans fell into the +enemy's hands, the destruction of our army would certainly follow; and +if a soldier could not do it, with all his experience of war, how could +this man, who knew nothing of soldiering, except what he had learned +during the siege? But when the general looked at Cavanagh's face his +doubts vanished. + +Disguised as a native and speaking the language like one, Cavanagh made +his way slowly through the lines till the open plain was reached. Here +he breathed more freely, for, though many dangers awaited him, the worst +risks were over. Often he had seen suspicion in the eyes of the sepoys, +and felt that a terrible death was very near, but he had kept his head +and got through somehow. At length he was within the Alumbagh and could +speak with sir Colin face to face. + +[Illustration: Often ... he had felt that a terrible death was very +near.] + +The return journey still lay before him, but now he knew better what he +was about, and reached the residency without accident. On November 14 +the relieving force was to begin its advance on the town, and on the +15th the general signalled that the attack would begin next day. + +This last fight was a desperate one for both sides, and continued far +into the night, while at the Kaiserbagh, or king's palace, the fire was +fiercest of all. The brave deeds that were done that day would fill a +volume, but at length it was over, and Lucknow once more flew the +British flag, planted on the highest tower of the mess house by the hand +of young Roberts. + + * * * * * + +Did Havelock, one asks oneself, know that this was his last fight also? +He had been present during the whole struggle, but when it was done sank +into the weakness which seemed daily to grow greater. The +commander-in-chief had informed him--probably by means of Cavanagh--that +on September 29 he had been gazetted major-general, and the somewhat +tardily bestowed honour filled him with pleasure. If he had been able to +see any English papers he would have known how eagerly the nation +followed his footsteps, and how warmly they rejoiced in his success. + + * * * * * + +The capture of Lucknow was only three days old when Havelock was taken +suddenly ill. In order to get him away from the close, infected air of +the town, he was carried in a litter to a quiet wooded place, called the +Dilkoosha, near a bend of the river Goomtee, where a tent was pitched +for him, but as the bullets of the enemy fell around him even here, a +more sheltered spot had to be found for him to lie. His illness did not +appear at first very serious, but he himself felt that he would not +recover. Perhaps he hardly wished to, for he had 'fought a good fight,' +and was too tired to care for anything but rest. His son, whose wound, +received on the day of the fight for the residency, was still unhealed, +sat on the ground by the litter, and gave him anything he wanted. For a +time he lay quiet, and in the afternoon of the 23rd Outram came to see +him, and holding out his hand, Havelock bade his friend good-bye. + +'I have so ruled my life for forty years that when death came I might +face it without fear,' he said; and next morning death did come. + + * * * * * + +Marching on the 25th into the Alumbagh, the victorious army bore with +them Havelock's body, still lying in the litter on which he died. They +dug a grave for him under a mango tree, on which an H. was cut to mark +the place--all they dared do with hosts of the enemy swarming round +them, ready to offer insult to the dead who had defied them. + +Thus Henry Havelock died and was buried, though the news did not reach +England for six weeks. So he never knew how the hearts of his countrymen +had been stirred by his courage and his constancy, and that his queen +had made him a baronet and Parliament had voted him a pension of +1,000 l. a year, which was continued to his widow and to his son. But + + Guarded to a soldier's grave + By the bravest of the brave, + He hath gained a nobler tomb + Than in old cathedral gloom. + Nobler mourners paid the rite + Than the crowd that craves a sight. + England's banners o'er him waved-- + Dead, he keeps the realm he saved. + + + + +CONSCIENCE OR KING? + + +Now we come to quite another sort of hero; a man who enjoyed every day +of his life, and loved books and music and pets of all sorts; who played +with his children and made jokes with them; who held two of the greatest +offices an Englishman can hold, yet laid his head on the scaffold by +order of the king, because his conscience forbade him to swim with the +tide and to take an oath that king demanded of him. If you try, you will +find that this sort of heroism is more difficult than the other. There +is no excitement about it, and no praise. Your friends talk of you with +contempt, and call you a dreamer and a man who sacrifices his family to +his own whims. And very often the family agree with him. + + * * * * * + +'Verily, daughter, I never intend to pin my soul to another man's back, +for I know not whither he may hap to carry it. Some may do for favour, +and some may do for fear, and so they might carry my soul a wrong way.' + +These were the words of sir Thomas More to his favourite daughter when +she came to him in prison, urging him to do as his friends had done, and +swear to acknowledge the king as head of the church instead of the pope. +All his life he had 'carried' his own soul himself, and that was no +small thing to be able to say in the reign of Henry VIII., when men's +hearts failed them for fear, not knowing from day to day what the tyrant +might demand of them. + +Thomas More came of a family bred to the law, and his father, afterwards +made a knight and a judge, seems to have been kindly and pleasant, and +like his son in many ways, especially in his fondness for children. He +set great store by books and learning, and taught Thomas to love them +too. The boy was born when the Wars of the Roses were just over, and the +country was beginning to settle down again. In London king Edward IV. +was still the favourite of the people, and after his death, in 1483, +Thomas, then five years old, happened to overhear a gentleman telling +his father that it was prophesied duke Richard of Gloucester would be +king. When the prophecy came to pass, and Richard snatched the crown for +himself, many besides little Thomas were filled with wonder. For Richard +had played his part so well that few guessed at what he really was, or +that the murder of his nephews would be nothing to him, if he could +mount the throne on their bodies. + + * * * * * + +At that period boys were sent early to school, and after careful +inquiries, John More decided to put his son under the charge of one +Nicholas Holt, headmaster of St. Anthony's in Threadneedle Street, a +school founded by Henry VI. Here Thomas spent most of his time in +learning Latin, which it was necessary for a gentleman to know. Foreign +languages were very little studied; instead, Latin was used; hence +ambassadors addressed each other in that tongue, and in it men wrote +letters, and often books. Thomas, who had been accustomed all his life +to hear Latin quoted by his father and the lawyers who came to his house +in Milk Street, soon mastered most of the difficulties, knowing well +that he would be considered stupid and ignorant if when he left school +he should ever make a mistake in his declensions, or forget the gender +of a noun. + +When John More was satisfied with his son's progress in Latin, he got +leave for him to enter, as was the custom, the house of cardinal Morton +as a sort of page. Thomas was then about twelve, quick and observant, +and though fond of joking, good-tempered and prudent, taking care to +hurt the feelings of nobody. Morton was both a clever and a learned man, +a good speaker and excellent lawyer, and the king, Henry VII., +frequently took counsel with him and profited by his experience. On his +side, Morton took a fancy to the boy, whose sharp answers amused him. +His keen eyes noticed that Thomas, who, with the other pages, waited at +dinner upon the cardinal and his guests, listened to all that was being +said, while never neglecting his own especial duties. + +'This child will prove a marvellous man,' Morton one day whispered to +his neighbour, and the neighbour lived to prove the truth of his words. + +Thomas greatly enjoyed the two years he passed in Morton's house, and +made many friends, both amongst his companions and with the older men. +There was always something going on which pleased and interested him, +for he was very sociable, and liked, above everything, a 'good +argument.' At Christmas time all kinds of shows and pageants were to +take place, and the young pages could hardly sleep for excitement, +though their appetites never failed, and the huge pieces of pasty put on +their wooden or pewter plates disappeared surprisingly quick. Of course +they had no forks to help themselves with, but each boy possessed a +knife of his own, in which he took great pride, and a spoon made either +of horn or pewter. At Christmas they were given plenty of good things as +a treat, and the cardinal, like other great men, flung open his doors, +and feasted the poor as well as the rich. Then companies of strolling +players would come by, and beg permission to amuse the guests by their +acting. On this Christmas Day in 1490 the play was in full swing when +young Thomas suddenly appeared on the stage in the great hall, and began +to 'make a part of his own, never studying for the matter, which made +the lookers-on more sport than all the players beside.' It must have +been rather difficult for the poor actors to go on with their parts when +they did not know what the boy was going to say next; but Thomas seems +to have been as clever as he was impudent, and the play ended in +applause and laughter. + + * * * * * + +In those days boys grew into young men much earlier than they do now, +and set about earning their living, and even getting married, at an age +when to-day they would probably just be leaving a public school. So we +are not surprised at hearing that when Thomas was only fourteen he was +sent by cardinal Morton to Canterbury Hall, Oxford, a college which +afterwards became part of Christ Church, founded by Wolsey. The elder +More was a poor man, and Thomas was not his only child; five others had +been born to him, but, as far as we can gather, three of these died when +they were still babies. Thomas had been brought up from his earliest +years to do without many things which must have seemed necessaries to +the richer boys in Morton's house. But he cared little that his dress +was so much plainer than theirs, and that when he went home he had what +food was needful and no more. As long as he had books, and somebody to +talk to about them, he was quite happy, but even he found the fare of an +Oxford scholar rather hard to digest. However, throughout his life he +always made the best of things, and if he ever went to bed hungry, well, +nobody but himself was any the wiser. Law was the study his father +wished him specially to follow, but he was eager too to learn Greek, +which had lately been introduced into the University, and to improve his +Latin style. He also wrote verses, as was beginning to be the fashion +with young men, and worked out problems in arithmetic and geometry, +while, after his regular work was done, he would carry a French or Latin +chronicle to his small window, and pore over the history of bygone +times. In his spare moments he would play some old music on the flute or +practise on the viol. + + * * * * * + +After two years, when, according to his son-in-law Roper, 'he was both +in the Greek and Latin tongues sufficiently instructed, he was then, for +the study of the law of the realm, put to an Inn of Chancery, called New +Inn, where for his time he prospered very well, and from thence was +admitted to Lincoln's Inn, with very small allowance, continuing there +his study until he was made and accounted a worthy barrister.' Like the +other youths of his own age--Thomas was eighteen when he was admitted to +Lincoln's Inn--he attended classes where law was taught by professors, +or 'readers,' and took part in the proceedings of mock trials, old +French being the language used. When the trial was over, the reader and +other teachers gave their opinions as to the way in which the scholars +had pleaded, and pointed out the mistakes they had made. We may be sure +that young More delighted in this 'exercise,' and he evidently excelled +in it, for he was soon given a 'readership' himself. + + * * * * * + +It was during the year following his admission to Lincoln's Inn that +More met for the first time his lifelong friend, the celebrated Erasmus. +Erasmus, the most learned and witty man of his time, came over from +Holland to stay with his former pupil, lord Mountjoy, in his country +house, and while there the young lawyer was invited also to pay a visit +and to make acquaintance with the famous scholar. In spite of the ten +years difference in their ages--More was then twenty-one and Erasmus +ten years older--they took pleasure in almost exactly the same things, +and in their walks through the woods and about the neighbouring villages +would discuss merrily, in Latin of course, all manner of subjects.[1] +One day the two bent their steps to the place where Henry VII.'s younger +children were living, under the care of tutors and ladies. Princess +Margaret, the eldest, afterwards queen of Scotland, stood solemnly +beside her brother Henry, aged nine, who received them with the grand +manner he could always put on when he chose. Princess Mary, at that time +four years old, was kneeling on the floor playing with her dog, and paid +no heed to the visitors, whom she thought old and dull. Erasmus was +astonished to notice More present prince Henry with a roll on which +something, he could not tell what, was written. The prince took it with +a smile, and then looked at Erasmus, who guessed directly that a similar +offering was expected from him also; and this was confirmed by a message +sent him by Henry while the guests were dining, to say how much he hoped +to receive some remembrance of the visit of the great scholar. The +Dutchman, thus pressed, returned answer that had he dreamed his highness +would value any work from his poor pen, he would certainly have prepared +himself, but having been taken by surprise, he could only ask grace for +three days, by which time he would have composed a poem, however +unworthy. + +[Footnote 1: On parting, they promised to write to each other, and many +letters passed between them in the three years that Erasmus remained in +England. Previous to his departure, they met once more in lord +Mountjoy's house, and there their walk and talks were resumed.] + +The poem when written was of some length, and full of the praises of the +king, his country, and his children. It does not sound amusing, and +probably Henry, content with possessing what in these days we should +call 'Erasmus's autograph,' did not trouble himself to read much of it. + +[Illustration: Erasmus was astonished to notice More present Prince +Henry with a roll.] + +For three years More held his readership; then he seems to have had a +wish to become a priest, and, in his son-in-law's words, 'gave himself +to devotion and prayer in the Charterhouse of London, religiously +living there, without vow, about four years.' + +Religious More remained all his life, but at the end of the four years +he felt that his place was in the world rather than in a monastery, and +this decision was largely helped by a visit he paid to master Colt in +Essex, a gentleman with three daughters. 'Albeit,' says Roper, 'his mind +most served him to the second daughter, for that he thought her the +fairest and best favoured, yet when he considered that it would be both +great grief and some shame also to the eldest to see her younger sister +preferred before her in marriage, he then, of a certain pity, framed his +fancy toward her and married her.' + +This was indeed being good-natured and obliging, and one hopes that the +bride never guessed the reason why he had asked her to be his wife. The +young couple settled down in Bucklersbury in the City, and More +continued his studies at Lincoln's Inn and his attendance at +Westminster, for he had been elected a member of Parliament almost as +soon as he left the Charterhouse and before his marriage. Very early he +had given proof that he did not intend 'to pin his conscience to another +man's back' by refusing to vote for a large grant of money demanded by +Henry VII. as a dowry for his eldest daughter. Chiefly owing to More, +the grant was refused, and 'the king,' according to Roper, 'conceiving +great indignation towards him, could not be satisfied until he had in +some way revenged it. And for as much as he (Thomas) nothing having, +nothing could lose, his grace (the king) devised a causeless quarrel +against his father (the elder More), keeping him in the Tower till he +had made him pay a hundred pounds fine.' + +No doubt it was very hard for the More family to raise the money, equal +to about 1,200 l. in our day, and Thomas's heart was hot with wrath. He +angrily spurned various attempts made to gain him over, and 'for some +time thought of leaving England and trying his fortune in other lands.' +In fact, he did pay a short visit both to the Low Countries and to +Paris, but he could not make up his mind to settle in either, and +decided that he could do better for his wife and small children by +continuing his practice at the Bar. The next year Henry VII. died, and +More hoped that a new era was beginning. + + * * * * * + +The household in Bucklersbury was as happy as any that could have been +found in London. Its mistress, Joan Colt, was, when she married, a +country girl, cleverer at making possets and drying herbs than at +reading books or playing on the viol. But More, who charmed everybody, +easily charmed his wife, and to please him she studied whatever books he +gave her, and worked hard at her music. But after five years she died, +leaving him with four babies, Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely, and John, and +in a few months More saw himself obliged to marry again. This time he +chose a widow with a daughter of her own--a lady 'neither young nor +handsome,' as he tells Erasmus--but an excellent housekeeper, and the +best of mothers to his children. + + * * * * * + +More soon became known not only as an honest man above all bribery, but +as a generous one who would often refuse to take payment for pleading +the cause of a poor man or a widow. His practice at the Bar increased, +and he was made a judge, or under-sheriff, his income reaching 400 l. a +year, which would now be reckoned about 5,000 l. He needed it all, for +besides his own four children and his stepdaughter he had adopted +another girl. This girl, Margaret Gigs, afterwards married a learned +man, Dr. Clements, who lived in More's house, and probably shared with +John Harris the duties of secretary and of tutor in Greek and Latin to +the children. We must not forget either the 'fool,' Henry Patenson, or +sir Thomas's special friend and confidant, William Roper, by-and-by to +be the husband of More's favourite daughter, Margaret, and the man to +whom his heart opened more freely than to anyone else. + + * * * * * + +It naturally took a good deal of money to support this large household +and to save something for the children, as well as to bestow a tenth +part of his income on the poor, as was More's rule through life. His +charity did not consist in giving to everyone that asked, thereby doing +more harm than good, but he went himself to the cottage to make sure +that the tale he heard was true, and then would gladly spend what was +needed to set the family in the way of earning their own living. If they +proved to be ill, dame Alice, whose heart was soft though her words were +harsh, would bid one of the girls take them nourishing food or possets, +and often the poor pensioners would be invited to the house, to share +the family dinner. At other times the guests would be men of learning, +such as Colet, afterwards dean of St. Paul's, and founder of St. Paul's +School, now moved to Hammersmith; Linacre or Grocyn, old friends of long +ago; and of course Erasmus, if he happened to be in London. Poor dame +Alice must have had a dull time of it, for while the room rang with +merry jests in Latin, flavoured sometimes with a little Greek, and even +the children could join in the laughter, she alone was ignorant of the +matter, and felt as a deaf man feels when he watches people dancing to +music that he cannot hear. She must have welcomed the moment when they +left the table, and she could show off the skill she had gained since +her marriage on four musical instruments, on which, to please her +husband, she practised daily--for no man ever lived who was as clever +as Sir Thomas in coaxing people to do as he wished. Quite meekly, though +she had a quick temper, she bore his teasing remarks as he watched her +'binding up her hair to make her a fair large forehead, and with +strait-bracing in her body to make her middle small, both twain to her +great pain'; while she on her part was frequently vexed that he 'refused +to go forward with the best,' and had no wish 'greatly to get upward in +the world.' + + * * * * * + +Yet, in spite of the modesty which vexed his wife so much, More's fame +grew daily wider. The king, Henry VIII., who at this time was at his +best, had always kept an eye on him, and soon bade Wolsey seek him out. +Now More and Wolsey were so different in their ways and in their views +that they could never have become real friends, for while Wolsey was +ambitious, More was always content with what he had, and never desired +to thrust himself into notice. At first he resisted the cardinal's +advances; but rudeness was impossible to him, and as there was no means +of checking Wolsey's persistence, he had to put aside his own feelings +and appear both at the cardinal's house and at court. Indeed, such good +company did Henry find him that, as quick to take fancies as he was to +tire of them, he would hardly allow the poor man to spend an evening +alone, so sir Thomas in despair gave up being amusing, and sat silent, +though no doubt with a twinkle in his eye, resisting all the king's +efforts to make him speak, till at length everyone grew weary of him, +and his place was filled by some livelier man. + +How Sir Thomas laughed, and what funny stories he told about it all, +when he had gained his object, at his own table. + +[Illustration: Sir Thomas sat silent.] + +So the years slipped by, and brought with them many unsought honours to +sir Thomas. Several times he was sent abroad on missions which needed +an honest man, as well as a shrewd one, to carry them through. Sometimes +he was the envoy of the citizens of London, sometimes of the king +himself, and he was present at the wonderful display of magnificence +known to history as 'The Field of the Cloth of Gold'--the meeting of +Francis of France, Henry of England, and the emperor Charles V. He had +remained in London during the fearful time of the sweating sickness, to +which people would fall victims while opening a window, playing with +their children, or even lying asleep. Death followed almost at once, and +'if the half in every town escaped it was thought great favour.' It +spared the house in Bishopsgate in which More had for some time been +living, and where he stayed till, four years later, he moved to a +country place at Chelsea. + +Few men have held more dignities than sir Thomas More, or have earned +greater respect in the holding. Within eight years he was +Under-Treasurer, or, as we should say, Chancellor of the Exchequer, +Speaker of the House of Commons, and finally Lord Chancellor. Even dame +Alice must have been satisfied; but her content only lasted three years, +as by that time events had occurred which made it necessary either for +sir Thomas to resign the Great Seal always entrusted to the lord +chancellor, or else 'to tie his conscience to another man's back,' and +that back the king's. + + * * * * * + +In 1531 Henry had decided to divorce his wife, Katherine of Aragon, and +to marry in her stead the beautiful Anne Boleyn. His desire met with +violent opposition from almost all churchmen, and from many statesmen, +among whom was sir Thomas More. The pope, of course, entirely refused +his consent to any such violation of the law, and Henry, whom resistance +only made more obstinate, suddenly resolved to cut himself off +altogether from Rome, and declare that he, and not the pope, was the +head of the English church. This meant that he could do as he pleased +and make his own laws, and he lost no time in demanding the assent of +Parliament to his new claim, and afterwards that of the clergy. Once +these were obtained, there would be nothing to hinder him from divorcing +his first wife and marrying his second. In fact, he would be his own +pope. + + * * * * * + +For a year the battle raged fiercely, and More watched anxiously for the +issue. He withdrew himself as far as possible from the king, and kept as +much as might be to his own business. At length Henry was victorious. +The greater part of the clergy cast off their allegiance to the pope and +took the oath required by the king. Sir Thomas saw and understood, and +placed his resignation as lord chancellor in the hands of his sovereign. + +The loss of his office left More a poor man, and to support the whole +family in Chelsea he had only an income of 1,200 l. a year. To his +great regret, he felt he could no longer lead the easy, happy life that +had been so pleasant to him. So the various married men, husbands of the +girls of the house, took away their wives and sought employment +elsewhere. Only the Ropers remained at hand. + +Sir Thomas himself was glad enough to be free of his duties, and to have +time to read books and to prepare himself for the trial of faith that +was sure to come, though at present the king had only fair words for +him, and the clergy had subscribed a large sum as a proof of the esteem +in which they held him. More was much touched and pleased with this +gift, but he refused to accept it, or to allow his family to do so; +instead, he sold his plate and bade dame Alice be careful of her +household expenses. + +If left to himself, Henry might perhaps have allowed sir Thomas, whom +he undoubtedly liked, to remain in peace, but his absence from her +coronation rankled deep in Anne Boleyn's heart. The late chancellor was +a man of mark in the sight of Europe, and could count famous men of all +nations among his friends. If he could not be gained over, he must be +punished, for the eyes of England were upon him, and he had but to hold +up his hand for many to follow. So he was one of the first bidden to +take the oath, swearing to put aside the claims of the princess Mary, +daughter of Katherine of Aragon, and to settle the crown on the children +of the new queen. + +It was in April 1534 that More was summoned before the royal +commissioners, consisting of Audley, who had succeeded him in the +chancellorship, the abbot of Westminster, Thomas Cromwell as secretary +of state, and Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. At More's own request, +the Act of Succession, as it was called, was given into his hand, and he +read it through. When he had finished, he informed the commissioners +that he had nothing to say as to the Act itself or to the people that +took the oath, but that he himself must refuse. + +It was probably no more than they expected; but Audley replied that he +was very sorry for it, as no man before had declined to swear, and that +sir Thomas might see for himself the names of those who had already +signed, whose consciences were perhaps as tender as his own. More +glanced down the long roll unfolded before him, but only repeated his +answer, nor could any persuasions induce him to give a different one. He +was willing, it seems, to take an oath of obedience to the sovereign and +his successors, but what he would _not_ do was to swear that the king +was the head of the church, and some words declaring this had been +introduced--whether carelessly or wilfully we do not know--into the Act +of Succession, with which they had nothing to do. It was his refusal to +take this part of the oath which caused the downfall of More. + + * * * * * + +For four days sir Thomas remained a prisoner in the care of the abbot of +Westminster; then he was sent to the Tower. Sir Richard Southwell +conveyed him there and placed him under the custody of the lieutenant of +the Tower, sir Edmund Walsingham, an old friend of the More family. As +appears to have been the custom, his cap and outside gown were taken +from him and kept by the porter, and a man set to spy upon his actions. +This was sorely against the wishes of his gaoler, who would fain have +made More's captivity in the Beauchamp Tower as light as might be; but +at first it was needful to be very strict, lest inquiries should be +made. Later, he was for a while allowed writing materials; he went to +church in St. Peter ad Vincula, where so many famous captives lie +buried, and occasionally walked in the garden, or took exercise in the +narrow walk outside his cell. By-and-by, too, occasional visits from his +family were permitted; his stepdaughter, lady Alington, came to see him, +and so did her mother, dame Alice, More's daughter-in-law Anne, and most +frequently of all his daughter Margaret. + +With these indulgences he might have been content, for all his life he +had made the best of things, but the expenses of his captivity weighed +on his soul. The barest food for himself and his servant cost him +fifteen shillings a week (over 5 l. now), and some months later, when +he was convicted of high treason and the lands granted him by the king +were taken from him, his wife was forced to sell her own clothes so that +the money might be paid. But this, we may hope, she kept from sir +Thomas, whose body was bent and broken by painful diseases, though his +spirit was as cheerful as ever. He could even 'inwardly' laugh at dame +Alice when she came to see him for complaining that she would die for +want of air if she was left all night in a locked cell, when 'he knew +full well that every night she shut her own chamber, both doors and +windows, and what was the difference if the doors were locked or not?' +But he durst not laugh aloud nor say anything to her, for, indeed, he +stood somewhat in awe of her. + +Most of the hours were passed during the first months of his captivity +in writing books in English or Latin; but when pen and paper were taken +from him, and he could only scribble a few words with the end of a +charred stick, he had plenty of time to think over his life and to +recall the years that had been so happy. The harsh words that he had +written about men whose religion was different from his own did not +trouble him, nor the thought of the imprisonment to which he had +sentenced many of them. In those days everyone held his own religion to +be right, and any that differed from it to be wrong, and though sir +Thomas never would, and never did, send any man to the block for his +faith, yet he would have considered that he had failed in his duty had +he left them at liberty to teach their 'wicked opinions.' So his mind +did not dwell upon those things, but rather upon his coming death, which +he well foresaw, and upon the old days in Bishopsgate and Chelsea, when +he would examine his children in the lessons they had learned, or set +all the girls to write letters in Latin to his friend Erasmus, that he +might see which of them proved to have the most skill. From time to time +during this year efforts were made to gain him over to the side of the +king, who would have given him almost anything he asked as the price of +his conscience. Even Margaret Roper joined with the rest, and begged him +to consider whether it was not his duty to obey the Parliament, and to +remember that it was possible that he might be mistaken in his refusal, +as so many good men and true had taken the oath. But nothing would move +sir Thomas. + +[Illustration: 'What now, Mother Eve?' he answered.] + +'What now, Mother Eve?' he answered. 'Sit not musing with some serpent +in your breast, or some new persuasion to offer Father Adam the apple +yet once again.' + +'I have sworn myself,' said she, and at this More laughed and replied: + +'That was like Eve, too, for she offered Adam no worse fruit than she +had eaten herself.' + +Finding that his daughter's persuasions were useless, the king and +council sent Cromwell to see if by fair words or threats he could induce +More to declare that the king was head of the church. But, try as he +might, nothing either treasonable or submissive could be wrung from the +prisoner. + +'I am the king's true, faithful subject, and pray for his highness, and +all his, and all the realm,' said sir Thomas. 'I do nobody none harm, I +say none harm, I think none harm, but wish everybody good, and if this +be not enough to keep a man alive, in good faith I long not to live. And +I am dying already, and have since I came here been many times in the +case that I thought to die within one hour. And therefore my poor body +is at the king's pleasure.' Then Cromwell took his leave 'full gently,' +promising to make report to the king. + +Lord Cromwell having failed also, the whole council next came and put +forth all their skill, with no better result; and it was then determined +to bring sir Thomas out of the Tower, and to try him at Westminster on +the charge of treason. Neither the prisoner nor the judges had any doubt +as to what the verdict would be; but whatever his thoughts as to the +future, More must have rejoiced to be rowing once more on the Thames, +with the air and sunlight all around him, and after a year's confinement +even the sight of Westminster Hall and the assembly met together, as he +knew, to doom him would have been full of interest. He was allowed a +chair, for his legs were so swollen that he could hardly have stood; and +then began the trial which a late lord chancellor has called 'the +blackest crime under the name of the law ever committed in England.' At +the close, sentence was passed. More had been proved guilty of treason, +and was to be hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. + +The constable of the Tower, sir William Kingston, sir Thomas's 'very +dear friend,' conducted the condemned man back to prison, and so +sorrowful was the constable's face that any man would have thought that +it was he who was condemned to death. Margaret Roper was waiting on the +wharf, and as her father landed from the barge she flung herself into +his arms, 'having neither respect to herself, nor to the press of people +that were about him.' He whispered some words of comfort and gave her +his blessing, and 'the beholding thereof was to many present so +lamentable that it made them to weep.' + + * * * * * + +The last shame of hanging was after all not inflicted on him, and the +King decreed that his faithful servant and merry companion should be +executed on Tower Hill, like the rest of the men whose bodies lie in the +church of St. Peter ad Vincula within the Tower walls. The day before +his beheading sir Thomas wrote with a charred stick to Margaret, leaving +her the hair shirt he had always worn under his clothes, and messages +and little remembrances to the rest of the old household. Oddly enough, +his wife is never mentioned. + + * * * * * + +Very early in the morning of July 6 the king sent sir Thomas Pope to +tell More he was to die before the clock struck nine, and to say that +'he was not to use many words' on the scaffold, evidently fearing lest +the minds of the crowd might be stirred up to avenge his murder. + +More answered that he had never meant to say anything at which the king +could be offended, and begged that his daughter Margaret might be +present at his burial. Pope replied that the king had given permission +for his wife and children and any other of his friends to be there, and +sir Thomas thanked him, and then put on a handsome dress of silk which +had been provided on purpose by the Italian Bonvisi. + +But sir Thomas was not allowed to be at peace during the short walk +between the Beauchamp Tower and the block, for he was beset first by a +woman who wished to know where he had put some papers of hers when he +was sent to prison, and then by a second, upbraiding him with a judgment +he had given against her when he was chancellor. + +'I remember you well, and should give judgment against you still,' said +he; but at length the crowd was kept back, and a path was kept to the +scaffold. + +Roper was there, watching, and he noticed that the ladder leading to the +platform was very unsteady. Sir Thomas noticed it too, and with his foot +on the first step turned and said to the lieutenant of the Tower: + +'I pray thee see me safe up, and for my coming down let me shift for +myself.' + +When he reached the top, he knelt down and prayed; then rising, kissed +the executioner, and said: + +'Pluck up thy spirits, man, and be not afraid to do thine office. My +neck is very short, take heed therefore thou strike not awry.' As he +spoke, he drew out a handkerchief he had brought with him, and, binding +it over his eyes, he stretched himself out on the platform and laid his +head on the block. + + * * * * * + +Thus died sir Thomas More, because he would not tie his conscience to +another man's back, for he had no enemies save those who felt that this +courage put them to shame, and he had striven all his life to do harm to +no one. After his death, his head, as was the custom, was placed on a +stake, and shown as the head of a traitor on London Bridge for a month, +till Margaret Roper bribed a man to steal it for her, and, wrapping it +round with spices, she hid it in a safe place. It is possible that she +laid it in a vault belonging to the Roper family, in St. Dunstan's +Church in Canterbury, but she herself lies with her mother, in the old +church of Chelsea, where sir Thomas 'did mind to be buried.' + + * * * * * + +What the king's feelings were when he heard that the act of vengeance +had been accomplished we know not, but the emperor Charles V. spoke his +mind plainly to the English ambassador, sir Thomas Eliott. + +'My Lord ambassador, we understand that the king your master hath put +his faithful servant sir Thomas More to death.' + +Whereupon sir Thomas Eliott answered 'that he understood nothing +thereof.' + +'Well,' said the emperor, 'it is too true; and this we will say, that +had we been master of such a servant, of whose doings ourselves have had +these many years no small experience, we would rather have lost the best +city of our dominions than such a worthy counsellor.' + + + + +THE LITTLE ABBESS + + +A nun! + +As one reads the word, two pictures flash into the mind. One is that of +sisters of mercy going quickly through the streets, with black dresses +and flappy white caps, to visit their poor people. If you look at their +faces, you will notice how curiously smooth and unlined they are, even +when they are not young any more, and their expression is generally +quiet and contented, while the women of their own age who live in the +world appear tired and anxious. + +The other picture is one that most of us have to make for ourselves, as +few have had a chance of seeing it. This nun is also dressed in black +robes, and has a flowing black veil, and a white band across her +forehead, under which her hair, cut short when she takes her vows, is +hidden away. She never leaves her convent, except for a walk in the +garden, but she often has children to teach, for many convents are great +Roman Catholic schools, and the nuns have to take care that they can +tell their scholars about the discoveries of the present day: about +wireless telegraphy, about radium, about the late wars and the changes +in the boundaries of kingdoms, and many other things. + +Of course, nuns are divided into various orders, each with its own +rules, and some, the strictest, do not admit anyone inside the convent +at all, even into a parlour. After a girl has taken the veil, she is +allowed to receive one visit from her friends and relations, and then +she says good-bye to them for ever. + + * * * * * + +But if you had been living in Paris towards the end of the sixteenth +century, when Catherine de Medicis was queen-mother, and into the days +when Henry IV. was king, and his son Louis succeeded him, you would have +found this picture of a convent very far from the truth. Convents were +comfortable and even luxurious houses, richly endowed, where poor +noblemen and gentlemen sent their daughters for life, paying on their +entrance what money they could spare, but keeping enough to portion one +or two girls--generally the prettiest of the family--or to help the son +to live in state. If, as often happened, the father did not offer +enough, the abbess would try to get more from him, or else refuse his +daughter altogether. If she was accepted, he bade her farewell for the +time, knowing that he could see her whenever he chose, and that she +would lead quite as pleasant and as amusing an existence as her married +sister. Perhaps, too, she might even be allowed to wear coloured +clothes, for there was one order in which the habit of the nuns was +white and scarlet; but even if the archbishop, or the abbot, or the +king, or whoever had supreme power over the convent, insisted on black +and white being worn, why, it would be easy to model the cap and sleeves +near enough to the fashion to look picturesque; and could not the dress +be of satin and velvet and lace, and yet be black and white still? + +As to food, no one was more particular about it than the abbess of a +large convent, or else the fine gentlemen and elegant ladies would not +come from Paris or the country round to her suppers and private +theatricals, where the nuns acted the chief parts, or to the balls for +which she was famous. How pleasant it was in the summer evenings to sit +with their friends and listen to music from hidden performers; and could +anything be so amusing as to walk a little way along the road to Paris +till the nuns reached a stretch of smooth green turf, where the monks +from a neighbouring monastery were waiting to dance with them in the +moonlight? + +No, decidedly, nuns were not to be pitied when Henry IV. was king. + +Yet soon all these joys were to be things of the past, and it was a girl +of sixteen who set her hand to the work. + + * * * * * + +The family of the Arnaulds were well known in French history as soldiers +or lawyers--sometimes as both, for the grandfather of the child whose +story I am going to tell you commanded a troop of light horse in time of +war, and in time of peace was, in spite of his being a Huguenot--that +is, a Protestant--Catherine's trusted lawyer and adviser. This Antoine +Arnauld, or M. de la Mothe, as he was called, was once publicly insulted +by a noble whose claim to some money Arnauld had been obliged to refuse. + +[Illustration: 'You are mistaking me for somebody else.'] + +'You are mistaking me for somebody else,' answered M. de la Mothe, +quietly. + +'What do you mean? I thought you just admitted that you _were_ M. de la +Mothe?' replied the angry nobleman. + +'Oh, yes,' said the lawyer, 'so I am; but sometimes I change my long +robe for a short coat, and once outside this court you would not dare to +speak to me in such a manner.' + +At this point one of the attendants whispered in his ear that this was +the celebrated soldier, and the nobleman, who seems to have been a +poor-spirited creature, instantly made the humblest apologies. + +Many of his relatives remained Huguenots up to the end, but M. de la +Mothe returned to the old religion after the Massacre of St. Bartholomew +in 1572. No man ever had a narrower escape of his life, for his house in +Paris was attacked during the day, and though his servants defended it +bravely, neither he nor his children would have been left alive had +not a messenger wearing the queen's colours been seen pushing through +the crowd. The leaders then called upon the mob to fall back, and the +messenger produced a paper, signed by the queen, giving the family leave +to come and go in safety. + +M. de la Mothe's son, Antoine Arnauld, had in him more of the lawyer +than the soldier, and he was clever enough to escape detection for acts +which _we_ should certainly call frauds. But he was an excellent husband +to the wife of thirteen whom he married, and a very affectionate father +to the ten out of his twenty children who lived to grow up. + +Monsieur Arnauld was much thought of at the French bar, and was +entrusted with law cases by the court and by the nobles. He was a +pleasant and clever man, and made friends as easily as money, and if he +and his wife had chosen they might have led the same gay life as their +neighbours. But the little bride of thirteen did not care for the balls +and plays in which the fashionable ladies spent so much of their time, +and her dresses were as plain as those of the nuns _ought_ to have been. +She looked well after her husband's comfort, and saw that her babies +were well and happy, and when everything in her own house was arranged +for the day, she went through the door that opened into her father's +Paris dwelling, and sat with her mother, who was very delicate and could +scarcely leave her sofa. + +The summer months were passed at monsieur Arnauld's estate of Andilly, +not far from Paris, to which they all moved in several large coaches. +Even here the lawyer was busy most of the day over his books and papers, +but in the evening he was always ready to listen to his wife's account +of her visits to their own poor people, or to those of the village near +by. At a period when scarcely anyone gave a thought to the peasants, or +heeded whether they lived or died, Arnauld's labourers were all well +paid, and the old and ill fed and clothed. And if monsieur Arnauld did +not go amongst them much himself, he allowed his wife to do as she +liked, and gave her sound advice in her difficulties. + +As they grew older the children used often to accompany their mother on +her rounds, and learnt from her how to help and understand the lives +that were so different from their own. They saw peasants in bare +cottages contented and happy on the simplest food, and sometimes on very +little of it. They did not think about it at the time, of course, but in +after-years the memory of these poor people was to come back to them; +and they no longer felt strange and shy of those whom they were called +upon to aid. + + * * * * * + +Madame Arnauld's second daughter, Jacqueline, was a great favourite with +her grandfather, monsieur Marion, and was very proud of it. In Paris +every morning she used to run into his house, locking the door of +communication behind her. If, as often occurred, her brothers and +sisters wanted to come too, and drummed on the panels to make Jacqueline +open it, she would call out through the key-hole: + +'Go away! You have no business here, this house belongs to _me_,' and +then she would run through the rooms till she found her grandfather, and +sit chattering to him about the things she liked and the games she was +fond of. She was quick and clever and easily interested, and it amused +monsieur Marion to listen to her when he had no work to occupy him; but +one fact he plainly noticed, and that was that Jacqueline was never +happy unless she was put first. + +[Illustration: 'Go away! You have no business here.'] + +In the year 1599, madame Arnauld, though only twenty-five, had eight +children, and her father, monsieur Marion, who was already suffering +from the disease which afterwards killed him, began to be anxious about +their future. After talking the matter over with his son-in-law, they +decided that it was necessary that the second and third little girls, +Jacqueline and Jeanne, should become nuns, in order that Catherine, the +eldest, might have a larger fortune and make a more brilliant marriage. +Not that monsieur Marion intended that they should be common nuns. He +would do better than that for Jacqueline, and as his majesty Henry IV. +had honoured him with special marks of his favour, he had no doubt that +the king would grant an abbey to each of his granddaughters. + +When the plan was told to madame Arnauld, she listened with dismay. + +'But Jacqueline is hardly seven and a half,' she said, 'and Jeanne is +five;' but monsieur Marion only laughed and bade her not to trouble +herself, as he would see that their duties did not weigh upon them, and +that though he hoped they would behave better than many of the nuns, yet +they would lead pleasant lives, and their mother could visit them as +often as she liked. + +Madame Arnauld was too much afraid of her father to raise any more +objections, but she had also heard too much of convents and their ways +to wish her daughters to enter them. Meanwhile the affair was carried +through by the help of the abbe of Citeaux, and as a rule existed by +which no child could be appointed abbess, the consent of the Pope was +obtained by declaring each of the girls many years older than she really +was. Both Arnauld and Marion considered themselves, and were considered +by others, to be unusually good men, yet their consciences never +troubled them about this wicked fraud. + +However, by the aid of the false statement all went smoothly, and the +old and delicate abbess of Port Royal, an abbey situated in a marshy +hollow eighteen miles from Paris, agreed to take Jacqueline as helper or +coadjutrix, with the condition that on the death of the old lady the +little girl was to succeed her, while Jeanne was made abbess of +Saint-Cyr, six miles nearer Paris, where madame de Maintenon's famous +girls' school was to be founded a hundred years later. The duties of +the office were to be discharged by one of the elder nuns till Jeanne +was twenty. + + * * * * * + +It is always the custom that the young girls or novices should spend a +year in the convent they wish to enter before they take the vows, which +are for life. During that time they can find out if they really wish to +leave the world for ever, or if it was only a passing fancy; while the +abbess, on the other hand, can tell whether their characters are suited +to a secluded existence, or if it would only make them--and therefore +other people--restless and unhappy. When Jacqueline became a novice in +1599, her father invited all his friends, and a very grand company they +were. The child was delighted to feel that she was the most important +person present, and no doubt amused her grandfather by her satisfaction +at being 'first.' No such fuss seems to have been made over Jeanne on a +similar occasion, but in a few weeks both little girls were sent for +eight months to Saint-Cyr. + +Abbesses though they might be, they were still the children who had +played in their father's garden only a few weeks before. Jacqueline and +her elder sister Catherine, the one who was 'to be married,' and very +unhappily, were chief in all the games and mischief. They were very +daring, and were always quick at inventing new plays. They were very +sensible, too, and if one of their brothers or sisters hurt themselves +during their games, these two knew what was best to be done without +troubling their mother. They were all fond of each other, and never had +any serious quarrels; but Jacqueline was generally the leader, and the +others, especially the shy and dreamy Jeanne, let themselves be ruled by +her. At Saint-Cyr, Jacqueline, who felt no difference, and speedily +became a favourite of the other novices, ordered her sister about as she +had been accustomed to do, and generally Jeanne obeyed her meekly; but +at last she rebelled and informed Jacqueline, much to her surprise, that +it was _her_ abbey, and that if Jacqueline did not behave properly she +might go away to her own. + + * * * * * + +Some months of Jacqueline's noviciate had still to run when she was sent +to the abbey of Maubuisson, which belonged to the same order of nuns as +Port Royal, whereas the nuns of Saint-Cyr belonged to another community. +The abbess, Angelique d'Estrees, was a famous woman, and her nuns were +some of the worst and most pleasure-loving in the whole of France. Most +likely madame Arnauld heard of the change with trembling, but she could +do nothing: in October 1600, Jacqueline, then nine years old, took the +veil and the vows of poverty and obedience in the midst of a noble +company. She was far too excited to think about the religious ceremony +which had bound her for life to the cloister, and certainly nobody +else--unless her mother was present--thought about it either. Her very +name was changed too, and instead of 'Jacqueline' she became +'Angelique,' as 'Jeanne' became 'Agnes.' + +As soon as the little girl was a professed nun, monsieur Marion and +monsieur Arnauld, who were not satisfied that the pope's consent already +obtained was really sufficient, began afresh to prepare a variety of +false papers, in order that when Angelique took possession of her abbey +no one should be able to turn her out of it. Seventy years before a law +had been passed declaring that no nun could be appointed abbess under +forty, and though this was constantly disregarded, the child's father +and grandfather felt that it was vain to ask the Pope to nominate a +child of nine to the post. So in the declaration her age was stated to +be seventeen; but even that Clement considered too young, and it +required all the influence that monsieur Marion could bring to bear to +induce him at last to give his consent. Permission was long in coming, +and in the midst of the negotiations the old abbess died suddenly, and +Angelique, now ten and a half, was 'Madame de Port Royal.' + + * * * * * + +When Angelique said good-bye to the nuns at Maubuisson, all of whom had +been fond of her, her mother took her to Port Royal, fearing in her +heart lest the customs of the convent might be as bad as in the one +ruled by madame d'Estrees. But she was consoled at finding the abbey far +too poor to indulge in all the expensive amusements of Maubuisson, and +that it contained only thirteen nuns, so that Angelique would not have +so many people to govern. It was thirty years since a sermon had been +preached within its walls, except on a few occasions when a novice had +taken the veil, and during the carnival, just before Lent, all the +inmates of the convent, the chaplain or confessor among them, acted +plays and had supper parties. Like the Maubuisson sisters, the nuns +always kept their long hair, and wore masks and gloves; but they were +only foolish, harmless young women following the fashion, except the +oldest of them all, whom madame Arnauld managed to get dismissed. + +Angelique was now nearly eleven, but much older in her thoughts and ways +than most children of her age, though she was still fond of games, and +spent part of the day playing or wandering about the garden. If it was +wet, she read Roman history, and perhaps she may have learnt something +of housekeeping from the prioress, who saw that all was kept in order. +The abbess said carefully the short prayers appointed for certain hours +of the day, and heard matins every morning at four and evensong every +afternoon. After this was over, she did as she was bidden by her +superior, the abbot of Citeaux, and took all her nuns for a solemn walk +on the hills outside the abbey. + +[Illustration: She took all her nuns for a solemn walk.] + +At first the young abbess was full of self-importance, and much occupied +with her position. After Agnes's taunts when they were both at St. +Cyr--oh, _long_ ago now!--it was delightful to be able to send her _own_ +carriage for her, and play at the old home games in the garden. But +by-and-by the novelty wore off, and she became very tired of her life, +which was always the same, day after day, and would never, never be +different. If only she could be back at Andilly with the rest! and then +she would shut her eyes very tight so that no tears might escape them. + +Lively and impulsive though she was, she was not accustomed to speak of +her feelings to others, and did her best to thrust her longing for +freedom into the background. But she grew pale and thin in the struggle, +and at last there came a day when a visitor, guessing what was the +matter, hinted that as she had taken her vows before she was old enough +to do so by law, it would be easy to get absolved from them. Something +of the kind may have perhaps occurred to Angelique, but, put into words, +the idea filled her with horror, for deep down in her mind she felt that +though her profession had been thrust upon her before she knew what she +was doing, she would feel ashamed and degraded all her life if she broke +her vows. Still, she wanted to forget it all if she could, and in order +to distract her thoughts she began to receive and pay visits in the +neighbourhood, to the great grief of her mother, who feared this was the +first step towards the moonlight balls of Maubuisson. + +Angelique was far too tender-hearted to withstand her mother's tears, +and gave up paying calls; spending the time instead in reading +Plutarch's 'Lives' and other books about ancient history, and pretending +to herself that she was each of the heroes in turn. But even Plutarch +was a poor substitute for home life, and when her fifteenth birthday was +drawing near she began to wonder if she _could_ stand it any longer. + +'I considered,' she says herself, 'if it would be possible for me to +return to the world, and even to get married, without telling my father +or mother, for the yoke had become unsupportable.' Perhaps, she +reflected, she might go to La Rochelle, where some of her Huguenot aunts +were living, and though she had no wish to change her own religion, yet +she was sure they would protect her. As to the difficulties of a young +abbess travelling through France alone, they did not even occur to her, +and she seems to have arranged her plans for escape without informing +the good ladies of their expected visitor. + + * * * * * + +The day Angelique had fixed for her flight had almost come when she fell +very ill of a sort of nervous fever, chiefly the result of the trouble +of mind she had been going through, though the unhealthy marshes round +Port Royal may have had something to do with her illness. Monsieur and +madame Arnauld at once sent a litter drawn by horses to fetch her to +Paris, where the best doctors awaited her. Her mother hardly left her +bedside, and for some time Angelique was at rest, feeling nothing except +that she was at home, and that the old dismal life of the convent must +be a dream. But as she grew stronger her perplexities came back. She +_could_ not bring such grief on her parents, who loved her so much, yet +the sight of her aunts in their beautiful dresses with long pointed +bodices, and the pretty hoods that covered their hair when they came to +inquire after her, revived all her longings for the amusements of other +girls. Again she kept silence, but secretly induced one of the maids to +make her a pair of corsets, 'to improve her figure.' + + * * * * * + +It may have been the sight of the corsets which caused monsieur Arnauld, +whose keen eyes nothing escaped, to take alarm. At any rate, one day he +brought a paper, so ill-written that it could hardly be read, and +thrust it with a pen into Angelique's hand, saying, 'Sign this, my +daughter.' + +The girl did not dare to refuse, or even to question her father, though +she did manage to make out a word or two, which showed her that the +paper contained a renewal of the vows she so bitterly regretted. + +Though custom and respect kept her silent, Angelique's frank and +straightforward nature must have felt bitterly ashamed as well as angry +at the way her father had tried to trick her, and she seems on the whole +to have been rather glad to return to her abbey. The nuns were delighted +to have her back again, and as she remained very delicate all through +the winter, she was a great deal indoors, too tired to do anything but +rest, and read now and then a little book of meditations, which one of +the sisters had given her. + + * * * * * + +Just at this time an event happened which turned the whole course of +Angelique's life. + +A Capuchin monk, father Basil by name, stopped at Port Royal one +evening, and asked the abbess's leave to preach. At first she refused, +saying it was too late; then she changed her mind, for she was fond of +hearing sermons, which, even if they were bad, generally gave her +something to think of. There does not seem to have been anything very +striking about this one, but when it was ended 'I found myself,' says +Angelique, 'happier to know myself a nun than before I had felt wretched +at being one, and that there was nothing in the whole world that I would +not do for God.' + +Now Angelique's inward struggles took a different turn; she no longer +desired to be free of her vows, but rather to carry them out to the +utmost of her power, and to persuade her nuns to do so likewise. For +some time she met with little encouragement. Another friar of the order +of the Capuchins, to whom she opened her heart when he came to preach on +Whit Sunday, was a man of no sense or tact, and urged such severe and +instant reforms that the poor nuns were quite frightened. Then the +prioress, whom Angelique also consulted, told her that she was not well, +and excited, and that in three months' time she would think quite +differently; all of which would have been true of a great many people, +but was a mistake as regarded Angelique. Thus disappointed in both her +counsellors, the abbess longed to resign her post, and to become a +simple nun in some distant convent; but she dared not disobey her newly +awakened conscience, which told her to stay where she was and do her +work. + + * * * * * + +It is to be noted that, unlike most reformers, Angelique took care that +her reforms began at the right end--namely, with herself. Again and +again we see that when she made a new rule or revived an old one she +practised it secretly herself long before she asked any of her nuns to +adopt it. At this time she was torn between the advice of two of the +Capuchin monks, one of whom urged her to lay down her burden and to +enter as a sister in some other convent; while the other, the father +Bernard, who had alarmed the nuns by his zeal, at last seemed to +understand the position of Angelique, and told her that, having put her +hand to the plough, she must not draw back. + +Angelique was only sixteen and in great trouble of mind, and in her sore +distress she did some foolish things in the way of penances which she +afterwards looked on with disapproval, for she never encouraged her nuns +to hurt their bodies so as to injure their minds. Indeed, her character +was too practical for her to adopt the follies which were the fashion in +some of the religious houses not wholly given over to worldly pleasures. +She had no wish to become famous or to be considered a saint when she +knew how far she was from being one, and prayed earnestly and sensibly +never to be allowed to see visions--the visions which she was well +aware were often the result first of fasting, and next the cause of +vanity, with its root in the praise of men. + + * * * * * + +As usual, the early autumn proved a trying season for Angelique, and she +again fell ill of a fever, and spent some weeks at Andilly with her +troop of brothers and sisters. But she could not shake off the sad +thoughts which were pressing on her, and was glad to go back to the +convent, taking with her little Marie Arnauld, then seven years old. The +winter passed before she could decide what to do, and her illness was +increased by the damp vapours arising from the ponds and marshes around +the abbey. She was worn out by thinking, and at length the prioress was +so alarmed by her appearance that she begged the abbess to do whatever +she thought right, as the sisters would submit to anything sooner than +see her in such misery. + +The relief to Angelique's mind was immense, and she instantly called on +the whole community to assemble together. She then spoke to them, +reminding them of the vow of poverty they had taken, and showing them +how, if it was to be kept, they must cease to have possessions of their +own and share all things between them. When she had finished, a nun rose +up and silently left the room, returning in a few minutes with a little +packet containing the treasures by which she had set so much store. One +by one they all followed her example, and Angelique's first battle was +won. + + * * * * * + +In spite of the French proverb which says 'it is only the first step +which hurts,' the second step on the road to reform was the cause of far +more pain to Angelique, for she was resolved to put an end to the +practice of permitting the relatives and friends of the nuns free +entrance into the convent; and knew that her father, who during all +these years had come and gone as he wished, would not submit quietly to +his exclusion. Therefore she made certain alterations in the abbey: +ordered a foot or two to be added to the walls, and built a parlour +outside with only a small grated window, through which the nuns would be +allowed now and then to talk to their families. + +All being ready, she again assembled the sisters, and informed them of +the new rule which was to be carried out, and when shortly after a +novice took the veil, and her friends were entertained outside the +convent, many voices were raised in discontented protest, and more than +once the murmur was heard, 'Ah! it will be a very different thing when +monsieur Arnauld comes.' + + * * * * * + +But it was not. Angelique never made one rule for herself and another +for her nuns, and by-and-by when her father's work was over in Paris, +and they all moved to Andilly, the abbess knew that her time of trial +had come. She wrote to either her mother or sister, madame le Maitre, +begging them to inform her father of the new state of affairs; but this +they do not seem to have done. At all events, on September 24, 1609, +Angelique received a message from her father, saying that they would +arrive the next morning to see her. + +Now the abbess of Port Royal was no hard-hearted, despotic woman, +delighting to display her power and to 'make scenes.' She was an +affectionate girl, easily touched and very grateful, and in her +generosity had striven to forget her father's double dealing in the +matter of her vows. That the coming interview would be a cause of much +pain to both she well knew, and she entreated two or three of the +nuns--among whom was her sister Agnes, who had resigned Saint-Cyr and +was now at Port Royal--to spend the night in praying that her +determination might not falter. + +It was at the dinner-hour, about eleven o'clock, that the noise of a +carriage was heard in the outer court of the abbey. The abbess turned +pale and rose from her seat, while those of the sisters whom she had +taken into her confidence hastened away to be ready for the different +duties she had assigned to them. Angelique, holding in her hands the +keys of every outer door leading into the convent, walked to the great +gate, against which monsieur Arnauld, who was accompanied by his wife, +his son, and two of his daughters, was knocking loudly. He was not used +to be kept waiting like this, and did not understand the meaning of it, +and when the tiny window cut in the thick oak panels was suddenly thrown +open, and his daughter's face appeared, he asked impatiently what was +the matter that the gates were locked, and why she did not open them. +Angelique replied gently that if he would go into the parlour beside the +gate she would speak to him through the grating and explain the reason +of the gates being shut; but her father, not believing his ears, only +rapped the louder, while madame Arnauld reproached her daughter with +lack of respect and affection, and monsieur d'Andilly her brother called +her all sorts of names. + +The noise was so great that it reached the refectory or dining-hall, +where the nuns were still sitting, and soon their voices were joined to +the clamour, some few upholding the conduct of their abbess, but most of +them condemning her. + +At this point monsieur Arnauld, seeing that Angelique would not give +way, bethought him of a trick by which he could gain a footing inside +the walls. If, he said, Angelique had lost all sense of duty and +obedience to her parents, he would not suffer his other children to be +ruined by her example, and Agnes and little Marie must be given up to +him at once. No doubt he reckoned on the great door being opened for the +girls to come out, and that then he would be able to slip inside; but, +unfortunately, Angelique knew by experience of what her father was +capable, and had foreseen his demand. She answered that his wishes +should be obeyed, and seeking out one of the sisters whom she could +trust, gave her the key of a little door leading from the chapel outside +the walls, and bade her let Agnes and Marie out that way. This was done, +and suddenly the two little nuns were greeting their father as if they +had dropped from the skies. + +At length understanding that neither abuse nor tricks could move +Angelique, monsieur Arnauld consented to go to the parlour, and there a +rush of tenderness came over him, and he implored her to be careful in +what she did, and not to ruin her health by privations and harsh +treatment. Angelique was not prepared for kindness, and after all she +had undergone it proved too much for her. She fell fainting to the +ground, and lay there without help, for her parents could not reach her +through the grating in the wall, and the nuns, thinking that monsieur +Arnauld was still heaping reproaches on her head, carefully kept away. +At last, however, they realised that help was needed, and arrived to +find their abbess lying senseless. Her first words on recovering were to +implore her father not to leave that day, and the visitors passed the +night in a guest-room which she had built outside the walls, and next +morning she had a long and peaceful talk with her family from a bed +placed on the convent side of the grating. + +[Illustration: She fell fainting to the ground.] + +In the end the abbot of Citeaux gave permission for monsieur Arnauld +still to inspect the outer buildings and gardens, as he had been in the +habit of doing, while his wife and daughters had leave to enter the +convent itself when they wished. But this was not for a whole year, as +madame Arnauld in her anger had sworn never to enter the gates of Port +Royal, and it was only after hearing a sermon setting forth that vows +taken in haste were not binding that she felt at liberty once more to +see her daughter. + + * * * * * + +The income left by the founder of Port Royal was very small--about +240 l. a year--little enough on which to support a number of people and +find work for the poor, though, of course, it could perhaps buy as many +things as 1,200 l. a year now. + +When Angelique first went there as abbess, monsieur Arnauld, who managed +all the money matters, paid all that seemed necessary for the comfort of +his daughter and the nuns. But after the day when she closed the gates +on him Angelique would no longer accept his help, as she felt she could +not honestly do so while behaving in a manner of which he disapproved. +So she called together her little community, and they thought of all the +things they could possibly do without. The masks and the gloves had +already been discarded, and there seemed to be nothing for the sisters +to give up, if they were to help the sick people and peasants who +crowded about their doors, but their food and their firing. Not that she +intended to support anybody in idleness; Angelique was far too sensible +for that. She took counsel with her father, and found work for the men, +and even the children, in the gardens and lands belonging to the abbey. +Their wages were small, but each day good food was prepared in the +kitchens--Angelique had no belief in bad cooking--and was wheeled out by +the sisters in little carts as far as the garden walls, where the +workmen could eat it while it was hot. Then some of the children or +women were employed as messengers to carry bowls with dinners to the old +and ill. Of course some of these were in the abbey infirmary, and were +looked after by the nuns, and especially by Angelique, who took the one +who seemed to need most care into her own room, while she slept on the +damp floor--for half the sickness at Port Royal was due to the marshes +that surrounded it. If it happened that she had her cell to herself, +there was no fire to warm her, yet she often got up in the night to +carry wood to the long dormitory where several of the nuns slept, so +that they, at least, should not suffer from cold. + +All the daily expenses she saw to herself, as debt was hateful to her, +and she and the sisters denied themselves food and wore the cheapest and +coarsest clothes, not for the sake of their own souls, but of other +people's bodies. + + * * * * * + +In many ways, though she did not know it and certainly would have been +shocked to hear it, Angelique resembled the Puritans, whose influence +in England was daily increasing. She had a special dislike to money +being spent on decorations and ornaments in churches, or in embroidered +vestments for priests, and never would allow any of them in her own. She +also invented a loose and ugly grey dress for the girls to wear who +desired admission to the convent, instead of permitting them to put on +the clothes they had worn at home, as had always been the custom. The +first to wear it was her own sister Anne, who after leading the gay life +of a Parisian young lady for a year, at fifteen resolved to abandon it +for ever and join her three sisters at Port Royal. + +It is possible that monsieur Arnauld may have regretted his hastiness in +forcing Angelique and Agnes to become nuns when he saw one daughter +after another following in their footsteps. Anne he had expected to +remain, for she was full of little fancies and vanities, and he could +not imagine her submitting to the work which he knew the abbess loved. + +He would have laughed sadly enough if he could have seen how right he +was. On the first night that Anne slept in the abbey, she laid a cloth +on a table in her cell, and tried to make it look a little like the +dressing-table she had left in Paris. Angelique happened to pass the +open door on her way to the chapel, and, smiling to herself, quietly +stripped the table. Some hours later she went by again, and over it was +spread a white handkerchief. This she also removed, but, leaving Anne to +apply the lesson, she did not make any remark, and sent her to clean out +the fowl-house. + + * * * * * + +By this time the eyes of the world had been turned to Port Royal, and to +the strange spectacle of a girl who, possessed of every talent which +would enable her to shine in society, had deliberately chosen the worst +of everything, and had induced her nuns to choose it too. Possibly the +quiet and useful life led by the Port Royal sisters may have made the +gaieties and disorders of the other convents look even blacker than +before; but however that may be, when Angelique was about twenty-six a +most difficult and disagreeable piece of work was put into her hands. + +The king, Louis XIII., a very different man from his father, Henry IV., +had determined to put an end to the state of things that prevailed, and +resolved to begin with Maubuisson. + +Now nobody had ever attempted to interfere with madame d'Estrees, who +was still abbess, and when the abbot of Citeaux, her superior, informed +her that in obedience to the king's commands he proposed to come over +and inspect Maubuisson, she was extremely angry. Without caring for the +consequences, she locked up in a cell two monks who had brought the +message, and kept them without food for some days; after which she +roughly bade them return whence they came, and thought no more about the +matter. + +For two years the affair rested where it was; then the king again turned +his attention to Maubuisson, and wrote to the abbot of Citeaux inquiring +why his previous orders had not been carried out, bidding him send an +officer at once and obtain an exact report of the conduct of the nuns +and the abbess. + +The commissioner, monsieur Deruptis, arrived with three or four men at +Maubuisson, and congratulated themselves when they found the doors flung +wide and they were invited to enter. + +'The reverend mother is too unwell to see anyone to-day,' said the nun +who admitted them, 'but she has prepared rooms in the west tower for +your reception, and to-morrow she hopes to be able to speak with you +herself.' So saying she led them down several passages till she reached +a little door, which she unlocked, and then stood back for them to pass +in. As soon as they were all inside, making their way up the corkscrew +stairs, she swung back the door, and before the men realised what had +happened they heard the key turn in the lock. + +For four days they were kept prisoners, with nothing to eat but a very +little bread and water; while every morning the commissioner was +severely flogged till he was almost too weak to move. At length, driven +to desperation, he and his companions contrived to squeeze themselves +through a narrow window, and returned dirty and half-starved to the +abbot. + +Powerful as the abbess might be, even her friends and relations thought +she had gone too far, and they were besides very angry with her for +allowing her own young sister, who was a novice in the convent, to be +secretly married there. They therefore informed the abbot of Citeaux +that as far as they were concerned no opposition would be made, and he +instantly started for Maubuisson, sending a messenger before him to tell +the abbess that he was on his way. For all answer the messenger came +back saying that the abbess would listen to nothing; but the abbot, now +thoroughly angry, only pushed on the faster, and thundered at the great +gates. He hardly expected that madame d'Estrees would refuse to see him +when it came to the point, but she _did_; he then, as was his right, +called an assembly of the nuns, and summoned her to attend. Again she +declined; she was ill, she said, and could not leave her bed; so, fuming +with rage, he went back to Paris and told the whole story to the king. + +After certain forms of law had been gone through, which took a little +time, the Parliament of Paris issued a warrant for the seizure of the +abbess, and for her imprisonment in the convent of the Penitents in +Paris. On this occasion the abbot took a strong body of archers with +him, but wishing to avoid, if possible, the scandal of carrying off the +abbess by force, he left them at Pontoise. He went alone to the abbey, +and for two days tried by every means he could think of to persuade the +abbess to submit. But she only laughed, and declared she was ill, and at +last he sent for his archers and ordered them to force an entrance. + +'Open, in the king's name!' cried their captain; but as the doors +remained closed, he signed to his men to force them, and soon two +hundred and fifty archers were in the abbey, seeking its abbess. During +the whole day they sought in vain, and began to think that she was not +in the house at all; at length a soldier passing through a dormitory +noticed a slight movement in one of the beds, which proved to contain +the rebellious abbess. The man bade her get up at once, but she told +them that it was impossible, as she had hardly any clothes on. The +soldier, not knowing what to do, sent for his captain, who promptly bade +four archers take up mattress and abbess and all, and place them in the +carriage which stood before the gates. + +In this manner, accompanied by one nun, madame d'Estrees entered the +convent of the Penitents. + + * * * * * + +It is very amusing to read about, but at the time the affair made a +great noise, and the other abbesses who were conscious of having +neglected their vows had long felt very uneasy and watched anxiously +what would happen next. Of course, Maubuisson could not be left without +a head, and as soon as the abbess was removed, the abbot summoned the +nuns before him and informed them that they might choose which of three +ladies should take the place of madame d'Estrees. One of the three was +madame de Port Royal. + +The 'ladies of Maubuisson,' as they had always been called, trembled at +the thought of what they might have to undergo at the hands of +Angelique, yet they liked still less the other abbesses proposed. In the +end it was she who was appointed, and a fortnight later arrived at +Maubuisson with three of her own nuns, one being her young sister Marie. + +Some of the Maubuisson nuns remembered their new abbess quite well, when +she had lived amongst them nearly seventeen years before. These she +treated with the utmost consideration, for she knew it was unreasonable +to expect them to give up all at once the habits of a lifetime, and she +thought it wiser to gain permission to add thirty young novices to the +community whom she might train herself. To these girls she taught the +duties performed by her own nuns, and herself took part in carrying wood +for the fires, keeping clean the chapel and other parts of the abbey, +washing the clothes, digging up the garden, and singing the chants, for +she had been shocked by the discordant and irreverent manner in which +the services were conducted. She even allowed her novices to wait on the +older nuns, replacing their own servants. + +For a year and a half Angelique struggled patiently to soften the hearts +of the Maubuisson 'ladies,' but without success, and her courage and +spirits began to fail her. Then, in September 1619, an event occurred +which, unpleasant though it was, brought her back to her old self, and +this was the sudden return of madame d'Estrees. + +At six o'clock one morning the late abbess, who had managed to escape +from the convent where she had been imprisoned, unexpectedly appeared as +the nuns were on their way to church, having been let in secretly by one +of the sisters. + +'Madame,' she said to Angelique, 'I have to thank you for the care you +have taken of my abbey, and to request that you will go back to yours.' + +'There is nothing I long for more, madame,' replied Angelique, 'but I +have been placed here by the abbot of Citeaux, our superior, and I +cannot leave without his permission.' Upon this madame d'Estrees +declared that she was abbess and would take her proper position; but +Angelique, merely asserting that the king and the abbot had placed her +there, and there she must stay, walked calmly to her own seat, while +madame d'Estrees, not having made up her mind what to do, went off to +see her own nuns, who seldom were present at the early service. + +By command of Angelique, everything went on as usual in the abbey, +except that the keys of all the doors had been given up to her. But +after dinner, to her great surprise, the chaplain came to her and +informed her that it was her duty to give way to force, and that if she +did not do so quietly the armed men whom madame d'Estrees had left +outside the walls would thrust her out. The abbess replied that she +could not forsake her charge; but she had hardly spoken when, to her +amazement, five soldiers with naked swords advanced towards her, and +threatened her with violence if she did not do as they wished. But no +Arnauld ever submitted to bullying, and Angelique repeated her words, +and said that nothing but force could make her quit her post. + +While this conversation was going on the novices, terrified at what +might be happening to their abbess, crowded round in order to protect +her. They were all very much excited, and when madame d'Estrees, who had +entered also, happened to touch Angelique's veil, one of the young nuns +turned to her and cried out indignantly: + +'Wretched woman! Would you dare to pull off the veil of madame de Port +Royal?' and snatching the veil which the abbess had put on her own head, +she tore it off and flung it in a corner. + +'Put madame out,' said madame d'Estrees, turning to the gentlemen with +her, and Angelique, who did not resist, was at once thrust out of the +door and into a carriage that was waiting. In an instant the carriage +was covered with novices as with a swarm of flies. The wheels, the +rumble, the coach-box, all were full of them; it was astonishing how +they got there in their heavy, cumbrous clothes. Madame d'Estrees called +to the coachman to whip up the horses, but he, perhaps enjoying the +scene, replied that if he moved he was certain to crush somebody. Then +Angelique left the coach, and the novices got down from their perches +and stood around her. + +Finding that this plan had failed, madame d'Estrees ordered one of her +lackeys to stand at the gate of the abbey and to allow Angelique, her +two sisters, and the two Port Royal nuns to pass out, but no one else. +She herself took hold of Angelique, who was nearly torn in half between +her friends and enemies, and pulled her out of the gate, all the novices +pressing behind her. The moment the rival abbesses had passed through a +strong young novice seized hold of madame d'Estrees and forced her to +the ground, keeping her there until every one of her companions was on +the outside. It was in vain that the lackey tried to stop them. + +'If you attempt to shut that door we will squeeze you to death,' cried +they, and each in turn gave the door behind which he stood a good push! + +At length they were outside, and were walking quietly down the road to +Pontoise, where they took refuge in a church, till the inhabitants, +hearing of their arrival, placed all they had at their disposal. + +Great was the indignation of the king and the abbot when, next morning, +a letter from mere Angelique informed them of what had happened. +Instantly a warrant was issued for the arrest of madame d'Estrees, and a +large body of archers was sent off post-haste to Maubuisson in order to +carry it out. But the abbess had received warning of her danger, and was +not to be found, though her flight was so hurried that on searching her +rooms the captain discovered several important papers that she had +left behind her. Her friend, madame de la Serre, took refuge in a +cupboard, which was concealed by tapestry, high up in a wall. The dust +seems to have got into her nose, and she sneezed, and in this manner +betrayed herself to the archers who set a ladder against the wall, which +the lady instantly threw down. The captain then levelled his pistol at +her, and bade his men put up the ladder again. + +[Illustration: The archers set a ladder against the wall, which the lady +instantly threw down.] + +'I will shoot you if you do not surrender,' he said, and as she was sure +he meant it, she gave herself up. + +When all was quiet in the abbey, the archers mounted their horses and +rode to Pontoise, and under their protection Angelique and her nuns +walked back to Maubuisson at ten o'clock that night, escorted by the +people of Pontoise, and lighted by a hundred and fifty torches borne by +the archers. For six months a guard of fifty remained there, but when +madame d'Estrees was at last captured and sent back for life to the +Convent of the Penitents, at the request of Angelique they returned to +their quarters, and she was left to manage the nuns herself. + +The last year of her residence at Maubuisson was, if possible, more +unpleasant than the rest had been, for the title of abbess was given to +a lady of high birth whose views were far more worldly than those of +Angelique. She was very angry at the presence of the thirty poor nuns +who had been added to the community, and declared she would turn them +out. So Angelique begged them to come with her to Port Royal, small +though her abbey was, and had them taken there in a number of carriages +sent by madame Arnauld. + + * * * * * + +After this Angelique, or some of the nuns chosen by her, was often sent +to reform other convents, and very hard work it was. She had, besides, +her own cares at Port Royal, for the abbey, always unhealthy, was made +worse by overcrowding and underfeeding, and the income and the +dormitories which had been held sufficient for sixteen now had to do for +eighty. A low fever broke out, of which many died, and soon it became +clear that the rest would follow if they did not leave. At length, at +the entreaty of her mother, Angelique applied for permission to move +into Paris, where madame Arnauld had taken a house for them. + +It is not easy, of course, even in a big town, to find a ready-made +building large enough to hold so many people, and, though Angelique +added a sleeping-gallery, the refectory or dining-room was so small that +the nuns had to dine in parties of four. Her father was dead, and she +does not seem to have thought of consulting any of her brothers; more +space appeared a necessity, and, much as she hated debt, in her strait +she made up her mind that she must borrow money in order to build fresh +dormitories, and, breaking her rule, accepted a rich boarder, who became +the cause of infinite trouble. + +Just at this period the king's mother, who was in Paris, paid a visit to +the famous abbess, and inquired if she had nothing to ask for, as it was +her custom always to grant some favour on entering a convent for the +first time. + +Angelique replied that she prayed her to implore the king's grace to +allow a fresh abbess to be chosen every three years, and leave being +granted, she and her sister Agnes, who was her coadjutor, instantly +resigned. She meant the change to be a safeguard, so that no one nun +should enjoy absolute power for long; but as regarded her own abbey it +was a great mistake, for she had a gift of ruling such as belonged to +few women, and often when a mean or spiteful sister was elected she +would wreak her ill-temper upon the late abbess, and impose all sorts of +absurd penances upon her, which Angelique always bore meekly. + + * * * * * + +During the years that followed Angelique not only had her four younger +sisters with her, Agnes, Anne, Marie, and Madeleine, but later her +mother and her widowed sister, madame le Maitre. They were all happy to +be together, though the rule of silence laid down by Angelique to +prevent gossip must have stood in the way of much that would have been +pleasant. By-and-by her nieces almost all entered the convent, and, what +is still more surprising, her brothers and several of her nephews, most +of them brilliant and successful men, one by one quitted the bar or the +army, and formed a little band known as the 'Recluses of Port Royal,' +who afterwards did useful work in draining and repairing the abbey 'in +the fields,' so that the nuns could go back to it. + +And all this was owing to the example and influence of one little girl, +who had been thrust into a position for which she had certainly shown no +liking. + + * * * * * + +In the last twenty-five years of Angelique's life her religious views +underwent a change, and her confessor, St. Cyran, who shared them, was +imprisoned, on a charge of heresy, at Vincennes. Even as a young girl +she had left the chapel at Port Royal bare of ornaments, and later sold +the silver candlesticks which were a gift to the altar of Port Royal de +Paris, in order to bestow the money on the poor. Everyone looked up to +her, but by-and-by it began to be whispered that she was 'a dangerous +person,' who thought that the Church needed reforming as well as the +convents, and had adopted the opinions of one Jansen, a Swiss, who +wished to go back to the faith of early times, when St. Augustine was +bishop. + +In 1654 she heard through one of her nephews that in consequence of some +of the recluses having resisted a decree of the pope condemning a book +of Jansen's, a resistance supposed to have been inspired by the abbess +herself, it was reported that she was either to be sent to the Bastille +or imprisoned in some convent. She did not take any notice, and neither +threat was fulfilled; but the hatred which the order of the Jesuits bore +to the 'Jansenists,' as their opponents were called, never rested, and +later a command came for the recluses to be dispersed, and the leaders +were forced to go into hiding. Then her schoolgirls were sent to their +homes, 'la belle Hamilton,' a Scotch girl, among them; and after them +went the candidates, or those who wished to take the veil. All these +blows came thick and fast, and Angelique, with health broken from the +incessant labours of over fifty years, was attacked by dropsy. + +The nuns were in despair, and hung about her night and day, hoping that +she might let fall some words which they might cherish almost as divine +commands; but Angelique, who, unlike her sister Agnes, had all her life +been very impatient of sentimentality, detected this at once, and took +care 'neither to say nor do any thing remarkable.' 'They are too fond of +me,' she once said, 'and I am afraid they will invent all sorts of silly +tales about me.' And in order to put a stop as far as she could to all +the show and parade which she knew her nuns would rejoice in, as she +felt that her end was drawing near she gave them her last order: + +'Bury me in the churchyard, and do not let there be any nonsense after +my death.' + + + + +GORDON + + +Many years hence, when the children of to-day are growing old men and +women, they will perhaps look back over their lives, as I am doing now, +and ask themselves questions about the people they have known or have +heard of. 'Who,' they will say, 'was the person I should have gone to at +once if I needed help?' 'Who was the man whose talk made me forget +everything, till I felt as if I could listen to him for ever?' 'What +woman was the most beautiful, or the most charming?' and they will turn +over the chapters in the Book of Long Ago and give the answers to +themselves, or to the boys and girls who are listening for their reply. +Well, if the question were put throughout England at this moment, 'What +man has kindled the greatest and most undying enthusiasm during your +life?' the answer would be given with one voice: + +'Gordon.' + + * * * * * + +It seemed as if from the very first Nature had intended him for a +soldier. His father came of a clan that has a fighting record even in +Scotch history, and he was living on Woolwich Common, within hearing of +the Arsenal guns, when his fourth son, Charles George, was born on +January 28, 1833. Yet, strange to say, though fearless in many ways, and +accustomed to rough games with his numerous brothers and sisters, +Charles as a small boy hated the roar of cannon. Unlike queen Christina +of Sweden, who at four years old used to clap her hands when a gun was +discharged near her, and cry 'Again!' Charles shrank away and put his +fingers in his ears to shut out the noise. It was not lack of courage, +for he showed plenty of that about other things, but simply that the +sudden sound made him jump, and was unpleasant to him. + +His life was from the first full of change, as the lives of soldiers' +children often are, for the Gordons were stationed in Dublin and near +Edinburgh before they went out to the island of Corfu when Charles was +seven. During the three years he spent there Charles grew big and strong +and full of daring; guns might fire all day long without his moving a +muscle, and he was always trying to imitate the deeds of boys bigger +than himself. When he saw them diving and swimming about in the +beautiful clear water, he would throw himself from a rock into their +midst, feeling quite sure that somebody would help him to float. And as +courage and confidence are the two chief qualities necessary to make a +good swimmer, by the time he left Corfu he was as much at home in the +sea as any of his friends. + + * * * * * + +After his tenth birthday his life at Corfu came to an end, and Charles +was brought home by his mother and sent to school at Taunton, where he +stayed for five years. He is sure to have been liked by his +schoolfellows, for he was a very lively, mischievous boy, constantly +inventing some fresh prank, but never shirking the punishment it +frequently brought. At Woolwich, which he entered as a cadet at fifteen, +it was just the same. He was continually defying, in a good-humoured +way, those who were set over him, and more than once he had a very +narrow escape of having his career cut short by dismissal. + +At this period his father held the appointment of director of the +carriage department of the Arsenal, and his whole family suffered +greatly from the plague of mice which overran the house they lived in. +After putting up with it for some time, Charles and his brother Henry, +also a cadet, laid traps and caught vast numbers of the mice, and during +the night they carried them stealthily across the road in baskets to the +commandant's house, exactly opposite. Opening a door which they felt +pretty sure of finding unlocked, they emptied the baskets one by one, +and let the mice run where they would. Then the boys crept back softly +to their own room, shaking with laughter at the thought of the +commandant's face when he came down in the morning. + +The two youths were great favourites with the workmen in the Arsenal, +who used often to leave off the work they should have been doing to make +squirts, crossbows, and other weapons for Charles and Henry. They must +have trembled sometimes when they heard that the windows of the +storehouse had been mysteriously broken, or that an officer who was +known to be disliked by the cadets had received a deluge of water down +his neck from a hedge bordering the road. But the culprits never +betrayed each other, and the young Gordons soon grew so bold that they +thought they might venture on a piece of mischief which very nearly +ended their military career. + +Some earthworks had been newly thrown up near a room where the senior +cadets, known as 'Pussies,' attended lectures on certain evenings in the +week. One night the two Gordons hid themselves behind this rampart, and +while listening to remarks upon fortification and strategy the cadets +were startled by a crash of glass and a shower of small shot falling +about their ears. In an instant they were all up and out of the house, +dashing about in the direction from which the shots had come; and so +quick were they that if Charles and Henry had not known every inch of +the ground and dodged their pursuers, they would certainly have been +caught and expelled, as they richly deserved. + + * * * * * + +In June 1852 Charles Gordon was given a commission as second lieutenant +in the Engineers, and was sent to Chatham for two years. In spite of the +mice and the crossbows and the earthworks and many other things, he had +gained several good conduct badges, for he had worked hard, and was +noted for being clever both at fortifications and at surveying. +Mathematics he never could learn. So Charles said good-bye to his +father, who was thankful to see him put to man's work--for during the +four years his son had passed at Woolwich he had, as he expressed it, +'felt himself sitting on a powder barrel'--and set out on the career in +which he was to earn a name for justice and truth throughout three +continents. + +It was while Gordon was learning in Pembroke Dock something of what +fortifications really were that the Crimean war broke out, and in +December he was ordered to Balaclava, in charge of the materials for +erecting wooden huts for the troops. He went down to Portsmouth and put +the planks and fittings on board some collier boats, but not wishing to +share their voyage, he started for Marseilles, and there took a steamer +to Constantinople. He arrived in the harbour of Balaclava on January 1, +1855, and heard the guns of Sebastopol booming six miles away. The cold +was bitter, men were daily frozen to death in the trenches, food was +very scarce, and the streets of Balaclava were full of 'swell English +cavalry and horse-artillery carrying rations, and officers in every +conceivable costume foraging for eatables.' + +Soon the young engineer was sent down to the trenches before Sebastopol, +where he and his comrades were always under fire and scarcely ever off +duty. It was here that his friendship began with a young captain in the +90th Foot, now lord Wolseley, who has many stories to tell of what life +in the trenches was like. Notwithstanding all the suffering and sadness +around them, these young men, full of fun and high spirits, managed to +laugh in the midst of their work. At Christmas-time captain Wolseley and +two of his friends determined to have a plum-pudding, so that they might +feel as if they were eating their Christmas dinner in England. It is +true that they only had dim ideas how a plum-pudding was to be made, and +nothing whatever to make it with, but when one is young that makes no +difference at all. One of the three consulted a sergeant, who told him +he thought it would need some flour and some raisins, as well as some +suet; but as none of these things could be got, they used instead butter +which had gone bad, dry biscuits which they pounded very fine, and a +handful of raisins somebody gave them. Stirring this mixture carefully +by turns, they calculated how long it would have to boil--in one of +captain Wolseley's three towels which he sacrificed for the purpose--so +that they might be able to enjoy it at a moment when they would all be +off duty. Five hours, they fancied, it must be on the fire, but it had +scarcely been boiling one when the summons came to go back to their +work. Resolved not to lose the fruits of so much labour and care, they +snatched the plum-pudding from the pot and ate a few spoonfuls before +running out to their posts. But Wolseley had hardly reached his place +before he was seized with such frightful pains that he felt as if he +would die. His commanding officer, who happened to pass, seeing his face +looking positively green, ordered him back to his hut. But a little rest +soon cured him, and, like the others, he spent the night in the +trenches. + + * * * * * + +You will have read in the story of the 'Lady in Chief' something about +the hardships which the allied army of English, French, and Turks went +through during the war with the Russians, so I will not repeat it here. +Gordon, whose quick eye saw everything, was greatly struck with the way +the French soldiers bore their sufferings. 'They had nothing to cover +them,' he says, 'and in spite of the wet and cold they kept their health +and their high spirits also.' Our men worked hard and with dogged +determination, but, as a rule, they could not be called lively. True, +till Miss Nightingale and her nurses came out they were left when +wounded to the care of rough and ignorant, however kindly, comrades, +while the French had always their own Sisters of Charity to turn to for +help. But it is pleasant to think that the sons of the men who had +fallen in the awful passage of the Berezina forty years before were +worthy of their fathers, and could face death with a smile and a jest as +well as they. + + * * * * * + +As the war went on and the assaults on the town of Sebastopol became +more frequent, the English generals learned to know of what stuff their +young officers were made, and what special duties they were fit for. +They marked that Gordon had some of Hannibal's power of guessing, almost +by instinct, what the enemy was doing--a quality that rendered him +extremely useful to his superiors. With all his untiring energy and +eagerness--forty times he was in the trenches for twenty hours--he never +overlooked the details that were necessary to ensure the success of any +work he was entrusted with, and he never relaxed his watchfulness till +the post to be won was actually taken. In his leisure moments he seems +to have been fond of walking as far as he could without running into +danger, and writes home in February of the grass that was springing and +the crocuses that were flowering outside the camp. Sometimes he would go +with a friend down to the great harbour on the north side of which the +Russians were entrenched, and listen to them singing the sad boating +songs of the Volga, or watch them trying to catch fish, chattering +merrily all the while. + +At last the forts of the Mamelon and the Malakoff were stormed, and the +Russians abandoned Sebastopol. Gordon, who had often narrowly escaped +death, was mentioned by the generals in despatches; but he did not +receive promotion, and, except a scar, the only token he carried away of +those long months of toil and strain was the cross of the Legion of +Honour bestowed on him by the French. But he was a marked man for all +that, and was sent straight from the Crimea, after peace was made, to +join a mission for fixing fresh frontiers for Russia south-west along +the river Pruth and on the shores of the Black Sea. + + * * * * * + +Wherever he went, whether he was on the borders of Turkey, in Armenia, +or in the Caucasus, where he proceeded after a winter in England, he +made the best of his opportunities and saw all he could of the country +and the people. He was as fond as ever of expeditions and adventures, +and climbed Ararat till a blinding snowstorm came on and the guides +refused to proceed. In the Caucasus he dined out whenever he was asked, +and was equally surprised at the beauty of the smart ladies (who wore +bracelets made of coal) and at the ingrained dirt of their clothes and +their houses. On the whole, though he thoroughly enjoyed the good +dinners they gave him, he preferred going on shooting expeditions into +the mountains with their husbands and sons. + +At the end of 1858 he was ordered home again, and a few months later +obtained his captaincy, and was made adjutant and field-work instructor +at Chatham. But this did not last long, for in a year's time he was +destined to undertake one of the two great missions of his life. + +Early in 1860 a war with China broke out, and in this also the French +were our allies. More soldiers were needed, and volunteers were asked +for. Gordon was one of the first to send in his name, but before he +reached Pekin the Taku forts, at the mouth of the Tientsin River--forts +of which in the year 1900 we were to hear so much--had been taken. +However, the famous Summer Palace was still to be captured, and this, +which indeed might be called the eighth wonder of the world, lay out in +the country, eight miles away from Pekin. The grounds, covering more +than twelve miles, were laid out with lakes, fountains, tea-houses, +waterfalls, banks of trees, and beds of flowers, while scattered about +were palaces belonging to different members of the royal family, all +filled with beautiful things--china of the oldest and rarest sorts, +silks, lacquer, cabinets, and an immense variety of clocks and watches. +By order of the English envoy this gorgeous place was given over to +pillage, in revenge for the ill-treatment of some French and British +prisoners. One can form a little idea of the vast amount of treasures it +contained from constantly seeing scattered in houses a watch or a +lacquer box or a china bowl that, we are told, had once decorated the +Summer Palace; they really seem to be endless. Lord Wolseley tells how +he happened to be standing by the French general in the gardens while +the looting was going on, and as a French soldier came out he handed to +his chief something that he had brought expressly for him. Then, turning +to the young English officer, he held out a beautiful miniature of a man +wearing a dress of the time of Louis XIV. + +'That is for you, my comrade,' he said, smiling, and Wolseley, heartily +thanking him, examined the gift. + +'How,' he thought, 'could a miniature of a French poet living two +hundred years ago have got to Pekin?' Then he remembered that an embassy +from China had arrived in France, bearing presents to the French court. +Louis received them graciously, and showed them the splendours of +Versailles and all the curious and artistic ornaments it contained. When +the envoys left, the king gave them gifts of French manufacture as +valuable as their own to take to their emperor, and among them was this +miniature of Boileau, by Petitot, the greatest of French miniaturists. + +The imperial throne, which stands on dragon's claws, and is covered with +cushions of yellow silk, the imperial colour, was bought by Gordon +himself, and presented by him to Chatham, where it may still be seen. + + * * * * * + +Till the large sum fixed for the expenses of the war was paid General +Staveley was left with three thousand men in command at Tientsin, and +Gordon remained with him. Tientsin is a dreary place in a salt plain, +and the climate is very cold, as it is throughout North China. But +Gordon minded cold far less than heat and mosquitoes, and besides his +days were full from morning till night, building huts for the soldiers +and stables for the horses, and in managing a fund which he had +collected to help some Chinese in the neighbourhood who had been ruined +by the war. Though very careless of his own money, and ready to give it +away without inquiry to any beggar who asked for it, he was most +particular about other people's, and the attention which he paid to +small things enabled him to spend the fund in the manner that would best +aid the poor creatures who had lost everything. Now and then he gave +himself a day's holiday, and explored the country, as he was fond of +doing; and once he rode out to the Great Wall, twenty-two feet high and +sixteen wide, which runs along the north-west of China, over mountains +and across plains, for fifteen hundred miles, and was built two thousand +years ago by an emperor to keep out the invading hosts of the Tartars. +At certain distances strong forts were placed, and these were garrisoned +by Chinese soldiers. As he passed through the more remote villages the +inhabitants would come out of their houses and stare. A white man! They +had heard that there were such, though they had never really believed +it. Well, he was a strange creature truly, with his hair cropped close +and pink in his cheeks, and they did not much admire him! + +Nearer Pekin he met long strings, or caravans, of camels laden with tea, +making their way to Russia. Everywhere in the neighbourhood of the +mountains it was frightfully cold, and raw eggs were frozen so hard that +no one could eat them; but Gordon could do with as little food as any +man, and did not suffer from the climate. He came back strengthened and +interested, and it was as well he had the short rest to brace him, for +now there lay before him a very difficult task. + + * * * * * + +For quite thirty years great discontent with government had been felt by +the peasants and lower classes in some of the central provinces of the +empire, and a long while before the war with England broke out a peasant +emperor had been proclaimed. The insurrection--or the Taeping rebellion, +as it is called--could have been easily put down in the beginning, but +ministers in China are slow to move, and it soon became a real danger to +the empire. The great object of the rebels was to gain possession of +Shanghai, the centre of European trade, built in the midst of canals and +rivers, with the great Yang-tse-kiang at hand to carry into the interior +of China the goods of foreign merchants of all countries that come to +its harbour across the Pacific. Pirate vessels, too, haunted its shores, +ready to pounce upon the rich traders, and when their prizes were +captured, they went swiftly away, and hid themselves among the islands +and bogs that stretched themselves a hundred miles to the north and +south of the city. + +Thus Shanghai was a very important place both to Chinese, French, and +English; yet for twelve years the rebellion had been allowed to go on +unchecked, burning, pillaging, and murdering, till in 1853 the rebels +had reached a point only a hundred miles distant from Pekin itself. Then +soldiers were hastily collected, and the Taepings forced back; quarrels +broke out among their leaders, and most likely the rebellion would have +melted away altogether had it not been for the appearance four years +later of young Chung Wang, who assumed the command, and proved himself a +most skilful general. As long as he led the Taepings in battle victory +was on their side; if he was needed elsewhere, they were invariably +defeated. + +Inspired by his successes, Chung Wang attacked and took several rich and +important towns in the Shanghai district, and held Nankin, the ancient +capital of China. Shanghai trembled when the flames of burning villages +became visible from her towers and pagodas, and even the Chinese felt +that, if they were to be saved at all, measures must be quickly taken. +Volunteers of all nations living in the town, Chinese as well as +Europeans and Americans, put themselves under the command of an American +named Ward, who drilled them, trained them, and fought with them, and, +it is said, gave battle to the rebels on seventy different occasions +without once being beaten. Well had his troops earned the title +afterwards given them at Pekin, of the Ever-Victorious Army. + + * * * * * + +This was the state of things when, in May 1862, Gordon was sent to +Shanghai in command of the English engineers who, with some French +troops, were to assist the Chinese army in clearing the district round +Shanghai of the dreaded Taepings. The nature of the country, almost +encircled by water, was such that the help of a good engineer was needed +if the expedition was to be successful, and Gordon was busy all day in +surveying the canals or moats outside the walls of some city they were +about to attack, to see at what point he could throw a bridge of boats +across, or where he could best place his reserves. At the end of six +months the enemy was forced back to a distance of forty miles; but the +French admiral Protet had been killed in action, and Ward had fallen +while leading an assault. + +By this time the emperor and his ministers at Pekin understood that if +the Taepings were to be put down the Chinese army must be commanded by a +general capable of opposing Chung Wang, and a request was sent to the +English government that the post might be temporarily offered to major +Gordon. After some hesitation, leave was granted, and permission was +given to a certain number of officers to serve under him. The emperor +was overjoyed--much more so than Gordon, who was promptly created a +mandarin. He foresaw many difficulties in store before he could get his +'rabble' of four thousand men into order, and at the outset he had much +trouble with Burgevine, Ward's successor in command of the +Ever-Victorious Army, but a very different man from Ward himself. +However, by the help of the famous Li Hung Chang, Burgevine was +ultimately got rid of, but not before he had done a great deal of +mischief. Gordon was free to devote all his energies to building a +little fleet of small steamers and Chinese gunboats that could go down +the rivers and canals, and hinder the foreign traders from secretly +supplying the rebels with arms and ammunition. + +The strict discipline enforced by Gordon made him very unpopular with +his little army, and they could not understand why he made the act of +pillage a crime, to be punished by death. But when we think how wholly +impossible it is for any European or American to guess what is going on +in the mind of any Asiatic, it is surprising, not that he met with +difficulties, but that he ever succeeded in obtaining obedience. As it +was, two thousand of his men deserted after some heavy fighting, and +Ching, the Chinese general, was jealous of him, and incited the troops +to oppose and annoy him in every way. Besides, Li Hung Chang was +behindhand in paying his army, and, as Gordon felt that his own good +faith and honour were pledged to punctual payment, he tendered his +resignation as commander. This frightened the emperor and his ministers +so much that the money due was quickly sent, and by the help of General +Staveley matters were arranged. + +At the capture of Quinsan Gordon took prisoners about two thousand +Taepings, whom he drilled with care and enlisted in his own army, +turning them, he said, into much better soldiers than his old ones. +Eight hundred of them he made his own guard, and under his eye they +proved faithful and trustworthy. With the help of his new force he +determined to besiege the ancient town of Soo-chow, situated on the +Grand Canal and close to the Tai-ho, or great lake. + +All around it were waterways leading to the sea, but the Grand Canal +itself, stretching away to the Yang-tse-kiang, was held by the Taeping +general Chung Wang. + + * * * * * + +Now the possession of Soo-chow was of great importance to both parties, +and Gordon at once proceeded to cut off its supplies that came by way of +the sea and the Tai-ho, by putting three of his steamers on the lake, so +that no provisions could get into the city except through the Grand +Canal. On the land side fighting was going on perpetually, and by the +help of a body of good Chinese troops Gordon gained a decisive victory +in the open field. We can scarcely, however, realise all the +difficulties he had to contend with in his army itself. General Ching +not only hated him, and always tried to upset his plans, but was quite +reckless, and if left to himself invariably got into mischief. Then the +minister, Li Hung Chang's brother, who had been given the command of +twenty thousand troops, was utterly without either instinct or +experience, and continually hampered Gordon's movements by some act of +folly. Worst of all, he could not feel sure of the fidelity of his own +officers, and during the siege he found that one of them had actually +given information of his plans to Chung Wang. + +As soon as the man's guilt was certain Gordon sent for him, and in the +light of one whose soul had never held a thought that was not honourable +and true the traitor must have seen himself as he really was. We do not +know what Gordon said to him--most likely very little, but he offered +him one chance of retrieving himself, and that was that he should lead +the next forlorn hope. + +In spite of his treachery the culprit was able to feel the baseness of +his conduct. He eagerly accepted Gordon's proposal, though he was well +aware that almost certain death was in store. And his repentance was +real, and not merely the effect of a moment's shame, for when, some time +after, a forlorn hope was necessary to carry the stockades before +Soo-chow, Gordon, whose mind had been occupied with other things, had +entirely forgotten all about his promise. But though he did not +remember, the officer did, and claimed his right to lead. He was the +first man killed, but the stockades were carried, and after two months' +siege Soo-chow was won. + + * * * * * + +Nowhere during Gordon's service in China was the difference between East +and West more clearly shown than in the events that happened after the +capture of Soo-chow. Gordon respected his enemies, who had fought +bravely, and wished them to be granted favourable terms of surrender. +Moh Wang in particular, the captain of the city, had shown special skill +and courage, and before the town fell Gordon had obtained a promise +from Li Hung Chang that the Taeping commander's fate should be placed in +his hands. At a council held inside Soo-chow, Moh Wang desired to hold +out, but the other Wangs (or nobles) all voted for surrender, and at +length they began to quarrel. Moh Wang would not give way, and then Kong +Wang caught up his dagger and struck the first blow. The rest fell upon +Moh Wang, and dragged him from his seat, cutting off his head, which +they sent to Ching the general as a gift. + + * * * * * + +As plunder had been strictly forbidden by Gordon, he was very anxious to +give his soldiers two months' pay to make up; but one month's pay was +all he could obtain, and that with great difficulty, while the troops, +angry and disappointed, threatened to revolt and to march against Li +Hung Chang, as governor of the province. This was, however, stopped by +Gordon, who then went into the city to the house of Nar Wang, another +Taeping leader, whom he wished also to gain over. On the previous day he +had heard from Ching that at twelve o'clock on the morning of December 6 +the Wangs had arranged to meet the governor and surrender Soo-chow, as +the emperor had consented to spare their lives and those of the +prisoners; so Gordon started early in order to catch Nar Wang before he +left, reaching Nar Wang's house just as he and the other Wangs were +mounting their horses for the interview. After talking to them a little +he bade them good-bye, and they rode away. + +The fate that they met with was the same as they had dealt to Moh Wang. +It seemed ridiculous to the governor to keep faith with men who had just +delivered themselves and their city into his hands, and almost every +Chinaman would have agreed with him. The Wangs were all taken over to +the other side of the river and there beheaded, their heads being cut +off and flung aside. But somehow, though the murder was committed in +broad daylight, it was kept a secret till the following day. + +This breach of faith in murdering men who had surrendered might long +have remained unknown to Gordon but for a slight change in his plans. He +suddenly decided that he would embark on one of his steamers on the +Tai-ho, instead of leaving the city by another route. It was some little +time before steam could be got up, so he went for a walk through the +streets with Dr. Halliday Macartney, whose name will always be connected +with China. To his surprise, crowds of imperialists were standing about, +talking eagerly and excitedly, and it was clear to both Englishmen that +some sort of a disturbance had taken place. Turning a corner they +suddenly met General Ching, who grew so pale and looked so uncomfortable +that Gordon's suspicions were aroused, and he at once inquired if the +Wangs had seen Li Hung Chang, and what had taken place. + +Ching replied that they had never been to Li Hung Chang at all, which +astonished Gordon, who answered that he had seen them starting, and if +they had not gone there, where were they? Then Ching said they had sent +a message to the governor stating that they wished to be allowed to keep +twenty thousand men, and to retain half of the city, building a wall to +shut off their own portion. Gordon was greatly puzzled by this +information, and asked if Ching thought that the Wangs could have joined +the Taepings again in some other place; but the Chinese general replied +that he thought most likely that they had returned quietly to their own +homes. + +To all appearance Ching was speaking the truth, yet Gordon could not +feel satisfied. Turning to Macartney, who was standing by listening to +the conversation, he begged him to go quickly to Nar Wang's house and +tell him that the surrender must be unconditional, and then to return +to him at a certain spot. When Macartney reached the house where Nar +Wang lived he was informed by the servant who opened it that his master +was out. + +'Will he be in soon, for I must see him,' inquired Macartney. 'I have +business of the greatest importance.' + +The man looked at him silently, and then drew his hand slowly across his +throat. Macartney understood the ghastly sign, and went swiftly away, +but only just in time to avoid a crowd of pillagers, who poured into the +house and in a few minutes had wrecked or stolen all they could lay +hands on. He soon reached the spot which Gordon had appointed, but, long +though he waited, Gordon never came. + + * * * * * + +After Macartney had left him Gordon stayed some time talking with Ching, +and trying to find out what had really occurred, for that some dark deed +had taken place he became quite convinced. However, not even torture can +wring from a Chinaman what he does not choose to tell, and at length +Gordon gave up the attempt in despair, and hurried through crowds laden +with plunder to Nar Wang's house in order to see and hear for himself. +The door stood open, and he walked rapidly through the rooms. At first +the dwelling seemed as empty as it was bare, but at length he thought he +saw some eyes looking at him behind a pile of rubbish. + +'Come out,' he said; 'I am alone, you have nothing to fear'; and then an +old man crept out, who, with many low bows and polite expressions, +explained that in his nephew's absence the Chinese soldiers had pillaged +his house, and begged the honourable Englishman to help him take away +the ladies, whom he had hidden in a cellar, to his own dwelling. + +Gordon was furious at learning that his strict orders against pillage +had been disobeyed, but this was not the moment to think of that. With +some difficulty they all passed through the crowded streets, but when +they reached the old man's house they found a guard round it, and Gordon +was informed that he must consider himself a prisoner. Luckily for him +the Taepings had not yet learned the fate of the Wangs, or his life +would have been speedily taken in payment for theirs. + + * * * * * + +All that night Gordon remained locked up in one room, impatiently +chafing at the thought of what might be going on in the city. Early in +the morning he got leave to send an interpreter with a letter to the +English lines, ordering his bodyguards to come to his rescue, and to +seize Li Hung Chang as security for the Wangs. His first messenger was +stopped and his letter torn up; but in the afternoon he was himself set +free on a promise to send a guard to protect the Taepings in Nar Wang's +house. This he instantly did, and in his indignation at the permission +given in his absence to the imperialist soldiers to sack the city +refused to see or speak to general Ching. + +On receiving Gordon's refusal Ching began to feel that he and Li Hung +Chang had gone rather far, and that the day of reckoning would be a very +uncomfortable one. Some explanation he must make, so he ordered an +English officer to go at once to Gordon and inform him that he knew +nothing of what had become of the Wangs, or whether they were alive or +dead, but that Nar Wang's son was safe in his tent. + +'Bring him here,' said Gordon, and he waited in silence till a boy of +fourteen entered the camp at the east gate. From him he learned what had +happened in a few words. All the Wangs, his father among them, had been +taken across the river on the previous day, and there cruelly murdered; +their heads had been cut off, and their bodies left lying on the bank. + +Speechless with horror, Gordon set off at once for the place of the +murder, and found the nine headless corpses lying as they had fallen. +Englishman and soldier though he was, tears of rage forced their way +into his eyes at the thought that by this act of treachery on the part +of the Chinese his honour and that of his country had been trampled in +the dust. Then, taking a revolver instead of the stick which was the +only weapon he carried even in action, he went straight to Li Hung +Chang's quarters, intending to shoot him dead and to bear the +responsibility. + +But the governor had been warned, and took his measures accordingly. Li +Hung Chang had escaped from his boat, and was hiding in the city. In +vain Gordon, his anger no whit abated, sought for him high and low. No +trace of him could be found; and at last Gordon returned to Quinsan, +where he called a council of his English officers, and informed them +that until the emperor had punished Li Hung Chang as he deserved he +should decline to serve with him, and should resign his command into the +hands of General Brown, who was stationed at Shanghai. As to Li Hung +Chang's offer, sent by Macartney, to sign any proclamation Gordon chose +to write, saying that he was both innocent and ignorant of the murder of +the Wangs, he would not even listen to it. + + * * * * * + +As soon as General Brown received Gordon's letter at Shanghai he +instantly set out for Quinsan, where Gordon remained with his troops for +two months, while Li Hung Chang's conduct was being inquired into, or, +rather, while the government was trying to find out how the anger of the +English generals and the English envoy on account of the murder of the +Wangs could best be satisfied. For Li Hung had been beforehand with us, +guessing how much he had at stake, and had been much praised for his act +and given a yellow jacket, or, as we should say 'the Garter.' On Gordon +himself a medal of the highest class was bestowed, with a large sum of +money, and, what the imperial government knew he would value much more, +a grant for his wounded men and extra pay for the soldiers. Anything +that tended to make his troops more comfortable Gordon, who had already +devoted to their help his 1,200 l. a year of pay from the Chinese +government, gladly received, but for himself he would accept nothing and +keep nothing, except two flags, which had no connection with the Wang +massacre. Nor did he allow anyone to remain in ignorance of the motive +of his refusal, for he wrote a letter to the emperor himself, in which +he stated that 'he regretted most sincerely that, owing to the +circumstances which occurred since the capture of Soo-chow, he was +unable to receive any mark of his majesty the emperor's recognition,' +though he 'respectfully begged his majesty to accept his thanks for his +intended kindness.' + + * * * * * + +With the taking of Soo-chow the Taeping resistance was really broken, +and soon Nankin and Hangchow were the only important places left to +them, though plenty of fighting was still to be done. To the great +relief of the government Gordon was at length persuaded to resume his +command, more from the thought that he might be able to some extent to +check the cruelty natural to the Chinese than for any other reason. It +is amusing to watch the slavish behaviour of the emperor towards the man +whose help he so greatly needed, and whose anger he so deeply feared. +Once, when Gordon in leading an attack with his wand in his hand, the +only weapon he ever carried, received a bad wound below the knee, his +majesty promulgated a public edict ordering Li Hung Chang to inquire +daily after him, and the governor himself issued a proclamation, setting +forth all the circumstances of the massacre of Soo-chow, and declaring +in the clearest manner that Gordon had been totally ignorant of the +whole affair. + +In June 1864 the British government sent an intimation to China that +they considered the country had no further need for Gordon's services, +and wished him set at liberty to return home. Gordon himself would +perhaps have preferred to remain a little longer, but, as he was given +no choice, he quietly disbanded the Ever-Victorious-Army, fearing that, +if led by unscrupulous men, it might become a danger to the empire. He +then visited the general besieging Nankin, whose name was Tseng-kwo-fan, +and gave him a little advice as to the training of troops, and even took +part in directing some of the assaults. Then he took leave of the +general, and a few hours later he had started on his journey. Tien Wang, +one of the Taeping commanders within the walls of Nankin, seeing that +the cause was tottering to its fall, committed suicide in the manner +proper to his rank by swallowing gold leaf. Shortly after the city +itself was stormed, and Chung Wang, whose presence among the rebels was, +said Gordon, equal to an army of five thousand men, fell into the hands +of the victors. He was sentenced to be beheaded, but was given a week's +respite in order to write the history of the rebellion of the Taepings, +who had invaded sixteen out of the eighteen provinces and destroyed six +hundred cities. + + * * * * * + +By this time Gordon and Li Hung Chang had begun to know more of each +other and to understand a little better the different views of East and +West. Gordon had gained the trust and respect of everybody, even of the +Taeping chiefs themselves, while the prince Kung, in the name of the +emperor, wrote a letter of the most hearty gratitude for Gordon's +services to the British minister at Pekin. The title of Ti-tu, the +highest rank in the Chinese army, had been conferred on him, and also +the yellow jacket, a distinction dating back to the coming of the +present Manchu dynasty in the seventeenth century, and only given to +generals who had been victorious against rebels. Gordon had besides six +dresses of mandarins, and a book explaining how they should be worn. +They were of course the handsomest that China could produce, and the +buttons on the hats alone were worth 30 l. or 40 l. each. From the two +empresses he received a gold medal specially struck in his honour; and +by this he set great store, though not long after, having spent all his +pay on his boys at Gravesend, he sold it for 10 l., and, smoothing out +the inscription, sent the money to the Lancashire Famine Fund. + +His own government gave him a step in military rank, and it was as +'Colonel Gordon' that he returned home early in 1865. + + * * * * * + +The next six years of his life Gordon passed at home, and these years +were, he said, the happiest he had ever spent. He first visited his +family, who were living at Southampton, and to them he was ready to talk +of all that he had seen and done since they last parted. Invitations +poured in upon him from all sides, but he hated being fussed over, and +invariably lost his temper at any attempt to show him off. He was so +angry at a minister who borrowed from Mrs. Gordon his private journal of +the Taeping rebellion, and then sent to have it printed for the other +members of the Cabinet to read, that he rushed straight to the printers +and insisted that the type should at once be destroyed. It was a very +great loss to the world; but the minister had no business to act as he +did without Gordon's permission, and had only himself to thank for what +happened. + +Delightful though it was to be back again, Gordon soon got tired of +being idle, so he was given an appointment to superintend the erection +of forts at Gravesend. His leisure hours he devoted to helping the +people round him, especially little ragged boys, whose only playground +and schoolroom were the streets or the riverside. And it is curious that +he, who amongst strangers of his own class was shy and abrupt, and often +tactless, was quite at his ease with these little fellows, generally as +suspicious as they are acute. About himself and his own comfort he never +thought, and if he was working would eat, when it was necessary and he +remembered to do so, food which he had ready in a drawer of his table. +But as he had carefully watched over the welfare of his troops in China, +so in Gravesend he looked after that of his boys. He took into his own +house as many as there was room for, and clothed and fed them, while in +the evenings he taught them geography, and told them stories from +English history and the Bible, and when he considered they had done +lessons long enough he played games with them. By-and-by more boys came +in from the outside and joined his classes. It did not matter to him how +many they were, they were all welcome, and he gave them, as far as the +time allowed, a training which was religious as well as practical, +hoping that some day they might turn out good soldiers and sailors, and +be a protection to the empire. Several of his boys were taken on board +some of the many ships off Gravesend, and the 'kernel,' as they called +him, kept a map stuck over with pins tracing their voyages all over the +world. + +[Illustration: He told them stories from English history.] + +Most people would have considered that between military duties and boys' +classes they were busy enough; but Gordon still found time to spare for +the ragged schools, and money to provide hundreds of boots and suits for +the little waifs, till he left himself almost penniless. + +The large garden attached to his house was of no benefit to himself, but +was lent by him to a number of his friends, each of whom did as he liked +with his own portion, and either kept the fruit and vegetables for his +family, or else sold them. Of course, the 'kernel' was frequently taken +in, and spent his money on those who had no claim to it; but the boys he +helped were seldom a disappointment, any more than the boys of to-day +sent out from the Gordon Boys' Homes founded in his memory. + + * * * * * + +It must have been a black day indeed for many in Gravesend when Gordon +was despatched by his government on a mission to the Danube, and then +ordered to inspect the graves of those who had fallen in the Crimea +seventeen years before. So he said good-bye to his friends, young and +old, leaving to the ragged schools some gorgeous Chinese flags, which +are still waved at the school treats amidst shouts of remembrance of +their giver. + + * * * * * + +On his way back from the Crimea Gordon stopped at Constantinople, and +while there a proposal was made to him, on the part of the sultan, to +proceed to Egypt and to take service, with the queen's permission, under +his vassal, the khedive, or ruler, as governor of the tribes in upper +Egypt. Sir Samuel Baker had hitherto held the post, but now wished to +resign, and Gordon, who had always laid greatly to heart the iniquity of +the slave-trade, thought that, as governor of the provinces from which +the supply of slaves was drawn, he might be able to put an end to it. +Leave was granted in the autumn of 1873, and before Gordon returned to +London to make the necessary preparations, he proceeded to Cairo to see +the khedive, or, as he was still called, 'the lieutenant of the sultan.' + + * * * * * + +When Gordon accepted the position of 'governor of the equatorial +provinces,' with a salary of L2,000 a year, instead of the L10,000 +offered him by the khedive, the country, which ten years before had been +rich and prosperous, was in a wretched condition owing to the +slave-trade, carried on as long as they were able by Europeans as well +as by Arabs. At first elephant-hunting was made the pretext of their +expeditions, but soon they found negroes a more profitable article of +commerce, and whole villages had the strong men and women torn away from +them, till, at the first hint of the approach of a caravan, the people +would abandon their huts and fly off to hide themselves. At length the +trade became so well known and so scandalous that the Europeans were +forced to give it up; but the Arab dealers continued to grow powerful +and wealthy, and the wealthiest and most powerful of all was Zebehr, +whose name for ever after was closely connected with that of Gordon. + +The slave-dealers soon formed themselves into a sort of league, with +Zebehr at their head, and, having created an army made up of Arabs and +of the slaves they had taken, refused to pay tribute to the khedive, or +to acknowledge the supremacy of the sultan of Constantinople, whose +viceroy he was. The Egyptian government, which had suffered the +slave-trade to proceed unchecked when human life only was at stake, grew +indignant the moment it became a question of money. An army was sent +against Zebehr, who easily defeated it, and proclaimed himself ruler of +the Soudan or 'land of the black,' south of Khartoum, then a little +group of three thousand mud-houses on the left bank of the Blue Nile, +three miles from its junction with the White Nile. + +But, small though it was, Khartoum was the capital of the province, and +owned a governor's house, with the Blue Nile sheltering it on one side, +and surrounded on the other three by a deep ditch and a wall, while on +the west side the town was only half a mile distant from the White Nile +itself. + +As soon as the khedive understood that he was no match for Zebehr he +determined to make a friend of him, and offered him an alliance with the +title of pasha. + +For the moment it suited Zebehr to accept this proposal, and the two +armies combined and conquered the province of Darfour; but directly the +pasha wished to turn into a governor-general the khedive grew +frightened, and declared that he was now convinced that the trade in +slaves was wicked and must be put down. Perhaps he guessed that Europe +was hardly likely to be convinced by this sudden change, so, instead of +appointing an Egyptian governor of the equatorial provinces, he +conferred the post first on Sir Samuel Baker, and, later, on Gordon. + + * * * * * + +It did not take Gordon long to find out that the khedive's newly +discovered zeal in putting down the slave-trade was 'a sham to catch the +attention of the English people,' but the weapon had been thrust into +his hands, and he meant to use it for the help of the oppressed tribes. +Difficulties he knew there would be, and he was ready to fight them, but +one difficulty he hardly made allowance for, which was that among the +Mahometan races throughout the world it was as much a matter of course +to have slaves as it is to us to have houses. + +With great care he selected the staff that was to accompany him, and a +body of two hundred troops to inspect Khartoum. He chose five +Englishmen, an American, an old Crimean Italian interpreter called +Romulus Gessi, and a slave-trader named Abou Saoud, whom Gordon had +found a prisoner in Cairo. In vain the khedive warned the new +governor-general of the danger of taking such a villain into his +service, and of the strange look his appointment would have in the eyes +of Europe. To Gordon the only thing that mattered was that the man knew +the country through which they were to travel, and as to the rest, his +own neck must take its chance. + + * * * * * + +It was on March 12, 1874, that Gordon came in sight of Khartoum, where +eleven years later he was to find his grave. He was received on the +banks by the Egyptian governor-general, who ordered salutes to be fired +and the brass band to play. If Gordon did not appreciate the honours +paid to him, he was delighted at the news that a growth of grass and +stones that had hitherto rendered the White Nile impassable had been at +last cut away by the soldiers. Now the river was free, and instead of +the journey to Gondokoro--his own capital, eleven hundred miles south of +Khartoum--taking fourteen months, as in the days of Sir Samuel Baker, he +would be able to perform it in four weeks. + +Every moment of the ten days that Gordon stayed at Khartoum was busily +employed in discovering all he could as to the condition of the people +and the state of the government. It did not take him more than a few +hours to learn that the Egyptian government had no authority whatever +over the people, and that the money matters of the Soudan were +hopelessly mixed with those of Cairo. But at present he could only note +what was wrong, and wait to set it right. His work just now lay at +Gondokoro, and thither he must go. + +On the 22nd he started up the river, and at each mile, as they drew +nearer and nearer to the equator, he found the climate more trying. It +was, as he says, nothing but 'heat and mosquitoes day and night, all the +year round.' But, exhausting though the climate was, he could not help +being deeply interested in the many things that were new to him. There +were great hippopotamuses plunging about in their clumsy way; the +crocodiles, looking more like stone beasts than living things, basking +motionless on the mud where the river had fallen; the monkeys that had +their homes with the storks among the trees that covered the banks in +places; the storks that sounded as if they were laughing, and 'seemed +highly amused at anybody thinking of going up to Gondokoro with the hope +of doing anything.' In a forest higher up they found a tribe, the +Dinkas, dressed in necklaces. Their idea of greeting a white 'chief' was +to lick his hands, and they would have kissed his feet also had not +Gordon jumped up hastily and, snatching up some strings of gay beads he +had brought with him for the purpose, hung them over their heads. + + * * * * * + +The people of Gondokoro were filled with astonishment when Gordon's +steamer anchored under the river banks. It was a wretched place, worse +even than Khartoum, and inhabited by wretched people, whom ill-treatment +had made at once revengeful and timid. But Gordon did not care how +miserable the place was, he felt sure he could do something to help the +people; and first he began by trying to make friends. For a time it was +uphill work; they had given up planting their little plots of +ground--what was the use when their harvest was always taken from them? +Their only possession of value was their children, and these they often +begged Gordon to buy, to save them from starvation. It seemed too good +to be true when the white man gave them maize, which they baked in +cakes, and fed them while they sowed their patches once more. 'He would +see that no one hurt them,' he said, and little by little, under his +protection, the poor people plucked up heart again and forgot their +troubles, as nobody but negroes can. + +Up and down the river he went, establishing some of the forts which he +knew to be necessary if the slave-trade was to be put down. One day Abou +Saoud brought him some letters written by a party of slave-dealers to +the Egyptian governor of Fashoda, on the White Nile, half-way to +Khartoum, saying that they would shortly arrive with a gang of negroes +whom they had captured, and with two thousand cows, which they had also +kidnapped, as was their custom. Gordon was ready for them; the cattle he +kept, not being able to return them to their black owners, and the +negroes he set free. If possible they were sent home, but if that could +not be done he bought them himself, so that no one else should have a +claim to them. The gratitude shown by the blacks was boundless, and one, +a chief of the Dinkas, proved useful to him in many ways. The others, +tall, strong men, gladly served him as hewers of wood and drawers of +water. + +So the weeks went on, and in the intervals of capturing more convoys of +slaves Gordon still found time to attend to an old dying woman, whom he +often visited himself, besides daily sending her food, and, what she +loved better still, tobacco. The heat grew worse and worse, and no doubt +the mosquitoes also; and Gordon's only pleasure was wading in the Nile +morning and evening--a very dangerous amusement, as the river swarmed +with crocodiles. But he had heard that crocodiles never attacked +anything that was moving, and certainly he took no harm, and his health +was good. All his white men, however, fell ill, and as there was no one +to nurse them but himself, he would not replace them. + +[Illustration: Gordon found time to attend to an old dying woman.] + +Meanwhile the natives had learned to trust him, and under his rule +things were looking more prosperous. He saw that his men took nothing +from them without paying for it, whereas the Egyptian governor had +forced them to work without pay; and finding the troops he had brought +from Cairo both cowardly and lazy, he engaged forty Soudanese, on whom +he could depend, and trained them to act as his body-guard. + + * * * * * + +It was not to be expected that Gordon could carry through all these +measures without becoming an object of hatred to the Egyptian officials, +most of whom were in league with the slave-dealers. Soon he discovered +that many of his men were taking bribes and plotting against him, and of +them all, Abou Saoud was the worst. He even incited the black troops +under him to revolt; but Gordon soon frightened the men into obedience, +and sent their leader down the Nile to Gondokoro. + +Yet, in spite of fever, discontent, laziness, and open rebellion, in ten +months (1874), writes one of his subordinates, 'he had garrisoned eight +stations with the seven hundred men whom he had found at Gondokoro too +frightened to stir a hundred yards outside the town, and had sent to +Cairo enough money to pay the expenses of the expedition for this year +and the next, while that of Baker had cost the Egyptian government +L1,170,000. + + * * * * * + +It seemed to Gordon that if he could establish a route from the great +lake Victoria Nyanza, further south, at the head of the Nile, to +Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean, trade would increase and goods be +exchanged far more easily and quickly than if they had to be brought +down the whole length of the Nile, which is often rendered impassable by +shallows and cataracts. Therefore, towards the end of 1874 he set up +posts from Gondokoro towards lake Albert Nyanza, hoping that directly +the Nile fell the steamers he had left at Khartoum might be able to +reach him. But here again he was beset with difficulties and dangers. +The Arabs were lazy, the Egyptians useless and often treacherous, many +of the tribes hostile; and to add to it all, it was almost impossible to +get past the rapids. The boats were very strong, but liable to be upset +at any instant by the plunging of the hippopotamuses in the river. Sixty +or eighty men were often straining at the ropes which were to drag the +craft along, and Gordon took his turn with the rest. Nobody in the camp +worked so hard as the commander. He cooked his food and cleaned his gun, +while the men stood by and stared. When there was nothing else to be +done he mended watches and musical boxes, which he took with him as +presents to the natives, and he kept himself well by walking fourteen +miles daily, in spite of the heat and mosquitoes. + +[Illustration: He cleaned his gun while the men stood by and stared.] + +'I do not carry arms, as I ought to do,' he said one day, 'for my whole +attention is devoted to defending the nape of my neck from the +mosquitoes,' the enemies he hated most of all. Still inch by inch the +troops fought their way along the river, till at length they reached the +lake of Albert Nyanza. Gordon established forts as he went, though in +the depths of his heart he knew full well that the moment his back was +turned everything would relapse into its former state of oppression and +lawlessness. But what happened afterwards was not _his_ business. He had +done the work set him to the utmost of his power, and that was all for +which he was responsible. + +Thus two years passed away, and having mapped out the country he started +northwards, to resign his post to the khedive before returning to +England. + + * * * * * + +As might have been expected, he was not allowed to throw off his burden +so easily. The khedive had no intention of loosening his hold of a man +who sent money into his treasury instead of taking it out, but, try as +he would, he could not wring from Gordon more than a conditional promise +of coming back. No sooner had Gordon arrived in England than telegrams +were sent after him imploring him to finish his work, and in spite of +his weariness and disgust he felt that he could not leave it half done. +In six weeks the khedive had triumphed, and Gordon was in Cairo. + +At his very first meeting with the khedive, when the affairs of the +Soudan were discussed, Gordon stated clearly that he would not go back +unless he was given undivided authority and power over the Soudan as +well as over the other provinces. The khedive granted everything he +asked. The governor-general of the Soudan, Ismail Pasha, was recalled, +and Gordon took his place as ruler over the equatorial provinces, +Darfour, the whole of the Soudan, and the Red Sea coast. He owed +obedience to no one save the khedive, who again was responsible to the +sultan of Turkey. The salary offered him by the khedive was L12,000 a +year, but L6,000 was all that Gordon would accept, and later he cut it +down to L3,000. + + * * * * * + +With 'terrific exertion' he thought it possible that in three years he +might make a good army in his provinces, with increased trade, a fair +revenue, and, above all, slavery suppressed. It seemed a gigantic work +to undertake, especially when we consider that it had to be carried out +in a district one thousand six hundred miles long and seven hundred +broad. But nothing less would be of any use, and Gordon was not the man +to spare himself if he could make his work permanent. So after a few +days in Cairo he started for the south, going first, by the khedive's +orders, to try and bring about a peace with the kingdom of Abyssinia. +This he did to a certain extent by 'setting a thief to catch a thief,' +that is, by holding one claimant to the throne in check by means of +another. The state with which he was surrounded made him very cross, as +any kind of fuss over him always did. 'Eight or ten men to help me off +my camel, as if I were an invalid,' he writes indignantly. 'If I walk, +everyone gets off and walks; so, furious, I get on again.' + +However, these pin-pricks to his temper did not last long, for soon bad +news came from Khartoum, and he had to set out for the Soudan directly. +His daily journey on his camel was never less than thirty, and more +often forty miles. On his arrival at a station he received everybody, +rich and poor, who chose to come to him, listened to all complaints, and +settled all disputes, besides writing constant reports to the khedive of +what he was doing. He had nobody to help him; it was far easier and +quicker for him to do his own work than first to tell someone else what +he wanted done, and then to make sure his instructions were properly +carried out. + + * * * * * + +At length Khartoum was reached, and Gordon was duly proclaimed +governor-general, the ceremony being, we may be sure, as short as he +could make it. According to the wishes of the khedive, he was treated +like a sultan in the 'Arabian Nights.' On no account was he ever to get +up, even when a great chief came to pay his respects to him, and no one +was allowed to remain seated in his presence. Worse than all, his palace +was filled with two hundred servants. + +The first reform he wished to make was to disband a body of six thousand +Bashi-Bazouks, or Arab and Turkish irregular troops, who pillaged the +tribes on the frontiers that they were set to guard, and let the +slave-dealers go free. Of course this could only be done very slowly and +cautiously; but he managed gradually to discharge a few at a time and to +replace them with soldiers from the Soudan, whom he always found very +trustworthy. Then, after setting right many abuses in Khartoum itself, +and giving the outlying houses a proper water-supply, where before the +lack of it had caused disease and discomfort, he began a march of +several hundred miles westwards to Darfour. + +Here the whole province had risen up against its new Egyptian masters, +and those tribes which had not already broken out were preparing to +do so. With the hopeful spirit that never deserted him, and which more +than once had created the miracle he had expected, Gordon imagined that +he would be able to turn his enemies into allies. As to his own life, +his faith in God was too real and too firm for him to take that into +consideration. Till his appointed task was finished he was perfectly +safe, and after that he would, in his own words, 'leave much weariness +for perfect peace.' + +Thus he went about his work with complete unconcern, and one day arrived +at a discontented place an hour and a half before the few hundred +soldiers that formed his army. Nobody expected him, and when they saw a +man in a uniform shining with gold, flying towards them on the swiftest +camel they had ever beheld, and with only one companion, they were +filled with amazement. Nothing would have been easier than to kill +Gordon; but somehow they never even thought of it, and soon the people +of Darfour and the neighbouring tribes came in and submitted to him. On +the way he was welcomed gladly by the garrisons of the various little +towns, some of whom had received no pay for three years. These +half-starved men, being in their weak condition even more useless than +the ordinary Egyptian soldier, he sent eastwards to be disbanded, and +with an army of five hundred untrustworthy troops, who did not possess a +single cannon, and whose arms were old-fashioned flint-lock guns, he had +to prepare to face the attack of thousands of rebels against the +Egyptian government. + +Luckily, for some reason, the rebel army melted away without a shot +being fired, and the danger being passed the Egyptians pushed on to +Dara. + +[Illustration: They saw a man in uniform shining with gold flying +towards them.] + +Now came the moment to which Gordon had long been looking forward--the +life and death struggle with the slave-dealers, headed by Suleiman, son +of Zebehr, who had armed six thousand of his own slaves, and could +besides summon the help of five thousand good soldiers. How thankfully, +then, Gordon must have greeted the arrival of a powerful tribe seven +thousand strong, who, having suffered bitterly from the slave-traders, +were thirsting for revenge. That after a hard fight the victory remained +with Gordon was owing only to the support of this and other friendly +tribes, for the Egyptians 'crowded into the stockade' and hid there, +safe, as they hoped, from stray spears or wandering bullets. + +It is impossible to follow all Gordon's movements during this campaign, +when in the heat of summer, near the equator, he darted about on his +camel from one place to another, 'a dirty, red-faced man, ornamented +with flies,' and often by his unexpected appearance and promptitude +carried the day, 'because he gave his enemies no time to think' or to +plot against him. Hearing at the end of August that Suleiman was about +to attack Dara, he at once rode straight to the spot, which he reached +in the condition I have described. + +'If I had no escort of men,' he writes to his sister, 'I had a large +escort of flies. I suppose the queen fly was among them. The people were +paralysed at my arrival, and could not believe their eyes. At dawn I got +up, and putting on the golden armour the khedive gave me, mounted my +horse, and with an escort of my robbers of Bashi-Bazouks rode out to the +camp of the other robbers, about three miles off. There were about three +thousand of them, men and boys: they were dumbfounded at my coming among +them.' + +Alone in a tent, with the chiefs, headed by Suleiman, 'a nice-looking +lad of twenty-two,' sitting in a circle round him, Gordon informed them +'in choice Arabic' that he was quite aware that they intended to revolt +against the Egyptian government, and that he intended to disarm them and +break them up. + +'They listened in silence and went off to consider what I had said. +They have just now sent in a letter stating their submission, and I +thank God for it,' he continues. 'The sort of stupefied way in which +they heard me go to the point about their doings, the pantomime of +signs, the bad Arabic, was quite absurd.' Then one by one the other +slave-dealers surrendered, and though Suleiman still gave him much +trouble, and was to give more, yet on the whole things had gone much +better than he had feared, and by the middle of October he arrived at +Khartoum, and after a week's hard work took a steamer and went down the +river to Berber and Dongola. In March he very unwillingly continued his +journey to Cairo, at the command of the khedive, who desired to create +him president of the Finance Inquiry. But this was a great mistake; +Gordon's views on the matter were different from those of other men, and +he had been too long accustomed to be absolute master in any task he +undertook to be able to work harmoniously with his equals. The khedive, +too, failed to support him, and Gordon, seeing it was hopeless to expect +to gain his point, and depressed and annoyed with what had taken place, +returned to Khartoum by way of the Suez Canal and Suakim. + + * * * * * + +Then came the news that Suleiman had revolted, and had overrun the +province of Bahr-el-Ghazal on the south of Darfour. Gordon's old +follower and lieutenant Gessi was sent with some troops to put down the +revolt; but it was a rainy season, and the country was partially under +water. He had only one thousand troops, while daily fresh Arabs swelled +the army of the successful leader; but he was enterprising as well as +prudent, and in the middle of November he came up with the enemy and +entrenched himself behind stockades on the river Dyoor. Here Suleiman +attacked him again and again, and again and again was beaten back. Gessi +sent repeated messages to Gordon for help and ammunition, but all that +the governor general could spare was soon exhausted. At length Gessi +obtained some from the Bahr-el-Ghazal, and now was able to leave his +camp and successfully attack bands of slave-dealers. At length he +stormed a town where Suleiman was stationed, and nearly captured 'the +Cub' himself. Finding to his disgust that the leader had escaped, Gessi +followed him westwards through deserted villages and dense forests, and +though he did not succeed in catching his prey, he was able to break up +the gang of slave-dealers. + +Meanwhile Gordon had left Khartoum and had gone to the slave-dealers' +headquarters at Shaka, and then back towards Khartoum, capturing many +caravans on the way. During one week, on his way from Oomchanga to +Toashia, he thinks he must have taken about six hundred slaves, and he +puts down the number that had lost their lives in the last four years +from the cruelty of the dealers to have been at least one hundred +thousand in Darfour alone. + +At Toashia Gordon had a short interview with Gessi, whom he created a +pasha and made governor of the Bahr-el-Ghazal, with a present of L2,000. +On his way back to his province news was brought to Gessi of Suleiman's +whereabouts. He at once started in pursuit with three hundred men, and +came up with Suleiman during the night at Gara. The slave dealer, taken +by surprise, surrendered, and was shot next day, and it would have been +well for the Soudan if Suleiman's father Zebehr had paid the same +penalty for his rebellion against the khedive. + + * * * * * + +It was in the year 1879 that the khedive Ismail was deposed at Cairo, +and Tewfik appointed in his place. The new khedive seemed fully as +anxious as his predecessors to make use of the one man who feared +neither danger nor responsibility, and bore a charmed life, and Gordon +was at once sent on a fruitless mission to Abyssinia. On his return he +carried out the intention that he had formed for some time, and placed +his resignation in the hands of the khedive. Well he knew that the +Egyptian government cared nothing for the reforms he had made, or the +slave-trade that he had broken. They never supported any of his +measures, and he felt assured that in a few months the state of things +would be as bad as ever. + +Sick at heart and worn out in body, he came home early in 1880, having +paused on his way to see Rome. Once in London it was the old story. +Invitations rained on him, only to be refused. To escape from them he +rushed off to Lausanne for peace. But peace and Gordon had little to do +with each other, and he soon received an urgent request from the +ministers of Cape Colony to allow himself to be appointed commander of +the colonial forces. This, however, Gordon refused at once. The war with +the Zulus was only just over, and Gordon, who on all questions involving +the well-being of nations, was very keen-sighted, may well have noted +signs of unrest throughout the whole of South Africa. His health had +been severely tried by all he had gone through, and he needed rest +before he could take active employment. + +So he returned to England, and in May, much to everyone's surprise, +accepted the post of secretary to the new viceroy of India, lord Ripon. +But no sooner had the viceregal party reached Bombay than Gordon found +that the work he had to do was not the sort he was suited for. Not +because he thought that anything was beneath his dignity--the man who +had cleaned his own gun and cooked his own food in the Soudan was never +likely to feel that--but his career, as he ought to have known before, +had unfitted him to cope with the minute details bound up with Indian +life, and the immense importance given to the distinctions of caste. +Therefore four days after the ship reached Bombay he resigned, +expressing his regrets for the mistake he had made, and thanking lord +Ripon most warmly for the kindness shown him. His passage money and all +the expenses to which his appointment had put the new government--for +the Liberals had lately come into power--he instantly repaid. + + * * * * * + +Two days later he received a telegram from sir Robert Hart, director of +the customs in China, begging him to take the first ship to Tientsin, +where his services were badly needed. As his request to the English War +Office for six months' leave was refused, he replied that his object in +going to China was to prevent a war which was likely to break out +between that country and Russia, and therefore, if the permission asked +was not granted, he should be forced to throw up his commission in the +queen's service. + +On receipt of this message the government allowed him to go, and for +three months he worked hard, and not only contrived, as he hoped, to +prevent the war with Russia, but to check the revolt of Li Hung Chang, +who desired to place the crown on his own head. + +Having accomplished what he intended, he found himself in London in +October, and in 1881 went out to the island of Mauritius, in the Indian +Ocean, to command the engineers. + +At last he rested from the heavy responsibilities of the last few years, +though he worked as he always must do, and, now a major-general, in +April 1882 set sail for the Cape, where the governor of the colony, sir +Hercules Robinson, wanted his advice on the settlement and +administration of Basutoland. But when Gordon arrived he found his views +on the subject so totally different from those of the men in power that +he resigned and left, and from London he carried out the great longing +of his life--a visit to the Holy Land. Few people knew and loved their +Bibles like Gordon, and every stone in Palestine was full of interest +to him. Here he was alone and quiet, respecting the faith of others, and +therefore causing them to respect his; talking and praying with those of +different religions, teaching them and learning from them; preparing +himself, as the Master whom he served had also done, for the fiery trial +through which he was to pass. + + * * * * * + +All this time the king of the Belgians had been offering him the command +of an expedition his majesty was anxious to send to the Congo, and +continued to press the matter in spite of the refusal of Mr. Gladstone, +then prime minister, to lend him Gordon to lead it. On January 1, 1884, +Gordon went over to Brussels to talk over affairs with the king, and +while he was there the English government suddenly decided to send him +at once to the Soudan, where matters were in a very threatening state. + +Since Gordon had left the country, four years before, Arabi pasha had +revolted, and been crushed at Tel-el-Kebir, and a dervish in the Soudan, +Mohammed Ahmed by name, had made himself famous by proclaiming himself +mahdi, the expected prophet of the whole Mahometan world. Thousands +flocked to the standard that he raised, and his armed escort stood with +drawn swords in his presence. The Egyptian governor-general summoned him +to Khartoum to answer for his proceedings, but the mahdi answered that +he was master of the country and obeyed no one. The troops despatched +against him he always defeated, and when a new governor-general and a +fresh army gave him battle they were utterly destroyed. Obeid in Darfour +surrendered after a five months' siege, and, flushed with success, he +carried all before him. + +In June 1883 colonel Hicks was given by the Egyptian government the +military command at Khartoum, with ten thousand men and thirty guns; +but he had no knowledge of the country where he had to fight, and fell +an easy prey to the mahdi's army, which was ten times as numerous as his +own. The tribes of the eastern Soudan joined the victor's banner, and +here, while Gordon was on his way to Khartoum, Baker pasha was defeated +by Osman Digna, a slave-dealer of Suakim. + + * * * * * + +On January 17, 1884, Gordon, who was in Brussels, received a telegram +from lord Wolseley, bidding him come over to London by the evening +train. He started at once, and reached London early in the morning, and +at twelve o'clock was taken by Wolseley to the Cabinet Council. + +'He went in,' writes Gordon, 'and talked to the ministers, and came back +and said, "Her majesty's government want you to undertake this. The +government are determined to evacuate the Soudan, for they will not +undertake to guarantee its safety. Will you go and do it?" I said, +"Yes!" He said, "Go in." I went in and saw them. They said, "Did +Wolseley tell you our orders?" I said, "Yes." I said, "You will not +guarantee the future government of the Soudan, and you wish me to go up +to evacuate now?" They said, "Yes," and it was over, and I left at +8 P.M. for Calais.' + +He was seen off from the station by lord Wolseley and by lord +Hartington, afterwards the duke of Devonshire, who always stood loyally +by him, and repeatedly urged that help must be sent instantly, while his +colleagues in the Cabinet waited to see how things would drift, till the +time for help was past. + +On January 26, the day which a year hence was to witness his death, +Gordon, with colonel Stewart, was in Cairo, where he spent two busy +days. The first news that greeted him was the success of the mahdi in +all directions, and that the Mahometans in Syria and in Arabia would +probably rise against their rulers. Yet he does not seem to have +understood any better than the English and Egyptian governments what a +terrific force the man really was, not so much in himself, but because +he stood in the minds of hundreds of thousands for the deliverer who +would aid them to shake off a yoke under which they groaned. 'I do not +believe in the advance of the mahdi,' says Gordon a few days later; 'he +is nephew to my old guide in Darfour, who was a very good fellow,' and +on several occasions he shows that he had no idea as yet of the task +that lay before him, and considered the mahdi a mere puppet in the hands +of the slave-owners, who had joined him to a man. While in Cairo he did +his best to make arrangements to ensure good government. He desired to +see Nubar pasha, of whom he thought highly, placed in power, and the +dangerous Zebehr banished to Cyprus, but Tewfik the khedive would listen +to neither proposal. So, to the horror of some of the anti-slavery +societies in England, who knew nothing of the supreme difficulties of +Gordon's position, the newly appointed governor-general of the Soudan +asked to take Zebehr with him, and keep him under his own eye. 'He is +the ablest man in the Soudan,' said Gordon afterwards, 'a capital +general and a good governor, and with his help I could have crushed the +mahdi.' But Gordon's friends at Cairo had no faith in Zebehr's loyalty, +and much in his hatred of Gordon, and at their entreaty the plan was +given up. Yet Gordon did not sleep one night in Khartoum without knowing +he was right, and writing to beg for Zebehr. + + * * * * * + +Forty-eight hours after reaching Cairo Gordon started with Stewart and +four Egyptian officers for Khartoum. + +'I go with every confidence and trust in God,' he wrote to Wolseley a +few hours before he set out, in the spirit in which he lived and died, +and in twenty days he was at Khartoum, where the whole population came +out to welcome him. + +With the help of the garrison of five thousand men Gordon began to +fortify the town, and to throw up proper defences for Omdurman, on the +left bank of the river. Provisions were stored, and a telegraph wire +rigged up between the outworks and his palace, where he spent hours +every day in sweeping the horizon with his field-glass. Once at Khartoum +he began to realise what a force the mahdi had become. In March he wrote +to the English government, 'I shall be caught in Khartoum, and even if I +was mean enough to escape, I've not the power.' He begs both for men and +money, but no notice was taken of his letter; so in April he telegraphs +to sir Evelyn Baring, the English agent in Cairo, saying that he had +asked sir Samuel Baker to try and obtain L30,000 from English and +American millionaires to enable him to get three thousand Turkish +soldiers, 'who would settle the mahdi for ever. I do not see the fun of +being caught here to walk about the streets as a dervish with sandalled +feet,' he goes on; 'not that I shall ever be taken alive.' + +He had been sent expressly to evacuate the Soudan, yet he was not +allowed to do it when it came to the point, and, as usually happens, +attempts at compromise proved failures. An expedition was despatched to +Suakim, and two bloody battles were fought, but the only result of these +was to inflame the zeal of the mahdi's followers and to enable him to +capture Berber, the key of the Soudan. + +In Khartoum Gordon was using all his skill to fit the place to stand a +siege, for he speedily saw that his garrison of one thousand Soudanese +were all he had to rely on, the three thousand Egyptians and +Bashi-Bazouks being worse than useless. Later his troops amounted to +about double the number, and the population which he had to feed he +reckoned at forty thousand. The provisions, he estimated, would last for +five months; but in the end they had to do for ten, and up to the very +last, when all else was eaten, there was still some corn left in the +granary. + + * * * * * + +While the river was yet open, and before the Arabs had cut off all +communication between Khartoum and the outer world, Gordon managed to +send away some old and helpless soldiers, various government officials, +and two thousand three hundred refugees, who had fled to the town for +safety. Everything he could think of was done for their comfort; and in +order to prevent the poor black women and children from feeling strange +and frightened, he ordered colonel Duncan to ask a German woman living +at Korosko to be ready to meet and help them. In Khartoum itself there +were no fevers or pestilence, and food was given daily to the very poor. + +It was in the middle of March that the town, with its three rings of +defence, was invested by the Arabs; but when the time came for the Nile +to rise it was easy for Gordon to send his steamers up and down both +branches of the river, and to attack the Arab camps. Besides those boats +he had already, he built some new ones, and kept his men busy in the +workshops of the arsenal. But when April came, and there were no answers +to his appeals, he wrote home that the matter _must_ be settled before +the Nile fell in November, when the river route would become not only +difficult but dangerous. + + * * * * * + +In this way the months went on, and in England his friends were doing +all they could to help him, though vainly. Lord Wolseley repeatedly +urged on the Government the need of sending out a relief force, and in a +letter of July 24, to Gordon's brother, he writes that if he was allowed +to start immediately he could be at Dongola by October 15, and could go +all the way to Khartoum by the river. Lord Hartington, too, never forgot +Gordon, but the rest of the Cabinet turned a deaf ear; they had other +things to think about. + +The next move came from the French consul, monsieur Herbin, who was +inside Khartoum. He suggested to Gordon that now that it was September, +and the Nile had risen to its greatest height, the cataracts would be +covered to a depth of thirty or forty feet; therefore it would be quite +easy for a small steamer such as the _Abbas_ to make its way to Dongola, +and from there to send on letters and despatches to Cairo. Gordon +approved of the plan, and Stewart offered to command the little force of +forty or fifty soldiers--all that could be spared to go with it. On +board were some Greeks, monsieur Herbin himself, Stewart, and Power the +'Times' correspondent, the only two friends Gordon had. How he must have +longed to go with them. But that being impossible he put the thought out +of his mind, and gave them most careful directions as to the precautions +they were to take. But on their return journey Gordon's orders were +neglected, the steamer was taken by the mahdi's troops, and all on board +put to death, Stewart among them. + + * * * * * + +Thus Gordon was left alone in Khartoum, without a creature to share his +responsibility or to help him in his work. From henceforward he was +obliged to see to everything himself, and make sure that his orders were +carried out. + +From his journal and letters, which we have up to December 14, we know +all that was going on inside the town: the measures of defence; the +decoration which he invented to reward the soldiers for their courage or +fidelity, an eight-pointed star with a grenade in the centre, and +consisting of three classes, gold, silver, and pewter; the presence of +Slatin (later the sirdar) in the mahdi's camp, and the chains put upon +him. But in November the fighting grew fiercer; the mahdi cut all +communication between Khartoum, stretching from the Blue to the White +Nile, and Omdurman, on the right bank of the latter river. However, +though he took the town, he did not keep it long, for he was shelled out +of it; but day by day his forces crept closer, and Gordon, who had sent +his steamers down to Shendy to meet the relieving troops which he +thought were on their way, had no means of stopping the mahdi when he +began to transport his army from one bank of the Nile to the other, in +preparation for the last assault. + +During the summer months Gordon had been cheered by the knowledge that +sir Gerald Graham was fighting Osman Digna and keeping him at bay, but +this was all the consolation he had. + +'Up to this date,' he writes on October 29, 'nine people have come up as +reinforcements since Hicks's defeat, and not a penny of money.' Still, +for seven months not a man had deserted; but with the advance of the +mahdi many of the defenders of Khartoum might be seen stealing after +dark to his camp. He sent an envoy across the river to offer Gordon +honourable terms if he would surrender, knowing full well from the +papers which his spies had stolen from the steamer _Abbas_ what straits +the garrison were in. But Gordon, putting little faith in the word of +the mahdi, rejected the proposal and returned for answer, 'We can hold +out twelve years.' + + * * * * * + +By this time 'Relief Expedition No. 2, to save our national honour,' as +Gordon persisted in calling it, was on its way, and many of us can +recall with what sickening hearts we watched its daily progress. The +obstacles which had been foretold months before by both Gordon and +Wolseley proved even greater than they expected. The Nile had fallen, +and its cataracts, like staircases of rocks, were of course impassable, +and the transport of the boats was a terrible difficulty. Then, owing to +treachery, all the useful camels were spirited away, and only enough +could be collected to carry one thousand men across the desert. Sir +Herbert Stewart started first, and reached the wells of Jakdul on +January 3, and being obliged to halt there, as the camels were needed to +bring up other troops, he occupied the time in building a fort. On the +12th they all pushed on to Abou Klea, where they arrived on the 17th, to +find the mahdi awaiting them. Here two fierce battles were fought, in +one of which sir Herbert Stewart was mortally wounded. In each the mahdi +was defeated, but he proceeded to attack Metemmeh on the 21st, the +British force being now commanded by sir Charles Wilson, who was +unexpectedly reinforced during the battle by some troops on board +Gordon's four steamers, which were returning to Khartoum. Three days +later (January 24) Wilson started in two steamers for Khartoum, +ninety-five miles away, and the river was so low that it was necessary +to be very cautious. On the morning of the 25th one of the boats ran on +a rock, and could not be floated off till nine o'clock that night. As +soon as he possibly could Wilson got up steam again, but eight miles +from Khartoum a native hailed him from the bank. 'Khartoum has fallen!' +he said, 'and Gordon has been shot.' + +Wilson would not believe it. To have failed when success was within his +grasp seemed too terrible to think of. It must be one of the mahdi's +devices to stop the advance of our troops, so he went on till he could +command a proper view of the town. The masses of black-robed dervishes +that filled the streets and crowded along the river bank told their own +tale, and, bowing his head, Wilson gave the signal to go back down the +river. + +[Illustration: A shot ended his life.] + +From Slatin pasha, then a captive in the mahdi's camp, we know how it +happened. Omdurman had fallen on the 13th, but Khartoum would +probably not have been assaulted so soon had not the mahdi suffered +such severe defeats at Abou Klea and at Abou Kru, three days later; then +he hurried back to Khartoum and again summoned Gordon to surrender. His +offer was refused, and addressing his men he informed them that during +the night they were to be conveyed across the river in boats, but that +if victory was to be theirs, absolute silence was necessary. + +About half-past three in the morning they were all ready, and attacked +at the same moment both the east and west gates. The east held out for +some time, but the west gate soon gave way, and the rebels entered with +a rush, murdering every man they met. In an open space near the palace +they came up with Gordon, walking quietly in front of a little group of +people to take refuge at the Austrian consul's house. A shot ended his +life, and saved him from the tortures that men like the mahdi inflict on +their captives. Death, as we know, had no terrors for him. 'I am always +ready to die,' he had said to the king of Abyssinia nearly six years +before, 'and so far from fearing your putting me to death, you would +confer a favour on me, for you would deliver me from all the troubles +and misfortunes which the future may have in store.' Now death _had_ +delivered him, yet none the less does his fate lie like a blot on the +men who sent him to his doom, and turned a deaf ear to his prayers for +help until it was too late. England was stricken with horror and grief +at the news, and showed her sorrow in the way which Gordon would have +chosen, not by erecting statues or buildings to his memory, but by +founding schools to help the little orphan boys whom he always loved. +But whatever bitterness may have been in the hearts of his friends +towards those who had sacrificed him, Gordon we can be sure would have +felt none. + +'One wants some forgiveness oneself,' he said, when he pardoned Abou +Saoud, who had tried to betray him. 'And it is not a dear article.' + + + + +THE CRIME OF THEODOSIUS + + +Everyone who stops to visit the town of Treves, or Trier, to give it its +German name, must be struck by the number and beauty of its ruins, which +give us some idea of the splendour of the city at the time that Ambrose +the Prefect lived there and ruled his province. About the city were +hills now covered with vines, and through an opening between them ran +the river Moselle. A wall with seven gates defended Treves from the +German tribes on the east of the Rhine, but only one, the Porta Nigra, +or Black Gate, is left standing. Its cathedral, the oldest in Europe +north of the Alps, was founded in 375 A.D. by Valentinian I., who often +occupied the palace which was sacked and ruined a century later by Huns +and Franks. A great bridge spanned the Moselle, and outside the walls, +where the vineyards now climb the hills, was an amphitheatre which held +30,000 people, and when these came back, tired and dusty, from chariot +races or games, there were baths and warm water in the underground +galleries to make them clean and comfortable. + +It was somewhere about the year 333 A.D. that a boy was born at Treves +in the house of the governor, and called Ambrose, after his father. He +was the youngest of three children, his brother Satyrus being only a +little older than himself, while Marcellina, their sister, who was +nearly four, looked down upon the others as mere babies. Ambrose the +elder was a very important person indeed, for the emperor Constantine +had made him ruler, or prefect, of the whole of Europe west of the +Rhine, that is, of Spain, Gaul or France, and Britain. The prefect was a +good and just man, and the nations were happy under his sway; but he +died after a few years, and his wife, unfortunately, thought it wiser to +leave Treves and take her children to Rome, where they could get the +best teaching and would become acquainted with their father's friends. + +It was a long and difficult journey for a lady and two boys (Marcellina +had already gone to a convent in Rome), though they were rich enough to +travel in tolerable comfort. Even in summer the passage of the Alps was +hard enough, and the towering mountains, steep precipices, and rushing +rivers must have seemed strange and alarming to anyone fresh from the +fertile slopes of the Rhineland. But the boys were not frightened, only +deeply interested, and they quite forgot to be sorry at leaving their +old home in the excitement of what lay before them. + +No doubt they had many adventures, or what they would have considered as +such, before they reached the corn-covered plains of Lombardy, and +stopped to rest in the city of Milan, whose name was hereafter to be +bound up for all time with that of little Ambrose. But we are not told +anything about their travels, and when they arrived in Rome they went +straight to the old house, which had been for generations in their +father's family. That family was famous in the annals of the city, and +had become Christian in the time of the persecution; but nowadays +Christians and pagans lived happily together, and divided the public +offices between them. + +The children soon settled down in their new surroundings, and felt as if +they had lived all their lives in Rome. Marcellina they seldom or never +saw, and, however much her mother may have longed after her, she was +forced to content herself with her two boys and to take pride in their +success. + + * * * * * + +The prefect of Rome, Symmachus by name, had taken a great fancy to +Satyrus, in spite of the fact that the boy was brought up a Christian, +while he himself was a pagan. Symmachus shared with the Christian Probus +the chief authority in Rome, and while Satyrus was to be found in his +house during most of the hours when he was not attending, with his +brother, classes in Greek and Latin literature and in law, Ambrose was +no less frequently in that of Probus. Though this caused their mother to +spend many lonely evenings, she was well pleased, for both men bore a +high character, and would be able to help her boys in many ways that +were impossible to a woman. The two youths were very popular, pleasant, +and well-mannered, and with strong common-sense which proved useful in +saving them from pitfalls that might otherwise have been their ruin. +They had friends without number, but they liked no one's company so much +as each other's, and it was a sad moment for both when Symmachus gave +Satyrus a post under his own son, and the two young men set sail for +Asia Minor. + +For some time Ambrose remained at home, learning the duties of a prefect +under Probus. He early showed great talent for managing men, a quick eye +for detecting crime, impartiality in giving judgment, and firmness in +seeing it carried out. Probus must have watched anxiously to see how far +the young man's sense of justice and his desire for mercy would act on +each other, but what he saw satisfied him. Ambrose knew at once what was +the important point in every matter, and never allowed his mind to be +confused by things that had nothing to do with the real question. This +was his safeguard as a judge, and this was the principle he held to all +through his life, which caused him to be such a different man from +Hildebrand or Thomas a Becket, or many great bishops who came after him. +To Ambrose, murder was murder, theft was theft, whether it was done by +a Christian or a pagan, and the punishment was equally heavy for both. + +Perhaps the emperor Valentinian may have noted the qualities of the +young lawyer, or perhaps he may have consulted with Probus, but in any +case, in the year 372 Ambrose was sent off to govern the whole of North +Italy, under the title of 'consul.' At the utmost he was only +twenty-nine, and he may have been younger, for the date of his birth is +uncertain. But his head was in no way turned by his position, and the +emperor, a well-meaning but tactless man, beheld with satisfaction that +the restless people of Milan, the capital of the north, were growing +daily quieter under the rule of Ambrose. What his own severity had been +powerless to accomplish Ambrose carried through without any difficulty. +The parties, religious as well as political, into which the city was +split up, all came to him with their grievances, and, wonderful to say, +never murmured at his verdicts. Before he had been consul much more than +a year, Milan was in a quieter state than it had been for half a +century. + +But the death of the bishop early in 374 threatened to plunge everything +into the old confusion. Valentinian was consulted, but refused to have +anything to do in the matter of the election of a new prelate; it was +not his business, he said. So the bishops streamed in to Milan from the +cities of the north and met in the gallery of one of the large round +churches that were built in those days. In great excitement the people +pressed in below; so much depended on who was chosen--to which party he +belonged. For hours and hours they waited, and every now and then a +murmur ran through the crowd that the announcement was about to be made; +but it died away as fast as it came, and the weary waiting began again. +At last the strain grew too great, and it was quite plain that the +smallest spark of disagreement would kindle a great fire. + +A man wiser than the rest saw this, and hastened to summon Ambrose to +the spot. + +'Do not delay an instant,' he cried, 'or it will be too late. Only you +can keep the peace, so come at once.' + +[Illustration: 'Do not delay an instant,' he cried, 'or it will be too +late.'] + +Ambrose needed no urging. What his friend said was true, and, besides, +he was as a magistrate bound if possible to prevent a riot, or, if one +had already begun, to quell it. + +The loud, angry voices ceased as he entered the church, and amidst a +dead silence he begged the crowd to be patient yet a little while +longer, and to remember that the choice of a bishop was one that +affected them all, and could not be made in a hurry. As he spoke he +noted that the excitement began to grow less, and by the time he had +ended the flushed faces were calm again. Then the voice of a child rang +through the church. + +'Ambrose, bishop!' + +'Ambrose, bishop,' echoed the people, but Ambrose stood for a moment +rooted to the spot. It was the last thing he had expected or wished, but +the continued cries brought him to himself, and hastily leaving the +church he went to the hall where he gave his judgments, the crowd +pressing on him right up to the door. + +Never before or since has any man been so suddenly lifted into a +position for which he had made no previous preparation. He, a bishop! +Why, though a Christian, in common with many of his friends and also +with his brother, he had never even been baptized, still less had he +studied any of the things a bishop ought to know. Oh! it was impossible. +It was only a moment's craze, and would be forgotten as soon as he was +out of sight; so he stole away at night and hid himself, intending to +escape to another city. But on his way he was recognised by a man who +had once pleaded a cause before him. A crowd speedily collected, and he +was carried by the people back to his house within the walls, and a +guard placed before it, while a letter was despatched to the emperor +informing him that the lot had fallen upon Ambrose. + +'Vox populi, vox Dei' ('The voice of the people is the voice of God'). +Valentinian gave a sigh of surprise and relief as he read the wax +tablets before him. Losing no time, he sent a paper, signed by himself, +the imperial seal affixed, nominating Ambrose bishop of Milan, while to +Ambrose he wrote privately, saying that no better choice could have been +made, and that he would support him in everything. But by the time the +messenger reached Milan, Ambrose had escaped again, and was hiding in +the house of a friend outside the walls. However, this effort to avoid +the greatness thrust upon him was as vain as the rest, and he saw that +he must accept what fate had brought him. Within a week he had been +baptized, ordained priest, and consecrated bishop, knowing as little as +any man might of the studies hitherto considered necessary for his +position. But it is quite possible that his ignorance of these may have +been a help instead of a hindrance in the carrying out of his duties. + + * * * * * + +Now very often, if a man's position is changed, his character seems to +change too, and the very qualities which caused him to be chosen for the +new appointment sink into the background, while others, far less +suitable, take their place. No doubt, during the first days after his +election Ambrose must have been watched carefully by many eyes--for no +one, however popular, is wholly without enemies--and any alteration in +his conduct or way of life would have been noted down. Still, even the +most envious could find no difference. Ambrose the bishop was in all +respects the same as Ambrose the consul, except that he gave away more +money than he had done before, and held himself to a still greater +degree at the disposal of the people. + +In these days we are so used to reading of the struggle which raged for +so many centuries between the Church and the State--the Emperor and the +Pope--that it seems quite natural to us that after the death of the +emperor Valentinian (which happened a few months later) the bishop +should become the adviser and minister of his young son Gratian. To +Ambrose, however, the situation was beset with difficulties, and both +disagreeable and dangerous. He had not the least desire to meddle in the +affairs of the empire--the care of the church in Milan was quite enough +for any one man; but when the young emperor Gratian came to him for +advice and guidance it was his duty to give it. Soon matters grew worse +and worse. The Goths crossed the Danube, and defeated the army of the +Eastern Empire near Adrianople; Byzantium, or Constantinople, the city +of Constantine, lay at their mercy; and Italy might be entered through +Hungary and the Tyrol, or by sea from the south. + +The tidings reached Milan through the first of the numerous fugitives +who had managed to escape across the Alps. Every day more frightened, +starving people arrived, and the city was taxed to the utmost to find +them food and shelter. Yet even the lot of these poor creatures was +happy in comparison with those who had been taken prisoners by the +Goths, and were doomed to spend their lives in slavery unless they were +ransomed. Ambrose set the rich citizens an example by giving all the +money he had, but after every farthing possible had been raised the +unredeemed captives were still many. There only remained the golden +vessels of the church, which were the pride of Milan, and these the +bishop brought out and melted down, so that as far as in him lay all +prisoners might be freed. + +In after-years his enemies sought to use the fact as a handle against +him. He had no right to give what was not his own, they said; but +Ambrose paid little heed to their words; he had done what he knew was +just, and the rest did not matter. + + * * * * * + +With the appointment of the general Theodosius as emperor of the East +things began to mend. The Goths began to understand that they had a +strong man to deal with, and Ambrose was once more left to act both as +bishop and magistrate in his own diocese, and to give constant advice to +the well-meaning but weak young Gratian. The legal training that Ambrose +had received was now of the highest value, and his experience of men and +the world acquired in Rome preserved him from making many mistakes and +giving ear to lying stories. The cleverest rogues in Milan knew that the +most cunning tale would never deceive the bishop, and would only earn +for themselves a heavy fine or imprisonment. 'Some,' he writes, 'say +they have debts; make sure that they speak truly. Others declare they +have been robbed by brigands; let them prove their words, and show that +the injuries were really received by them.' Under Ambrose's rule +impostors of all kinds grew scarce. + +During these years the bishop's life, except for public anxieties, had +been calm and happy, for his brother Satyrus had been with him, and had +given him his help in many ways. At length important business took the +elder brother to Africa, and on his return the ship in which he was +sailing struck on a rock and sank. Luckily, they were not far from land, +and Satyrus was a good swimmer, so with great exertions he managed to +reach a lonely part of the coast. He was kindly cared for by the people, +but there was no means of letting Ambrose hear of his safety, and he had +to wait long before another ship passed that way. Then, when his friends +had abandoned all hope, he suddenly appeared in Milan, to the speechless +joy of the bishop. But not long were they left together. In a little +while Satyrus fell ill, and in spite of the constant care that was given +him, in a few days he died, leaving Ambrose more lonely than before. + +After this troubles crowded thick and fast on the bishop. Gratian, whom +he had loved as a son, was treacherously murdered in Gaul by order of +Maximus, who had been given by Gratian himself rule over the prefecture +of Gaul with the title of emperor. The grief of Ambrose was deep; but +besides he was forced to act for Gratian's half-brother Valentinian, +whose mother Justina never failed to send for the bishop to help her out +of her difficulties, and directly he had made things smooth, proceeded +to fall back into them. + +Thankful indeed was he when she and her son set out for Thessalonica, to +put themselves under the protection of Theodosius. + +In the long line of the emperors of the East there were few more honest +and able than Theodosius. He found his dominions in a state of +confusion, the prey of the barbarian hordes that were always pouring +westwards from the wide plains of Scythia, while internally the strife +in the church was fiercer than ever. Quietly and steadily the emperor +took his measures. Here he pardoned, there he punished, and men felt +that both pardon and punishment were just. He was not yet strong enough +to fight against the rebel Maximus, as he would have liked to do, but he +determined that, cost what it might, he would never forsake the young +Valentinian. Maximus had snatched at some excuse to invade Milan, which +on his entrance he had found abandoned by its chief men, save only +Ambrose, who treated him with contempt and went his own way. The +intruder's efforts to buy support by conciliation failed miserably, and +in a few weeks there came the news that Theodosius was preparing to meet +him on the borders of Hungary, or Pannonia. Then Maximus assembled +what forces he could, and set out across the pass of the Brenner. + +Two battles were lost, for the legions of Maximus were but half-hearted; +in the third he was taken prisoner and brought before the emperor. +Theodosius was a merciful man, but his heart was hard towards the +murderer of Gratian. 'Let him die!' he said, and without delay the order +was carried out. + +[Illustration: 'Let him die!' he said.] + +Now that Maximus was dead the legions were quite ready to return to +their rightful emperor, and as soon as he had settled matters Theodosius +went on to Milan. There he and Ambrose became great friends; the bishop +was much the cleverer of the two, but they were both honest and +straightforward, with great common-sense, and it must have been a relief +to Ambrose, who did not in the least care for being an important person, +to feel that he could at last mind his own business, and leave affairs +of state to the emperor. + +It was while all seemed going so smoothly that the supreme crisis in the +lives of both men took place--the event which has linked the names of +Ambrose and Theodosius for evermore. + +Thessalonica, the chief town of Macedonia, was a beautiful city, and its +Governor, Count Botheric, a special friend of the Emperor, who +constantly went to pay him a visit when wearied out with the cares of +state, which pressed on him so heavily in Constantinople. The people +were gay and light-hearted, loving shows and pageants of all sorts, but +more especially the games of the circus. In order to celebrate the +defeat of Maximus, Botheric had arranged a series of special displays, +and in the chariot races most of the prizes were carried off by one man, +who became the idol of the moment. Furious, therefore, was the +indignation which ran through the city when, immediately after the +festival was over, the charioteer was accused of some disgraceful crime, +and being found guilty, was thrown into prison by Botheric. In a body +the populace surged up to the house of the Governor and demanded his +release. But Botheric was not the man to be turned from what he knew to +be right by an excited crowd. He absolutely refused to give way, and +told them that the man had deserved the punishment he had given him, and +more too. Then the passion of the mob broke loose. They attacked the +Governor's house and the houses of all who were in authority. The +soldiers who were ordered out were too few to cope with their violence. +In the struggle Botheric was killed, and many of his friends also, and +their bodies subjected to every kind of insult that madness could +suggest. + + * * * * * + +Theodosius was in Milan when the news reached him, and after a few +moments of stony horror he was seized with such terrific passion that it +almost seemed as if he would die of rage. At last he spoke; to those who +stood around the voice sounded as the voice of a stranger. + +'The crime was committed by the whole town,' he said, 'and the whole +town shall suffer.' Then, and without giving himself time to change his +mind, he sat down and wrote the order for a massacre to one of the few +magistrates left alive. + +His words were probably reported to Ambrose, and no doubt the bishop +tried his best to calm the wrath of the emperor. But Theodosius was in +no mood to be reasoned with. He declined to see his friend, and left +Milan, shutting himself up in silence till the terrible tale of +vengeance was told. + +In obedience to his instructions, games, and especially chariot races, +were announced to take place in the circus. We do not know if the mob +had broken open the prison and released the charioteer in whose honour +so much blood had been shed; but if so we may be sure that he was +present, and was hailed with shouts of welcome. The circus was crowded +from end to end--not a single seat was vacant. The eyes of the +spectators were fixed on the line of chariots drawn up at the +starting-point, and drivers and lookers-on awaited breathlessly the +signal. In their absorption they never noticed that soldiers had drawn +silently up and had surrounded them. A moment later, and a signal was +indeed given, but it was the signal for one of the bloodiest massacres +that ever shocked the ancient world. Probably the authorities who +carried out the emperor's orders went further than he intended, even in +the first passion of his anger. But of one thing we may be quite sure, +and that is that remorse and shame filled his soul when the hideous +story reached him. Not that he would confess it; to the public he would +say he was justified in what he had done, but none the less he would +have given all he had to undo his actions. He came back one night to +Milan, and shut himself up again in his palace. + +At the time of the emperor's return Ambrose happened to be staying with +a friend in the country, for his health had suffered from his hard work, +and also from this last blow, and his uncertainty how best to bring +Theodosius to a sense of his crime. When he entered Milan once more, he +waited, in the hope that the emperor might send for him, as he was used +to do; but as no messenger arrived, the bishop understood that +Theodosius refused to see him, and the only course open was to write a +letter. + +The occasion was not one for polite phrases, neither was Ambrose the man +to use them. In the plainest words he set his guilt before Theodosius +and besought him to repent. And as his sin had been public, his +repentance must be public too. But this letter remained unanswered. +Theodosius was resolved to brave the matter out, and next day, +accompanied by his usual attendants, he went to the great church. + +At the porch Ambrose met him, and refused to let him pass. + +'Go back,' he said, 'lest you add another sin to those you have already +committed. You are blinded by power, and even now your heart is hard, +and you do not understand that your hands are steeped in blood. Go +back.' + +And Theodosius went back, feeling in his soul the truth of the bishop's +words, but prevented by pride from humbling himself. + +Months went on, and the two men still lived as strangers, and now +Christmas was near. Rufinus, prefect of the palace, who was suspected of +having inflamed the wrath of the Emperor in the matter of Thessalonica, +upbraided his master with showing so sad a face while the whole world +was rejoicing. Theodosius then opened his soul to him, and acknowledged +that at length he had repented of his crime and was ready to confess it +before the bishop and the people. Once having spoken, he would not +delay, and there and then went on foot to the church. As before, +Ambrose, who had been warned of his intention, met him in the porch, +thinking that the emperor meant to force his way in, and in that case +the bishop was prepared to put him out with his own hands. + +But Theodosius stood with bowed head, and in a low voice confessed his +guilt and entreated forgiveness. 'What signs can you show me that your +repentance is real?' asked Ambrose. 'A crime like yours is not to be +expiated lightly.' + +'Tell me what to do, and I will do it,' said Theodosius. + + * * * * * + +And the proof that Ambrose demanded was neither fasting nor scourging +nor gifts to the church. 'It was that the emperor should write where now +he stood, on the tablets that he always took with him, an order +delaying for thirty days the announcement of any decree passed by a +reigning emperor which carried sentence of death or confiscation of +property to his subjects.' Further, that after the thirty days had +passed the sentence and the circumstances which called it forth must be +considered over again, to make quite sure that no injustice should be +committed. To this Theodosius willingly agreed; not only because it was +the token of repentance imposed on him by Ambrose, but because his own +sense of right and justice made him welcome a law by which the people no +longer should be at the mercy of one man's rage. + +The law was written down and read out so that those who stood around +might hear; then Ambrose drew back the bar across the porch, and +Theodosius once more entered the church. + + + + +PALISSY THE POTTER + + +Four hundred years ago a little boy called Bernard Palissy was born in a +village of France, not very far from the great river Garonne. The +country round was beautiful at all times of year--in spring with +orchards in flower, in summer with fields of corn, in autumn with +heavy-laden vines climbing up the sides of the hills, down which rushing +streams danced and gurgled. Further north stretched wide heaths gay with +broom, and vast forests of walnut and chestnut, through which roamed +hordes of pigs, greedy after the fallen chestnuts that made them so fat, +or burrowing about the roots of the trees for the truffles growing just +out of sight. When the peasants who owned the pigs saw them sniffing and +scratching in certain places, they went out at once and dug for +themselves, for, truffles as well as pigs, were thought delicious +eating, and fetched high prices from the rich people in Perigueux or +even Bordeaux. + +But the forests of the province of Perigord contained other inhabitants +than the pigs and their masters, and these were the workers in glass, +the people who for generations had made those wonderful coloured windows +which are the glory of French cathedrals. The glass-workers of those +days were set apart from all other traders, and in Italy as well as in +France a noble might devote himself to this calling without bringing +down on himself the insults and scorn of his friends. Still, at a time +when the houses of the poor were generally built of wood, it was +considered very dangerous to have glass furnaces, with the fire often +at a white heat, in the middle of a town, and so a law was passed +forcing them to carry on their trade at a distance. In Venice the +glass-workers were sent to the island of Murano, where the factories +still are; in Perigord they were kept in the forest, where they could +cut down the logs they needed for their kilns, and where certain sorts +of trees and ferns grew which, when reduced to powder, were needed in +the manufacture of the glass. + + * * * * * + +Whether the father of Palissy was a glass-maker or not--for nothing is +quite certain about the boy's early years--Bernard must of course have +had many companions among the children of the forest workers, and as he +went through the world with his eyes always open, he soon learnt a great +deal of all that had to be done in order to turn out the bits of glass +that blazed like jewels when the sun shone through them. There were +special kinds of earth, or rocks, or plants to be sought for, and when +found the glass-maker must know how to use them, so as to get exactly +the colour or thickness of material that he wanted. And when he had +spent hours and hours mixing his substances and seeing that he had put +in just the right quantity of each, and no more, perhaps the fire would +be a little too hot and the glass would crack, or a little too cold and +the mixture would not become solid glass, and then the poor man had to +begin the whole process again from the beginning. Bernard stood by and +watched, and noted the patience under failure, as well as the way that +glass was made, and when his turn came the lesson bore fruit. + +But Bernard learned other things besides how to make glass. He was +taught to read and write, and by-and-by to draw. In his walks through +the woods or over the hills, his eyes were busy wandering through the +fallen leaves or glancing up at the branches of the trees in search of +anything that might be hidden there. The bright-eyed lizards he +especially loved, and sometimes he would persuade them to stay quiet for +a few minutes by singing some country songs, while he took out his roll +of paper and made rough sketches of them. + +[Illustration: The bright-eyed lizards he especially loved.] + + * * * * * + +But after a while Palissy grew restless, and before he was twenty he +left home and travelled on foot over the south of France, gaining fresh +knowledge at every step, as those do who keep their wits about them. He +had no money, so he paid his way by the help of his pencil, as he was +later to do in the little town of Saintes, taking portraits of the +village innkeeper or his wife, or drawing plans for the new rooms the +good man meant to build now that business was so thriving, and measuring +the field at the back of the house, that he thought of laying out as a +garden of fruits and herbs. And as the young man went he visited the +cathedrals in the towns as well as the forges and the manufactories, and +never rested till he found out why this city made cloth, and that one +silk, and a third wonderful patterns of wrought iron. + +We do not know exactly how long Palissy remained on his travels, but as +there was no need for him to hurry and so much for him to see he +probably was away for some years. On his return he seems to have settled +down in the little town of Saintes, on the river Charente, where he +supported himself by doing what we should call surveying work, measuring +the lands of the whole department, and reporting on the kind of soil of +which they were made, so that the government might know how to tax them. + + * * * * * + +In the year 1538 Palissy married, and a year later came the event which +influenced more than any other the course of his future life. A French +gentleman named Pons, who had spent a long while at the Italian court of +Ferrara, returned to France, bringing with him many beautiful things, +among others an 'earthenware cup, wonderfully shaped and enamelled.' +Pons happened to meet Palissy, and finding that the same subjects +interested them both, he showed him the cup. The young man could +scarcely contain himself at the sight. For some time he had been turning +over in his mind the possibility of discovering enamel, or glaze, to put +on the earthen pots, and now here, in perfection, was the very thing he +was looking for. + +During the next two or three years, when he was busy surveying the lands +about Saintes, in order to support his wife and little children, his +thoughts were perpetually occupied with the enamelled cup, and how to +make one like it. If he could only see a few more, perhaps something +might give him a clue; but how was he to do that? Then one day in the +winter of 1542 a pirate boat from La Rochelle, on the coast, sailed into +port with a great Spanish ship in tow, filled with earthenware cups from +Venice, and plates and goblets from the Spanish city of Valencia, famous +for its marvellously beautiful glaze. The news of the capture soon +reached Palissy, and we may be sure he had made a study of the best of +the pots before they were bought by the king, Francis I., and given away +to the ladies of the French court. But the Venetian and Spanish +treasures still kept their secret, and Palissy was forced to work on in +the dark, buying cheap earthen pots and breaking them, and pounding the +pieces in a mortar, so as to discover, if he could, the substances of +which they were made. + + * * * * * + +All this took a long time, and Palissy gave up his surveying in order to +devote his whole days to this labour of love. The reward, however, was +very slow in coming, and if he had not contrived to save a little money +while he was still a bachelor his wife and children would have starved. +Week after week went by, and Palissy was to be seen in his little +workshop, making experiments with pieces of common pots, over which he +spread the different mixtures he had made. These pieces, he tells us, +'he baked in his furnace, hoping that some of these mixtures might, when +hot, produce a colour'; white was, however, what he desired above all, +as he had heard that if once you had been able to procure a fine white, +it was comparatively easy to get the rest. Remembering how as a boy he +had used certain chemical substances in staining the glass, he put these +into some of his mixtures, and hopefully awaited the result. + +But, alas! he 'had never seen earth baked,' and had no idea how hot the +fire of his furnace should be, or in what way to regulate it. Sometimes +the substance was baked too much, and sometimes too little; and every +day he was building fresh furnaces in place of the old ones which had +cracked, collecting fresh materials, making fresh failures, and +altogether wasting a great deal of time and money. + + * * * * * + +Thus passed several years, and it is a marvel how the family contrived +to live at all, and madame Palissy had reason for the reproaches and +hard words which she heaped on her husband. The amount of wood alone +necessary to feed the furnaces was enormous, and when Palissy could no +longer afford to buy it, he cut down all the trees and bushes in his +garden, and when they were exhausted burned all the tables and chairs in +the house and tore up the floors. Fancy poor madame Palissy's feelings +one morning when this sight met her eyes. His friends laughed at him and +told tales of his folly in the neighbouring town, which hurt his +feelings; but nothing turned him from his purpose, and except for the +few hours a week when he worked at something which _would_ bring in +money enough to keep his family alive, every moment, as well as every +thought, was given up to the discovery which was so slow in being made. + +[Illustration: Fancy poor madame Palissy's feelings.] + +Again he bought some cheap pots, which he broke in pieces, and covered +three or four hundred fragments with his mixtures. These he carried, +with the help of a man, to a kiln belonging to some potters in the +forest, and asked leave to bake them. The potters willingly gave him +permission, and the pieces were laid carefully in the furnace. After +four hours Palissy ventured to examine them, and found one of the +fragments perfectly baked, and covered with a splendid white glaze. 'My +joy was such,' he writes, 'that I felt myself another man'; but he +rejoiced too soon, for success was still far distant. The mixture which +produced the white glaze was probably due to Palissy having added +unconsciously a little more of some special substance, because when he +tried to make a fresh mixture to spread over the rest of the pieces he +failed to obtain the same result. Still, though the disappointment was +great, he did not quite cease to 'feel another man.' He had done what he +had wanted once, and some day he would do it again and always. + + * * * * * + +It seems strange that Palissy did not go to Limoges, which was not very +far off, and learn the trade of enamelling at the old-established +manufactory there. It would have saved him from years of toil and +heartsickness, and his family from years of poverty. But no! he wished +to discover the secret _for himself_, and this he had no right to do at +the expense of other people. + +However, we must take the man as he was, and as we read the story of his +incessant toils we wonder that any human being should have lived to tell +the tale. He was too poor to get help; perhaps he did not want it; but +'he worked for more than a month night and day,' grinding into powder +the substances such as he had used at the moment of his success. But +heat the furnace as he might, it would not bake, and again he was +beaten. He had found the secret of the enamel, but not how to make it +form part of the pots. + +Each time victory appeared certain some fresh misfortune occurred, the +most vexatious of all being one which seems due to Palissy's own +carelessness. The mortar used by the potter in building his kiln was +full of small pebbles, and when the oven became very hot these pebbles +split, and mixed with the glaze. Then the enamel was spread over the +earthen pots (which at last were properly baked), and the surface of +each vessel, instead of being absolutely smooth, became as sharp as a +razor and tore the hand of any unlucky person who touched it. + +To guard against such accidents Palissy invented some sort of +cases--'lanterns' he calls them--in which to put his pots while in the +kiln, and these he found extremely useful. He now plucked up heart and +began to model lizards and serpents, tortoises and lobsters, leaves and +flowers, but it was a long while before he could turn them out as he +wished. 'The green of the lizards,' he tells us, 'got burned before the +colour of the serpents was properly fixed,' and the lobsters, serpents +and other creatures were baked before it suited the potter, who would +have liked them all to take the same time. But at length his patience +and courage triumphed over all difficulties. By-and-by he learned how to +manage his furnace and how to mix his materials; the victory had taken +him sixteen years to win, but at last he, and not the fire, was master; +henceforth he could make what he liked, and ask what price he chose. + +And there we will leave Palissy the artist and turn to the life of +Palissy the Huguenot. + + * * * * * + +For some years past the reformed religion had spread rapidly in this +corner of France, and Palissy, always anxious to understand everything +that came in his way, began first to inquire into the new doctrines, and +then to adopt them. One of the converts, Philibert Hamelin, a native of +Tours, was seized by the magistrates and condemned to death, and +Palissy, who was his special friend, careless of any risk to himself, +did all that was possible to obtain his pardon; when that proved +hopeless, the potter arranged a plan of escape for the prisoner, but +Hamelin declined to fly, and was hanged at Bordeaux in 1557. + +The new religion had changed life outwardly as well as inwardly at +Saintes, as Palissy himself tells us. 'Games, dances, songs, banquets, +smart clothes, were all things of the past. Ladies were forbidden by +Calvin, whose word was law, even to wear ribbons; the wine shops were +empty, for the young men passed their spare hours in the fields; girls +sat singing hymns on the banks of the streams, and boys abandoned their +games, and were as grave as their fathers.' The new faith spread rapidly +in this district, but the converts did not all behave in the peaceable +manner described by Palissy. As the party grew stronger it also grew +more violent, and it was plain to him and to everyone else that civil +war must shortly follow. Cruelty on one side was answered by cruelty on +the other, and Palissy had thrown in his lot with the Huguenots, and by +his writings as well as his words urged them to take arms against the +Catholics. Perhaps the artist in him may have grieved to hear of the +destruction in the beautiful churches of the carved images of the saints +that were broken by axes and hammers; of the pictures that were burned, +or the old illuminated manuscripts that were torn in pieces; but +outwardly he gave his approval, and when things went against the +Huguenots, even Palissy's powerful friends who admired his works could +no longer shut their eyes. He was warned to change his ways, and as he +did not the duke of Montpensier, then governor of the rebellious +provinces, thought he would keep Palissy from greater mischief by +putting him into prison. From Saintes he was sent to Bordeaux, where the +magistrates, irritated at his having given the use of a tower which they +had granted him for a studio as a meeting-place for Huguenots, ordered +him into stricter confinement, while they debated whether the studio +should be destroyed. But the constable of France, Anne de Montmorency, +hearing of this proposal, hastened to the queen dowager, Catherine de +Medicis, who came to the rescue by appointing him potter to the royal +household. In this manner Palissy and his studio both escaped, and soon +afterwards the Treaty of Amboise (1563) gave peace to both parties. + +After this the happiest period of Palissy's life began. He was free, he +was on the way to grow rich, and he had leisure to write down the +thoughts and plans that had come to him long ago as a boy in his +wanderings, or lately, in his lonely hours in prison. His children could +be well provided for, and he need have no more anxiety about them. As to +his wife, she appears to have been already dead when fortune at last +visited him, and, indeed, she played but a small part in his life. + +Now his first book was composed, and in it we can read about the gardens +that Palissy hoped to lay out if his rich friends, Montmorency, or +Montpensier, or Conde, or even the queen herself, would help him to +carry out his designs. + +The garden of Palissy's thoughts was to be very large, and certainly +would cost a great deal of money. It was to be situated under a hill, so +that the flowers and fruits might be protected from the winds, and many +streams were to flow through it. Broad alleys would cross the garden, +ending in arbours, some made of trees, trained or cut into different +shapes, and filled with statues; others of different coloured stones, +with lizards and vipers climbing upon the walls, while on the floor +texts would be picked out in pebbles. Plants and flowers would hang from +the roofs of the grottos, and beside them the rivulets would broaden +into basins where real frogs and fish would gaze with surprise at their +stone companions on the brink. Here and there the stream would be dammed +up into a lake covered with tiny islands, and filled with forget-me-nots +and water-lilies and pretty yellow irises, and at the next turn of the +path the visitor would be delighted by a beautiful statue half hidden by +a grove of trees. Catching sight of an inscription in the left hand of +the figure, he would not resist stepping aside to read it, and as he was +stooping to see what was written a jar of water in the figure's right +hand would empty itself on his head. + +[Illustration: A jar of water in the figure's right hands emptied itself +on his head.] + +Wet and cross, the visitor would pursue his way, taking care not to go +near another statue standing alone in a wide grassy space, with a ring +dangling from its finger. The children or pages waiting on the lady of +the house would, however, think that the flat lawn would be a splendid +place in which to play at 'tilting at the ring,' and here was a ring +just set up for the purpose. Hastily fetching their toy weapons, they +would choose a starting-place and, holding their lances well back, run +swiftly towards the statue, hoping to thrust the lance-point through the +ring, as by-and-by they would have to do at the sports at a royal +wedding or a coronation. But the moment the ring was touched a huge wet +sponge would swing round from the back of the figure and hit the +champion a sharp blow on the back of the head, to the great delight and +surprise of his companions. + +It was not a game that could be played twice on the same person, as +Palissy well knew; but in those days great lords with trains of +attendants frequently stopped at each other's houses on the way to their +own lands, so that a constant supply of fresh pages might be looked for, +all eager to play at tilting at the ring. + + * * * * * + +It was in 1565 that Palissy was sent for to Paris by the queen, to help +her to decorate and lay out the gardens of the palace of the Tuileries, +which she was now planning, close to the Louvre. + +The very name of the place must have sounded home-like in the ears of +Palissy, for Tuileries means nothing more than 'tile-fields,' and for a +long while this part of Paris had been the workshop of brick-makers and +potters outside the walls of the old city. But in the reign of +Catherine's father-in-law, Francis I., they were forced to move +further away, as the king had taken a fancy to the site, and had bought +it for his mother. Gardens were made where the furnaces had stood; but +these were by no means fine enough to please Catherine, and she called +in her favourite architect, Philibert Delorme, to erect a palace in +their place, and bade Palissy, now called 'Bernard of the Tuileries' by +his friends, to invent her a new pleasure-ground stretching away to the +west. + +We may be sure that Palissy did not lose this happy chance of carrying +into practice the 'delectable garden' of his dreams. He had his +workshops and kilns on the spot, and a band of skilled potters who baked +the figures of men and animals which he himself fashioned out of clay. +Two of his sons, Nicholas and Mathurin, seem to have inherited some of +his talent, and were his partners, as we learn from a royal account book +of the year 1570, and it must have been pleasant to him to have their +company. The queen herself often walked down from the Louvre close by to +see how he was getting on, and to give her opinion as to the grouping of +some statues or the arrangement of a grotto; and here too came his +friends when in Paris, Montmorency, Conde, Jarnac and others, and +Delorme, Bullant, Filon, and all the great architects of the day. The +chateau of Ecouen, belonging to Montmorency, situated about twelve miles +from Paris, had been decorated by Palissy before he entered the service +of the queen-mother, and had gained him great fame and many commissions. + +At Ecouen the long galleries and the floor of the chapel were paved with +tiles containing pictures of subjects taken out of the Bible. In the +garden was the first 'grotto' the potter ever made, and very proud he +was of it, and still more so of the invention by which, at a signal from +the host, one of the attendants would touch a spring, and streams of +water poured over the guests. It is difficult to imagine the grave +constable, occupied as he was with religious wars, or anxiously +watching affairs of state, playing such rude and silly tricks on the +gentlemen and ladies he was entertaining, and it is pleasanter to think +of them all listening to the songs of birds which, we are told, were +imitated to the life by means of water passing through pipes and reeds. +Altogether, Ecouen was thought a marvel of beauty and fancy, and +everybody who considered they had any claims to good taste made a point +of riding out to visit it. + + * * * * * + +Safe under royal protection and happy in his work, Palissy did not +trouble himself about the fighting that still raged in the name of +religion. When he was tired of the hot atmosphere of the kiln, he would +wander along the banks of the river, or into the woods and hills about +Paris, and watch the birds and the insects fluttering among the trees. +Then, with his mind full of what he had beheld, he would return to his +workshop, and, calling for clay, would never rise from his chair until +he had made an exact copy of the little scene which had caught his +fancy. First he would form his oval-shaped dish, and in the centre of it +would lie some twisted snakes, with sprays of leaves and flowers +scattered round them, while over the cups of the flowers bees and +butterflies hovered gaily. Or, again, he would fashion a wavy sea, +bordered by shells of all sorts, fishes, frogs, leaves, and butterflies, +and in the middle a great sea-serpent wriggling gracefully across the +dish. + +Everything was true to nature and beautifully executed, and in those +days it never seemed to strike anyone that dishes were meant to hold +food and not to be treated as pictures. + + * * * * * + +Palissy had been working for eight years in Paris when the massacre of +St. Bartholomew took place. No one sought to harm the potter, Huguenot +though he was, and he lived on peacefully, respected by all, for some +time longer. + +In 1574 Charles IX., the well-intentioned, half-mad young king, died, +and his brother Henry, a man in every way much worse than himself, came +to the throne. Like the rest of his family, however, he was fond of art, +and protected the potter, and a few months later we find Palissy, quite +unharmed, giving lectures on natural history to some of the most famous +scientific men in Paris. If he wanted to prove a point he had a quantity +of drawings or materials at hand to show them. He spoke well, and the +fame of his lectures spread. The little room was soon filled to +overflowing with lawyers, scholars, and, above all, physicians, the +celebrated monsieur Ambroise Pare, doctor to the queen-mother, and a +Huguenot like himself, at their head. + + * * * * * + +During nine years Palissy continued to deliver these lectures every +Lent, working steadily most of the day among his furnaces at the +Tuileries. He was now seventy-five, and had escaped so many dangers that +he might well think himself safe to the end, which could not be far off. +But in 1585 Henry III. thought himself obliged to take more active +measures against the Huguenots. Palissy had never concealed--as he had +never obtruded--his faith, and, most likely at the instigation of +someone who envied him, he was at once sent to the prison of the +Bastille, and sentence of death passed upon him. + +Yet once again the potter's gift for making friends, perhaps the most +valuable of all his talents in that fierce age, stood him in good stead. +This time it was actually one of the persecuting Guises, the duc de +Mayenne, who saved him, and prevented the decree from being carried out. + +For four years Palissy remained a prisoner. Mayenne desired to set him +free, but did not dare to do so, so left him where he was till better +times came. But Palissy had a surer friend than Mayenne, who came to his +rescue. In spite of his strong frame, years passed in a prison of those +days, where hunger, cold, and dirt would break any man down, proved too +much even for Bernard Palissy, now more than eighty years of age. Little +by little he grew weaker, watched and tended, as far as might be, by +those who, like himself, had suffered for conscience' sake. Then one +evening he went to sleep, and woke in the Delectable Garden. + +PRINTED BY +SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. 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